Gwendolen

"Gwen, sweetie, you're going to be fine." My mother, Kayleigh Smythe said to me as we stood on platform 9 ¾.

I was about to start my first year at Hogwarts. I knew that although I had dreamed about this day for many years I didn't feel ready. It was going to be the first time I was away from both my brother and sister. I didn't want that.

I looked over at my brother Carter and my sister Ivy stood next to my father, Eric.

"Mummy I'm not ready." I whispered to mother.

She just laughed at me. I knew it was because she knew truth. I just didn't want to leave Carter and Ivy behind.

"Gwendolen Grace Smythe, you get on that train and go to Hogwarts." Father told me. "You've been waiting for this for years."

"Gwen we'll be fine." Carter said as he watched me get ready to go.

"We have each other." Ivy said as she held on to Carter's hand.

I smiled at them both before pulling them into a hug. When I stepped back from my family I smiled at them once again before heading off into the train.

Upon stepping into the train I could heard loud yelling from a group of compartments. There was no way I was going to sit there. It was in my best interest to avoid whoever was making all that noise at all costs. There was no way I was getting mixed up in that nightmare. As I dragged my trunk along the train someone came out of one of the noisy compartments, knocking me to the ground.

"Ugh, watch where you're going." I said looking up at the person who had knocked me down.

In front of me stood a boy. It as though he was the same age as me. Just great. Based on the expression on his face he seemed excessively irritating. I am staying as far away from him as possible.

"What have you done now James?" A voice came from the compartment the boy had just come out of.

A boy, if he could even be called that, stuck his head out of the compartment. He appeared to be a man. Probably a seventh year. He did seem rather fascinating though. His hair was bright blue, something I'd never seen before. Who had blue hair?

"Help the girl up." The blue haired boy told the younger boy who had knocked me over.

This irritating boy must be James. Why else would the blue haired boy have called him that? The two seemed to know one another as James rolled his eyes at the blue haired boy before proceeding to put out his hand to help me up. I took his hand although I knew it was probably the worst thing I could have done.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

I could tell he didn't really care. He just wanted to seem like a nice person in front of the blue haired boy but by the look on the blue haired boy's face he wasn't buying it. They obviously knew each other well enough that he wasn't buying this charade even when the younger boy wasn't facing him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I responded before pushing past the boy.

If there was any chance of me getting to read I would have to get away from this boy. I needed a much quieter compartment. Actually, probably a whole new carriage.

"What's your name?" James called after me as I walked away..

"You'll find out at some point." I called over my shoulder.

Let's just hope he doesn't come looking for me. I do not want anything to do with him.

As I continued down the train I realised that most compartments were full and the ones that didn't have many people were ones with small groups of friends talking loudly. That was until a came across one compartment containing only two people.

There was a boy and a girl in there. They both seemed completely engrossed in a book each. Maybe I could actually get some reading done in here.

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked after opening the door. "It's really loud back that way."

I indicated to the area of the train I'd just come from glancing that way to see if anyone had followed me.

"Oh, yeah, that's fine." The girl responded. "I'm Molly Weasley."

"Gwendolen Smythe." I said shaking the girl's hand and sitting down beside her.

"Louis Weasley." The boy said also shaking my hand before adding. "We're cousins."

"Unfortunately there's a lot of us." Molly explained.

"How many?" I asked not quite sure why they were telling me this however I thought I should just go along with it.

"Well there's seven Weasleys." Louis said. "Two Granger-Weasleys and then the three Potters."

"Plus there's Teddy." Molly explained.

I just stared at them. That was a huge family. I had enough trouble managing my two siblings and singular cousin. There was no way I could deal with a family that big.

"There's four of us in first year." Louis said. "I can only hope Fred and I aren't in the same house. Could you imagine how annoying it would be?"

"Uncle George managed it with Uncle Fred when they were young." Molly said before placing her hand over her mouth. "Oops."

"What's wrong?" I asked looking between the two cousins.

Obviously something had happened with the family. I just couldn't tell why it would be something they wouldn't talk about.

"Uncle Fred died in the war." Louis explained. "It's hard for Uncle George. They were twins."

I just nodded. What else was I supposed to say? Their uncle had died in a war that occurred before we were even born.

"How many of your cousins are already at Hogwarts?" I asked wanting to find out more about their family and if there was anyone that might be trouble.

"Well there's my two sisters." Louis explained. "Victoire and Dominique. Vic's a fifth year Ravenclaw and Dom's a third year Gryffindor."

"And of course there's Teddy Lupin." Molly explained. "He's not really our cousin but his godfather is our uncle. Both his parents died in the war. His dad was good friends with our uncle's father. It's a little confusing but so is our entire family."

There was nothing I could say. Their family seemed to have been so connected to the war. I'd really only heard about it not truly knowing what had happened. My mother was a witch and she had been to Hogwarts but she had fallen in love with a muggle and disconnected herself from the wizarding world.

"Teddy's a seventh year." Molly continued. "And he's head boy. He's in Hufflepuff."

"And then this year both Molly and I are starting." Louis explained. "Along with Fred and James."

My eyes widened at this. That irritating boy who had run into me was their cousin. Oh no. If I had just befriended these two I was going to have to have something to do with James.

"Does Teddy have blue hair?" I asked hoping that maybe there was more than one James.

"Yeah, he does." Louis said. "He's a metamorphmagus."

I let out a sigh. Now there was no way I could escape James. That was the end of the conversation. Considering my reaction to no one else wanted to say anything. Both Molly and Louis picked up their books and continued reading. I smiled at them as I pulled a book out of my bag and started reading. This was all I wanted. Friends who wanted to read as much as I did.

"I think we've located a compartment of future Ravenclaws." A voice said from the doorway of the compartment.

We all looked at the doorway. There was a boy standing there. I heard two groans come from behind me at this. this had to be one of their cousins. Probably Fred based on what I'd heard.

It was then that I also let out a groan. A boy pushed Fred aside so the two could stand side by side in the doorway. It was James. Could my life get any worse?

"I do believe we have." James said.

Of course James had somehow found me. My life would never go the way I wanted it.

"Well dear cousins are you going to introduce us." James said.

It was clear that he just wanted to know who I was. Honestly that boy needed someone to teach him some form of subtlety.

"James, Fred, this is Gwendolen Smythe." Louis said rolling his eyes.

"Gwendolen, these are our other cousins, James Potter and Fred Weasley." Molly said glaring at her cousins who had sat down either side of Louis.

"They're trouble?" I asked although I did need an answer to this.

Based on Teddy's reaction to James earlier and the way the other two had reacted to their appearance it was clear that both boys were trouble but together they were even worse.

"Well considering they are both named after pranksters they clearly are." Molly told me.

"Just gotta make our namesakes proud." James said as he high fived Fred in front of Louis.

I looked at Louis who looked about ready to kill his cousins. Then Louis stood up. If he was leaving I was leaving too. I was not going to be stuck in a compartment with these two idiots. I just watched Louis as he swapped sides of the compartment sitting between myself and Molly.

"Maybe if we're all in Ravenclaw we'll escape them." Louis whispered to both myself and Molly.

"How likely is it that that will actually happen?" Molly asked. "Think about it. Both our fathers were in Gryffindor Lou. Neither of our mothers went to Hogwarts. There's a high chance we'll be in Gryffindor with the two idiots."

"Vic's in Ravenclaw." Louis defended.

"My mother was a Ravenclaw." I explained.

"You two are safe, I'm not." Molly accepted. "Please don't leave me to deal with them by myself."

Both of them looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You'll be sorted first." Louis explained.

I just nodded knowing what they wanted.

"Doll, stay with us." James told me.

I just shot him a glare. What the hell was wrong with him?

As we all walked into the Great Hall I could tell that my eyes had lit up. The roof was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen. It was a perfect reflection of the night sky that we had previously been under.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." The teacher, who I knew to be Professor Longbottom, told us first years.

I looked at Louis who was side me. I knew he hoped that we would be in the same house, with Molly as well. The three of us all stood whispering throughout most of the sorting ceremony hoping to get in some final conversation before we were possibly separated. We all hoped that we would be able to remain friends regardless. Well I hoped they'd still talk to me. They were family so they were stuck with one another.

We stopped our whispering as soon as Professor Longbottom called, "Potter, James."

We watched as James walked up to the stool his entire appearance filled with arrogance. He sat down on the stool and faced out at us. It took no time at all for the hat to yell "GRYFFINDOR" once it touched James' head. James smirked as he walked over to the Gryffindor table. I just rolled my eyes at him. The prick really was rather irritating.

I went back to conversing with Louis and Molly hoping to calm my nerves for when it was my time to go up.

"Smythe, Gwendolen." The professor called.

I smiled at my friends before walking up to the stood.

"Hmm, not quite like your mother." A voice said in my ear. "A difficult one you are."

I looked down at Louis and Molly who were both watching me anxiously. I could tell they really wanted us to stay together. I did too. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

"You want to stay with your friends." The voice continued. "Hmm, very well, better be GRYFFINDOR."

I smiled to myself as I walked over to the Gryffindor table. I was going to stay with my friends. I couldn't imagine anything better.

"Couldn't stay away from me, could you Doll?" James said once I sat down.

I had realised that too my horror I was now facing him. The boy who sat beside him tried not to laugh at James' comment. I'm pretty sure his name was Parker Peterson, he was sorted just before James.

"Would you please stop it with that stupid name." I told him.

"Never." James promised causing Parker to laugh even harder.

I rolled my eyes at him before turning my attention back to the sorting.

"Weasley, Fred." Professor Longbottom called.

Much like James, Fred's sorting lasted all of two seconds with the hat yelling, "GRYFFINDOR" the moment it touched Fred's head. Fred jumped off the stool walking over to sit beside James. The two boys high fived.

"Weasley, Louis." was called and I watched as the boy walked over to the stool.

As I watched Louis as he sat down on the stool. As the hat was placed on his head he looked over at me. I smiled at him letting him know that it was okay. It didn't take too long after that for the hat to yell, "GRYFFINDOR" once again. Louis walked over to table and sat beside me.

"You had to sit with him." Louis said indicating to his cousins sitting across from us.

"It was an accident, I swear." I told him.

We both turned our heads to watch as Molly walked up to the stool having been called while we were talking. She smiled at us as the hat was placed on her head. As we smiled back at her we heard the hat yell, "GRYFFINDOR" causing both mine and Louis' smiles to widen.

"We're all together." Molly pointed out sitting down on the other side of Louis.

"I suppose we are." I laughed.

The rest of the night went by fairly quickly after that. We were all rather tired so as soon as the meal was done and we were lead to our dorms both Molly and I crashed onto our beds, dead to the world.

I know it was wrong but I didn't even bother to acknowledge the other girls who were in our dorm. I was far too tired for that.