Disclaimer: See Ch.1
A/N: Props to Caitlin, thanks for your help girl; w/o you none of this would have been possible!
Hermione had been up for at least two hours already by the time Cooper had woken up.
"Hey sleepy-head, I thought you'd never wake up!" she exclaimed, too happy for her cousin, who still was lying down in the bed, but with her eyes open now.
"Girl, you realize its only 7:15 right?" Cooper commented in between her many yawns.
"And you realize there is such thing as brushing your teeth, right?" Hermione said, smirking as Cooper threw a pillow at her face. "Just kidding! By golly, you'd better get packing soon, or you're going to be here while I'm riding the train to 'Ogwarts!"
Cooper popped into the bathroom, took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and went to pack her things, which Hermione was practically done with. As Hermione searched for anything they might have missed in her suitcase rampage, Cooper sat at the window seat, stroking Crookshanks. Hermione finally told her parents, at 9:41, that the girls were all packed and ready to head to the train station. Nigel packed everything into the car trunk while the three women got into the car, Hermione holding Crookshanks. The ride seemed shorter than usual to Hermione, but it might have been the fact that she was happy her cousin was there to share it all with. The girls hugged Hermione's parent's goodbye, telling them they'd see them again soon. They then walked up to where the platform should have been, but wasn't.
"Um, Hermione? Our tickets say Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, but there isn't one… This is getting creepy," Cooper said, watching people walk towards a wall and then the next second not be there.
"Oh, that's right. Um, y'see, we walk in between nine and ten. Don't be scared," Hermione added, seeing her cousin's frightened look, "it doesn't hurt. Just follow me and don't think about it."
"I'm not scared!" Cooper lied, looking everywhere but Hermione's face. Hermione smirked at her cousin, and walked her cart through the wall. Cooper was slightly nervous, but convinced herself to be strong. She started towards it, and kept walking faster and faster until she closed her eyes and felt a coldness sweep through her. She stopped and opened her eyes, looking in front of her and to the sides until she saw Hermione, under the 'Hogwarts Express' sign.
"See? I told you I wasn't scared one bit 'Mione!" Cooper said with a grin. Hermione was just about to tell her off when she heard Ron's voice, calling them from the train.
"Herm! Cooper! Better get on quick, seem's like there's a bloody lot of firs' years coming in this year, and they want our spot!" he yelled while waving frantically, Harry following suit. The girls rushed on board with their luggage, Hermione holding Crookshanks by the collar. Hermione finally got to the last compartment. Harry and Ron had already put their things away, and helped the girls with theirs, seeing as how the guys were a little taller. They all sat down, and talked about how they were looking forward to when their compartment door came smashing open.
"Blimey you guys! We saw this wonderful new girl hanging with another that looked just like you Hermione!" George exclaimed.
"She had long brown hair," Fred began.
"And she had Copper highlights," George finished.
"Plus she was amazingly beau…Bloody Hell!" They both shouted at the same time, pointing at Cooper. " It's you! You're the girl! Okay, nice to see you all again. We'll be going back to our little compartment and be thoroughly embarrassed now. Toodles!"
With that the twins walked out, leaving a stunned foursome sitting quietly for about 30 seconds until they all started laughing uncontrollably.
"Who…were…those…guys?" Cooper asked, still trying to catch her breath. She glanced at the others who were still laughing.
"Those were my twin brothers, Fred and George," Ron offered. That made them all laugh even harder, and finally about ten minutes later the cart full of candy came down the corridor, and everyone pitched in to buy a lot full.
"Hey, you guys, are these really every flavor?" Cooper asked inquisitively, looking into her Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"Ooh yeah Cooper," came a voice from next to her. "When they say every flavor, they mean it; trust me."
"Oliver… hi, how are you?" Cooper was surprised to see him so soon; she hadn't expected to see him then, if ever again. And she had sworn to herself she wouldn't fall for anyone, especially after the last time. 'No, don't think about it; it's in the past,' she reminded herself. She zoned back into what Oliver was saying.
"I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself Cooper," he said with a grin.
"Oliver, what are we going to call you at school?" Harry questioned his old chum.
"Well, seeing as how I'm only here to help Hooch, and not permanently because I'm a reserve keeper for Puddlemore United, just call me Wood, or Oliver, whichever you prefer," Oliver replied, eyeing Coopers Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "May I, Miss Landing?"
"Um, yeah, sure. And it's Cooper," she added, feeling awkward when he called her 'Miss Landing'. She watched as he carefully took a jellybean out of the palm of her hand where she had poured a lot, and popped it into his mouth, She followed suit. "Gross! I got bean sprouts!"
Oliver almost choked on his candy as he looked into her face, full of revulsion, for he was laughing so hard. She slapped him in the stomach with the back of her hand, and started laughing good-naturedly with him.
"I got strawberry cheesecake; would you like mine instead?" he asked jokingly, and began to laugh at her surprised look. The others, however, watched the two interact. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Just as Oliver slid down into the seat next to Cooper all five of them heard Fred and George coming back.
"Harry!" Fred exclaimed in an excited voice.
"What?" Harry asked, wondering if they were going to realize anytime soon that Cooper was still sitting there.
"Guess who's back!" George asked, his voice as excited as Fred's.
"Who?" Harry wondered, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Wood! Oliver Wood is back!" they yelled together. They searched Harry's face for something, and when they found nothing, asked, "What? Why aren't you happy?!"
Fred walked over to Harry and said while winking, "Got your knickers in a knot, eh?" Harry just pointed to the seat across from him, with Oliver sitting in it.
"Oh blimey! Not again!" they chorused. They patted Oliver on the shoulders saying 'Welcome back'. As they left, however, everyone could have sworn they heard George ask, "Will we ever know anything before they do?"
After another fit of laughs, Oliver looked at his watch. "I best be off; ye might want to get into your robes now, we're about 15 minutes from Hogwarts. See you at the Sorting Ceremony. I'm to act as a Gryffindor again. Hopefully I'll be seeing you in the Common Room Miss…er…Cooper," and with a polite bow of his head, he left.
"Hermione, what's a Common Room?" Cooper asked, still not filled in on everything at Hogwarts by her cousin.
"Don't tell me: you forgot to tell Cooper about the houses?" Ron exclaimed while putting his robes on, and watched as Hermione looked out the window, shaking her head. "And let me guess: you also forgot to mention the best wizarding sport ever, right?"
Hermione just started laughing, continuing to shake her head while looking out the window. Ron grabbed his Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and began to throw them at her, chasing her around the small compartment as Harry tried to explain the Houses and Quidditch to Cooper.
"So, you mean that I might not be able to be with you guys?" This thought had never occurred to any of them, and it was apparent too, because Ron and Hermione suddenly became serious and sat across from each other, the boys on one side, and the girls opposite.
"Well, I…I suppose it could happen," Ron said, slowly. Seeing both girls' hearts breaking made his want to crumble as well. He felt guilty, even though it was not his fault. "But Dumbledore, our Headmaster Cooper, he can't be that cruel."
"Yeah, but Parvati and Padma Patil are in different houses, and they're twins Ron!" Hermione cried out, her voice full of anger and sadness. "Plus, Dumbledore can't do anything about it; it's the hat that decides where to place us."
They all became quiet as the train pulled into the Hogsmeade Station, and as they got their luggage down, Cooper turned around and told them not to be sad or anything like that.
"Mushy stuff is for kids you guys," she said. She added reassuringly, "Plus, if I do get into Gryffindor, we don't want to be sad, we want to celebrate, right?"
They all echoed 'right', trying to sound cheerful but not coming across convincingly enough.
"Cooper Landing? Miss Cooper Landing!" a woman's voice echoed above all the excitement.
"Go on Coop," Hermione ushered her. "It's only Professor McGonagall; she'll take you to the school."
As Cooper walked towards the person calling her name, she noticed that the woman wore an emerald green cloak, with spectacles for her glasses, and her hair up in a bun.
"Hello, I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall," the woman said kindly. She led Cooper ahead of everyone, telling her how things were to go.
"Now, I realize that you will be inexperienced compared to the others, but we saw a great potential of magic inside of you. That is why we continued to send you the acceptance letters. I believe you could do a lot this year, and be able to catch up with everyone. You could probably see your teachers after classes to learn things everyone else has covered. Well, here we are."
Cooper had been so caught up in what Professor McGonagall had been saying that she didn't even notice that hey had already reached Hogwarts castle.
A/N: Props to Caitlin, thanks for your help girl; w/o you none of this would have been possible!
Hermione had been up for at least two hours already by the time Cooper had woken up.
"Hey sleepy-head, I thought you'd never wake up!" she exclaimed, too happy for her cousin, who still was lying down in the bed, but with her eyes open now.
"Girl, you realize its only 7:15 right?" Cooper commented in between her many yawns.
"And you realize there is such thing as brushing your teeth, right?" Hermione said, smirking as Cooper threw a pillow at her face. "Just kidding! By golly, you'd better get packing soon, or you're going to be here while I'm riding the train to 'Ogwarts!"
Cooper popped into the bathroom, took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and went to pack her things, which Hermione was practically done with. As Hermione searched for anything they might have missed in her suitcase rampage, Cooper sat at the window seat, stroking Crookshanks. Hermione finally told her parents, at 9:41, that the girls were all packed and ready to head to the train station. Nigel packed everything into the car trunk while the three women got into the car, Hermione holding Crookshanks. The ride seemed shorter than usual to Hermione, but it might have been the fact that she was happy her cousin was there to share it all with. The girls hugged Hermione's parent's goodbye, telling them they'd see them again soon. They then walked up to where the platform should have been, but wasn't.
"Um, Hermione? Our tickets say Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, but there isn't one… This is getting creepy," Cooper said, watching people walk towards a wall and then the next second not be there.
"Oh, that's right. Um, y'see, we walk in between nine and ten. Don't be scared," Hermione added, seeing her cousin's frightened look, "it doesn't hurt. Just follow me and don't think about it."
"I'm not scared!" Cooper lied, looking everywhere but Hermione's face. Hermione smirked at her cousin, and walked her cart through the wall. Cooper was slightly nervous, but convinced herself to be strong. She started towards it, and kept walking faster and faster until she closed her eyes and felt a coldness sweep through her. She stopped and opened her eyes, looking in front of her and to the sides until she saw Hermione, under the 'Hogwarts Express' sign.
"See? I told you I wasn't scared one bit 'Mione!" Cooper said with a grin. Hermione was just about to tell her off when she heard Ron's voice, calling them from the train.
"Herm! Cooper! Better get on quick, seem's like there's a bloody lot of firs' years coming in this year, and they want our spot!" he yelled while waving frantically, Harry following suit. The girls rushed on board with their luggage, Hermione holding Crookshanks by the collar. Hermione finally got to the last compartment. Harry and Ron had already put their things away, and helped the girls with theirs, seeing as how the guys were a little taller. They all sat down, and talked about how they were looking forward to when their compartment door came smashing open.
"Blimey you guys! We saw this wonderful new girl hanging with another that looked just like you Hermione!" George exclaimed.
"She had long brown hair," Fred began.
"And she had Copper highlights," George finished.
"Plus she was amazingly beau…Bloody Hell!" They both shouted at the same time, pointing at Cooper. " It's you! You're the girl! Okay, nice to see you all again. We'll be going back to our little compartment and be thoroughly embarrassed now. Toodles!"
With that the twins walked out, leaving a stunned foursome sitting quietly for about 30 seconds until they all started laughing uncontrollably.
"Who…were…those…guys?" Cooper asked, still trying to catch her breath. She glanced at the others who were still laughing.
"Those were my twin brothers, Fred and George," Ron offered. That made them all laugh even harder, and finally about ten minutes later the cart full of candy came down the corridor, and everyone pitched in to buy a lot full.
"Hey, you guys, are these really every flavor?" Cooper asked inquisitively, looking into her Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"Ooh yeah Cooper," came a voice from next to her. "When they say every flavor, they mean it; trust me."
"Oliver… hi, how are you?" Cooper was surprised to see him so soon; she hadn't expected to see him then, if ever again. And she had sworn to herself she wouldn't fall for anyone, especially after the last time. 'No, don't think about it; it's in the past,' she reminded herself. She zoned back into what Oliver was saying.
"I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself Cooper," he said with a grin.
"Oliver, what are we going to call you at school?" Harry questioned his old chum.
"Well, seeing as how I'm only here to help Hooch, and not permanently because I'm a reserve keeper for Puddlemore United, just call me Wood, or Oliver, whichever you prefer," Oliver replied, eyeing Coopers Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "May I, Miss Landing?"
"Um, yeah, sure. And it's Cooper," she added, feeling awkward when he called her 'Miss Landing'. She watched as he carefully took a jellybean out of the palm of her hand where she had poured a lot, and popped it into his mouth, She followed suit. "Gross! I got bean sprouts!"
Oliver almost choked on his candy as he looked into her face, full of revulsion, for he was laughing so hard. She slapped him in the stomach with the back of her hand, and started laughing good-naturedly with him.
"I got strawberry cheesecake; would you like mine instead?" he asked jokingly, and began to laugh at her surprised look. The others, however, watched the two interact. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Just as Oliver slid down into the seat next to Cooper all five of them heard Fred and George coming back.
"Harry!" Fred exclaimed in an excited voice.
"What?" Harry asked, wondering if they were going to realize anytime soon that Cooper was still sitting there.
"Guess who's back!" George asked, his voice as excited as Fred's.
"Who?" Harry wondered, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Wood! Oliver Wood is back!" they yelled together. They searched Harry's face for something, and when they found nothing, asked, "What? Why aren't you happy?!"
Fred walked over to Harry and said while winking, "Got your knickers in a knot, eh?" Harry just pointed to the seat across from him, with Oliver sitting in it.
"Oh blimey! Not again!" they chorused. They patted Oliver on the shoulders saying 'Welcome back'. As they left, however, everyone could have sworn they heard George ask, "Will we ever know anything before they do?"
After another fit of laughs, Oliver looked at his watch. "I best be off; ye might want to get into your robes now, we're about 15 minutes from Hogwarts. See you at the Sorting Ceremony. I'm to act as a Gryffindor again. Hopefully I'll be seeing you in the Common Room Miss…er…Cooper," and with a polite bow of his head, he left.
"Hermione, what's a Common Room?" Cooper asked, still not filled in on everything at Hogwarts by her cousin.
"Don't tell me: you forgot to tell Cooper about the houses?" Ron exclaimed while putting his robes on, and watched as Hermione looked out the window, shaking her head. "And let me guess: you also forgot to mention the best wizarding sport ever, right?"
Hermione just started laughing, continuing to shake her head while looking out the window. Ron grabbed his Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and began to throw them at her, chasing her around the small compartment as Harry tried to explain the Houses and Quidditch to Cooper.
"So, you mean that I might not be able to be with you guys?" This thought had never occurred to any of them, and it was apparent too, because Ron and Hermione suddenly became serious and sat across from each other, the boys on one side, and the girls opposite.
"Well, I…I suppose it could happen," Ron said, slowly. Seeing both girls' hearts breaking made his want to crumble as well. He felt guilty, even though it was not his fault. "But Dumbledore, our Headmaster Cooper, he can't be that cruel."
"Yeah, but Parvati and Padma Patil are in different houses, and they're twins Ron!" Hermione cried out, her voice full of anger and sadness. "Plus, Dumbledore can't do anything about it; it's the hat that decides where to place us."
They all became quiet as the train pulled into the Hogsmeade Station, and as they got their luggage down, Cooper turned around and told them not to be sad or anything like that.
"Mushy stuff is for kids you guys," she said. She added reassuringly, "Plus, if I do get into Gryffindor, we don't want to be sad, we want to celebrate, right?"
They all echoed 'right', trying to sound cheerful but not coming across convincingly enough.
"Cooper Landing? Miss Cooper Landing!" a woman's voice echoed above all the excitement.
"Go on Coop," Hermione ushered her. "It's only Professor McGonagall; she'll take you to the school."
As Cooper walked towards the person calling her name, she noticed that the woman wore an emerald green cloak, with spectacles for her glasses, and her hair up in a bun.
"Hello, I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall," the woman said kindly. She led Cooper ahead of everyone, telling her how things were to go.
"Now, I realize that you will be inexperienced compared to the others, but we saw a great potential of magic inside of you. That is why we continued to send you the acceptance letters. I believe you could do a lot this year, and be able to catch up with everyone. You could probably see your teachers after classes to learn things everyone else has covered. Well, here we are."
Cooper had been so caught up in what Professor McGonagall had been saying that she didn't even notice that hey had already reached Hogwarts castle.