by Borgin
A/N: Thanks go to Mina and undefined for beta-reading. And I know that Reanna is not a Bulgarian name. It's just better than her original one.
Episode 2: The Year's Beginning
Chapter 5
My granddad had me spend the last two weeks of vacation at the Weasley home.
They were a rather large family of redheads, with six boys and a girl, their youngest. The girl, Ginny, was four years older than me, but we shared her room anyway. Granddad, before he left, told me that I was staying here because the Weasleys would keep me safe. I doubted it, but I had lots of fun. They were all really nice, the lot of them, and for most of the time I was there, Ron Weasley's friends Harry and Hermione were there, too.
Mrs. Weasley loved fussing over Harry and me, but I had no idea why. Apparently, all of the Weasley children hadn't a clue, either. They all welcomed me, and the oldest of those attending Hogwarts, the twins Fred and George, seemed especially protective of me.
I did feel a bit sad when it was September first and school was starting. Mrs. Weasley somehow got us to King's Cross without attracting much attention, and we crossed the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾. There we saw the Hogwarts Express.
"Now, you, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny, do keep your grades up," Mrs. Weasley said, looking right at Fred and George, "and Eleanora, Harry, and Hermione, take care of yourselves."
"All right, I will," I told her. "And thanks for watching me these past two weeks."
"It was nothing, Eleanora, nothing," she answered. And so I ran to the train with the others.
Chapter 6
The ride to school was pretty uneventful. I found myself a seat in the compartment with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others. But an hour into the ride, I got up for a walk, and entered a compartment with a fewer number of people in it. A girl with plain brown hair looked pretty lonely, so I decided to talk to her. "Hi, I'm Eleanora," I told her.
"My name is Reanna," the girl said in broken English. "How are you?"
"I'm pretty good. How are you?"
"Okay. Are you a first year too?"
"Yes, I am. Do you have any siblings who went to Hogwarts before?"
Reanna nodded. "My older brother is a fourth year, in Hufflepuff House."
"I don't have any siblings who went to Hogwarts." My thoughts drifted to Devonna. Could I keep my secret to myself?
"Oh." Reanna was very thoughtful, and her English may not have been perfect, but she seemed like a wonderful friend. "Would you like to spend the rest of the ride with me?" she asked. "I would love to," I told her.
So Reanna and I became good friends. When the witch with the cart of sweets came by, Reanna and I split our treasure of chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans. I was surprised to find that when they said every-flavor, they meant every-flavor. "I have a lot to learn about this," I told Reanna.
"Aye, so do I." We smiled.
"Reanna, where are you from?" I asked her.
"Bulgaria," she told me. "I pretty much only speak Bulgarian at home. But you, Eleanora, certainly don't sound British. Where are you from?"
"I grew up in the States. My mother was American, and I lived with her parents. My granddad is British, though."
"That'd be why. The train is slowing down. I think we might have arrived," she said.
I looked out of the window. "Wow, Reanna, I think you're right!" When the train stopped, we both headed to where a rather large man was calling for the first years.
"This is it, Reanna," I whispered. "This is it."
Chapter 7
When we got to Hogwarts, we were lead into a long, dark hallway, where we were told to wait. When they were ready for us in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall led us in. We lined up in front of the staff table. That was where I saw my granddad for the first time in two weeks. He smiled at me, and his smile made me more confident. "I'm ready," I thought to myself.
However, Reanna looked mortified. "Oh, Reanna, it's okay," I told her.
She smiled. "Oh, Eleanora, you're so brave. I wish I were like you," she told me.
"Me, brave? Never!" I laughed.
We clutched our hands for encouragement.
We waited. The first person to be sorted was Aber, Peter. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted.
After Peter there were many other nervous-looking first years. But when Professor McGonagall said, "Jodivev, Reanna," Reanna left to put on the sorting hat. "Please put us in the same house," I thought. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced to the hall.
Reanna headed towards the Gryffindor table. But I stood there, praying for the hat to place me in Gryffindor, too. I was stunned when my name was called. "Sweet, Eleanora," McGonagall repeated. I quickly moved towards the hat. Nervously, I put it on. After the brief conversation we had, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" for the hall to hear. Relieved, I went to sit next to Reanna. I began to talk with the others at the table. Harry, Hermione, and Ron saw me, and congratulated me on being put in their house. Fred and George did the same.
Soon after the sorting was completed, Granddad stood up to make a few announcements. "We have, as we have had for the past four years, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This year it is Professor Delacour, whom I am sure many of you remember from last year's tournament. Professor Delacour, we welcome you to our staff." Many students in the hall stood and applauded. I joined in belatedly, but I did manage to get a glimpse of her. This teacher seemed to be the youngest of those at the head table, and she had some of the longest and most silvery hair I had ever seen.
When the meal began, I spent most of the meal talking to Reanna and Gwen and Arthur, twins who were also first years.
After we had finished, Reanna and I followed some other students to Gryffindor Tower. When we arrived in the common room (the password was 'Aurora') Hermione pointed us to the girl's dormitory. We entered the room. There were four four-poster beds in it, one for me, Reanna, Gwen, and another girl I must not have met yet. The girl entered then. "My name is Katharine," she told us.
"Hi, Katharine," I told her. "I'm Eleanora, this is Gwen, and this is Reanna." I indicated who was who.
"How many of you, well, you know, knew you were magic before you got the Hogwarts letter?" Katharine asked.
"I did," I said immediately.
"Same here," added Gwen.
"I knew too," Reanna put in softly.
"Oh. I was hoping that there'd be someone else who was, you know, without wizarding descent, you know."
"I grew up with muggle grandparents, Katharine," I added.
"Really? Ok, that's better." We all laughed. Katharine was, well, I guess, just Katharine. "Oh, don't think of me as Katharine. Think of me as Kate, okay? That's what all my friends call me."
"Okay, Kate," Gwen told her. "Yeah, I grew up with my wizard parents, but don't worry, 'cause I probably know less about magic than you do. It's just me and Arthur, and our brother Edward, a Ravenclaw prefect, at home. Perfect Edward. I never cared for much studying or anything, but then, that's just me." We laughed at Gwen's loud and exaggerated speech.
"Wow," Kate exclaimed. "I just lived with my parents and my grown-up sister."
"I lived with my parents and my brother and sister." Reanna was beginning to speak up a bit, but not by much. "But I'm getting tired. So I'll be going to sleep now."
Reanna, who had already put on her nightclothes, crawled into the bed by the window. I claimed the one next to her, and Kate the one next to that, and Gwen took the one on the end.
And then, I fell asleep, but not before wondering about my grandparents. Oh, make sure they're okay, I prayed. Let this be a good school year, and let my first year with my granddad be a good one.