Chapter 9: Memory Lane
A/N: I am going to change history a bit, now. Please do not (in your lovely reviews) tell me that I have altered the past - I already know this.
The last of the thinning steam revealed the banner Platform 9 3/4, a sign that thirteen-year old George Weasley was well accustomed to seeing. He walked over to his twin brother Fred who was in the small crowd of third-year Gryffindors that was forming around their best friend Lee Jordan. What's up? asked George.
Lee's been claiming he's got a pet spider, said Katie Bell scornfully.
It's a tarantula, corrected Lee.
As if! cried Alicia Spinnet.
I do, said Lee casually. But I don't want to let it out here.
Oh give us a look, Lee, go on! moaned George.
Lee opened the box he was carrying. The thick, hairy leg that poked out was enough to make the girls scream. George smiled at Angelina in terror, then shook himself for being a masochist.
Ron'll be scared shitless! exclaimed Fred in delight. George smiled as he remember how Ron's phobia of spiders had come about: when Fred had been six he had turned Ron's teddy-bear into a spider as punishment for breaking Fred's toy broomstick.
Hold on, said Lee remembering the Weasley siblings. Ron's your younger brother, isn't he?
Fred and George nodded simultaneously. Starting this year? asked Alicia.
said Fred. He doesn't know how he's going to be sorted yet, though.
Well no-one does, do they? asked Angelina. But he's bound to be in Gryffindor.
grinned Fred. I don't mean that. He doesn't know about the Sorting Hat.
continued George. I told him he had to wrestle a troll.
The group fell about laughing. We'd better get moving, said Katie.
Yeah, before Ron comes to join us, agreed Fred.
They clambered aboard The Hogwarts Express. Behind them, a small, skinny boy with messy black hair and glasses was attempting to scramble onto the train with a suitcase. Want a hand? asked Fred, once he had dumped his own trunk.
Yes please, panted the boy.
Oy, George, yelled Fred in his brother's ear. The Weasleys lifted the hefty trunk and placed it beside theirs. Then George offered his hand to the boy, who accepted and was lifted onto the train.
said the boy, pushing his fringe away from his forehead. What happened next could not be explained by George in the next four years. A lightning bolt fired from the boy's forehead and hit George with excruciating pain. He was struck down onto the floor. He waited for Fred to help. Fred said instead. Are you?
asked the boy.
He is, isn't he? asked Fred. George opened his eyes blearily and saw that Fred was talking to him. George got to his feet and looked at the boy's head. A thin scar had been the thing that had attacked him. George nodded, shaking. He is?
asked the boy confused.
Harry Potter, they chorused.
Oh, him, said the boy. I mean, yes, I am. He blushed.
Fred, George, called their mother. George looked at Harry Potter one more time before turning away and was pleased to find that this time, he had no averse reaction to the Boy who Lived.
*
They ushered their way into The Great Hall. George could make out Ron's face in the Sorting queue. He was standing behind Harry Potter, his eyes fixed on the hat.
yelled McGonagall. A boy with a scrawny rat-like face was sorted into Slytherin.
Patil, Padma! McGonagall cried.
A short asian girl with silky black hair walked to the platform and nervously put the hat on top of her plaits. George waited, wondering what was taking the hat so long to decide...
Oh my God, not again! moaned the hat.
Padma had promised herself not to lose her temper, but she thought this was rather presumptuous of the hat. Not again what? she asked huffily.
Another pair of...
What twins? interrupted Padma. So what? It's not your place to pass judgement. Besides, I thought you were supposed to judge what's inside of us, not what we look like.
I do look inside, said the hat. And that's what bothers me.
What do you mean?
I can't bend the rules again - you're going to have to be in Slytherin.
asked Padma aghast. But - I can't! You don't understand - my dad will kill me - Parvati will murder me for getting us into Slytherin.
Ah, but Parvati won't be in Slytherin.
Now hold on a minute - it's one thing to separate us, but- she's always been the bully. Why am I being picked on?
It's the way things have to be.
No! I beg you, anything but Slytherin. The hat did not speak for a time.
Very well. You're a good debater - why not be in RAVENCLAW? Padma rose, shaking. She took a place next to Boot, Terry and Brocklehurst, Amanda.
Patil, Parvati! What happened next was very quick. Parvati strode up to the platform, placed the hat on her head and was announced a Gryffindor.
Padma's mouth fell open. Bastard Hat! she swore.
*
And the months slip into one another. January's snow covers February's grounds.The exams draw nearer. Valentine's Day passes: Fred and Angelina go dancing, Parvati and Lavender buy more make-up and Terry finally asks Lisa out properly. Harry, Ron and Hermione build a snowman. Though George and Padma would dearly love to join the, yet they are haunted and yet they do not communicate about their past.