Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, so brilliantly created by J.K.
Rowling. All situations are based on her creations as well.
Chapter Seventeen: The Little Sister Invasion
"Come on! We'll be late!" Olivia called up the stairs to her parents.
"We won't be late love," Hermione called back down. "It's only eight thirty."
"But I don't want to miss the train!" Olivia whined from the bottom of the stairs.
"We won't miss the train," came Emma's voice. "We have lots of time." She came down the stairs and looked at her sister, sitting eagerly on her trunk. "You're just excited."
"I know!" Olivia exclaimed. "But I'm FINALLY going to Hogwarts!"
"Don't remind me," Emma said with a groan, but also a small smile. She had been both dreading and looking forward to her sister's arrival at the school. "But trust me, we're not going to miss the train."
"I hope you're right," said Olivia, with an impatient look at her watch.
"I know I am," said Emma, and she started towards the kitchen. "Come on. Eat something before we go."
"I'm not hungry," Olivia said shaking her head.
Emma shrugged. "Suit yourself. You'll regret it later." She disappeared through the door to the kitchen. Olivia looked back up the stairs and sighed impatiently.
"You won't miss the train you know," said Charlotte, coming from the living room. "It only takes 33 minutes to get to King's Cross from here."
"Thirty-three minutes?" Olivia asked.
"I timed it when we picked Emma up last year," Charlotte explained. Her mind was always working with numbers in some way. Hermione had already given her most of her old arithmancy books to study. She was pretty sure that her youngest child would someday work with ancient runes or something similar.
"And you have," Charlotte said, as she glanced at the clock, "one hundred and forty-seven minutes until the train leaves."
"Thanks," said Olivia, though her sister was not cheering her up. In all honesty, she wasn't as nervous about NOT getting on the train as she was about actually getting on it. She had spent most of her life looking forward to the day that she would start school at Hogwarts, and now that the day had arrived, she was nervous. She wondered just what the school would be like. Sure, she had heard stories from her older cousins and her sister, but she knew that they might be teasing her, or not embellishing on certain aspects.
However, she WAS glad that she wouldn't be starting school alone. Lily would be there, in her first year as well, and they were hoping that they would be in the same house. The chances were high that they would join their respective older siblings in Gryffindor, but there was also the slight chance that they would end up in a different house. It HAD happened in the Weasley family. Phillip and Peter, Percy's children, had both ended up in Ravenclaw, seemingly following their mother's influence.
Ron now came down the stairs, Jack close behind him. "I see you're all ready to go," he said as he surveyed Olivia and her trunks.
"Can we leave yet?" Olivia asked.
"Livvie, it's not nearly time to go. We'll leave at ten o'clock, okay?" Olivia nodded. Just over an hour until they made their way into London.
"How are we going to get there?" Olivia asked. "You're not driving, are you?"
"Your mum's driving," said Ron. Though Hermione had an apparating license, she had also decided long ago to get her muggle driver's license as well. At first Ron thought she was crazy, but as soon as they had children he could see the necessity of it. It wasn't always convenient to set up a portkey, and the children couldn't apparate, and if they were traveling to say, Hermione's parents' house, it made much more sense to show up the muggle way. Just a few years before, Hermione had convinced Ron to get a license as well, but though he had learned and earned it, he had never taken to driving, and the children quickly learned to flee whenever it was announced their father was going to drive them somewhere.
"Good," said Olivia, with a sigh.
"Come eat something," Ron said, mirroring Emma's words. "What would you like?"
"I don't know," said Olivia. "I'm not hungry."
"You're going to eat anyway," said Ron, and he pulled her hand so that she reluctantly stood up and followed her father into the kitchen. Emma was there, just spreading jam on a piece of toast. At the sight of food, Olivia realized that she was, in fact, quite hungry.
"Want some?" Emma asked, gesturing at the second piece of toast on her plate.
Olivia shook her head. "Toast isn't breakfast," she said.
"What were you thinking then?" Ron asked.
"Eggs?" Olivia asked.
"Sure," said Ron, and he headed to the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of eggs, as well as some sausages. "I'll tell you what. I'll make the 'Back to School' special."
"What's that?" Olivia asked.
Ron looked at her and shrugged, a slight smile on his face. "Don't know. We'll find out though, won't we?" Olivia smiled her first genuine smile of the morning.
* * *
Right on schedule, the six Weasleys were in the car on their way to the train station. From their places in the backseats of the car, Emma and Olivia talked excitedly about the things they were going to do that year, while Jack and Charlotte listened with envy.
"Here we are!" Hermione announced cheerfully as she pulled the car to a stop in a parking space. Olivia looked at the train station, which loomed ominously in front of her. Hermione turned to the family sitting behind her, and looked directly at Olivia. "You ready?" she asked.
Olivia nodded slowly. "Sure," she said, but Hermione was not convinced. Hermione turned to Ron. "Why don't you take the girls' things onto the platform and Olivia and I will meet you there?" Ron nodded, turned and winked at Olivia and then gathered the other children to head towards the station.
"What are you so afraid of?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," said Olivia. "Nothing in particular."
"Just the new situation?" Olivia nodded her answer. Hermione smiled and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, love. Everything will be fine. And you won't be alone. You'll have your sister, and James and Lily."
Olivia's spirit lifted again as she remembered she would be riding to Hogwarts with her cousins. "I guess that's better," she said.
"You sure?" said Hermione. "I understand why you're nervous. I was nervous when I got on the train for the first time, and I didn't have any friends at all!"
Olivia laughed. "But then you met daddy."
"That's right," said Hermione. "Who knows. Maybe you'll meet your future husband on the train today."
"Eew!" Olivia exclaimed. "Mum!"
Hermione laughed. "Sorry," she said. "I guess you're not quite ready for that yet. But are you ready to head into the station?"
Olivia looked over at the building again. "I'm ready," she said, and she and Hermione headed into the station.
* * *
After a short goodbye to their parents, Emma and Olivia boarded the Hogwarts Express, Lily on their heels. James was off with Aidan, trying to impress a compartment full of girls. "Emma! Emma, in here!" called a familiar voice as the three girls walked down the corridor looking for a compartment. Emma looked in and saw Cornelia sitting by the window, at attention, obviously looking for her friend.
"Hi Cornelia!" Emma exclaimed, and the two friends hugged even though they had seen each other just a week before.
"I can't wait to get back!" Cornelia exclaimed. "This year is going to be so much fun!"
"I don't know," said Emma, taking a seat, and she gestured to her sister and cousin. "Look who's here now."
"Hey!" Olivia exclaimed, taking mock offense to her sister's comment.
"Emma, we'll hardly see them," Cornelia said.
"That's true," said Emma.
"You'll see us," Lily said, looking over at her cousin and Cornelia. "We're going to be VERY noticeable, trust me."
Emma eyes the younger girls suspiciously. "What do you mean?" she asked them, but they both shrugged as though even they didn't know what they were talking about. They changed the subject and continued to say hello to the various familiar faces that passed them as they continued on their journey towards Hogwarts.
James and Aidan joined them halfway through the trip. "How'd it go?" Cornelia asked.
"Not so good," said James.
"So no dates yet?" Cornelia asked. Aidan shook his head and sank down in a seat next to Cornelia. Emma noticed the way her friend immediately blushed.
"I though you were Mr. Popular," came Lily's voice from her place in the compartment.
"What would YOU know about it?" James asked his sister.
"Nothing," said Lily, "except that you told me how get lots of dates."
"Well maybe I exaggerated a little," James said. "And how would you know anyway?! This was one girl, one time."
Lily looked over at Emma and asked her a question with her eyes. Emma laughed and answered her. "It happens a lot," she said, and Lily and Olivia giggled.
James rolled his eyes and groaned. "Oh, I can see it's going to be a whole lot of fun having YOU around this year."
* * *
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade just on schedule, and the kids got off. Lily and Olivia headed towards the sound of Hagrid's voice and made their way into the boats for their trip around the lake. They looked in awe at the castle, lit up for the evening. Though both girls had been to Hogwarts many times before, they had never seen it at night, and they were mesmerized by the lights coming from the numerous windows.
They were met by Harry in the entrance hall, and Lily gave her father a short wave. He smiled at her, but did not single her out from the crowd, and then he led the first years into the Great Hall. Olivia looked around as they made their way down the aisle between the tables and caught her sister's eye. Emma smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. All too soon, it seemed, they were standing at the front of the hall, watching people have the sorting hats place on their head.
Olivia waited impatiently. The one downside to being a Weasley was that you were nearly at the end of every alphabetical list, and so it was that she waited and watched the others. "Lillian Potter!" called Harry's voice, and Lily looked at her friend nervously. Olivia gave her cousin's hand a squeeze and then Lily headed to the stage.
Harry smiled at her before placing the hat on her head, and she felt reassured by her father's presence. The hat landed on her head with a soft thump, and then fell over her eyes. It only took a moment for it to shout, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiled and joined the cheering Gryffindors, taking a seat next to Emma.
Now it was just a matter of time until Olivia had her turn. She was thrilled for her cousin, but was struck with the sudden fear that she would be the odd man out, the one in her family that did not get placed in Gryffindor. She barely heard Harry call out her name, and she wasn't sure how she managed to make her way to the stage, but the hat was on her head and yelling, "GRYFFINDOR!" before she knew what was happening. She felt herself relax and she made her way to the table to join her friends and family.
"Told you so," Emma said as Olivia took her seat.
* * *
That night in the common room, Lily and Olivia sat by the fire, in the chairs that Emma, Cornelia, Aidan and James usually occupied. They were laughing together, enjoying their first night in the new place before they had to head upstairs to bed. From the couch, Emma, James, Aidan and Cornelia watched them. "We're being replaced," James said.
"No we're not," said Emma.
"Face it," said James. "Things are going to be different with those two here. Hogwarts isn't just our place anymore. We've been invaded by little sisters."
Chapter Seventeen: The Little Sister Invasion
"Come on! We'll be late!" Olivia called up the stairs to her parents.
"We won't be late love," Hermione called back down. "It's only eight thirty."
"But I don't want to miss the train!" Olivia whined from the bottom of the stairs.
"We won't miss the train," came Emma's voice. "We have lots of time." She came down the stairs and looked at her sister, sitting eagerly on her trunk. "You're just excited."
"I know!" Olivia exclaimed. "But I'm FINALLY going to Hogwarts!"
"Don't remind me," Emma said with a groan, but also a small smile. She had been both dreading and looking forward to her sister's arrival at the school. "But trust me, we're not going to miss the train."
"I hope you're right," said Olivia, with an impatient look at her watch.
"I know I am," said Emma, and she started towards the kitchen. "Come on. Eat something before we go."
"I'm not hungry," Olivia said shaking her head.
Emma shrugged. "Suit yourself. You'll regret it later." She disappeared through the door to the kitchen. Olivia looked back up the stairs and sighed impatiently.
"You won't miss the train you know," said Charlotte, coming from the living room. "It only takes 33 minutes to get to King's Cross from here."
"Thirty-three minutes?" Olivia asked.
"I timed it when we picked Emma up last year," Charlotte explained. Her mind was always working with numbers in some way. Hermione had already given her most of her old arithmancy books to study. She was pretty sure that her youngest child would someday work with ancient runes or something similar.
"And you have," Charlotte said, as she glanced at the clock, "one hundred and forty-seven minutes until the train leaves."
"Thanks," said Olivia, though her sister was not cheering her up. In all honesty, she wasn't as nervous about NOT getting on the train as she was about actually getting on it. She had spent most of her life looking forward to the day that she would start school at Hogwarts, and now that the day had arrived, she was nervous. She wondered just what the school would be like. Sure, she had heard stories from her older cousins and her sister, but she knew that they might be teasing her, or not embellishing on certain aspects.
However, she WAS glad that she wouldn't be starting school alone. Lily would be there, in her first year as well, and they were hoping that they would be in the same house. The chances were high that they would join their respective older siblings in Gryffindor, but there was also the slight chance that they would end up in a different house. It HAD happened in the Weasley family. Phillip and Peter, Percy's children, had both ended up in Ravenclaw, seemingly following their mother's influence.
Ron now came down the stairs, Jack close behind him. "I see you're all ready to go," he said as he surveyed Olivia and her trunks.
"Can we leave yet?" Olivia asked.
"Livvie, it's not nearly time to go. We'll leave at ten o'clock, okay?" Olivia nodded. Just over an hour until they made their way into London.
"How are we going to get there?" Olivia asked. "You're not driving, are you?"
"Your mum's driving," said Ron. Though Hermione had an apparating license, she had also decided long ago to get her muggle driver's license as well. At first Ron thought she was crazy, but as soon as they had children he could see the necessity of it. It wasn't always convenient to set up a portkey, and the children couldn't apparate, and if they were traveling to say, Hermione's parents' house, it made much more sense to show up the muggle way. Just a few years before, Hermione had convinced Ron to get a license as well, but though he had learned and earned it, he had never taken to driving, and the children quickly learned to flee whenever it was announced their father was going to drive them somewhere.
"Good," said Olivia, with a sigh.
"Come eat something," Ron said, mirroring Emma's words. "What would you like?"
"I don't know," said Olivia. "I'm not hungry."
"You're going to eat anyway," said Ron, and he pulled her hand so that she reluctantly stood up and followed her father into the kitchen. Emma was there, just spreading jam on a piece of toast. At the sight of food, Olivia realized that she was, in fact, quite hungry.
"Want some?" Emma asked, gesturing at the second piece of toast on her plate.
Olivia shook her head. "Toast isn't breakfast," she said.
"What were you thinking then?" Ron asked.
"Eggs?" Olivia asked.
"Sure," said Ron, and he headed to the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of eggs, as well as some sausages. "I'll tell you what. I'll make the 'Back to School' special."
"What's that?" Olivia asked.
Ron looked at her and shrugged, a slight smile on his face. "Don't know. We'll find out though, won't we?" Olivia smiled her first genuine smile of the morning.
* * *
Right on schedule, the six Weasleys were in the car on their way to the train station. From their places in the backseats of the car, Emma and Olivia talked excitedly about the things they were going to do that year, while Jack and Charlotte listened with envy.
"Here we are!" Hermione announced cheerfully as she pulled the car to a stop in a parking space. Olivia looked at the train station, which loomed ominously in front of her. Hermione turned to the family sitting behind her, and looked directly at Olivia. "You ready?" she asked.
Olivia nodded slowly. "Sure," she said, but Hermione was not convinced. Hermione turned to Ron. "Why don't you take the girls' things onto the platform and Olivia and I will meet you there?" Ron nodded, turned and winked at Olivia and then gathered the other children to head towards the station.
"What are you so afraid of?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," said Olivia. "Nothing in particular."
"Just the new situation?" Olivia nodded her answer. Hermione smiled and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, love. Everything will be fine. And you won't be alone. You'll have your sister, and James and Lily."
Olivia's spirit lifted again as she remembered she would be riding to Hogwarts with her cousins. "I guess that's better," she said.
"You sure?" said Hermione. "I understand why you're nervous. I was nervous when I got on the train for the first time, and I didn't have any friends at all!"
Olivia laughed. "But then you met daddy."
"That's right," said Hermione. "Who knows. Maybe you'll meet your future husband on the train today."
"Eew!" Olivia exclaimed. "Mum!"
Hermione laughed. "Sorry," she said. "I guess you're not quite ready for that yet. But are you ready to head into the station?"
Olivia looked over at the building again. "I'm ready," she said, and she and Hermione headed into the station.
* * *
After a short goodbye to their parents, Emma and Olivia boarded the Hogwarts Express, Lily on their heels. James was off with Aidan, trying to impress a compartment full of girls. "Emma! Emma, in here!" called a familiar voice as the three girls walked down the corridor looking for a compartment. Emma looked in and saw Cornelia sitting by the window, at attention, obviously looking for her friend.
"Hi Cornelia!" Emma exclaimed, and the two friends hugged even though they had seen each other just a week before.
"I can't wait to get back!" Cornelia exclaimed. "This year is going to be so much fun!"
"I don't know," said Emma, taking a seat, and she gestured to her sister and cousin. "Look who's here now."
"Hey!" Olivia exclaimed, taking mock offense to her sister's comment.
"Emma, we'll hardly see them," Cornelia said.
"That's true," said Emma.
"You'll see us," Lily said, looking over at her cousin and Cornelia. "We're going to be VERY noticeable, trust me."
Emma eyes the younger girls suspiciously. "What do you mean?" she asked them, but they both shrugged as though even they didn't know what they were talking about. They changed the subject and continued to say hello to the various familiar faces that passed them as they continued on their journey towards Hogwarts.
James and Aidan joined them halfway through the trip. "How'd it go?" Cornelia asked.
"Not so good," said James.
"So no dates yet?" Cornelia asked. Aidan shook his head and sank down in a seat next to Cornelia. Emma noticed the way her friend immediately blushed.
"I though you were Mr. Popular," came Lily's voice from her place in the compartment.
"What would YOU know about it?" James asked his sister.
"Nothing," said Lily, "except that you told me how get lots of dates."
"Well maybe I exaggerated a little," James said. "And how would you know anyway?! This was one girl, one time."
Lily looked over at Emma and asked her a question with her eyes. Emma laughed and answered her. "It happens a lot," she said, and Lily and Olivia giggled.
James rolled his eyes and groaned. "Oh, I can see it's going to be a whole lot of fun having YOU around this year."
* * *
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade just on schedule, and the kids got off. Lily and Olivia headed towards the sound of Hagrid's voice and made their way into the boats for their trip around the lake. They looked in awe at the castle, lit up for the evening. Though both girls had been to Hogwarts many times before, they had never seen it at night, and they were mesmerized by the lights coming from the numerous windows.
They were met by Harry in the entrance hall, and Lily gave her father a short wave. He smiled at her, but did not single her out from the crowd, and then he led the first years into the Great Hall. Olivia looked around as they made their way down the aisle between the tables and caught her sister's eye. Emma smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. All too soon, it seemed, they were standing at the front of the hall, watching people have the sorting hats place on their head.
Olivia waited impatiently. The one downside to being a Weasley was that you were nearly at the end of every alphabetical list, and so it was that she waited and watched the others. "Lillian Potter!" called Harry's voice, and Lily looked at her friend nervously. Olivia gave her cousin's hand a squeeze and then Lily headed to the stage.
Harry smiled at her before placing the hat on her head, and she felt reassured by her father's presence. The hat landed on her head with a soft thump, and then fell over her eyes. It only took a moment for it to shout, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiled and joined the cheering Gryffindors, taking a seat next to Emma.
Now it was just a matter of time until Olivia had her turn. She was thrilled for her cousin, but was struck with the sudden fear that she would be the odd man out, the one in her family that did not get placed in Gryffindor. She barely heard Harry call out her name, and she wasn't sure how she managed to make her way to the stage, but the hat was on her head and yelling, "GRYFFINDOR!" before she knew what was happening. She felt herself relax and she made her way to the table to join her friends and family.
"Told you so," Emma said as Olivia took her seat.
* * *
That night in the common room, Lily and Olivia sat by the fire, in the chairs that Emma, Cornelia, Aidan and James usually occupied. They were laughing together, enjoying their first night in the new place before they had to head upstairs to bed. From the couch, Emma, James, Aidan and Cornelia watched them. "We're being replaced," James said.
"No we're not," said Emma.
"Face it," said James. "Things are going to be different with those two here. Hogwarts isn't just our place anymore. We've been invaded by little sisters."