The following few weeks had the Weasley Family in an utter frenzy. Trunks sat in the halls, clothes were thrown askew, and they hollered to each other when they couldn't find something they had been looking for. Now that today was the day where the children needed to be on the train leading to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry before eleven o'clock, The Burrow was in absolute chaos. All members of the family were frantic as they jogged up and down flights of stairs, and slammed into one another, when they weren't paying attention to where they were going. If someone were to pass by the house at that very moment, they would be sure that there was a menagerie of heavy animals living inside, causing the loudest racket.

Near the top of The Burrow, a blood-curdling scream echoed down the stairs, followed by two voices cackling with amusement. It then sounded as though there was a herd of elephants stampeding to the ground floor. Ron Weasley jumped down from the last few steps and ran to his sister, shoving her in front of him for protection. "Spiders!" he cried, "they came after me with spiders, Aralynn! I hate spiders!"

Molly Weasley overheard him and marched right up to the bottom of the stairs and began to scream up them. "FRED, GEORGE!" she bellowed, "YOU LEAVE YOUR BROTHER ALONE AND PACK YOUR THINGS! WE NEED TO LEAVE SOON!"

"We haven't done a thing!" Fred's voice called back.

"Nothing, Mother, we're innocent!" George added.

"We're angels!" Fred called again.

"Heaven sent!" George agreed.

"Can't you see the halos?" they chimed together.

The mother of the house was visibly aggravated, and she marched back to the stairs, but when she called up them again, it was not with a howling voice, but an exasperated tone. "If you're heaven sent, then heaven must be one hell of a place! Boys, just finish your packing!"

As Molly walked away from the stairs to continue to try and get the rest of her family in order, Ron was still rambling about spiders and his deep hatred for them. When he was three years old, Fred and George had transfigured his teddy bear into a giant spider, and since then, he had been terrified of them. Aralynn turned to him and grabbed ahold of his arms to keep him from waving them erratically while ranting about the spiders. "Ron, calm down," she cooed, "the spiders are gone."

"I'm not going back up there!" he stated. "They probably have them hidden in our bedroom! How can I finish packing when there are spiders in the room, Aralynn? What if they're hidden in my trunk?"

"They're gone," she said again. "I'll go up there with you. We really need to finish packing. We're leaving for Hogwarts today, remember?"

At the mention of Hogwarts, Ron calmed his spider-fueled rage, and replaced the fear with excitement, but it was still laced with worry. He agreed to go back into his bedroom with her, but only if she led the way. They then ascended the staircases with Aralynn in lead and Ron cowering behind her. As they made their way to the top of The Burrow, they climbed all the stairs and passed by several level sections. Photographs and doors lined the walls, and a plethora of items cluttered the hallways. When they reached the door to their bedroom, Ron had Aralynn check all the possible areas in which spiders could be hiding outside, and inside, of the bedroom. When she reassured that he was perfectly safe from the eight-legged creatures, they went inside together.

Ron gave the room a skeptical onceover, and then convinced himself that they were, indeed, safe. They lugged their trunks atop their beds and continued packing. Aralynn crawled halfway under her bed and dragged the scrapbook her brother made her for their birthday, out from under it. She flagged through the pages before setting it neatly atop her clothes. "I can't wait to add more to it," she told him with a gesture towards the book. "Hogwarts will create a lot of memories, and the book will hold all of them."

"You like it, right?" he asked. "It took a long time. I suffered through a lot of paper cuts, just for you, so you'd better like it."

"I love it," she said and shoved him playfully. "I already told you that, dunderhead."

He stumbled backwards from her shove and ended up falling into the depth of his trunk. "Hey!" he scolded, "that was unnecessary."

"Necessary to me," she grinned as she closed the top of the trunk and locked it after ensuring that the red and pink plaid blanket was packed among her other personal items. "Hurry up, Ronald!" she told him. "We need to leave soon, and you have hardly anything in your trunk!"

"I could've had more if you hadn't pushed me into it," he huffed. He lifted himself out of the trunk and threw a few more things into it, closed it, and locked it. He dragged it off his bed and began to drag it out the door once it had landed with a loud thud. "Didn't Dad already have us pack this junk when we got back from Diagon Alley?"

"Yes," Aralynn said as she followed him down the stairs. "Clearly, that didn't turn out very well."

Anyone would have known they were coming, as the bases of the trunks hit each stair with a great clonking. When they reached the ground level, they joined their mother, father, younger sister Ginny, and elder brother Percy in the living room. Now that most of them were there, they had to wait on Fred and George to finish whatever it was that they were doing. Aralynn looked to Ginny, who was clearly upset that she was not yet able to join her siblings at Hogwarts. "You'll be there soon," she reassured with a smile. "Then it'll feel like you were never stuck at home, having to say goodbye to us."

"That seems like such a long time away," Ginny replied with a frown upon her face.

"It's not going to be as long as it seems," Aralynn told her. "I started to believe this day would never come, but here it is—staring me in the face. I promise, Gin, this year will fly by. Besides, you might like having the house to yourself. It'll be nice and quiet."

Ginevra Weasley looked up to her sister with a smile. She leaned forward to embrace her. "Thanks, Ara," she said. "I appreciate this."

Aralynn returned her hug and nodded. "I'm here for a little reassuring anytime you need me to be."

They shared a smile just as Molly Weasley began ushering all her children out the door. "Come along, everyone. Your father needs to get to the Ministry, but he wants to see you all off first. Come on, come on!"

The Weasley family shuffled out the door and gathered around the older model Ford Anglia car parked a short distance from the house. Arthur Weasley went around, hugging his children, and kissing their heads and cheeks. He stepped back from the crowd and tipped his pointed hat to them. "Have a safe journey, Weasleys—I love you!"

They returned his love, and with the blink of an eye, Arthur Weasley had vanished into thin air. Molly then began gesturing for the children to congregate into the car. From the outside, the Ford Anglia didn't seem large enough to seat six Weasley children. However, when entering the car, it was quite roomy. Doctored, of course, with a bit of magic.

"Nice job with the Expansion Charm, Mum," George said as he slid into his seat next to Fred. "It's very roomy back here."

"Is it big enough for you all?" she asked, turning in her seat to look at her children. "Not too cramped?"

"Just perfect," Ginny answered as she shut the door behind her. "We all fit."

"Excellent," Molly beamed with pride. She then turned over the engine and began driving the car down the dirt path.

Ron, who was sitting between George and Aralynn, elbowed his twin gently. "We're finally off to Hogwarts," he said to her. "Can you believe it?"

"The knotting in my stomach says I can," she admitted. "I'm still afraid that I may be put into Slytherin."

"Nah," Ron dismissed with a wave of his hand. "It won't happen. Never has before, why would it now?"

Aralynn had opened her mouth to respond, to tell Ron that the unexpected happened all the time, even when there seemed no chance for it at all. She, however, was cut off by her mother.

"You won't have to worry about that," interrupted Molly from the front seat. "I don't believe you'll be sorted into Slytherin. If anything, you would be sorted into Ravenclaw."

It was clear to Aralynn that, just as Charlie had mentioned in his letter, Molly Weasley was very uneasy with the thought of one of her children being sorted into Slytherin, and maybe even feared the idea that they might become dark wizards just by being sorted into the house. "There's always the possibility, Mum. I think we should prepare for anything that could happen."

"I really am very insistent against this," said Molly.

"I'm sure she'll be sorted into Gryffindor, as the rest of us have," Percy told his mother from the opposite seat in the front of the car. "You have nothing to worry about, Mum."

With a sigh, Aralynn let the discussion drop. She knew that being sorted as a Slytherin was a very distinct possibility, and she couldn't understand why her mother believed that would be so disgraceful. It shouldn't have been a horrifying thought to be a member of House Slytherin.

The question ached in her mind. She wanted it to dissipate; wanted to think of better things, but the aching refused to cease. The girl was plagued with thoughts of being disowned by her family simply because they were displeased with the house she was sorted into. Emotions began welling in her chest, daring tears to her eyes.

In that moment, when tears teased her eyes, Aralynn felt Fred poke her in the side. She forced the tears back, turning her attention to her brother, who was holding a packaged Cauldron Cake for her to take. "Got some when we went to Diagon Alley. Want it?"

Aralynn smiled weakly at her brother, taking the package from him. "Thanks, Fred."

"Try not to look so glum," George said, reaching across to nudge her as well. "Everything will be just fine, you'll see. Cauldron Cakes make everything better."

As Aralynn began to open the packaging, Ron looked hotly towards the twins. "Where's my Cauldron Cake?"

"Gone," shrugged George.

"Ate it," Fred grinned.

"Lot of gits, you are," Ron muttered, but smiled brightly when Aralynn offered him half of her cake.

The Weasleys' journey to King's Cross Station in London passed by with the blink of an eye. Once they were safe in a secluded area without Muggle onlookers, Molly parked the car in an empty spot. She quickly emerged and tottered frantically to the trunk. "Come on, children," she ushered, "we're very, very behind schedule!"

All eight of the redheaded children scuttled from the car, gathered their belongings—with a few mistakes of what was whose—lugged their trunks to the trolleys, and began hastily running towards Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. With trolleys flying rapidly about, and people diving away for their own safety, it was clear that the Weasleys were on a mission.

"Hurry along!" called Molly from the lead. "The Platform is just ahead—oh, we'd get there sooner if these confounded Muggles would MOVE!"

When the signs on the brown-bricked pillar separating platforms nine and ten came into view, the Weasleys slowed and came to a stop just before the column and gathered tightly around it. Molly urged the eldest, Percy, to be the first to cross through the platform. Once he disappeared behind the wall, she turned to her twin boys. "Come along, Fred, you're next."

George and Fred spared mischievous glances before George gestured to his brother with his arm. "He's not Fred, I am."

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother," added Fred, pretending as though he were George.

Molly Weasley released a heavy sigh and gave a defeated nod. "I'm sorry, George."

Fred stepped before the platform and turned a cheeky, playful smirk towards his mother. "Only joking," he said, "I am Fred!" he announced. He then ran for the column, before his mother could grab him by the hair, pull him back to her, and smack him upside the head. George followed quickly suit, fearing the same punishment.

Aralynn looked to Ronald and chuckled quietly behind her hands at their antics.

How typical of the boys, she thought.

Though she still looked a tad bit aggravated, Molly waved her arm for Ron to come forth. "It's your turn, now, love. Hurry along."

Ron began to run forward, only to halt to a stop when another trolley cut in front of his own. Aralynn looked to see a boy with unkempt black hair, green eyes, clothes that were far too big for his small frame, and large round glasses covering half of his face. She glanced over him quickly and felt her body go rigid. A lump was developing in her drying throat, but she didn't understand why.

"S-Sorry," he stuttered nervously in a meek voice. "I'm a bit lost, and I was wondering if you could… could, well…"

Molly watched the boy with soft eyes, and then glanced to the platform while he gestured unsurely towards it. "Do you need help getting onto the platform, dear?"

The black-haired boy nodded silently; helplessly.

"Don't be embarrassed," she cooed to him in a motherly tone. "You're not the only first-year here looking to get onto the platform. See, what you do is: face the column directly, and head straight for it. If you're afraid, it's to best give it a bit of a run. Makes it easier, quicker."

The boy looked from Molly Weasley to the column uneasily. He inhaled a long and deep breath and bore an expression of determination. Before he raced onto the platform, he turned to the Weasley mother and flashed a smile. "Thank you very much," he said politely, ran off, and sunk into the column.

"Sweet boy," Mrs. Weasley remarked to herself before turning back to her remaining two children. "Ron, Aralynn—time to go. It's nearly eleven."

Ron turned to his sister, who was staring vacantly at the spot where the unnamed boy had been standing and gave her a gentle nudge. When she met his eyes, he gestured towards the pillar with the top of his head. "We need to go."

"Right," Aralynn replied hoarsely, but Ron had been too distracted to notice. He looked at the entrance to the platform anxiously but entered it anyway.

She said her goodbyes to her mother and Ginny and followed her brother as quickly as she could. When she crossed through the barrier, and arrived on the other side, she looked up to a red and black train, smoking as it waited to depart. Her lower jaw dropped in awe as she walked leisurely towards the assistant, who was packing the trunks into one of the trains' compartments.

She snapped from her daze when she heard her name being shouted through the loudness of the platform. She looked towards the source of the voice to see Ron leaning halfway off the train from the entrance. Aralynn ran over, and they boarded the train together. They walked down the narrow aisles from car to car, but none of the compartments were empty. Finally, Ron peered through the glass of one of the doors to see the same black-haired boy from earlier sitting by his lonesome. "Come on," he said to his sister, "there's nowhere else."

Aralynn spared a glance into the compartment and felt her throat go dry again. "Anywhere but here," she whispered to him. "Ron, please."

"Everywhere else is completely full, Aralynn," he told her. "Don't be a nutter."

She looked back through the glass and sighed defeatedly. "Fine."

He rolled his eyes and slid the door open. "Excuse me—d'you mind if my sister and I sit with you? There are no free compartments."

"No!" the boy exclaimed eagerly. "No, please, come in."

Ron gave him a thankful smile, grabbed Aralynn by the wrist, and pulled her into the compartment with him. They took the seats directly across from the boy and looked to his smiling face.

"I'm Ron," said Aralynn's brother. "Ron Weasley, and this is my twin sister—Aralynn."

"It's great to meet you," the boy told them with a nod of his head. "I'm Harry Potter."

Ron and Aralynn Weasley gave one another a shocked look. Slowly, Ron turned his head back to Harry with wide eyes. "No kidding!" he halfway shouted. "You're Harry Potter—the Harry Potter—The Boy Who Lived?"

Harry looked out the window thoughtfully. "I suppose I am, yeah."

"Is it, true, then—the scar, I mean? Do you really have it?"

Harry pulled back the hair from his forehead, revealing a lightning bolt-shaped scar above his right eyebrows. "It's true!"

When Aralynn saw the scar upon Harry's forehead, her face drained of all color. She felt like she was going to retch. How was it that she had the exact scar; shape and all, above her right eyebrow, as the famous Harry Potter—The Boy Who Lived? When she was young, and first discovered the ugly thing upon her forehead, she went straight to her mother and asked her how to make it go away.

"It'll never go away," Molly told her, "but, if you'd like, we can cover it with makeup. You can hide it away from everybody if that's what you want to do. You should remember, though, Aralynn—that scar will always be with you. It's part of who you are as a person."

From that moment on, Aralynn had hidden the hideous scar with either layers of makeup, or her bangs. Her own twin brother, somehow, had never noticed she had it, but there it was now, staring directly at her from Harry Potter's forehead. She wanted to vomit.

"That's totally wicked," Ronald remarked with a smile on his face.

"It's always been there," Harry told him. "I never really thought it was special until recently—a bit wonky, sure, but never special."

"It's definitely special," nodded Ron. "Isn't it, Ara?"

Aralynn nodded slowly and weakly. There were absolutely no words in her throat at the current moment. She still wanted to vomit.

Harry looked to her and knitted his eyebrows together. "Er—Aralynn—are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she managed to croak out. "A bit motion sick, I think."

He looked to see an elderly woman stopped outside of their compartment, pushing a three-tiered trolley packed with sweets. "Do you need something to eat?"

She shook her head. "Our Mum packed us some sandwiches for the trip."

Ron shuffled through his pocket and pulled out crumbled corned beef sandwiches wrapped in cellophane with a bleak expression. "She's so thoughtful – Mum." Then quietly, he added, "Forgot I hate corned beef, though…"

Harry Potter looked at the sandwiches and pressed his lips together. When the woman opened the door to the compartment and asked if they wanted anything from the trolley, he pulled out a handful of golden galleons from his pocket. "We'll take the lot!"

Ron and Aralynn both gawked at the mound of coins in his palm. It was more gold than they had ever seen before. It was a beautiful, yet jealousy-inducing, sight.

The three of them gathered the treats into their arms and piled them onto the seat that Harry was sitting in and sat next to him. Aralynn sat warily away as the two boys began devouring the candies. She was still feeling sick—not from the motion of the train, as she had lied, but because of that scar on Harry's forehead. Unanswered questions raced through her mind.

They began talking and bonding as Aralynn sat and watched them in silence. She wanted to join in the merriment, but she felt physically unable to muster any cheer. She wanted to break down and interrogate Harry—why did she have the same scar as him? Why did she feel so connected to him? Why did she feel odd while in his presence?

Lost in her own thought, she hadn't noticed when Ron began attempting to gain her attention. Finally, when he punched her in the arm, she turned to him with a dark glare. "Why did you do that?" she demanded angrily.

"You were ignoring me! I was trying to get your attention!"

"What do you want, Ronald?"

"I wanted to know if you were okay. You've been staring into space the entire time we've been on the train. You should join in on the conversation."

"I'm not feeling very talkative right now."

"What's wrong? I can tell there's something wrong with you."

Aralynn thought of a lie as quickly as she could. "I'm nervous about starting Hogwarts. The closer we get, the more my stomach knots."

Ron put a hand upon Aralynn's shoulder. "It's going to be fine, Ara—it's going to be great. It's going to be the most magical thing we've ever experienced. There's nothing to be nervous about."

She shifted her eyes to look at Harry, who was looking at her with concern. When he noticed that she was looking back, he gave her a smile. "Ron's right. It's going to be incredible."

"Incredible," she agreed, looking out the window. For a moment, she could visualize what Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry looked like. She had seen it in photographs and articles that Percy read from the Daily Prophet, but now she thought of how it would look, standing before it. A massive, majestic, grand castle—aged beautifully like a fine wine, emitting the utter epitome of magic to all first-time onlookers.

She smiled to herself at the thought, only barely hearing the conversation between Ron and Harry about Chocolate Frogs and the Famous Witch or Wizard Cards that came in the package. He began to demonstrate to Harry a spell that Fred had given him to turn his rat, Scabbers, yellow when the compartment door was thrust open. A girl dressed in her robes with bushy brunette hair was scanning their compartment with her eyes. She looked to the three of them and straightened her back. "Have any of you seen a toad? This boy, Neville, lost him—could be hopping about anywhere."

"No," Ron told her, shaking his head.

The girl looked to Ron's drawn wand, and then to the rat. "Are you doing magic? Can I watch?" she asked, though it seemed to be more of a rhetorical question, as she sat across from them before they could consent to her entrance. "Go on."

Ron scowled at her, rolled his eyes, and then turned his attention back to Scabbers. He began waving his wand in no particular pattern, and spoke, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow—turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!"

However, Scabbers was left unchanged.

"It was bogus!" he groaned. "Of course—typical of Fred—giving me bogus spells just to embarrass me in front of people!"

"I can show you a bit of real magic," the girl intervened. She looked around for something she could cast a spell on. She noticed the tape covering the nosepiece of Harry's glasses, scooted over on the seat to be across from him, drew her wand, cleared her throat, and waved it. "Oculus Reparo."

The tape fell from Harry's glasses, revealing the broken nosepiece to be in one, perfect piece. He pulled them off his face and looked down to them. "That's brilliant."

"Thank you," she grinned and paused. "What a wonder! You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger, by the way," she introduced, and then looked to Ron and Aralynn expectantly.

"I'm Aralynn Weasley," she said. "This is my brother, Ron."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," she said, stood, and headed for the exit. Without looking back, she said, "We're arriving at Hogwarts soon, and everyone is changing into their robes—you three should do the same."

When Hermione Granger left their compartment, Ron turned slowly to Harry. "Is she completely off her rocker?"

Aralynn smacked his arm. "Don't be rude, Ronald."

"Oh, come on—didn't you see her? She's a complete nutter."

"She's proud of herself for using magic," she hissed. "Don't dampen her pride with your lack of politeness."

Ron rolled his eyes and stood from his seat. "She was right about one thing—we should be changing into our robes. You first, since you're the only girl—I'll cover you with my robe until you're finished."

The three of them bustled about the compartment as they changed into their uniforms and robes. Once they were dressed in their Hogwarts attire, they sat near the window and stared at the castle approaching rapidly from the distance. Finally, the train came to a halt, and all the students ran off it, as they were eager to finally enter the finest magical institution. They gathered into small, lamp-lit rowboats resting in a dark-watered lake and stared up to the great castle in awe. Aralynn, sitting between Harry and Ron, stared up at the magnificent building with gentle eyes. She was already in love. There it was—her greatest dream: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.