After what felt like an age, the Weasley's were all packed into the back of their old Ford Anglia. Her brothers were all bickering as usual while Bella sat squashed between Ron and Percy, a book propped open in her lap. We pulled up onto the curb on the busy streets of London, across the road from King's Cross Station, home to Platform nine and three quarters. Molly instructed Arthur and Percy to go and collect the luggage trolleys they would need while Fred and George were instructed to lift everything from the boot out onto the pavement. After a lot of moaning and not a lot of actual lifting, their belongings were on the luggage trolleys and the Weasley family were making their way through the packed station.
"It's the same every year. Always packed with Muggles, of course." Molly muttered as she pushed her way through the busy station. "Come on. Platform 9 3/4 this way! All right, Percy, you first." Percy ran head first at the wall and disappeared. No matter how many times Bella had seen her brothers do this it always mesmerized her.
"Fred, you next." Their mother called.
"He's not Fred, I am!" George yelled and Bella and Ron silently chuckled together, knowing they were just trying to wind up their mother.
"Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother!" Fred mock scolded.
"Oh, I'm sorry George." She said.
"I'm only joking. I am Fred." At this, Fred runs at the wall and George follows straight after.
Just as their mother is about to show Ron through, a boy with shaggy black hair and piercing green eyes speaks up from her side.
"Excuse me" C-could you tell me how to-" He stuttered
"How to get onto the platform? Yes, not to worry dear. It's Ron and Bella's first time to Hogwarts as well." Mum says, inclining her head towards the twins at her side. Bella smiled at the obviously scared young boy and he smiled back.
"Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous." Molly said to the boy.
"Good luck." Ginny said from Bella's side on the platform.
He took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut and ran towards the wall, disappearing through it.
"It's very easy." Arthur commented, ushering Ron forwards.
"Good luck Ron." Bella said to her nervous looking brother. She watched him gulp before he closed his eyes and ran straight for the wall and disappeared, Arthur following him.
"I promise you'll be absolutely fine." Molly smiled as she ushered Bella towards the wall.
"I hope you're right." She muttered as she ran at the wall and emerged through it, a great big steam engine looking back at her.
"I knew you could do it Princess." Arthur beamed as he hugged her, Molly and Ginny arriving at her back.
"Have a lovely year both of you. And please behave." Molly said as she hugged both sets of twins.
"Thanks mum." Bella and Ron chorused as Ginny threw her arms around them.
"See you at Christmas Gin." Bella smiled as Ginny hugged them tighter.
"Yeah see you at Christmas." Ron said, trying to pry her arms from around them.
The twins said their goodbyes to their parents and sister as the boarded the train that would take them to school. The train then began to move and they waved after Ginny as she chased the train to the end of the platform. The train pulled out of the station and just like that, their first year at Hogwarts had begun.
"What way should we go?" Bella asked as she looked up and down the aisle they were standing in.
"This way." Ron said, leading the way up the aisle. The further they walked the more hope was lost that they would find a compartment as every one they passed was full.
"We are never going to find one." Bella groaned.
"I just have." Ron exclaimed as he slid back the door to a compartment with only one boy in it.
"Excuse me, do you mind? Everywhere else is full." Ron asked as Bella lingered behind him in the corridor.
"No, not at all." The boy replied and as he glanced at her, Bella realised that he was the boy from the platform.
Ron took the seat across from the boy and pulled Bella down into the seat beside him.
"I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley and this is my twin sister Bella."
"Hi." Bella said.
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." The boy introduced himself. Ron's mouth dropped open and Bella elbowed him.
"Do you really have the... you know?" Ron asked, pointing to his forehead.
"The what?" Harry asks, dumbfounded.
"Scar...?" Ron whispers. Bella rolled her eyes at Ron and his dramatics.
"Oh, yeah." Harry says as he lifts his hair to show his lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
"Wicked." Ron replies.
"Apologies for my brother and his manners, I'm not half as bad as he is." Bella laughed.
"What did I do now?" Ron asks but at that, the trolley lady appears with her trolley full of sweets.
"Anything off the trolley dears?" She asks.
"No thanks, we're set." Bella replied as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a squashed jam sandwich and Ron done the same.
"We'll take the lot!" Harry says as he pulls a handful of coins from his pocket and hands them to the trolley lady. Ron and Bella looked at each other with looks of utter disbelief.
"Woah!"
The three first years sat for ages gorging on sweets and filling their faces. Bella giggled at Ron's pet Rat Scabbers, lying on Ron's knee with a box over his head.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?" Harry asked.
"Exactly what it says on the box, every flavour you could imagine. There's loads, George swears he got a bogey flavoured one once but I think he was kidding." Bella said absentmindedly looking out the window. Harry quickly took the bean he was chewing out of his mouth.
"These aren't real frogs, are they?" Harry asks holding up Bella's favourite, chocolate frogs.
"It's only a spell. Besides, it's the cards you want. Each pack's got a famous witch or wizard. Ron's got about 500 of them." Bella replied, chomping down on a pumpkin pasty. The frog from Harry's packet ribbets and hops onto the window, crawling up to the top and leaping through the gap.
"Oh, that's rotten luck. They've only got one good jump in them to begin with." Ron said offhandedly.
"Hey, I got Dumbledore!" Harry said.
"I got about 6 of him." Ron said.
"Hey, he's gone!" Harry gasped.
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?" Bella laughed.
"This is Scabbers, by the way, pathetic, isn't he?" Ron said, looking down at the squeaking rat.
"Just a little bit." Harry said.
"He creeps me out." Bella commented.
"Only because he bit you when we were younger and you've been terrified of him ever since." Ron laughed.
"Whatever." Bella huffed.
"Fred gave me a spell to turn him yellow. Want to see?" Ron asked Harry.
"Yeah!" Harry replied enthusiastically.
"I can guarantee it will not work. It's Fred and George we're talking about." Bella added but it fell on deaf ears as Ron pulled out his wand.
Ron cleared his throat. "Ahem. Sun-" His speech is interrupted as the door to the compartment was pulled open to reveal a young girl with bushy brown hair stood there. "Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." She asked in a matter-of-fact tone. "No." Ron snapped.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then." The girl said as she dropped into the seat across from Bella. "Aghhhemm." Ron cleared his throat loudly. "Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" Ron waved his wand about and nearly hit Scabbers as he jabbed it at him.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? Of course I've only tried a few simple spells myself, and they've all worked for me. For example..." The girl moved to the space in front of Harry and pointed her wand square between his eyes. Bella watched Harry tense in his seat and she became worried about what this would entail.
"Oculus Reparo." The girl said, fixing the damaged noseband of Harry's glasses. Harry, shell-shocked, took his glasses off and examined them.
"That's better isn't it? Wow, you're Harry Potter, I've read all about you! I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" The girl spoke quickly.
"I'm Bella Weasley." Bella said politely.
"I'm...Ron Weasley." Ron answered with a mouth full of sweets
"Pleasure. You all better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon."
At that Hermione made to leave but turned back just as she reached the doorway.
"You've got dirt, on your nose, by the way, did you know? Just there." She said to Ron as she pointed to his nose and he quickly turned away, wiping furiously at his face.
"I'm going to change." Bella said before she walked out of the compartment and walked down the corridor toward the sign showing the toilets. She changed pretty quickly and was on her way back to the compartment when she was knocked to the ground by someone.
"Watch where you're going." Bella looked up to see who had knocked her to the ground and she came face to face with the slimy git Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy." She spat, venom dripping off her tongue as she hauled herself to her feet. She made to move past him but he grabbed her upper arm with more force than she expected and she flinched. "Let. Me. Go." she growled, punctuating every word.
"You might want to watch yourself. Don't want a hair on that pretty little head of yours getting hurt now do we? Whatever would your mother do if her precious Bella was hurt?" He whispered in her ear and she pulled away to see him smirking at her. He dropped his hold on her arm and she stormed off but not before he managed to get the last word in. "Heed my warning Weasley. You'll see I'm right one of these days."
'Who does he think he is! Pompous, arrogant git!' She fumed. In her anger, she slammed the door of the compartment shut with such force that the window pane rattled. "What happened?" Ron asked. "Malfoy is a git. Nothing we didn't already know." She growled angrily.
The train slowed to a stop and Bella pulled open the compartment door, more gentle now, as she, Harry and Ron made their way onto the platform. Bella noticed a large figure standing at the end of the platform and was surprised when a booming voice sounded above the chatter on the platform.
"Firs' years over 'ere."
