Disclaimer; I own nothing. Carry on (my wayward son).
Two years had passed since Polly became friends with the Weasley twins. Polly could always be found with the boys if she wasn't studying or working on homework. The twins had become her home away from home. They were the perfect combination; she forced them to do a little homework, and they forced her to have a little fun. The balance of attitudes was sheer perfection. They were a force to be reckoned with. Having friends like the twins made life at Hogwarts fun and exciting. They made her life better, especially when she was being teased.
Tanya, Polly's unofficial nemesis, had been the butt of many jokes during the first year of Hogwarts. Second year Tanya had clearly gotten the clue because Tanya had left Polly alone entirely. Laura, Polly's other best friend, didn't really like the twins. She thought they were too childish. Polly thought they were perfect, and wouldn't change them one bit. The twins had been given a position on the Quidditch teams and quickly became popular. But their loyalty lay with their best friends, Polly included.
Polly was currently sitting on the train, alone in a compartment and waiting for the twins, who had promised to meet her there. She was mindlessly drumming her fingers along the window pane. It was a beautiful day. The window was open, sun shining and breeze blowing. Last year, it had been raining, unfortunately, which meant the window had stayed closed. She gazed out the window, but she wasn't really seeing anything. The door slammed open, startling Polly. She jumped in her seat. Fred and George stood at the door, laughing.
"Oi Polly, you wouldn't believe who we just met," George said, sliding onto the booth seat beside Polly.
"You have to guess," Fred said, sitting across from his brother.
"Just tell me," Polly said, laughing.
"Harry Potter!" they said in perfect unison.
Polly looked at them for a moment trying to decided whether or not they were lying. During their first year at Hogwarts, Fred and George had to tell Polly about Harry Potter in the first place. Having grown up in the Muggle world, Polly didn't know all the stories and fairy tales. The twins took it upon themselves to educate her. They started with the Boy who Lived. Polly didn't even believe them at first, but Laura proved them right. They then told her of all the other stories, such as the Tales of the Beetle and the Bard.
"Liars," Polly accused, crossing her arms.
"Think about it," Fred started.
"Best present day school of witchcraft and wizardry," George continued.
"His parents went here," Fred said. "It all makes sense Polly."
"Yeah, I guess it really does all make sense, doesn't it?" Polly looked out the window for a second.
The train slowly began to roll out of Kings Cross station. Polly listened quietly to some of the various schemes the twins had conjured up during the summer. They'd collected a bevy of plans and ideas. Her kooky little twins hadn't changed a bit. Brilliant. Polly rested her head against George's shoulder in an attempt to get comfortable. She wanted to sleep so badly that she was even willing to sleep near the twins. This was not something one ought to do regularly, or you'd wake up with the tail of a pig or some kind of mischief planned against you. Polly learned that George was quite a comfortable lad, and she fell asleep within five minutes.
Fred and George left Polly alone as she slept. Polly was one of the people that were typically not pranked. Now, once in a while they teased her, or hid her shoes, but George made certain that Fred never went too far. Polly was delicate, and George saw to it that Polly wouldn't get a single crack in her porcelain personality. They just carried on with their conversation about Quidditch, and how they planned to really work on their skills. Not that they'd ever let Oliver know they were actually going to work hard. They had a reputation to uphold.
Oliver Wood was a close friend to both Fred and George. He was their fellow Gryffindor, their captain, and the Keeper on their team. As much as they loved to tease and taunt him, they really did care about him. They were like that with most of their friends and family. Oliver Wood could most easily be classified as Quidditch crazy, and he wasn't getting any more sane any time soon.
Laura poked her head in while Polly slept only to roll her eyes at the twins, who glared right back at her. They hated her. They hated her because she was a two faced, filthy liar and made Tanya out to be the enemy when it wasn't Tanya, it was her. What they found out – after being confronted by Tanya about all the pranks – was that Laura had been the one spreading the rumours about Polly that made everyone whisper and laugh. Tanya had only laughed at her once - the first day in the common room, for being awkward - and called her 'weird kid'. She only ever called her 'weird kid' while they were alone in their dorm; never in front of others, because while she may have liked teasing Polly, she didn't want the name catching on.
George wanted nothing more than to just tell Polly the truth, but Fred had somehow convinced him it was better if Polly didn't know. Polly had been spending less time with Laura every year and more time with the boys. Soon, Laura would be just a happy memory. Polly didn't need to dislike both the girls she bunked with for the rest of her time at Hogwarts. George was just afraid that Polly would share a secret with Laura, and Laura would share that secret with the school.
Two hours into the long train ride, Polly woke up. She was very disoriented at first, until she saw Fred grinning at her. Only then did she remember where she was exactly.
"How much longer?" Polly asked, groggily rubbing her eyes. She sat up straight in her seat.
"We've still got about five hours to go," George said, rolling his shoulder around. It had fallen asleep nearly forty minutes ago, but Polly must've been tired, so he left her to sleep.
"Sorry," Polly said, cluing in to the fact his arm was most likely asleep.
"Don't worry about it," George said. "I would've moved you if I wanted to."
Now that Polly was awake, the boys told her about meeting Harry Potter in more detail. What they were telling her was that they helped him and introduced themselves politely. What they left out was how badly they wanted to ask about You-Know-Who. If they'd been completely honest they would've been in big trouble- - not only with their mum but with Polly as well. Polly was a firm believer in one's privacy, and while she loved getting to know people, asking about someone's tragic past upon the first meeting would irk her in every sense of the word.
"Have you seen Lee at all, Polly?" Fred asked.
"No, why?"
"He's got a giant tarantula," George said, grinning from ear to ear. "Want to go see it?"
"Absolutely not," Polly answered, shaking her head. "But you go on ahead."
"Alright," Fred said as both he and George stood up. "We'll be back in a couple minutes."
Polly rested her head on the window as soon as the twins were gone. She tried to sleep again but she couldn't against the rapidly vibrating window. Instead, Polly pulled out a short book on Unicorns to bide the time. Magical Creatures has been one of Polly's biggest interests and that field of work was the top contender on her list of careers for the future. Polly had chosen her electives last Spring. She decided on Care for Magical Creatures, and Divination.
"Knock, knock!" a familiar voice said from the doorway. Polly looked up from her book to see Laura standing there, glamorous as always.
"Hey!" Polly said, standing up to give Laura a hug. The squeezed each other tightly.
"How was your summer, girl?" Laura asked, sitting down across from Polly.
"Typical summer. Spent time with my family, and a week or so at the Burrow," Polly explained. "You never answered any of my letters."
"Never got any," Laura said, dismissively.
"Oh," Polly said.
"So how're your pets?" Laura asked.
"Pets? I only have one," Polly said, furrowing her brow.
"I was talking about the Weasley's."
"Don't talk about them like that, Laura. Why can't you guys get along?" Polly crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm allowed to not like people," Laura said, shrugging.
"What is she doing here?" the twins asked from the doorway.
"I can't recall any rules about me not being allowed to chat with my good friend, Polly." Laura stayed glued to the seat.
There was a stare down in the little compartment. The twins glared at Laura while she glared right back. Laura was the first to cave. She huffed as she stood up, stocking out of the room.
"Why the heck can't you guys all just be friends?" Polly asked, crossing her arms. A pout was painted over her face. George plopped onto the booth and rested his head on her lap. Fred just sat across from them. Fred and George exchanged a look.
"Some people just don't get along," George said, looking up at her with innocent eyes.
"Yeah, yeah." Polly uncrossed her arms, setting one on the seat beside her and the other on George's chest. "So you've said."
"Have you a check list this year, Polly?" Fred asked, dying to change the subject.
"No," Polly said, lying. She absolutely had a checklist. She had one every year, it was filled with goals for this year. Last year she came two boxes away from completing it. But the goals of getting her first kiss and memorizing the names of everyone in her house remain unchecked. Those two were carried over to this years list.
"I reckon she's lying," Fred said.
"I believe you're right," George said, grinning.
"Oh, leave me alone."
The long train ride went by quickly with the twins entertaining Polly in many ways. First they told her a few of the many, many jokes they played on their younger brother, Ronald Weasley. Second, they got a few sweets to share between them all. Then, Fred went off to find Lee again while George and Polly stayed in the compartment and just talked. Polly told George all about her deepest fears and greatest ambitions. In return, he told her a few things that only Fred knew.
But like all good things it came to an end. They rolled into Hogwarts late at night. After waiting for the first years to get off the train, they got off themselves. They met up with Fred and Lee at the castle. After a quick hello to Lee, Polly had to go to her own table, even though she would've much rather stayed with the twins. While both twins felt the same way, one of them felt a little more strongly about it. In fact, that was one of Fred's reoccurring jokes - 'George and Polly sitting in a tree...'
The banquet went on as they all did. The first years were sorted into their houses. Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, and Wayne Hopkins were just a few of the new Hufflepuffs. Polly was sitting beside Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was a very smiley boy. When the houses were settled and all the students sorted, Dumbledore gave a bit of a speech before beginning the feast to commence the term.
"I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley. And you are?" Justin asked Polly, who smiled.
"Polly Samuel," she said.
"Pleasure to meet you," Justin said, filling up his plate with food.
"Likewise."
"Is it as good as they say it is here?" Justin asked.
"Yes, it really is. Way better than Monmouth, I'm sure," Polly said.
"Was your name down for Monmouth?" Justin asked. Polly nodded as her mouth was full of food. "I was down for Eton."
"Muggle born?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah."
They talked for a little while longer until Laura came up to the table and pulled Polly away. Laura scorned her for talking to Justin but not her. After Laura was done lecturing her, she stormed back to her seat, leaving Polly confused. Laura being slightly bipolar was something one had to deal with if they wanted to be close friends with her.
Polly returned to her seat and finished eating just as the first years were about to be escorted to their common rooms for the first time. When they were gone, Polly began to leave herself, talking a leisurely little stroll up to her common room. She passed by all the paintings she had missed over the summer.
When she finally made it to her room Laura and Tanya were already there, and to no one's surprise, they were bickering.
"Whatever," Laura said, storming out of the dorm, presumably to go to the common room.
"I don't understand how you can be friends with her," Tanya said, throwing herself onto the bed dramatically.
"She's super nice," Polly said.
"Ha, what? You're talking about the reason you were called 'weird kid' for so long," Tanya said, closing her eyes. "God, do I ever regret teasing you. Those twins set me straight so fast."
"What did you say?" Polly asked, not sure if she heard what Tanya said about Laura right.
"About the twins?"
"About Laura."
"She's the reason you were called 'weird kid'..."
"No, you were." Polly crossed her arms and watched as Tanya's brow furrowed.
"I only ever called you that when it was just us in the room," Tanya said, sitting up. "I never actually said anything to anyone about you. I liked teasing you, but I never actually disliked you. You know that, right?"
"Impossible," Polly said, sitting on the edge of her bed. She uncrossed her arms and gripped the blankets in her fists.
"Did you not know? I would have assumed the twins told you," Tanya said, walking over to sit beside Polly. "Look, I'm really sorry that I teased you, okay? I want to try and be friends."
"I believe you."
"Okay, good." Tanya drummed her fingers on the bed. "Did the twins really not tell you? I thought you guys were thicker than thieves."
"How do you know they know?"
"I told them. I wanted to know why they kept pranking me so much and they said it was because of the teasing, which I stopped. But it kept going and I had stopped. That's when I figured out it was Laura. I told the twins that, and they left me alone."
"I'm too angry to talk anymore, I'm sorry." Polly looked homicidal, which was not something Polly did often. Quite frankly, it scared Tanya.
"Okay, good night."
Polly was mad. At Laura, but that was clear as the nose on anyone's face. But also at twins. How dare they not tell Polly? How dare they? Polly had shared secrets with Laura. God knows how many other students knew of them now. Was nothing sacred? Polly felt like she couldn't trust anyone.