Nearly identical ginger heads whipped towards the door, faces plastered with identical expressions of wide-eyed surprise. Standing outside the compartment was a (rather exceptionally pretty thought George) witch neither of them had ever seen before. She was tall, with long dirty blonde hair that sported several streaks of hot bubble-gum pink, not unlike the color they had seen Tonks wear so many times. Her hair fell in loose curls over her shoulders to dangle lightly at her waist. Her blue-gray eyes stared at them through the window, expressionless. They flicked first to Fred, then to George, then back again. It may have been his imagination, but George thought she may have lingered a moment longer when she looked at him.
Then without any warning, she giggled, a twinkle making its way into her eyes, and it made her heart-shaped face light up. Her full cupid bow lips stretched into a grin and she slid the compartment door open half way.
"Do you boys mind if I join you?" she asked softly, as though embarrassed she had broken the silence. "It's just…all the other compartments are jammed full and I can't stand being stuffed in a crowd." Her eyes flitted between them hopefully as she waited for an answer.
"You're a Yank!" George exclaimed in surprise. Beside him, Fred snorted and didn't bother trying to hide a smirk- George never was as skilled with his words as he was. George shot him a glare then looked back to the girl, an apology forming in his brain. But before he could speak she gave a wry grin and slid the door open the rest of the way.
"Well spotted." she said dryly. "Can I take that as a yes then?"
Let it be noted that the Weasley Twins would join the Death Eaters before denying themselves the company of a pretty, mysterious girl. The boys glanced at each other and nodded in unison.
An immense grin blossomed on the girl's face and she beamed at them; George felt himself smile back before he even realized his mouth was moving- he thought she was rather beautiful when she smiled like that, not just pretty, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.
'Oh how poetic Georgie-boy' The snarky voice in his head sounded remarkably like Fred's and George gave himself an internal shake.
"Thanks boys! You have no idea how grateful I am!" And with that, she heaved the most enormous trunk George had ever seen into the compartment, whipped out her wand, and levitated it smoothly into the luggage rack before plopping down in the seat next to Fred. She put her feet up on the opposite bench next to George, crossed her dragon booted feet at the ankles, closed her eyes and heaved a great, happy sigh, looking for all the world like a contented cat.
'A rather strangely postured contented cat.' amended George. He had never seen anyone so strangely dressed, and he was rather impressed that she had managed to give off the air of plopping down at all, given the fact that she was wearing an honest-to-Merlin corset that kept her back ramrod straight.
It was a deep, violet purple with tiny flowers and stars embroidered all over it in a metallic bronze. The corset molded her body perfectly, gently covering her ample chest and emphasizing the sharp curve of her waist and the swell of her hips. His eyes swept down her legs, clad in jeans that were obviously chosen for comfort rather than style. Strange it may have been, but he also found it somehow…adorable.
He glanced over at Fred and gave his head a slow shake. His brother wasn't so much studying the strange girl reclining next to him as he was trying to surrepticiously look down her top.
With a jolt, George realized she was staring at him, her head tilted slightly to the side as though she was either slightly puzzled or extremely fascinated. Her eyes swept over him, much as his had her, and he shifted slightly in his seat, disconcerted that he was disconcerted. He was George Weasley for Merlin's sake! He could charm any witch he set his eyes on, had fought in a war, AND was voluntarily returning to school. He would not be nervous about some girl looking him over.
Suddenly her head whipped around to eye Fred, who smirked at her unabashedly, not caring about getting caught. She smirked back before saying, "Names are traditionally exchanged before trying to see a girl's chest in this country, are they not?"
Her amused sarcastic tone took them both aback and George let out a bark of laughter and began to relax, laughing at Fred as he blushed slightly.
"Usually yes," he began.
"But we've never been ones for tradition have we, brother?" finished George. "In this case however…" he sighed dramatically. "We'll make an exception."
And with that George stuck out his hand in her direction. "George Weasley"
Her eyes lit up again. "Oh I should have known! You're the Weasley twins, of course!"
The twins looked at each other in surprise- were they famous in America too?
She punctuated her exclamation by placing her hand in George's and shaking it firmly. "Izabelle Lyon, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you!" She looked into his eyes, a happy smile of her features. She dropped his hand and turned to Fred. "And if he's George, then you must be Fred. Pleasure to meet you too!" She grinned at him and stretched out her hand for him to shake. But when he grabbed it, instead of shaking it, he turned her hand over and brought it to his lips, giving her knuckles a light kiss.
"Trust us, the pleasure's ours" he said with a rogueish grin.
A tiny flame of jealousy sprang to life in George's chest as she smiled in exasperation at him and her cheeks tinted pink with a blush. George quickly stomped on the feeling, amazed at himself- he had never been jealous of his twin!
Izabelle took her hand back and turned her attention back to George. He looked back at her and she opened her mouth, but didn't speak, and although he was not touching any part of her, he noticed a blush darken her cheeks all the same. His lips lifted in a devilish little grin and he threw her a saucy wink at which she turned nearly red and tore her eyes away from him, clearing her throat awkwardly. Fred's eyes were flickering between them as though he were watching a riveting tennis match.
"So you're the infamous Weasley twins, war heroes and pranksters extraordinaire" she said, a slight strain to her voice.
Fred and George leaned back smugly in unison and chimed "That's us."
Her voice was an excited chatter- "I should've known of course! Plastered all over the Daily Prophet you two, along with the rest of your family of course. I'm amazed I didn't recognize you by your voices- can't count how many nights I listened to Potterwatch."
"Potterwatch?" asked Fred with surprise. Sure, these days everyone knew that the radio show that bolstered rebellious spirits during the war had been thanks to Fred and George and their friend Lee Jordan, but they'd never heard of anyone listening in from another country.
"I didn't know you got Potterwatch in America" added George.
She giggled at them and shook her head. "They didn't, at least as far as I know." she said. "But I haven't been in America for over a year now. I jumped the Pond when the war started. Spent every night after that listening for Potterwatch, it was a godsend really." She stated this as calmly and smoothly as if she hadn't just declared that she'd crossed an ocean to join a bloody war.
"You came to England when the war started?" asked George incredulously.
"As in, left your nice, safe home in America, to come thousands of miles to be surrounded by death, destruction, and insanity?" said Fred, equally incredulous.
She snorted in amusement. "Yes, I did."
They shook their heads at her and chimed in united disbelief "You're a nutter, you are."
George could tell immediately that this was the wrong response. She wrinkled her little button nose at them and her eyes flashed with something that George was worried might have been anger.
"I am not a nutter!" she said ferociously. "America isn't really that far from England, you know. It would only have been a matter of time before Voldemort was knocking on our doorstep as well. And even if he didn't, I couldn't just stay in school twiddling my thumbs, writing essays, and searching the Daily Prophet for real news when he was out in the world killing, torturing, and trying to take over the whole planet now could I?" she shook her head and without waiting for a response continued. George got the distinct impression she'd argued this countless times before. " There was a war being fought and goddamn it, I was gonna be in it!" The light in her eyes had turned fierce. "So I packed the essentials, grabbed my best friend, bade a happy farewell to the American Academy of Magic, popped across the ocean, and joined the Resistance. After it was all over…" she trailed off and when she spoke again it was much more softly and in a tone that suggested she was going for nonchalance. "Apparently we weren't the only Americans to get the idea to join up, you see. So when the war was over, the Ministry offered citizenship to those of us who had joined up. We jumped at it, Shawn and I. Neither of us ever liked America much anyways. And just when we were getting around to figuring out what we were gonna do next, the Education Completion Act comes out and boom! We're off to Hogwarts." At the mention of Hogwarts the fog around her seemed to clear and she was once again the picture of excitement. "Not that I mind you know, I rather love school and I've always wanted to go to Hogwarts! Mama and Daddy wouldn't send me when I was little, said it was too far away for them to keep an eye on me." She smiled at them expectantly but they were staring at her with faces of abject horror.
"Love school?" said Fred incredulously. George shook his head in disappointment.
"You're just as bad as Granger, you are. Probably hate breaking the rules too, don't you?" his voice was rather morose. And here he'd thought they were headed towards being good mates.
"Hey! I believe rules were made to be broken, thank you very much! I've never exactly taken well to authority, hence my parents refusing to let me leave the country." She gave a proud giggle. "I just love to learn that's all. Well, and I do like making good grades- makes me feel all accomplished" she smiled wryly and shook her head at her own foolishness. "Though it all seems rather silly now, doesn't it? After all that's happened."
Her voice had turned serious again and tension loomed in the air. But it seemed that Fred had filled his quota of war remembrance for the day and was now determined that if they must be off to school, they would do it with as much cheer as they could muster. The war was over, it was time to start moving on. And so, he said "Oh, I dunno. A bit of normalcy may be exactly what everyone needs. That and some Weasley Wizard Wheezes." He grinned at George, who grinned gratefully back at him and chuckled.
"Too true brother. And lucky for them, they can get straight from the source"
"Oh just think of the galleons George!" Fred exclaimed. Wealthy as though they may already be, having grown up as poor as they did, Fred didn't think he'd ever feel they were well off enough. George opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Izabelle's amused voice.
"What on Earth are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"
The twins positively gaped at her in shock. She'd heard of them, but she'd never heard of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? Perhaps they were going to have to go that extra mile in advertising after all…. Fred's head gave a shake of sadness and he vowed that rather than explain the amazingness that was his and George's creations, he'd give her a first hand demonstration at the first opportunity. This seemed to satisfy her and for a moment, quiet reigned in the compartment once again.
George's curiousity about this strange Yankee was growing by the second however, and it wasn't long before he couldn't keep himself quiet.
"So are there any more of you coming this year?" he asked.
She snorted at him. "Americans, you mean? Yes. When we invade someplace we do it properly and in large numbers." she shot him a grin. "Or at least in numbers of about a dozen. All of us got roped in by the E.C.A. but the only person I know is Shawnee."
"That bloke you left school with?" asked Fred. For some reason she seemed to find this very funny and it took her a moment for her laughter to subside. George wondered if she wasn't somehow related to Luna Lovegood. He also noticed with slight alarm that there was a tightening in his chest that he recognized as jealousy, which was ridiculous he told himself. He'd just met the girl for Merlin's sake!
"No" she finally gasped out. "Shawn is my best friend, the girl I broke out with."
The tightening in his chest loosened suddenly and he felt much cheerier. A small, wistful smile had settled on her face.
" We were going to come on the train together" she continued, "Marvelously novel experience, you know, but she had…an appointment she couldn't miss. She'll be meeting me at the Grand Entrance so we can do the Sorting together thank goddess. I'm positively terrified at the prospect."
George noticed that she did in fact look distinctly paler than she had a moment before, and she gave an audible little gulp. He smiled at her reassuringly, remembering how nervous he'd been at his Sorting, scared he and Fred might be separated.
"Don't be nervous" he said, smile still in place.
"Yeah" joined in Fred. "Nothing to it really-"
"-sit on a stool" continued George.
"have a ragged old hat stuffed onto your head-"
"- and then the next thing you know-"
"you're Sorted" they finished together.
Izabelle let out a bark of laughter and did look considerably cheerier. "I'm not really worried about the Sorting itself, I'll end up where I end up. I know all about the different Houses and things, I read Hogwarts, A History for the first time when I was 12."
"Blimey George!" exclaimed Fred. "She is another Granger! Imagine, another girl besides Hermione to have read it."
"Another person besides Hermione to have read it you mean." George corrected. Fred's head nodded vigorously in agreement, his ginger hair bouncing on his forehead.
"So what are you nervous about then?" he queried.
Izabelle gave a long sigh and began to twirl a strand of bright pink hair round her index finger. George watched it her intently, imagining how soft it would feel against his own fingers. He didn't have much time to dwell on it thought however as she had spoken again.
"As silly as it sounds, though you two may be the only ones who understand, I'm terrified of being separated from Shawn. I haven't spent even a single day away from her since I was 15 years old, and to say all this war business has made me a bit over-protective and paranoid would probably be the understatement of the century. I didn't even want to get on the train without her, but she insisted and telling her no is like trying force a hippogryph into a sweater- it's simply not possible. And I'm nearly positive she's gonna end up in Ravenclaw." She gave a little unhappy sigh.
"And you don't think you will?" asked Fred curiously. She had said she loved learning afterall.
"End up in Ravenclaw" clarified George at her wrinkle of confusion.
"Before all this started- before duels to the death, before spending months hiding out in various woods all over England avoiding Snatchers and killing Death Eaters, before I knew what it was like to actually worry for someone's life every day-"
George noticed she didn't say 'worry for my life'. The more he heard her talk about this Shawn, the more he was realizing how very attached she was to her. Perhaps as much as he was to Fred. There was a hint of shadow in Izabelle's eyes that hinted she was all too familiar with the same fear George was. Quickly he turned his attention back to her, lest he miss anything.
" Before all that, I'm almost positive I would've been in Ravenclaw. I always thought I was more brains than brawn. But now…now I can't seem to help thinking that just learning things isn't any good if you don't have the guts to put them into action. I expect I'll end up in Gryffindor. I've got the last name to match and all." And once again her face was lit by an amused smile.
George and Fred couldn't contain their grins, they'd be lying if they said they hadn't hoped she held expectations for Gryffindor.
"Smashing house, Gryffindor is." proclaimed Fred proudly. George nodded in agreement and shot Izabelle a wide smile that set a tingling throughout her body. She shifted in her seat minutely.
"All the best ones end up Gryffindor anyway" said George with a wink. Izabelle laughed.
"Don't need to ask what house you two are in then" she said dryly. George had a rather witty comeback on the tip of his tongue, if he did say so himself, but before he could use it she had glanced out the window and given a surprised gasp.
Twin heads swiveled towards the window, hands on their wands. It wasn't so very long ago that a reaction like that meant Death Eaters or Dementors outside the train. They relaxed when they realized there was nothing there and they noticed that the sky was swiftly turning a dark purplish blue.
"Gracious we must be nearly there!" Izabelle blurted, an expression between elation and terror warring on her delicate features. "We need to get changed! And since I'm the odd one out, I'll go change in the loo." And with that she sprang out of her seat, accio'd her school robes from her trunk and had disappeared down the corridor, leaving Fred and George gaping after her.
"She's a strange one, she is. Interesting, but strange." said George thoughtfully as he and Fred were putting on their robes. Fred hummed his agreement.
"And words like 'loo' just do not sound right in that accent." he said solemnly, giving a little shudder.
George let out a chuckle and fastened the last button on his black dragon skin coat. Back at school he may be, but he was NOT giving up his beloved jacket. Opposite him, Fred did the same, their movements almost a perfect mirror image.
It was moment like this, little ones that didn't really mean anything, when George was hit with the immensity of his brother being alive and how awful it would've been if he weren't; if George had been forced to sit in this compartment alone, dreading the journey to the place that held so many painful memories. He rather thought he may not have even bothered coming back to Hogwarts, he'd probably be buried in a bottle of firewhisky somewhere, at the very least.
Thankfully, he was shaken from his unhappy thoughts by Izabelle's return.
She looked mostly like everyone else now, decked out in her black Hogwarts uniform, except for that bright pink hair. As George looked down he noticed she had also left on her dragon skin boots- they were formed perfectly to her calves, as though they had been molded by years of use.
'Or a year of war' thought George darkly. But he had to admit it was a good look for her and when he noticed she was watching him look at her feet he quirked his eyebrow at her.
She sent him a small, slightly embarrassed smile as though he had just caught her with her childhood security blanket and gave a little one shouldered shrug.
At that moment the train gave a shudder and halted to a stop. They had arrived at Hogsmeade station.
Izabelle let out a squeal of delight. "we're here!" she exclaimed gleefully. She immediately made towards the door and threw it open. She was out of the compartment and starting down the hall before Fred and George had even left their seats.
Shaking their heads at the foolishness of school-lovers everywhere, they grabbed their bags and stepped into the corridor. Izabelle was waiting for them halfway down the train, giving a sigh of relief when they caught up to her.
"I just realized- I have no idea where I'm going. I just know I'm supposed to go in the carriages, it said so in my letter" she said helplessly. The twins laughed at her looking so distressed then took up a place on either side of her, each throwing an arm over her shoulders.
"Don't worry Izzy" began George but he stopped when she arched an eyebrow at him. "What, not fond of Izzy?"
She wrinkled her nose at him but he could tell she was also fighting a grin, the corners of her mouth twitching.
"Not normally, no, I'm more of a Belle person. But if you feel you must…" she let out a put-upon sigh, but George had a feeling that she was secretly pleased with the nickname and he resolved to use it. Besides, the name Belle had him almost physically fighting his own tongue from screaming 'ding-dong' jokes. And he didn't think she'd appreciate that.
Fred snorted softly next to him as though he was following the same thought process, which he probably was.
They had been off the train and steering through the monstrous crowd covering the platform for a few moments now and George could see the carriages finally coming into view ahead. Of course, he was probably at a slight advantage, his powerfully built 6 foot 3 frame towered over most of the student body. Soon enough though they had reached the cluster of carriages and the oddly beautiful thestrals that pulled them.
He eyed them curiously, he'd never been able to see them before the War.
As he looked around, he noticed that a lot more students were eyeing the creatures than there would normally be. But then again, there'd been a much greater opportunity to watch someone die than there would've normally been.
Fred pointed out a carriage that didn't have a gaggle of students in front of it, and they quickly sped towards it before it could be snatched up. Izabelle walked up to their thestral with a soft, adoring look on her face and reached out a hand to lovingly stroke it's leathery looking neck. When it didn't attack her or startle in any way, she moved closer and bent her face next to it. She seemed to be crooning to it.
The twins watched her cuddle the gruesome beast with eyebrows raised. Was she somehow related to Luna Lovegood and Hagrid? She certainly just got weirder and weirder.
With a happy sigh she turned from the thestral and hauled herself into the carriage.
"Well?" she asked impatiently. "Are you getting in or not?" The twins couldn't help but laugh at her wide grin and roll their eyes, but they stepped up into the carriage all the same. With a jolt their thestral started forward and then they were off towards the school, Izabelle literally bouncing in her seat.