Almost There

The streets of diagon alley were packed. Alyssa pushed her way through the crowds restlessly. She didn't like being so near so many people she would never even know. It made her feel very uncomfortable because she liked knowing things. Cecilia wasn't with her, Alyssa preferred to do things on her own when she could. She was eleven years old now and getting ready to start Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although Cecilia would rather bite out her own tongue than admit it, she was rather relieved that Alyssa would not be with her all year long. It wasn't that she didn't like the girl, in fact she liked her very much. Alyssa was the daughter she had never had. But she wasn't easy to look after, and after the series of disturbing explosions that had been taking place all over the house, Cecilia decided she was very glad that Alyssa would learn how to control her magical abilities. A bit of peace and quiet wouldn't do any harm either.

Cecilia had been slightly apprehensive when Alyssa had informed her that she would be shopping alone, but to mention any of this would be an insult. It wasn't that she didn't think Alyssa was capable of looking after herself, she was more worried about the compulsive habits the child had which were sure to include spending sprees. Alyssa had taken the key to her Gringotts vault with almost alarming enthusiasm. True, the money in there was her own, but big though Alyssa's bank account may be, it was intended to last her well into adulthood by which time she would (hopefully) have a job and be making her own money. Cecilia had tried to give her a warning but found that it was waved away with a carefree hand. And so Alyssa and set of to buy school supplies, and Cecilia had been left at home biting her elegant fingernails.

To Alyssa's annoyance she found herself being swept along by the crowd, this was slightly inevitable due to her being quite little. She battled her way towards Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Her school list said that she needed plain black work robes. Alyssa didn't want plain black robes, they were just so dull. She supposed she didn't have much choice in the matter however so she decided to just grit her teeth and bare it. She was good at doing that. Standing just outside the shop she spotted an extraordinarily large man with a fantastic mess of hair and a tangled beard. Alyssa reflected bitterly how it would have been so much easier to be shopping with him, he would part the hoards of shoppers without even trying, she would have been able to follow his wake with no hint of the discomfort she was currently going through. She entered the shop just as a thin boy with black hair left it. She had a feeling she might have smacked him with her cauldron as she passed but she decided not to dwell on it.

"Hello dear. Starting Hogwarts are you?" Alyssa spotted a cheery-looking witch who she guessed was Madam Malkin.

"Yeah I am" she replied as politely as she could. She was in a bad mood and did not particularly relish being called 'dear'.

"Parents not with you?"

"No, they're not" Alyssa reflected dryly that it would take a near miracle to have her mother here with her, even if she wanted her which she most certainly didn't. And it would take a real miracle for her father to be here since he had being lying buried in the ground for over nine and a half years and was now probably just a pile of bones. She forced herself to smile, deciding that if she was going to survive the day then she would have to cheer up, something she had become very good at doing. And so, when the next customers came into the shop she beamed at them merrily. It was a girl around her own age with a lot of bushy brown hair and protruding front teeth. She was with her parents who where donned in muggle clothing and looked slightly overwhelmed.

"Hiya! Are you starting at Hogwarts this year too? I am, I'm well excited are you?" Alyssa took in the girl's full appearance and decided she must be a muggle born.

"Yes I am. I only discovered that magic existed a little while ago actually, when I got my letter. Of course as soon as I found out I did as much research as I could" the girl had a bossy voice, Alyssa wasn't quite sure whether this was a good thing or not, generally speaking she didn't have the best track record of getting on with bossy people due to the fact that she preferred to be in charge. "I'm Hermione Granger by the way"

"I'm Alyssa Fields. So what was it like finding out about magic and stuff then? Did you totally freak out? I'd have thought someone was taking the piss!" Hermione's parents were nodding in feverish agreement.

"Okay dear, that's you done" Madam Malkin told Alyssa who paid and exited the shop, waving absentmindedly at Hermione. With a deep breath she plunged back into the sea of people. She didn't pay much attention to where she was being carried until she caught sight of Ollivander's, the shop that sold wands. Alyssa had been excited about getting a wand since she was four years old. She struggled into the shop and breathed a sigh of relief. It was dark and cool inside. She gazed in awe at the many dusty shelves, piled with thin boxes that she guessed contained wands.

"Hello there" Alyssa turned round so quickly her neck cracked.

"Ow! Umm, hi" The wizard in front of her was old and frail looking, she had a feeling that a strong gust of wind would blow him away. She dropped her bags and massaged her neck.

"You look familiar, very familiar" he said softly. Alyssa shifted uncomfortably. "Who are your parents?"

"Eh…they're no-one. Never known them. I'm adopted." Ollivander gazed quietly at her for a moment, she got the distinct feeling that he knew exactly who her parents were but he said nothing. He made his way towards the shelves and pulled out a box.

"Try this. Redwood, slightly flexible, ten inches with a phoenix tail feather core. Excellent for subjects such as divination." Alyssa waved the wand feeling rather unenthusiastic, she didn't like this wand very much. Nothing happened. As she steadily made her way through more and more boxes, Alyssa dimly hoped that she would not have to go through the whole shop before finding the right wand.

"Ebony, 13 inches. Flexible. The core is dragon heartstring. A powerful wand for most branches of magic, depending on the wizard. Or witch." Alyssa's heart fluttered with excitement when she saw the wand he was holding out. Before she had even touched it she knew it was The One. She picked it up and swished it gently, a stream of purple light emitted from the tip. She smiled triumphantly, it was about time! Ollivander was watching her intently, an unreadable expression on his face.

As Alyssa exited the shop she collided head long with a blond boy around her own age.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!" she exclaimed angrily, then blinked. "Draco? Fancy meeting you here!"

"Small world eh?" the boy snarled back, rubbing his nose ruefully. He was pale like Alyssa and they both had grey eyes. But where her hair was strikingly dark, his was white blonde. They were similar looking and were clearly related, though not too closely.

"Ah, Alyssa! How lovely to see you" The speaker was a tall wizard with long silky white blond hair, he looked like and adult version of Draco. "We haven't seen you in a while"

"Yeah, I know. I've been busy." Alyssa smiled at them, her extended 'family'. Draco was her cousin and Narcissa Malfoy was her aunt, her mother's sister. Alyssa was not overly keen on them, though she visited them occasionally. Draco had not been particularly friendly with her ever since she had (accidentally) beheaded his puppy and transferred the head onto Cecilia's owl.

Alyssa could not remember being happier to arrive home. She dumped her shopping on the ground and slumped down onto the nearest chair.

"Never again!" She said, half amused half exasperated. "That was awful! I'm doing my shopping earlier in the future" Cecilia looked at Alyssa's dishevelled appearance and decided that she was very glad she hadn't gone along on the trip.

"I did warn you, but did you listen? Much as I hate to say it, I did tell you so!"

"Oh shut up!" Alyssa snapped, but she was laughing. "I got the most awesome wand. It's made from what's-it-called…ebony. It looks so cool, it's black and it's got a dragon heartstring in it!"

"A wand isn't meant to look 'cool'" Cecilia sighed inwardly, the child never changed. But then, it would be a sad day when she did. A very sad day. She felt a lump growing in her throat at the sight on Alyssa looking so grown up. She was going to be gone soon for the best part of the year, and impossible as she sometimes was, the house would be very empty without her.

"Alyssa! Get up this instant unless you want to miss the train!" Cecilia was frantic. It was September the first and Alyssa had hardly packed. She stormed into her room and threw a pile of freshly laundered clothes on top of her sleeping form.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alyssa exclaimed indignantly once she had succeeded in fighting her way out from under the clothing.

"You haven't packed" Cecilia hissed "and if you miss the train then you can walk to Hogwarts because I will not take you!"

"Fine, fine! I'm getting up" Alyssa groaned and rubbed her eyes blearily. She extracted herself from the bed covers and stumbled towards her wardrobe. She opened it and pulled out her wooden trunk, only it didn't look much like it was made of wood. She had covered it in pictures and poems and photographs and paintings, it looked like a miniature replica of her room. She yanked it open and began to throw in everything she thought she would need. She wondered vaguely why she hadn't packed last night but she wasn't overly concerned. Maybe because her brain was still fogged up by sleep. Nevertheless, she finished packing in good time so that when they set of for Kings Cross station Cecilia was in a good mood again.

"Now behave when you get there" she warned Alyssa sternly.

"Of course I'll behave Cecilia, why wouldn't I be?"

"You tell me. And I mean it, I don't want you getting expelled in your first year"

"Don't worry about me, I have absolutely no intention of getting expelled"

"Glad to hear it!"

"When I break rules there is no way I plan on getting caught!" Cecilia glared at her and was about to reply when the train's whistle

blew. "Oh dear, gotta go" They hugged each other briefly, then Alyssa turned without a backward glance and jumped onto the train.

Alyssa was nervous, something that she wasn't used to. She had no idea where to sit. She didn't know anyone except her cousin and she didn't want to be in a compartment with him. She was walking along the corridor debating what to do when Lachrymose screeched horribly, causing Alyssa to jump. She turned to glare at the bird when something caught her eye. Dangling just above her head was an enormous spider. Her eyes widened in shock, what was a tarantula doing here? She reasoned that it must be someone's pet so she reached up and took it into her hand, it scuttled up her arm tickling unpleasantly.

"There it is!" Alyssa spun round, three boys where stood behind her, pointing at the spider. One of them had dreadlocks and the other two appeared to be twins. They both had violently red hair and a very respectable number of freckles.

"Don't move little girl, there's a spider on you" the boy with dreadlocks warned her.

"I've noticed" she replied icily, she very much resented being called 'little girl'. She let go of her trunk and scooped up the spider, holding it firmly she handed it over to the boy who looked mildly surprised.

"You're not scared?" he asked curiously. Alyssa glared it him.

"Oh yes, I'm terrified" she told him sarcastically. The twins laughed.

"Our little brothers terrified of spiders" said one

"Yeah, when we were younger we turned his teddy into a spider. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen! I'm Fred by the way, and this is George" he indicted towards his twin who beamed at her. Alyssa smiled, deciding that perhaps they weren't so bad after all. The boy with dreadlocks told her he was called Lee.

"I'm Alyssa" she told them "couldn't give me a hand with my stuff could you? It's dead heavy. The twin who was called Fred grabbed her trunk. Lee, whose hands were to full of spider, couldn't exactly help. George made a swipe for Lachrymose' cage. The bird screeched in protest.

"Umm, I think I'd better take Lachrymose, she's not that good with other people" she said hurriedly. She followed Fred to an empty compartment where he stowed away her trunk. "Thanks" she smiled appreciatively at them. Lee and George entered as well and sat down. Alyssa's heart swelled with relief, she needn't decide who to sit with after all, it had already been sorted.

"So, you looking forward to starting?" Asked Fred, or was it George?

"Yeah, 'course I am"

"Our little brother's starting this year as well. He's called Ron."

"So what houses are you in?" Alyssa asked curiously. It was something she was quite worried about, the bulk of her 'real' family being in Slytherin.

"We're all Gryffindor" one of the twins said proudly "the whole of our family has been. Well, except Ron and Ginny who haven't been sorted yet, but they're better be Gryffindor too."

"And Ginny is?"

"Our little sister, our only sister actually. Youngest in the family. She starts next year." Alyssa nodded slowly.

"So do the houses often run in the family?" she asked, her heart sinking.

"Not always" said Lee. "It depends on who you are, not on your parents or whatever." At this statement, Alyssa cheered up considerably.

The first-years were all gathered together, waiting to go into the hall. Alyssa felt slightly sick though she was determined not to show it. All around her were her future classmates, many of then in varying shades of green. To her excitement she had even spotted The Famous Harry Potter, scar and all. She was standing with Malfoy who had made a bee-line for her, mainly, she thought, to prove his popularity before he had even properly started school. She couldn't dwell on this thought for too long, however, as they were ushered into the hall. A wave of nausea hit her powerfully as she gazed at the sorting hat. She barely even heard its song, hats weren't supposed to sing anyway. It wasn't natural. Then, all too soon, Professor McGonagall's voice powered through her foggy thoughts as her turn arrived.

"Fields, Alyssa" she squared her shoulders, waved as confidently as she could at Lee Jordan and the twins, and stepped forwards, towards the hat.

Her first thought when it dropped onto her head was how stupid she probably looked with it half covering her face. 'Ah, vanity' said a small voice inside her head. Damn it! 'I am not vain' she told the voice 'I just don't like looking stupid'she heard the voice chuckle softly'So much like you mother' Alyssa froze angrily. 'I'm nothing like her'she replied bitterly 'and even if I am, I don't want to be' she felt a definite panic sweep over her now. 'She was a powerful witch, uncommonly so' 'whatever, I still don't want to be like her' 'I understand. GRYFFINDOR!' Alyssa nearly fainted with relief as she half walked, have skipped towards the Gryffindor table. Fred, George and Lee beamed at her as she sat down next to them.

Things were going to be alright after all.