Chapter 1, hope you like it. Please review and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: no, it's still not mine!
Platform 9 and ¾
Chazzie Prewitt was quite possibly the most excited 11 year old alive! Finally, the chance to make friends and get away from her family! However she stood quietly by her siblings as Molly Weasley said her goodbyes. "Now children," she fussed around them "I want you to all be good this year. Charlie, do NOT sneak down to Hagrid's hut to play with the animals! Percy, try not to worry about school work too much. You two, settle in quietly, no pranks, understand? Charlotte?" at this she dropped her voice to a hiss "if you get into an ounce of trouble this year you will regret it for the rest of your life! And don't bother coming home until the summer." The portly red head hugged the boys all once more and shooed them onto the train. Immediately, Fred and George turned to Chazzie
"It's alright" said Fred
"Yeah, we hate her anyway" added George. Chazzie just nodded and motioned for them to find a carriage. "Come on" she said "since when am I bothered by anything she says?" with that the triplets headed off down the train, waving to Charlie as they passed. Once settled in an empty compartment the boys shut the door and cracked identical grins. Their sister nodded in response to the unasked question; of course they would create trouble. It was in their nature! At that moment the door slid open and a tall dark-skinned boy entered shyly.
"Is it alright if I sit here?" he asked "all the other carriages are full." on hearing this Fred burst into fake tears, hiding his head in Chazzie's shoulder. George explained wearily,
"my delightful brother here is devastated that you only chose this compartment to sit in because all the others are full. Of course I understand why you wouldn't want to sit with such an ugly git as him but don't Chazzie and I rather make up for it?" the other boy laughed good naturedly, sitting down beside Chazzie,
"And the fact that your identical doesn't make you ugly at all does it?" he asked sarcastically. George nodded
"My beautiful personality shines through, doesn't it Chazzie?" he asked in mock seriousness. The brunette considered the matter with a straight face, her large eyes innocent and guileless. "Well…" she started "I suppose you must have an inner beauty as no one would look twice at the outer shell." She turned to the new comer, winking slightly "wouldn't you agree?"
"Why yes I would." He said eyes twinkling with mirth, "shall we leave them to look upon each other in shame while you and I find companions who are slightly easier to take in?"
By this time Fred and George had given up their fake sobs and were staring at the dark haired pair in what looked like awe. Fred smiled, "hi, my name's Fred Weasley, my double is George and this is our sister Chazzie." Chazzie glared at him for a moment before speaking, "yes, these are my brothers but would you mind not mentioning that to anyone seeing as I am supposed to be known as Chazzie Prewitt." the boy nodded
"My name is Lee Jordan and don't worry, your secrets safe with Me." he smiled and asked the obvious question, "Which house do you want to be in?" the siblings didn't even glance at each other before answering in unison "Gryffindor!" Lee smiled and nodded his agreement enthusiastically, "same!" he exclaimed, "though I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw." Fred and George nodded, while Chazzie looked thoughtful, "actually," she said quietly, "I wouldn't really mind any house except for Hufflepuff, I mean, what's wrong with being sneaky?" the red heads looked resigned as they turned to Chazzie, "you promised you'd go to Gryffindor if you had the choice though!" they whined in perfect unison, Lee just looked surprised at her revelation and faintly amused by the others reaction. The train journey was rather peaceful, except for a few exploded chocolate frogs, Fred was still unable to say how that had happened and George was not too pleased by his lack of eyebrows, even though Lee and Chazzie assured him they looked very fetching. (The effect may have been ruined by their suppressed laughter, but there you go!) By the time they had reached the station Chazzie had almost forgotten, it would be a whole year before she had to see Molly and Arthur again. She sighed; thinking of her parents always reminded her of the young couple she had always thought of as her real mum and dad, even though she hadn't seen them since she was 3 years old. Moony and Starlet had always understood her and cared for her when others didn't. But now Starlet was dead and Moony had disappeared, driven away by his grief.
Lee touched her arm gently, bringing her back to the world of reality. "Chazzie, it's time to go, the train has stopped." The petite brunette smiled, her curious grey eyes ringed with black looking at her new friend calmly. Lee was entranced by the amount of grief radiating of his fragile looking companion and vowed in his head to protect her from whatever her Fears were. They joined Fred and George outside the train where they met a huge man dressed in what looked like an oversized fur coat. He showed the first years to the boats and set off across the lake, failing to notice four mischievous heads huddled together. Even the impending sorting couldn't deter the foursome from pulling the first major prank of the year.
The plan was simple; make everyone think you are the victims, then unleash chaos. Lee was new to the scheming minds of the triplets but caught on quickly and was a great help in providing plausible alibis rather than the hair brained ideas of the red haired boys. Nonetheless, both Chazzie and Lee were convinced that somewhere in their school life the excuse "the giant squid ate my homework" would pop up! For now though, it was a simple matter of pushing an indignant George into the black lake and hoping nothing decided to eat him. "Remind me why I get pushed in." He scowled, glaring at his brother, who smirked evilly and patted him on the head, "because dear George, you lost the bet!" the younger brother sighed and turned to his sister, "Chazzie, please put a warming charm on me!" the girl, tilted her head to one side as she pretended to consider, before pulling out her wand (the only one in existence made from the wimping willow) and casting the charm over the boy. He smiled at her gratefully and took a deep breath. "I'm ready" he said bravely, and Fred snorted before pushing him overboard. Lee glanced at the others for the signal before shouting, "HELP, he's fallen in!" at the top of his voice. Chazzie nodded to her brother and dived into the lake to 'rescue' George. Hagrid rowed his boat over to the commotion just in time to see George being dragged back into the boat and Chazzie waiting for her turn. "It's alright Professor." She said cheerfully, "I took a lifesaving course two years ago! George has a habit of falling out of boats." With that she pulled herself back on board and shook her head vigorously, sending water flying all over her dry companions.
Eventually the increasingly bedraggled group made their way to the castle and gazed in awe at the magnificent building. They were met by a stern woman with hair pulled back in a tight bun, who looked at their wet clothes in disapproval. Chazzie sighed and grabbed her wand from her pocket, drying the quartet's robes in an instant. This surprised the professor so much she almost forgot to tell the students about the four houses. However, she soon remembered and left the eleven year olds in a small hall while she checked to see if the others were ready for the sorting.
Chazzie moved into line behind Lee and made her way into the great hall, very aware of the hundreds of eyes upon her. She stood with her brothers and Lee as the sorting hat burst into song, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the faces pulled when the hat mentioned slytherin. Lee's name was soon called and he was sent to Gryffindor after a minute's consideration, then came Chazzie's turn. "Well, well…" whispered the hat "this is an interesting choice. Part of the fates, are we?"
"yes." The girl replied in her head, "the centre piece of the fates plan, one before and one to come."
"This makes the matter of sorting you even harder then doesn't it?" said the hat, "the first chose slytherin, though her heart belonged to Ravenclaw. Will you follow in her footsteps, or perhaps go to Ravenclaw? I can see that you are tempted by their measure of wit."
"No," she whispered, "Please, Gryffindor! Then I can stay with my brothers, we have been separated for too long already!"
"Very well," the voice conceded, "I place you in… GRYFFINDOR!"
Chazzie sighed in relief, and smiled at her brothers who looked ecstatic at the news! But she couldn't help but glance at the blue and bronze table in a brief moment of regret. She knew she would be with Fred and George here, and within the next few minutes her wish was granted as they took seats opposite her and Lee. Charlie leaned across the bench and placed a hand on his little sister's shoulder; "well done!" he said warmly, "I'm proud of you." The girl grinned and winked at him. "Thanks Charlie!" she replied before helping herself to roast potatoes and a helping of nut roast.