Platform nine and three quarters wasn't hard to find if you came from an almost all wizarding family like I did. I knew my mother came from a long line of wizards in her family but I never knew much about them, or at least until a little over a week ago.
It had been a week since I met the Weasley family. They were all so nice and funny when got them all together, or at least with the twins. In the past week I hadn't seen a lot of Mr. Weasley but when I did he often told me I reminded him of my mother. 'I remember the twins telling me they'd be at diagon alley all day. Maybe I can get my dad to tell me something about mom while they're out.' I thought while making a cup of tea. I was brewing it in a muggle coffee maker since I couldn't use magic to make it: the whole under age wizarding thing and all. Not to mention, I hadn't even started school yet; that definitely wouldn't look good on an application for a job. The tea was filtered through twice since it was in individually packaged and I had on a coffee filter. I poured two cups of tea and added some sugar. 'Maybe I can get dad to talk to me for a while.' I carried the two cups to my dad's study and just opened the door.
"Thought you could use something to drink Dad."
"Thanks Princess. That's very sweet of you." He grabbed the cup and took a sip. Then he just stared at the cup for a while, almost sad. "Is there anything you want to know about Hogwarts or anything else before you have to go on the train?"
"Well, kind of..." I sat in a chair in front of his desk with my legs to my chest, "Dad, I want to know more about mom." He shot his head up and looked at me. Harshly for a moment, then his expression softened and he just smiled at me.
"I was wondering when you'd start asking about her."
"I at least want to know something of her, anything really. It's just I was too young to actually get to know her; after all I was only about six. The only thing on my mind was staying out of trouble, playing quidditch, and staying away from boy cooties. But, I really miss the times I did spend with her." He laughed and stood up. He walked over to a bookshelf in the room and grabbed what I thought was a photo album.
"Dad, do I really look like mom?"
"Who told you that honey?"
"Oh...well, when I do see Mr. Weasley, he always says something about it."
"Well, he would most certainly know. She was quite close with him. It was part of the reason she never wanted you to meet anyone from her family. None of them really liked her and she thought they'd be the same way to you. What Arthur said is very true. You are practically her twin when she was your age." He handed me the book and it was open to the first page. There were only two pictures: the top one had what appeared to be me, and a taller version of one of the twins in it. The one below it held a picture of what looked to be me and me as a boy. "Dad, is that mom and Mr. Weasley? And, you and mom?"
"Yes, see what I mean when I said you're her spiting image. You and those Weasley twins look almost exact to Arthur and your mother."
"That's not completely true dad. From this picture, if I was a boy, I'd probably look exactly like you." I smiled up at him and he just patted my head gently then just pet my hair as I looked through the memories of my mother and the younger images of my father.
"So dad?" I looked up at him, "what was mom's maiden name?" he looked down at me and his smile turned and his lips pursed. I could tell this was not going to end well today.
"Black. But the family almost disowned her. You see your mother wasn't like most; she wasn't in slytherin like the rest of the family, she was in ravenclaw and definitely proud of it. She was my potions partner in my second year that was how we met, and even became friends. She ran away from her family and we got married. She never wanted them to torment you or make you how they wished. So she cut off all connection with them." He just looked down at the photo album. I could tell he missed my mother even more now. And the fact that I didn't understand until now made me feel awful now. Especially, because I just kept reminding him everyday that his wife is gone.
After that day I haven't asked him about her at all. Though, he's become more talkative since, and he'll actually go to his room to sleep instead of falling asleep in his study. Normally during the day, since then, I would be looking at old photo albums. That is, if I wasn't hanging out with the twins, or Ron. I handed my trolley off to the man loading the train compartments. I let my owl, Evan, out before I left the car so he could fly to Hogwarts on his own. He said I could board the train; I kept my bag on my shoulders and walked to the first open compartment I saw. I had no idea where the twins were so I sat hoping that no jerks were going to sit with me. I just sat with my I-pod on listening to a random playlist I put together a few nights ago for the ride. My bangs hung nicely around my face while the rest of my hair was in a ponytail. Suddenly there was a loud 'boom!' just outside my compartment. I got up and opened the door, only to see the twins.
"Guys," they turned to me, "What are you doing now?" they looked at me and grinned very widely, moving to allow me to see a boy with dark brown hair and disgusting looking teeth covered in some weird looking goo. I laughed a little, well for a few seconds, and then I burst out laughing so hard that I had to use a wall for support to even keep my feet on the ground. I heard three other laughs around me. 'Wait three? Who's the third?' I looked up to see a boy unfamiliar to me.
"Come on guys, you can share my compartment." I said between laughs. The twins walked in and took a seat. While the boy was on his way to leave, I grabbed his arm.
"I meant you too. I have an extra spot, you should sit with us I think you'll have fun." He looked back at me like 'what do I look like stupid? I don't even know you!' "I know you don't know me or the twins but, what have you got to lose we're just three people who like to have fun." He sighed and followed me inside. The twins sat across from where the boy and I sat.
"I'm Ella." I smiled at him, "and these are the Weasley twins, Fred and George." I whispered the next part to him, "Don't let them fool you they're actually evil." He and I both laughed. Soon after, he introduced himself.
"I'm Lee Jordan." he looked at the twins and then at me, "which one is which?" he asked pointing to them.
"The one to the left is George and the one on the right is Fred."
"She got it right again,"
"We thought for sure this time we'd get you."
"You two can't trick me it's impossible for you two. I know your differences." I sat back down, "plus, George really needs to brush his teeth, I can smell him from here." I joked, we all had a laugh but I soon began to look out the window and didn't even realize I was away from the group until I was suddenly being shaken.
"Ella! Are you there?" Fred was now sitting next to me. I looked at him and just sighed.
"I'm fine Fred."
"I'm George."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am."
"Oh just shut up and accept that I'm right."
"For the last time I'm George."
"No, you're Fred."
"And how do you know I'm Fred?" Oh if he only knew. I stared into his bright brown eyes. Even though we were all quite young, I knew there was going to be something different for Fred and me; ever since we first met in my tool shed. He and George had always pulled pranks on me and I always pranked them back. He would never understand this; I didn't understand it myself.
"Because, I just know okay." 'Even if I don't know how I know.'
"Okay fine, I believe you." I just smiled back at him.
"Thank you, FINALLY!" he just laughed and hugged me.
"Are you sure you're okay Princess?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Lee sat next to George, while Fred stayed next to me.
The ride was long and we were all getting hungry. Just as our stomachs began to grumble, the candy trolley came to our compartment. The boys didn't have a lot of money with them, so I got a bunch of stuff for everyone. Lee and I stuck with chocolate sorts while the twins decided to eat just about everything else. I looked at my watch to check the time, only to see we had been on the train for almost three hours.
"Guys, I think it's about time we go change into our robes." I looked at them and they nodded, though they didn't move.
"I would suggest you boys get dressed to unless you robes are invisible. Then, I guess you can just sit here twiddling your thumbs." They laughed sarcastically at me. I went to change into my robes. My skirt was just above my knees, just like every other girls and my button up shirt was tucked in, just like every other girls. I hated looking like everyone else, I felt so plain. I looked in the mirror and began to carefully examine myself.
"I look so plain!" I said aloud. I sighed and then thought of what the twins would say.
'I hope I get into Gryffindor…'I thought as I walked back to the compartment. You see my father's family and mother's family has always been in Slytherin. I was going to have a hard time convincing the sorting hat I belonged in Gryffindor. I came back to the compartment to find the boys pulling over their sweaters and robes. Of course, they were shoeless when I walked in; I wore obnoxiously colored high tops as the muggles called them, they were bright yellow to be precise. Some bloke named Chuck Taylor made them. They laughed together when they saw my shoes, as they put the rest of their uniform. We pulled to a stop soon and the gamekeeper, Hagrid, came to greet the first years (the four of us plus others) and take them to the castle. The four of us sat in a boat together to go across the lake. I convinced the boys to paddle the boat for me since I didn't feel like it, and, as Lee so elegantly put it, I would "slow" them down. We continuously splashed water at each other; frankly, I was surprised the four of us weren't soaked to the bone by the time we had arrived at the castle. Lee sat on the front bench with me, while the boys sat behind us. After being yelled at by Hagrid and almost tipping over our boat (twice) and trying to race another boat with two other boats, we calmed down as we reached the castle. As we finally pulled up, we were ready for the sorting.