Disclaimer: Do not own Harry Potter.

Warnings: This centers around Harry and my own character.

Pairings: Mainly HarryxOC, RonxHermoine

A/N: I wrote the majority of this story back before book six came out – the original is still on another website – but I went back over to it today and realized that I could do so much better – so here is my attempt. This chapter is unbeta'd.

New to Hogwarts

By: akirk85029

Kate sat silently in one of the cars designated to the Ministry of Magic, waiting for her appointed driver to finish his lengthy conversation and finally take her to her aunt's house. It was in the middle of summer and she desperately wished she was back at home. She brushed a strand of dark brown hair from her face trying to distract herself from the heat.

Kate was an extremely gifted witch and she had been making top grades at her old school. Now she had to change schools two years before she was to graduate. Kate missed her parents, even though she had never really been close to them, through no fault of her own. They always seemed to try to keep their distance from her, but she knew that they had felt bad about that at times. She just never understood why.

Another thing Kate didn't understand was how they could have died in a botched potions experiment. They were leaders in the field of potion making, at least as far as she knew. She was growing very tired of people telling her how sorry they were. She knew most had no idea of what she was really going through. She hated the constant reminder that she was never going to see her parents again.

Kate hastily grabbed the book lying next to her and started to read as the driver finally entered the vehicle and started it with a clearly spoken phrase and a wave of his short dark red wand. She leaned back into the soft seat and wondered about her aunt. Kate hadn't even known she had any relatives other than her parents, until they had died.

Kate stepped out of the black car after it came to a screeching stop and looked at what she surmised was her new home. It was different, was all she could really think about it. She wondered if she would have as many rules to abide by here as she did with her parents. Kate finally took a few tentative steps forward as if testing the ground she was walking on, unsure of where to go or what to say, but stopped when the front door was swung open. Kate jumped a little at the loud bang that sounded as the door hit the side of the house after being flung open in such a fashion. She watched with uncertainty as a woman with bright red hair walked out towards her.

Molly was the first out of the house, which was to be expected as she had been waiting diligently by the window looking for any and all signs that her niece had arrived. When Molly reached Kate she gave her a bear hug totally engulfing the young girl in her arms, while wiping a tear away from her own face. This was the first time she had seen her niece with her own eyes.

Kate let the woman hug her, assuming that this overly affectionate woman was probably her aunt. She had no idea what to expect but she had not been expecting the warm welcome she was currently receiving. She couldn't remember the last time she had been hugged.

Molly turned and waved her hand towards her family calling them forth and then introduced Kate to her Uncle Arthur, and her cousins Ron and Ginny. Kate learned that she was going to be taking her cousin Percy's old room as he no longer needed it since he had moved out and from what she could gather not necessarily on good terms from the way her aunt voice sounded. She also learned that her cousins Fred and George owned their own joke shop and resided there the majority of the time. Molly informed her that she would meet them later and Kate wondered how many cousins she truly had in all.

Arthur took out his wand and moved Kate's cumbersome luggage to her new room as Molly took Kate inside promptly sitting her down at the kitchen table so she could start everything for lunch. She intended to make sure that Kate had a good meal in her before she let her wander around her new surroundings.

Ron and Ginny came in and sat down as well, both were being abnormally quiet. They didn't know much about Kate and they wondered how well she would really fit in.

Ron sat across from his cousin; he couldn't believe how quiet she was being right now. Having grown up in such a large family, this trait was almost unnerving. "So will you have to sort into a new house at Hogwarts, or will you transfer to the house that was the most similar to yours back home?" Ron asked not knowing what else to say.

Kate looked over at him as he asked his question and gave him a slight smile; she knew he was just trying to lighten the mood or maybe just trying to make her feel comfortable. Well, she hoped so anyway. She still wasn't sure how to take all these people being around her, she was used to being by herself most of the time when she was at home. "I don't know."

Ron nodded his head accepting her small response. He didn't really know what to say to her. He almost felt like he was in his first year again and didn't know what to do.

"What house are you in?" Kate asked trying to get a conversation going with her new family. She decided that she did want to be friends with her cousins. She didn't want to go through the rest of her life being cut off from everyone else like her parents had been trying to keep her.

Ron gave a lopsided grin and replied "Gryffindor, it's the best, my friend Harry is coming to stay with us next week for the rest of the summer." He figured he might as well find out what kind of person she was before she started school. He didn't want her to cause any problems.

Kate nodded her head in acknowledgement; she wondered how his friend got permission to stay for half the summer with someone else's family. She never would have been able to do that. Of course she wouldn't be here in another country if her parents hadn't died. It was at times like this that made Kate really question if their death was a good or bad thing and she hated having those kinds of thoughts.

Kate was startled briefly as a plate landed in front of her by way of her aunt's magic. She saw Ron's grin but was thankful that he didn't tease her about it. She had a lot that she was going to have to get used to. She sometimes wondered if her parents really wished she hadn't been born a witch, but it was just another question she had about her parents that she wasn't sure would ever be answered.

As they all started eating breakfast, Ron's tiny owl Pig came flying in with a small bit of parchment, almost weighing him down. The parchment, though small, was still bigger than Ron's owl. Kate watched her cousin out of curiosity as he took the bit of parchment and opened it up to read.

"It's from Hermoine, mum" Ron said almost a little too eagerly causing Molly to give Arthur a small smile, "and she said she would be delighted to come and stay with us, so she'll be here a couple days after Harry arrives."

Molly nodded at her son and finally sat down at the kitchen table herself so she could eat along with everyone else. She watched her niece and hated the fact that her sister had to die before she could even meet her. She sometimes wished she could take back some of the things she had said to her sister.

After Kate had finished eating Molly had Ron show Kate where her room was going to be. Kate and Ron went into Percy's old room and Kate immediately started unpacking. She wanted some familiar stuff around her, even if it wasn't much. She started pulling out stuff and when she pulled out her broom she heard Ron gasping as if he couldn't believe something.

"You have a Firebolt?" Ron asked incredously.

"Yes." Kate replied with a smile and handed the broom over to Ron for his inspection.

"Wow, Harry was the only person I knew to have one!" Ron stated turning the Firebolt over and over again in his hands.

"Well, whenever my parents were feeling particually guilty about something, they tended to buy me expensive gifts. I have an old Nimbus two thousand somewhere if you want it?" Kate said as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Ron just about dropped the Firebolt. "Really?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Sure!" Kate responded still smiling. She liked that she had made someone happy. She didn't have too many friends even in school; her parents had a tendency to make sure that she had as little contact with anyone else as possible.

Ron helped her unpack, mostly looking for the Nimbus so he could give it a test drive. He felt like it was Christmas for him or better yet his birthday.

Kate decorated her room as they unpacked and had used her wand without even thinking about it until she saw the look on her cousin's face.

Ron had a look of absolute horror on his face. He didn't want her to get into trouble already and she hadn't even been here a full day yet.

Kate stared at his face a little amused at his expression and asked "What?"

"You can't do magic out of school, you're underage!" Ron said exasperated.

"My parents had obtained special permission from the Council back home and the Ministry here already let me know that they weren't going to revoke it!" Kate replied simply and turned to continue her previous action.

"Wow, so why do you have permission?" Ron asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I don't know why really, my parents got it and would teach me loads of stuff during the summer making me swear that I wouldn't divulge what I had learned to anyone and I know stuff that most kids my age shouldn't know" Kate stated in an almost whisper finally glad to be able to tell someone about it, but still unsure of letting everyone know.

"Why?" Ron asked again but turned his attention away from his cousin as he had just found his new pride and joy, the Nimbus.

"They always just said that I needed to be prepared, but for what I don't know. Do you want to go and test it out?" Kate asked noting how Ron was itching to go flying with it.

Ron smiled brightly and left the room in a dash with Kate following closely behind with her Firebolt in hand.

Later that evening, as dinner was being served on the patio outside the entire Weasley family was startled when a large purple bus stopped abruptly in front of their house. They all watched as Harry struggled to get off the bus as quickly as humanly possible.

"Harry!" Molly called as she saw him straighten up and dust himself off after his hasty departure from the bus.

"I hope you don't mind that I'm early, but I got into another row with my uncle and I...um…" Harry stopped not knowing what else to say and started looking for his luggage and finally noticed it off to his right.

"Of course I don't mind, come and sit, we're about to have dinner." Molly stated as she motioned for Harry to come over to the tables. She took her wand out and sent Harry's things to Ron's room and showed Harry a place to sit at the table. Molly smiled as everyone settled down and started to eat.

Kate watched as Harry sat across from her next to Ron, she knew who he was after noticing the scar, but she had never really expected to meet him. She was about to ask a question, when her Aunt Molly spoke up.

"Harry dear, I would like you to meet my niece Kate, who will be living with us from now on and she will also be starting Hogwarts this term." Molly said introducing them. She knew she couldn't keep them from meeting as Harry was Ron's best friend, but she just wished she had more pieces to the puzzle.

Harry turned towards Kate and greeted her. He had wondered who she was as he had noticed her immediately upon his arrival, plus she stood out with her dark brown hair versus the red of the Weasley's. He knew he would have to ask Ron a few discreet questions later.

Kate smiled and greeted Harry back. She was glad that he appeared to be a nice person. She was a little confused because some of the things her parents had said about him, but from what she could tell he was totally different from the picture that her parents had painted.

"Kate dear, what was the school in America like?" Molly asked deciding it was time to get to know her niece better. She wanted to know what her sister had been thinking.

"Well, it was school. Isn't school the same everywhere?" Kate asked prompting a few chuckles from everyone at the table. "Professor Thompson, the Headmaster, is supposed to be a friend of Professor Dumbledore's, he told me so before I left. He said I would like Hogwarts, even though it's much bigger. I was in Dragonheart, I don't know how that relates to the houses in Hogwarts, but I was great in quidditch, I hope there's an opening." Kate said hopeful. She figured if she could get onto the quidditch team, then it would help these next two years go by a little better for her. That had been the only school activity her parents had allowed her to participate in.

Harry spoke up then. "What position did you play?"

"Chaser, you?" Kate asked knowing that he must play as well.

"Seeker." Harry replied smiling at Kate almost forgetting that anyone else was at the table.

They all had ended up talking about quidditch during dinner and afterwards Harry, Ron, & Kate stayed outside to continue talking. Ron had let it slip during dinner that Kate was allowed to do magic during the summer which prompted more questions now that they were without any prying ears.

They discussed all the different spells they knew and Ron decided to catch Kate up on what had happened during their years at Hogwarts so far. Kate looked at Harry after a particular recount, "You can do a Patronus?"

Harry nodded in the affirmative. Kate looked at him and sighed in relief. Ron and Harry looked at each other confused and then faced Kate as if asking her to explain. "I thought I was the only one my age that could do one, what form does yours take?" Kate asked wanting to really know.

"A stag," Harry replied watching Kate, curious about her even more now than when he had first set eyes on her.

Ron admitted to not being able to produce one clear enough to decipher what form it took.

"Mine takes the form of a cougar" Kate stated proudly, happy to be able to admit this to someone. She tried not to think about how much happier she was already after moving here to England to her Aunt's family.

They soon heard Molly calling them all in to send them to bed. They all went into Kate's room thinking they were being clever and stayed up to talk some more. Kate felt completely comfortable with Ron and Harry and she was grateful for that. Ron was like the brother she always wanted and she was unsure of what to make of Harry. He was like no one she had ever met.

Soon Ron headed off to bed and Kate tried not to laugh as he bumped into several things on his way out of her bedroom and she turned to Harry to talk for a little while longer after they heard Ron close his bedroom door. "You know what's funny, I feel completely at home here, even more so than with my parents. Is that bad?" Kate asked.

"I don't know, I didn't even know my parents." Harry replied trying to not let the sadness enter his voice but failed miserably.

"I'm sorry, sometimes I forget about that. I don't think about all the things that are commonly associated with you. Is that weird?" Kate asked being completely honest.

"You know, it's not, it's actually kind of nice to have someone talk to me as me and not as 'Harry Potter' the one who stopped 'He who must not be Named!'" Harry responded quietly trying to figure out the person sitting across from him. Harry decided to ask about her parents.

"I'm not sure how to respond. I was never close to them. They seemed to always keep their distance from me. I think they felt guilty about that and so they bought me a lot of gifts. I was a bit of a trouble maker until I started the wizarding school in America. I then realized there was so much more to life than trying to get my parents attention. Not that I had a lot of friends or anything." Kate admitted finally. She lowered her head feeling a little exposed. She had never let anyone know so much about her and she knew that it wasn't even a lot to most people, but it was to her.

"I'm sorry." Harry said after watching her struggle with her emotions. He fought very hard with his instinct to pull her into his arms to comfort her. He could tell she was having to sort through a lot of things.

"Why?" Kate asked lifting her head, turning her gaze to Harry.

"I never met my parents, but I couldn't imagine having them alive but not technically around." Harry replied speaking what he felt. He often dreamed of what it would be like to have his parents alive, to be able to interact with them, but to actually have your parents and have them barely acknowledge your existence would be worse in his opinion.

Kate and Harry talked for quite a while longer and until they were both too tired to continue. They wished each other a good night and Harry made his way back to Ron's room to go to sleep both unsure of what the future would bring them.

A/N : I hope this was okay. Please review and let me know if I should continue. Thanks for reading.