A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with another update! Now, I want to start by saying I'm back in the swedish equalent to High School so updates might become a little slower from now on. That said, I'll try to keep working on this as long as I still get good response on it! =)
Now, I want to give a HUGE thanks to my reviewer Above the Winter Moonlight for giving me that website to check out all existing spells and curses. It will be of great help. I also want to give you guys a big heads up for the poll in my profile that asks for your opinion about what house Harry should be in at Hogwarts. Now I want to point out that if I find it too hard to get the story together if he is placed in a specific house, then I might overwrite your vote with my own... but that is just a super, extreme in case of emergency. So please go vote for Harry's house!
Disclaimer: Let's say it like this: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this here.
Chapter Four: Meeting the Weasleys
Harry awoke early in the morning. He hadn't been able to sleep properly, he was too excited! Today was the day! Today, he would leave the Dursleys behind and go to Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry!
Feeling his body boil with anticipation, he practically flew to his feet and got dressed before he ran downstairs to start making breakfast. Uncle Vernon had agreed to drive him to King's Cross train station as long as Harry did not say a word of magic before he had left. Fair enough deal, as long as Vernon did not push it. But even the thought of his uncle could not ruin Harry's mood. He whistled innocently while he fried the bacon and eggs and soon he had 4 plates filled, out of which 2 held double the amount from the other 2. Just as he was finished, Uncle Vernon walked into the kitchen, grumpy to be awake so early but he didn't say anything. Figuring he might as well get it over with as fast as possible, Harry quickly swallowed down his breakfast without saying a word and went upstairs to brush his teeth. When he was done, he grabbed the trunk he had packed the day before and somehow managed to get it downstairs without accidently dropping it on his toes.
The car drive was not very eventful. True to his word, Harry kept silent as he did not want to give Uncle Vernon any chance to go back on his word. He wasn't sure what Uncle Vernon would count as "freak talk", but he had a suspicion that his uncle would come down on him if he even opened his mouth so he did not want to push his luck. It wasn't until Harry had gotten a trolley for his trunk and managed to load the heavy trunk onto it that Uncle Vernon opened his mouth.
"We have been told to come get you after the end of your school year, but if you somehow disappear on us, the petrol cost will have been more than worth it to be rid of you once and for all. So try not to show next year." he spit out before he sat down back in the driver seat and before Harry could reply, the car rolled out off the parking lot.
Harry just shrugged. In his own opinion, not showing up after the year did not sound so bad, as long as he could get Uncle Sev's permission not to. He didn't really get why Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let him leave the Dursleys but had learnt long ago that it was not something the old man would give into. With a bubbly feeling in his stomach, probably from nerve, Harry pushed his trolley into the station. Once he was inside, he sat down on a bench to take a deep breath. Now he just needed to get onto the platform and he would be on his way... THE PLATFORM!
Harry sat up with a start as he realized he had no idea how to get onto the platform! Uncle Sev and Ginny had told him that the Hogwarts express left from platform 9 3/4 but he could not for the life of it remember ever being told where that was. How stupid could he be? He had had years to ask Uncle Sev and it had never befallen him that platform 9 3/4 could possibly be a hidden location.
Without wasting another second, Harry began to frantically push his trolley down the platforms, searching for any sign of magic that could tip him off about where platform 9 3/4 was located. When he reached platorm 9, he was dearly hoping that the next platform would be his stop, but no, the platform after 9 was platform 10. Feeling his stomach clench, he sat down on his trolley and stared up at the sign that marked the platform. What if he couldn't find it? What if, after all this time, he wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts because he could not get to the platform?
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he did not hear the sound of tiny feet running across the concrete ground before he was overthrown by what seemed to be a red hurricane.
"Harry!" Ginny squeled happily as she threw herself at him. Harry gave off a shout of surprise and tumbled off of his trolley to land hard on the ground.
Feeling his butt ache more than it had since Dudley had tackled him to the ground during a game of soccer at school, the last soccer game he ever played, Harry looked down to find Ginny hugging him with her face buried in his shoulder.
"Ginny!" he smiled as he got over his initial shock.
The young girl looked up at him with a look of pure happiness on her face. The warmth in her brown eyes made Harry feel his chest heat up, despite the abnormaly cold september morning. Having regained his composure, Harry carefully undid Ginny's arms around him and the 2 got to their feet, Ginny blushing slightly from embarrassment of her behavior.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" came a shout from the direction Ginny had just come from.
At the sound of the woman's voice, Ginny flinched and turned around to see her mother come running towards them, apparently having left behind her brothers with their trunks as she had taken off after her daughter. Harry looked up at the woman and seemed to tremble in fear, afraid he had done something wrong. He was used to screaming being a sign that he had done something he should not.
When Molly Weasley had reached them, she bent over for a second to catch her breath. Harry didn't dare say anything, not knowing what to say or do in a situation like this. Apparently neither did Ginny, or maybe doing nothing was just the best way to handle this situation. Judging by the red hair, Harry would guess this was Ginny's mother and so trusted that his friend knew how to handle this. As soon as she had regained her breath, Mrs Weasley rose in her full lenght.
"What have I told you about running off like that, Ginny? I have told you a million times not to run off on your own!"
Ginny just twisted nervously at the spot. While she was not afraid of her mother, she knew that she had went straight against what her mother had told her to, as she had just mentioned, a million times.
Harry saw his friend twist in her place and tried gathering up his courage, hoping he did not make things worse.
"Uhm, excuse me ma'am, I think she was just happy to see me again. We haven't met since Diagon Alley." Harry said, trying to hide his hesistance but failing misserably. He hoped he did not intrude on their conversation. Aunt Petunia had told him intruding on other's conversations could be interpreted as rudeness.
Hearing the boy speak, Mrs Weasley turned to face Harry. Ginny though, tried to look the other way to hide her pink cheeks but couldn't help but sneak a look at Harry who was looking up at her mother in an apologizing way.
"Oh, I'm sorry dear. I'm Molly Weasley, Ginny mother." Mrs Weasley stated, clearly embarrassed at her own rudeness for not introducing herself.
Harry, feeling his nervousness leave him at the woman's gentle smile, smiled back up at Mrs Weasley.
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." he said. While he did not like people to know who he was due to his fame, the Weasley's he had met so far had not seemed to excited by his identity. Molly Weasley proved to be no exception.
"Oh, yes Ginny have mentioned meeting you in Diagon Alley. It's nice to see she is finally making some new friends."
Beside him, Harry heard Ginny snort when her mother said "she had mentioned meeting him in Diagon Alley", causing Harry to believe Ginny had "mentioned" it more than once. Turning to look at his friend, Harry finally noticed Ginny's blush. He frowned. What was so bad about being happy to have made a new friend?
"Mom!" came a shout from furhter down the station. Harry turned to see 4 red haired boys, 2 of which obviously were twins, walking towards them with big trolleys similar to his own. He recognized Percy as the oldest of them and after what Ginny had told him in her letters, he could easily make out that the shortest of the 3 remaining was Ron, the one closest to Ginny in age, and the twins were named Fred and George. When the boys had reached them, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and smiled at her brothers, particularly Ron, who was staring wide eyed at his sister's friend and his eyes immediately shot up to Harry's forehead, no doubt in search of the famous scar. Harry twisted slightly under his gaze and as soon as Mrs Weasley noticed the interaction between the 2 soon to be classmates, she left Ginny's and Harry's side to reprimand her youngest son for his behavior. While Ron was being scolded for his rudeness, Percy went up to the 2 friends and held out his hand to Harry.
"It's good to see you again Harry. I trust you are excited to finally get to go?" he asked with a, in Harry's opinion, overly important voice.
Behind Percy, Fred and George snickered and one of them, Harry's was unsure of which one of them, made an imitation of a very pompous person by pushing out his chest and taking on a snobby look. Harry did his best not to laugh and simply shook Percy's hand.
"I am really excited to go but... I don't know how to get to the platform." he added the last part in a low voice, slightly embarrassed to admit it.
Ginny giggled at his embarrassment while Percy, for some reason, took on a pose and look that strangely resembled the one Fred or George had just demonstrated.
"I see, well then allow me to help you! I am prefect after all." he said in a, if possible, even more important voice than before.
Harry frowned but allowed Percy to guide him towards the portal that, apparently, was the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. As Percy explained to Harry that he simply had to walk or run straight into the barrier and he would find himself on the platform, the rest of the Weasley family joined them. Harry didn't notice but behind him Ginny had a sour look on her face that was directed at Percy. If the older boy noticed it, he didn't care and instead opted to show Harry by running straight into the barrier. When Percy was gone, Harry decided to back down, which prompted the twins to go forth. After seeing 3 people pass through without fail, Harry felt confident enough to dare a try and turned to Ginny.
"C'mon Ginny, let's go!" he said with a smile.
Ginny stumbled slightly at being adressed by Harry. She had been thinking about the best way to prank Percy and had her head in a different world. Nevertheless, she took the hand Harry offered and followed him to stand in front of the barrier. Casting a side glance at her mother,who gave her an encouraging smile, she grabbed Harry's trolley and the 2 began to push it towards the brick wall. Ginny, having went through the barrier before, didn't even flinch but Harry, still a little nervous about running head first into a supposed brick wall, closed his eyes at the point of impact. But the impact never came. After a few seconds, Harry opened his eyes again to find himself and Ginny standing at a new platform. In front of them, people were scattering about and families were saying there goodbyes to their children that had already boarded the train.
Harry couldn't move form his spot. He just stared at the activity. These people... they were like him. In his life, he had only ever met 3 wizards before going to Diagon Alley, out of which one he didn't even remember (and probaby didn't want to remember). Severus had always told him there was a lot more magical people in the world than he could possibly imagine but it wasn't until he ahd gone to Diagon Alley that he had actually started to think about it. But in a way, this was even more thrilling than Diagon Alley. In the alley, there had been a lot of people all ages, but here there were only children his own age and their families. Some of these would be his roommates once they got to Hogwarts. Some of these would be his friends. Except Ginny, Harry really didn't have any friends.
For a few moments, Ginny watched Harry take in the sight of platform 9 3/4, but soon began wondering why he was so overwhelmed. Surely, he must have known there was a lot of wizards in the world?
"Harry? Aren't you going to get your trunk onto the train?" she asked carefully, unsure if it was a good idea to break his moment.
Harry snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Ginny.
"Of course, sorry. I guess I just kind of blacked out there for a moment." he said and began pushing his trolley towards the train.
Ginny watched him out of the corner of her eye. She was not very experienced when it came to reading people but something told her that something was off with Harry. She decided to ask him about it later.
When they reached the train and had managed to somehow get the trunk and Hedwig's cage into one of the carriages, they found themselves in a pinch as they needed to get it onto one of the luggage racks. The trunk was heavy and no matter how much Ginny tried to make it move, it just wouldn't. She didn't notice that Harry had stopped trying to lift it and was just standing by the side, smirking at her vain attempts.
"Need a hand there, sis?" came the voice of one of the twins.
Harry looked away from Ginny to see both the Weasley twins making their way over to them. Ginny had also stopped her vain attempts, but her gaze was settled at Harry who was standing calmly by the side, not the twins who had just joined them.
"Why aren't you helping Harry?" she asked, slightly hurt that he hadn't done anything to help her when she had tried to be nice and help him get his trunk loaded onto the train.
The twins seemed to be thinking in the same lines because whatever they had been planning to say had been caught in their throats as they were looking from Harry, to Ginny with the trunk, then back at Harry again. Harry chuckled at Ginny's confused face as he extended a hand towards the trunk and pulled upon his magic. Slowly, the trunk was lifted off the ground. Ginny flinched when it began to move and took a step away from the levitating trunk. Fred and George stared at the trunk in awe as Harry lifted it up onto the luggage rack. When he was done, Ginny stuck her tongue out at him.
"Why didn't you do that from the start?" she asked.
Harry smiled at her, as if trying to say he hadn't meant anything bad.
"I just wanted to see how long it would take you to remember that I can control my underage magic." he said innocently and recieved a slap on his arm.
"Prat!" Ginny said and stuck out her tongue at him again.
For a moment, Harry was worried that he had really upset her, but his worries soon evaporiated as a mischievous smile shone through her fake hurt expression. Not being able to hold it in, her face broke out in a smirk and she giggled at Harry's expression of mixed worry, confusion and apology.
"How can you..."
"...control you magic..."
"...if you have never..."
"...recieved any training?" the twins asked.
Harry frowned, trying to make out what they had been saying, which was not easy as they had been saying different parts of the sentence. Ginny couldn't help but think that his confused expression made him look cute and had to turn away to hide her pink cheeks. For once, Fred and George did not comment on it, as they were busy staring at Harry.
"Uhm, well after I learned of my magic, I began trying to use it at will. After a while it just came to me." Harry said, hoping to get away from their stares as quickly as possible. They made him slightly uncomfortable.
He did not have to put up with it for long as in Mrs Weasley chose that moment to try and gather her family for one last farewell before her sons left for school. Hearing their mother call, the twins shook themselves out of their stupor and bid Harry goodbye, saying they would see him later. Harry was just about to go and look for a comartment when Ginny grabbed his arm.
"Oh no, you can't escape me that easily!" she said.
Harry frowned. Something in her voice told him that there was something she wanted to say. He had thought she would want to say good bye to her brothers, but she didn't seem to have any intention of joining the rest of her family just yet.
"What made you freeze up when we entered the platform? It was like you had gotten a shock or something?" Ginny asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
Harry just stared at her for a moment. How had she noticed? He hadn't been that obvious, had he? Or better yet, what should he tell her? He felt slightly embarrassed for the reason he had frozen like that, but at the same time, Ginny had proven to be a really good friend so far.
"Well... the thing is... when I saw all the kids here I couldn't help but think that these are the people I am going to spend a lot of time around. Some of them are going to be my classmates and perhaps even... well, perhaps even become my friends. You see..." here, he broke off for a second. He wasn't sure if he wanted to admit it, but then again she already knew he had not been a popular kid in his neighbourhood. "Well, I have never really had any friends before I met you, so I guess seeing so many potential friends kind of freaked me out." he said at last.
Ginny's eyes widened. He had told her that he was not a popular kid where he came from, but he didn't have any friends? The Harry Potter had lived his life without even a single friend?!
"What are you... saying?" Ginny heard herself ask in shock.
Harry hung his head in shame. He wasn't really ashamed of not having made any friend, more like embarrassed but this was a very sore subject for him. He was not sure how Ginny had looked upon him until now, but he had feared that once she got to know that he didn't have any friends, she would not want to be friends with him. Ginny was the only friend he had, he did not want to lose her.
Meanwhile, Ginny felt herself torn. She didn't know how to respond to that. She wasn't even sure if she was supposed to respond to that. During the month they had known each other, Harry had been a great friend to her, dare say her best friend. She could not understand why no one would want to be friends with him.
"Well, I'm sure you will make a lot of good friends at Hogwarts!" Ginny said, trying to cheer him up a little but as she said it, she felt something within her cringe at the thought of Harry making new friends. What if he forgot about her? What if he didn't want to be her friend anymore when he had made older, better friends? The thought of it burned on Ginny's insides, making her want to cry. Suddenly, she did not want Harry to go to Hogwarts. She wanted him to stay, so they could be friends forever.
Harry nodded his appreciation for her support. He wasn't all too confident about his own ability to make friends, but well he had managed to befriend Ginny so he must be good for something.
"Thanks Ginny. I'll be sure to owl you as often as I can to let you know how it goes. I'm looking forward to next year when you can come with me!" he said with a genuine smile on his face.
In his mind, Harry knew he had an alterior motive to what he had said. Since they probably wouldn't see each other for so long, he was afraid Ginny would forget him, so he had decided even before he left Private Drive that he was going to send her loads of owls to ensure she didn't.
Looking at Harry's smiling face and hearing his declaration, Ginny felt a bit of her worry disappear. She just had to trust that he kept his word.
"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley's voice made its way over to them.
The 2 cast a simultaneus look over to where the Weasley's were having their final goodbye. Harry looked down at Ginny with a sympathetic look. It was obvious from the way she looked in their direction that she wanted to go say one last goodbye to her family. Harry wanted to go sit down in his compartment to avoid attention, but when Ginny cast a sideward glance at him and then looked back at her brothers, he knew he couldn't just leave her like that. So, gathering his courage, he jumped down from the train and grabbed her hand. She jumped slightly at his touch and turned to look at him with questioning eyes.
"C'mon. Let's go say goodbye to your family." he said as he began leading her towards her family.
The look on Ginny's face said it all. She was thankful that she wouldn't need to leave Harry to say goodbye to her brothers. Harry felt a little proud that he had managed to read her correctly.
As soon as they made it to the Weasley family, Harry stayed behind to allow Ginny to say her goodbyes without interuption. He had to hold back a snort when Fred suggested that they could send her a Hogwarts toilet seat to cheer her up. Other than that, it was some light conversation withing the family and Ginny seemed to try and make as much of the last time she saw her brothers for a year. When Mrs Weasley had stopped fussing over some dirt that apparently was stuck on Ron's nose, the embarrassed boy made his way over to stand beside Harry, probably hoping to stay out of arms reach from his mother. When the warning whistle sounded, the twins said their goodbyes and quickly left to find their friends. Percy disappeared in much the same way after ensuring his mother he would try to keep an eye on the twins for her, which caused Ron to lean towards Harry and whipser:
"Yeah right. He have failed to do that for 2 years already and I doubt he will do better this year."
Harry grinned at that. He still wasn't all too sure where Ron stood, still remembering Ginny's first letter, but he hoped that Ron really wasn't as bad as Ginny had made him sound.
"Well, we won't find out if we miss the train. C'mon let's go." Harry responded as he and Ron began making their way towards the train.
They were half way to the train when Harry stopped and looked back towards the remaining 2 Weasley's at the platform. It seemed that in the moment of parting, Ginny had finally broken down into tears after seeing her brothers one by one just walk away. Percy and Ron hadn't even had the thoughtfullness to give her a proper goodbye. The twins had given her one, althought through a joke. Harry looked back to Ron and signaled for him to not wait for him while he ran back to his first friend. Ginny's eyes lit up seeing Harry run back to her and as soon as he was within range, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.
"I can't leave without saying good bye now, can I?" he said, to which Ginny just responded by burrying her head in his shoulder.
Harry cast a hesistant look at Ginny's mother, who smiled at the 2 children warmly. Over the month, Molly Weasley had noticed that Ginny had cheered up a lot and the steps she had taken had always come after the snow white owl she had met that morning in Ginny's room had made its return trip to its owner.
When the whistle sounded again, Harry carefully broke the hug and looked down to meet Ginny's brown eyes. For now, the curiosity he had seen in them during their first meeting was replaced by a look of sadness from the departure of her brothers and, he thought with a mix of happiness and guilt, himself. But he was sure she would pull through. And he would do all he could to help.
"I'll send an owl as soon as I get to Hogwarts. I promise." he said as he tried to look reassuring.
"Thanks." was all Ginny offered as an answer but Harry didn't need any more than that.
Looking into Ginny's eyes one last time, Harry felt he wanted to give her one last token of reassurance. He had seen aunt Petunia do it to Dudley a thousand times when he was upset. Perhaps it could still Ginny's worries and sadness a little too?
Feeling his chest constrict with nervosity, he bent forward and planted a light kiss on Ginny's forehead, before he let go of her and ran for the train, that had now given off one last whistle and started moving. As he was focused solely on catching the train before his first ride to Hogwarts got a rather abrupt finish, he didn't see Ginny's face change from shock, to happiness to a very red embarrassment. Mrs Weasley's eyes had widened at Harry's action, but she quickly brushed it off as children's play. Neither Harry nor Ginny had reached the age where the opposite sex got interesting so it couldn't possibly be any indication.
Harry reached the moving train in record time and jumped in through the door Ron had been holding for him. As soon as he had gotten inside, the red haired boy closed the door. Harry took a moment to regain his breath before looking out the window to see Ginny waving at them, half laughing, half crying. Harry gave her a smile and waved back until they had taken a turn and the platform was gone.
"Well, let's go find a compartment." Ron said as he tried to manouver his trunk through the train corridor.
Harry turned to look at him and couldn't help but smile. The sight of Ron trying to lift the trunk that was technically as big as he himself was looked hilarious. He figured he could give him a hand but then again, Ron had been a pain for Ginny during summer up until last month. Perhaps he could fend for himself a little longer. Therefore, he simply led them to the compartment that contained his trunk. As soon as they reached the compartment, Harry flung himself down onto one of the seats and leant back, watching Ron try to heave the trunk onto the luggage rack without much success.
After some time, Ron looked down at Harry with an irritated look.
"A little help here wouldn't hurt, you know." he said as he once again tried to get the trunk up onto the luggage rack.
Harry smiled slightly as he decided to give him a little help. He held out his right hand like he had done with his own and before Ron could even give off a confused look, his trunk was being lifted onto the shelf. It took a while for Ron to process what had happened, but when he did his face reddened slightly.
"You could just have done that and you still let me struggle with it?" he asked, anger evident in his voice.
"Well, you didn't ask for help, so I thought I'd leave you to it." Harry responded, raising an eyebrow.
Ron looked irritated, but decided to let it slip and just sat down. The 2 boys didn't say anything, they just sat there for a little while. Harry was looking out the window, transfixed on the landscape that was flashing by. He had never been out of town before. Ron on the other hand, lived in the country and didn't find the landscape too interesting. After studying Harry for a minute or 2, he stood up and pulled out a small backpack and began digging through it. Harry forced his gaze away from the window and looked on with interest as Ron pulled out a variety of things from his bag, including a living rat.
"So you're really Harry Potter?" Ron asked when he noticed Harry was eyeing him.
"Shouldn't you already know that? I have been corresponded with your sister for a month, you know." Harry said with narrowed eyes.
The other boy twisted nervously in his seat.
"Yeah I know. I just have a hard time believing anyone would want to have a correspondance with my sister. She can be a real pain."
At the jab against Ginny, Harry felt a not too unfamiliar sensation rise in his chest, but he had never felt this toward anyone other than his Uncle Vernon. He felt angry. Really angry. Over the years, he had learned to ignore insults to himself and even ignore abusive behavior towards himself. But no one insulted his friend! Her own brother nonetheless!
"You should be happy you even have a sister! And for your information, Ginny is a wonderful person when you get to know her!" Harry hissed, his voice cold with anger. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
"How can you claim to know her? You met her for the first time one month ago! I have known her since she was born!" Ron exclaimed as his face became almost as red as his hair. If Harry had known Ron for a while, he would know this was a bad sign.
"Well, you don't see me calling her a pain, do you?!" Harry growled back.
Ron opened his mouth to retort, but closed it when he couldn't find a good answer for that. For a moment ,the two of them just glared at each other. Harry was about to tell Ron that if he didn't like him being friends with Ginny, then he could go get his own compartment, when the door slid open. In the doorway stood a blonde boy, flanked by two very large boys that reminded Harry of gorillas.
"Is it true? People down the train are claiming that Harry Potter is sitting in this compartment. I take it that's you?" the blonde boy said.
Harry eyed the cautiously, Ron temporarily forgotten. He got the impression that his boy was not to be trusted, even less than Ron. Not that Ron was not worth his trust, just that he needed to be knocked some sense into.
"So what if I am?" he answered with an edge to his voice.
The blonde boy eyed him for a moment, then gazed at Ron, then back again. His eyes narrowed in disgust.
"I see you are already assosciating yourself with the wrong kind of people, Potter. You will soon realize that some wizarding families are better than others. The Weasleys may be the bottom of the pit, but there are a lot other who are almost as bad. If you want, I can help you distinguish between them. I'm Malfoy by the way. Draco Malfoy."
Harry's eyes hardened when he heard Malfoy speak of the Weasleys like they were some kind of vermin. He hadn't said it out loud, but the way he looked at Ron and the tone of his voice told Harry all he needed to know about this boy.
"Get out! I think I can see which families are the bottom of the pit myself!" Harry growled at Malfoy.
Malfoy's eyes did the impossible and narrowed even further.
"You'll pay for that Potter. Crabbe, Goyle, C'mon!" he said.
The two baboons behind him cracked their knuckles and Ron jumped out of his seat. The red haired boy had obviously been dying to blow up at the newcomers ever since he had heard Malfoy's name, but had held back in order to see what Harry would do.
"What's going on here?" came a voice from outside the compartment.
All five boys froze halfway through whatever they had been trying to do: Harry on his way up from his seat, Ron with a pulled back fist, Malfoy with his hand inside his robes no doubt in search of his wand, and Crabbe and Goyle with their knuckles pushed together in an attempt to look threatening.
In stepped a tall boy, already wearing his Hogwarts robes. Harry would guess he was at least 2 years older than they were. The new boy had a seal on his robe that Harry recognised as the Hufflepuff crest and had dark hair and piercing gray eyes.
"What's it to you?" Malfoy's slimy voice answered the new boy.
The newcomer, after eyeing the scene in front of him, sighed and shook his head.
"I would advise you not to start trouble before you have even gotten to the school. You might not be able to lose any house points yet as you have yet to be sorted, but therefore your punishment would be much higher. And it's never good to get on the teachers' bad side from the start." he said, particularly glaring at Malfoy.
"Yeah, you would know all about being the teachers' pet, wouldn't you Diggory? My father have told me about how your shameless dad boasts about you whenever he gets the chance." Malfoy retorted but he did back down and, with a wave of his hand, got Crabbe and Goyle to do the same.
Diggory gave him a glare before stepping aside, prompting Malfoy to leave the compartment. For a moment, it looked like Malfoy was going to give him another nasty reply, but settled for a glare before he left. When Malfoy had gotten far away enough, Diggory turned to Harry and Ron.
"I'm sorry about that. The Malfoys are known to cause trouble wherever they stick their nose, but I didn't think Draco would do it before he even got to the school."
Harry, who had calmed down after taking a few deep breaths, sat back down in his seat and just shook his head. Without a second thought, he motioned for the new boy to enter if he would like. They way he had handled Malfoy was, in Harry's opinion, really impressive. Diggory complied with his invite and closed the door behind him as he sat down on one of the free seats. Ron, who seemed to have forgotten all about his and Harry's quarrel before the interuption, went back to digging through his bag before finally emerging with a pair of sandwhiches.
"Don't worry about it. We didn't exactly behave nice either." Harry answered as he stretched out in his seat, trying to losen some of the muscles that had tensed in preparation for the possible fight.
"Well, next time just ignore him. He won't bother you if he does not get the reaction he wants. My name is Cedric Diggory by the way." he said as he straightened out his Hogwarts robes.
Ron, who had just taken a bite of his sandwhich, looked up at the mention at the name.
"I'm Ron Weasley. You don't happen to be Amos Diggory's son, do you?" he asked.
Cedric gave him a smile. It hadn't really been hard to figure out that the red haired boy was a Weasley and the only Weasley's that had survived the last war was the family of Arthur Weasley. Cedric himself had met Arthus once or twice as his father and him had worked together on occasion.
"That's me. I take it you are Arthur Weasley's youngest son then?"
Ron nodded enthusiastically, obviously pleased that someone knew who he was, other than being a Weasley. Giving Ron a smile, Cedric turned towards Harry.
"My name is Harry. Harry Potter." Harry answered.
Cedric nodded thoughtfully. He didn't question the claim, neither did he go nuts like the people on the Leaky Cauldron, much to Harry's pleassure.
"I see. I heard rumors that Harry Potter was on the train, but I didn't really think anything of it. I would advice you to be careful with who you makes friends though Harry. Some people might want to take advantage of you for being famous and all." Cedric said.
Harry just nodded. He had been a little fearful about that. It still felt weird to think of himself as a celebrity. Cedric apparently, could see where his trail of thought were heading, as he quickly added.
"Don't worry about it too much. You will know them when you see them. Just show them your real self and after a while, the people who really care for you will stay while the others just leave you alone."
Once again, Harry found himself smiling at Cedric. The older boy, he had no doubt, was among the people he could trust. He gave off a secure impression, but not overly self righteous. Cedric gave him an encouraging smile before rising from his seat.
"I should get going. The lunch trolley will be here soon so I should get back to my own compartment. See you later, Harry, Ron."
And with that, Cedric left. For a few minutes, neither Ron nor Harry broke the silence that followed. The tension that had ruled before Malfoy's interruption had come back. After a little while, Harry decided he wanted to come clear.
"Hey Ron?"
"Hm?"
"Sorry I blew up at you before. I just got so angry when you called Ginny a pain. She really just wants things to be like they used to be between the two of you."
Ron looked like he had been slapped in the face. Had he really thought Ginny was bugging him because she wanted to be a pain? Could he really be that thick?
"But why didn't she just say so?"
Harry rolled his eyes. Yes, Ron could really be that thick.
"She tried to be nice but then you started to just shoo her off because you were so excited to go to Hogwarts." Harry hoped he could get through to Ron. Even though he had stopped shooing her off after he had seen her do the Bat-Bogey hex on the twins, he had still not been very appreciative of her being around him. It could of course be because he was afraid to get hexed, but still, he should just try and be nice to her instead.
Ron took a while to process the information, trying to think back to before last month when he supposedly shooed Ginny off. However, it didn't take him long to realize that Harry was absolutely right.
"I guess I could have been a little nicer to her."
Just then, the lunch trolley arrived. Harry got an idea when he saw the different sweets. Not to mention he just realized he was starving. Not wasting any time, Harry stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of galleons, causing Ron's eyes to widen. Soon, the free compartment seats were filled with all kinds of wizarding sweets.
"Why don't you send some of this to Ginny with an apology? I'm sure she would accept as long as you behave nicely to her next time you see her again." Harry suggested when he saw Ron eye a pack of Chocolate Frogs with a tempted look.
"Don't be ridiculus! It's your sweets! It wouldn't be from me!"
Oops, that was a sore spot. Ginny had mentioned once that her family wasn't very well off. Harry felt stupid for forgetting.
"Yeah, but the apology is what's important and that one will come from you, won't it? You can skip the sweets if you feel it's wrong, I'll just send them myself instead."
Ron seemed to think about it. His face was deep in thought as he looked from the sweets and then to Harry and then back again. While he was thinking, Harry was reading the info on a chocolate frog card of Dumbledore. Finally, Ron said:
"I'll sen her a note. You can send the sweets if you really want to."
Harry nodded, glad that Ron seemed to at least be willing to try and apologize to Ginny. With a wave of his hand, Hedwig's cage floated down from the shelf. Upon recieving an encouraging nod from Harry, Ron began digging through his bag again in search of a piece of parchment. After a little while, he had managed to scribble down a few lines. Harry had too written a short letter, "Try some of my lunch! /Harry", and attached both letters and a small package of Chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's beans and sent it off. When Harry sat back down after closing the window, he found Ron looking at him in a whole new way.
"Thanks for looking out for Ginny. I know she really picked herself up after you began to write to her." Ron said with an appreciative look on his face.
Harry smirked. It would appear as if Ron tried to look like a better big brother. Then again, at least he tried.
"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for. Ginny did a lot for me too, you know."
Ron gave him a half smile and fiddled with his fingers for a second before extending his hand towards Harry.
"So... friends?"
Harry looked at the outstretched hand with a look of surprise and happiness. After the start they had gotten, he had thought Ron would never want to be friends with him. Would Ron turn out to be one of those who wanted to use him? No, then he wouldn't have argued with him from the start. Somehow, Harry knew that despite his many faults, Ron would be a good friend. Slowly, he reached out and accepted the hand offered to him.
"Friends." he said with a smile.
A/N: So, that ends the longest chapter so far. I hope it won't become too hard to understand. It might be a little messy around the Malfoy Confrontation but I hope you can deal with it. If not, tell me so and I will try and fix it when I get the time.
So, well Harry is off to Hogwarts and I want to remind you all to go vote for what house you think he should be placed in. You will have 2 chapters to vote cause the next chapter will feature Ginny's first day(s) at home after the boys left for Hogwarts. I also want to point out that you got 2 votes to give. The voting you can find in my profile.
Now to give some answers to reviews:
RebeccaRoy: I know right. In canon, Bill was the one of the many Weasley brothers who looked out the most for Ginny when she was younger and also the brother she looked up to the most. I am glad I managed to give the same impression in this story! =)
sisno2200: Yeah, she will need to get over her little hero worship but c'mon, she is a 10 year old girl. Don't worry, im not offended that you mentioned it. You are most correct but well, that's part of Ginny's character development. All characters will grow in my story (except maybe Dumbledore) and Ginny outgrowing her hero worship will be part of her growth. Besides, the whole Chamber of Secrets kind of relies on her hero worship making her insecure to confide so much of her thoughts into the diary. I couldn't really break down something that was so touching for their relationship in canon now, could I? :D
anyeshabaner: Haha, well it will keep some things from canon, but if it were all the same, then what would be the point of writing or reading it? ;) It will be some major differences and I am sure you will notice them when they come. There have already been a few huge differences made, not the least in this very chapter. =)
marinka: Thanks for the very encouraging words and thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't really thought about that until I read your review. As you can see here above, I have already taken meassures to take it into account =)
And to all you other awesome readers and reviewers: Thanks a lot for reading my story and for the encouraging words! Reviews is a good way to show your appreciation or voice your concerns so dont be shy. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the earlier and that you will give me some nice response! =) Take care until next time!