Chapter 8
The morning of September 1st was filled with chaos, Violet was surrounded by family she barely knew. Her mother, Jenna was trying to calm down an almost hysterical Petunia while trying not to cry herself. Dudley's eyes were more watery than usual as he made sure Violet had all her things.
Harry and Ron were going over the class and supply list in the living room, Hermione was pacing while using an old phone talking loudly to what looked like a large plastic brick nestled in her large untamed hair. Gray highlights were streaked through her hair making her look a bit older than her husband due to the stress of her former position in the ministry. Hagrid was outside of the house "watching the car" in reality he was looking at his new wand, after a long trial with the Ministry of magic, Magonigal had finally got Hagrid reinstated to use magic after the truth of who had actually let out the Basilisk came to light many years ago. Violet's owl, which she had named "Archimedes" after learning about the Greek mathematician, was sleeping soundly in his cage. She tries not to wake him as she puts his cage with the rest of her things, the house only growing louder by each passing minute.
"You love Crocus more than me! That's why I can't go!" Petunia yells with tears in her eyes.
"Petunia stop throwing a fit, you know that's not true, why can't you be happy for your sister?" Jenna holds the squirming girl as she cries out during her fit. Hermione sighs deeply before pointing her wand at Petunia, The screaming girl's mouth shuts almost as if it's glued closed and Jenna glares at the wand. As Hermione puts it away and presses a finger in her ear on the phone. A brown haired boy about 10 clings to Hermione's robes looking up at her with wide eyes filled with worry.
"Mum…" the boy whispers, thick and messy curls bouncing as he tries to get her attention.
"Mum?" He asks again, getting no response from Hermione who is bickering with someone on the other line. A red headed girl with a mess of freckles all over her face, sits on the couch reading a book called,
"Muggle Studies; secrets of the rubber duck. By Aurthor weasley."
Violet was confused by what secrets a rubber duck could have but didn't get to think much about it before her father had put all her things together finally.
"I think we're ready to go." Dudley announces with a choked voice before clearing his throat.
"Hug your mother and your sister Violet.. It's time to go." Dudley walks out of the house before he can get too much more emotional to start the car while everyone else files out of the house to get in their respective vehicles. Violet hugs her sister, her mouth now open again and still talking as she reluctantly hugs Violet. The embrace quickly turns into a tight strangle as Petunia sniffs away tears and buries her face in Violet's hair,
"Please don't forget me, Noony." Violet whispers through her own tears hugging her sister close.
"And don't be mad at me either" Petunia huffs into her hair before turning away and crossing her arms.
"Be safe Pig." She mumbles, causing their mother to pinch Pertunia's ear and tell her to go to her room.
"You aren't leaving forever, we'll see you next for christmas and your birthday." Jenna smiles sadly, giving Violet a hug and sending her to the car before her own tears start to fall. After following everyone onto the platform Violet is taken aback once again by all of the people in multiple colored robes.
"Woah…." Violet says softly as she looks around, there were about three times the amount of wizards on platform 9 ¾ then there were muggles on platforms 9 and 10 combined. Violet was so in awe she didn't see the person in front of her until she collided with him.
"Violet be careful! You nearly ran the boy down." Harry calls behind her as the boy turns around. His combed back platinum hair was the first thing VIolet noticed before timid hands started playing with his robes.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to be in your way." The blonde boy whispers almost too softly for Violet to hear.
"That's quite alright Scorpious no worries!" Harry claps Scorpius on the shoulder before another much taller man with the same hair seems to appear behind the boy.
"Ah so you blame my son for this child's foolishness Potter? She doesn't look like one of yours." Draco sneers slightly as Harry chuckles,
"I was doing no such thing, this is a young cousin of mine Draco. Violet Dursley, she's going in the same year as your son, as well as Albus." Harry smiles civilly at Draco who in return gives a sigh and begrudgingly offers his hand to Violet.
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. This is Scorpius, my son. You'll be wise to stay away from him so he can make friends of higher standing." Draco talks offhandedly not even looking at violet anymore, his words didn't seem to have an intent to be mean but brutally honest, it was obvious Draco wanted his son to have a leg up in life.
"Pleasant as always, Draco." Harry shakes his head while Violet looks up at the platinum haired man with wide eyes, the child-like face she had almost made Draco regret his last sentence telling her to stay away from his son.
"I… didn't mean to bump into you Scorpius, please forgive me." Violet speaks frankly a warm smile spreading across her face causing the young boy to blush at her apology before he was pulled away by a sickly looking woman, her hair was thin and graying despite how young she seemed, her high cheekbones matched her sons as well as the same thin rose petal pink lips. The woman's relation to the boy was just as evident as Draco's even despite her brittle look, hallowed face, and sunken eyes. Violet waves at Scorpio as he is ushered onto the train by his mother,
"They've got the right idea, we should get you on the train." Harry speaks suddenly, causing Violet to jump before nodding in agreement.
"Ok Harry." Violet's voice is soft as she speaks, the whole last week catching her so off guard she didn't seem to speak nearly as much as she did at home, the fact Violet was actually going to a whole new place away from her family finally hit her in a way that made her stomach plunge. It felt like ice was moving through her veins stopping her blood flow as she looked at the steps of the large vehicle. Harry's reassuring hand lays on her back, she imagines it belongs to her father instead for a little comfort although it didn't help much. Harry's hand was slim and not as warm as Dudley's so it was hard to truly pretend.
"Having trouble?" a familiar voice asks, causing Violet's back to straighten and her body to go frigid, she feels heat creep up her neck slowly. It wasn't like Teddy was conventionally attractive, he was also cool and didn't mind the looks people his age gave him when he replaced Harry at Violet's side.
"Just a bit of nerves I suppose" Harry explains as he lets go of the young girl to make room for Teddy.
"Well, I understand that, the first time I went to Hogwarts it was without my grandmother, I was so nervous." Violet stopped listening after a minute, taking in all of Teddy that she could manage. Teddy is tall and lanky with a strong jaw and slightly crooked teeth, his eyes are gold and twinkling, they pull her in until she realizes she's actually on the train still walking next to Teddy.
"Would you like to sit with me and my friends Hen?" The nickname makes Violet's blush that much worse, she finds her voice stuck in her throat and begins to cough from the sudden breath she took. Teddy chuckles softly before opening a compartment door, inside the seats were almost completely filled. A round-faced boy with large dark eyes was sitting next to another older looking boy whose hair was buzzed. Across from them sat a younger girl with strawberry blonde hair braided into matching twin tails that hung in front of her shoulders, little blue bows were clipped to the end of each braid contrasting her bright hair and pale skin. Only one seat was left but Teddy didn't seem to worry about it.
"This is the gang," He gestures to everyone before sitting down in the last available seat, Violet looks at her hands nervously playing with her fingers.
"This is Violet, I'm looking after her for my uncle Harry." Teddy's introduction makes Violet blush in embarrassment again.
"That's great but, I hope you're not expecting her to sit with us because, well, there's no room" the blonde gestures around her at the seats, they've been completely filled by the four of them.
"That's alright! I can fix that" Teddy grins before his body shrinks to a much smaller version of himself sitting on the table.
"You don't need to show off" the boy with the shaved head rolls his eyes, his voice is gruff and he speaks with a different dialect than the rest of them. Teddy laughs before turning to his normal size,
"Alright, alright, I forgot how jealous you all were." Violet in turn was completely flabbergasted, no one seemed to remember she wasn't familiar with everything in the wizarding world.
"What just happened? How did you do that?!" Violet's embarrassment was overshadowed by her shock and she finally moved closer to the group.
"Oh! Right, sorry Vi." Teddy uses another nickname that causes Violet to internally swoon. The fact he was even comfortable enough to give her a nickname excited her more than the name itself which was quite boring.
"Teddy is a Metamorphmagus, he can change his physical appearance in whatever way he chooses." The round faced boy explains while chuckling softly.
"He's ridiculous." Teddy rolls his eyes before sitting down and pulling Violet to instead sit in his lap, this made her heart beat fast but the obvious age and height difference made her feel like the small child she is compared to him.
"A little heavy aren't you hen? How cute" Teddy chuckles and tosses Violet's hair.
"U-um.." The blush overtaking Violet's face was now one of shame as she looked down at her stomach rolling over itself, before she could finish the blonde from before speaking over her.
"Edward Remus Lupin! What is wrong with you!" Violet was pulled off of Teddy's lap and held protectively next to the girl, she smacks the back of his head lightly causing his hair to turn more brownish before returning to its previous blue state.
"OW! Pepper what did I do?" Teddy rubs the back of his head with a confused look on his face.
"Idiot, you can't talk about a girl like that! Especially a first year, she's young and impressionable." Pepper huffs pulling the younger girl closer, Violet feels like a baby or a doll from being pulled around so much.
"And that warrants the full name treatment, mom? It's not a bad thing! I said she was cute!" Teddy tries to defend himself, the round faced boy shakes his head.
"Mate, you know that doesn't matter, she's just a little kid." The shame was returning to Violet, they were all babying her, hanging out with older kids sucked.
"Shut up Manny!" Teddy barks with laughter watching his friend's face blossom into its own blush while the shaved boy rolls his eyes in the corner.
"Call me that again and I'll hex you! It's Mandrake or Drake…" Mandrake takes glances at Pepper who looks equally annoyed at both of them.
"Come on Longbottom, you know he's messing with you." The shaved boy is now laughing as well.
"I'll Hex you too Krum" Mandrake huffs crossing his arms over his chest, Pepper waves them both off her arm still dropped securely over Violet's shoulder.
"You're not going to hex anyone, especially not Rubin or Teddy, you guys are too good of friends." She finally cracks a smile chuckling along with the boys.
"If anything I think that makes us more likely to hex each other." Teddy Jokes while sliding Violet back on his lap, she happened to look quite squished between him and Pepper,
"I'm sorry for what I said Hen, will you forgive me?" He smiles down at Violet and the blush from before returns to her face, words get caught in her throat and all she can do to respond is swallow hard and nod.
The compartment door opens and the most beautiful person Violet has ever seen steps in, platinum blonde hair that cascades down her back like a veil, the kind of length violet had always wished for. Piercing ice blue eyes looked over the compartment searching until they landed on Teddy and Pepper.
"Neither of you are in your robes? You're prefects, you need to set an example." The girl crosses her arms a blue and bronze teck tie is laying undone overtop the popped color of her white uniform shirt. It's obvious she was in the middle of the finishing touches of her uniform when she came looking for them.
"Vic, it's still early." Drake reasons and the girl reaches up to do her tie quickly, it is perfect like the rest of her unwrinkled outfit. Crisp and perfect,
"For everyone else sure but we were officially on duty fifteen minuets ago, I don't want to get into trouble now let's go!" The girl hadn't even noticed Violet until that moment, when she looked back at Teddy.
"Should I be jealous?" She asks with a smile creeping onto her face, her teeth were like pearls, perfect white and shining. It made Violet deeply self conscious but the Blonde's pressense eased her still.
"Of course not dove! This is Violet. I told you about her, we ran out of seats." Teddy explains, Violet slides off his lap slowly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep anyone.." She apologizes while playing with her shirt nervously.
"Ah so she can speak?" Rubin taunts her, causing Pepper to reach over and smack his head lightly with one of her school books.
"You're just fine Lamb, I'm Victoire, how about I show you where to change into your uniform and we'll find some first years to sit with? Would that make you a little more comfortable?" Violet feels the need to agree with her nodding slowly, Victoire turns to walk out of the cabin before Teddy interrupts the two.
"What no kiss goodbye?" He jokes, Victoire rolls her eyes looking over her shoulder, although she can't hide the smile she has from anyone.
"Shut up and go get changed, both of you." she shakes her head with a small melodious laugh while closing the compartment Violet now standing with her on the outside.
The Hogwarts uniforms were different from what Harry had described to Violet, she knew about her ribes since she had to be fitted for them, but modern Diagon Alley only gave you size options then expected you to magically mend the uniform yourself. Violet was born to a muggle family meaning her family wouldn't be able to tailor her uniform with non magic tools. Modern girls uniforms for Hogwarts were standard with much longer skirts then previously described, the brimless hats mentioned by her older cousin were also missing. When Violet did walk back through the train to Victoire the older girl's blank expression changed as she pressed her lips together so hard they disappeared and her eyebrows knitted together, it was as if she was trying to hold back a concerned look but also a disbelieving laugh. Violet understood why Victoire had this look, she could tell the uniform wasn't working. It was too big in places where she had not grown yet but too small in other places she was bigger in. Her stomach was straining the shirt buttons, but she was almost tripping over the skirt instead of the modest knee length it was supposed to be.
"I… forgot you were a muggle, is that a first year's medium?" Victoire's face seemed to recover almost instantly as she took out her wand studying Violet almost uncomfortably close.
"I… think so?" Violet looks down at herself feeling suddenly self conscious about not only her body but her family as well.
"Don't worry just whenever you wear a uniform, swish your wand and say this." Victoire flicks her wand in a graceful loopty loop fashion, the kind smile never leaving her face as she says the spell softly.
"fabricae illis." Violet's uniform automatically fixes itself around her, she feels and looks much more comfortable in seconds.
"That spell has saved me many times when I order things in The Witches Friend" She chuckles and bends down to tie Violet's tie which was simply black because she was unsorted..
"This is a little less tricky but usually not done with magic." Victoire explains, she smells like shampoo and is humming softly. Violet wanted nothing more in the world at that moment but to be just like her.
"Alright let me take you to some other first years so you can try making some friends your own age." Victoire leads Violet to many compartments, she opens the door and peeks in, whatever she says goes unheard by Violet before they are onto the next compartment. After about ten minutes of looking, the older girl finally leads Violet into a train compartment with three other people in the same simple black robes as her, signaling them to be first years.
"If you need me, don't hesitate to come find me lamb" Victoire smiles before leaving Violet alone with three complete strangers once again.