Chapter 6: Towards Hogwarts.
After everyone had gotten over the shock that someone had defeated him like that, the movie started up again.
It had been a wild month since Hadriana had seen Hagrid, and throughout that month she had read all her books, even other books that she could get her hands on. There were also a couple of other things that had made her day, like bribing her relatives to ignore her and treating her right.
"She definitely got your brains, Lily," Marlene told them all when that little scene was shared with them all.
"No, that was pure Remus and a little bit of Sirius," James told them with a proud smile around his mouth.
"I have to agree with this Dofus here," Lily told them because she knew that she would never have bribed them like this.
Hagrid had come to pick her up at home and did so with a flair for the dramatics – and now they were walking down towards the railway station looking like they didn't at all belong there.
"What yer lookin' at?" Hagrid said to one of the nearby couples who was staring at him, not nice at all. As he did, he pulled out his pocket watch to check the time, his eyes widened and turned towards Hadriana. "Blimey, is that the time? Hadriana, I must leave yer. Dumbledore is waiting for me." he told her. "Well, he'll be waiting for me, come here." He placed his hand on his pocket where the smallest object was.
"Here is your ticket Hadriana." And handed her the ticket, "stick to it, very important that is!" he said.
The ticket was golden around its edges, and on it were the numbers for Platform 9 3/4. "Platform 9 ¾? But Hagrid there must be a mistake, this says Platform 9 ¾. There's no such thing is there?" Hadriana asked and looked up only to find him completely gone.
There was something so weirdly fitting about being alone on the platform, but Hadriana couldn't fathom why she was even left alone to find her place herself. The thing was that she couldn't ask anyone where the platform was.
"It's the same every year. Packed with Muggles, of course, come on." A woman said out loud and was pushing a couple of red-haired kids in front of her.
"Is that… Me?" Molly asked out loud in shock, her younger brothers let out loud whistles in surprise over how many kids their sister had.
"Wow, the two of you certainly got it on!" whistled Gideon, while wiggling his eyebrows. Arthur and Molly couldn't help but blush, while the great hall laughed.
"Please, kindly never say something so horrifying again. Thanks" Ron warned his uncle and turned around to look at his parent's disgust written all over his features.
"How many children do they have?" Fabian couldn't help but ask with a smirk.
"We are seven," Ron told them, still scowling a little bit weirded out over seeing their parents this young.
Young Sirius just looked back and forth between the two of them and shook his head and wolf-whistled at them like a proud dog.
"You don't have to say anything, young Sirius," Neville said with a smirk and looked towards those laying on the couch.
"We aren't that bad!" Pouted Hadriana, "What about Draco and Ginny?" she asked them, with a smirk towards the blond.
"It is not bad like with the two of you, as we don't know how many times, we caught you guys at it. At least with them, there is no chance for us to see it." Hermione said with a quirk of a smile.
Young Sirius was in shock, but it wasn't that surprising, but it made him nervous because of how James and Lily looked at him. They looked like they wanted to kill him with their glares. "Shut it!" said Young Sirius, to their other friends as they were laughing.
Remus held it together, but he could not help but snicker at his friends and the future pair of couples that had the same blush as the younger one.
"Muggles?" asked Hadriana when she heard someone say it out loud. Following the voice, she saw a plumb woman who stood beside a young girl, with a group of boys in front of them.
"Platform 9 3/4 's is this way." She told them before she stopped in front of a wall, Platforms 9 and 10. "Alright Percy, you're first." She said, making the boy nod before he ran right through the two pillars and disappeared.
Hadriana couldn't believe her eyes, as she looked on with wide eyes though not quite surprised over what she was seeing because of magic, though, it would have been great to have an idea of what was being expected of her.
Many people laughed outright at how Hadriana looked like things progressed, though, they were a little perplexed overseeing the shock. They didn't know how to take their friendships and how they all got together with one another.
"That's Percy?" Molly asked staring at the screen, and thereafter down to the small child she was holding in her arms. "He's so grown up!" she mumbled sharing a small smile with Arthur.
"Fred you're next," Molly said and looked at one of her twins, who faked an outraged look. He shook his head in disappointment. "He is not Fred, I am."
"Honestly woman, and you call yourself our mother."
"Oh Lord, they are just like the two of you," Molly said with a sigh, as Gideon and Fabian laughed and gave each other high-fives.
"Oh, I'm sorry George." She sighed, giving them all small smiles, that turned into stern looks at their next words.
"Only joking, I am Fred." And with that, they bother ran into the barrier and disappeared like the other brother.
"Excuse me. Could you tell me how to…" Hadriana asked the woman, knowing that she would show her.
"How to get onto the platform?" Molly asked finishing what the girl was asking, as Hadriana nodded.
"Yes, not to worry dear. It's Ron's first time at Hogwarts as well." Molly told her and turned to Ron and gave him a smile. "Now, all you need to do is walk straight at the wall there. Best to do it in a bit of a run if you're nervous." Molly finished quickly as Hadriana looked on a little pale at the idea.
"Good luck," a small red-haired girl said with a smile.
Hadriana gave her a smile before taking a leap and stepping forward with her trolly. Breathing in and fortifying herself for the run, she closed her eyes for a moment before starting to run at the pillar. It was exciting but nerve-wracking to run towards something that looked quite solid, but then on the other side, she had to look around in surprise at what she was seeing.
There were a lot of people and children who were running around with their parents. 'HOGWARTS EXPRESS' was written on a large logo making her smile in wonder that everything was real.
"You were so cute!" Sirius told her out loud and hugged her with a smile and everyone who saw them could see the love that was shining through in his eyes.
Orion Black looked at his son in fondness, and he was happy that his oldest son had found his happiness in the future.
The scene soon changed to that we saw her sitting alone in a compartment reading a book, reading it made her happy because it was about Hogwarts and all the hidden gems that could be found. They were hurtling through the countryside when the door slid open, and in came one of the red-haired boys she saw on the platform.
"Excuse me. Do you mind? Everywhere else is full." He said and gestured to the empty seat in front of her.
"Not at all," Hadriana said, though, she believed that there were more empty compartments on the train because an enchanted train has always room for more people.
"I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley." He greeted her with a tight-lipped smile.
"I am Hadriana Potter." Hadriana greeted him back, and as his mouth opened wide with a shocked stare.
Ron shrunk back in his seat in embarrassment, he had been so awestruck back then that he hadn't known how to take meeting someone like that back then.
"S-so, it's true. I mean do you r-really have the…" Ron stammered causing Hadriana to look at him in confusion.
"The what?" Hadriana asked with a smile.
"The scar?" he whispered, as if it was some sort of secret, it made her smile because to her the scar had been there her whole life.
"Oh, yeah…" chuckled Hadriana, and moved her hair out of the way revealing the lightning bolt mark on her forehead.
"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed loudly and stared at it some in awe. He was meeting his hero; someone he had grown up with hearing the stories. "Are the books about your life true?" he asked in embarrassment because he really wanted to know.
At that Hadriana was yet more confused, "are there books about me?" because this was something she hadn't known before. "If I don't know about them then you can for sure say that none of what happens in them is true."
"Okay, it's just we have grown up with those stories," Ron told her with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Anything from the trolly dears?" asked the lady, as Ron grimaced slightly and reached into his pocket holding up a sandwich that was held together by a plastic bag, "no thanks, I am all set." He told them, and Hadriana noticed him eyeing the different types of candies. Hadriana turned to the lade with a large smile and said, "we'll take the lot."
"Woah!" Ron exclaimed, staring at her in shock.
"That's very sweet of you!" And Andromeda told her, and both she and her husband smiled at the girl, while Molly's eyes glossed over slightly.
"That's how the two of you became friends?" Draco asked because he finally could see the way he went about it was wrong, and it was in the understanding of how they managed to stay close even with everything that had happened.
"If you want to win Ron over, give him something to eat!" Hermione said exasperated over her husband's habits.
*You are a good person, dear. * Sirius told his wife with a smile, *Thanks * Hadriana said, and rolled her eyes while she told them, "It's part of my charm." With a smirk dancing over her features.
"That's so James," Lily sighed fondly over how that came out, James simply smirked and shrugged his shoulders.
"Bertie's Botts Every Flavour Beans?" Hadriana read out loud and stared at the box before putting one of them in her mouth. 'Yummy, Chocolate.' Was her thought as she ate a couple of them.
"They mean every flavour," Ron told her and took a bite out of his candy. "There is chocolate and peppermint, but also spinach, liver and trife." He said, and as she had taken another and got ear vax right then she understood how it was possible.
"George swears that he got a boogie-flavoured one once," Ron said without a care in the world.
Hadriana just looked at him and took up a purple and white box. 'Chocolate Frog' "These aren't real, are they?" she asked him and stared at the frog in the container.
"It's just a spell," Ron told her and waved it off. "Besides, it is the card you want. Each one of the packages has a famous witch or wizards, and I've got about 500 myself."
She opened to the card, and the frog jumped out and landed on the window and then went outside, 'what a waste!' she thought irritated because chocolate had to be the best thing invented in the world.
"That right there is Remus." Young Sirius said with a smile because god knows how much that boy loves his chocolate.
Remus only nodded in agreement, because he just loved the goodies and it calmed him every time to eat a couple of bits of the goodness.
"Watch it!" warned Ron, but by then it was too late as the frog had already flown out of the window. "That's rotten luck, they've only got about one good jump in them, to begin with." He told Hadriana and pulled the card from the package.
"I got Dumbledore!" Hadriana said excitedly and watched the guy smile at her before reading the information that had been written on the card.
"I've got about six of him," Ron told her with a smile.
Hadriana turned it back over only to find him gone, and she shook her head because that just ad to be the magic of the card that made it so. It was then right before someone came barging into the compartment, that she heard a small chewing sound coming from Ron. In his lap, a large grey-brown rat was seen inside of one of every flavour beans package.
The Marauders all frowned at the familiar-looking rat and turned to Peter who struggled to respond to them.
Those from the future all glared at the rat, because of how the rat had changed since his school days.
"This is Scrabbers, by the way. Pathetic isn't he." Ron said while staring at the rat.
Hadriana gave him a twisted smile because something was not right with that rat. It gave off a vibe that should not have been possible for a rat, "how long have you had it?"
"Percy has had it for years before I got it," Ron told her without a problem, though it had always been boring to have to hand me downs.
Hearing this made her suspicious because a garden rat shouldn't have been able to live that long, and she could feel the others in her mind become suspicious too. *Keep an eye on the rat. * Sirius told her with a flare for the dramatics. *Of Course," Hadriana answered her godfather.
"Hmm, he is pathetic. Just a little bit." Hadriana told Ron while doing her best to remain polite.
"Fred gave me a spell, to turn him yellow, want to see?" Ron asked while holding out his wand.
"Yeah," Hadriana said with excitement, wanting to see his display of magic.
Ron cleared his throat, "Sun- "he began but was cut off by a brown-haired girl entering their compartment. "Has anyone seen a toad, a boy named Neville's lost one?" She said, before looking at Ron. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."
"Oh, Merlin. I was a menace back then, wasn't I?" Hermione groaned, causing everyone to break out in laughter. "No, you were lovely," Ron said and gave her hand a loving kiss knowing that the girl always thought about that time as something awful. "Thanks," Hermione said fondly, knowing that she had been pretty awful back then.
Ron cleared his throat again, before beginning his spell.
Barty, Regulus and Evan only rolled their eyes, because it was so like pranksters to tell people about a spell that is so wrong.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow." Ron said and pointed his wand at the rat. Nothing happened, causing him to look at the others and shrug.
The hall burst out in laughter, the Prewett twins fell in love with the twins who obviously took after them. Ron once again shrunk back in his seat, as he remembered how it had been back then to find out what his brothers had done.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not a very good one, is it? Of course, I've only tried a few simple spells myself… but they've worked for me." Hermione walked into the compartment with airs and graces.
Hadriana was confused over that right there because they can't do magic outside of Hogwarts. However, there were a lot of other things that didn't sit well with her but that was then, and this is now.
"Like for example Reparo," Hermione said and pointed her wand at her shoes as they weren't quite up to standard. With the spell, they were fixed as they stitched themselves up. All Hadriana could think was that here was yet another know-it-all, but someone she wanted to get to know if she stopped being so smug about knowing things others had to learn about in their own way.
"You really thought that?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.
"Yeah, you have learned to know that everyone isn't like you that sponge up the reading materials just like that," Hadriana said to her friend because she had learned at least somewhat that people learn things differently than anyone else.
"That's better isn't it," Hermione said before she got a good look at the girl's scar. "Holy cricket, your Hadriana Potter! I'm Hermione Granger, and you are…" she said, and looked towards Ron, disgusted over how he all behaved as he opened his mouth that was filled with chocolate.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron mumbled.
"Pleasure," Hermione said surely as sand and stared at him before turning back towards Hadriana. "You two better change into your robes, I expect that we'll be arriving soon." She said and walked out though she stopped to look at Ron. "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know? just there." She pointed at a spot on his nose before leaving.
*I kind of understand now why they ended up together…* Sirius said mischievously to his wife, silently laughing at the two of them.
*They've always been like that. * Hadriana said snickering back at him, knowing that the others could see that they were laughing.
"Just wait until it's shown how the two of you first met," Luna told them dreamingly, remembering clearly how they all met for the first time, and all the blushing.
Hadriana sighed irritated over meeting someone as bossy as her relatives, and as she changed into the uniform, she couldn't help but to talk to Sirius and ask him about how they were sorted.
Then the scene changed again, and they went off the train as it came into Hogsmeade station – they could see the castle from here. At least some of it, and they found Hagrid waiting beside the train with a lantern in hand. "Right then, first years this way. Don't be shy now, come on!" Hagrid greeted them, as they came to stand by him.
Hadriana and Ron were the first ones off the train, and she nodded in thanks to the boy that held the door open for them. She couldn't help but to smile when he spotted the half-giant and walked over to him.
"Come on now. Hurry up!" Hagrid said, and Ron looked up at him in awe.
"Hello, Hadriana," Hagrid said with a smile, as he stared down at her small form. "Hi, Hagrid." She smiled, making him smile too.
"Woah." Ron finally said, forgetting to say anything else but stare.
Everyone in the hall laughed at Ron's behaviour, even little Severus snape gave out a small smile at that.
*Woah, look at how cute Snape was back now! * Hadriana teased her husband because she knew how much he couldn't stand the guy.
*Yeah, yeah laugh it up. * Grumbled Sirius with a smile knowing why she was doing it, and it had been a miracle that he had made it up to an older version of Snape in the future before everything went to hell.
"This way, follow me first years. Follow me!" Hagrid told them, as the first years began to follow him down to the lake. They were floating down the lake, and the scene changed to every one of them staring up at the castle in astonishment. They had never seen anything like it before, and it was enchanting. It was tall and fully lit up making all of them smile.
Hadriana closed her eyes with an enormous smile around her mouth, it was like she could feel the magic embedded into the castle from where she was sitting.
The whole hall could remember their own first experience of seeing the castle for the first time, and it was a fond memory for all of them. There were only two people that noticed Hadrian's reaction to the castle, everyone else was blind to it, those two agreed that the castle always felt like home to them and the magic it gave off had always been a wonderful feeling.
While they contemplated this, James and Lily smiled sadly at the couple, promising no matter what each other that they were going to be there for their daughter.