The Young Padfoot *Book One*

Ginny Weasley

After splitting off from the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry, I went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to wait for Remus. The late afternoon sun was shining through the windows of the shop so I decided to just order our ice creams now.

For Remus I went for a chocolate double scoop and as for me, I just went for a simple mint choc chip one. While I was waiting for my ice cream, the owner of the parlour, Florean Fortescue, spoke to me about returning to Hogwarts as he reminisced about his own times there. As I handed over the money and took the ice creams, I stepped back out onto the busy street just in time to see Remus rushing through the crowds.

"Sorry, I'm late," Remus apologised.

"Eh, it's fine. I just spoke with the owner. Did you know he is absolutely fascinated with medieval witch-burnings?" I asked Remus, as I handed him his ice cream.

"Did you know, I did not know that," Remus replied, a smile on his face.

"So did you get any ingredients?" I asked, as we sat on one of the outdoor tables.

"A couple," Remus sighed. "They said they would let me know when they got the stock for the others." I nodded, silently licking my ice cream. Remus cleared his throat before he gave me a smile. "So... how was Lockhart?"

I looked up at him and glared.

"I have no idea how you survived going to school with him," I commented. "He must be one of the most obnoxious people I have ever met."

"Yes, well, we never liked him. I remember one year on Valentine's day he sent himself over 800 Valentines cards. There were so many owl droppings everywhere that they had to cancel breakfast," Remus told me, making my eyes widen.

"Seriously?" I laughed.

"Seriously," Remus nodded. "Did you get your schoolbooks though?"

"Yup. And guess what?" I requested, faking excitement.

"What?" Remus replied, faking the same excitement.

"I even got them signed by the man himself!" I squealed in mock amusement.

"No way!" Remus laughed.

"Yes way," I smiled, but then it faltered. "Did you know that he was signing the books today?"

"I might have had a slight suspicion," Remus admitted, after some hesitation.

"And you didn't give me a heads up because..." I trailed off.

"Because I knew that if you knew he'd be there you would have refused to go," Remus answered.

"Damn right, I would," I confirmed.

By now we had finished our ice creams and were picking up the bags of our days shopping. We then exited to the muggle streets through the Leaky Cauldron and found a spot that wasn't busy so we could safely apparate. I never understood why they wouldn't let people apparate in Diagon Alley, it would have been so much easier.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days sped passed me and before I knew it, Remus and I were apparating to the train station. We got there with five minutes to spare so rather than rushing through the wall like we had to last time, we could make it look more casual and less obvious.

"Make sure you send me loads of owls again," Remus requested, as we walked closer to the Hogwarts Express after popping through the wall.

"Of course I will," I smiled.

"Oh, and before you go, I just wanna say something," Remus began, making me look at him in confusion. "I think you should stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year. I mean, you missed it last year and the full moon is on Christmas Eve so I probably won't be in much mood for everything."

I hesitated before I nodded.

"Ok, are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive," Remus nodded, placing Atlas, who was sleeping in her cage, safely on top of my trunk. He then planted a kiss on my forehead and ushered me towards the train. "Go and find a good compartment. I'll speak to you soon."

"Ok, see you later," I smiled before grabbing my trunk and rushing onto the train.

As I walked down it, I found an empty compartment so went and sat in it, waiting for the others. While I waited, I took out a piece of parchment, my quill, and some ink. I then started to quickly scribble down a letter before the others arrived.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I hope you are well. I have a request that I would like to make to you. I know that I am probably too young and not smart enough to do it myself, so I was wondering if it would be possible for you to persuade Professor Snape to make a wolfsbane potion for my guardian, Remus.

I don't know if you remember him, but Remus and Professor Snape were at Hogwarts together and didn't get on very well. So I feel that if I were to ask, it would be a negative response.

Thank you for your time,

Emery Black

I then folded up the letter and as the train started to move down the tracks, I attached it to Atlas' leg. Once we were safely out of the tunnels, I opened my window and lifted Atlas out to fly. As soon as the wind hit her coat, she took off, soaring high into the blue sky.

Just as I pushed the window shut, my compartment door opened and Hermione came in.

"Hey, Hermione," I smiled, sitting back into my seat.

"Hi. What were you doing by the window?" Hermione asked, glancing towards it.

"Oh, nothing. Just admiring the view," I lied, something that Hermione clearly picked up on but decided not to pursue it. "Have you seen the others?"

"If you mean Harry and Ron, no I haven't," Hermione said, sitting opposite me.

"I wonder where they've got to," I sighed, looking back out the window.

"Maybe the Weasleys were late and missed the—" Hermione began, but was cut off when someone knocked on our compartment door.

We both turned to look at the culprit and were surprised that a familiar ginger first-year was stood there.

"Would you mind if I sat with you?" Ginny Weasley asked. "I don't know anyone else and would rather not be sat by myself. I'd look like a bit of a loner."

I smiled at the young Weasley as I nodded my head.

"Make yourself comfortable," I replied, gesturing to the spare seats.

"Thanks," Ginny smiled. She took the seat beside me after pushing her trunk up onto the storage above us. "I'm surprised Ron and Harry aren't here with you guys, considering you're friends and all."

"Did they get through the wall alright?" Hermione asked Ginny.

"I don't know," Ginny pondered. "I went through with mum before them."

"They might have found Seamus or Dean," I shrugged.

As the train journey to Hogwarts continued, there was still no sign of Harry or Ron but that thought kept getting pushed aside as Hermione and I got to know the young Weasley better.

When I first saw her in Diagon Alley, I thought she was going to be a really quiet, shy girl, but after her confronting Malfoy and simply just talking to her now, I realised I couldn't have been more wrong. I guess growing up with six older brothers forces you to speak your opinion.

We played a couple of rounds of exploding snap, a game that Ginny was annoyingly good at. Out of the eight rounds we played, I only one twice, Hermione once and Ginny beat the crap out of us with five wins!

Eventually, the train pulled up at Hogsmeade and our fun ended. Only then did we properly realise that Harry and Ron had never showed up but before we could discuss anything with Ginny, she was led away by Hagrid with the rest of the first-years.

Where the hell were they?

1319 Words