the boy that could have been

the girls

"Has anybody seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one."

Harry and Ron looked up to see a bushy-haired girl with buckteeth staring at them. Ron was in the middle of trying to turn his rat, Scabbers, yellow and had his wand out. Hermione looked at him interestedly.

"Are you doing magic? Let's see then!" She sat across from Ron, uninvited, and he shot a desperate look at Harry, who shrugged in response. Ron chanted a weird rhyme of some sort, but nothing happened and the girl looked disappointed.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? Of course, I've tried-"

"Did anybody ask?" Came a sour voice. All three of them looked up and tried to hide the shock on their faces.

In the doorway was a girl with jet black hair, not dissimilar to Harry's, coppery skin, and startlingly dark eyes. That wasn't the shocking part though. She was clearly a first-year like them, but she had multiple piercings on her face and ears, and she was chewing gum with a scowl. A perfectly normal teenager in the muggle world, but wizards were less accustomed to piercings, and this girl was a very scary-looking eleven-year-old. Although evident on the others' faces, this didn't seem to bother her as she plonked down beside Ron.

"God, know-it-alls are irritating. Nobody likes a show off." She sneered. The bushy-haired girl looked affronted and stood up to leave.

"Well, I'm Hermione. Let me know if you find Neville's toad."

"That got rid of her quickly! The name's Charlotte. Charlotte Black."

The boys muttered hasty greetings. Harry felt a twinge of recognition at the name, but he couldn't think what it was. He tilted his head and looked at her.

"Want a picture? It'll last longer." Charlotte scowled. Harry blushed and lowered his head as Ron scuttled slightly further away from her.

"Sorry, I just thought your name sounded familiar. Are your parents wizards or...?"

"I don't know. I mean, my mum isn't, but I don't know my dad. He could be, or he could just be your generic Muggle arsehole."

The boys were both speechless at the venom dripping from her voice. Before they could reply, however, somebody else showed up in the doorway.

"Oh dear, not another one." Groaned Ron, and Harry stifled a snigger. Standing in the doorway was another young girl, with slightly damp-looking black hair, pale skin and an...interestingly shaped nose.

"Rude much." She said coldly, "I thought you were here, Char. Why did you run away?"

"I didn't run anywhere!" Exclaimed Charlotte, "I saw that Mud- erm, I mean, that other girl with the brown hair come in here, so I thought I'd come get rid of her, and I found these two. That one's Harry Potter!"

Harry hadn't actually introduced himself, but he was growing accustomed to people knowing who he was. The new addition, however, didn't seem very interested in him and pulled a face before grabbing Charlotte's wrist.

"Come on C, the others are waiting. Draco was telling a great story!"

The two disappeared before the boys could even find out the other girl's name, but before they could even comment upon this, another visitor showed up. She was a tiny girl who looked rather exhausted, and despite her young age her hair seemed a little grey.

"I'm really sorry, but some older kids just kicked me out of my carriage. Would it be okay if I sat here?"

"Sure, go ahead." Said Harry, smiling. This girl seemed a lot less confident than the others, but also a lot kinder, "You can have some sweets too if you want."

She smiled shyly and sat, nervously taking a chocolate frog, "My dad has a bit of a thing for chocolate. He always says it gets your energy up, especially after-"

But what she was about to say next remained a mystery, for at that moment the carriage darkened once again as someone stood in the doorway.

"Bloody hell Harry, you really are famous!" Ron exclaimed, earning himself a wry grin.

Their new visitor, thankfully, was not yet another girl, but a slightly chubby, ratty-looking boy. Scabbers squeaked and hid inside Ron's robes, causing the boy to chuckle anxiously.

"Ha ha, rats normally like me haha, my mum says it's because I'm a bit like one hahaha, sorry to bother you I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Tyler hahaha, you must be Harry Potter haha, and who are these?"

"I'm Ron, and that's - we didn't ask your name, did we?" He said, turning towards the tiny girl.

"My name is Crescent. I know it's a bit weird, apparently my dad chose it, but I don't seem him often, only when I - when I get ill. He's busy, I think."

"Oh, haha, well, it's nice to meet you hahaha, I'll be off now hahaha. Bye haha!"

He left, and Ron got up to shut the door, "Hopefully he's the last." He muttered.

"Tyler doesn't really suit him." Crescent said thoughtfully, "Tyler gives, likes, bad boy vibes, but he was pathetic and wouldn't stop giggling."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed, to which Crescent warily joined in.

"I think we're going to get along well, Cress." grinned Ron.