Aftermath | Fred Weasley

01. Meeting

There it was, I knew sooner or later I'd find what I was looking for. More like who I was looking for. It wasn't so obvious, any ordinary person caught in the rush of a busy train station wouldn't notice, smart choice. I might not have known precisely what it would look like but I'm observant, almost to a fault my mother would like to say. As a child, people-watching would be my go-to idea of fun. Today my people-watching is going to get me out of no-maj London and into the wizarding world. I'd been in London for about a month and a half now, and I was in desperate need of a new wand. I'd spent almost every day since I got here wandering the city in hopes to find my way around. But without my magic I couldn't find an entry way to a wizard community.

Before leaving America, I did my fair share of research about the wizarding world in London. But my leaving timeline had been put on fast forward and I was gone before I could get to the helpful information, like where to find the Leaky Cauldron and how to get there. Even if I did have a wand, I don't turn 18 until tomorrow, so I wouldn't be able to apparate to where I need to go. Unfortunately for me, in the US we can't use magic freely until we turn 18. So even though I graduated from Ilvormorny in June, I'm still being tracked, and since I'm trying to not be found, it was best to live without magic.

On the plus side, I did learn about Hogwarts and that the students got there via train, it left Kings Cross Station every September 1st. I probably could've found out exactly which platform the train would be leaving from and what time if I kept reading, but that seemed like rather unuseful information at the time. I'm aware that a huge battle had taken place at Hogwarts in May and that the wizarding community here was recovering from the war it fought. Last I heard, before I dropped off the face of the wizarding world, the school was rebuilt fairly quickly and set to reopen like normal. But that was back in mid-July, anything could've happened between now and then. I've been so disconnected from the wizarding world that I couldn't even tell you if the Weird Sisters finally released their new single, much less the ramifications of war overseas.

Nevertheless, I showed up at Kings Cross at 6 am in hopes that I could find a wizarding family and finally get back to the magic world. I had no idea how long I'd be waiting until I found someone who could help me, but my best bet was to get there the second the station opened and not leave until it closed. At around hour two, I was starting to wonder why I was even doing this when I could just wait until midnight and then apparate to where I needed to go. That thought didn't last two seconds because while being observant wasn't a fault, I had plenty of real ones, the biggest being my impatience. If there was a chance of me getting to the Leaky Cauldron even an hour before I turn 18 then I'm going to take it. Plus it's not like I was very good at wandless magic. With my luck, I would be able to apparate without a wand by the time I was thirty, that is if I didn't kill myself trying first.

Here, finally is my chance. In between platforms 9 and 10, kids and their families have been running through. Seeing how many people have been going through, this is the only entrance, hopefully meaning it's the only exit. People stopped showing up a few minutes before 11, it's now a few past. It's just a matter of waiting for families to start coming back through. But how do I casually ask for help? Just then parents and what I assumed to be older siblings started walking through. Slowly, and controlled. I made my way closer to the platform. How do I introduce myself? Who do I go up to? I mean the war ended but I'm sure some people still have their opinions, would it be safe to go up to just anyone? It doesn't matter, the next per-

"Oh, I'm sorry," the voice belonging to the body that ran into me spoke. He bumped into me with enough force to knock me over, but he managed to catch me.

"Great reflexes," I said straightening myself up and moving out of his grip.

"Nice going Freddie," a voice from behind him spoke.