The Weirdest Weasley of Them All

Year 1: Chapter 2

( Hope's POV )

I scrambled around the station, desperately seeking out some kind of familiar face, only to find none. Platform 9 ¾ was, of course, filled with students, many, like myself, were already wearing robes, although the vast majority of them were wearing muggle clothes. I passed a rather large group of redheads on my way to the carriage, chatting animatedly making me stop halfway when i heard a name. "Harry Potter..." several people bumped into me and jerked me out of my stupor as i mumbled apologies and walked onto the train. Harry Potter, there was no way....could he really be here?

I slipped into an empty carriage, putting my trunk on the luggage rack before pulling a book out of my pocket and opening it. I don't remember how long i was reading for until i heard Cho's voice: "Oh, god, Marietta, i don't think she's going to come out of it. Hey, hey Hope!" i looked up, feeling dazed "hmm? Oh, hey Cho, Marietta." i said nodding at the two of them, they both gave me a knowing look, "so...how did you spend you holidays, Hope?" Marietta asked, with a grin. "Reading." i replied, shrugging. They both laughed "you always read." Cho snickered. "So?" i asked about to come up with a damn good retort too when there was a knock on our compartment door.

"Excuse me, could i sit with you? All the other compartments seem to be full..." a girl with bushy, mouse-brown hair and rather large front teeth stood in the doorway. I glanced at the others and nodded "of course." i said, shuffling a few of my things to side so she could sit, and she did so, burying her nose in a book "A History Of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot" the moment she sat down. I stared at her in amazement while my friends snickered. "Is that what i look like?" i mouthed and they both nodded, biting their lips to stifle their giggling, i sighed and shook my head.

"What's your name?" i asked her. "Hermione Granger." the girl replied, without looking up "i'm Hope Lategris, that's Cho Chang and that's Marietta Edgecombe" i said pointing them out but the girl wasn't paying attention "are you new?" I asked and she nodded "yes, it's my first time coming to hogwarts, I didn't even know I was a witch, you see." I nodded "I was the same when I first came." i was going to ask her more but once again, conversation was interrupted by the carriage door opening, the trolley lady stood in the doorway. "Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked, immediately me and Cho jumped up. Cho always had a thing for Pumpkin Pasties and I ultimately loved the challenged of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. When we returned with our purchases the girl called Hermione had closed her book and was watching us curiously. "What sort of food is that?"

I grinned "this, is Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and they really do mean every flavour." Cho bit into her pasty and started talking animatedly to Marietta about....something, i wasn't listening if i'm honest. "Could i try one?" Hermione asked i shrugged and offered her the packet "Sure, be careful though." i warned as she popped a red bean into her mouth and chewed. She grimaced and spat it out "tastes like salmon...." "what's wrong with salmon?" "i hate salmon." i laughed and ate a blue one. "Soap. not too bad."

Our bean tasting had turned into more of a competition of who could find the worst tasting bean. She won when she gagged, spat out her bean and swallowed a rather large amount of water. "V-vomit." she said ruefully, shaking her head. I laughed and smiled at her, victorious. The carriage door opened for the third time as all of our heads turned to face it. A round-faced boy stood there "have any of you seen a toad at all?" we all shook our heads "ohhh...my gran will be so mad at me...." he moaned sadly. Immediately me and Hermione jumped up "i-we'll help you look." i said, ignoring how my friends rolled their eyes as Marietta called "you're such a goody-two-shoes Hope!" we went by, carriage after carriage, asking after the boy's toad. Eventually we came to what looked like a carriage far emptier than the rest. Hermione slid open the door, ""Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." Neville himself was standing a few steps in front of us. The compartment held two redheads, presumably from the group i had passed earlier, one of whom had their wand out pointing at a rat while the other, the girl of the two, seemed to be looking at the rat in disappointment, and then there was the black haired boy against the window in glasses.