Clara Diggory, Girl of Secrets - a HP fanfic

Chapter 2 - The Burrow and The Weasleys

"Clara!"

A pair of arms engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug, making it hard for me to breathe.

"Hi, Gin," I choked out, before she released me and began jumping up and down ecstatically.

"I'm so glad you're here!" She squealed. "It's just been me and the boys all summer, and Percy's... Well, Percy, Fred and George only want to prank me, and I swear Ron's avoiding me!"

"But... Why?"

"I don't know," Ginny said. "I mean, I guess I was asking about Harry a lot, really -"

"Harry?" I asked. "Not... Harry Potter?"

"Oh! Didn't I tell you? Ron's his best friend - he helped face You-Know-Who at the end of last year - he played this massive live wizards' chess game!"

I gaped at her.

"No... No way..."

"Come on, you can ask him yourself!" She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me upstairs to Ron's room. She knocked on the door loudly.

"Ron! Clara's here! You can tell her all about your year with Harry Potter!"

Behind the door, Ron groaned. "Go away, Ginny."

"Pleeeeeease?" We both pleaded in unison.

"No!"

"Ginny told me how brave you were," I said hopefully. "And how you played wizards' chess, which I think is really bold and I'd love to hear more about..."

There was a short pause, and then the door opened.

"Really?" Ron turned to Ginny. "You said I was brave?"

Gin nodded innocently.

"Well... Fine, come in," Ron said, stepping back and holding his door open.

The room was covered in Chudley Cannons posters, everywhere.

"Blimey, it's a good job I support them too, Ron, else I'd be out of this room like a shot," I told him.

We all sat on the bed, and me and Ginny looked at Ron.

"Well, where do you want me to start?"

"How did you meet?" I said inquisitively.

"Well, you saw him too, Ginny - it was on the platform at Kings' Cross. He didn't know how to get onto the platform, so Mum showed him - not knowing who he was, of course.

"Then there weren't any other carriages on the train, so I ended up talking with Harry for the entire journey. That's when we met our other best friend, Hermione Granger, too."

"What's she like?" Ginny asked.

"She's nice! Bit of a know it all, though. In fact, we weren't friends until Halloween, after the troll in the bathroom thing -"

"What?"

"Oh, a troll attacked Hermione, so Harry and I saved her."

"No way," I breathed. My opinion on Ron was rising higher by the minute.

"And then we found out about the Philosopher's Stone, which can give eternal life. We thought Professor Snape, the potions master, was going to steal it, so we had to get there first. First, we had to get past a three-headed dog, then, we were trapped in Devil's Snare, a plant that almost killed me, and then Harry had to find this flying key - which is harder than it sounds.