Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 1: Shaye Frazier

Year 1 at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Picking up the final stack of books sitting on her bed, Shaye piled it into her trunk before forcing the top shut. Plopping down on top of it, she secured the lock to make sure it wouldn't pop open on the way to King's Cross Railway Station the following day. With an exhausted huff, the small girl turned her attention to the rain-splattered window of her bedroom and listened as the water droplets pounded against the glass.

Despite the less than joyous weather outside—unless you liked the rain, which Shaye didn't really—Shaye's spirits were high. In less than twenty-four hours she would board the Hogwarts Express and begin her first of seven years at the school for witchcraft and wizardry. 

Coming from a pureblood family of witches and wizards, Shaye Frazier had lived in a world full of magic for as long as she could remember. Her first real memory was of lying in bed with her enchanted stuffed elephant singing her to sleep with a lullaby. Needless to say, she was no stranger to the life of floating inanimate objects, magical creatures, and everything from the good to the bad that came with being born with magic. 

In fact, her family was more acquainted with the bad than most.

"Breakfast is ready!" A faint female voice, belonging to Shaye's mother, came from the kitchen downstairs. 

"Coming!" Shaye called back before gently sliding off of her trunk. She hoped it would stay shut, and thankfully, it did. 

Heading for the door, Shaye took one last look at her bedroom, making sure she had packed everything she needed. In the days leading up to the 1st of September, she had packed and re-packed her trunk about five times in anticipation, but this was the last time and she had to make sure everything was perfect. Her trunk remained closed, her robes were hanging in her closet for the next day, and her small red owl Erwin was snoozing peacefully in his cage, seemingly soothed by the sound of the rain.

With a pleased nod to herself, Shaye turned on her heel and headed down the hall. Before reaching the stairs, however, she passed an open door and slowed to look inside. The door to her sister's room was almost never open, but upon spotting the shifted books and slightly ajar closet door, it was clear that either her mother or father had been looking for something; probably a hand-me-down book or something for Shaye to take with her to Hogwarts.

It was easy to tell when something had been moved or touched in Shaye's sister's room because the room had remained pretty much completely untouched for two years. Ever since Lorelei Frazier had gone missing, her room had been left exactly how it had been before Lorelei left for her final year at Hogwarts and disappeared on her seventeenth birthday. 

Shaye tried not to think too hard about the unoccupied room. She had done plenty of worrying for almost an entire year after her big sister disappeared—her entire family had, but after they hit dead end after dead end and the rumours started spreading, they were forced to give up the search. Lorelei was simply gone. Shaye had come to terms with this fact. 

What Shaye refused to accept, however, was that the rumours surrounding her sister were true. No matter how many people said it, Shaye couldn't believe that her beloved sister had turned to the dark side and joined the Death Eaters; and not just because the followers of the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, had mostly disbanded since his famous run-in with Harry Potter ten years ago. 

Taking a step closer to the doorway, Shaye peeked her head inside of the room and smiled when she caught sight of her favourite photograph of her sister. Smiling and laughing in the moving picture, Lorelei was standing in front of a blooming tree in her green Slytherin robes—she was the only member of the Frazier family to be sorted into Slytherin for many generations—and next to her, with her arm around Lorelei, stood her best friend Hattie Carter, who was in her red Gryffindor robes. The two girls were in their fourth year at Hogwarts, making them both fourteen. 

With a sad smile, Shaye looked down at the silver bracelet around her wrist that had been a gift from her sister—in fact, it had been the very last thing she had ever received from Lorelei before she went missing—and twisted it around her arm a few times. Then, grabbing the doorknob, she closed the bedroom door and descended the stairs.

Entering the kitchen, which smelled of delicious bacon and pancakes, Shaye was greeted by her mother Elise, who was just grabbing some glasses for the orange juice while the plates full of food floated over to the table by themselves. Her father Dorian was sitting in his usual spot, reading the Daily Prophet like he did every morning. 

"Good morning." Elise smiled as she joined the two at the table and cleared her throat in her husband's direction, wordlessly telling him to put the paper down. "Are you all packed?"

Shaye nodded. "Yes. I've got everything." She paused a moment. "Lorelei's bedroom door was open."

Shaye's parents shared a slightly worried look. It was no secret that they didn't much like discussing their eldest daughter, especially with their youngest, but they always tried to be as supportive of Shaye's feelings towards the subject. 

"Ah, yes, I was ...  just looking for a spare set of scales for you to take," Dorian said. "I know the Hogwarts letter only says one set, but they don't make them like they used to. The ones these days break much too easily. A spare set is just smart."

"Exactly." Elise nodded, a relieved smile crossing her face. 

Shaye nodded as she reached for the syrup for her pancakes. "Did you find any?"

"Find any what?" 

"Scales."

"Oh, right. No. No, I didn't."

Knowing that her parents were uncomfortable, Shaye decided to change the subject. However, that didn't quite go as planned. "What house do you think I'll be sorted into?" Shaye asked. 

"Well, what house do you want to be sorted into?" Elise asked before taking a sip of her juice.

Shaye thought for a moment. "I guess Gryffindor, like you guys," she said. "But ... what if I'm in Slytherin like Lorelei?"

Shaye's parents looked at each other once more. "We will be happy with whichever house you are sorted into," Elise told her daughter.

"And the hat is very wise," Dorian added. "No matter where you end up, you will fit in and make friends with your housemates. Now stop worrying and eat your breakfast before it gets cold."

Falling silent, Shaye turned her attention back to the food on her plate and did as her father said. While she ate, she couldn't help but continue to worry about her future at Hogwarts. There was a part of her that wanted to end up in Gryffindor like her parents and most of her family, but then there was another part of her that wondered if being placed in Slytherin would help her feel closer to her sister; maybe then she could find out what had happened to her.

Shaye had been only nine years old when her sister disappeared, and although Lorelei had become almost unrecognizable in her final year at Hogwarts, Shaye focused on the memories from before that; the memories of when the two of them had been best friends. The memories from before Lorelei had been branded the 'bad apple' of the family. 

Shaye was certain that whatever awaited her at Hogwarts was going to be an adventure with many twists and turns, but what she wasn't so sure about was whether or not she was ready. She had been waiting eleven years for this day and now that it was finally here, she was suddenly bombarded by fears she had never even entertained before.

With her good mood dissipated, now feeling much like the gloomy weather outside, Shaye tried her best to focus on the good and block out the bad. She was determined to make her own path at Hogwarts and prove that she wasn't her sister. 

Shaye was determined to be the best that she could possibly be.