The Girl Who Hid | George Weasley

ch 1 : the letter

It was a Monday morning before class, and you had just woken up. Your roommate and best friend, June, was gone, and you figured she hadn't seen you still asleep that morning in her rush. You couldn't remember the last time you had overslept, and you honestly weren't sure it had ever happened. Normally, you woke up early, which allowed you some time to relax in the mornings before the day had really gotten going, but last night, you hadn't been able to sleep.

All night, you were tossing and turning, drifting into sleep only to have strange nightmares of a brown haired boy you didn't know and dozens of people running around and screaming strange words you didn't know. Energy seemed to radiate from these people, but the situation seemed dire as they fought, and you were plagued with fear at the nightmare that repeated each time you fell asleep that evening.

You must have finally fallen asleep peacefully at some point in the night, and you must have missed your alarm for class because of your exhaustion.

As realization dawned on you, you tore from your bed in a hurry. You raced to the closet and flung things around in search of your uniform. You didn't know what time it was, but you knew that you needed to get ready as fast as possible. You didn't want any of the leaders of the orphanage to find you in your room instead of in class. June had suffered at their hands for oversleeping once, and it wasn't pretty.

You tripped over your feet as you frantically tugged on your long socks and your shoes. You quickly brushed your auburn hair and pulled a headband on.

Once you found your watch and realized that you had only missed part of your maths class so far, you felt relieved that you and June shared that class. She took very detailed notes and was the best tutor for confusing material, so you knew you wouldn't miss a thing with her there.

You raced to open your bedroom door after you scooped your bag off the floor beside the post of your best, but it whipped open right as you were reaching for the handle. You jumped back and felt terrified as it slowly creaked open.

"She wasn't in class today, so she certainly must have just overslept, madam," You heard June's quiet voice explain.

The door opened fully to reveal the dark-haired June standing beside an unfamiliar woman. She laid her eyes on you and grinned, "Oh my, it truly has been a while, Y/N."

You stopped in your tracks and blinked up at her curiously. You questioned, "You know me?"

She and June stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. The unfamiliar woman looked at the two of you with a small smile and greeted, "I'm Professor McGonagall. It appears that you both got your letters from Hogwarts." She handed each of us letters with our names printed across the front. June Johnson and Y/N L/N.

You looked up at her curiously and wondered, "What is this?"

June wore a look of confusion as she stared at the neat handwriting her letter was written in. You figured that your expression matched hers at that moment.

Professor McGonagall pointed to the letters in our hands and sighed, "Why don't you try reading that first?"

You and June made fleeting eye contact as you each tore into your letters. Your eyes scanned the page, and you felt a laugh bubble in your chest, but you were able to stop it in its tracks. A school for witchcraft and wizardry? That simply made no sense. Such a thing couldn't exist.

Then you noticed the familiar emblem on the letter. You hurried to your dresser and tugged out the only thing you had of your parents. A red and gold jumper that they said belonged to your mother.

You freed it from the drawer and held it up, comparing the crest on the jumper with the emblem on the image. It was a match.

Professor McGonagall nodded her head and sighed, "That was Lily's, your mother's. She cared for you greatly."

You stared down at the letter and the jumper as a simultaneous sadness and curiosity washed over you. You turned to McGonagall and asked, "What happened to my mother?"

The tall woman looked away for a moment before her voice cracked, "She died protecting you and your family, dear."

"My family?" You asked, shocked at how foreign those words felt in your mouth. You had never had a family before.

Professor McGonagall looked at you with pursed lips and a heavy expression. "I'm sorry you've had to be here, dear. We needed to protect you and keep you safe and separate. If you were with him, it would have made you too much of a target, Miss Y/N. It's time for you to begin your studies at Hogwarts, so you can meet him soon."

You nodded, feeling yourself getting stuck on her words. You had family. An uncle or a grandfather. Someone to care for you and look for you, and you would get to meet them by going to this school. You nodded without even questioning what any of this meant.

From beside you, June piped in, "Wait, what does this mean? Magic isn't real."

Professor McGonagall smiled at your best friend and soothed, "I understand your skepticism, Miss Johnson, but I assure you that magic is just as real as you and me."

"I don't believe you," June weakly whispered, but you could see how she was struggling with the false hope she was sure this situation was going to bring for them.

Professor McGonagall nodded for a moment. She explained, "Miss Johnson, surely you've noticed that you aren't normal. Can't you think of a time when something unexplainable and surely impossible happened when you were emotional?"

It was silent in the room for a moment while June thought. She slowly nodded her head when the two of you made eye contact with wide eyes. You were both thinking of the night when you had gotten a bit upset with one another, and each time one of you yelled, a window smacked open or glass shattered.

Professor McGonagall smiled at the two of you and cheered, "You are both witches, just like your parents. I hope you'll both come with me and find your family amongst those at Hogwarts, just as they did."

You and June looked at each other with matching small smiles, giddy with the knowledge that you would finally have a family and a place to call home.