Before the Dawn | George Weasley

1

The steam from the train drifted lazily through the chilly late morning air as I watched through the window glass.

Platform 9 ¾ was packed with families bidding teary-eyed farewells and sharing tight embraces, trunks being packed into the train, and the excited buzz of students returning to school. I watched these interactions thoughtfully, my mind drifting to my father back home.

He hadn't made the journey to King's Cross with me this year; he was called away for work the week before I left, and so we had said our goodbyes in our parlour before I departed with a handful of Floo powder and a burst of green flames in the fireplace, stepping out of the hearth in the Leaky Cauldron a few moments later.

The train compartment I was in was empty; I expected it would soon be filled with my fellow Quidditch teammates, the current peaceful silence shattered by Marcus Flint's deep voice and Draco Malfoy's hearty boasting. I smiled a little to myself as I thought of them; we hadn't spoken since last spring, when we'd all gone our separate ways for the summer. I'd received letters from most of my friends over the summer, and had written them back, of course, but it wasn't quite the same.

Summer in in our small town just outside Edinburgh was admittedly a bit lonely; most of the familiar faces from school lived south, closer to London, and I rarely got to see them in the months that stretched between school years. Our neighbours had left Hogwarts three years prior, and no longer lived at home. I had my muggle friends from early childhood, but it was nearly impossible to spend time with them without slipping up and mentioning some aspect of the magical world. I suspected they thought me quite strange at this point, and so I found it simplest to just stay home most of the time.

My fifth year at Hogwarts loomed ahead of me. The last two years had been eventful to say the least, and I found myself hoping for a somewhat normal school year, a quieter year without teachers hiding dark secrets or ancient chambers within the school being opened and monsters preying on students. Luckily, my father being away often meant I was able to intercept the school's reports of these incidents, and as far as I knew, he remained ignorant. I wasn't about to let him force me to switch schools and turn the life I'd built for myself at Hogwarts to shambles.

I was broken out of my thoughts by the compartment door sliding open. I turned excitedly, expecting the familiar faces of Graham Montague and Lucian Bole, probably arguing about something unimportant, but instead I was greeted with a flurry of bright ginger hair.

"Here's an open—" The first to enter broke off as he noticed me. It was a Weasley twin, although which one was a mystery to me. The other stood just behind him, peering curiously over his brother's shoulder at me.

"Mind if we join you?" The question came from the second twin.  "The other compartments are full up."

I shrugged and gestured to the empty compartment, wordlessly agreeing to allow them in despite the sudden sinking realisation that I wouldn't be sitting with my friends this year—they had likely gathered in a different compartment and were wondering why I wasn't there with them. That said, the Weasley twins' reputation preceded them, excitement and chaos following them everywhere they went. At least this would be a fun story to tell, if nothing else.

The two brothers piled in, followed by a boy I recognised as Lee Jordan, the Quidditch announcer, and a couple others, and in an instant I was sandwiched between the window and a Weasley, although I still wasn't certain which one he was. I tried to edge closer to the window, but there was no more room. We were stuck sitting knee-to-knee.

The suddenly-crowded compartment was filled with good-natured banter and laughter. The train lurched into motion, and the platform was left behind.