The Other Weasley Sister (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Express & The Great Hall

I sat at the kitchen table, eating a crepe and drinking pumpkin juice. Crepes were something that I enjoyed about Beauxbatons, as they were available every day for breakfast and dessert. I'd eaten my fair share of them while I was there over the years. I sipped my pumpkin juice and pushed my hair behind my ear. Today was the day.

I got dressed quickly this morning at seven and brought my trunk down to the first floor. I waited and waited and now it was finally ten forty. It was finally time to go to Hogwarts. I finished eating my raspberry crepe, drank the last sip of my pumpkin juice, and stood from the table.

"You ready, Sis?" asked George, he and Fred each weaving one of their arms through mine so that we were locked at the elbows.

"Ready as I'll ever be?" I said, it sounding like more of a question than a statement. Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the family stood from the table as well. Dad was at work at the ministry, so it'd just be Mum apparating us to the train station. Mum waved her wand and the dishes flew into the sink.

"Alright, alright. Everyone take their luggage in one hand and link elbows with the two people next to them," Mum said. We all did so.

We'd done group apparating before, but it could still go wrong easily. You have to link arms with each other and it takes much more concentration of the person apparating everyone. Also, if double apparating makes you want to vomit, wait till you apparated an entire family. It takes a while to get used to.

"Off we go!" Mum said cheerily once we'd gotten ourselves together. In the blink of an eye we were standing in a busy train station. Mum checked the clock on the wall of the station. "Five minutes until eleven! We have to go or you'll miss the train," she said, all but shoving us into the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. We rushed through the wall and my eyes landed on the Hogwarts Express.

It was exactly like I'd envisioned, vibrant red in color with black and gold. It was so long that I couldn't see the end of it on the tracks. Mum put a hand on my shoulder.

"Be sure to write, Dear," she said, her eyes watering slightly. She pulled me into a tight hug. I patted her on the back with one of my hands.

"I will Mum, I will," I assured her. She took a step back and held me at arms length, wiping her eyes and smiling.

"Well, you better get on the train or it'll leave without you!" she said.

"Bye Mum!" I called over my shoulder as I turned to board the train with my family. I pulled my trunk along with me until I found the compartment that housed Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Ron stood and grabbed my trunk.

"Here ya go," he said, picking up my trunk and struggling to put it on the shelves above our heads. I chuckled.

"Thanks, Ron," I said. I took a seat next to Hermione. "So how long do these train rides take?" I asked no one in particular.

"A bit under six hours usually," replied Hermione. I cocked an eyebrow.

"Six hours?" I said incredulously. "What are we supposed to do for six bloody hours?" Ron shrugged.

"Usually we just talk, or sleep, or something," he said. I nodded. We talked for a few hours, mostly about Hogwarts and professors and classes. I started to worry a bit when Hermione mentioned taking OWL's in fifth year.

"At Beauxbatons we took OWL's this year and NEWT's in fifth," I said. "What if I've learned completely different material and end up being way behind?" I asked, beginning to panic slightly.

"You'll be fine," said Harry. "You're probably just where we are. We had another Beauxbatons exchange student in second year and she was alright." I sighed and leaned my head against the wall of the compartment.