Adaptions

Chapter 1

"Do you need any help?"

Harry turned, leaning heavily on his crutch. Two identical ginger boys stood before him, both looking to be two or three years older than him. "Yes, please." Harry replied, giving the older boys a shy smile.

Harry followed the twins as they lifted his trunk, and Hedwig, onto the Hogwarts Express and into the closest compartment. Harry thanked the twins as they left to say 'goodbye' to their parents before sitting down by the window and looking around the compartment, feeling immensely thankful that his wheelchair was waiting for him at Hogwarts. He wouldn't have managed to get the wheelchair onto the train.

Harry stared out the window and watched at the redheaded boys reached their family again - all of whom had vivid ginger hair. A ghost of a smile appeared on Harry's face as he watched the children be fussed over by their mother - his heart warmed to see such love.

The train sounded its horn and the volume of the station rose to a crescendo as farewells were shouted across the station. Soon, all of the students were on the train and the station disappeared from sight. Harry sighed and leaned his head on the window, hoping that he'd make friends in his new school.

A knock came from the compartment door. Harry turned, and saw a ginger boy stood on the other side of the door. Harry gestured for him to enter the compartment.

"Can I join you?" The boy asked. Harry nodded upon recognising the boy as part of the same family as the identical twins were. "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley."

"Harry, Harry Potter." Harry replied, smiling at the kindly boy.

However, Harry felt his fondness for the boy vanish as Ron's eyes popped open in surprise. He'd only found out about his fame just over a month ago but already he'd come to despise it. His fame, along with his disability, really gave people something to stare at.

"You're Harry Potter?" Ron asked in awe. "Do you remember what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named looks like?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't remember anything really.

"Oh." Ron looked at Harry's crutch. "What's wrong with your leg?"

Harry felt affronted but reminded himself that he was going to school with this boy - Ron should probably be told about his disability. "I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome." Harry replied. "In your body you have collagen that is basically the glue that holds you together. Mine is faulty so it means that I'm too flexible and bendy - my joints dislocate a lot and I have a lot of stomach problems and heart problems." Harry had rehearsed this speech ready for Hogwarts - he knew that he'd be explaining it frequently when he first started.

Ron winced. "I dislocated my shoulder last year, I can't imagine that happening all the time. Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, loads. I talked to Hagrid about it and he said to go see Madam Pomfrey after the feast."

*

Eventually the train reached Hogwarts. Ron had told Harry all about his family on the train and hadn't even been annoyed when Harry had fallen asleep while he had been talking - he said when he'd hurt his shoulder he slept a lot too.

Harry had grabbed his other crutch before getting off the train. His pain levels had soured during the journey to such an extent that he felt as though he was being stabbed and his legs were twitching because of the pain.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to get help?" Ron asked.

Harry hesitated for a moment, but quickly shook his head, determined to do what all the other first years would be doing.