𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (𝐝.𝐦.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

♔

As I stood on the platform that the Hogwarts Express had pulled into, Platform 9 and something or other, I counted and recounted my belongings so I could owl home if I forgot anything.

This school would be so different. Ilvermorny was my last school. I loved it there, I was in a house called Thunderbird.

I wondered what house I would be in here. I was lucky to be going to Hogwarts, my dad told me they had a similar house system in place, so I could catch on quite fast to everything.

The only thing I worried about was picking up on how they talked here. They were mostly British, some Scottish, Welsh, and Irish.

I'm from Boston, Massachusetts, and luckily Ilvermorny was in my state. I didn't have to travel far for school in the past, but now with my dad getting a new job in London's Ministry offices, we had to relocate.

It's always been just us two, my mom died when I was really young.

I don't know much about her, just that she was a witch too, and my dad didn't like to talk about her so I didn't pry.

I was on the platform after saying a brief goodbye to my dad, nothing out of the ordinary for us, and I figured if I forgot anything I would get new things later on.

I decided to board the train at this point, I was sure I had all I needed. My dad was gone so I had no reason to stick around. I was going into my fifth year at Hogwarts, so I had to be what they called "sorted".

At Ilvermorny, our house choosing was called "selection". I assumed it was about the same.

It wasn't a problem, but my dad warned me about certain house traits. He had friends that went to Hogwarts, and they had been in Slytherin, but based on his description I didn't like the idea of it so much.

I hadn't really looked into the rest, so I was just going to wing it for wherever I was placed.

I grabbed my bags and trunk and walked towards the train, but before I could make it very far, I was met with an unpleasant blonde boy.

I watched as he grumpily walked my way and made a point to bump my shoulder. "Watch where you're going," He hissed at me as I whipped around to be sure I had seen that correctly.

"Watch where I'm going? You shoved my shoulder, pal," I shot back, already sick of this guy.

"You're American?" He asked, a little surprised but still wearing a frown that looked as if his face would get stuck that way if he kept it up.

"Yeah, I am. What's your damage anyway?"

"What's my- Of course, you Americans are clumsy and uncoordinated enough as it is, I wouldn't expect you to be eloquent on top of all your other shortcomings," He said with a hateful tone.

I scrunched my face up at his words. Was he being serious?

"Get over yourself, I'm sure you have plenty of shortcomings yourself," I said, making sure to gesture to his pants to make him just a little insecure.

"How dare you! My father will-"

"I don't have time for this," I said simply, cutting him off so I didn't have to hear any more of this daddy's boy garbage.

I walked past him before he could say anything else and finally boarded the train. As I walked, I realized most kids were sitting with their friends, and these people were typically in bunches from their pre-sorted houses.

Unless I wanted to sit with first-years. Which I did not.

I walked until I came across two ginger twins that seemed to be eyeing me down. "Hello there, love, you look lost," One of them said.

I rolled my eyes, but they seemed nice. "Hi. I'm not lost but I don't really know where to sit. I'm new," I said.

The twins looked at each other with awe on their faces. "An American," They said in unison.

"That's me," I said.

"What's your name? I'm George and this is Fred," George said. "Yeah, and what year are you? We're seventh years now," Fred asked.

"I'm Maggie Warrington. I'm a fifth year," I said, and they nodded. "Right, our brother Ron's a fifth year as well, along with his friends. Hermione Granger and... drumroll please, Fred..." George started, and Fred drummed on the wooden wall next to him.

"Harry Potter himself," George said, completing his sentence.

I looked at him blank-faced. "Who?" I asked, and they looked back at me matching my confusion.

"The boy who lived?" Fred tried clarifying for me, but I still didn't understand the big deal.

"I keep forgetting you're American. I guess he's not that big of a deal over there, eh, Fred?"

"I suppose not," Fred answered.

"Well, anyway, follow us, we'll introduce you to old Ronny boy," George chuckled, and I nodded, walking closely behind the two.

"What houses are you two in?" I asked, and they both looked back at me as they walked. "Gryffindor, the best house," They grinned.

"I've been hearing a lot about Gryffindor," I said, mostly to myself, and I kept following them.

We reached a compartment further down and I looked inside to see another ginger boy sitting by himself.

George opened the compartment door and he looked up at us.

Right away I felt a little anxious, would he like me? I didn't care too much if he didn't, but I would prefer to go to this new school with a friend.

At least I had Fred and George, but they weren't in my year.

"This is Maggie Warrington," Fred said to Ron, and he smiled up at us.

"Hello, Maggie. I'm Ron," He said, and I smiled back, waving a little. "Hey," I said.

"Blimey, you're from America?" He asked, and I nodded. I had a feeling I would be asked that a lot.

"To be fair, my dad's a Brit. The only thing is, he raised me in America and my mom was American as well. The accent stuck," I said, and Ron listened intently.

"We should get going, are Harry and Hermione on their way?" George asked, and Ron nodded.

"Catch you later, yeah?" Fred said, looking at me, and I nodded. "I'll see you around," I answered. "You too, George," I said waving him off.

I went in and sat across from Ron, placing my hands on my knees. "My friends should be here any minute now," He said, and I nodded, not sure what else to do.

Soon, two more people walked into the compartment and I looked over to them as they greeted Ron. I deduced that these two were Hermione and Harry, but I stood regardless to introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Maggie, Maggie Warrington," I said, and they greeted me back. "Hey, I'm Harry, and this- this is Hermione," He said, motioning to the girl next to him who wore a big grin.

"You're from-"

"America, yes," I chuckled, and they smiled. "Merlin, it's going to be great to have a friend who actually understands girl stuff," She gushed, and I smiled a bit wider.

She already considered me a friend.

♔

hee hee hee... chapter one of a draco book. so fun, so excited. let's see if you guys like it!