Chapter - 29 : The Hogwarts Express

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But here we were well-known for surviving some big, bad master of evil, and I didn't have much experience with that. We were expected to be a great witch and wizard and I was still trying to figure out how wizarding money worked. I already felt like a failure, a freak, a let-down.

The compartment door swung open, revealing Ron. "Do you mind?" he asked, pointing to the seat beside me. "Everywhere else is full."

Harry and I exchanged glances and shook our heads. Ron took the seat. He stared at both of us briefly before looking out the window, trying to pretend he hadn't.

"Hey Ron." The twins entered. "We're going down to the back of the train, Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula."

"Right," Ron muttered.

"Hey," the other twin spoke up. "We didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Fred and that's George, and that's our brother Ron. See you later."

There was an awkward chorus of bye as the twins left. Ron stared at the pair of us once more before blurting, "Are you really the Potter twins?" We nodded. "Oh, I thought it might have been one of Fred and George's jokes. Have you really got-?" He pointed between Harry's forehead and my cheek uncomfortably.

Harry lifted his bangs to show the scar off. Ron stared at it in awe before turning to me, eyes fixed expectantly on my cheek. I glared at him and said shortly, "Keep dreaming."

"She doesn't even show me," Harry explained quickly.

"Right," Ron nodded, looking a bit abashed. "So that's where You-Know-Who-?"

"Yeah, but I can't remember," Harry said hastily.

"Nothing?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Just lots of green light," Harry shrugged.

"I remember his voice," I blurted. My eyes widened. I'd only ever mentioned that to Harry once, when I woke up shaking and panting from a nightmare of green light and a high, cold voice. Harry looked at me, surprised I'd mentioned it. Ron stared at me in awe. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Really?" he asked, fascinated.

"I don't remember what he said," I said hastily. "Just the sound of it… might not even be him, uh…"

"Wow," Ron said, leaning back against the seat. His eyes drifted between the two of us for a moment before he stared out the window, seeming to realize what he was doing.

"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked curiously. Ron looked a little surprised at being asked.

"Yeah, think so. Mum's got a cousin who's an accountant, but we don't talk about him."

"You must know loads of magic already then," Harry asked eagerly. Ron shifted.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles. What were they like?" he asked.

"Hellish," I said bluntly.

"At least, ours were," Harry hastily corrected. "Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Oi, am I not good enough for you?" I protested indignantly. Harry sighed.

"Not what I meant Rena."

"I've actually got five," Ron said gloomily. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink.

Harry shrugged. "The Dursleys never gave me a proper present either. Remember the clothes hanger?" he asked me.

"And the tissues," I snorted.

"Up until Hagrid came to get us, we didn't know anything about any of this. Hogwarts or magic or Voldemort."

Ron gaped. "You said his name," he breathed.

Harry blinked and shifted uncomfortably. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See? I don't know anything." He looked down at his shoes gloomily. "I bet I'll be the worst in our year."'

Ron shook his head and quickly explained, "Nah, they're loads of people who come from Muggle families."

We continued to talk amongst ourselves. At noon, a witch pushing a trolley of sweets came by, opening the compartment door and asking, "Candy from the trolley, dears?"

Ron reached into his pocket, pulling out some wrapped-up sandwiches. "I'm all set," he said, looking at the candy longingly.

I looked up at Harry, eyes lighting in pleasure. Candy was another luxury we'd been deprived of at the Dursleys, and both of us needed some meat on our bones. What better way to start? We grabbed our money bags and stepped out.

I stared at the candy selection. There was not a single Hershey's in sight. Instead there were Chocolate Frogs, Tooth-flossing Stringmints, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Licorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, and so much more.

Harry and I exchanged wide-eyed looks. We had no idea what most of this was, no idea if we liked it. So, naturally, there was only one reasonable solution.

"We'll take the lot," Harry said.

We took our haul back into the compartment. Ron's eyes went huge as we dumped it all into the empty seat next to Harry.

"Hungry, were you?" he asked.

"Yes, but no," I said, picking through the haul and picking out a Chocolate Frog and a Pumpkin Pasty, I grabbed a Licorice Wand and then returned to my seat, sitting down and ready to tear into my spoils. Next to me, Ron opened up one of his sandwiches and made a face.

"She always forgets that I hate corned beef."

"Trade you," I offered, holding up the pasty. Ron shook his head.

"You don't want this, the bread's all dry."

"Well I don't want this either, I'm not fond of pumpkin," I countered. I tossed the sweet into his lap. Ron took it eagerly.

Soon the sandwiches were forgotten as we binged on sugar and Harry and I worked our way through the new sweets, figuring out what we liked and what we didn't.

"They're not real frogs, right?" Harry asked uncertainly, holding up a Chocolate Frog.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

I raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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Join us on Patreon and unlock the full adventure today!

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