The-Boy-Who-Almost-Was

My long brown braids jumped and bounced around as I ran along the platform to say good-bye to my parents.
"Be good, study hard, make friends!" my mom shouted her final motherly orders to me after I gave her a quick hug and kissed my dad on the cheek. The whistle blew and I was off again running to get back on the train and find a seat. There were so many people bustling about and talking with excitment flying through the air. I kept hearing bits and pieces of conversations.
"Is he really going to Hogwarts this year?"
"Did you hear who is on the trian?"
"Is it true?"
Something was clearly going on. What, I was not sure of. I also could not find a single open compartment so I had to settle for one that had two boys who looked to be first years too.
Sliding open the door I asked, "Can I sit here?"
The first one took a minute to nod and the other just smiled, a little arogantly I might say. There was an awkward pause. The first one had flaming red hair and rather large ears. He clutched a fat rat that looked as old as the school we were heading to. The second boy was skinny and had jet black hair that stuck up like he just woke up, which is probably the way he liked it. He had round glasses and bright green eyes.
"So, whats your name?" greeneyes asked.
"Christine Parker, and yourselves?"
"Harry Potter."
"Ron Weasley."
"Are you both first years?"
"Yes, I've been waiting to go to Hogwarts forever. My Dad said that I just had to play Quidditch, just had to be the seeker. There's no way I'm letting him down. I was born to be on a broom!" Harry said smuggly.
"My brothers say that first years cant play on the school team, you have to wait till next year," Ron stated mater-o-factly.
Harry's smiling face fell and his tone got a little hard, "Well who are your brothers to say-"
"That would be us, actually."
Two twins stood in the doorway looking annoyed. They also had bright red hair and were tall and slender. Harry directed his gaze out the window.
"We were just stopping by to tell Ronnykins that if you need us we'll be in Lee Jordan's compartment, he's got this spider and..."
The twin talking had stopped to look at me and flash a smile my way.
The other smirked a little, "Looks like Ronnykins has got some new friends. We'll leave you alone to play."
"Unless you would like to see the spider too?" the first asked. I think he was asking me because he was looking at me still but it was Ron who answered him.
"No, we're fine here," his voice was tense. "I hate spiders!" he added once his brothers had left.
"Why, there's just something to crush," Harry said, still looking out the window. He didnt turn away until there was a loud comotion of girls outside in the hall. We all exchanged puzzled looks and I was the one to get up to investigate. Three compartments down a group of girls were crowded around the open doors of somebody's compartment. They were giggling and occasionally squealing. I approached to find nothing but a boy sitting with his feet up. The rest of the seats and the floor was filled with girls.
"Who is he?" I asked the girl closest to me.
"Its Nevil Longbottom! THE Nevil Longbottom! EEEEk Oh he is so cute I could just die. Let us see the scar!" she shouted causing others to yell it as well. With a smile, a chuckle and a wink the boy with a round face and dark hair lifted his bangs that covered his forehead to show a small scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. Even more squeals erupted from the crowd. That was about as much as I could handle. I started to turn away but noticed a girl my age struggleing through the crowd, mumbling to herself.
"Stupid, dittzy girls, cant even find an empty compartment, so annoying, sure he is famous but so what."
"You can sit with me if you want," I said, helping her through two more girls who were jumping up and down in excitement. She smiled and nodded.
"Whats going on?" Harry asked when I returned with the girl, Hermione she said her name was.
"Some guy that girls are obsessing over for some reason," I said, "This is Hermione, I said she could sit with us because there is nowhere else."
"Alright," they said together but didnt look all to happy.
"And it wasnt just a boy, it was The-Boy-Who-Lived, Nevil Longbottom," Hermione said as though that meant something. Clearly it did to the other two.
"Really? He's here! Going to school with us?!" Ron exclaimed.
"My folks told me he would be in the same year as us!" Harry said just as excited as the girls outside.
"Who's that?" I asked. The three shot looks at me that made me regret saying it.
"You're a muggle born arent you?" Harry asked.
"Well," I started, slightly offended, "yes if thats what you would want to call somebody like me, a witch born to muggles."
"I'm a muggle born too, but I've read all our textbooks and as many as I could afford. Have you at least heard of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
I nodded, him I've heard of.
"Well," she continued, "ten years ago. You-Know-Who went to the Longbottom's house to kill them. He killed the father, then the mother. But something happened when he tried to kill the one-year-old son. He couldnt do it. The spell backfired and You-Know-Who was destroyed. Nevil survived the killing spell, which nobody has done ever before. Poeple think he is the savior, a hero who rid the world of You-Know-Who. He is suposed to be very powerful, even now before we even start school. I hear he can do all sorts of magic."
Durring Hermione's story the boys lost intrest and started pushing each other. Once they got too rilled up and Harry's glasses were knocked to the floor and accidently crushed under a foot. The bridge broke and there was a crack in one of the lenses. He picked them up and studdied them with a frown.
"Let me," Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the glasses. "Octulus Reparo." With a snap the glasses fixed themselves. "I've been practicing all summer." she said with a shy smile.
"Somebody is a Ravenclaw," Ron mummbled. Harry let out a short laugh and he replaced his perfect glasses.
"Well, I would hope so, Ravenclaw is a nice respectable house, though Hufflepuff wouldnt be bad either."
Houses, I knew what houses were. At least I wasnt completely oblivious to everything in the magic world.
"I wont take anything less than Gryffindor. Both my parents were in it." Harry announced.
"All five of my brothers were in Gryffindor so we expect I will be too," Ron said not so enthusiastic as Harry.
"What about you?" Harry said to me.
"Well, I dont know if Im smart enough for Ravenclaw so Hufflepuff might be for me."
"No, you have to be in Gryffindor," Harry said.
"What, are you saying you wouldnt talk to me if I was in a house like Slytherin?"
He didnt answer.
"Anything from the trolly!" a woman called from the hall. Harry stood up and bought two of everything. We all snacked for the rest of the train ride but a tension loomed over us.
Finally the train started to slow and then came to a complete stop.
"We're here!" Hermione beamed excitedly with me as we stepped of the train, ready to begin a school year at the best school in the world, Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.