Subtly I looked around platform 9 and 3 quarters. I hung out by the wall and pretended to read. Ten for: no sign of Weasley's. At four to eleven they finally rushed onto the platform. Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Bill and Charlie. My long hair hung straight in front of my face. The family continued on to the train. I entered the door closest to them and continued to pretend I was reading. Just before the train left, Bill and Charlie boarded. Bill had already found friends and quickly walked them to a compartment. Charlie was left alone. 'Hey', I said shyly.
'Oh hello', Charlie said, who clearly hadn't seen me yet.
'A freshman too?' I continued.
'Yes', he said with relief that he had found a peer.
'Let's find a compartment', he suggested. I quickly nodded and followed him.
When we finally found an empty one, I introduced myself: 'I'm Belle, by the way.'
'Charlie Weasley', he introduced himself.
'Do you have any siblings who are already going to Hogwarts?' asked Charlie.
'No you?' I asked politely back, although I already knew the answer.
'My brother Bill is three years older than me, everyone else is younger.'
'So you have any other brothers or sisters?' I asked again, apparently interested.
'Hogh, way too much. Percy is four years younger than me, the twins Fred and George are five years old, Ron is three and Ginny is two.'
'Wow, I think it's great to have such a big family.'
'It isn't always. Do you have any siblings?'
'No, I'm the only child. Which house do you hope to be in?' I asked to change the subject, my family.
'Gryffindor, there were my parents and my brother now', he replied firmly.
'I don't quite know yet. Hufflepuff doesn't seem like anything to me. But I'll see where I'm going. In the end it doesn't really matter which house you're in.'
The rest of the ride we continued talking about small talk. When the candy witch came I took a little bit of everything. I had grown up in the muggle world, so some things I had never tried. Charlie had brought his own packed lunch. But even though he declined my offer to share, I insisted that he eat some pumpkin pies, Bertie Botts every flavour beans, kettle cakes and chocolate frogs. When it was time to change, all I had to do was put on my socks, sweater, tie and coat. The rest I already had underneath. My little black purse, the contents of which had been enlarged, I put under my cloak. When we arrived at Hogwarts the sun had already disappeared behind the sky.