01

Alone

A Harry Potter FanFic

By Sophia

1

{PAIGE POV}

I hear the laughter and chatter of kids boarding the train as I sit there with my book, curled up in the corner of my empty compartment repeatedly pushing a piece of my curly, dark red hair behind my ear that just wouldn't stay back. I am getting ready to depart for Hogwarts, the best school of magic in the world (or so I've heard). Suddenly, the compartment door flung open with a bang, though I didn't bother to look up from my book as I was just getting to the interesting part. I hear laughter flood into the compartment like a cool breeze rushing through the fall air. I can tell there were two boys standing there by the sound of them and neither of them had noticed me yet. I hear the door softly shut, opposite of how it opened, as the boys grew quiet. I peer over the edge of my book to find that the children that entered my compartment look exactly like each other. Minus their hair color as one has a light shade of brown hair, the other a jet black. They both have emerald green eyes, the black haired boy's behind round glasses. That was about all of their appearance differences. Other than that, they were as identical as can be, from the shape of their nose to the way they have their stares fixated on me.

"Er, is anyone sitting here?" the brunette asks awkwardly. If I was being honest he was kind of cute but I chose not to focus on that fact.

"No," I say softly, still having my scrutinizing look fixated on them from over the top of my book. They both take a seat across from me, the brunette closest to the window and across from my location in the corner, while the black haired boy closest to the door. I return to reading my book only looking up as the black haired boy clears his throat loudly, clearly trying to gain my attention.

"Hi. Er- I'm Harry Potter and this is my twin brother Charlie," the black haired boy says. He sticks his hand out for me to shake and so does his brother after a hard kick to the shin under the table. "That's nice," I say sarcastically before going back to my book.

"Um, not to be rude, but are you going to introduce yourself?" Harry asks. My gosh, can't I read in peace? I ask myself. I slide a bookmark into my book and drop it onto the seat next to me.

"Fine. I'm Paige Stillings, nice to meet you." I say shortly. The door opens once again and a boy with bright red hair and freckles sprinkled all across his face walks in.

"Is anyone sitting here?" he asks. I notice he has dirt on his nose but choose not to be a know it all and don't point it out.

"No," Harry says. The red head's eyes land on me and widen in admiration. It's really stupid when boys look at you like that. I picked my book back up to allow him to sit down and set it on my other side, placed between my thigh and the wall as I move as far away from the kid as I can. I roll my eyes at him as he takes his place and turns to face the twins.

"Is it true? A- are you guys actually the Potter twins?" He stammers. They nod. "I thought it might just be another one of Fred and George's pranks. Do you have the...," he trails off, glancing up at Harry's forehead, then to Charlie's wrist. This kid couldn't be more awkward. Harry flips his bangs out of the way while Charlie rolls his sleeve up. Both reveal lightning shaped scars and the redhead gasps next to me. "Wicked. I'm Ron Weasley," he says, shaking the twins' hands.

"I'm Harry and this is Charlie, but you probably already know that," Harry says awkwardly. I roll my eyes again. Boys are so awkward.

"And who are you?" Ron asks, turning to face me, pink spreading across his freckled face.

"I'm Paige Stillings," I say, reluctantly shaking his outstretched hand. He blushes again and I just roll my eyes. His hand is kind of sweaty which disgusts me as I wipe my own hand on my leggings.

"Why were you in a compartment alone?" Harry asks, turning the conversation back towards me to my annoyance.

"Why does it matter? I was quite literally trying to read in peace when you idiots barged into my compartment" I answered honestly, rolling my eyes. Charlie and Harry put a hand to their hearts, almost in sync and dramatically gasping.

"Oof, that hurts Stillings," Charlie says.

"Don't call me that," I say as I roll my eyes and turn back to my book.

"You know, you roll your eyes a lot," Charlie says, stating the obvious.

"So?" I say. He shrugs. The door flies open, yet again, causing me to huff in annoyance, and this time, an old lady pops her head in.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" She says. I shake my head.

"I'm all set," Ron says disgustedly, pulling out a sandwich. It is smushed and whatever is in it, looks like baby puke.

"We'll take a little of everything," Harry and Charlie say simultaneously. I roll my eyes. Of course they will. The trolley lady leaves as the boys start to stuff themselves with sweets I've never even heard of. I'm used to Twinkies and KitKats while they're shoving Pumpkin Pasties and Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans into their mouths.

"Do you want some?" Ron asks, mouth full. I shake my head, grimacing at the food all over Ron's face. While the boys think I'm reading, I'm really just listening to their conversation so I don't have to be the one to ask all of the personal questions. I learned that Charlie and Harry didn't know the Wizarding World existed until a couple of days ago, when a giant dude named Hagrid told them. They said they had been living with Muggles all their life ('cause their parents died) and were worried they would be the worst in the class. It's not like they're the only ones to ever live with Muggles before coming to the Wizarding World. I am a Muggleborn and I didn't know I was a witch until I got my letter. My three older brothers were extremely jealous and nagged me all summer, asking if they could come along with. My mom died when I was seven so my dad and my oldest brother take care of us. Ron, on the other hand, lives in a family of nine, and is the youngest boy in the family. He went on about how he is never treated equally and is always left out blah blah blah. I tuned him out about half way through and actually started reading. I feel eyes transfixed on me and glance up from my book to see two emerald green eyes staring into mine. Charlie notices I saw him and turns a pink color and looks out the window. I just rolled my eyes for what seems to be the umpteenth time today. 20 minutes later, the compartment door opens and a girl and a boy are standing there. They look about our age and the boy looks extremely anxious. The girl has bushy brown hair, brown eyes, and as she speaks I notice her abnormally large front teeth. The boy is plump faced and has brown hair and blue eyes. His eyes are darting around the room nervously.

"Has anyone seen a toad," the girl speaks up. "Neville's lost one." Her voice has a bossy sort of tone to it.

"No, sorry," Charlie says. The girl's eyes are jumping around the compartment and finally land on Ron, who has his wand out and it's pointed towards an ugly rat. I get this weird sensation that there is something off about the rat even though it does look half-dead.

"Ooh, are you doing magic? Let's see then." Ron reluctantly starts muttering a spell.

"Sunshine Daisies, Butter Mellow, turn this stupid, fat, rat yellow," he chants. The rat doesn't even twitch and a pink tinge creeps across Ron's face.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? I've only tried a few simple spells myself, but they've all worked for me. For example." The girl turns to face Harry and points her wand at his broken glasses. "Oculus Reparo." The tape on Harry's glasses disappears, revealing them as good as new. I hear Harry gasp.

"I'm Hermione Granger, who are you?" Hermione asks.

"I'm Harry Potter and this is-" Harry starts.

"And I'm his twin brother, Charlie Potter," Charlie cuts him off. I bite back a laugh as I see Harry send Charlie a death glare.

"Woah, I've read about you two," Hermione says.

"We're in a book?" Charlie and Harry say in sync. Hermione nods.

"And who are you?" she asks, turning to Ron, who is stuffing his mouth with sweets.

"Ron Weasley," He says, mouth full. I must have a disgusted look on my face because I hear Charlie snickering quietly across from me.

"Pleasure," Hermione says, clearly not thinking of it as a pleasure. "And who are you?"

"Paige Stillings," I say.

"Well, nice to meet you all. You should probably get your robes on. I expect we'll be arriving soon." And with that, she turns on her heel and leaves, the Neville boy trailing behind her. We all go to the restroom to change into our robes and meet back up at the compartment. I open the door to our car and someone runs smack into me. I nearly go flying, but manage to stay standing, only stumbling slightly. I brush a piece of my hair out of my face as I study the boy. He has blonde-to-the-point-it's-almost-white hair and is super pale. His hair (that looks like it's bleached) is slicked back and his gray eyes are staring at me. He looks about my age.

"Sorry," I said, trying to push past him. I slide by him and reach our compartment. He opens his mouth to say something but then closes it again. The boys are already in there and Ron is teaching the boys about the Hogwarts Houses. Moments later, the train screeches to a stop.

{CHARLIE POV}

I reluctantly follow my twin brother through the barrier leading to Platform 9 and 3\4. On the other side of the barrier a bright red train labeled Hogwarts Express is billowing steam out its top. I follow Harry, who seems to know exactly where he's going, towards the train. We both try to lift our suitcase onto the train, but fail. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never fed us the best, therefore, we aren't very strong. We practically got drop kicked around the school by our cousin Dudley, and his gang. The two red headed boys, whose Mum helped us get through the barrier, help us load onto the train and introduce themselves as Fred and George Weasley. They give a polite smile and head back over to their Mum, who is surrounded by the rest of her red headed kids. I follow Harry down to a compartment towards the end, passing by compartments full of older kids catching up and laughing. Finally, Harry stops at a compartment.

"The beginning of the end," he says in a posh voice. I join him in laughing as he opens the door. We slide our trunks uptop and go to sit down. Then, at the same time, we both notice a girl with dark red hair curled up in the corner peering over her book titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"Er, is anyone sitting here?" I asked.

"No," she says. I take the seat across from her and Harry sits next to me. While we were sitting down, she returned to reading. Harry clears his throat, rather loud, trying to earn her attention back. She once again glances over the top of her book showing only her dark blue eyes.

"Hi. Er- I'm Harry Potter and this is my twin brother Charlie," Harry says. He sticks out his hand for her to shake and when I don't he gives me a hard kick. I glare at him and shake her hand which is super smooth. My face grows pink when a tingle shoots up my arm. Thankfully, the girl doesn't notice because she's gone back to her book. "Um, not to be rude, but are you going to introduce yourself?" Harry asks, not-so-politely. She looks over her book, her blue eyes glaring at us.

"Fine. I'm Paige Stillings, nice to meet you," she says. Suddenly, the door opens again and one of the redheads from the train station pops his head in.

"Is anyone sitting here?" he asks.

"No," Harry replies. The boy takes a seat next to Paige and starts asking questions.

"Is it true? A-are you guys actually the Potter twins?" he stammers. We nod. "Thought it might have been another one of Fred and George's jokes. Do you have the.." he trails off, looking at Harry's forehead and my wrist. Harry lifts his bangs up and I pull up the sleeve of my shirt to reveal twin lightning shaped scars. The red head gasps. "Wicked. I'm Ron Weasley," he says, shaking our hands.

"I'm Harry, and this is Charlie but you probably already know that," Harry says, awkwardly. Paige rolls her eyes again.

"And who are you?" Ron asks, turning towards Paige.

"Paige Stillings," she says. Ron reaches out and shakes her hand, blushing. She just rolls her eyes again.

"Why were you in a compartment alone?" Harry asks, turning the conversation back to her.

"I was trying to read in peace? Then you weirdos barged in here," she says. Harry and I dramatically put a hand to our hearts simultaneously.

"Oof, that hurts Stillings," I say dramatically.

"Don't call me that," she says calmly. Her tone sounds calm but it also sounds like if I call her that again Harry will be force fed Charlie Meat for dinner. She rolls her eyes yet again and turns back to her book.

"You know, you roll your eyes a lot," I comment.

"So?" she asks, not even bothering to look up from her book. I shrug, not knowing how to reply to that. The door opens and an old lady pops her head in.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" she shrills. Paige shakes her head politely while Ron is "All set." with his smushed baby puke sandwich.

"We'll take a little of everything," Harry and I say. The old lady smiles and grabs a bunch of candies I've never seen or heard of while we pay her the correct amount. The trolley lady leaves and we start digging in. I open a box of 'Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans' and try some, scrunching up my nose when it tastes disgusting.

"Do you want some?" Ron asks Paige while munching disgustedly on some candy. She grimaces and shakes her head no. Ron tells us about his family of 9 and how he's the youngest boy. We tell him about how we hadn't known the Wizarding world existed until a couple days ago. We told him about Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, Dudley, Muggle school and all that. I find my eyes drifting over and landing on Paige who is peacefully reading. Her dark blue eyes are shimmering as they move up and down the pages. I noticed for the first time how pretty she is with her dark red curls framing her pale face and her dark blue eyes contrasting with her hair and skin. There are a couple of freckles dotting her nose and while she is reading she is scrunching her nose up. When she turns the page, she looks up and her eyes find mine. I feel my cheeks burn pink and quickly avert my eyes, turning to look out the window at the rolling hills. The compartment door opens and a girl and a boy step in. The girl has bushy brown hair and soft brown eyes. When she opens her mouth to speak I notice her abnormally large teeth.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she says in a bossy sort of tone as she gestures to the plump, brown haired boy next to her whose blue eyes are darting around the compartment nervously.

"No, sorry," I said.

"Are you doing magic? Let's see then," she boasts. I notice Ron has his wand pointed toward a fat, ugly, rat who looks like he's dead. Something is off about that rat. Ron sighs and starts to say a chant.

"Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat, rat yellow." Nothing.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good is it? I've only tried a few simple spells myself and they've all worked for me. For example," she says confidently. She holds her wand up to Harry's broken glasses. "Oculus Reparo." Harry gasps from beside me.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Who are you?"

"I'm Harry Potter and this is-" Harry's starts.

"And I'm his twin brother Charlie Potter," I cut in. I see Paige bite her lip to keep from laughing as Harry sends me a death glare.

"Woah, I've read about you two," she says.

"We're in a book?" Harry and I say in sync. She nods.

"And who are you?" she says, turning to face Ron who is shoving a Pumpkin Pasty in his mouth.

"Ron Weasley," he says, mouth full. Paige looks utterly disgusted and I can't help but snicker.

"Pleasure," the girl says. The way she said it though, I think she thinks it is anything but a pleasure to meet Ron. "And who are you?" She turns toward Paige.

"Paige Stillings," she says.

"Well, nice to meet you all. You should probably get your robes on. I expect we'll be arriving soon." And with that, Hermione Granger and Neville are no longer in our compartment. We all split up and go to change into our robes. I come out of the restroom in robes of black and run into a pale boy with bleach blonde hair.

"Do you know the redhead?" he hisses at me.

"Ron?" I question, glancing around to see if Harry will come to my aide.

"No dimwit. The other one," he growls.

"First of all, I am not a dimwit, and second, which other one? Half the kids on this train are red heads!" I exclaim.

"The one you were sitting with," he says, rolling his stormy gray eyes.

"Why do you need to know?" I ask.

"Because. Just tell me what her name is and what year she is in," he hisses, glancing around uneasily.

"Um, she's a first year," I say.

"Name?"

"You got to find that out on your own dude, I already gave you one," I say, laughing as I scurry back to my compartment.

"HEY!" He yells. But I'm already slipping into our compartment. Harry and Ron are already in there discussing Quidditch, the Wizarding sport everyone has told me about. I slide in next to Harry and join into the conversation completely unaware I just made an enemy.

{DRACO POV}

"The firs' years Profess'r," the giant dude says in his stupid accent. He leaves us with the Professor who is in robes of emerald green.

"Welcome to Hogwarts-" she starts. I tune her out immediately. My eyes dart around the room and land on a certain curly haired girl with dark red hair. She is whispering quietly with that brown haired boy from the train. Coincidentally, looks up and finds me staring at her. She holds my gaze for a minute and then turns back to the brunette. The green lady finishes her speech, which I didn't listen to and turns on her heel and out the door. As soon as she leaves, I strut over to where the Potters are standing. The red haired girl is with them, along with the Weasley wimp and buck teeth.

"Well, well, well. The rumors are true. The Potter Twins have come to Hogwarts."

{PAIGE POV}

"Well, well, well. The rumors are true. The Potter Twins have come to Hogwarts." I whip around to see the bleach haired kid from the train. The one that was staring at me creepily while the green lady gave her speech. "This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," he says gesturing to some kids next to him who are at least three times my height and five times my size. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron snickers beside me at the name. "No need to ask for your name, red hair, and a hand me down robe. You must be a Weasley. You mustn't go making friends with the wrong sort." He says to Harry and Charlie as he eyes Ron. "I can help you there." He sticks out his hand to shake Harry's.

"I think we can tell the wrong sort for ourselves thanks," Charlie says sassily. I smirk at the bleach haired boy's face as it falls.

"Follow me students," the green lady says, leading us into a giant hall. There are four tables, each with different colors. There is red and gold, green and silver, yellow and black, and blue and bronze\silver. At the end of the hall sits a hat on a stool with a rip across the front. Behind the hat is a long table with who I'm assuming Professors are sitting. The green lady leads us to a stop in front of the hat. Suddenly, the rip tears open and the hat starts.... Singing?

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!

The hall bursts into applause, only silenced by the green lady speaking up.

"I will read your name, you will come sit, I will then place the hat on your head and it will tell you which house you belong in. Once the hat yells out to the hall where you are, you will walk over to your correct table and sit. After the feast, your house Prefect will show you to your common room. In case you didn't know, the red and gold table is the table of Gryffindor, green and silver, Slytherin, yellow and black, Hufflepuff, and blue and bronze\silver is Ravenclaw," the green lady says. Each house claps as she says their name. The green lady then unrolls a scroll and begins reading off names.

"Abbott, Hannah!" A girl with blonde pigtails nervously walks up to the hat and the green lady places it on her head, covering her eyes. After a minute or so the hat yells out,

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The girl scurries over to the Hufflepuff table which is bursting with applause.

"Bones, Susan!" A brown haired girl dawdles up to the stool and the hat shouts out,

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The girl runs over and takes a seat next to Hannah. The Sorting goes on for a while before I recognize someone.

"Granger, Hermione!" The bushy haired girl from the train bites her lip and walks up to the stool. Moments later, the hat yells out,

"GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione grins from ear to ear and runs over to the Gryffindor table. After a couple more people, including this peculiar looking girl, Ava Hayes, someone else familiar gets called up.

"Longbottom, Neville!" The kid that lost his toads waddles up to the stool. After a couple of minutes the hat screams;

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Draco!" The bleach haired kid struts up and the hat barely touches his white hair when it yells out;

"SLYTHERIN!" He smirks and skips over to the Slytherin table.

"Potter, Charlie!" Charlie leaves my side and heads up to the stool. He sits down and his eyes find mine before getting covered by the hat. The whispers that had erupted are silenced by the hat yelling out;

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table explodes with cheers. Two red haired twins who look like Ron yell, "We got a Potter!"

"Potter, Harry!" Harry pushes his glasses up his nose and takes a seat on the stool. He stars muttering something and then suddenly the hat yells out;

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table once again explodes. The twins yell, "WE GOT BOTH! WE GOT BOTH!"

"Stillings, Paige!" I walk up and take a seat on the stool and the hat gets placed on my head covering my dark blue eyes.

"Ahh, Miss Stillings. I have seen you in many other's minds as I searched for their greatness. You are a tough one. You have the bravery of a Gryffindor, the cunningness of a Slytherin, the smarts of a Ravenclaw, the heart of a Hufflepuff. But where to put you? Better be......."

2

{CHARLIE POV}

"GRYFFINDOR!" A smile creeps across my face as Paige slides down next to me.

"Weasley, Ronald!" Ron walks up to the stool and the hat gets placed on his head and soon yells out;

"GRYFFINDOR!" Ron lets out a sigh of relief and runs over to us and sits down next to Harry. The sorting ends when 'Zabini, Blaise!' gets sorted into Slytherin. The man with the frizzy white beard steps up to a podium decorated with gold decorations.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to Hogwarts, newcomers, and to the rest of you, welcome back! A few reminders for the year before we start the feast. Reminder one, the Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits, hence its name, and you will earn detention if you are caught even a foot inside its boundaries. Second, Mr Filch, our caretaker for those of you that don't know, would like to remind all of you that there is no magic to be used in the corridors. Third, this year the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to those who do not wish to die a painful death," the man states. I look around the room at the reactions. Paige's face looks like she is thinking 'What the heck is wrong with this school?' The man continues on as if nothing happened. "Quidditch trials will be held the second week of term, first years are not permitted to try out. First years, once the feast is over, your house Prefects will lead you back to your common room. Let the feast begin!" He snaps his fingers and the empty plates fill with food of all sorts. Everyone grabs for the food.

"Geez, it's not the Hunger Games people, the food refills," Paige mumbles, rolling her eyes. I snicker under my breath, getting the Muggle book reference. I grab some food and pile it onto my plate. Ron, who is sitting across from Paige, is scarfing down chicken leg after chicken leg. Paige looks at him with pure disgust. Harry is conversing with the Neville kid that lost his toad on the train. I look around the room at the other tables and my own. The Hufflepuffs are chatting away on the other end of the hall, the Ravenclaws are quizzing each other on Muggle studies and the Slytherins are yelling loudly behind us. Our table is a mix of them all.

"Oi, Potter," someone hisses from behind me. I turn my body around to face the Slytherin table. The Malfoy git is facing towards us. "Get your friend for me," he says.

"Why?" I ask, taking a bite of the half-cake, half-brownie mixture in my hand.

"Just do it," he says. His loud voice must've gained Paige's attention somehow 'cause she turns around to face us.

"You know, it's rude to talk about people behind their backs Bleach Boy," she says, taking a bite of something that looks like a chocolate chip muffin. Malfoy scrunches up his nose. "What do you need?"

"I want to be your friend," he declares, looking proud of himself for finally stating it.

"And why would I want to be your friend?" Paige asks.

"Um, I don't know, 'cause I'm nice?" he tries.

"Yeah, sure. Nice is totally the word I would use to describe you," she says rolling her eyes.

"How about we just restart?" he suggests.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm good with the kind of friends I have already even if they are really annoying," she said, gesturing to us.

"I always knew Gryffindors were stupid," Malfoy mumbles.

"Look who's talking," Paige scoffs.

"My father will hear about this!" Malfoy exclaims.

"Yeah sure. Go cry to daddy. He'll be able to save you from being insulted by an eleven year old girl. Now, stop talking to me Bleach Boy, or 'my Headmaster will hear about this'," she mocks, turning back to the food. I go to turn back around when Malfoy yanks on the sleeve of my robe.

"You stay away from her Potter, you hear that?" he hisses, and I swear his tongue flickers out like a snake.

"Or what?" I threaten. "Your father will come take me to Azkaban? Sure Malfoy, sure." And with that I turn around, leaving Malfoy to glare at me and Paige. The feast concludes and Ron looks like he's about to explode. Dumbledore clinks his glass with his sparkly fork calling for everyone's attention.

"The feast has now concluded and you shall all return to your dorms. First years, follow your Prefects to your dorms.