Archive of Our Own ^beta

And here I go again on my own

A gaggle of orange hair jumbled through the brick in between platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station. A mother and father led the pack wearing their best attempt at Muggle clothing, which still looked too drapey and robe-like and caught the attention of passerby. With a small ginger puff of hair, a baby girl sat upon her mother’s hip, her father holding the hand of another toddler boy. In between them stood two not-quite school-aged children with matching striped sweaters and bowl cuts, and a rather crisp and clean looking boy stood on the other side of their mother, holding her hand. 

Two older boys walked ahead, the taller one pushing a trolley with a worn-down trunk labelled A.W., a hand-me-down from his father. The first off to Hogwarts, Bill was nervous. He hadn’t ever travelled so far from his family or played with boys other than his brothers. To have to make all new friends and live elsewhere made his stomach a bit sick. 

He daren’t show it though, lest Charlie make fun of him. Bill and Charlie were the eldest brothers, toughened up by years of roughhousing in the garden and competing in backyard Quidditch matches. Charlie was more excited for Bill to go to Hogwarts than he was himself. Not just because his brother could have their room all to himself until the Christmas holidays, but also because Charlie dreamed of all the adventures and experiences he would have at Hogwarts.

Bill used to think that way too. It wasn’t until last weekend that going away to school became real, and the fear began to set in. Nevertheless, he was going to have to board the Hogwarts Express at some point, so he might as well get on with it now. Charlie would join him in 2 years, and then they could take on Hogwarts together. 

Until then, Bill would just have to fake it ‘til he makes it, trying to adopt Charlie’s fearlessness, all on his own.

Going down the only road I’ve ever known

Charlie was being dragged across Kings Cross Station, Bill grabbing his elbow to pull him along. Their shared trolley was long forgotten. Mr. Weasley picked up Ginny and set her on it, Ron climbing up on his own, before pushing it through the brick to Platform 9 ¾. 

Emerging on the other side, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who was accompanied once again by now 8-year-old Percy, searched for their two eldest boys. Two red spots in the distance gave them away, and the boys’ family hurried over to where Bill was introducing Charlie to his friends. The parents said their hellos and chatted for a bit before the train whistle sounded. 

Mrs. Weasley hugged both boys and Mr. Weasley patted them on the back, wishing them luck as Bill rushed Charlie on board, excited to join his mates in their compartment.

Charlie followed eagerly, climbing up the steps and following Bill down the corridor and into a compartment. One of Bill’s friends, Kirley, had opened the window and stuck his head out to wave goodbye to his parents. Bill and Charlie joined them, craning their necks to bid adieu to their family. The Weasleys waved back enthusiastically, and the train started to move. Before fully leaving the station, Charlie saw his younger brothers, Fred and George, huddled in a corner and laughing while seemingly dropping Dungbombs in unsuspecting parents’ pockets. They must’ve wandered off from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley again; it was hard to keep track of 7 young children. 

His first taste of freedom away from his family (except Bill, of course) and he felt exhilarated. Although his brother kept a brave face up two years ago, Charlie knew that Bill was nervous to leave for Hogwarts for the first time. Charlie felt the opposite—he was excited for all the adventures he would have away at school. He definitely wanted to explore the castle, join the Quidditch team in a few years, and do it all with his brother Bill. 

Charlie knew he wouldn’t have any problem going away to school. If Bill did it, so could he.

Like a drifter I was born to walk alone

He wiped his clammy hand on his side, the other hooked around his Mum’s elbow. His heart rate had been elevated all morning, his head racing with worries about who he would sit with on the train and what house he would be in. 

His brothers were both in Gryffindor, following in the legacy of his parents. Percy wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a Gryffindor, or if he could even. He wasn’t as courageous as Bill and Charlie. He preferred reading and helping his Mum around the house to the wild shenanigans the boys got into during their summer holidays. Perhaps Ravenclaw would suit him better. He sure did think that he was intelligent enough. 

The sudden sound of noisy chatter interrupted his pondering. He hadn’t even realised that his Mum had guided him across the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. Bill and Charlie were nowhere to be seen, having already run off to catch up with friends. Even if they were around, he knew they wouldn’t let him sit with them–too worried that Percy would rat on them to their Mum. 

The train whistle sounded. Percy had forgotten in his trance of anxiety that they were running late that morning. Tardiness was typical with a family as large as the Weasleys, with so many kids to wake up, get ready, and wrangle when they wandered off. Percy made sure to check that he had all his belongings for the near tenth time before bidding his parents goodbye tearfully and boarding the train.

He wandered down the corridor, checking in each compartment as he passed. Groups of his first year peers filled the beginning compartments, but none looked inviting to him. Every seat seemed to be filled up front, so he continued further back. He passed Charlie in a compartment with a pink-haired girl who he hadn’t met before, and saw that on the bench across from him sat Bill with Kirley and Myron, two boys that Percy had met when they visited the Burrow over the summer. 

Continuing on, he settled on an empty compartment at the back of the train. So much for sitting with someone. As he stood on his tiptoes and stowed his trunk, sitting down and resting his head on the window, he wondered if he would make any friends while at Hogwarts.

No matter, Percy would be just fine all alone.

And I’ve made up my mind

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were busy on the first of September 1989. A late summer wedding had taken them to Norway, where they would witness one of  Arthur’s cousins marry his Veela companion. This trip prevented them from sending the Weasley boys off to Hogwarts this year–to which task Bill stepped up. 

Mrs. Weasley was overly proud of Bill when he offered, exclaiming to everyone her satisfaction with how mature Bill was becoming after leaving Hogwarts. She then entered into a long speech directed towards Fred and George, ordering them to behave themselves at Hogwarts, study hard, get involved, and be just like Bill and Charlie–her favourites. 

The twins had never been quite like their older brothers. Sure, they shared a love for fun, adventure, and Quidditch with Charlie and Bill, but those two also studied hard, made top grades, and became Prefects. Bill had even been Head Boy in his last year, something the twins knew that Percy had been dreaming about for himself. 

Fred and George had always been the troublemakers of the Weasley clan. The pair took any mischievous antics that Bill and Charlie did ten steps further. In Mrs. Weasley’s words, they simply didn’t know when to stop. They were too much–too loud, too naughty, too messy, too everything.

Thus, upon Bill’s arrival to Kings Cross Station with sixth-year Charlie, third-year Percy, and first-years Fred and George, he chose to give them his own talking to. Pulling them over to the wall as Charlie and Percy boarded the train, Bill explained that they would surely be in Gryffindor, like all the Weasleys, to check for missing stairs in the moving staircases, that you can get into the kitchens if you tickle the pear, and that they would have no problem making friends, as long as they were themselves.

The boys liked Bill’s speech much more than their Mum’s. They had always looked up to Bill and Charlie too, being the trailblazers for the Weasley boys at Hogwarts and all. The twins knew then–they would follow in Bill and Charlie’s footsteps, they would just burn the sides of the trail a fair bit wider along the way. 

I ain’t wasting no more time

After 10 years of visits to Kings Cross Station, 5 older brothers sent off, and a painfully long summer, it was finally Ron’s turn to go to Hogwarts. Every September 1st since he was just 2 years old he had come to see his brothers off. Each time he came along he wished more and more that he could accompany them. 

It wasn’t easy to be the only boy stuck at home with his younger sister, Ginny, while his brothers got to go away to school. His Mum taught them lessons each day from their home, then they helped her with housework, ate dinner with their Dad after work, and went to sleep. It was a repetitive, boring routine without his brothers’ jokes and especially Fred and George’s mischievous antics to liven up his day.

Meanwhile, Fred and George got to explore Hogwarts, playing pranks with some poltergeist named Peeves and annoying Mr. Filch. Percy didn’t ever tell amusing stories of his time at school when they all returned for the Christmas holidays, so Ron reckoned he wasn’t missing out on much there. 

Bill and Charlie were now graduated and working overseas breaking curses and tending to dragons. They wrote letters to Mum often, but Ron didn’t usually hear from them until they returned for the holidays.

Ron was the only one still confined to the home with Ginny. Well, not any longer now. Today he would be off to Hogwarts, finally getting to experience all of his brothers’ stories for himself. 

Having already entered the train station, his Mum led him alongside Fred and George to the barrier separating platform 9 ¾ from the Muggle platform. His twin brothers hastily ran through the brick wall, no doubt planning to test some of their Zonko’s products on standerby before they boarded the train. Ron went to follow them, but was stopped when Ginny quickly hopped off his luggage trolley, looking in the direction of their Mum. Turning his head, he heard another boy asking his Mum how to get onto the platform.

The small, black-haired and spectacled boy looked quite confused and a bit scared, so his Mum told him to watch Ron go first. He didn’t need to be told twice. He was ready. It was finally his turn, he took off running and he wouldn’t waste a second more. 

But, here I go again

Ginny had to wait the longest to go off to Hogwarts. Each year, she attended Kings Cross Station with her brothers to send them off, and each year she got more antsy. She was nearly as ready as Ron was by the time it was her turn. 

She had been through the process so many times. Wake up, hastily eat breakfast, rush over to the station (running late, of course), and run through the brick wall to Platform 9 ¾. This time, however, she had a few added steps. She would say goodbye to Mum and Dad, and finally board the Hogwarts Express. 

She was excited, of course, but much of her Hogwarts journey felt pre-decided to her. Ginny already knew that she would be a Gryffindor, that she would join the Quidditch team when she could to play alongside Fred, George, and Harry. She would have a knack for mischief but be a good friend and maybe a Prefect or Head Girl. 

It was the Weasley way. Bill and Charlie had paved the path, Percy followed it by-the-book, and Fred and George pushed the boundaries. Ron was a brave Weasley through-and-through, having helped Harry Potter to save the Sorcerer’s Stone at the end of last term. She would inevitably follow in their footsteps in most ways.

There was one thing that set her apart from her brothers though, something that they could never have. She was the first (and only) Weasley girl. She would have a different dormitory, different friends, and some different experiences as well. Ginny would finally be able to talk to girls other than her Mum, which she was most excited about.

Ginny would have the best of both worlds–the brave, funny qualities of her brothers with a certain femininity to form strong female friendships and attract boys (if they could ever get past her brothers). She knew she would be protected at Hogwarts, because no matter how annoying Ron might think she is, she knew they all had her back. 

Thus, following what had become her first day of term routine, she arrived on the Platform, hugged her parents goodbye, and took her first step onto the train. Watch out world, here comes the first Weasley girl. Or rather, here she comes again.