Chapter Text
Manchester - September 1994
The sun was rising in the horizon and soon enough, beams of sunlight made their way in Lana's bedroom. Summer was over, it was time to go back to school.
― Lana! Get up! A cheesy voice screamed from the other side of the door.
But to any response, Lana just groaned. To say that she wasn't a morning person was the least. It always took her an hour to wake up and another hour to get out of bed. Thankfully, she was quick to get dress up and get ready. There was a few seconds of silence before the door of her bedroom shuts open in a loud noise.
― Lana. If you don't get up right now, I'm getting mom.
As soon as she heard those words, Lana sat up in her bed. Her long black hair were a mess and she could barely open her eyes because of the sun setting. With one eye half opened, she could finally saw the petite figure of her little sister standing in front of her. She was already all dressed up and her brown hair tied up in two pigtails falling down on both of the side of her head. Lana groaned once more, rubbing her eyes and scratching her head, trying not to get her fingers stuck in her hair.
― Come on, get up! We need to leave for London in an hour. she excitedly said.
― Fleta, the sun just rose. Lana replied in a husky morning voice. How are you already up and ready?
― I actually didn't sleep a lot, I was too excited. Oh crap, I need to wake up Edward too!
And before Lana could add another word, the little ball of joy named Fleta ran out. Not so far, a knock was heard followed by Fleta's high-pitched voice saying “Edward! Get up! Quick!”. Lana let herself flop down on her bed, sighing heavily. Lana was the second child of the Jones family. The Jones were nice people and amazing wizards, but had the bad - or good? - habit of adopting orphan wizards. Lana was one of them, as well as her little sister Fleta and her older brother Edward. Edward got adopted a day after he got his letter for Hogwarts. He had never known he was a wizard until that day, and to be adopted a day later filled him with joy. At first, because of all the fortunate events happening, he had became a cheerful kid, but slowly grew up to his old self; the quiet kind of kid with average grades and average friends. Fleta on the other hand, had always known that she was a witch coming from a wizard family. When she was six, while she was spending some time at her grandmother's house, her parents died in an unfortunate accident. She lived with her grandmother for a few months until she died of old age. Sadly, no one in her family wanted to take care of her, saying they already had a lot to deal with. So Fleta got put in an orphanage shortly after. The Jones had adopted when she turned eight. Lana's true adoption story is unknown to Fleta and Edward. Even to herself, it is quite confusing what exactly happened back then. Lana was three years younger than Edward who was already at Hogwarts when she got adopted. Though Lana has no memory of her life before her adoption. The Jones had always told her that she had lived a terrible and despairing life before, so it's only normal that her child brain erased all of those depressing memories. Sometimes, in her dreams, she has weird visions. Although they quickly fades out when she wakes up, she's certain that it's pieces of her past that she can't remember. Having no memory past being nine years old always felt weird to her. Whenever she heard the other kids at school talk about childhood stuff, she would step back and just pretend to enjoy their stories whilst in fact, she was fuming inside. Lana was always annoyed when others would bring stories about their childhood or things they did with their parents, because she didn't have any memories of having this. All she could do now was enjoy her adoptive family and her adoptive siblings, even if it didn't feel real to her.
It took Lana about fifteen minutes to get up and get ready. It wasn't particularly easy when having Fleta pushing her all the time. It was going to be her first year in Hogwarts and she was thrilled to experience all the magic the school had to offer. Sometimes, the only way to put her to bed was for Lana to tell her anything about Hogwarts. Lana would tell her about how it's like to arrive as a first year in Hogwarts, how she got sorted into the Slytherin house whereas Edward was sorted into Ravenclaw, and all sorts of other things. One of Fleta's favorite stories were the ones about potions classes and care of magical creatures classes. She was really disappointed when Edward told her she would only be able to follow this class once she enters second year, but nonetheless she was always all ears when hearing about preparing potions in the supervision of professor Snape - no matter how cruel and scary he could be - and learning about magical creatures and taking care of them. Even though she wouldn't be able to take this class as a first year, she got ahead of herself and had read the entirety of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” by Newt Scamander. Every time someone would just even mention any magical creature, Fleta would jump in the conversation and, at some point, claim proudly out loud “I'll become a great magizoologists!”. Such a good heart, this had led Lana and Edward into betting in which house she would be sorted. Edward bet 1 Galleon on Ravenclaw while Lana had bet 2 Galleon on Hufflepuff. On their way to the portkey that'd take them to King's Cross Station, Edward and Lana were asking all sorts of questions to Fleta to try determinate which house she'd be sorted.
― Stop it you two. shushed Mrs Jones. It doesn't matter which house she enters.
― Your mother is right. added Mr Jones. Whichever house Fleta is sorted in, we'll be very proud of her. Now stop with all your silly questions, you're going to stress her.
― It's alright. said Fleta in a cheerful tone. It's fun to guess which house I'll be in. Which one do you think suits me best?
― Obviously Hufflepuff. Mr Jones confidently replied.
The long thin legs of Mrs Jones stopped abruptly. Her piercing eyes glaring at Mr Jones. Altogether, the three kids looked at them with mischievious grins on their faces. They already knew what was about to happen and they were ready for it. This was one of those times where Mrs & Mr Jones would talk about Hogwarts houses and debate on them. They were always pretty eager to defend their respective houses and it became a great source of entertainment for Lana and her siblings.
― Excuse me? Fleta will definitely join Gryffindor. Mrs Jones retorted as she quickly walked up to her husband.
― Oh come sweetpie I know you're very proud that you were a Gryffindor, but Fleta would be much better in Hufflepuff.
― Hell yeah! cheered Lana.
Mrs Jones turned around, her eyes popping out. Realizing that she got a bit too loud, Lana looked away as if nothing happened.
― I could end up in Slytherin too. assumed Fleta in a tiny voice.
― Yeah right. laughed Lana. No offense Fleta, but you wouldn't last a day in Slytherin. I'd rather want you to sympathize with the Fat Friar than the Bloody Baron. He's a such a codger.
― Lana! Language! gasped loudly Mrs Jones.
As soon as the family had reached the portkey, and thus King's Cross Station, all wizardry related conversations had stopped. They could never be too careless in front of Muggles. Everyone was turning their heads to the family who was pushing carts with huge leather suitcases and two owls in cages. It was about 11:50 a.m when they had reached the platform 9 ¾. The trio kissed Mrs & Mr Jones goodbye, promised they'll write them regularly and got in the train.
― I'll go join my friends. See you around school. waved Edward before disappearing.
― I'll try to go and look for Emma too. You can walk all the way to the back and find people to stay with. If you're too scared to make the first move, think about how it went for me. Lana said, looking at Fleta right in the eyes.
― You tripped and fell onto Draco Malfoy's back and proceeded to say “I have your back”. Lana, I won't make a fool out of myself like you did.
― Thank fou for reminding me the most embarrassing moment of my life. Now you better run before I turn you into a cricket and step on you.
Even though she knew Lana wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school, Fleta wouldn't risk the chance that she would actually do it once they arrive at Hogwarts. She ran at the back of the train while Lana walked around, looking inside every booths for her best friend Emma. Emma Carmichael was the very first person Lana talked to when she got sorted in Slytherin. Lana was pretty nervous to be in the same house as Draco Malfoy whom she had met earlier that day and embarrassed herself. It was such an awkward moment, the whole school already knew about the incident and got called “Malfoy's backup” the first three months. The last time she got called that ridiculous nickname, the kid had to spend a week in the nursery and Lana had to clean the trophy room with Filch's supervision. This was the first time anyone had seen Lana be so violent. Ever since, no one dared to make fun of her. The rumor that anyone who would mock Lana Jones ended up at the nursery ran around the school. Of course, some idiots still took on the challenge. No one really knows what happened to them afterwards. They were well and alive, but they wouldn't even mention Lana's name. The only one that remained untouchable was Draco Malfoy and his gang. She would always retort, but never actually hit him. Lana wasn't completely stupid and knew that if she ever raised a hand on Draco's pretty face, she would be expelled because Lucius Malfoy's power is beyond imagination. Or at best she would be suspended for a few days, but still, she wouldn't risk it. Walking from booths to booths, she couldn't see the lovely face of her friend anywhere. She did find Draco's though, and neither of them were pleased to see each other's faces.
― Jones. he said disgusted.
― Malfoy. she replied with a faint grin. I suppose you didn't happen to see Carmichael?
― You supposed right. I can't believe you're becoming smarter.
― Thanks, I can't tell the same for you though.
As he was about to retort something, Lana was already running away from all the curses he was shouting at her. Hearing Malfoy fuming in the background always made her laugh. Sometimes, she would annoy the fuck out of him just for a good laugh. Emma Carmichael was always scared that Malfoy would do something in return, but surprisingly, he never did. He would just find a way to mock her again and again. Thankfully for Emma, she was always put out of their mockery fight. When Draco insulted Emma of being “nothing but a good puppy”, Lana didn't hesitate even one second to pull up her wand to Draco's face. Making fun of her was something, making fun of her friends and family was something else and she wasn't tolerating it. Not even one bit. So the two of them agreed that they would only make fun of each others. This was never explicitly said, but their eyes spoke louder than their mouths. Finally, after a few more minutes of searching, Lana spotted two big red heads leaving a booth and immediately knew that her best friend was somewhere near. She started walking faster, vaguely greeted the Weasley twins and looked inside the booth.
― There you are! Lana exclaimed as she sat down in front of a tall thin girl. I looked for you everywhere.
― I bumped into the Weasley when I arrived at King's Cross Station, she started to tell with a big smile, so I walked with them.
― And have you finally made up your mind on which of the twin you'll ask out?
― Shhh! Emma shushed as she slapped her hand onto Lana's mouth and looked at the open door.
Emma stood up hastily then closed the door. When she sat back, her ears were all red.
― You still can't decide?
― It's harder than you think! And if my parents discover that I have a crush on a Weasley, they'll kick me out of the house for sure.
― How can you even have fallen in love with a Weasley. It baffles me.
― Oh shut up, you don't even know what love is. Emma replied as she rested her feet on the empty side in front of her.
― Well that's not true. Lana retorted doing the same as her friend. I do know what love is.
― Really? You have feelings for someone at the moment?
― Yes. Me.
― I didn't expect anything, but I'm still disappointed. she sighed.
― Hey, at least I'm not in love with a Weasley. Lana spat.
― Take that back!
Lana and Emma argued for a few hours before getting tired. It was the only way for them to kill time until they reached Hogwarts. Sure one may say that it's not a healthy friendship if they argue like this every year, especially on personal matters like love, but it was all in good intentions. Emma Carmichael was the kind of girl with amazing charisma and great self-confidence, but she would fall in love so easily. In first year, she had a crush on Blaise Zabini because he said hi to her. In second year, she had convinced herself that Marcus Flint were hitting on her because he was somewhat being kind to her. However since third year, Emma had found herself foolishly in love with the Weasley twins. From having told Lana a thousand times at least, she apparently fell in love with their humor and good hearts. Lana always thought they were being ridiculous and that love nonsense was rubbish. She didn't despise the Weasley, as many could think because of how strongly she disapproves anyone being close to them in any way. In fact, Lana just didn't want her best friend's heart to be broken once more. She was always the one to have to comfort her and find ways to cheer her up and protect her from anyone who would try to make fun of her broken heart. So if Lana had to show teeth to protect her loved ones, then she would.
The sky was already pitched black when they had arrived to Hogwarts. Lana managed to catch Fleta before she joined the other first years to the docks whereas she walked arms crossed with Emma to the magical carriages. They sat down with some other students, pursuing their conversation on which kind of cakes is best. Eventually, Lana wondered if there was going to be any chocolate cake for dinner.