Chapter Text
She was never one for crowds. King's Cross Station had always been busy, but today it felt different. Louder. Brighter. Like every stranger who passed by somehow knew exactly where she was going.
Her mother tugged the hem of her jumper down for what had to be the fourth time that morning before smoothing a few stray hairs back into place.
"There," Sarah sighed.
Eleanor wasn't convinced anything had changed.
She'd always been different. Not in any way she could explain. Things simply happened around her.A teacup once slid clean across the kitchen table after she'd wished it closer. The lightbulb in her bedroom had burst when she'd gotten angry. Flowers in the garden somehow bloomed weeks before they should have. Her parents never called it magic. They'd called it coincidence. Bad wiring. An overactive imagination. Anything but what it truly was.
Until the letter arrived.
Now there was no pretending anymore.
Her father glanced around the station before looking back at Sarah. "Where did you put that ticket?"
"It's in my bag, dear." He nodded, though he didn't look any calmer. Eleanor watched him drum his fingers nervously against the handle of the trolley. Her mother straightened the collar of her jumper again. Neither of them had smiled since they'd left home. The knot in Eleanor's stomach tightened. Maybe they were just as frightened as she was.
Movement caught her eye. A large family of redheads came barreling through the station, led by two boys pushing a luggage trolley entirely too fast. A little girl sat triumphantly atop the trunks while another boy sprinted alongside them, laughing.
Eleanor instinctively stepped backward. The trolley missed her by mere inches.
"Boys!" the woman chasing after them shouted. "Stop that madness this instant! I assure you there'll be a letter from your father waiting in the Hall!" She caught up to the boys and gave each of them a sharp tug by the ear. "Pardon us, dear." She smiled apologetically. "You'd think they were raised by trolls."
Eleanor couldn't help the tiny smile that escaped. The woman noticed. "First year?" She asked. Eleanor nodded.
Before either of them could say another word, a cheerful voice called from somewhere behind the family.
"Finally found a parking space, Molly!" A man hurried over, slightly out of breath but positively beaming. His eyes immediately landed on Eleanor's family. "Oh! Wonderful!"
Sarah and David exchanged a quick glance with each other, clearly Arthur didn’t pick up on their hesitation. Arthur held out his hand enthusiastically. "I'm Arthur Weasley."
David shook it. "David Bennett. This is my wife, Sarah, and our daughter, Eleanor."
"A pleasure!" Arthur said. "Always lovely meeting new families."
Molly smiled warmly. "And these are our children." She pointed them out one by one. "Percy, Fred, George, Ronald and Ginny."
Eleanor followed her hand, her eyes bouncing around the children. The older two boys, Fred and George, were standing behind their father pulling ridiculous faces at one another. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself laughing.
Arthur never noticed. Molly absolutely did.
"It'll be Fred and George's first year as well," Molly said. "If you'd like, they can help Eleanor through to the platform."
Sarah's grip tightened ever so slightly on Eleanor's shoulder. "I..” Sarah drifted off, “we're just not entirely sure what to expect."
Molly's expression softened. "The first time is frightening." She reassured her.
Sarah let out a nervous laugh. "Is it that obvious?"
"Only because every parent looks exactly the same."
Something in Sarah's shoulders relaxed. Not much. Just enough for Eleanor to notice.
While the adults spoke, Arthur had somehow managed to launch into a conversation with David about electricity. "and the plugs! Extraordinary inventions." Fred rolled his eyes dramatically at his father’s antics.
George wandered over to Eleanor's trolley. "Mum said we're helping." Without waiting for permission, the twins lifted her trunk onto theirs.
"To get onto the platform," Fred explained very seriously, "you just run straight into the wall."
Eleanor stared at him. "You're joking."
"He is," George said. A beat passed."...Mostly."
Fred snorted. George elbowed him causing him to let out a soft grunt. "You git. Mum would kill us if she thought we'd scared a first year before she'd even got on the train."
Eleanor looked between the family taking them all in.
Arthur was asking impossible questions.
Molly somehow kept everyone moving without raising her voice.
Percy was trying very hard to pretend he wasn't related to any of them.
The twins were arguing over who'd nearly run her over.
Ginny clung quietly to Molly's hand.
It was loud.
It was chaotic.
It was nothing like home.
And somehow, it didn't feel frightening anymore.
If every magical family she met was anything like the Weasleys, perhaps she really would be all right after all.