Scarlet Taylor - The Secret Longbottom (Harry Potter FanFic)

Chapter 1 - The Place Called Home

Scarlet:

'Ginny,' I cried running towards my best friend.

'Scarlet,' she opened her arms wide and we hugged.

'I haven't seen you in forever,' I laughed but it was true. I had spent the summer alone. Well not entirely alone, my aunt had been there too. It was boring though just me and her, and there wasn't much to do, especially when I was so used to being surrounded by all my friends everyday. I would much rather be back at Hogwarts, the place I loved. The place I now called home.

I had lived with my Aunt for as long as I could remember. I never really knew my parents. My Aunt told me that when I was only a baby, they became ill. Very ill. Too ill to raise a child and so I'd gone to live with her. I knew very little about my parents and hadn't seen them since I was a baby. The only possession that I had of theirs was one single photo that was now brown and torn.

I had been so excited when I had received my letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I had been raised without magic; my aunt was a muggle after all. But when I received that letter she had told me everything about my parents. How they were both wizards, and now I was going back for my fifth year at Hogwarts, to follow in their footsteps.

'I spent most of the summer just with family,' I heard Ginny say; the platform was flooded with people and steam from the train hung in the air, making it difficult to see anyone else clearly. She was telling me all about her summer and I was so jealous that I wasn't a part of it, but my aunt had strict rules and I didn't want to upset her. 'But then Hermione came to stay and then so did Harry... Harry Potter.'

Ginny sighed, getting that look in her eyes as she always did when talking about Harry, as if her mind was miles away. I knew how much she liked him, she had since our first year at Hogwarts, but she had never told him. She was too scared for her older brother, Harry's best friend, to find out.

'Look Ginny,' I said staring straight into her eyes, 'You're going to have to say something to Harry. Forget about Ron for a minute and say something or you're going to regret it. If you leave it too long then you're going to miss your chance and he's going to find someone else.'

'Ok,' she replied, giving in but looking rather scared. 'I will, just not right now.' I laughed. I knew she probably never would say anything. I knew her so well, more than anyone else in this entire world.

'Speak of the devil,' I muttered as the compartment door slid open and Harry walked in followed by Ron and Hermione. I don't think that they ever went anywhere alone. Ginny shot me a look, as if warning me not to say another word. I pretended to zip my lips and leaned back in my seat.

'Hey guys, can we sit with you?' Hermione asked.

'Everywhere else is full.' Ron added.

'Sure,' I replied. Harry went to sit down next to Ginny. I had a feeling it was more than a one way crush. His eyes just lit up whenever he talked to her, and he could barely get out two syllables without stuttering. I laughed, a very unladylike snort coming from my nose which made me laugh even harder.

'What's so funny?' Hermione said to me. Everyone was staring at me, but I didn't care.

I just loved being with all my friends. Well most of my friends. There was one person missing.

Neville.

Neville was by far my best friend, well after Ginny. He was like a big brother to me, always looking out for me and helping me out whenever I got into trouble. We never argued and had always gotten on really well, since day one. I felt so comfortable around him and we could talk for hours about everything and anything. He probably knew more about me than Ginny did, although I would never tell her that. Sometimes I would find myself telling him all of my secrets without even meaning to. He was just that easy to talk to.

I would have to find him later, I thought to myself, as the train sped on towards Hogwarts. I leant my head against the window, the glass was cold but it didn't bother me. I listened to the four of them chat about their summer. About the months that they'd all spent together, without me. I found myself closing my eyes, nodding occasionally when someone directed a question towards me.

'We're here,' I heard someone shout in my ear, shaking me to wake up. I must have drifted off on the long journey. I quickly pulled on my robes, gathered up my bags, not forgetting my kitten, Socks, who had fallen asleep in my lap, curled up in a small ball. I headed out of the train towards the carriages that Harry swore were pulled by mystical creatures, although nobody else could see them.

It was a wonderful feeling to walk through the great oak doors and into the great hall, joining my fellow Gryffindors at the table. It was great to be home and I couldn't wait for the year to begin.

Ginny:

'Hey Scarlet. Are you coming?' I asked my best friend as we left the great hall after the most incredible feast. We were heading towards our common room, surrounded by swarms of Gryffindors also on their way back to the dorm rooms.

'No I have to go and get something from the library,' she replied with a wink and walked off, leaving me to walk up to the Gryffindor common room alone and confused.

I heard footsteps behind me a second later and spun around.

'Ginny,' a familiar voice cried.

'Harry,' I beamed back at him, knowing now why Scarlet had left.

'Haven't talked to you in a while.' He laughed.

'Don't be silly Harry; I talked to you on the train.'

'Fine then.' He sighed exasperatedly, 'I haven't talked to you in a while, just the two of us.' It was true. We rarely got the chance to chat just the two of us. At the Burrow there were always way too many people and never a second of privacy and when there was, there was always the fear that someone could walk in at any moment.

'That's better,' I replied, skipping up the steps towards the common room.

'So how's everything going?' He asked me.

'Very good, I'm just so happy to be back.'

'Yeah me too,' He replied. 'I have a feeling this is going to be a very good year.'

I simply smiled at this. I loved talking to Harry. I loved being with Harry. I loved Harry. There was no point denying it, I'd tried for a while but had eventually given in when I realised that I was just kidding myself. It was annoying because whenever I went to tell him I would chicken out and end up not say anything. Then try and work up enough courage to tell him the next time I saw him.

But it never happened.

The common room door opened and Scarlet walked in, heading straight past us towards the dormitories. She was clearly wanting to give us privacy but it was late and I was tired.

'Goodnight Harry,' I said following her up to the dormitory.

'Goodnight Ginny,' He replied. 'Sweet dreams.'