The Only Exception

Chapter Three: Being Difficult

"Found it in my backyard yesterday. Mum came inside screaming about an acromantula, so I went to check it out. Obviously, it's not an acromantula, not even a baby one. Too small. But I thought it was pretty cool, so I snuck a cage out and snatched it. Told my mum I killed it, of course, and I hid it in my old dress robes."

"Wicked," said Fred and George together.

"We are so putting this in Ron's bed," I said.

Angelina and Alicia had finally calmed down, and Lee put the spider away. The conversation took a turn toward Quidditch. Seeing how basically everyone else in the compartment was on the team or had something to do with it, my part in the conversation was very limited. I mainly listened to  their drama as they worried about training schedules and things like that.

Something made me think of the message from the strange vendor lady in Diagon Alley weeks earlier. It was something I'd thought of often over the summer, but also something I'd kept to myself. There was no need to bring it up to my father; I knew what he'd say. Something along the lines of street vendors being useless vagrants, and how the woman was probably insane anyway. He'd probably become suspicious that Fred, George, and I had wandered into Knockturn Alley, and I'd never hear the end of it once he started lecturing me on that.

Fred and George hadn't mentioned it either, so I figured they'd completely forgotten about her, and that's what I should do as well. There wasn't any point in dwelling on the ramblings of a madwoman, no matter how awesome she'd been.

When I tuned back into the conversation, it had shifted to Fred and George's latest visit at their Aunt Muriel's earlier in the summer.

"She was all over Bill about his hair," Fred was saying. "I mean, Mum hates it, but she hates it in a loving way. Muriel was downright rude about it. Of course, she's downright rude about basically everything, so that wasn't a surprise."

"She once brought Ginny to the point of tears," said George, "and that isn't an easy thing to do. This was when we were ten; Muriel was there for someone's birthday, and Ginny hadn't yet started showing signs of magic."

"And you know she's the only girl in the Weasley line for generations," said Fred. "Muriel said something about how she was cursed to be a squib for breaking the tradition. Ginny ran out of the house crying, and it took about three hours to find her, and then another hour for Bill to calm her down enough that she'd face the rest of the family."

I nodded along; I remembered that day. It was the only time I'd ever met their great-aunt. She, of course, knew my father, and hated me straight away. She was prejudiced against him because of his past, and she was adamant that the only reason he was trusted was because he'd brainwashed everyone. She'd even gone so far as to say the only reason he kept me around was out of pity for my "godforsaken mother." After this comment, I'd lost my temper entirely and basically told her she was a very rude woman who deserved nothing less than to drown in a pit of boiling acromantula venom and that she should probably shut her mouth before I did something rash.

Of course, I used far fewer words than that, some of which I probably shouldn't have known at ten years old. Aunt Molly wasn't happy with me, but she didn't tell me off because I think deep down she agreed with everything I said. Nevertheless, she'd asked me to please leave the house while Muriel was there, and I'd complied happily. The Weasley children followed me, and we'd spent the rest of the day swimming in the pond while Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur endured Muriel.

Lost in memories, I didn't notice that the sweets trolley had come until Lee was poking me in the shoulder. My eyes focused on the strange face he was making and I pushed him away, rolling my eyes. He laughed and joined Angelina at the door to the compartment.

Feeling too lazy to actually get up, I tossed Lee a Sickle.

"Surprise me with something."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me and was suddenly in my face again, kissing my cheek.

"Surprise, beautiful," he whispered in my ear before pulling back.

"Very mature, Jordan," I said, rolling my eyes. "Now buy me candy."

"So demanding," he muttered loudly, turning back to the trolley lady. When she gave him what he asked for, he turned around and threw something at my face. I caught it before it made contact and saw that it was a chocolate frog.

Looking at it, an idea came to me. "Wait, what happens if I enlarge this?"

The rest of the group shrugged.

"Just make sure it stops growing," said George. "I don't want to have to share a compartment with an oversized hunk of chocolate."

Grinning, I opened the box. The frog made to jump out, but I pointed my wand at it and muttered, "Immobulus!" It froze in place, and I pulled it from its box and set it on my lap. Concentrating hard on only making it slightly bigger, I then said, "Engorgio!"

It began to grow. And grow. And grow. It soon covered my entire lap. I panicked and waved my wand at it while the rest of my friends cracked up and did nothing to help.

I shouted to Fred to open the window, and right as the gap was big enough, I threw the still-growing frog out of it with a sort of savage war cry. It was whipped away by the wind, and once it was gone, I fell back onto the seat, breathing heavily. Everyone around me was laughing, and soon enough, I was, too. It took at least ten minutes for us to calm down enough to talk, but even then, Alicia was unable to contribute to the conversation due to random giggle fits.

"Wonder how big it'll get?" said Fred, looking out the window.

"Dunno," said George, "but I hope a Muggle doesn't find it. Nora, you would be in so much trouble."

"They'd never have any proof that it was me, though," I said.

"What if I turn you in?" said Angelina slyly.

"Then you will no longer be worthy of the honor of my friendship. I must demand that you leave my presence at once."

"Fine, then," she said, standing up. "Your loss." And she left the compartment. Alicia's giggles became full-on laughter after the door shut, and she ended up collapsing onto the floor. The twins, Lee, and I ignored her after a look of hopelessness.

A few seconds later, the compartment door opened once again. We looked up, half-expecting to see Angelina, but I was surprised to see Hermione Granger standing in the doorway looking more than slightly distressed.

"Hermione?" I said. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you guys knew where Harry and Ron were," she said. "I haven't seen them yet; I thought maybe they'd be with you."

I exchanged looks with Fred and George.

"We got onto the platform before they did," said George, "and we came straight here. Maybe they're just in another compartment?"

"I've searched almost the whole train," said Hermione. "I don't know where they are."

"Hermione," I said, "I'm sure they're fine, okay? Maybe they were just late getting through the barrier and it closed on them. I wouldn't put it past Ron to be such a dunderhead, and Harry isn't terribly bright, either. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley probably found them when they left."

Hermione nodded, but she didn't seem very pacified. I gave her a reassuring smile as she shut the door again and walked away.