No year had ever made Anne Shirley-Cuthbert so excited to go back to school. Sure, of course going to a school for witches and wizards was beyond anything she had ever expected, but this year was special. She had been waiting her whole life, okay not actually, for the letter that arrived late that summer.
Her prefect letter! Enclosed was the Gryffindor prefect pin along with a letter from Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall expressing how proud of her they were. She should be expected to wear the pin with pride and serve justice to her house.
Anne had been curious the whole summer about who was joining in as the male prefect for the Gryffindor house. She could not think of one boy in her class that matched her standards, though to be fair, she had been expecting a mini Percy Weasley. And the chances of that happening was little to none.
Percy Weasley is one of her best friends. Her long, red hair stood out to him when she sat upon the stool of the Sorting Hat in her first year. Immediately after being sorted into Gryffindor, she sat right next to him, finding comfort in his red hair.
She had been introduced to his younger brothers, Fred and George, shortly after, but she never took a strong liking to them. It was not that they were mean or ignored her, but they were not Percy. They were far from Percy, and Anne could not wrap her head around the fact that they were brothers. The three of them were so different.
Of course, the next year at the first feast, there was another redhead that made his way to the Sorting Hat. Anne knew she was not related to him, so he had to be a Weasley. And he was! Ron Weasley was the last Weasley boy and he seemed to be more like Fred and George than Percy. Anne liked Ron, he was a good balance of fun, though his attention never seemed to be on her. He was constantly talking about his best friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Oh, Anne absolutely adored Hermione and her smart mind. Hermione and Anne never talked much, but whenever the Granger girl was alone, Anne found her way over to her. They often did homework together when the boys were away.
The last Weasley, don't think Anne forgot about her, because she didn't. Like Ron, Anne knew that Ginny was a Weasley the second she spotted the bright red hair. Hers was different than the rest of the boys... It was cut in a short bob, standing out amongst the sea of blonde and brown hair. Anne happened to catch Ginny's eyes as she ran down from the Sorting Hat and that was the start of a lovely, causal, friendship.
Oh, Anne's mind strayed very far from the point she was trying to make. The point was that Anne looked up to Percy's leader skills, even though Anne also enjoyed Oliver Wood's Quidditch leadership and those two led very different ways. But, as soon as Anne had mentioned to Percy that she was interested in becoming a prefect and hopefully later the Head Girl of her year, Percy started training her right away. She would spend all her extra time with him and he even leant her his notes that he took during prefect and Head Boy meetings. Anne doubted that he was allowed to do that. Nonetheless, she very much appreciated it. She just appreciated Percy Weasley.
Anne Shirley-Cuthbert came from a long line of muggle borns, or at least, she thinks so. She actually does not know who her true parents are. She has been passed around foster care for almost her entire life and only a couple years ago was she brought to her final home, in the care of Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The wonderful siblings took care of her like she was their own, and after a couple weeks, she truly felt like they were her parents.
Marilla was the first to notice Anne's magical abilities when she was helping in the kitchen one day. She had had her back turned, mixing batter to make a cake, when the pitcher of milk next to her suddenly levitated for no more than a second. After that, it crashed to the floor. Marilla could not believe her eyes when she turned around and Anne was standing by the counter, her eyes filled with horror.
"I was focusing hard! I did not mean to do that!" Anne had cried.
Marilla brushed that experience off until Anne's eleventh birthday rolled around and the Cuthberts received a letter tha Anne had been accepted into Hogwarts, a magical school for witches and wizards. It seemed crazy to Matthew, who had not heard about the milk experience, but to Marilla, it made perfect sense.
It scared Anne, the thought of going to Hogwarts and being somewhere new. She had only begun to feel comfortable with the Cuthberts, but after hours of reassurance, Anne finally agreed to go for one year. To see if she liked it.
Anne had loved Hogwarts.
It was September 1st, the day she waited for all year long. She was finally getting to go back to her home, Hogwarts. Matthew and Marilla had made the journey with her, but stayed behind after she was dropped off. They did not want to embarrass her in front of all her friends. Anne did not believe that was their true reasoning for not going to the Platform with her, but she did not pry. The first experience of trying to get to Platform Nine and Three Quarters was so horrific that Anne never pressured them to go back. They helped her the second and third time, but the fourth, they refused. And so the fifth.
"Ready to do this?" a voice whispered behind her ear.
Anne jumped, letting a small scream escape her mouth. She looked behind her, seeing Fred and George Weasley standing mere centimeters away. Fred was wearing his usual goofy grin and George was rolling his eyes.
"I told him not to scare you," George said, sending Anne a small smile. "But you know him."
"Unfortunately, I know both of you," Anne sighed. Normally, the twins did not phase her, but she was nervous this year. She had actual duties that she needed to perform.
"Sweetheart, I am hurt," Fred said. He threw one of his arms around Anne's shoulder, pulling her close to him. He smelled of firewood, one of her favorite scents.
"How I missed you so dearly," Anne said, playing back into his game. Out of the two of them, Anne was slightly closer to Fred. She had never been planning to be close to either of them, but Fred never left her alone.
"We missed you at the Quidditch World Cup," Ron said, seemingly appearing out of thin air.
Anne turned herself around and wriggled out of Fred's grasp so she could see Ron. Over the summer, he had grown so much and now stood above his brothers. His awkwardness had gone away and he stood taller, maybe even prouder.
"Yeah, we did," Harry Potter added on. He stepped out from behind Ron, Hedwig and her cage in his hand. He shot Anne a small smile, which she returned. "How come you couldn't make it? The Weasleys had an extra ticket."
"She can't contain herself around me, didn't want to risk it," Fred answered for her, looking down at Anne.
Anne rolled her eyes, but did not say anything. The truth was, she really did want to attend the World Cup with the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione. The reason why she couldn't go was because of Matthew's health. When she had left for her fourth year, he had seemed alright, but by the time she had returned for summer, his health had worsened. Marilla didn't want to admit it, but she needed extra help around the house when Matthew fell ill and spent days in bed. Anne had not wanted to explain that to her friends, so she simply told them that Matthew and Marilla had said no. They all complained, but no one tried to pry her for more information.
"It was just Ginny and I, you really should have tried to convince your parents to let you go," Hermione said. "The two of us can only talk about so much."
Anne blushed, wishing that the conversation would change.
"Anne, dear! How are you?" Mrs. Weasley gushed, pushing her boys to the side. "Fred, get off of her!"
Suddenly Anne was enveloped in a warm hug from her second mother. Mrs. Weasley always smelled of warm treats and coffee. Though Anne never saw her drinking coffee, there was no other explanation of how Mrs. Weasley could get through her day without it.
"I'm a prefect," Anne mumbled into Mrs. Weasley shawl, which came out sounding nothing like what she actually said.
"What, dear?"
"I'm a prefect!" Anne said again, expecting a huge congratulations from her friends.
Nobody moved or even said anything, which confused Anne. Why was no one excited for her?
"Oh, Anne, Percy has already told us. He was bursting at the seams when your letter arrived," Mrs. Weasley said, clearing up the confusion.
"News to me!" George exclaimed, throwing a smile to Anne. "I never listen to Percy."
"Git," Ron mumbled.
"Ron, don't make fun of your brother succeeding. Maybe take a note out of his book and you could be a prefect next year," Mrs. Weasley said, gently tapping her youngest son.
"Never," Ron scoffed. "I'm way more like Fred and George than you expect, mother."
"Oh, are you really? News to me!" Mrs. Weasley pretended to be shocked and Anne could almost hear her brain listing off all the activities and adventures Ron had participated in over the last three years.
"I hate to disrupt family time, but we really should get on the train," Hermione said. She looked at Anne for a quick moment, jealousy written all over her face. Anne wondered what her problem was.
"Bye mum!" the twins shouted in union as their bodies disappeared into the train. Ron and Harry quickly followed them, leaving Anne and Ginny with her mother.
"Oh you two, please be careful this year. Look after the boys," Mrs. Weasley said. She quickly placed a kiss on top both of their heads, lingering slightly longer on Ginny's.
"Anne's a prefect now," Ginny grinned. "She can bust them!"
"Oh, Ginny," Anne said. "I'll try my hardest."
Finding an empty compartment was proving harder than normal. It's not like Anne didn't have friends, she did have plenty. Normally, she sat with whomever she had been talking to before stepping onto the train, but since it had been Ron, Harry, and Hermione, she did not feel like sitting with them. She felt too weird when it was just her and them, she felt like she didn't belong there.
Anne was passing many compartments that had many students she did know and then some she was unfamiliar with. She knew majority of the Gryffindors, plenty of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but hardly any Slytherins. Ever since her run in with Draco Malfoy a couple years ago, she avoided the green colored robes at all costs.
"Anne!" a voice shouted, clearly excited. Anne realized it was coming from the compartment to her left.
The voice belonged to Diana Barry, a Ravenclaw in her year. Anne and Diana had been close friends ever since Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall their first year. They had been paired with each other with many things and their friendship blossomed.
"Diana!" Anne cheered, slipping into the compartment. It was mostly empty apart from Diana and a blonde girl sitting next to her. Anne was unsure of who it was.
"I'm a prefect," Diana announced before saying anything else. She pointed at the badge that was shining against her black sweater. "Got my letter earlier this summer."
Anne loved Diana to pieces, but she always had to be showing off. It was in her blood, her trying to be better than everyone else. For the most part, Anne let her get away with it since it made Diana happy. But this? Anne could compete.
"Me too," Anne grinned.
"Oh really?" Diana asked, her face turning red. "Where's your badge?"
"It's in my pocket. I decided not to wear it until I put on my robes, thought it would be better to shock everyone, you know?" Anne laughed. To be honest, she thought prefect and Head Boy and Girl badges belonged only on robes. To wear them on everyday clothes is a bit ridiculous, and Anne made sure to make fun of Percy whenever he did it.
Diana nodded her head and took her seat next to the blonde girl again. Anne sat across from the two of them, still wondering who she was.
"I don't think we have met," Anne said, breaking the silence. "I'm Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, fifth year Gryffindor."
"I could have sworn that you were a Weasley," the blonde girl giggled, gesturing to Anne's red hair. "And I would have kept assuming if you never told me your last name."
"Oh no. The only female Weasley is Ginny, she's a third year Gryffindor," Anne corrected her, not thinking that her joke was very funny. Why was the Weasley joke so funny?
"Oh, she's in my year," the girl said, pulling her lips tightly together. "I'm Ruby Gillis, third year Ravenclaw."
"Ruby looked lost on the platform, so I took her under my wing. You know, I recognize Ravenclaws even in plain clothes," Diana said, smiling down at Ruby.
"Thanks, Diana. I have another friend, I'm just unsure of where she currently is," Ruby sighed, looking out the window. The train had just started moving and was gaining momentum.
"Who?" Anne asked, curiosity getting the best of her.
"Luna Lovegood," Ruby replied, getting a weird look from Diana in response.
"You're friends with Looney?" Diana asked. She shook her head, as if Luna was distasteful.
"Yes," Ruby responded, her eyes fiery. It looked as if the two were about to go into a battle over a girl whom Anne didn't even know.
Interrupting the tense conversation, a knock on the closed compartment door. Anne jumped at the chance to leave the conversation and opened the door to Charlie Sloane, fellow fifth year Gryffindor.
"Anne!" Charlie said in surprise.
"Charlie!" Anne greeted him with the same enthusiasm. Since the last time she saw him, he grew about four inches and had let his hair grow out long. His brown curls were now more pronounced as ever and his dark eyes stared down at Anne.
"I was coming to get Diana for the prefect's meeting," he said honestly, looking over Anne's shoulder at Diana. "I'm still wondering who the female Gryffindor prefect is."
"It's Anne!" Diana said, now standing up from her seat.
All Charlie and Anne could do was stare at each other.
"Goodness gracious, it's a good thing I'm here," Diana laughed, pulling Anne out of the compartment.