How could any of this be real? Hazel thought as she made her way through Diagon Alley next to her grandparents. They had already gotten her the school robes from Madam Malkin's, which Hazel noted were very heavy. She also realised it would take her way less time to be ready in the morning now that she had a uniform. Her grandparents were sure Hazel would be in Gryffindor, like her father, so they even bought her the uniform and cloak pack despite her suggesting they would wait.
It had been a week since Hazel joined the Wizarding World. A whole week she spent reading every single book from the previous years, still not caught up obviously, but pretty close. She had a very good work ethic, she knew she would get there soon.
After that, they went to Flourish and Blotts to buy her books. Hazel's eyes were doe-like because of how wide they were and how her gaze was full of wonder and surprise. Benjy and Sarah went over to the owner to ask for the Fifth year books as Hazel looked around in bewilderment. The ambiance was so much different from the human world, it was making her heart rate increase through the roof. The girl's gaze was fixed on the bookshelves, so much so, that she didn't even realise she was getting a little too close to a certain red haired boy.
"Oh, sorry," she apologised when she bumped into him. Hazel looked up since the person that she walked into was a lot taller than her. "Tall," she let out in one breath, staring into the boy's deep brown eyes. The ginger lad chuckled and nodded. "Sorry," Hazel apologised again, feeling embarrassed and looking away.
"No problem," the ginger boy shrugged, giving her a half smile. "I'm Fred," he said, tone bordering on flirtatious.
"I'm Hazel," she replied with a friendly grin. Fred's mouth dropped in shock instantly, making Hazel tilt her head in confusion. "You okay?" she asked, stifling a laugh, not wanting to make fun of the nervous looking boy in front of her.
"Y-yeah it's all good - uh - Hazel, you say? Are you going to Hogwarts?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to seem normal while memorising all of her features so he could answer every question he knew George would have. It had to be her. It had to be! There were too many coincidences.
"Yes," Hazel nodded, shifting her gaze with slight discomfort when she noticed how intensely Fred was staring at her. "Uh, I'm new... it's a long story," she shrugged, grazing some books with the tips of her fingers. "What grade are you in?" She turned to look back at him, realising he still hadn't looked away. Fred noted her use of the word 'grade' and realised by that, and by her slight accent, that she most likely wasn't from Britain - or at least had lived abroad for a while.
"Fifth," Fred replied, hoping she would be in the same Year as them so that George wouldn't go crazy fawning over someone younger. "And you?" He asked after a few seconds, not wanting to appear desperate.
"Me too," Hazel grinned slightly bigger, looking up at him. He was a very good looking boy, that much she couldn't deny. He was acting very suspicious though, and she couldn't tell if it was just the way everyone was around here.
"Fred!" They both turned around at the sound of Benjy calling out the boy's name. "How are you doing, kiddo? I see you met my granddaughter," He patted the boy's shoulder with slight force, making him grimace. George's soulmate's a Fenwick? His mum would be very happy about that. "How's Molly? When did you get back from Egypt?" Benjy asked with a chuckle at the face Fred had made. "Where's your brother?" It was weird to see Fred without George or George without Fred.
"He must be around here somewhere, we just got back yesterday," Fred dismissed, knowing George was actually at the Burrow with the rest of his family. Fred was on a mission to find a book that would help them with their pranks and George was covering for him back at home. "I actually have to go Mr. Fenwick but it was really nice to see you - you too, Mrs. Fenwick," he said quickly as he began backing away from the trio. "Hazel, see you at the Express!" He turned around and ran out as fast as he could, leaving them all with funny expressions on their faces.
"See you," Hazel said mostly to herself, shrugging her shoulders when her grandparents looked at her pointedly. "I don't know what that was either," she mumbled out, making them laugh and shake their heads. "What else do we need?"
With that, they headed to Ollivanders to find Hazel's wand. As soon as they entered the shop, Garrick turned towards them and smiled widely. "Benjy! Sarah!" He said cheerfully. "Come in, come in," he gestured with excitement as they approached the man behind the counter. "Is this your granddaughter?" Mr. Ollivander asked with his hand over his mouth in surprise.
They all nodded as Hazel bit her lip nervously. The shop was full of wands and other magical artefacts that she still had yet to learn about. "She needs a wand, she'll be joining Hogwarts next Monday," Sarah said, placing her hand on Hazel's back, who smiled nicely at the older gentleman.
"Interesting," Garrick Ollivander said, looking at the girl standing in front of him. "I am inclined to give you one with Veela hair for a core..." he said with a pensive look on his face. He left from behind the counter and climbed up the stairs to find a wand that would suit her needs the best.
"How does he know which ones will work?" Hazel asked his granddad quietly, who shrugged.
"He just knows," he answered with a soft, encouraging smile.
Mr. Ollivander came back with three wand choices for the young witch, he placed them all in front of the group, looking at her expectantly. They were all the same size but slightly different shapes and builds. Hazel reached for the first one, looking at Ollivander with confusion.
"Well then," he gestured for the girl to move it around. That first wand was the one that had Veela hair for a core. She lifted it up and pointed to a cabinet, which immediately exploded catastrophically, causing them all to shriek and take cover within each other. "Okay, not that one," he quickly took it away, making her grandparents laugh while she looked worried. "Don't worry, darling, that happens around here all the time, go on," the older man said optimistically.
Hazel took a few minutes to decide on the next one. The one on the left was slightly crooked to the side, which she actually quite liked. The one of the right though, was black and had a golden base, which called her name. She lifted up the black one and pointed it at the same cabinet, a shot firing directly at it, landing perfectly in the middle. Hazel could feel her own power and the wand merging together. She gasped when a shock ran through her body, turning to look at Mr. Ollivander with a big smile.
"Vine wood with a Dragon heartstring core, twelve inches and a half," the owner of the shop spoke with a nod. Vine wood was amongst the less common types, its owners were usually wizards who looked for a greater purpose, who had vision of the future. The dragon heartstring is part of the wands with the most power, those that are capable of the most powerful spells. "Unyielding flexibility, it will answer only to you," he added, looking at her with admiration. "A fantastic wand, for what I am sure will be a fantastic witch," he assured looking over at Benjy, who gave him a nod as her grandma hugged Hazel from the side happily.
Everything was finally looking up.
***
"You what?" George smacked his head with both hands in desperation. "Fred... if you're fucking lying to me, mate -"
"I'm not!" Fred shook his head, raising both hands as George let his head fall against the table, banging it a couple of more times out of frustration. "Georgie... you'll meet her in four days anyway," he said, trying to find the silver lining. Fred reached his hand out to pat his brother's back before moving it away quickly when his twin turned his head to glare at him. If looks could kill, I'd be dead. "Or not?"
George groaned, banging his head one more time. "I could've met her today," he grumbled, lifting his head and letting himself melt to the floor.
"Uh..." Fred looked at him, trying not to laugh at how dramatic he was being. He let himself drop to the floor next to his brother, both of them lying down under the kitchen table. "Well... I could tell you about her if that would make you-"
"Of course you will, it's the least you can do," George grouched, whacking his brother's head.
"Ow!" Fred cried, rubbing his side and holding it, narrowing his eyes at his brother.
"Go on then," George closed his eyes, ready to imagine what his soulmate would look like. "What's she like?" He asked with interest, a smile growing on his face.
Fred rolled his eyes before he began speaking. "She's quite short... I'd say like mum's height probably, slightly shorter," George could work with that reference, grinning as he thought she would be easy to pick up. "She has black hair, long, quite thick," Fred explained, his eyes also closed as he reminisced on Hazel's appearance. "Her eyes are blue, George! A very deep blue-green colour... so like the ocean," George sighed as he tried to picture it in his mind. "She has quite fair skin and full pink lips. She has a nice smile too," Fred added.
"She sounds too perfect," George pointed out, turning to look at Fred, who shrugged.
"Well she is part Veela," Fred smirked at George's stunned expression. The only family they knew that had Veela in them were - "She's a Fenwick."
"A FENWICK?" George sat up so fast he forgot about the table above them, thumping his head against it. Fred laughed loudly as George groaned and held his forehead in pain. "Fuck..." he muttered under his breath, lying back down, still listening to Fred's giggles. "Shut up," Fred pursed his lips and nodded, trying to contain his laughter.
However, as soon as they made eye contact they both erupted into laughter.
***
September 1st finally rolled around, after what felt like forever to George and Hazel, who were both excited to go to Hogwarts... for two completely different reasons. Hazel had learnt a lot in those couple of weeks, more than she ever thought she could. It all came easy to her. She never expected for that to happen, but she assumes it happened because Magic was what she was meant to be learning all along.
When her and her grandparents arrived at the King Cross station and they told Hazel to run through the platform, she did it without hesitation. She had never felt more like herself in her whole life. As soon as they were on the other side, she couldn't help but smile widely.
It was all coming together in a way Hazel never expected.
"Okay, so," Sarah began, resting her hand on her granddaughter's shoulder. "Be sure to owl us okay? At least do it once a month so that we can know you're okay," Hazel nodded, fixing up the owl cage that was on top of her suit case. She decided to name her Hera, since her mother kept Zeus. "Also, don't forget to owl your mum, she probably misses you..."
"Of course, gran," Hazel replied, moving over to the side to hug her grandma, who let a few tears fall at the sight of her only grandchild going to Hogwarts. This was one of her biggest dreams.
"We've waited a long time for you to do this," her grandfather spoke, going in for a hug as well. "We want you to know we are incredibly proud of who you became and who you will become - we know you will not only be a fantastic witch, but also a terrific woman," his voice was slightly shaky with emotion as Hazel hugged him back, thanking him quietly.
"I love you... both of you," she said, pulling away from the hug. "Thank you for helping me this past week and thank you for not giving up on me all those years, despite everything that happened," she chuckled sadly as they nodded.
"We love you," they chorused just as the train whistled. "Time to go, dear," Sarah said with a proud grin. Hazel took out her suit case and her owl from the cart, resting the cart on top of the case. The train whistled again as she began walking towards it.
"Take care of yourself, Little Seeker!" They waved as the black haired girl rushed towards the train, smiling at them and waving with her free hand.
"Bye!" She called before going in, paying attention to every detail she could.
The train was bigger on the inside than she expected. She noticed it was full of students of all ages, some younger and some older than her. Most of the boys seemed to look at her with interest. Hazel bit her lip as she walked looking for an empty spot. Suddenly, she spotted a tall ginger setting his things on top of a compartment.
"Fred," Hazel tapped his shoulder, causing the boy to turn around and look down at her, eyes wide, glimmering. "Fred?" She tilted her head. His gaze seemed different, more profound and somehow the colour in his eyes was even more chocolatey; he looked even more attractive than the day they'd met which threw her off slightly.
"Hazel," she turned her head, noticing the original Fred was sitting down on the seat in the compartment. "You wanna sit with us?" Fred asked, a smirk on his face as he noticed her nervous expression at the sight of George.
George took a step forward, inching slightly closer to Hazel, who's breath was caught in her throat. Oh my God, I think I'm dying. George reached over for her suit case lifting it up with ease, helping her by storing it above along with the owl cage. "Hey," his voice sounded incredibly familiar to her.
"Oh, hello," Hazel waved awkwardly. "Thanks for - helping me with my bags," he looked her in the eye and she felt like erasing herself, blushing profusely. He tilted his head to the side and glanced curiously at her, she really had no idea they were soulmates.
"I'm George," he said, stretching out his hand to shake hers, anticipation building up.
"Hazel Fenwick," she shook his hand, the blush still evident in her cheeks.
AN: thanks for reading <3 i'm so sorry about the late update! but i hope you're good with this chapter! i'd forgotten how much i loved it. i'll be updating before next wednesday <3
thank you all so much! please vote and comment x.