Harry Potter 1. Lost

April 1, 1978  
St. Mungo's Hospital, London, England

Mrs. Molly Weasley lay on her bed in the maternity ward, tired but happy. Her husband, Arthur, was seated next to her with a huge smile plastered on his face. He stood, still grinning from ear to ear, and set the bundle he had been holding in between the two Molly already had in her arms.

"I'm going to go and get the boys. I'll be right back," he whispered to her, and she nodded without glancing away from her precious bundles. He went out to the waiting room, where an eight-year-old Bill and a six-year-old Charlie were watching their two-year-old brother Percy. The older boys immediately started asking questions at the pace of a machine gun.

"How's Mum?"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Is the baby ok?"

"Is Mum ok?"

"You were in there for a while, does it always take that long?"

"I bet it's another boy."

"When can we see it?"

Percy just ran over to his father and held his arms out to be picked up. Arthur did so and shook his head at Bill and Charlie, waiting until they had finished asking questions before speaking.

"Your mother is fine, no it doesn't always take that long, and we've got a bit of a surprise for you. Come on in, you can see them now."

The four of them went back through the door and into their mother's room, whereupon the boys' eyes widened at the sight of three babies in their mother's arms.

"Did you steal someone else's baby? There're three of them!" Charlie exclaimed.

"No, silly," Arthur replied, ruffling Charlie's hair. "They're triplets."

"What's that?"

"It means that all three of them were born to the same mum on the same day."

"Woah, cool! So we have three new brothers!"

"Not exactly," Molly said, finally looking up at them. "You have two new brothers."

"But why isn't the third one our brother too? Are you sending him away or something?"

"No, dear, you have a sister. Two brothers and a sister."

"What are their names, Mum?" piped Bill.

"This is Fred, and this is George," she replied, referring to first the baby in her right arm and then the one in her left. "And this one in the middle is Ava."

~T~

April 7, 1982  
The Burrow, The Triplet's Bedroom

"Ava, George, I'm bored," Fred whined. "Let's play a game."  
"Sure. What game?" George asked, sitting up from where he had been lying on the floor.  
"I dunno. What do you wanna play, Ava?" Fred asked his sister, who was lying half on and half off her bed, with her head hanging upside down and her bright red hair cascading across the quilt.  
"Hmmm," she thought, trying to decide on a game. "How about..." her eyes lit up with an idea, and the boys looked at her in anticipation. "Hide and seek!"  
"Perfect!"  
The three leapt up from where they lay and tromped down the stairs, nearly knocking down their brother Percy as they did so.  
"Sorry Perce!" the three called back in unison, not slowing down a bit.

"Mum, we're going outside to play!" Ava shouted when they reached the door to the yard, stopping just long enough to hear the reply of "Alright dearie, but don't go too far and be back before dinner."

"Yes Mum," the three responded, and ran out to play.

"I'll count first, and you two hide." Ava told her brothers, and the two nodded. "One, two, three, four..." she started to count, closing her eyes, and the boys ran off.

~T~

Four rounds later, George was counting. Ava ran off as he began to count, making for a thick grove of trees not too far away. She found one that was easy to climb - even for a four year old - and clambered up the branches to hide in the leaves. _I hope he won't find me._ She thought to herself, and felt a rush of warmth flow through her. She shook herself, wondering what the strange feeling was, but then wrote it off as her imagination. _After all, Mum's always saying mine is so big._ She leaned against the trunk of the tree, nestled in a crook created by two branches and hidden by leaves.

~T~

"... Fifty! Ready or not, here I come!" George called, and he immediately started looking for his brother and sister. _Not in the hen coop, not under it, either... Not in the garage... Not in the broom shed, _he thought after checking those places thoroughly. He was about to leave the broom shed when he had a sudden thought. _Wait a sec... _he looked up and grinned. Sitting in the rafters of the shed, leaning on a supporting beam, was Fred.

"Found you!" George called, grinning. Fred grinned in return and clambered down from his perch.

"Now let's go find Ava." Fred said once he had reached the ground. "Where've you already looked?"

"Umm, the coop, the garage, and here." George said, and they nodded together before running off to find Ava.

~T~

An hour later, Ava was still sitting in her tree. _What's taking them so long? I guess I found an awful good hiding spot._ The boys had passed under her tree several times, but not once had they seen her. She had had to suppress a giggle when they had last looked in the grove of trees, and had heaved a silent sigh of relief when they noticed nothing. But now it was starting to get dark, and she was bored of sitting still, and her butt hurt from the hard bark, and she just wanted to be found. She climbed to a lower branch, one that was less hissed by leaves, in the hopes that the next time the boys went by they would see her.

~T~

As dusk fell, Ava heard the boy's voices from over by the house.

"Come on out, Ava, we give up! It's time to go in for dinner!"

She scrambled down the tree and started running for the house, glad she could finally move again. Her short legs carried her quickly to where the boys stood, still calling her name. She stopped right in front of them, confused.

"I'm right here, you can stop shouting," she told them, but neither of them seemed to hear her. She waved a hand in Fred's face, trying to catch his attention, but he didn't even blink.

"AVA!" George shouted. "Come on back to the house!"  
"But I'm already HERE!" she shouted back, but neither of them heard her.

Fred and George gave each other a worried look, and together they made the decision to go inside and get their mum. Ava followed them, starting to get upset at the way they were ignoring her.

"Mum! MUM!" Fred called, racing into the kitchen.

"Yes, dear, what is it?" she asked calmly, stirring the pasta she was making for their dinner.

"We can't find Ava."

"Well you were playing hide and seek, weren't you? She's just hiding."

"But we've been looking for _ages_ and we finally gave up 'cause it's time to come in, but she won't come out! She's _missing, _Mum_!'" _George insisted.

"But I'm _not_ missing, Georgie, can't you _see_?" Ava asked, tugging on George's arm. "Can't you _hear_ me, Freddie?" she continued, turning to the oldest of the three of them. "Mum," she pleaded, tugging on her mother's apron, "_You _can see me, can't you?" Tears were starting to leak from her eyes, and her voice was naught but a whimper. "This isn't funny, guys."

Figuring that the young boys were exaggerating, Molly ignored the urgent tone in George's voice and told him to go get their brothers to help look. So Fred and George went banging on Charlie and Percy's doors to get them to join the search for Ava. The older boys came somewhat reluctantly, thinking that perhaps the triplets were playing a joke and intended to lead them on a snipe hunt for Ava.

After a half-hour of searching, however, they no longer thought it was a joke. When their mother called them in for dinner, Ava was still missing.

"Where is your sister?" Molly asked them, as they all sat down at the dinner table.

"She's still missing, Mum." George replied quietly, eyes moist. "We looked and we looked, but she's _gone._"

"I am not." Ava said, but it was half-hearted after all the attempts she had made to get their attention.

"Still?" Molly asked, her voice going weaker.

"We couldn't find her anywhere, Mum." Percy said in a near whisper.

"We looked _everywhere_," added Charlie.

Molly went out to the garden and called for Ava to come in, to no avail. At this point every one of the Weasleys who was at home was worried, Fred and George most of all. Ava, tired of everyone acting like she wasn't there, finally went out to the garden and started walking down the path to town. Maybe someone there would see her.

~A~

Ava had never been to Ottery St. Catchpole before. Her parents had always kept her and her siblings away from the town and it's residents in the fear that the young children would let something about magic slip to a muggle. Consequently, Ava was very much lost.

She had gone into town and tugged on the arm or clothing of every single person she met on the street, but not a one of them noticed her. After turning down a number of streets she had, as any four year old would, lost track of what direction she had come from. She had ended up, quite by accident, at a railway station that reminded her of the one that her family had seen her brother Bill off to school at. _There we go. If I get on a train, It will take me to Bill's school, and maybe he'll see me, _her young brain reasoned. So she climbed up the steps to the train, took a seat in one of the compartments, and waited. Nobody else entered the compartment before the train started moving, so she was left alone to wait for what she knew would be a long trip to find her brother.

After looking out the window for a while, she grew bored of watching the countryside pass and began to fiddle with the copper bracelet her mother had given her for her birthday. It was a simple band of copper with a thinner wire wrapped around it, ending in a spiral. On the outside of the band her initials, AW, were engraved in the copper. It was a little big for her wrist, but her mum had told her she would grow until it fit. She had taken to wearing it for the past seven days since she had gotten it, and she often fiddled with it when bored.

When she got bored of fiddling with her bracelet, she looked out the window again. She didn't want to risk getting lost on the train if she left her compartment. _This is going to be an awfully long trip._

~A~

"Approaching the last stop, The Great Western Railway, Reading. Please exit the train when it has come to a complete stop."

Ava heard the announcement and stood as the train slowed, glad her trip was finally over. She didn't know if Bill's school was in Reading -she didn't even know where Reading was - but she supposed that if that was where the train took her, that must be where Bill had been taken as well. She walked off the train as soon as it stopped and slipped through the crowds, still unseen and unheard by everyone around her. She exited the railway by the first door she found and stepped out into the open air of the streets of Reading.

She tried to ask someone if they knew where she could find Hogwarts, but she was still unnoticed by anyone in the crowd. She stopped trying to ask when she remembered that she wasn't supposed to let muggles know about magic. Instead she wandered the streets, looking for a place to stay until she could find Bill. The longer she stayed unseen, the more she thought leaving home was a bad idea. It was very dark, and she was very alone, and she was very scared.

As she turned another corner, she saw trees behind a brick wall. She ran to reach them, finding comfort in the trees that were so similar to the ones near her house. She climbed into a tree and sat in a cozy nook, watching the area around her. In no time at all, she had fallen fast asleep.

~A~

April 8, 1982  
Forbury Gardens, Reading, England

"I don't see her parents anywhere nearby."

"Do you think she was here all night?"

"Shhhh, I think she's waking up."

The two voices stopped as Ava slowly opened her eyes. She looked down to see two elderly women looking up at her with curious eyes. Her heart filled with joy as she realized they could see her, but just as quickly it filled with fear. She didn't know where she was, her home was nowhere nearby, and two strange people were looking at her.

"Hello, dearie, what's your name?" one of the ladies asked, her voice kind. Ava just stared at her, not saying a word.

"We aren't going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about. We just want to know your name," the second said after a moment.

"'M not s'posed to talk to strangers." Ava told her quietly, then clammed up again.

"How silly of me! That's absolutely right dearie, you mustn't be talking to strangers. My name is Agatha and this is my friend Beatrice. You can call us Aggie and Bea if you want. We were just going to our Thursday morning Bible study at the church right over there when we noticed you sitting up there in the tree, just like a bird. Naturally, we were curious as to what a dear little girl such as yourself was doing up in a tree so early in the morning."

Ava nodded, beginning to feel more comfortable with the ladies. Surely two old ladies couldn't be that bad. Noticing the more relaxed look, Beatrice spoke up.

"Why don't you come down from there? An old soul's neck gets tired looking up so much."

Ava hesitantly started down the trunk from her little nook, watching the ladies for any sudden movements. When she finally reached the ground, Beatrice smiled.

"That's better, Birdie. Thank you for taking pity on my poor neck."

Ava gave her a little smile back, and remembering her manners replied "You're welcome."

Agatha chuckled and looked Ava over again with an appraising eye. "You look a mite hungry dearie, have you had breakfast?"

Ava shook her head and looked down as her stomach grumbled.

"Well we can't have that, now can we," Beatrice proclaimed. "After all, the early bird gets the worm, and you, Birdie, are out quite early. Why don't you come with us to our Bible study? There'll be food there."

Ava slowly nodded and the ladies both smiled broadly. As they began walking to the church, Ava reached up and grabbed Bea's hand to hold. Be smiled down at her and they walked into the church.

~A~

"Hello everyone!" Agatha called cheerfully as they walked into the meeting room. A few other people were there, and a few rose to great the two ladies as they walked in.

"Good morning, Aggie. Good morning, Bea. How are you t- oh! Who's this?" a man asked, crouching down to look Ava in the eye. Ava moved to behind Bea's legs, only letting her head peak out to the side.

"This is our little Birdie. We found her perched out in a tree on our way in. She's hungry, so we brought her in so she could have some breakfast. Go on, Birdie, get something off the table." Bea told her, giving her a small push in the direction of the food. Ava scampered off to the table and started putting food on a plate.

"So what's the little one's name?" the man asked Bea, standing up.

"We're not sure, Pastor John. The sensible little think told us she wasn't to speak to strangers, and hasn't said a word since. It didn't seem to stop her from coming with us, though."

The pastor chuckled. "What do you plan on doing with her after the study?"

"I thought we'd take her to the orphanage we help out at. Maybe if we take her there, she'll feel comfortable enough with someone to tell them her name and where she's from. Someone must be awfully worried about her."

~A~

Ava sat near the door the entire time they were at the study, eating pastries until she was full. Aggie and Bea, she had decided, were nice. Perhaps they would help her find Bill.

"Come along, Birdie. We have to go someplace now." Bea called. Ava jumped up from her seat and put her paper plate in the trash can before going over to where Bea and Aggie stood.

"Do you want to tell us why you were up in a tree this morning, dear?" Aggie asked nonchalantly as they left the church. Ava looked at her for a moment before deciding that, if she wanted the ladies to help her find Bill, she ought to tell them that she was looking for him.

"I was looking for my brother."

"Ah! Is he a bird like you?"

"No, he's a human. His name is Bill, and he's at school right now. I came to find him, but I don't know where his school is."

"Do you know what the school's name is? Bea and I know just about every place nearby. Maybe we can help you find Bill."

"He goes to- oh, but Mummy says we aren't allowed to tell people 'bout Bill's school unless she says it's ok."

"Why ever not?"

"It's a secret."

"And who is we?"

"Me 'n my brothers. Fred 'n' George 'n Percy 'n Charlie, 'n when Ron gets big like me he won't be allowed to either."

"Well then, why don't you tell us your name, and we can ask the police to try and find your family."

"I'm Ava. Ava Weasley. What are police?"

"They help good people and find bad people to put them in prison so that the bad people won't bother the good people."

"Oh." Ava thought that sounded kind of like Aurors, so the police must be the right people to talk to about finding her family. Aggie called a cab to take them to the police department, and the three of them got in.

~A~

The police department wasn't much fun, Ava thought. A bunch of people asked her a bunch of questions, most of which she couldn't answer. Where do you live? What's your address? What do your parents do for work? Where do your brothers go to school? And so on, so forth. By the time Bea and Aggie took her away from there to go to someplace they called a children's home, Ava was tired of being asked about things she either didn't know or couldn't tell. Hopefully, at the children's home people wouldn't ask as many questions.

By this time, Ava was feeling awfully lonely. Even though Bea and Aggie were nice, she missed her triplets. She had never been away from them this long; in fact, the longest she had ever been away from them was a few minutes when they would set up pranks and needed to do things in separate places. Ever since birth, the three of them had been completely inseparable. But now she was on her own, and she didn't know when she would ever see her Fred and George again. A tear fell from her eye at the thought, and soon more followed. Bea, looking a little startled at her sudden outburst of crying, gathered Ava up in her arms and hugged her tight.

"It'll be ok, Birdie. We'll find your family. Until we do, you're going to stay here - see, we've arrived. Why don't you put on a brave little face like you had on this morning, and we can go meet Mrs. Eleanor. She's the head of this children's home."

Ava nodded and wiped her face with her hand, sniffling a little. _Fred and George wouldn't want me to cry. They'd want me to think up some joke, like we always do when we're together. I'll just have to think up a prank for this Mrs. Eleanor as soon as I can. _She gave Bea a watery smile and the older lady set her down so they could walk into the building. The went through the door and into the main office, where the receptionist greeted Aggie and Bea warmly. Then the ladies ushered Ava into Mrs. Eleanor's office and sat her down in a chair to wait as they made arrangements.

Mrs. Eleanor was a skinny woman who looked to be around the age of seventy. Her gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she had a sharp no-nonsense look in her eyes. Unlike every other person Ava had met up to this point, Mrs. Eleanor did not smile upon seeing Aggie and Bea. Ava got the feeling that she should not mess with this lady, but that had never stopped her before.

She looked around the room as she swung her legs, taking in her surroundings. There was one picture on the wall behind the desk - a nighttime landscape - and the other walls were full of bookshelves. The desk was meticulously organized, with pencils and pens in separate cups and all of the papers in neat stacks. It was the office of someone who did not approve of disorder, and who would most certainly not approve of pranks.

Ava wasn't sure if she would like it here.

~A~

Weeks passed, and then months, but no Bill Weasley was found in any of the surrounding schools. Nor was there a record of any Weasley in Reading. As more and more time passed, the police and child services departments held out less and less hope that anything would come up. Ava stayed at the children's home, and she got to see Aggie and Bea a few days every week when the ladies came to help out. Mrs. Eleanor was just as Ava had first thought her to be - strict and disapproving of anything Ava thought was fun. She had no patience for Ava, especially after the young girl had proven herself a troublemaker. Though the pranks she pulled were less elaborate than the ones she had done with her triplets, Ava continued to joke and plot as often as she could. The humor made her feel closer to her triplets, as if by pranking she conjured up their spirits.

A year and a half after she had arrived at the children's home, Ava knocked a boy backward using accidental magic when he tried to bully her. They had been near some stairs at the time, and the boy fell down them, hitting his head and breaking an arm. Ava was mortified that she had hurt someone, but it was the last straw for Mrs. Eleanor. Within the week, Ava was sent to another orphanage a few towns away.

Throughout the next few years, Ava was shuffled from orphanage to orphanage, with intermittent stays at foster homes every so often. Most of her moves were marked with a burst of accidental magic, but some were just because of a particularly large prank. Occasionally the orphanage or foster home she stayed in was in France, and those times grew more and more frequent as time passed. Ava grew used shifting homes, to not really belonging anywhere, but she never forgot her family and her triplet brothers.

A/N

Hi everyone! Neither I, Dovewing123, nor Ginganinja294 own any of JK Rowling's characters, settings, or concepts. We are not making any money off of this, so please don't sue.


	2. Diagon Alley

Chapter 2

by ginganinja294 (who will be writing about Fred and George since she loves them so)

August 20, 1989

"Look, George! It's the post! Its here!" In all his life, Fred Weasley had never been so happy to see an owl.

His brother George raced into the kitchen, hastily stuffing a suspicious looking tube into his pocket. "The Hogwarts letters? Finally!" he exclaimed, running to the open window. The two had been awaiting their letters all summer, excited to at long last go to the place their older siblings talked so much about.

"Do you think they've got...?" George asked.

"I hope so," Fred said, squinting to count the number of birds heading in the Burrow's direction. "...3... 4... 5... No sixth," he sighed. Fred and George had half hoped an extra Hogwarts letter would come in the mail, addressed to their lost sister Ava.

The other Weasleys accepted Ava to be dead, even though they did not find her body, and had a funeral a few months after her disappearance. However, her determined triplets, Fred and George, were not satisfied with this conclusion and had decided to keep up the search.

"At least we know we're not Squibs," George said in a resigned tone.

"Like we needed a letter to prove that!" said Fred. It was quite obvious that he and George were magical. Accidental magic occurred regularly in the Weasley household, and most times it was performed by the two brothers, or as everyone liked to call them, the _twins. _

Fred and George were aggravated by this unsuitable nickname they were christened with. They were most certainly not _twins_; even if there were only two of them now, they were born triplets and always would be.

Soon, Mrs. Weasley came into the kitchen to kiss her two new wizards and call the rest of the children down for breakfast.

"We're going to Diagon Alley today to get your school supplies," she told them.

Fred and George faced each other, grinning from ear to ear.

Mrs. Weasley practically read their minds. "No, we are not stopping in Gambol and Japes!" she exclaimed, slamming her teacup on the table.

Gambol and Japes was a wizarding joke shop, and boy, did Fred and George ever want to go there.

~F&G~

While in Flourish and Blotts, the Weasley's last stop before Ollivanders, Fred and George escaped their mother and hurried off to visit the joke shop.

"How much money do we have again, George?"

"Eight sickles. I hope its enough to buy a few dungbombs," George said as they approached the shop.

"And maybe a few nose-biting teacups!" added Fred. "Oh, look its Lucius and his kid."

Passing right in front of Gambol and Japes were two blondes. One was a man with long hair and a staff. He had a cape and walked as if he owned the entire alley and everyone in it. The second was a smaller boy, who looked around nine years old. The child had slicked back hair and a sneer on his pale face as he strutted behind his father. Suddenly, he noticed Fred and George.

"So these are the weasels!" The boy drawled.

"Grow up, Malfoy," Fred said coolly as they pushed past him and entered the joke shop.

"Nicely handled, Fred."

"Why thank you, George."

They entered the shop and walked through a large hallway with shelves. The two stopped, mesmerized, once they were inside of a grand room. It was a maze of shelves covered in all kinds of wonderful things. There were dozens of dungbombs, countless candies, and a plethora of prank equipment.

George was the first to speak. "Its...its..."

"Heaven!" Fred finished.

They raced over to the dungbombs to check the price.

"Two Sickles _Each_?" they exclaimed.

"Can't afford a toy, weasel?" asked a voice. Turning, George and Fred saw the Malfoy boy again; they thought they had escaped him.

George gave him a piece of his mind. "Listen up, rat-face," he roared. "Stop following us or we'll whip your butt, Weasley style."

Fred joined in. "We don't care if you could afford all the stuff in this place..."

"Just get out of our way, or you'll be sorry," George finished.

Malfoy concealed his fear by raising his brows and then left without a word.

"Who was that?" asked someone else.

Fred and George found themselves face to face with a man with white hair and a mustache.

"Malfoy's son," Fred replied.

"I should have known." The man smiled and the skin near his eyes crinkled. "And how about you?"

"We're Fred and George."

"Twins, eh? Well I'm Gambol, Carl Gambol."

Fred and George eyed him with awe. "You own this place?" they asked simultaneously.

"Oh yes, and I'm proud to say it. This is my favorite shop in the world, right here. You know, I was quite the jokester as a kid." Gambol gave a hearty laugh. "So you want dungbombs, eh? And two sickles is too much for ya?" he asked, pointing a playful finger at George.

"Uh...well..."

"I'll make you a deal, Fred and George," he said excitedly. "You both've got to promise me that someday, you'll come and work for me. I know pranksters when I see 'em." He chuckled. "And if I'm dead, which might be the case, I want you to make your own shop. Make the kids happy, you know."

Fred and George looked at each other. The man seemed nice enough, in their opinion. And it seemed that he was cool enough to work for. Besides, Gambol and Japes was the coolest place in the entire _world. _Plus, they _needed_ those bombs. How could they say no?

"Its a deal," said Fred.

"Well then come around back!" he said, motioning them toward a blue door. Through it was a storage room, with boxes and boxes of who knows what.

Carl opened one and said, "Hmmm. This will do." He pulled out a light brown wand and shrunk the box to the size of a peanut. Handing it to George, he instructed him, "Now don't lose this. In a week, the spell'll wear off and it'll be normal sized again. And if my calc'lations are correct, that'll be when you're at school, so your mama won't find out."

George inspected the tiny box and tucked it in his pocket. Gambol patted them on the back and all three of them headed back through the blue door and into the main shop.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Gambol grabbed two sugar quills from a large shelf and handed them to Fred.

"Thank you!" said Fred.

"Yeah, thanks for everything!" George said.

Gambol laughed. "Anytime you need somethin', just stop by. See ya!"

Fred and George left the shop and entered the still busy Diagon Alley.

Across the street was their family. Their mother wasn't looking too happy with them. "Fred and George Weasley!" she scolded as she sped across the alley.

Quickly, Fred threw the sugar quills into his pocket. _Hopefully she didn't notice them_, he thought.

"That is it! That is _it_!" Mrs. Weasley reprimanded. "Go back into that shop now and return everything you purchased! You are both grounded until you get on the train! Now off with you!"

The boys walked back into the shop. Using the tinted glass to their advantage, they walked in, waited, and then walked back out again. Gambol looked at them knowingly and didn't question them.

"Done."

"Empty your pockets!" she screeched.

The boys eyed each other. _What now? _they thought.

"_Do it_!"

Fred pulled out the sugar quills and George, thinking fast, grabbed the tiny box and clutched it in his palm as he used his fingers to turn his pockets inside-out. Nevertheless, George and Fred were grounded for all of the coming summer.

~F&G~

September 1, 1989

Racing through the barrier behind his trolley, George was the first to get onto platform nine and three quarters.

Fred followed. "Come _on, _you guys! Get a move on!" he shouted at his family before he disappeared through the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. Fred saw his brother Charlie roll his eyes at him before he landed on the platform.

"Let's get on the train before mum gets her lipstick all over us!" George said.

"And gets our clothes wet from crying," Fred added.

Fred and George hopped on the train and entered the first compartment that wasn't full of older kids or girls. As mature as they were, they didn't feel like sitting with seventh years discussing things like school or girls discussing things like makeup and cute furry things and kissing. No, they wanted a compartment to themselves, or at least, with another younger male occupying it.

Eventually they found one taken by two boys with brown hair; one straight, one curly. Fred and George walked in and introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Roger Davies," said the straight-haired one.

"Cedric Diggory," said the one with curly. "You two are twins, right?"

Fred and George eyed each other. Fred raised one shoulder. George sat down. "Er, yes. So which house do you think you'll be in then?" George asked to change the subject. "We know we're in Gryffindor. All our family has been."

"I dunno," said Cedric. "My mum was in Ravenclaw and my dad was in Hufflepuff. I just hope I make them proud."

"I think I'll be in Ravenclaw. At least, that's what my parents are saying."

Soon, a small, black haired, Asian boy entered the compartment.

"Hi. Can I sit in here?" he asked them quietly.

"Sure," Fred told him. "We were just talking about which House we think we'll be in. What about you?"

"Houses? What do you mean?" he asked.

"Oh you've grown up with muggles, haven't you? That's okay. We can tell you about the Houses if you like," George offered.

"What's a muggle?"

"Someone who can't do magic like us," Cedric offered.

"Oh."

"Yep."

"And what are the Houses?" he asked.

"Well first there's Gryffindor," Fred began. "That's the House where they put the awesome..."

"And talented..." George added.

"And brave..."

"And cool..."

"And fun..."

"And reckless..." added Roger.

"What does that mean?" asked George, puzzled.

"I don't know. My mum said it once."

"Whatever. So Gryffindor's the best one," concluded Fred. "Then there's Slytherin, the house for evil people. You-Know-Who was in that house, you know. And then there's the nerd house, Ravenclaw. And last, and probably the least, there's Hufflepuff; the house for the people who don't fit into any of the other categories."

"I... I don't know. I don't think I am good enough for Gryffindor. But I'm not evil and I'm not a nerd. I'm probably going to be in Hufflepuff," he sighed.

"Hufflepuffs are awesome, though!" Cedric exclaimed. "They're loyal and kind and hardworking..."

"You just keep telling yourself that, Cedric," Fred said.

The rest of the train ride was a blur. The boys purchased some candy from the trolley and muggle-born kid, whose name turned out to be Quan, gave them each something called a fortune cookie. Before Quan explained how to eat it, Fred shoved his into his mouth and began chewing.

"No! You're eating the paper!" cried Quan.

Fred spit it out onto the ground in front of him and grabbed the wet and sticky message.

"'An unexpected event soon will bring you happiness'." Fred said.

"You're supposed to crack it open first," Quan said as he split his cookie in two and pulled out his message. "'In the cookies of life, friends are the chocolate chips'."

Cedric read his. "'A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough'."

"'Ask questions first. Then state your opinions'," Roger recited.

George was the last to crack his. "'Soon you will meet a friend from your past'." He gave a small gasp, unnoticed by the others. Could this mean that he would be reunited with his lost sister? Did fortune cookies actually predict the future?

"Quan," George said. "Do these things actually work?"

Quan laughed. "Of course not! They're just for fun!"

George sighed and looked at Fred, their frowns congruent as they began to half-heartedly began to pick at the unappealing corned beef sandwiches their mother had packed them.

A/N: Disclaimer/haiku:

We don't own hp.

We never have, never will.

Hippopotamus.


	3. Marché de Lapin

A/N: I don't speak French, so any French spoken in this story will be in italics. Thoughts are also in italics, so if it isn't in quotations, it's not spoken.

July 5, 1989

Foyer Saint Michel, Fécamp, France

Ava sat in the dining hall, eating breakfast with the other children. She had been at this orphanage for about a month now; she had been transferred here after a particularly exciting end-of-the-school-year prank that had ended with three teachers calling for her expulsion and a very unamused head of the orphanage. She didn't really mind moving every so often, as the traveling opened up chances that she could find her true family.

She couldn't remember much about the Weasleys, except for Fred and George. All the details of her old home had slipped away, forgotten and replaced with memories of various children's homes and schools, except for her triplets. She could still recall the way Fred would always get bored fastest of the three of them, and how George would always distract their father with a question whenever they needed him out of the way for a prank, or how even at the age of three they had all switched sweaters and formed a pact that they would do it every year after. Ava had never gotten a chance to do it a second time.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts as one of the younger children came running up to her.

"_Hey, Marie-Élise, what's up?" _Ava greeted the petite girl.

"_Barnette wants to see you."_

"_Did she say why?"_

"_No, but I saw some lady in the office. Did you do something to one of the town kids again?"_

"_Last prank I pulled was weeks ago. If they had known it was me and were bothered by it, they would have come then. Well I'd better see what they want. Thanks for telling me."_

Rising and clearing her place at the table, she left the hall and headed to the office. She knocked on the door and waited until she was told to enter before going inside.

"_Good morning, Madam Barnette, Madam..." _she trailed off, looking to the other lady for identification. She was dressed in a baby blue set of clothes Ava hadn't seen since her very early childhood - robes. Ava's eyes widened as she took in the witch, noting the small bit of wood sticking out of her pocket and the total disregard for secrecy this witch must have for wearing robes in a muggle orphanage. Even Ava, who had been removed from the magical world entirely at the age of four, understood that she was not supposed to let anyone know that magic was real.

"_Santerre. And you are Miss Ava Weasley, I presume?"_

"_I am, Madam Santerre. May I ask why you are here?" _Ava's eyes flicked to Barnette; she wondered if Madam Santerre would tell her while a muggle was listening. The older witch's eyes glanced in the same direction before she answered.

"_This is a matter which I would rather speak of in a more... private setting. Perhaps there is a conference room we could use?" _She asked Barnette, and the head of the orphanage looked slightly taken aback.

"_I am afraid that I cannot allow you to speak to Miss Weasley alone; it is against our policy. None of the children are allowed to be alone with strange adults. Not all adults are what they seem, so -"_

_"If I may, Madam, I have an idea," _Ava interrupted. The two women looked over at her, gazes questioning.

"_I could give Madam Santerre a tour of the Home before we talk. Perhaps after seeing the lovely place that you run, she would be more inclined to let you in on this mysterious conversation she wishes to have."_

Madam Santerre raised an eyebrow at Ava, obviously cottoning on to her idea. Barnette, however, fell for the surreptitious flattery and readily agreed. Ava and Madam Santerre rose at the same time to leave the office, and Ava held the door open for the witch. She led Madam Santerre through the hallways and out the back door, which opened into a grassy area surrounded by trees. It was the orphanage's own little park, and it was Avas favorite part of this new place. Most of the other children were either still at breakfast or in their rooms, so the back yard was deserted.

"_Will this area suffice for a discreet discussion about magic, Madam?" _Ava asked, looking Madam Santerre in the eyes. That question managed to shock her; she had clearly not expected Ava to know about magic.

"_Yes, I believe it will. How do you know about magic, Miss Weasley?"_

"_My family has magic; I can remember that much about them. Sometimes I would think I dreamed that part, but then odd things would happen around me and I knew it was true. Now you have confirmed it beyond any doubt. But why are you here?"_

_"I am here to offer you a place at Beauxbaton Academy of Magic. I was to inform you of the existence of magic, but it would seem that is unnecessary."_

Ava's eyes widened a little. A magical school - could this, perhaps, be the same school her brother Bill had gone to?

"_I would love to go, but..." _She trailed off, looking back at the orphanage building. "_... But I'm afraid I have no way to pay for it. The orphanage budgets aren't big enough to pay for private school educations, especially for schools no _muggles _have ever heard of." _She had stumbled at the word 'muggle', having never learned the French word for non-magical people. She hoped the madam would understand what she meant.

"_There is a scholarship fund for cases like yours. The school will pay for your supplies. In fact, if you are going to attend, I can take you to Marché de Lapin today to retrieve them."_

_"That would be wonderful, thank you. What are you going to tell Madam Barnette?"_

_"Beauxbatons has a muggle cover as a prestigious, very selective private school. Convincing her will be no trouble."_

_"Thank you very much, Madam." _She paused then asked, "_Have you ever taught or heard of a Bill - William - Weasley at Beauxbatons?"_

_"I have not. Is he a relative of yours?"_

_"A brother. He went off to school the year that I was lost, but I don't know where he was going."_

_"I'm sorry I could not be of help to you. Shall we go to see Madam Barnette now?"_

_"Yeah, she's probably wondering what's taking so long."_

They went back inside and Ava led Madam Santerre back to the office. She knocked on the door and it took only a second for Barnette's voice to call them in. They took their seats and Madam Santerre began talking.

_"Miss Weasley has been offered a place at the school I teach at; The Academy for Gifted Young Adults. She has also been offered a scholarship. I came to ask her today if she would be interested in attending - we always like to ask the students first before approaching their guardians because we like them to take an active role in deciding their futures. That is why I was hesitant to speak with you before. However, Miss Weasley explained to me that neither you nor any of the staff would force any of the children to go to a boarding school unless they wanted to, so I am no longer hesitant in the least about speaking to you both about this opportunity. The Academy offers many language classes, a deportment class, a class for self defence, and all the other classes a lady or gentleman would require in this day and age. If Miss Weasley would like to attend, and you grant her permission, I could take her to gather her school materials today."_

Ava was impressed - Madam Santerre had Barnette eating out of her hand by the end of that speech. There was no way the matron of the orphanage could refuse Ava her place at "The Academy". The adults filled out the necessary paperwork, and it was under half an hour later that the two witches were leaving the orphanage to go to Marché de Lapin.

~A~

Ava's first experience with apparition left her queasy and with no inclination to ever apparate again, if she could help it. She had managed to keep her breakfast down, but it had been a close call. After she recovered from the unpleasant experience, however, the sights more than made up for the travel method. Despite all of her moving around, Ava had never been to Paris. Her first view of the city left her stunned; it was a beautiful place.

Madam Santerre barely batted an eyelid at the change of location, clearly having seen it all before. The older witch led the young girl out of the hidden alcove they had apparated to and into a bustling marketplace. The vendors were selling a variety of wares; Ava could see anything from wizard robes, potions ingredients, and cauldrons to pastries, t-shirts, and miniature eiffel towers. She followed Madam Santerre through the market in a daze, wishing she had several more eyes so that she could see everything.

"_We will be going to the bank first to draw some galleons from the school account. Gringotts French Branch is located to the right of the muggle entrance to the market, so I will show you that after we leave the bank."_

"_Aren't banks normally not in the markets?"_

"_Yes, but this one was built inside the wizard space for the convenience of secrecy. Since muggles cannot enter Marché de Lapin without knowledge of our world, the goblins are safe from being discovered by those who do not know."_

"_Goblins?"_

"_Yes, they run the bank. They are prideful beings, and they do not like wizards all that much. Understandable, as many treat them with disrespect. Relations between the races are better here than in England, but the goblins are still standoffish. They are also the best bankers anywhere, which is why not many wizard-run banks can last for very long. The goblins are simply too good at keeping things safe. There has not been a successful theft from any of the Gringotts branches in the history of the bank."_

"_Wow. Impressive track record. How do they manage that?"_

"_Oh, a variety of ways. Wards, confusing tunnels, probably some enchantments, there's a rumor they have dragons guarding some vaults, and the goblins are a race of warriors. You do not want to be on the wrong end of a goblin's sword."_

Ava swallowed, imagining the tip of a sharp sword pointed at her neck. "_I will keep that in mind."_

"_Here we are," _the lady announced, and walked up the steps to a white marble building. Ava followed, nearly stumbling when she saw a short creature that had pointy ears, long fingers, and nails that looked as if they had been filed to maximum sharpness. 'That must be a goblin,' she thought to herself, and grinned widely at it. The goblin's scowling face did not change, but Ava kept grinning. She was actually surprised at herself; she was often smiling and couldn't believe she had not already been beaming at the news that she was going to Beauxbatons.

After a short chat with one of the tellers, they climbed into a cart that seemed to come straight out of an old film about a mine and went on their way to the bank vault. Madam Santerre sat straight-backed and unflinching the entire way, primly ignoring the fact that they were zooming through underground caverns at a pace unmatched by any rollercoaster. Ava had never had so much fun in her life; the adrenaline and g-forces from the speed were more exhilarating than any she had ever felt before. At the end of the trip, however, she did feel a bit light-headed.

Madam Santerre stood and exited the cart, following the goblin and motioning for Ava to do the same. A few minutes and one exhilarating cart ride later the two exited Gringotts with a bag of galleons. Ava was feeling much more relaxed around the deputy headmistress now, and the eleven-year-old was bouncing on her toes like an excited puppy. The older witch was looking at her with slight disapproval at the display, but Ava couldn't have cared less - the earlier events of the day were finally sinking in. _I'm going to __**magic school! **_she thought, eyes glowing with excitement. _I'm going to learn magic and maybe I'll learn a way to find Fred and George and... and... and... _her brain stalled, not quite able to get past the idea of finding her brothers. It was in this half-unthinking state that she followed Madam Santerre around the market, picking up school supplies like her cauldron and telescope and various potions ingredients. When they reached the bookshop, she had to keep checking her book list so that she wouldn't forget any of the books:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Year 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_The Art of Transfiguration, Volume One by Clement Avifors_

_Method to the Madness: Understanding Magic by Jean-Maximillian Maraspierre_

_Basic Potion Making: An Introduction to Magical Chemistry by Lawrence Antimony_

_Famous Duelers and Their Techniques by Eugene __d'Anthès_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Rules of Etiquette by Evelyn Santerre [Provided by Beauxbatons Academy of Magic]_

_French History: What the Muggles Missed by George Michelet_

_Language coursebooks will be provided by the school as necessary upon enrollment in the course_

A few of the books suprised her, especially the book on etiquette; she hadn't expected any of the coursebooks to be written by a teacher, far less the teacher that was guiding her around the market. _O Rabbitn second thought, I can totally picture her writing a book on etiquette, _she decided, giving the professor a quick glance.

It was not until they reached the wand-seller's stand that her mind refocused. She could remember her mother's wand, and when Bill got his - but only barely. Mostly she just remembered that her mother could do magic seemingly without a thought when using a wand, whereas any purposeful magic she and her triplets had used in pranks had taken a great deal of effort (and even then sometimes didn't work). She had wanted a wand since forever for precisely that reason: using magic for pranking.

The wandmaker (Ava didn't quite catch his name) set a tape measure to measuring her in places she wasn't entirely sure needed to be measured, and stuck half of his body into a trunk that was obviously expanded. When he straightened he held a handful of wands, which he proceeded to hand to her.

"_No, no, no, these aren't at all right..." _he muttered to himself, tossing each over his shoulder after she tried them. All of the wands landed back in the open trunk and he stuck his head into a different trunk to root around for wands.

"_Try these," _he ordered, offering the wands. Again none of them worked, and he looked her over with a thoughtful eye.

"_Perhaps this would go faster if you told me a little about yourself. I have a feeling that trying wands like this will take awhile for you."_

_"Well, I'm originally from England, and I live in an orphanage-" _she started, but the wandmaker cut her off.

"_No no no, not that sort of information. That is where you are from. Tell me about __**you.**__" _He poked her in the chest for emphasis.

She jumped back a little, startled, but gave the question some thought before answering.

"_I am a prankster at heart; I like to make people smile and laugh. I love it when people are happy. I hate bullies more than just about anything else. Animals hate me, or at least it seems like they do. I've yet to meet an animal that likes me. I'm afraid of..." _she took a deep breath. "_I'm afraid of being invisible. Well, not really invisible, but... being unseen. I'm afraid of disappearing." _She smiled again, her eyes sparkling with mischievousness. "_Not that people will ever forget me. I'm much too obnoxious for that to happen."_

The wandmaker nodded slowly and walked to a third trunk. He reached in and fished a bit before pulling out three different wands.

"_One of these will probably work. All three of them are dogwood, each with a different core. This one," _he pointed to the wand furthest to the left, "_has a core of manticore hair. This one," _he pointed to the one in the center of the trio, "_has a griffin's claw at it's center. And this last one has the heartstring of a dragon, from an Antipodean Opaleye. It had already died, of course, when the heartstring was removed. I do not take cores from creatures killed for wand parts."_

She tried each of the wands in turn, rejecting both the griffin-claw and the manticore-hair before picking up the dragon-heartstring wand. She felt a thread of power from the center of her body rush out and wrap around the wand before shooting out the tip in an explosion of red and gold sparks. The loud banging noise that accompanied the sparks turned a few heads in the marketplace, but the people quickly went back to their shopping. Ava couldn't stop grinning as she looked at her wand.

"_Thank you, sir. How much does this cost?"_

_"Seven galleons, Miss. It was a pleasure doing buisness with you. I have a feeling you will have an... interesting life. This wand should serve you well."_

She handed him the gold coins and they completed the pleasantries before Ava and the professor left. Madam Santerre led Ava out of the main traffic of the market to a small alcove rather like the one they had apparated into. The elder witch held out her arm and Ava grimaced as she took it, anticipating the quick, nauseating journey back to the orphanage. She was not disappointed and again had to keep herself from vomiting upon their arrival.

"_You get used to it," _Madam Santerre told her, a sympathetic look on her face.

"_I don't see how, but I'll take your word for it."_

_"Good. The items I shrunk will return to their normal size at about eleven tonight, so be sure that nobody sees that happen and take care to hide items of a more unusual nature, such as the cauldron. You are not to use magic on anybody or on anything that would be used to cause anybody harm. You are not to use magic in such a way or in anyplace that would reveal magic to the muggles. Is this understood?"_

_"Yes, Madam. So am I allowed to practice a few of the spells before school starts in private?"_

_"You are. The French ministry allows magic to be used by underage wizards and witches so long as the International Statute of Secrecy is kept. Now I trust you remember our earlier discussion on how you will get to school?"_

_"Yes, Madam. One of the staff will take me to Gare Montparnasse on September first."_

_"Very good. Here is your ticket for the train; do not loose this ticket. Note that the platform number is platform twenty-nine. There are only twenty-eight platforms that the muggles know about, but if you walk through the stone column directly to the right of the twenty-eighth platform, you will find the train to Beauxbaton. The train will leave at exactly noon, so do not be late."_

_"I understand. Thank you for taking me to the market, Madam. It was very nice meeting you."_

_"And you as well. Have a pleasant summer, Miss Weasley."_

With that final phrase, she turned on the spot and disapparated. Ava smiled and walked into the orphanage, impatient to get back to her room and try out a few spells. She had a few ideas for new pranks.

A/N

Hi everyone! Sorry this took forever. Virtual fortune cookies to anyone who knows where any of the names of the authors of the booklist came from (books from Hogwarts' list and Madam Santerre's name don't count). Fun fact: there was a derailment of a steam train at the Gare Montparnasse station in 1895. Perhaps the driver of the Beauxbaton train was a little careless? Disclaimer: The only way I own Harry Potter is that I bought the books - in other words, Harry Potter is not mine.


End file.

Harry Potter, Adventure, Family