Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't intend to make any money from this story so don't sue me.
EDITED: 5/2/04. This story was originally meant to be the prequel to Yule Ball-take two but it isn't anymore. It has a life of its own now. Some of it still fits in with what happens in Yule Ball (Alicia/Oliver) but a lot of the characterisation doesn't. They're now both separate stories and instead of there being a sequel to Yule Ball there will be a sequel to this story.
A/N: The more reviews I get the more years I'll write. This will start in the first year of Fred, George, Alicia, Angelina, Lee and Katie. I've been trying to get into the 11-year-old frame of mind but that was a whole six years ago for me. At the beginning the couples are a little mixed up, they're only kids so I figured they wouldn't find their true love in their first year. As the story progresses we'll see some Alicia/Oliver and some Angelina/?
This is just a little prologue so tell me what you think!
Prologue
It was a sunny afternoon and Alicia Spinnet was soaring over a field of lavender on her broomstick. The wind rustled her auburn curls and she breathed deeply. She wanted to savour the pristine moment for as long as she could.
"Precious? Come on, precious, we're here."
Alicia opened her eyes slowly. She focused on her father's smiling face. So he was the rude individual who interrupted her perfect moment.
"I wanna go back to sleep," she sulked and clutched her teddy bear.
"We're at the Weasleys'. Bring Lion with you and you can sleep inside. You'll be more comfortable at least."
"His name is Tiger, daddy, not Lion. How many times do I have to remind you?"
"Sorry, dear, I always get them mixed up."
Alicia grumbled and complained as she climbed out of the car and stumbled towards the front door. The two-hour drive to Ottery St Catchpole had left her cramped and numb. She had an awful throbbing pain in her neck from being slumped against the window.
"Aren't you excited? Your first year at Hogwarts. I remember when it was my first year…" Alicia's older sister, Erica, said wistfully.
Alicia could remember it as well. She had only been about four years old but she vividly recalled walking through the wall to Platform 9 3/4 and crying and waving goodbye to her sister.
Alicia also remembered Erica coming home with a new friend named Charlie Weasley. Their respective families had immediately bonded. Mr Spinnet was a Muggle who had an odd fascination for wizards, while Mr Weasley was a wizard with an odd fascination for Muggles.
Luckily or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, the Weasleys had twin sons the same age as Alicia. For a year or so Alicia despised Fred and George for their antics that always seemed to back fire onto her. Slowly but surely, they started to grow on her though.
Most people wouldn't know it but Alicia was prone to cause a little mischief of her own. She seemed to have grown out of it though and now she only saw the twins as annoying and immature.
Alicia's mother pulled up in her Muggle car as her dad knocked on the front door. There was more than the normal amount of noise in the Weasley household that day, so no one heard the tapping on the door.
"I don't think they heard you," Erica said.
So he knocked again, this time louder. Alicia pressed her ear up against the door. There certainly was a lot of commotion. She pounded on the door with her fist. There was thundering footsteps then she distinctly heard Mrs Weasley yelling.
"Don't run in the house! How many times must I tell you?"
This was followed by a loud smash of glass.
"FREDERICK!"
The door flew open to reveal a freckle faced, red headed boy with an ear-to-ear grin
He shrugged. "Whoops."
A plump, frazzled looking woman appeared behind Fred. She shook her head at her son and pulled her wand from her apron pocket and pointed it at the shattered crystal vase at her feet.
"Reparo!"
The pieces rose off the floor and rejoined to form the aforementioned vase. Mrs Weasley tucked her wand back into her pocket.
"It was an accident," Fred said earnestly.
"Accident or not, I had to repair that vase four times last month."
"Must finish packing." Fred scampered away.
"Good morning sweetie," Mrs Weasley greeted Alicia.
Mr Weasley appeared by his wife's side and asked, "Are you excited?"
"I suppose so," Alicia said with a bored shrug. With that she walked into the house and through to the living room.
"Not too enthusiastic is she?"
"I think she's just tired," her mother said.
Erica followed Alicia into the living room. Alicia's eight-year-old sister came bouncing in completely full of energy. Alicia scowled; obviously Jasmine didn't find being woken at an ungodly hour and shoved into the car for a two-hour trip the least bit disruptive.
The three girls sat on the lounge suite together. They were pretty close even though little Jasmine had a different father. Alicia's parents had been separated for about eight months and her mother had had Jasmine, though she never revealed who her father was.
"You'll be in Gryffindor," Erica assured Alicia.
"Great," she yawned. The twins would be in Gryffindor too and that was just what she didn't need.
"Do you want me to do your hair?"
"Yes, please."
Erica went to get a brush and hair ties from her bag.
"I'm going to find Ginny," Jasmine announced and skipped out of the room.
After she had left, Alicia heard another pair of feet coming downstairs. She prayed it wasn't Fred or George. She let out a sigh of relief at the appearance of the tall, well-built red head.
"Good morning Alicia." Charlie smiled and joined her on the sofa.
"Morning."
"Are you excited?"
"Everybody keeps asking me that. To tell you the truth, not really. I'm worried about making friends."
"You'll make heaps of friends," Charlie said reassuringly.
"Are you ever going to make up with Erica?" Alicia asked.
Charlie and Erica had been best friends for seven years but when Charlie decided he wanted to work with dragons in Romania the pair had a huge fight. Erica had a job in Muggle Relations with the Ministry and she expected Charlie to do the same.
"Well, it's really up to-" Charlie suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Alicia turned around to see Erica glowering with the hairbrush held out like a weapon.
"What do you want?" Erica snapped as she sat on the other side of her sister.
"Just chatting to Alicia."
"I want two plaits," Alicia told her and turned her back to Erica and faced Charlie.
"I thought you'd be on your way to Romania by now." She angrily tugged the brush through Alicia's tangled hair.
"I don't leave till next week and you know it."
"The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned."
"Please don't be like that."
"Ow! You're ripping my hair out!"
"You could have got a nice job at the Ministry with your father but, no, that wasn't adventurous enough for you so you decide to go play with dragons in bloody Romania!" Erica was now pulling half of Alicia's hair into a tight, painful plait.
"I don't want some boring job where I'm chained to my desk."
"But, Charlie, why dragons? Why not puppy dogs or butterflies or something that doesn't breathe fire at least? Dragons? I always thought you'd grow out of this phase." She tied off the plait and began on the next one.
"How many times do I need to tell you? This is not a phase, this is my life!"
Things were starting to get heated and Alicia didn't want to be stuck in the middle. Thankfully Erica was nearly done.
"Fine, go off and get yourself killed. I. Don't. Care!" She tied off the last plait and stormed out of the room.
Alicia could tell her last comment had hurt Charlie.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said meekly.
"It's ok." She yawned and clutched Tiger.
"You tired?"
"A little. I was too anxious to sleep last night."
"Want to have a sleep in my room? You won't be leaving for another hour or so and it's much quieter up there," Charlie offered.
"All right."
Alicia followed him up two flights of stairs and into his room. He was in the process of packing so things were thrown everywhere.
"Sorry it's a bit of a mess. I'll come wake you before we go."
"Thanks, Charlie."
"Anytime, kiddo." He gave her an affectionate pat on the head, then left.
As soon as her head touched the pillow she was asleep
Back downstairs her mum was in the kitchen helping Molly prepare sandwiches.
"I'm sure Fred and George will have no problem making friends," Molly said as she spread peanut butter on a slice of bread.
"Alicia shouldn't have trouble making friends either. I just hope she makes some female friends. She only seems to get along with boys."
"Surely you're exaggerating, Natalie," Arthur said from the kitchen table where he was sipping coffee with David Spinnet.
"I wish I were exaggerating. You should have seen the last boy she brought home, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with a criminal record before he's thirteen."
"Don't fret, Nat, Leesh will make plenty of female friends. Who cares if she's a bit of a tomboy? At least the boys take care of her," David attempted to curb his wife's concern.
Natalie slapped a piece of cheese between two slices of bread. She felt dead on her feet. She was a nurse at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and she'd just worked the night shift so she was surviving on about three hours sleep. Natalie had managed to get the day off but she had no time to relax, she and David had to drive everyone into King's Cross. They were the only ones with Muggle licenses after all.
David taught English at a Muggle high school. He had been awfully surprised to discover Natalie was a witch but at the same time he always knew there was something special about her. David was determined to keep his daughters part of the Muggle world. He hadn't been successful with Erica but he convinced Natalie to let Alicia and Jasmine attend a Muggle school before going to Hogwarts.
They both regretted their separation greatly. Thankfully the divorce was never finalised. When Natalie returned, carrying another man's baby, David had been understandably angry. At the same time he knew he still loved his wife and didn't want her to have a baby by herself. David treated Jasmine like his own daughter; he loved her as much as he loved Erica and Alicia. The identity of Jasmine's father was a mystery to everyone except Natalie and that's how she planned to keep it.
The four adults continued talking and preparing snacks until Molly realised it was very quiet upstairs. She sent Charlie to investigate.
Back in Charlie's room Alicia was dreaming peacefully. She was skimming the top of the lavender on her broomstick again. She loved flying and was rather handy with a Quaffle. Unfortunately, first years weren't allowed to have their own broomsticks at Hogwarts.
"Do it."
"No, you do it."
"We'll both do it."
What were Fred and George doing in her dreams? They would ruin everything! She woke abruptly as the twins jumped on her and started furiously tickling her. The one thing Alicia hated most in the world was being tickled.
"Noo!" she shrieked.
"Yes!" The twins continued their relentless torture.
"Stop it!" She giggled and thrashed about.
They jumped off her immediately. "Ok."
Alicia sat up and tossed a plait over her shoulder. Fred and George never listened to her before. Something was definitely up. Then she realised.
"All right, where's Tiger?"
"Here!" George held her beloved teddy bear by the ear.
"Give him back" Alicia made a desperate grab, but missed.
"Come and get it."
Alicia knew this game all too well, but she wasn't in the mood to play.
"CHARLIE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
Fred and George looked at each other with identical looks of terror on their faces.
"Here, have the stupid thing back." George threw Tiger at her.
Alicia threw a pillow at them. "Idiots."
Just as Fred hurled the pillow back at her, Charlie entered the room.
"What is going on in here? Why are you two annoying Alicia?"
George shrugged. "She's just so annoyable."
"Get out before I kick your identical butts!" Charlie pointed at the door.
"We're your brothers, you should side with us," Fred sulked.
"Do I have to call mum?"
"Ok, ok, we're going."
The twins left and Alicia sighed heavily. She knew they'd get her back somehow.
"Erica and dad are going to work now if you want to come and say good bye," Charlie told her.
Alicia rubbed her eyes and peered at her watch, she'd only been asleep for half an hour. She gripped Tiger and followed Charlie down to the living room.
The entire Weasley and Spinnet families were assembled in the room saying their good-byes. Even the eldest of the Weasley progeny, Bill, had managed to drag himself out of bed before noon. He worked in Egypt for Gringotts the Wizarding Bank and he was taking a holiday for a few weeks.
"Licia?" Erica opened her arms towards her little sister.
Alicia ran into her arms. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry. It was such a girly thing to do and Fred and George would tease her endlessly.
"Have fun, I'm sure you'll love Hogwarts," Erica said, then squeezed her and kissed the top of her head.
Alicia then went and said goodbye to Mr Weasley. Erica said her good byes to Fred, George, and Percy and ignored Charlie completely.
"Looking forward to your first year?" Bill asked Alicia while Mr Weasley farewelled his sons.
"I guess so."
"Make sure you don't let Fred and George corrupt you. Just stay sweet and innocent as long as you can."
Alicia did her best to look sweet and innocent, something she was quite good at now. "I'll do my best, Bill."
"Good girl."
"The Ministry!" Mr Weasley shouted and stepped into the fire.
After a quick reassuring smile for Alicia, Erica did the same.
"Ok." Mrs Weasley clapped her hands. "Fred and George, you get your things and put them in Mr Spinnet's car. Percy, you put your things in Mrs Spinnet's car. Chop, chop, boys, let's get moving."
Bill stretched his arms above his head. "Looks like I'm going back to bed."
"Aren't you coming?" Alicia asked.
"Charlie and I will be Apparating onto the station before you leave."
Alicia's mother came over. "You ready sweetheart?" Alicia nodded a little hesitantly. "You'll be going with the twins, Ron, and daddy. I'm taking Mrs Weasley, Percy, Jasmine, and Ginny."
"No! I don't want to go with the twins!" Alicia cried immediately.
"Of course you do, dear, now go wait outside."
Alicia knew there was no use arguing with her mother when she was in one of her moods.
"Fine."
"Good girl. Ah, good morning, Bill, having a good holiday?"
Alicia tuned out of the conversation and watched Fred and George. They caught her watching and flashed her identical wicked grins. Alicia gulped, they were going to do something awful to her for sure.
Her mother left the room and she bolted outside and stood beside the passenger door. There was no way she was being stuck in the back seat with Fred, George or even Ron. Ron was nine-years-old and the youngest Weasley boy and he happened to have a crush on Alicia. For her 11th birthday he gave her a flower from the garden. It just happened to be full of angry ants, one bit Alicia's index finger and it took three days for the swelling to go down. Of course, Fred and George had thought it was hilarious.
Everyone started coming out of the house and Alicia jumped into the passenger seat. Her dad, Fred, George, and Ron climbed in and finally they were ready to leave.
The trip to Kings Cross was only about an hour and Alicia forced herself to stay awake. If she fell asleep she'd be an easy target.
"Here we are!" Alicia's dad finally announced. He pulled up beside her mum's car.
It was only half past ten so there was no real hurry. They piled their belongings onto trolleys and strolled over to the station. The trolley was a little difficult for Alicia to push so she gave it to her dad.
Alicia was walking through the station when, much to her distress, Fred and George appeared on either side of her.
"It's your lucky day," George said.
"We've decided not to do anything nasty to you."
"Don't tell me Fred and George Weasley have finally decided to grow up!" Alicia said hopefully.
"Nah, mum just told us to be on our best behaviour or she won't let us go to Hogwarts."
They both began to run and disappeared through the solid wall. Alicia should have known better. The Weasley twins would never grow up.
"Ready to go through?" Alicia's mother asked her.
"Go through with Percy," her dad said. He took firm hold of his wife's hand. Muggles could only pass through the barrier if they had physical contact with a witch or wizard. (A/N: I doubt this is true but just stick with me.)
"Let's go."
Alicia nodded and walked through to Platform 9 3/4. It was just as she had remembered it. Even though it was only early, there was a considerable crowd of excited witches and wizards occupying the station.
Alicia then turned her attention to the Hogwarts Express. She had always seen it as big and intimidating, now it was suddenly exciting and full of possibilities.
"Magnificent, isn't it?" Percy said softly.
"What? Oh, the train, yeah, that's the word. Magnificent."
Fred and George skipped over to them merrily. There was only one word to describe them when they were like this: hyper.
"This is it!" Fred jumped up and down.
"Hogwarts isn't all fun and games, you know, it's a lot of hard work, too," Percy said importantly.
George rolled his eyes. "You're such a killjoy, Percy."
"You excited, Leesh?" Fred stopped jumping momentarily to address her.
"A little, I'm mostly sad and scared though. Won't you miss your family?"
"Well, you know my family, what do you reckon?"
"What if I get to Hogwarts and no one likes me?" Alicia habitually chewed on her bottom lip.
"You've always got George and me," Fred said cheerfully.
"Wow, I feel much better," she muttered sardonically.
"We could probably find some poor loser to be your friend," George added thoughtfully.
Alicia pointed her finger threateningly at George. "If my mum and dad weren't about to walk through that wall I'd knock you on your arse, Weasley."
She'd been trying to curb her aggressive streak for a while now but she had zero tolerance for Fred and George's crap.
"Ok, calm down, no need to get your knickers in a twist," George said quickly. The last thing he needed was a black eye on his first day.
"Let's go sit down," Percy interjected before they could start a brawl and embarrass him.
While the adults went off to catch up with friends the kids moved to a small, unoccupied bench. Percy and George sat down first but Percy jumped up immediately to let Ginny and Jasmine sit down.
Alicia looked expectantly at George. "What about me?"
"What about you? Sit on the ground."
"I'm NOT sitting on the ground. It's all dirty."
"Since when did you become such a princess?"
"I am not a princess just because I don't want to sit on the filthy ground."
Alicia then noticed two familiar red heads walking towards them. It was Charlie and Bill, they had obviously just Apparated in.
"What's going on?" Bill asked.
"George won't give his seat to Alicia," Percy answered.
"Ah, sorry, little brother, but it's a universal rule. Us guys have to vacate our seats if a lady is left standing," Bill informed him.
George smirkednastily. "But Alicia isn't a lady."
"I am too!" She crossed her arms and sniffed indignantly.
"You'll never get a girlfriend with that attitude," Charlie warned.
"Good, I don't want a girlfriend anyway. Girls are only good for one thing," he said.
Bill and Charlie exchanged worried glances. He was only 11…
"Teasing!" Fred and George said together.
"Ooh, teasing, right. We totally agree." Charlie smiled and sent his older brother a surreptitious look of relief.
"Are you going to move so I can sit down?"
"Not a chance."
"She could always sit on your lap," Bill suggested airily.
"I'm moving!"
A/N: Ok, so it wasn't really a little prologue. I wrote some of it in Ancient History class so it goes on a bit. It was really just supposed to introduce the characters and relationships. Did you like it? Should I continue? Please review and tell me! Oh btw, I don't like the title so if you have any better suggestions put them in the review as well.