Authors Note: Hello! Thanks for taking a look at my first fanfiction writing. I hope you like it. Feel free to give me any constructive criticism. Just to let you know this is a fanfiction and it doesn't follow the same HP timeline. Also there are a bunch of differences so please just roll with them haha.

"To try to write love is to confront the muck of language: that region of hysteria where language is both too much and too little, excessive ... and impoverished."

Roland Barthes

It was Scarlet's first year attending Hogwarts and so found herself standing nervously on platform 9 ¾ with a trolley in her hand and a look of bewilderment and enthusiastic anticipation on her face. She took a moment soak in her surroundings before her gaze drifted directly ahead of her to rest upon the tremendous red train in all it's grandeur. "Things will certainly be different from now on" she muttered to herself. There's no doubt about it, school can change a person, especially in the case of a boarding school.

Questions were swirling rapid and rampant around in her head. These thoughts increased her insecurities of course, but at the same time they planted small seeds of excitement and hope about where Scarlet's life could be headed. One might find this a very uncomfortable state of being, but having a head teeming with thoughts and questions was a very normal occurrence for Scarlet. At least in this situation her over-active mind was being put to good use. For there was so much to think about in this moment that there really wasn't enough time for her usual over analysis of situations.

Some examples of the questions Scarlet had to ask herself were: Would she make any friends? Would her father be alright without her there? Did she leave her lovely blue cardigan in her washing basket?... and What house was she to be placed in?

The latter question seemed very important to her. Not only would her house be a -no- the main deciding factor of whom her time would majoritively be spent with over the duration of at least the course of her whole schooling life, probably longer, but it also would be incredibly confronting in that, to Scarlet's understanding, the hat was to tell her the 'type' of person she was.

Scarlet felt she had hardly a fragment of an idea of who she was... Was she brave? A leader, like a Gryffindor? She had always fancied herself to be curious she thought remembering back to an afternoon with her friends at the age of 7 contemplating just how they got so many bean flavors in bertie botts every flavored beans, so mayhaps a Ravenclaw title would suit her. Or could she call herself a Hufflepuff loyal and kind?

Being honest, Scarlet didn't want to be a Hufflepuff. Not that there is anything wrong with being loyal and kind of course, but if there was one thing she didn't want to be it would be boring. Scarlet wanted to live, have adventures, a personality, an opinion... even if no one else thought it of great importance.

She could have pondered for a few good long hours on this subject, but luckily she was relieved from her over-active brain by a boy of around her age, possibly a year or so older, knocking into her with quite a force. This caused a chain reaction which resulted in her luggage being thrown onto the ground. The boy bent down straight away and started picking up her cases. "Oh Merlin, sorry about that. I... my brother and I were..." the boy began not seeming to have gathered his train of thought back quite while looking back over to where he had come from.

Scarlet noted that the boy was rather tall and had incredibly red hair, and she thought to herself how she would rather fancy having such a strawberry coloured hue to her own hair. The boy got up and, now finally stopping to get a proper look at Scarlet, smiled. "Sorry, my names Fred, third year" he said putting his hand out for Scarlet to shake. Scarlet now having her hands free from the toppled trolley smiled back and lightly shook his had, laughing a little at the calamity of the whole situation. "I'm Scarlet, first year, lovely to meet you Fred" she said having to look up now that the boy was at his full stature. "Well, it would have been better under different circumstances" he laughed but all the same smiled in response.

Just then, a boy who could have been the red headed boys clone walked up behind him and put his arms around Fred's shoulders, his grin was almost as striking as his hair. "I'm terribly sorry, is Freddy here disturbing you? He just keeps escaping from his cage, it's high time we got a new one" he joked while nudging his brother's sides. "I'm George" he said whilst sticking out his hand "Scarlet, and really he was of no bother" she added laughing upon shaking his hand.
Fred looked to his brother and nudged him saying "George, you made me bump into poor Scarlet here's bags! We'll have to invite her to sit with us now won't we?" and although he said it as though it was a pain it seemed all in good humour. "Yes indeed!" George said replying in an exuberant manner "We should probably carry her bags as well, for compensation don't you think?" he said as he signalled to his brother to right the remaining things on the floor.

Scarlet felt as though she was watching some sort of comedy skit and not real life with the vitality of their countenance being the way it was. "Is that alright with you doll face?" he asked, giving her a wink. "Oh that's quite alright" she said while still feeling slightly confused but rather happy about it.

The two boys fought over whom got to push the trolley with Scarlet's luggage the whole way, though she had the suspicion that all this was more for themselves than for her sake, however she didn't mind this in the slightest and so didn't say anything. She rather liked seeing these two siblings interacting as she had none of her own.

Once they made it to the twins chosen compartment on the train Scarlet noted that there was already a boy sitting on one of the red velvet seats. His name she found out was Lee Jordan. Lee was known to be quite a trouble maker along with the twins. Scarlet recognised Jordan from earlier on the platform, she'd seen him with a crowd around him, he had everyone oohing and ahhing in amazement over what Scarlet presumed to be some sort of rule breaking.

"Hey, who's the bird?" Lee said a grin on his face. He had a confident but abrupt voice thick with a Londoners accent. "Well this is Scarlet Lee, she's a first year" informed one of the twins while putting some bags into the above compartments. It seemed to Scarlet as though every sentence from their mouths sounded as though they were joking, even where a statement was totally true and factual, Scarlet mused that this must be tiring to keep up and wouldn't attempt it herself, although it was very entertaining for everyone else and seemed to come naturally to them. "Freddy over here almost trampled her, the clumsy git" the other laughed. George scowled at his brother but quickly got over it and told Lee Jordan that she would be joining them on their journey to Hogwarts.

Once the train had set off leaving it's high rolling clouds of steam behind it Lee, Fred and George, whom of the twins Scarlet had lost track of which was which as soon as they'd had time to sit down, joked and chided thoroughly entertaining her throughout the trip. Scarlet was thankful to be able to ask about Hogwarts and the houses to people who knew all about it having attended the school already for one year. They were in Gryffindor and very proud of the fact.

Once they were fairly close to the school Lee said they ought to get changed into their robes. Scarlet, not wanting to be asked or made fun of for being of the opposite sex and accused of fancying one of them for staying – or whatever nonsense the brothers might come up with -, quickly agreed and said that she would get changed in the bathrooms.

Taking her robes with her Scarlet set off down the hall while looking at the intricate pattern on the ceiling as she sometimes did. She had come to find that, more often than not, looking up presented a more enjoyable sight than ones eye-level surroundings.

She was brought out of her reverie and admiration for the trains ceiling when her attention was pulled in the direction of a boy with very blonde hair on his head. He had drawn her attention because he was talking at an obnoxiously loud level and picking on some poor kid who, from the scatters of words that Scarlet could hear, apparently had lost his pet toad.

She contemplated whether or not to do anything. Of course she didn't agree with his chastising the other student, but they looked as though they were in her year, and what if she ended up being sorted into the same house as this git? She didn't want to be someone's punching bag for the next seven years... But did she want to be the sort of person who just stands by when others are in trouble? No, no she didn't.

As Scarlet walked closer to the blonde guy she noticed two big beefy looking boys by his side laughing. She supposed she must have confused them for wall space because they weren't very easy to miss, but despite the big brutes Scarlet gathered all her courage and tapped the blonde boy on the back not seeing any other way to divert the situation.

"Umm, I was just wondering if you could please stop picking on... the boy?" Scarlet asked rather than demanded, completely failing at asserting herself so as the boy knew not to mess with her, as was her plan.

As she was thinking this, the boy turned around to face her. He had a devilishly handsome smirk playing on his lips, come to think of it he was devilishly handsome all over and Scarlet couldn't help but think it. The boy seemed to also be taken aback by Scarlet's appearance, though he didn't waver in his stare.

"You were wondering if I could please stop picking on him?" he mocked raising his voice in the rhythm of the sentence. Scarlet just nodded, staying put, although she was not feeling very comfortable about it. He then broke into laughter, his brutes following his lead. "And who are you may I ask?" He inquired sneering looking down at Scarlet, for he was quite a head or so taller than the lithe girl.

Scarlet began to notice she was finding it ever increasingly hard to breathe. She was also finding it hard to ascertain whether it was the close proximity of the good looking boy, or the feeling that she really needed to get away soon or she would be in more trouble than the boy with the missing toad was in the first place, that was causing this sensation. She decided a quick exit was required.

"What does it matter who I am? I was only asking that you stop picking on the poor boy, and now that you have we will just be going" Scarlet said, speedily helping the boy up whilst pulling him away and practically running down the hall not looking back for five galleons. The blonde haired boy shouted out at their retreating figures "I'll see you later then" and began laughing again with his goons. Once Scarlet felt completely certain they were safe she stopped and let go of the boy's hand. "Uh... Hi, I'm Neville" he said, putting his hand out appreciatively for Scarlet to shake, still puffing.