It was the morning of September 1st and Gaia was perplexed by how chaotic the burrow seemed to be that early in the morning.

Mr. and Mrs. Eruditus went to America just the day before because Mr. Eruditus was assigned to stay at America for a few months under the order of the ministry. The wizard had decided to take his wife since both their children would be at Hogwarts and Mrs. Eruditus would be all alone. Because of this, the couple dropped off Gaia and Lele at the Weasleys so that they could join the Weasleys in going to King's Cross on September 1st.

It was honestly quite peculiar for Gaia to see the Weasleys rushing around like they were doing so at the moment. It's not as though she were judging them, but Mrs. Weasley seemed like a very organized woman to her, and so it seemed weird to the eldest Eruditus sibling why the family seemed to have left so much things to do at the last minute. What confused her even more is that they had been up since around 6 or 7 in the morning and yet everyone still seemed to be rushing about 4 or 5 hours later.

Gaia and Lele sat side-by-side on their couch, munching on their pieces of toast as they watched multiple people collide on the stairs as they rushed up and down either with a half-eaten toast or being half-dressed. They were already done getting ready, their mother having ingrained in them a habit of preparing everything at least 2 days before, and waking up at 5 in the morning to make sure everything was in order. Of course, they used to hate how their mum routinely did that, but they couldn't help but silently thank their mother as they watched the panic on the Weasley childrens' faces.

Gaia jumped a bit as she saw Mr. Weasley trip and nearly break his neck as he carried Ginny's trunk to the car.

"Have you already got your trunks in the car?" he asked the two as he passed them.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley" they answered.

Gaia finished up the last of her toast before standing up with Lele, and following Mr. Weasley to the car. They climbed in and waited for the rest to come.

"Won't we be late?" Lele asked her sister.

"We might be. But I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, Mrs. Weasley will find a way to contact Dumbledore if we don't catch the train," Gaia answered her.

Soon, people started piling into the car. Despite the fact that Mr. Weasley had put an extension charm on the car, there wasn't any room left for Harry.

"Erm, maybe one of you could sit on another's lap? Ginny?" Mr. Weasley said as he looked at the children in the rear view mirror.

Gaia squealed in surprise when Fred grabbed her and sat her on his lap. George snickered and gave Gaia a knowing look as the roots of her hair turned pink, though she quickly got it under control before Fred could notice. The blush on her face, however, was completely out of her control.

Despite her surprise, it seemed to do the trick as Harry got in and shut the door.

"Fred!-" Molly started to scold him.

"It's alright, Mrs. Weasley," Gaia cut her off to save Fred from the fury of the redhead woman.

"Are you sure, dear? It looks uncomfortable. Ginny could sit on their lap and you could sit here, she's smaller than you," she fussed.

Gaia was honestly surprised. She thought that the older witch would care more about the fact that her son had unexpectedly grabbed a girl his age and made her sit on his lap, but she guessed Mrs. Weasley wasn't blind to how close the Ravenclaw was to her sons.

"It'll be fine, mum. Gaia sits on Fred's lap all the time!" George quipped making Gaia slap her arm as Fred cleared his throat.

"She does it to you too," Fred countered as Mr. Weasley started the car.

"Didn't say she didn't," George grinned at his twin before his eyes widened, "Oh, wait! I forgot my fireworks!"

Mr. Weasley drove back to the house and George ran out to get it. When they started driving again, Fred exclaimed that he had forgotten his broom and Mr. Weasley stopped in the middle of the field. George went to get it since Gaia was sat on Fred's lap, preventing him from exiting the car. A bit later on when they were nearing the highway, Ginny said that she had forgotten her diary so they had to go back again. By the time they actually reached King's Cross, it was already quarter to 11.

"Percy, you first," Mrs. Weasley said as she glanced nervously at the clock which showed five minutes until 11. Percy walked briskly to the wall and vanished through it.

Mr. Weasley went next, followed by Fred, George, and Gaia. Once Gaia got through the barrier, Mrs. Weasley followed shortly with Ginny.

"Where's Lele?" Gaia asked after a moment of no one coming through the barrier.

"I'm sure they're fine, dear. Why don't you get on the train? You've only got about a minute before the train leaves," Mrs. Weasley said as she ushered them to the train.

"Could you go back to them, please, Mrs. Weasley? I'm just worried about Lele not making it through the barrier. She might panic," Gaia pleaded.

"Oh, of course, dear. Now, in you go!" the older witch answered, calming down her worried state.

✧✧✧

Gaia never saw Lele come out of the barrier, nor did she spot the Hufflepuff on the train.

"Where are they?" she muttered nervously as she sat at the Ravenclaw table with Jewel and Kaleb.

Gaia's eyes darted around, trying to find either Lele, Harry, or Ron. The sorting ceremony was already finished and Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor just like the rest of her brothers.

"You still haven't seen them?" Jewel asked as she took a look around as well. Kaleb looked at Gaia worriedly before did the same.

"No. I don't think they're here," Gaia said, biting her lip lightly before standing and walking to the Gryffindor table, "They're still not here?" she asked Fred and George who also seemed quite worried about their little brother.

"No. We haven't seen Ron-"

"-or Harry," they answered.

"And Lele?" Gaia asked.

"I haven't seen her either, not even on the train," Hermione answered this time.

"Miss Eruditus," the voice of Professor McGonagall sounded from behind her. Gaia turned around and immediately took a step back at the stern expression on her face.

"I'm sorry Professor. I know we talked about me at least having the start-of-term banquet with my house but I was just asking the twins about Le-"

"I'm not going to punish you for coming to talk to your friends," McGonagall said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "However, I still do encourage that you eat with the rest of your house more often. About your sister, she's just arrived with Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley."

"Really?" Gaia said, yellow seeping into her hair, more out of relief than anything, "Where is she?" Gaia turned to look at the Hufflepuff table.

"I'm afraid she won't be coming to the feast tonight. She, along with Potter and Weasley, took a flying car to Hogwarts tonight," McGonagall said.

"What!?" Gaia shrieked just as the twins shouted 'Wicked!' earning a pointed look from both the Ravenclaw and Professor McGonagall.

"They are not expelled but I've given Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley detentions. I believe Professor Sprout merely told your sister off after saying that she actually received a letter from your sister. Apparently, the two boys only forced her to come because they didn't wish for her to miss her second year," the professor explained.

"Stupid," Gaia mumbled under her breath, making a mental note to tell the boys off when she sees them, "Thank you, professor."

"Now, go back to your house table."

✧✧✧

Gaia stormed to the Gryffindor table the next morning, a scowl on her face as her steps never faltered one bit. Some Ravenclaws glanced at her cautiously when she passed them, flinching at the deep, dark red color that her hair took on.

"Oh no."

"Here we go again."

From his place, Harry shrunk into himself when he got a glimpse of the short girl making her way to him – and was that red in her eyes?

"Harry James Potter!"

Harry flinched as she slammed her hands down on the table in front of him.

"Bloody hell. That's darker than when Harry faced the dog last year", Fred whispered to George, jumping slightly when she directed her glare at him for a second.

"Explain," she whispered lowly. Harry stammered to come up with a reply.

"Lay off him. I've just got a howler from mum. Pretty sure that's enough to get the point across to him," Ron defended.

"Ooh, Ron. Shouldn't have done that," George commented.

Her head slowly turned to Ron who instantly shrunk back the moment she met his eyes.

"Or maybe he needs to hear more?" Ron squeaked out, ignoring Harry who shot him a betrayed look.

"And to drag my sister into it!? It's only your second year and you've already gotten into more trouble than I have!"

"We were just scared that we would miss second year," Harry tried to explain.

"Did you think Mrs. Weasley would just let you miss it? You should've waited for her! I've got half the mind to-"

"English, Gaia" Fred reminded.

Gaia turned to glare at him and he made a sound of surprise as he inched backwards. She faced back to Harry who stared at her nervously.

"Look, I'm sorry. We won't do it again."

"You most definitely will not!" she exclaimed.

Just as she opened her mouth to say more, Harry stood up and reached for her from across the table. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, just able to reach her because she was already leaning towards him. Despite her anger and annoyance, Gaia could feel the slight tremble of his arms, making her calm down slightly.

"I'm really sorry, Gaia. I know you were worried. And I'm sorry for dragging Lele into it," he apologized.

Her eyes softened completely, all her anger disappearing as she sighed, the red vanishing from her hair. She jumped over the table, a few prefects scolding her, and crossed to his side. She hugged him tightly to her side, resting her cheek on the top of his head, "I know you're sorry. I'm sorry for lashing out."

"S'alright," he murmured into her clothes.

"Gaia," Fred spoke slowly, "Did you know your eyes turned red when you're mad?"

Gaia made a small sound of surprise, letting Harry go in the process.

"Since when?" she asked.

"Since now, I guess?" Fred answered with a shrug, a grin starting to stretch his face.

✧✧✧

As soon as Gaia entered the DADA classroom, the first thing she noticed was the loud chatter of nearly every female student in the classroom, both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw alike. She rolled my eyes and made her way to a chair next to Cole, who was chatting away with Rowina Marlowe, a Gryffindor student.

She dropped her books, quite loudly, on the table and slumped down beside the two, who had stopped chatting in shock of the loud sound she made beside them.

"Oh hey, Gaia! This is Rowina," Cole introduced.

"We've met." Rowina grinned at her, "What's got you so grouchy, Eruditus?"

"I'm dreading having Lockhart as a teacher," Gaia groaned out.

Speaking of the devil, Gilderoy Lockhart himself stepped into the classroom just as she said that. The classroom immediately went quiet, the girls of the class shushing anyone who dared make a sound in the presence of their oh-so-beloved Professor Lockhart.

"Welcome, welcome! This year you'll have the privilege of being taught best, looks and all – me!" Lockhart introduced, "Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award — but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" he grinned, winking at the same time.

Gaia looked around and pulled a disgusted face as she saw multiple of the female population in the classroom staring dreamily at Lockhart, including Rowina who almost spilled her ink bottle.

"Ridiculous, huh?" Cole whispered to Rowina who immediately shushed him, making him frown.

Gaia suppressed a giggle as she went to pat his back.

"You see why I'm dreading him now?" Gaia asked.

"Right, then! I see you all have a com-" the pompous professor was cut off by two redheads running into the classroom with identical grins.

"Sorry, Professor!" Fred said as he and George took available seats beside Ryker, who had entered the classroom just moments before Lockhart did.

"Quite alright, boys! As I was saying, we'll be having a short quiz today. Nothing to worry about, it's just to check if you've been reading the books. It'll only be 30 minutes!" Lockhart said as he started handing out papers to the students in front, "You may begin once you've received your paper!"

When Gaia received hers, her eyes narrowed at how ridiculous the questions were.

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

"What rubbish is this?" Gaia mumbled to herself, gaining the attention of their dear old professor.

"Were you saying something, my dear?" he asked as he faced her, flashing his oh-so-pretty-teeth, as Aisha had described him.

"Nothing, professor. Just thinking about how wonderfully amazing you are," Gaia smiled sweetly, spotting Cole hiding his laugh behind his hand from the corner of her eye.

Professor Lockhart grinned rather lazily as his eyes glazed over.

"Oh, thank you, my dear. You're quite stunning yourself," he grinned, taking her hand and kissing it before walking back up to his desk.

Gaia made a face as if she were vomiting and quickly wiped her hand on Cole's robes who protested silently and pulled away from her. He gave her a look, though Gaia wasn't sure if it was one of disgust or amusement.

True to his word, Professor Lockhart made them pass the quiz 30 minutes later. He sifted to the papers, his face showing delight.

"Excellent! A good number of students got high marks but I'm sad to see none with full marks," he commented.

"Bet you all of them were girls" Gaia whispered to Cole who snorted in reply.

"Anyway," Lockhart said, placing the stack of papers on his desk and pulling out his wand, "Let's get started for today!"

✧✧✧

"Horrible. That is all I have to say. How did he even get his position?" Gaia grumbled as she hopped around on one foot, rubbing her ankle while Cole supported her.

"By smiling of course" Fred quipped as he and George came up behind them.

"You alright, Gaia?" George asked as he looked at her in concern, Fred doing the same when he noticed her rubbing her ankle.

"Peachy," Gaia mumbled, wincing as she put down her foot and put weight on it.

"Were you bitten by one of the Dugbogs?" Fred asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he supported her as well.

"Yep. Lockhart really is an incompetent teacher, isn't he? Not to mention revolting," Cole answered for her, laughing a bit but looking concerned all the same.

"You on about him kissing Gaia's hand? Disgusting, really. She's 14!" Fred cringed.

"Must be the veela genes," George said absent-mindedly.

Fred must've told him.

"Or he's just a natural creep," Gaia suggested, making Fred laugh.

"Veela genes?" Cole asked.

"Long story short, veelas are very attractive to both men and women, and Gaia is 1/8 veela," Fred explained, Cole's mouth forming an 'o' shape.

"D'you want to get it checked out at the hospital wing?" George asked as Gaia winced once again.

"No, it's fine. Might want to get Lockhart checked though," Gaia answered as Fred started leading her to the direction of our Charms classroom, giving Cole a break from supporting her.

"Why?" Cole asked, confused.

"He might suffer a bit of brain damage after I sock him up the head," Gaia grumbled, making the three boys around her burst out laughing.

✧✧✧

Edited 09/06/2020