❛ chapter one ⎜ the train ❜

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐀 reached my nose as I appeared on the other side of the wall separating Platform 9 ¾ from the rest of the world. My trolley, piled high with my trunks and my owl, squeaked onward in front of me. The rush of conversation filled my ears; not any particular words could be made out, just the hum of too many voices talking at once. There were a few squeaks and meows and croaks from the animal companions of the students, and a loud, booming bark echoed above everything. Who on Earth would bring a dog to Kings Cross when the station is this crowded?

Before I was even a few meters away, two more trolleys pulled with trunks and cages with two more children breathlessly pushing them forward came rushing out, turning to the side or stopping a second before they would have hit me.

"Sorry!" my younger sister, Monica, said, her bright blue eyes wide and her voice light. "Charlie wanted to go immediately after you disappeared."

"Nice try Monica," said my other younger sibling, Charlie, equally wide eyes and breathless. "We all know you're the impatient one."

Monica bounced on the balls of her feet as two more figures, a bit slower and taller, appeared near us. "Mum said to do it at a run."

"I did not say to run over your sister, though," Mum said, her voice tinkling and one of her hands clasped in Dad's.

"They didn't run over me," I said, forcing a small smile onto my face. Once upon a time I might have gotten annoyed or laughed, but this summer had changed me.

"Nearly did!" Charlie said enthusiastically. Why he was enthusiastic about the prospect of nearly hitting me with his trolley was a mystery, but then again, just as Monica did everything in a rush, Charlie did everything with enough enthusiasm to light up the sun. His gaze shifted from my face to the station behind me. His mouth dropped in a half amazed, half nervous fashion.

"What?" Monica asked. Her head turned as well and a similar expression appeared in her face.

The scarlet engine was certainly a breathtaking view, but for the twins it was probably also one of terror. To be seeing the Express from a different point of view - as a student instead of a spectator - was probably daunting.

"ELISE! ELISE! Finally!" came a call from off to the side. I turned to catch a flash of dark hair and a round face blinking through the crowds.

"Hey!" Sylvia Parker said, following the common theme of appearing a bit breathless. "I've been waiting for you for forever. What took you so long?" Then her eyes flickered to my parents and the twins. "Oh. Hello Mr. and Mrs. Devereaux. Hey Monica, hey Charlie."

"Nice to see you Sylvia," Dad said with a small smile. His eyes scanned the station distractedly.

"How are you, Sylvia?" Mum said warmly. "And please call me Jessa."

"Hi!" Charlie said enthusiastically, whilst Monica nodded and said, "Yo."

Sylvia's face was alight, her cheeks flushed. "Nice to see you too."

"Where's Kiera?" I asked, glancing over Sylvia as if my other friend, Kiera Amaris, might pop out of nowhere.

"She's found us a compartment," Sylvia said. She tugged on my arm. "Come on! Normally you're here early! Why are you so late this time?"

"It took a while getting all three of us fully packed and in the car and then we had to find trolleys. I'll meet you there, go on without me," I said, gently dragging my forearm out of her tight grip. "Don't worry."

"Okay then, but don't be long!" And she was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

I turned back to see that in my absence, my parents had helped Monica and Charlie get their luggage onto the train.

"Mum? Dad?" I asked quietly. While Dad finished getting Charlie's trunk securely on the train, Mum turned to me, a soft smile appearing on her face.

"Have a good year," she whispered as she encased me in a bone-crushing hug. "Stay out of trouble."

"You're talking to me," I said, my voice a bit muffled. "Tell that to Monica."

She laughed. "You can never be too careful. Maybe this is your adventurous year."

"I don't want any attention," I said, pulling out of the hug. "You don't need to worry."

"I'm not, I have faith in you. But still , stay out of trouble, don't talk back to your professors, don't get injured in any way, do your homework, listen to Kiera and don't let Sylvia pull you into anything you don't want to do, respond to the letters we send you, and watch out for Monica and Charlie - especially Monica."

"I'll see you at Christmas," I said, forcing another smile onto my face and letting out a laugh that sounded fake to my ears. Inside all I felt was cold. But Mum didn't notice the difference.

She walked on, moving on to give the twins the same monologue she had given me.

"Come give your old man a hug!" Dad said as I moved over to him, spreading his arms wide. His hair was standing up, a clear sign of his anxiety. But it meant a lot to me that he was here, even if it was mostly for the twins.

"You aren't that old," I said, my voice muffled once again.

"Thank you, Flower Girl," he said, using the affectionate nickname I had used since childbirth.

"See you at Christmas Dad," I said, my voice once again muffled.

"I suppose Mum's already given you the lecture?"

"The rundown," I said, another fake smile on my face. He didn't seem to notice that the cheer in my voice was fake, but I suppose that's how good I've gotten over the summer.

"Well," Dad said with a hint of a smile in his voice, "she probably didn't tell you the most important one." He leaned down until his eyes were level with mine. "Make sure you have fun."

The corners of my lips twitched up involuntarily, the most emotion I had shown in ... who knows how long. I kissed his cheek, his skin unusually smooth. He must have shaved. Ah Dad, always trying to look good for the public. A true Frenchman.

"Bye Dad." I turned to Mum. "Bye Mum."

"Bye Elise," they said one after the other, looking up from saying their goodbyes to the twins.

With one last glimpse at them, I turned and ran past Monica and Charlie, who were still nervously glancing at the Hogwarts Express whilst Mum and Dad said farewell.

I grabbed the handle of the door with one hand, pulling myself up after a round faced boy who looked slightly similar to Sylvia. I swung around, looking over at the sea of people. Other students pushed past me, and I moved to the side, wanting to wait as long as I could before Sylvia and Kiera attempted to pry my summer out of me.

A piercing whistle blew, startling me, signifying that it was 11 o'clock, and that the train was leaving.

"Go! Go!" I heard the cry of Mum. As Monica and Charlie hurried up the steps, I yanked both of them up higher.

"Goodbye!" Charlie cried, waving to Mum and Dad as they waved to him. The corners of my mouth couldn't help twitching upwards, despite the fact that I didn't feel anything inside.

I lifted my hand in farewell as the train picked up speed. Then I turned around and pushed my siblings through the door and into the train.

"I wanted to stay out!" Monica whined, trying to squeeze around me. I blocked her, shuffling the twins farther onto the train as the door swung shut and the train turned a corner, plunging the outside world into darkness..

"If you had stayed out, you would have crashed against the wall of the tunnel and killed yourself. Then Mum'd be really mad at me."

"I would have pulled in way before it was dangerous," Monica said as she rolled her eyes. She reached up and adjusted the beanie sitting loosely on her head which had been tilted off-center.

"Right." I rolled my eyes as well. Monica-the-daredevil would think that one second is 'way before it's dangerous'. "Well, you two go find a compartment. Try to find someone you think you'll like. I met Sylvia and Kiera on the train."

"We have to choose our lifelong friends right now?" Charlie asked nervously, scooting closer to me.

"No, silly," I said, shaking my head and pushing him forward. "It just means you want to try to find someone who you think you'll like."

"Bye Elise!" Monica said quickly, grabbing Charlie and dragging him down the brightly lit hallways.

"Monica!" Charlie yelled, but he let himself be pulled away, shooting me a nervous smile before turning away.

"Don't worry!" I called after their retreating figures as they pushed their way through all the other students still milling around in the corridor. "Now," I said to myself, turning in the opposite direction, "to find Kiera and Sylvia."

I pushed past a few snobby-looking Slytherins and started making my way to the front of the train.

At every compartment I stopped and peeked in, but so far my search was fruitless.

"Oh, sorry," I said as I slid open the door to a compartment with two boys and two girls inside it. "Wrong compartment."

"Elise?" asked a high-pitched voice as I made to close the door.

"Hm?" I asked, peeking back in, confused as to why someone in this strange compartment would know my name.

"It's me. Luna." Indeed, the blond haired girl who had called me was sitting, right next to Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Harry Potter.

"Hey Luna," I said, nearly doing a double take when I saw Harry. I never thought he was the type to hang around with Luna and Neville, he was always joined at the hip with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and seemed too cool to hang around with people like them.

"Are you looking for your friends?" Luna asked dreamily, looking especially odd with her wand tucked behind her ear and the magazine she was reading upside down. Then again, Harry and Neville did look a bit awkward, although Ginny was grinning.

"Yeah. They found a compartment, but since it's Monica and Charlie's first year, I was a bit late getting on and haven't found it yet."

"Oh really?' Luna asked, her protuberant eyes showing surprise. "How the time passes."

"It does," I agreed, shifting back and forth.

"This is Harry, Neville and Ginny." Luna nodded at each one as she spoke their name. "Everyone, this is Elise."

"Nice to meet you," I said awkwardly as the others murmured the same.

Ginny and Neville looked down after speaking, but Harry's eyes stayed latched onto mine for a moment too long. I broke the connection first, looking to Luna to escape his searching gaze. Then I glanced over my shoulder for a second, not wanting to be rude and depart instantly.

"Oh, you can go," Luna stated matter-of-factly, startling me a bit. "You obviously are anxious to find your friends."

I smiled, the first real one I had produced in a while. Luna tends to have that effect on people with her awkward but honest statements. "Thanks Luna. I'll see you around."

I nodded at the rest of them and then closed the compartment door, Harry's piercing green stare still filling my mind as I hurried off down the corridor.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"Thank Merlin I found you!" I sighed as I collapsed onto the available seat near the window. "I've been looking for ages."

"How many awkward situations did you run into, peeking into all the compartments?" Kiera asked with a laugh, reaching over to give me a quick hug.

"Only one, surprisingly," I said, squeezing her back. Sylvia ginned at me, and my mouth automatically turned upwards. I was getting good at this whole faking thing.

"Who was it?" Kiera asked, sliding back into her seat.

"Only old Loony Lovegood," I said, noticing Liliana Littleman, a Ravenclaw in my year, looking up from her book and nodding in greeting. She nodded back. "But you'll never guess who she was with."

"Who?" Sylvia asked, leaning forward, always the one for gossip.

"Potter, Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley," I said, watching Sylvia's face change.

"Potter?" she asked, thunderstruck. "Harry Potter?"

"Do you know any others?"

"How'd she get into a compartment with them?"

"Probably an accident, they all looked pretty uncomfortable."

"So, Elise," Kiera said, her voice turning somber. "How are you holding up?"

"What happened?" Sylvia asked as my face fell into an unreadable expression. Kiera probably gave her a look, because she shut up almost immediately.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, entirely untrue. "It's just so ... so complicated. I don't know what to feel."

"That's totally understandable," Kiera said gently. "But Elise, I want you to know that whatever happens, we're in this together. I know you probably don't, but anything you want to talk about, we're here. Death is a complicated thing, and especially with the way the Ministry is handling this, it's okay to feel angry. If you need someone to abuse Cornelius Fudge with you, or a shoulder to cry on, I'm here. And so is Sylvia. And Liliana."

"Thanks," I muttered, closing my eyes to stop the tears that were forming in the corner of my eyes. "But for now, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to even think about it."

For the rest of the ride, I leaned my head against the window, letting loose strands of sandy hair fall into my face as I half-listened to the conversation going on around me, occasionally grunting my agreement or adding a comment.

My mind was whirring as fast as the scenery going by, but two things stuck out. One was Kiera's words, circling 'round and 'round. The other was a certain pair of piercing green eyes.

𝔸𝕌𝕋ℍ𝕆ℝ𝕊 ℕ𝕆𝕋𝔼

I'm so sorry this chapter is so long, there's a lot of information going on here. 

Elise and Harry's first meet! Is anyone else really looking forwards to their interactions? (*shamelessly raises hand*). I'm really looking forward to writing the two of them.

If you are very interested to find out what's next, I will try to post the next chapter soon! If you still don't like it, thank you for trying and please tell me what you didn't like about it. I will try to have more action in the next chapters.

Anyways, please comment and tell me what you think! This love story is just getting started.