✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

CHAPTER THREE. HOGWARTS EXPRESS

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"If I miss the train because of you people I will go ballistic," Gemma said as she scurried along platform 9 3/4. Evangeline rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day as she struggled to catch up with the girl. They were late. Boy were they late. In the last four years that she traveled on the Hogwarts Express, Evangeline Caspian had never arrived late.

She always made sure to get to King's Cross Station at least twenty minutes before the train left at eleven. Today, however, she was rushing to make it to the train on time. And it was all Barry's fault. He just had to stay up late the night before, refusing to wake up this morning. Evangeline looked down at the watch that clung to her left wrist. Four minutes.

They had four minutes to get onto the train before it left the station. Evangeline picked up her pace. Her aunt and uncle were not there, claiming that they had important matters to attend to. Evangeline wasn't surprised though, especially with everything going on. The red train came into view and she almost sighed in relief.

Gemma was the first one on, followed by Barry, then Evangeline, and Vivian came in last. The twins immediately went to the back of the train where the Slytherin compartments were. Evangeline and Vivian, however, went to the Gryffindor compartments. Vivian always sat with Evangeline when they made the journey to Hogwarts. And because the younger girl found the Slytherin compartments small and uncomfortable, Vivian stayed in the Gryffindor compartments with her.

Finding an empty cabin was easier than expected. They usually filled up very quickly. Evangeline slid into the box, placing her trunk and bags in the carrier above her. She sat down in one of the seats and let out a sigh. "That was far too close. We almost missed the train," she said. Vivian sat across from her. "Don't be dramatic. We were gonna make it," Vivian breathed. "No, we had four minutes to get to the train. We almost missed it," Evangeline replied.

"I don't think we would've missed it," Vivian said with a shrug. Evangeline pursed her lips and stared at her sister who had already pulled out a book and began reading. The door to the cabin slid open causing the two girls to look up. Almost immediately, Evangeline caught sight of bright red hair and she frowned. Ronald Weasley stood awkwardly in the doorway of the cabin. Vivian offered him a kind smile.

"Are you lost?" Evangeline questioned rather rudely. Vivian sent her a look. A light blush began to form on his cheeks and quickly spread to his ears. "Uh, there aren't any other empty cabins," he said. Evangeline's eyes narrowed, "This one isn't empty." Ronald cleared his throat before awkwardly shifting on his feet. "I know, but this one's nearly empty and my uh, friends and I need somewhere to sit," he said.

Her eyes moved to look behind him. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were watching the exchange. "And what does that have to do with us?" She asked him. "Is it okay if we sit here with you?" He asked. She was quick to shake her head, "No." At the same time, Vivian had said, "Yes." The two looked at each other, Evangeline with a glare on her face. "No, there's no room," she said, eyes still on her sister.

"There's plenty of room," Vivian said back. Evangeline turned to the three, "We're saving these seats." Vivian tilted her head, a sarcastic smile on her lips. "Oh really, for who?" She asked. "For us," a voice said from behind the trio standing outside the cabin. Gemma Luther pushed past the three and entered the cabin, Barry right behind her. "Not that it's any of your business," he said, "Move weasel." He pushed the redhead out of the way. Harry grabbed onto Ronald's shoulders to stop him from retaliating.

"There's still plenty of room for you guys," Vivian said, giving her sister and cousins a pointed look. "That's all right, we'll find somewhere else to sit," Harry said with a nod. "Yeah, let's see if there's room in Cleo's cabin," Hermione said. She gripped Ronald's upper arm and began pulling him in the other direction, Harry in tow. "I told you it was a bad idea," the Weasley boy muttered to one of his friends as they walked away.

Evangeline sat back in the plush seat and began making herself comfortable. Vivian had a hard glare on her face, eyes narrowed at her sister. "What is wrong with you?" She asked. Evangeline sat up, "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with me." Vivian's eyes narrowed further, "So why didn't you let them sit with us?"

"Maybe because I didn't want them to sit with us, Vivian," she answered, leaning back in her seat again. "Who cares what you want. I mean, would it kill you to be nice once in a while?" Vivian said. Evangeline shrugged, "It's always a possibility. But I don't care to find out the answer." Vivian sent her once last cold look before turning to her cousins. "What are you two doing here?" She asked. Gemma was the one to respond. "Keeping an eye on you misfits. Mother and father don't want you two causing trouble," she said.

"Us? Cause trouble? And since when have you known us to cause trouble?" Evangeline questioned. "There's a first time for everything," Gemma replied coolly. Evangeline looked her up and down before turning to look out the window. "I don't know why you choose to sit in these compartments with them instead of us. You are a Slytherin after all," Barry said to Vivian, his lip curling in disgust as he looked around the cabin.

"I choose to sit with my sister. And besides, it's a lot more comfortable here than in the Slytherin compartments," Vivian replied, already back to reading her book. Barry rolled his eyes at her and looked to Evangeline. "You know, I'll never understand why you aren't one of us. I still think the sorting hat made some kind of mistake," he said. Evangeline didn't look at him. She just shrugged her shoulders and continued to stare out the window.

The train had already started moving and Evangeline watched the different sceneries go by. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

The feeling of being shaken is what woke her up. Evangeline's eyes opened and she squinted up to see Vivian looking down at her. "Good, you're awake. Come on, it's time to change into our uniforms and robes," she said. Evangeline sat up and looked around the cabin. Barry was gone, most likely to allow the girls to change. Evangeline stood from the seat and went to one of her bags, pulling out the items of clothing.

She changed into her uniform and put her street clothes into the bag. She then went to another one of her bags and pulled out her wand, reclaiming her seat in the cabin.

Evangeline stared at the wand, turning it over in her hands. She had always loved this wand, ever since she had gotten it when she was eleven years old. It was made out of Rowan wood, dragon heartstring was at its core, and she felt as though it was the perfect length for her.

"Why do you always act like it's the first time that you've gotten that wand? You've only had it for four whole years. There's nothing special about it anymore," Gemma said, her eyes narrowed. Evangeline let out a fake sigh and looked at her cousin. "Just because you don't like your wand doesn't mean that I can't like mine," she responded in a bored tone. Gemma scoffed, "I do too like my wand." Evangeline looked her up and down before looking out the window again.

"I love my wand. There's nothing about it that I don't love," Gemma said defensively. Evangeline nodded though she knew that it was a lie. There was nothing wrong with Gemma's wand. But for some reason, the blonde couldn't stand it. The wood it was made of, the fact that she had trouble controlling it in her first year, what was at its core. She used to complain about it all the time. "It's a nice wand," Vivian said with a fake smile and Gemma nodded matter of factly.

Barry returned to the cabin, dressed in his uniform and robe. He nodded his head at Evangeline as a sign of hello before sitting down next to his sister. A few minutes later, the train was slowing to a stop. Evangeline grabbed her things and began exiting the train.

Once she was outside, her larger bags and trunk were taken from her to be transported to the castle. She walked alongside her sister and cousins as she walked down the platform. Draco Malfoy and his stupid friends pushed past the four and went straight for Harry Potter, who was walking with Ronald, Hermione, and Cleo. Evangeline glared at them as they walked. "I'm surprised the Ministry's still letting you walk around free, Potter. You better enjoy it while you can. I expect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it," Malfoy said.

Harry went to attack the blond boy but Ronald held him back. Malfoy jumped away from him like a scared little boy and Evangeline almost laughed at the sight. Malfoy and his minions began to walk away from the four. "What'd I tell you? Complete nutter," he said. The four watched the ordeal with varying expressions. Barry looked amused, Gemma looked annoyed, Vivian looked upset and Evangeline looked indifferent.

"Just stay away from me!" Harry yelled after the boy. Evangeline stared at him briefly before beginning to walk again. The four walked past Harry and his friends, Vivian stopping to make sure that Harry was okay. "Why is she always so bloody nice to everyone? If mother and father knew that she was even conversing with Potter, they'd throw a fit," Barry said to his sister.

Evangeline's head whipped around to face him. "Well then you better keep your damn mouth shut," she snapped. Barry rolled his eyes, "Calm down, I was just saying." Evangeline gave him an annoyed look and continued walking.

They eventually arrived at the carriages that would transport them to the castle. Vivian, Barry, and Gemma were already in one and as Evangeline went to enter it, Vivian put her hand up to stop her. "Uh oh, there seems to be no more room," she said. Evangeline narrowed her eyes and looked up into the carriage. "There looks to be enough room to me," she replied, pointing at the empty spot in the carriage.

"Oh, but you can't sit there," Vivian responded. Evangeline pursed her lips, "And why not?" The older girl sent her a smile. "I'm saving it. For my imaginary friend. Oh look, there she is," she replied before pointing to the air next to Evangeline. A glare made its way onto Evangeline's face. "Okay, What are you doing?" She asked. "I don't know what you mean. But you know, maybe you should go ask someone if there's room on their carriage. Maybe if you're nice enough, they'll let you on," Vivian said.

"You're joking," Evangeline replied. Vivian only shrugged. A thought dawned on the youngest Caspian. "Is this about what happened on the train? With Potter and his friends?" She asked. Vivian huffed, "You were really mean to them." Evangeline's mouth fell open. "Yeah? So was Barry," she defended. "Don't bring me into this," Barry muttered. Evangeline sent him a scowl before turning back to her sister.

"Now you know what it feels like to be turned away when all you want is a place to sit," Vivian said. "You're immature," Evangeline said through gritted teeth. Vivian merely shrugged again. "Maybe, but at least I'm not an emotionless git," she said. Barry snickered whilst Evangeline faked a  gasp at the insult. "Is that the best you can come up with?" She questioned. Gemma cut off any reply that would've come out of Vivian's mouth.

"Can we go now? I'm getting sick of sitting here," she complained. Vivian nodded once and sent Evangeline a wave. The carriage began moving forward and Evangeline's mouth fell open. "You're a bitch, Vivian!" She called out to her. "Takes one to know one!" Vivian called back. An annoyed huff left her lips and she turned to look around the forest. She took a few steps back and watched the carriage leave through narrowed eyes.

She let out an annoyed sigh and waited for another one to come. A person came to stand beside her. "So, what was that all about?" They asked. Evangeline turned to face the person, rolling her eyes as she saw who it was. Cleo Valentine, one of Evangeline's roommates, was stood next to her, her eyebrows raised in question. "None of your business," she replied, hiking her backpack further up.

She turned when she heard another carriage come and began walking toward it. She refrained from rolling her eyes when she saw Hermione, her other roommate, Harry, Ronald, and Neville Longbottom stood next to it. "Nothing's pulling the carriage, Harry. It's pulling itself, like always," she heard Hermione say as she approached the four, Cleo in tow.

Evangeline watched as Harry stared up, as though looking at something in front of the carriage. She squinted her eyes, but saw nothing. "That thing is really ugly," Cleo said, walking past her. "No offense," she added with an apologetic look on her face. "What are you on about, Cleo?" Evangeline asked. All eyes turned to her as she spoke. Whilst the others looked confused by her presence, Cleo only shrugged. "The thing pulling the carriage," she said.

"There's nothing pulling the carriage, Cleo," Ronald said, looking at her as though she had lost her mind. "You're not going mad. I can see them too," a delicate voice said from inside the carriage. Everyone's eyes turned to the voice, seeing a blonde girl sitting with a copy of the Quibbler upside down in her hands. "You're just as sane as I am," she continued.

Evangeline sighed in annoyance before opening the carriage door and getting inside of it.

••••

Double update? From me? Well I guess there's a first time for everything. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you thought of it. Be sure to vote!

-N