Janus

1

There was something about early morning air.  It's perfectly quiet, like you were safe under the stars and rising sun.  She sheaths you from the emptiness of space.

My van was cold, weirdly so.  I pulled the covers closer to me.  Silently hoping I had hours still, I looked at my watch.  I had to get up soon, I was close to Kings cross but I still had to pack for school.

I wore my usual, nasty pants.  Living out of my van in the summer, I don't really have easy access to a washer nor do I have the space to hand wash and hang dry my clothes.  These pants have been with me for over six years.  If it wasn't for all the patches, they would probably be falling apart at this point.  My knee high boots, that I painted green over the summer, were laced tightly and my top hugged me enough where I knew I could get out of a speeding ticket if need be.

As I pulled my hair up, I noticed something outside.

"Oh, the post."

Sitting on the fencepost next to us, sat a beautiful black owl.  I slid open my back door and popped a knut in the Owl's pouch.  Harry had offered to pay for the daily prophet for me all summer.  

This beach was beautiful, it was a smaller chunk of sand but it was quiet.  Quiet enough that I was able to transfigure my van into a toy car, and slip it in a mint tin without a single watching eye.  

The bus was crowded, I think I caught the work rush.  By the time we got to Kings Cross, it was 10:37.  How I left with only twenty minutes left to spare beats me.  I hurried into the platform and pushed my way onto the train.  I knew someone had to be on the train already.

"Jane!"

I ran towards the voice, slipping into the train car.

"Weasley, Harry."

Ron and Harry were sitting across from a grown man.  I silently pointed at him but they just shrugged.

"He was already here by the time we got on."

Hermione ran up behind me.

"Sorry!  Crookshanks ran off."

My eyes fixed on the orange blob in Hermione's arms.  It's smushed face payed no attention to anything in particular. 

Fred snuck up behind me and poked my side.

"What're you doing in here, I have space in my car."

I flipped Ron off and waved to the others before I took Fred's outstretched hand and followed him to the other cab.  It was cooler and quieter in this one.  It was only us, Lee and George thankfully.

"Have you heard about Sirius Black?"  Lee asked.

The twins errupted, laughing about how he got past the dementors.

"He's not even a death eater!"  

"He might as well be given his families reputation."

"I thought he got disowned."

After the first few minutes, I watched as rain began to pour against the window.  

I leaned against the wall and tried nodding off, legs curled to my chest.  I succeeded, for a while.  I woke up shivering, suddenly grateful for the extra layers of clothes.

"You ok?"  Fred asked quietly.

I nodded, groggy from sleep.  It was a lot darker now, it made me question how long I had been asleep.  The train didn't seem to be going fast enough either.

"Wha's goin' on."

"We're slowing down, just go back to sleep."

He kept talking to his brother.  There was a chill I couldn't shake that kept me from going back to sleep.  I sat up more and tried looking down the hallway from my seat.  The train came to a complete halt.