Always - T.M

☆ Chapter 3 - Hogwarts ☆

I can't believe that I'll be going to Hogwarts tomorrow, it all feels so unreal. When I got a letter from the school, I was ecstatic to know that I would get to be away from this orphanage for a while. I could make friends, see new faces, and just being in Hogwarts itself would certainly be interesting.

All of the things listed for 1st year were second hand, and I was sure they were outdated. I guess it's better than nothing, and hopefully no one notices. Hopefully, the students there would be kind.

The orphanage owner, Matilda says that I need to focus on my studies and not meddle with others. I of course, will not listen to her as she is just a grumpy woman that has a warped mind. What I said may seem a bit harsh, but she really was a bit crazy. I was treated worse than the other kids, and she would always ignore me when I asked for the reason why.

I wondered if I would get nightmares at Hogwarts. My nightmares tend to be very vivid, and they always had this one familiar girl and some strange man in them. The girl was in misery, and she would be weeping all the time over whatever reason I couldn't understand.  She reminded me of someone, but I can't remember who it was. The man was a terrible person, and he was very kind towards the girl. He was rich, but had a filthy personality. 

These nightmares are quite strange to me, but I try not to think about that too much. After all, it's not like they're real. 

At one point, I fall into a deep sleep while thinking about Hogwarts.

                                                                      ....................

I was now at the train station, between platforms 9 and 10. Matilda hadn't given me any instructions on how to reach platform 9 3/4, so I was practically doomed now. All I had was a useless ticket in my hand, and I was facing a wall. 

"Hi there! I feel as I've seen you somewhere, what's your name?" the girl asks. She had brown hair, golden skin, rosy cheeks, and those eyes.... I feel like I've seen those eyes before.

I shake away all of my silly thoughts, and reply back to her. "My name's Tom, what's yours?" I tell her.

"My name's Cecelia, and I noticed your ticket says platform 9 3/4. Do you need help getting there? We're also on the same, train so we could sit together if you want. Of course, only if you want to. I mean, I don't want to be obnoxious or anything - Merlin, I'm rambling too much," she blabbers on, before glancing away in embarrassment.

I grin at her in amusement, while feeling my cheeks burn a bit. "Yeah, of course, I don't really know anyone so that would be great." I reply, while rubbing the back of my neck anxiously.

"Great! So, you have to run into the wall-" 

"Wait, run into the wall, are you insane?" I say, staring at her as if she was insane.

"It's a magical wall, silly. When you run into it, you'll be in platform 9 3/4. Do you want me to show you how it's done," she says while laughing at my shocked face.

Cecelia runs into the wall, and to my surprise she goes through it. Seeing this, I decided to do the same as her. Once I had ran through the wall, I opened my eyes to see that we're in platform 9 3/4.

"So, you weren't joking!" I exclaim to her.

She shakes her head in amusement, as she looks around in awe as well.

Suddenly, we hear chugging and hooting of the Hogwarts train. Cecelia and me rushed in front of the train, and we boarded it almost instantly.

I look around the train to see which compartment we would be in, and I finally found compartment 5. The both of us sat down, and we started to converse almost instantly. As the train started, we kept talking and talking. It was only the 2 of us in the compartment, as we had practically shooed everyone away.

I learned that her favorite color was baby blue, which was mine as well. Cecelia told me that she wanted to go to Paris when she became older, and I thought that was an excellent idea. She also told me that her dream job was to become a healer, and I told her mine was to be an Auror. 

It had been only a while since we were talking, but I already feel this immense connection between the two of us. It almost feels like a crush, if that's how I were to word it.

It's like we knew everything about each other even before we had met, which is insane. I don't know why we feel this way, perhaps we were destined to be together.

"What house do you think you'll be in, Cecelia?" I ask her.

"Hmm.... I'd say Ravenclaw? What about you?" Cecelia responds.

"Ravenclaw as well, though Slytherin would be my 2nd option." I say to her.

I secretly hoped that we would be sorted into the same house, because she seemed like a great person. Hopefully, we would be.

                                                                       ....................

All of the first years were now getting sorted into the houses, and I was nervous. Cecelia gripped my hand unknowingly, while the both of us double crossed our fingers for luck.

 "We'll be in Ravenclaw together, right?" I whisper to her.

"Yes, of course." she whispers back, with a nervous smile.

"Cecelia!" Dumbledore calls out.

I give her a somewhat assuring smile, and she smiles back before making her way towards the sorting hat. The sorting hat gets set over her head, and it starts to mumble things that i couldn't really hear.

After a couple of seconds, the Sorting Hat yells, "RAVENCLAW!".

The Ravenclaw table starts to clap and cheer, while I let out a breath that I didn't even realize I was holding.

"Tom Riddle!" Dumbledore calls out, after a couple of students had been sorted. I walk up to the sorting hat, before looking at Cecelia. She looks back at me, which gives me a fresh boost of confidence.

Once I had sat down, the sorting hat was put on top of my head.

"Please be Ravenclaw, please be Ravenclaw-"

"RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat exclaims.

I rush over to Cecilia, and we hug each other almost immediately. 

"Thank goodness we're in the same house, I can't imagine what it would be like if we were in different houses!" Cecilia exclaims.

"Well, obviously we were going to be in Ravenclaw together." I say, with an all-knowing smile on my face.

I've honestly lost count of the amount of times I've grinned like an idiot, and my cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much.

As Cecelia and me eat our food, we laugh and talk about the most random things that come to mind. I knew that I was going to have a great time here, all because of Cecelia.

...........

So, what did you guys think of this chapter?

I know that it feels like things are going so fast-paced, and the immediate bond that they had with each other was done on purpose. They may not understand why they feel so connected with each other just yet, but everything starts to make sense later on.

ily guys, <3