Goodnight, My Angel.

Chapter 3.

September 1, 1991

The wind blew through Calliope's hair as she walked through the crowded tunnels of King's Cross Train Station. She hugged her father's side when large groups of people passed, but Severus helped her calm down. They continued to walk for several minutes, until they found the engravings that read "PLATFORM 9 ¾". Severus placed his hand on Calliope's shoulder and guided her through the brick wall.

As they passed through to the correct train station, multiple smells blew through Calliope's nose. She first smelled strong whiffs of coal and smoke. She then could smell faint scents of pastries, which she assumed were coming from the train in front of them. Her father ushered her forward, just as the parents around them did with their children.

Callie looked around the train platform and examined the other children waiting patiently to board the train. Nerves shot through her body as she became more and more anxious.

"What is the matter child?" Her father spoke softly, noticing her anxious gestures.

Callie looked up at her father and took a deep breath "I'm just a little nervous."

Severus squeezed her shoulder and knelt down to her view.

"I assure you that it will be perfectly okay."

Callie's nerves slowly eased as she prepared herself mentally. She grabbed her bags and began inching closer to the other children who were impatiently waiting.

As more minutes went by, the children were instructed to begin boarding the train. Callie watched as the children's parents hugged them goodbye with tears in their eyes and then made their way through the train car doors. Callie turned to her father who did not share the same reaction of the other parents.

"I will see you when you arrive. Behave." Severus spoke as he squeezed Callie's shoulder for the final time.

Callie gave him a half smile and then began walking towards the open doors of the train. She climbed the steps of the enormous steam engine and turned once more to make eye contact with her father. They remained eye contact for a few seconds, and then Callie turned around and made her way down the tight aisles to find a seat. As she walked, she passed multiple train cabins that were already full of children. She continued to walk until she passed a cabin with only two boys that looked to be her age. She poked half of her body through the door to get the boys' attention.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I join you? All the other cabins are full." She asked kindly.

They both nodded and motioned for her to sit down. She sat on the bench across from them and examined their features. One of the boys had very bright red hair with a few patches of freckles on his skin. His clothes looked worn, but comfortable. The other boy had dark brown shaggy hair. He was quite thin and wore round wire glasses that looked to be broken in the middle.

Callie's attention was turned toward the window as the train began to take off. She watched as the children in the surround cabins stuck their heads out of the window to say one last goodbye to their parents. Callie's eyes scanned the platform for her father's face, but knew there was no way he stuck around like the other parents. Callie loved her father dearly, but she sometimes wished he could did things that other parents did, so that she did not feel left out. She watched the red haired boy wave goodbye to his fairly large family, and then noticed the brunette haired boy was not waving goodbye to anyway either. She watched the platform slowly disappear and then gazed her attention back towards the two strangers in front of her.

One of the boys noticed her gaze and then turned to face her, "I'm Ron Weasley," the red head spoke up.

The name Weasley sounded familiar to Callie. She remembered hearing it from her father's daily complaints throughout his career. Callie stuck out her hand to shake Ron's hand.