Love & Scars

1. Missed Again

Isabelle, or as she liked to be called, Izzie, cursed to herself as she stood with her trunk in hand on Platform 9 3/5 as the train rolled out of sight.

"Fuck!" She groaned, letting the trunk fall on the stone floor. The platform was already empty as the last parents apparated out when she arrived. Remus was going to love this. Sadly, this wasn't the first time it happened.

With a last look at the empty train station, she walked back through the stone wall. King's Cross itself was packed with muggles going to work, presumably. She hauled the trunk behind her as she pushed through the crowds.

Izzie turned her options over in her head.

She couldn't go back home; she really couldn't. Off to the Leaky Cauldron then, just like last year.

Last year, she arrived at the platform an hour after the train had left, due to some unpleasant circumstances at home. She went to Diagon Alley to send a letter to Professor McGonagall, to ask what her options were. She advised her to floo over from the Leaky Cauldron to The Three Broomsticks and head to the castle. So, now she would do the same, minus the letter to the professor; she would arrive before the others anyway.

But her friends would get worried soon if they didn't find her on the train, and as she was still underage, she couldn't send them a message. And sending an owl to a moving train was nearly impossible; she figured that out last year. She wouldn't want another owl to get hurt.

She stepped out of the train station and sighed as the rain came pouring down.

"Of course, when am I ever lucky?"

She took her coat out of her bag and placed the hood on before trudging through a cold and wet London with a slight limp and a visibly pained face underneath her hood.

***

Lily was walking through the train with a fast and steady step, glancing into every cabin. But with each cabin she passed, she grew more worried and nervous. She nearly reached the end of the train when she spotted Potter and his friends. She pulled the door open in a frenzy, and they all looked up at her in surprise.

"Hey, Evans." James Potter smiled, but she didn't look at him. She looked to Remus with large, frightened eyes. Remus jumped up immediately and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Lily, what's wrong?"

"Have you seen Izzie?"

"No," he frowned. "Isn't she with you?"

"No, and I searched the whole train. Remus, I can't find her!" Her voice was frantic.

"Alright, let's not panic." Remus started, but his eyes looked frightened, too.

"What's the big deal? So, she missed the train." Sirius said, lifting his feet until they covered the seat Remus was sitting in a minute ago. He placed his hands behind his head casually. "She missed it last year, and she arrived at the castle before us."

Lily and Remus shared a look of pure terror. James stood up with a frown. "What are you two not telling us?"

Lily and Remus turned to look at Potter, Black, and Pettigrew. "Nothing," Remus said, ducking his head, avoiding the looks his friends shot him.

"Evans."

"No, Black." Lily snapped, close to tears. "You - you don't know her. Don't pretend that any of you care."

"Lily," Remus warned, rubbing her arm reassuringly.

"Oi! We do care." James said, aghast. "We've known her for six years."