A FAMILY AFFAIR

- 7 -

[ CHAPTER SEVEN ; "THE GRYFFINDOR'S REUNITE!" ]

[ TREECH'S POINT OF VIEW ; ]

I made my way through the busy corridor of the Hogwarts Express's compartments with relative ease. I tried not to accidentally knock over a group of second years as I saw a flash of familiar red hair. I had to take a second glance when I was Coral, in full school uniform.

"Coral? I, uh... Didn't know you owed a school uniform. Is it new?" I teased. "Oh, ha ha, ass hole." She said, rolling her eyes at me. "Admit it, you missed me." I smirked. "In your dreams, lumberjack." She scoffed. "Only the nightmares, Coral. Only the nightmares." I grinned, throwing my arm around her shoulder, as if we were dating, even though Coral clearly fancied girls.

A small boy, who must have been a first year, stood in front of us, his big doe-like eyes staring up at me. "Uh... what's with the stowaway?" I whispered to Coral. "This is my brother, Mizzen." Coral answered as she shrugged my arm off her shoulder.

As Coral introduced her little brother, Mizzen, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between them. They shared the same sharp jawline and piercing blue eyes, though Mizzen's were a shade lighter than Coral's. Mizzen, however, had brown hair, while Coral sported red hair, not red like Lamina's, no, her's is now brighter while Lamina's is more coppery-auburn.

"Uh, Treech this is Mizzen. Mizz, this is one of the idiots, I spend my days with while at Hogwarts." Coral introduced. "Hi, Treech." Mizzen smiled. "What's up, little fisherman." I nod as Coral jabbed me in the ribs. "Ow! What? I was being nice!" I exclaimed.

"Don't call him a fisherman." Coral scowled. "Whatever... Have you seen the twins?" I ask. "They'll both kill you if they hear you calling them 'the twins', you know that right?" Coral smirked. "Yeah, that's why I asked if you've seen 'the twins'." I shot back, Coral rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" I heard Brandy call out. Coral, Mizzen and I turned around to where the corridor was filled with first years, all unsure of what to do and where to go. "Move. Out. My. Way!" Brandy huffed as she pushed her way through the crowd, shoving past many first years.

The first years tripped and stumbled out of her way as Brandy, who was followed closely behind by Tanner, approached us. "Ha. The Gryffindor's reunite!" Brandy smiled. "You didn't have to shove the first years aside like that, Brand." I sighed.

"Who cares. They'll get back up." Brandy shrugged, as if the first years getting back up to their feet justified the fact that she shoved them to the ground. "God, you're heartless." I teased. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, come on. I saved our compartment." Tanner cut in.

"You guys have your own compartment?" Mizzen asked. "We do if I jinx the door." Tanner shrugged. "Not sure that's legal." Coral mumbled. "Oh, come on. Don't go all rule-going on us now, Coral." Brandy smirked. "Whatever..." Coral rolled her eyes.

"Hey. Who's this?" Brandy asked, whispering lowly, as if everyone around us couldn't still hear her. "Oh, this is Mizzen. My little brother." Coral replied. "Adorable!" Brandy exclaimed grabbing Mizzen's face in her hands and pulling him up on his tip-toes so she could inspect every tiny detail on his face.

"Brandy, please don't man-handle my baby brother like that." Coral sighed. "I'm... not... a... baby..." Mizzen managed to get out as Brandy squished his face inwards a bit more. "He's tiny!" Brandy smiled, as if she had never seen an eleven-year-old before. "You were tiny too, once upon a time, Brandy." I said. "She still is." Tanner grumbled, earning a kick to the shins from Brandy. "Ow!" He exclaimed, hopping on one foot, while rubbing his kicked shin.

"Okay, enough. Brandy, Tanner. What compartment did you claim this year?" Coral asked. "The one where Billy Taupe and Mayfair Lipp-!..." Brandy stopped herself short when she remembered Mizzen was in our presence. "Had that party of two that got interrupted by Lucy Gray..." Brandy continued.

"Ew. I don't want to sit on the seat that Billy Taupe and Mayfair Lipp... had that party for two that got interrupted." Coral frowned, changing her sentence mid-sentence, with a glance at her brother. "Relax. I cleaned it." Brandy smiled. "Is that supposed to make us feel better?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Rude." Brandy mumbled.

"Can you please let go of my face?" Mizzen asked, his face still squished between Brandy's hands. "Sorry." Brandy mumbled as she dropped Mizzen back onto his feet, her hands falling to her side.

As Brandy finally released Mizzen from her grip, he straightened his robes and smoothed out his hair, looking a bit disheveled from the encounter. Coral shot a warning glare at Brandy, silently scolding her for her overenthusiastic behavior.

"Let's just sit down." I mumbled as I caught a glimpse of copper-auburn hair. I knew instantly that it was Lamina. Lamina was one of the only people at Hogwarts that had red hair, aside from the Weasley's and the Prewett's, but she was taller than Molly Prewett and thinner than her older brothers and the Weasley.

And the fact that she was a half-blood completely canceled out the idea of her being a part of the Weasley or Prewett family. She was just Lamina. My beautiful, beautiful, Lamina.

As we settled into our compartment, I couldn't help but steal glances at Lamina through the window. She was talking animatedly to three other students, one of them was a first year, two of them were older than we were. I knew one of the kids she was talking to was her older brother, Marcus.

Marcus and Lamina were nothing alike, they hardly even looked like they might be related. Lamina has coppery-auburn hair and fair skin, Marcus has black hair and a dark complexion, however, their hazel eyes were practically identical.

Lamina's smile shone brightly through the air. Lamina always seemed to exude a certain warmth and brightness wherever she went, and it was impossible not to be drawn to her magnetic personality.

"Treech, are you okay?" Coral's voice broke through my thoughts, bringing me back to the present moment. I realized that I had been staring out the window for far too long, lost in my own thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I replied, forcing a smile. "Just thinking." I added. "You, thinking? Ha!" Brandy shorted, I shot her a scowl. "Shut up, Brandy." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Your brain must be sore, it's never had to work a day in its life!" Brandy continued, she was practically rolling on the floor with laughter.

"You're not one to talk about thinking, Brandy. I mean, considering your attention span is shorter than a troll's attention span." I shot back, that seemed to shut her up. Brandy pouted, crossing her arms over her chest in mock offense.

"Hey! I'll have you know my attention span is perfectly fine, thank you very much." She huffed. "Keep telling yourself that." Tanner added. "Not fair! Coral. Back me up here." Brandy replied, turning to Coral for assistance.

Coral chuckled, shaking her head. "Sorry, Brands, but I've got to agree with Treech and Tanner on this one. Your attention span is like a goldfish's." She grinned. "Hey, I resemble that remark!" Brandy exclaimed dramatically, earning a round of laughter from the group.