The Poisoned Waters

1. Honestly? Yikes.

Hermione tugged on my arm- rather harshly- as we hurried through Kings Cross station. I was doing everything in my power to hang onto my trolley, which held all my school supplies, including my school books, my barn owl named Sven, and a bunch of other stuff that I don't care to remember right now. I let out a sigh of relief when my sister came to a stop between platforms nine and ten. After a few moments, my parents finally caught up, both out of breath as well.

I let out a groan as Hermione starts to pace. I swear, that girl is always thinking. Overthinking. Thinking about overthinking. I can't believe she's my sister, much less my twin.

" 'Mione, come on, didn't you read that Hogwarts history book the whole way here? Surely you could remember how to get there." I say with a roll of my eyes, trying to ignore all the stares I'm receiving because of Sven, who yes, was named after the reindeer from Frozen.

"Of course I did, Hera, I am just trying to remember how to enter; run, walk, or push your trolley in?" She snaps, her fingers holding into her chin as she paces.

"Well, only one way to find out- c'mon Pa!" I grinned towards my father, who quickly gripped the cart as I raced towards the column.

Suddenly it went pitch black. Like a closet with no light. A night with no stars. I audibly gasped before bright light blinded me- for a whole two seconds, might I add- and suddenly my eyes focused. Right in front of me stood a large scarlet and black train, which glimmered from the sunlight that fell from the small glass portion of the ceiling. The steam engines smoke billowed around the place, making the room seem hazy. There were only a few families here so far, including ours. I spotted a nearby clock that was perched on one of the columns, and it read-

"HERMIONE! It's only half past ten! You dragged us here a whole thirty minutes before the train leaves!" I grab the nearest book and slap her arm with it- not enough to hurt, well, not too bad. At least the time explains why there is basically no one here.

"I am not about to be late to school, thank you very much!" Hermione snaps back.

"Now, now, girls..." my mother scolds, and me and Hermione both mumble a 'sorry' before we wrap each of our parents in a hug.

Dad pulls me into a suffocating hug before holding me out at arms length.

"Remember to brush your teeth," I snorted at our family's inside joke.

"And, stay with your sister." He whispered worriedly. "We don't need primary school on repeat." I nodded solemnly, remembering the days I had to bring Hermione home, her clothes torn and sobbing. I shuddered at the thought.

"But, on the bright side, try not to pull too many pranks. I swear I still feel flour in my hair." He shudders, and I laugh as I remember his face last week, when I spilt a bag of flour all over him. His face was priceless.

"Of course I won't!" I exclaim, laying a hand on my chest, seemingly offended. "Father, do you even know me? When have I ever not pranked you lot?"

"When you were two you didn't-," He started, but I cut him off with a huge hug, being serious for one of the few times in my life.

"I'll miss you, Pa. I love you." I whisper, clinging to him like my life depended on it.

"I'll miss you too, and I love you more than anything, Hera." He whispers back. When I finally pulled away, I could've sworn I saw tears shine in his eyes, but then he blinked and they were gone. Suddenly, my mother pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, and I had to physically push her away to catch my breath. Unlike my father, she was the one crying.

"Oh, look at you two- so grown up- off to school- I'll miss you dearly- I love you both, so much-," Dad pulled her into a tight hug, letting mum cry on his shoulder. After one final group hug, and promising to write, we waved goodbye and headed off to the train. While Hermione went onto the train to find us a seat, I dropped off our luggage at the cargo car. After I helped the man, I gave a wave goodbye and hopped onto the train- which was quite difficult because the station was now really filling up, for it was a quarter to eleven.

I hastily looked for Hermione's compartment, finally recognizing her bushy brown hair in a compartment with a short, round-faced, chubby blond boy and a pale, curly-brown haired girl who was also rather short. The boy looked worried sick, and I was glad I was standing, for it looked like he was literally, not figuratively, going to hurl. I look at Hermione- who might I add was already in her robes- and raise a brow suggestively.

"Oh! Hera, this is Neville Longbottom and Lavender Brown."

I hold back my laughter at Neville's last name, and I see him blush in embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you. Hera Granger, at your service." I do a rather dramatic bow, my right arm near my waist, my left stretched out behind me, along with my left foot. I grinned to myself as I stood back up, seeing Hermione roll her eyes at me. I sit down beside her, leaning back against the window. Soon the train leaves the station, and we are passing by houses, fields, farms, and soon enough, rolling hills.

"Er- I'm gonna go look for my toad." Neville mutters awkwardly, probably because he was surrounded by us lovely ladies, I thought and tried to suppress my smile. Though confusion slowly seeped back upon my features, I glanced at Lavender.

"Did you know Longbottoms got a toad?" I ask, before looking at Hermione, who was muttering spells under her breath, ever so often trying them on something. For example, she used an incantation called Reparo to- you guessed it- repair Lavender's ripped shirt, and to no one but Lavender's surprise, it worked. Around an hour passes before Neville comes back with no luck.

"Neville, did you even look?" Hermione scoffs, pulling him to his feet. "Let's go. Hera, Lavender, are you coming or staying?"

"I'll stay. Someone has to save the compartment." Lavender smiles as she turns back towards the window.

"I suppose I'll come with you," I sigh as I get to my feet. "But it's your fault you don't look after your toad, Neville."

"I know, I know..." He mumbles, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Hermione nods and motions us to follow.

And so it began.

We spent at least an hour going up and down the train, looking for Trevor the toad. I was bored the whole time, silently cursing at myself for not staying with Lavender. Soon, we got to the last compartment, where a black haired boy sat with a redhead. Neville started to complain that he'd been here already, but my twin, very stubbornly, dismissed him with a wave. Hermione slid the door open right as the redhead was about to say an incantation. And, as Hermione was, she got right down to business.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Nevilles lost one." She spoke, rather bossily like usual. I just rolled my eyes and leaned against the compartment door frame. The redhead froze as the black haired boy looked at us curiously.

When the redhead spoke again, he sounded rather annoyed, but I just tuned him out, studying the other boy. I could've sworn I recognized him from somewhere. Soon the redhead waved his wand, and nothing happened. Then Hermione started to drone on and on, and I could've sworn I saw the black haired boy looking scared. Finally, Hermione stopped, introducing herself and us.

"I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. And this is Neville Longbottom, and my twin, Hera." I gave a nod of greeting, waiting for them to introduce themselves.

"I'm Ron Weasley." Spoke the redhead.

"I'm Harry Potter." I could hear Hermione's and Nevilles gasp, and I was fairly surprised as well. Hermione has made me read a few modern-wizardry-history books the last few nights, and I knew this boy was beyond famous. Then Hermione droned on for another few minutes before we finally left.

"Can you believe we met the Harry Potter! In flesh and bone!" Hermione squealed excitedly, and some students opened their compartment door, wondering what was going on.

"My Gran will be on my back for the rest of the year, trying to get me to get to know him." Neville's face paled, and I scoffed. We soon made it back to the compartment, and by then the news spread like fire down the train. I sighed. This will be an interesting term, with The Boy Who Lived here with us.

Lovely.