Late Bloomers

Another year at Hogwarts, Sinead’s last, in fact. The dark-haired seventh year stood on Platform 9 ¾, looking up at the large scarlet steam engine that was leaving in just a few short minutes. A great cloud of steam puffed from the engine and wove its way through the platform, enveloping Sinead in its familiar humid self. She sighed and turned over her right shoulder, to look at her aunt and uncle who were seeing her off. “Don’t be sad, love. You’ll have a great year,” Sinead looked up at the woman who spoke and shook her head, her sea green eyes forlorn.

The woman, kind-faced and middle-aged, wrapped her niece in a tight hug and smoothed her dark hair before kissing the top of her head. “We know you love Hogwarts, Sinead. Just cherish the time you still have there. Besides, if you miss it that much you could always return as a teacher.” Sinead pulled out of the comforting embrace and laughed, her eyes alight with amusement.

“Nona, you know I want to be a Healer,” she smiled, shaking her head. She just couldn’t imagine herself teaching at Hogwarts. She found that large groups of adolescents could be quite cruel, and though she loved Hogwarts she wasn’t keen on repeating the bullying from her past. That wasn’t to say she was a mean person, or unfriendly, but Sinead had always preferred the company of books to people. Books didn’t bully, you see. Though the bullying had mostly stopped once she’d emerged from her awkward stage as a decently pretty girl in her fourth year, it still left scars and Sinead had retreated within herself. Her sunny disposition and goofy personality were silenced by fear when she was not with her friends. Those who did not know her simply thought her to be bookish and quiet. Nothing more. As a result, with the exception of  Aoife, who had been her best friend since their first year, Sinead kept mostly to herself. And, being a Ravenclaw whose first priority was her academic career, being a bit of a loner suited her just fine.

“You should get on the train, Sinead. It’s nearly eleven,” Sinead registered the deep voice and turned her head to smile at her uncle.

“You’re probably right, Pop,” Sinead agreed. She looked from her aunt to her uncle and smiled brightly. “I’ll miss you guys,” she exclaimed, and wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them both into a tight hug. “I’ll write to you as soon as I can,” she promised, and with one last kiss for both of them, Sinead hurried off to load her belongings onto the train and find a compartment.

“Sinead!” she heard a familiar voice call. She looked up from the ground (Sinead was prone to tripping, so liked to keep an eye on where she placed her feet) and spotted a familiar face down at the end of the train.

“Aoife!” Sinead exclaimed, nearly running to her best friend and enveloping her in a tight hug, “Looking lively as always. How was your summer?” they sat down opposite each other after closing the compartment door and Sinead grinned. If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that Aoife always had an adventure over the summer holiday.

“Oh it was wonderful! We went to Italy for nearly three weeks and I met this guy-“

“Here we go,” Sinead rolled her eyes and smirked, which caused Aoife to blush crimson.

“He was really nice! He was a Muggle, but oh you should have seen him! Worthy of the Greek gods, I swear!” Sinead quirked a brow and the girls dissolved into a fit of giggles.

They’d been on the train nearly an hour when Aoife stood, “I’m going to see if I can find Malcolm,” she announced. Sinead waved her off, shaking her head in amusement. Aoife had always been a bit boy crazy, but she’d liked Malcolm since fourth year. It seemed Malcolm was interested in Aoife as well, but he could never bring himself to tell her so. Sinead couldn’t blame him. Aoife could be a bit intimidating at times. Sinead took the opportunity of solitude to dig into one of her favorite books. The pages were yellow with age and the binding was all but falling apart, but it was one of Sinead’s most prized possessions. The book, a wizarding love story whose title had long since worn from the cover, had belonged to Sinead’s mother who had disappeared -along with Sinead's father- during the first wizarding war.

Deciding after sometime that she needed a bathroom break, Sinead stood to go and use the loo. However, just as she reached out a pale hand to open the door, someone else did just that, causing Sinead to gasp with surprise and take a step backward, her hand at her heart.

“Have you seen a….toad?,” Neville Longbottom had certainly not expected someone to be standing right in front of the door when he opened it, especially not a girl. And a pretty girl at that. “I…uhm….sorry….” he mumbled, looking down at the ground in embarrassment and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“N-no I haven’t. Sorry,” Sinead smiled, something in the boy’s hazel eyes having caught her interest. He seemed kind, and Sinead could tell he was shy by the way he was blushing and looking anywhere but at her. It was much the same as the way she acted around people. Perhaps that was why she suddenly found a bit of courage and said, “Do you want some help looking for him?” Sinead swallowed hard, hardly daring to believe she’d reached out to someone new. The terror, however silly it seemed, was nearly overwhelming as she feared he would laugh and say no. However, his reaction was quite different.

Neville lifted his head and looked at the girl in surprise. There was no way. He must have heard her wrong. “Really?” he asked. When the girl nodded he allowed himself a small smile, “Yeah, sure. That’d be great. I’m, um, I’m Neville by the way.” He said nervously, by way of introduction.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sinead,” she smiled hesitantly at Neville and reached her hands up to her long hair, twisting the ends as she did whenever she was nervous. “So, um, where should we look?”

The question snapped Neville back to reality- he had begun to stare- and he cleared his throat with a shrug, “I was just going to every compartment to search the corridor. This happens every year,” he meant to sound nonchalant, but there was an unmistakable waver in his voice.

Sinead nodded and gestured to the hall, “Well, we’d better start searching then,” they walked into the corridor and began their search, passing a stunned Aoife on their way. Sinead looked at her and smiled, knowing exactly what Aoife was thinking. Sinead hardly talked to anyone, let alone boys. Seeing her with one was a shock to the system. As Neville called out for his toad, Sinead glanced at him and smiled to herself. Something about him seemed different. Maybe it was because he seemed as shy as she was, but for some reason Sinead wasn’t so afraid of Neville. She didn’t feel she had to worry about being judged or ridiculed by him. She knew that could very well be a wrong first impression, but Sinead, for the first time in a long time, was willing to risk it.