Hufflepuffs

Chap 1

Yverline boarded the train with a nervous, tense feeling in her gut. She prepared herself mentally for months, but when it came to actually going to Hogwarts, so far away from where her family and home was, she broke into a nervous sweat. Her legs felt weak and shaky, as though they were made of jelly. Her stomach was queasy, and her heart fluttered like mad.
She had cried the night before, sobbed in the car, and almost screamed from terror when they reached the barrier.

Her mother had told her to act her age.

She sniffled and held back the tears that were on the edge of leaving her eye.

Nonetheless, she boarded the train, slowly as she could. She walked down the corridors until she found a compartment devoid of any other humans, sitting on the seats with a small sigh. And although she was upset with her parents, she was missing them already as she waved goodbye to them and her younger siblings.

Only did the panic set in when she was past the train station.

And then it happened.

Her heart rate sped up, it felt as if it were trying to trying to push its way out of her chest. Her chest felt tight, as well as though it had expanded to its limit.

It hurt.

What's happening? She thought

Why do I feel like this? What if I stay like this? Will this last forever? Am I always going to feel like this?

Am I going to die?

Her stomach joined into the party, jostling and jumping, giving her a gagging feeling in her throat, but she couldn't gag. So it sat there. Making her discomfort worse.

OH no what if I throw up? Where are my mints? What if they don't work? What if I throw up on the seats? Will they kick me out of Hogwarts before I even get there? Is this ever going to stop?

Just then a small boy with light brown hair entered the compartment, taking notice of the panicked girl's state as she sat there, wide eyed, breathing in quick bursts, and clutching the seat.

He called someone else over, an older girl, and she knelt in front of Yverline, taking her hands and maintaining eye contact as she spoke in a gentle voice. She told the panicked girl before her to just breath. With long deep breaths, focus on me ok?

The two girls stayed like this for a minute or so, the older one calming the first year down. The other person in the compartment, a first year boy without a house, sat on the seat across from them, watching on with curiosity.

He had seen something like this before.

Normally when he was nervous it went away when he thought about it, but his sister told him that some people were attacked by their own thoughts.

His sister was regularly attacked by her own thoughts.

When he was younger, he had asked her if there was any way she could fight the attacking thoughts.

She told him the only way was to breath.

So he sat, as quietly as he could, watching his sister talk the girl through breathing.

He had told his sister that breathing was easy, but she'd explained to him that only a special kind of breathing helped.

"Breath from your belly ok? There you go, keep it up, you're doing good. In-out." The older girl breathed deeply with the younger one, teaching a skill that came with years of experience.

The girl finally calmed down, and she thanked the older on in a small, timid voice.

"It's no problem, I get panic attacks too." The older one replied, taking a seat next to the girl. "I'm Annabelle, this is my little brother Thomas."

"I'm Yverline." The girl said. "Panic attacks? Is that what they're called?" Yverline shifted in her seat with a sniffle, "my mum always told me I was just being childish."

"Oh no, honey, that was a panic attack. It's pretty common among first years." Annabelle explained. "I'm sorry that your mum doesn't know what they are."

"It's ok" Yverline sniffed, "that's usually how It is, my mum doesn't know much about this kinda stuff. I'm used to it."

Annabelle looked at the girl with a sad expression on her face.
Several moments of silence passed between them.

"Well do you have any guesses to what house you'll be in?" Thomas asked, he had a soft cockney accent, like his sister.

"I don't know. Mum didn't really explain the differences between the houses." Yverline shrugged.

"That's ok we can tell you." Thomas smiled widely.
"There's four. Ravenclaw is the smart one, Hufflepuff is the nice one, Gryffindor is the brave one, and Slytherin is the ambish--shinous one?" Thomas frowned.

"The ambitious one. We basically accept any challenge come our way." Annabelle smiled. "I myself am in slytherin, and Thomas is hoping he'll get in too."

"Oh ok." Yverline looked down into her lap. "I don't know what house I'll get in, but I'm hoping it's Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw? Why's that?" Thomas asked.

"Make mum proud." She mumbled.

The siblings looked at each other, seeming to send a silent message to one another.

They were taking this girl home for the summer.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend who regularly has panic attacks. Love you P.A.