Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(99) To The Castle

"Oh joy," Nicolai sighed, "I absolutely hate being under the duress of walking through Kings Cross Station. However, I am truly going to miss it. All these—I'm sorry, excuse me—all these muggles bustling around, the train fumes, I'm going to miss it all."

"I feel like the part about the train fumes was sarcastic," chuckled Florence, "And this isn't our last time going through Kings Cross, unless you're not going home for the holidays then maybe it is."

"Yeah but it's the last first day of the school year where we get to ride the train. It's always a very sentimental scene." the barrier between platforms nine and ten came in to view, and Florence crossed through with her trolley first. The train whistle pierced the air as soon as she made it to the magical platform, Nicolai and Xander following close behind. There were lots of parents, waving at first-year looking children, and looks of utter doom on some other people.

The other Haddlowe children were among the crowd of people. Asher, looking as energetic as ever, was tugging on Adrianna's hand, wanting her to let him go to be with his friends. The blonde girl's eyes lit up at the sight of the three approaching.

"Dri! It's so good to see you," Florence gushed as she and Nicolai were pulled in to a rather crushing hug, "Xander didn't say you were home?"

"Oh, he didn't know." she smiled, patting her brother on the shoulder, "He's been over at your house for a month, remember? And besides, I just got in last night."

"Where's mum and dad?" inquired Xander, looking around for his parents, who would have never even considered missing Asher's second time boarding the Hogwarts Express. "They came home from an overtime shift. Said they needed to rest so I offered to take Asher." she looked around for the boy in mention, only to spot him far away with a group of his own, "And he didn't even bother to say goodbye. They grow up so fast, you know?"

"You bet," chuckled Nicolai, "I mean we've grown up pretty fast ourselves. It seems like it was just yesterday that we got on the train the first time."

"Don't you know it. I remember my last start of year train ride. I felt extremely sentimental because I knew that Hogwarts was just a chapter in my life, and as much as I didn't want it to end, life still needed to go on, you know? Admittedly, you guys will feel lost the first few weeks out of school, but it's just part of everything." Adrianna sighed, before chuckling, "Sorry, it's just, I always feel very nostalgic whenever I visit the station."

"It's fine. We feel the same, too." Nicolai replied, a neutral look on her face, "Good things come to an end, unfortunately."

"Well, it hasn't ended yet," Adrianna smiled, "You three have a long year ahead of you. It may be the last, but there's so much you can do. Don't leave the school without a bang." she winked.

"Sounds like you definitely left it with a bang, Dri. Do tell." Alexander nudged his sister.

The look on her face was one of reminiscing. Adrianna simply shook her head, "That story is for a different time. The train's about to set off, I suggest you get on board."

The three bade her goodbye, before pushing their trolleys past more people.

After securing their stuff into the baggage compartments, the three found a nice empty compartment, only a few feet away from the train door. They settled in, Nicolai immediately flopping down onto the seats, her legs occupying the whole thing. "Well damn, Nic, where am I supposed to sit?"