Brightest ✯ Sirius Black

✯ three ✯

"and till the end, you're my very best friend."

After the awkward silence passed, the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts was full of laughter, snacks, and schemes. They planned pranks for the upcoming year, and James was busy trying to foolproof his plan to get Lily Evans.

Their first 4 years had passed in a blur, but Cleo remembered the day they had all met as if it were yesterday. 

✯✯✯✯

    "Excuse me, can I share this compartment with you? The rest is full," young first year Cleo had asked shyly, finding two girls in a compartment by themselves. They looked to be her age. One had tan skin and caramel colored hair and brown eyes, and the girl opposite her had dark skin and an unruly head of curly black hair that looked hard to control. She was too busy opening a package of cauldron cakes to pay any attention to the black haired, blue eyed girl at the door.

    "Yeah sure, why not," the first girl had said. Cleo nodded in thanks, and sat down on the bench.

    "I'm Ambrosia," the girl had said. "Ambrosia Stalone."

    "Cleo Markis," she replied.

    "Cleo? That's a new one, what's it short for?" Ambrosia had asked. Cleo was half inclined to wonder where the name Ambrosia came from, but thought against it. She didn't want to get rid of the idea of friends just yet.

    She sighed, not wanting to say, but she said it anyway. "Cleophus," she mumbled, casting her eyes downward in embarrassment. She thought that having muggle parents would allow them to name her something more normal, but the odds were against her in that respect.

    "Wow," Ambrosia said, but she didn't laugh like Cleo thought she would.

    "You aren't gonna laugh at how ridiculous my name is?" she asked, genuinely confused.

    "Honey, my name is Ambrosia, I'm in no place to laugh at your name, trust me," she scoffed, laughing. She nodded towards the girl across the compartment. "This is Indiana Bloomsbury," and the girl named Indiana grinned widely, her cheeks puffing with food as she waved energetically. Cleo laughed and waved back.

    "'Scuse me, might we sit here please? All the other compartments are filled," a girl's voice spoke from the door, just as Cleo had a moment ago. The three girls looked up to find a girl with clear grey eyes and white blonde hair standing there, and a taller boy staying quiet behind her. The boy had messy brown hair and warm eyes, and Cleo smiled kindly and waved at him gently when he looked up to the girls in the compartment. He gave a tight lipped smile, but he looked relieved.

    "Might as well, we just let her in too," Indiana tipped her head towards Cleo, who smiled. The girl and the boy entered and sat side by side on the bench. The blonde girl immediately took out a book covered in blue binding and opened it, diving right into the words on the page. Ambrosia and Cleo looked at each other oddly.

    The boy cleared his throat. "Sorry, she just really likes reading," he said. His voice was soft, cracking slightly as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. "I-I'm Remus Lupin," he said. "This is Luna Maxwell," he tipped his head towards the girl with her nose in a book. 

    "Nice to meet you both," Cleo grinned widely, loving the fact that she was making more friends already, and they hadn't even made it to the school yet!

    They sat for the rest of the train ride, learning more things about one another. Cleo learned that Ambrosia had grown up in a muggle orphanage until Dumbledore came to her last summer to tell her she was a witch. She learned that Luna hardly did anything but read, and Remus was incredibly shy and quiet. He hardly talked at all, and he had a slight stutter when he did speak. However, he was kind, and Cleo liked him very much.