Lyall

King's Cross Station

Valerie dropped down into the seat of the minivan as her father told the cab driver to head to King's Cross while the bellboy from the hotel slammed the trunk of the van loudly. She was trying her level best to calm herself and not have a last minute breakdown. She could barely stay still at the thought of meeting James and Adam.

She thought of the last words James Potter had said to her when saying goodbye.

"Write to me, okay?"

But most importantly, she was going to Hogwarts.

She sighed and sank back into her seat.

***

"Sweetie, are you sure you have to do this?" Dad voiced his concern.

"Honestly, Dad, haven't you seen the movies or read the books? This is exactly what we should be doing."

"All right, but is this the right wall?" he asked, eyeing it with distrust.

Valerie sighed and pushed her cart forward, making sure Oreo was following close behind.

Shapes began to form in the thick steam, familiar accents came rushing back to her, the hoots of owls and croaks of toads and cries of children wanting to go with their older siblings. The nostalgia of it all hit her at once and she immediately lost control of her cart, deeply immersed in thought. Orion's cage, perched at the very top, began to slide down slowly and clattered to the floor along with her backpack and trunk. Many people stopped talking and turned to look at her. Some even bothered to glare at her for a few seconds too.

"Oh, bother," she muttered under her breath. Her books had tumbled out of her schoolbag all over the floor. She was almost done picking her belongings up and was wondering where her Herbology book went when there was a light tap on their shoulder.

"Looking for something?"

A girl with dark eyes hiding behind white framed glasses with hair dip-dyed red and tied in two ponytails was holding her Herbology textbook in her hand. She looked about Valerie's age, but grinning as if she was mentally six. She urged her to take her book. Valerie held it in her hands, gave a curt nod as if to say, "Thank you,"

But the girl didn't leave, so Valerie opened the hardcover to check for her name inside. She looked up and spoke to her. "Hey, I don't think this is my--"

Poof.

Valerie was now holding a rubber duck by its beak, and she looked back to see the girl doubled up, laughing, on the ground.

"One of the Weasleys' finest, I see," interrupted a familiar voice. Adam. He'd been standing a little to the left of the girl, but Valerie had never seen him. "Adam!" Valerie went for a hug.

"Nice one, Eve," he said, pulling her away. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Valerie asked.

Adam turned to Valerie, "Yes, we're childhood friends," then he turned to face Eve. "Eve, I met her in our shop at Diagon,"

Valerie shook hands with the girl and gave a curt nod. "Valerie Arma,"

The girl did the same. "Evelyn Roe,"

---

Adam sighed contentedly as he sat down in the compartment seat. So far, everything was perfect. Valerie and Evelyn were getting along extremely well. They had reached the train early. He sat as he watched the two conversate.

He'd known Evelyn for nearly all his life; she was the daughter of the owner of Flourish and Blotts, half-blooded and a very positive person. On the other hand, he'd known Valerie for three weeks since she'd walked into his shop. She was confused and curious as she stepped into the wizarding world. The first time he'd seen her, he felt a curiosity like no other flare up in his heart, not knowing why. The feeling wasn't unknown to him, but he'd felt it for books, making him think Valerie was almost like a book, how he could simply read her and find out more and more about her gradually, nothing could be told from her cover. She'd been really nice to him, laughing and smiling all the way. Then there was James. He'd also been polite; but he had a different way of carrying himself, something that screamed of truly showing how you'd care about someone through your actions but would never say so through words. It was impossible to read him, but adam felt that with the passing of time he would soon master this art. His thoughts went back to Valerie and Evelyn, and he thought, if he were to choose between the two, he wouldn't be able to pick.

Little did he know the answer would be so dramatically obvious if someone asks him two years later. 

---

A pair of mischievous eyes came into Valerie's line of sight as James Potter appeared around the corner, dragging his trunk around, reeking misery. She rose up and opened the compartment door to call him.

"James!"

His mop of brown hair whipped about at his name.

"Come here!" she beckoned. James obeyed. "Come in our compartment!"

James looked hesitant. "I have to see someone else- who's with you?"

She was slightly puzzled at the sudden question.

"There's me, Adam and Evelyn Roe," she counted. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah I do, let's get in then," he muttered.

***

The entire journey went by with the sound of the Express engine being drowned out by their laughs. So far, Valerie was having the best time ever. Even Orion was hooting with laughter. She couldn't keep still, so she jumped up and began to open the compartment door, but caught sight of the others' confused looks as to why she was doing so in the reflection of the glass.

"Just checking how much time we've left," she explained, and so she left.

This was the happiest she'd been in a very long time. She raced down the corridor, hurtling from one carriage to another all the way to the front to ask how much progress they'd made. She crashed into the trolley witch by accident on her way.

"An hour and a half left, sweetheart," she'd said, peering down at her curiously.

Valerie thanked her and hurtled her way back down to her own compartment and warned the others to get changed into their robes before Hogwarts arrived. Then they waited. There were only a few minutes left until they reached the castle.

As she stepped out of the train into the damp air she saw a lantern hovering, it seemed, in midair, and a voice beside it calling out, "Firs' years... firs' years here, please... gather round here now,"

While crossing over to Hagrid she wanted to take in every bit of this night, looking everywhere as she went. She could see the stars, the lake, the moon, every tree despite the darkness. Then she did a double take as she saw the older students climb aboard their carriages.

As she lost consciousness the last thing she caught sight of was the skeletal horses pulling the carriages, the thestrals making their way to the castle.

(A/N; IM SO SORRY FOR POSTING SUCH A SHORT CHAPTER LIKE THREE MONTHS LATER but school and exams and parents and ehjhhsdhd ill write more i apologise pls forgive me EDIT; my absolute walnut headed self posted this chapter after id written up only half of it, i was in a rush when i did that. i wrote up the rest of it and updated it, apologies for my bad mistake !)