hold me while you can {Posie Hogwarts AU}

First Year

   Josie sat on the thin wood boat, straining her neck to seek her twin. Her fingers dug into the softwood as she looked over the other first-year students, with no sign of her blonde counterpart anywhere. Every boat carried three students, each full of wonder and excitement as they sat in a row.  In the distance, she heard Hagrid's croaky voice,  whom she had the pleasure of meeting right before she lost sight of Lizzie. Her nails sunk into the splintering wood as she felt her anxiety rise when the boats kicked off from shore, beginning their course for Hogwarts through the thick fog.

   "Are you looking for someone?" 

   Josie spun around to see the girl sitting behind her. A pair of peculiar green eyes looked back at her, glittering from the lamps floating nearby. She had mid-length softly curled hair, and wore the standard gray uniform for all first years. She sat with perfect posture, and as she held her eyebrow in a curious arch, Josie could only think of her as gorgeous.

   "Um- I, I lost my twin sister when we got off the train,", Josie stutters, looking away from the green-eyed girl and towards the neighboring boat.

   "Twin sister?" She says, her eyebrows raising with slight interest, "I haven't seen anyone like you." She adds.

    "Considering how we're fraternal I'm not sure how much that's going to help." Josie laughs.

    "Penelope Park." The young girl says, confidently offering her hand with a smile Josie could only define as charming.

    "Josie Saltzman." She replies, shaking Penelope's hand. A soft brightness seemed to glow from behind her, and once she turned around her mouth had dropped in awe. The Hogwarts castle loomed over them as the fog thinned out, hauntingly luminescent yet welcoming at the same time. 

   "It's beautiful," Penelope says, mirroring Josie's look of astonishment. The brunette could only nod in agreement. The institution was perfectly reflected by the waters surrounding them as if a painter had perfectly captured the image on the lake.

   Josie dipped her fingers into the cool water, watching the ripples she created as they sparkled in the night glow. She could practically feel the magic already.

   Penelope tilted her head as she watched Josie, both of them suddenly erupting in giggles when water lightly splashes on them from bumping into another boat.

   "Which house do you think you'll be in?" Josie asks out of curiosity, turning around to face the young witch.

   "Probably Slytherin. My mother went to  Beauxbatons, but my dad was in Slytherin. My cousin's a second year and he's in Slytherin too." Josie looks up at the witch's reply, absorbed in her short backstory.  "What about you?" Penelope says, dipping her hand in the water now as the boat neared the ginormous castle.

   "Your guess is as good as mine." Josie says, but suddenly sparking interest with the Slytherin house. 

   Penelope looks Josie up and down, her eyes calculating as if she were solving a math equation.

   "I bet you'd be in Gryffindor." She finally says, smiling proudly.

   "Well, I guess we'll see," Josie says.

  Once arriving on the ports of Hogwarts, the first years clambered onto the dock, organizing themselves into disorderly lines as instructed by Hagrid. The curly-haired boy behind Penelope had gotten out of the boat first, offering his hand to the green-eyed girl out of chivalry. After getting out, Penelope spun on her heel to do the same for Josie, leaving the boy slightly disorientated, and to say the least, confused. Josie timidly took the girl's hand and Penelope linked their arms in a swift manner as they walked. The first-years walked through the stone passageways, occasionally rushing up stairs and pathways as they struggled to keep up with Hagrid.