Fire Whiskey in the Moonlight (Remus Lupin)

Chapter Three: The Hogwarts Express

I woke up the next morning, quite happy that I had chosen to send my bags and owl ahead so that they'd be waiting for me on the Hogwarts Express. This meant that instead of leaving in the earliest hours of the morning to get to King's Cross on time, I could sleep in and apparate there right before the train left. Remus and I had stayed out practically all night, looking at the stars, holding each other, talking, and kissing. Even with the extra few hours of sleep, I was still exhausted.

After saying goodbye to my parents I apparated directly to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the shimmering red steam engine in front of me. I hadn't even been on the platform for 30 seconds before I heard a shriek and turned around just in time to see the bright ginger hair of my best friend Annie tackling me into a hug.

"Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!" She yelled in my ear.

"I missed you too! How was your summer?" I laughed as she pulled away with a cross look on her face.

"It would have been better if someone had come and visited me!"

"I had to work! You've seen my car, it's constantly needing repairs and those cost money."

"I don't understand why you need a car when you can just apparate places, Smudge."

Smudge had been Annie's nickname for me ever since we met first year. Annie's a Hufflepuff, so we only ever saw each other in passing or in class but never really spoke until our first Halloween at the castle. No one had told me that unlike muggles, wizards don't dress up for Halloween. So there I was standing in the middle of the great hall dressed as a rain cloud with everyone staring at me. I had run out into the hallway in tears and Annie had decided to get up and come after me.

"You're in costume for Halloween, right?" She had asked.

I hadn't replied as I was too busy trying to hide the fact that I was crying, from this random girl.

Annie ignored my silence and grabbed my hand leading me down to one of the classrooms.

"Some of the muggle-born Hufflepuffs decided to skip the feast and have their own costume party. I was invited but my family never really observed any muggle traditions so I decided to go to the feast. I think that was perfectly lucky though otherwise I wouldn't have seen you and brought you here!"

We rounded a corner and saw a big Hufflepuff costume party going on in an empty classroom. Immediately I felt better and gave Annie a hug.

"I'm Vivian."

"Annie!"

We walked in and Annie introduced me to all of her friends at once.

"Vivian, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Vivian, she is dressed as...an ink smudge... for Halloween!"

Ever since then all of the Hufflepuffs have called me Smudge, and Annie and I have been practically inseparable.

Back in the present, I laughed at Annie's comment about my car. "You can't apparate into Muggle places, they'd freak out! When I first apparated into my house, I thought my mother was gonna have a heartache!"

Annie shook her head and laughed as we began boarding the train. As we walked past the compartments I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione down the corridor.

"Hey, you three!" I called and all of them looked down at me. "I hope you know I am counting on you guys to get me out of exams again this year."

Harry and Ron laughed, knowing that most of the student body loved them for causing giant incidents at the end of the last two years, causing most exams to be canceled.