PAN || JAMES POTTER

II

It was barely thirty seconds before Wendy's parents and siblings were in front of her. They weren't in the station, but about a block away, where they always apparated to so as not to draw the attention of muggles. It was actually a relatively crowded area, which is exactly why it was so perfect; there were already so many people, five more randomly appearing would go completely unnoticed.

The family started the short walk to the train station and before they knew it there were in between platforms 9 and 10.

Wendy looked down at her youngest brother and held out her hand. "Are you nervous, Mikey?"

He scrunched his nose at the nickname but didn't comment on it. Instead, he huffed at his big sister, "I go to the platform every year."

She smiled and squeezed his slightly smaller hand. "Well, yeah, but this time it's different."

"How come?"

"Because you aren't coming back out five minutes later." With that, she took off running, dragging Michael along.

In the blink of an eye, they were standing on platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, young witches and wizards bustling around them. John appeared moments later, with a cart containing all of their things and a disgruntled look on his face.

"Thanks for helping me carry everything," John deadpanned. Wendy merely stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Their parents finally joined them on the hidden platform, Nana now in their mother's arms. She handed the cat over to Wendy and began smothering her children in hugs again. When she pulled back from Wendy, tears had begun to fill her eyes.

"I can't believe it," the older woman sniffled. "My oldest baby is starting her last year at Hogwarts, and my youngest is starting his first." She pulled the two into yet another hug, this time nearly choking the two and causing the cat in Wendy's arms to squirm.

John stood off to the side, watching the interaction. "And I'm a fourth year," he said with no enthusiasm, but he twirled his fingers in the air nonetheless. Their father clapped his hand on his oldest son's back and chuckled, muttering something about knowing the life of a middle child.

The train whistled suddenly, and it was time for them to get on. Their final goodbyes were very quick, as they wanted to get a compartment together.

The three Carter children were lucky enough to get on the train with little struggle. Thanks to many parents drawing out their farewells as long as possible, they found an empty compartment rather easily. Wendy plopped Nana onto the seat as the two boys settled in.

"You two comfy?" she asked.

The boys both nodded their heads, Michael giving her a thumbs-up.

"Great," she said. "I'll be back in a little bit."

Wendy turned and walked out, shutting the door behind her, and started heading towards the prefects' compartment. She had been appointed prefect in fifth year, along with a boy named Norman Bale. The two weren't close by any means, but they got along just fine.

After only a minute or so of maneuvering through the new crowd of students, she was pushing the doors to the prefects' compartment open. There were only three other students in there, two of which seemed to be new- she wasn't sure which house they were in, though, as no one had changed into their robes yet.

Although she is in Hufflepuff, Wendy decided she didn't want to introduce herself to the newbies just yet, so she opted to sit next to the other person in the compartment, Remus Lupin.

"Hi, Remus. Mind if I sit here?"

He looked up from the spot he had been staring at, a warm, yet slightly awkward smile spreading across his face. "Oh, of course not, go right ahead." He patted the seat next to him.