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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

On the morning of the first of September, Arabella was shaken awake by her mother, who was going on about if they all didn't hurry up, they were going to miss the Hogwarts Express. Yawning widely, Arabella slowly got out of bed and got dressed. Then, she grabbed her trunk and made to leave the room, but as soon as she made it to the doorway, she saw Ginny tumbling down the stairs along with two trunks. Suddenly wide awake, she looked up and saw Fred and George standing at the top of the staircase looking dumbfounded. Both of them had their wands in hand. Arabella understood immediately what must have happened.

"Oh, you've done it now," she said with a smirk right before Molly began to yell at her sons.

Everyone was to leave 12 Grimmauld Place in small groups; there were so many of them, if they all left at once, it would look suspicious to anyone, let alone a Death Eater.

Not long after Harry left with Tonks, Molly, and Sirius in his Animagus form, Arthur gathered Ron, Hermione, and Arabella and the four of them left together. They walked the whole way to King's Cross station, which took twenty minutes but seemed like a long longer of a journey to the twins, who complained the whole time.

Once on Platform 9 3/4, they found David and Moody who had all of their trunks, and Harry, Tonks, Molly, and Sirius, and joined them. Not long after they arrived, Lupin showed up with Ginny, Fred, and George; then Evelyn's mother Natalia with Evelyn; Catrina and Oliver with Olivia; Henry and Amelia with Fraser and Duncan; and finally, Helena with Faustus. For a short bit, Harry and Faustus left with Sirius, but came back just as everyone was being ushered onto the train.

"Well, look after yourselves," Lupin said, being sure to shake hands with them all.

"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," Moody told them all, also shaking their hands. "And don't forget, all of you - careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."

"But don't not write. We still want to know how you're doing," Amelia reminded them, her eyes mostly on her sons.

"It's been great meeting all of you," Tonks said, hugging Hermione, Arabella, Ginny, and Evelyn. "We'll see you soon, I expect."

The train's whistle sounded, announcing that the Hogwarts Express would soon be departing. Immediately, the mothers began to hug their children goodbye and shoo them onto the train.

"Quick, quick," Molly said, hugging all of her children and Hermione and Harry. "Write... be good... if you've forgotten anything we'll send it on... onto the train, now, hurry..."

And with that, they all clambered onto the train. Almost immediately, Arabella left, desperately wanting to find either Seamus and Dean or Draco to explain why she hadn't been writing all summer.

As she walked at a fast pace through the corridor, looking into every compartment in search of her friends and boyfriend, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped into someone.

"Oh - I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," said a dreamy voice she recognized from a few years previously. "This magazine is so interesting, I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Silly me."

Arabella looked at the blonde girl in front of her. "Oh, hello Loony- Luna. I said Luna," she stammered, her eyes widening and an embarrassed blush rising in her cheeks when she realized what she had just called the girl.