Quidditch

Quidditch (A Harry Potter fanfiction) Chapter Three

Chapter Three

On September 1, I wake up to Nix purring loudly next to my head. Its dawn and I have a very busy day ahead of me. Large and bulky, my trunk sits at the end of my bed, waiting for me to throw in the last few things I need. My room looks empty, me having torn down most of my posters so I could put them up in my dorm at Hogwarts. I quickly put on the outfit I laid out last night, a loosely fitting sunset patterned top over a lacy white cami, pale green skinny jeans, and bright purple high-tops. I looked like a spring afternoon, my bright hair accenting my outfit nicely.

The stairs creaked as I rushed down to the kitchen, my trunk bumping along behind me. Nix, of course, was already down the stairs, scared by the heavy thumping of my closet-in-a-box. As I set my trunk down in the kitchen, she runs up and leaps onto my shoe, biting and attacking the aglets. Scooping her up, I place the snow-white furball in her special pocket in my bag. She settles into the fur lined bowl, purring like a motorboat.

I had this purse specially made the day I got Nix. It's an over the shoulder bag with a pocket in the side that is stiff and shaped like a bowl, lined with fur, and Velcroable. The top is open, with I flap you can either tuck in the pocket or use as a cover flap. The rest is just a white and turquoise striped bag with various quotes written in purple. My favorite is 'There will always be someone who tells you that you can't. What you've got to do is turn around and say "Watch me."'.

Outside sits an unopened bag of chicken feed. I lift it up and rip it open, scattering the contents everywhere. The chickens all freak out and peck desperately at the ground, like they'll never see food again. Suddenly I realize that I won't see this farm again until Christmas. I stand there for a moment, taking in the scent of the apples just ripening on the trees. This is the first year that I won't be here to fly around on my broom, picking apples off the trees in midair. I won't be here to play Quidditch among the golden leaves, getting knocked off my broom into the giant pile of leaves when my team loses. I'll miss you, I think, sending silent good-byes to the farm around me. But I'll be back soon.

I stand there until the sun is up and Evan is throwing his stuff in the car, forcing me to do the same. The entire car ride is silent, all the occupants brooding about the upcoming year. We only speak when we're at Kings Cross Station and my mom is pouring money into my hands.

"I love you, you know that?" My mom says softly. I tilt my head up to her, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I love you too." I turn away and grab my stuff, pulling it onto the scarlet train. Once in a compartment, I sit down and look out the window. My mother is there, waving, so I wave back. Our expressions are identical, smiling, wet cheeks, good-byes showing in our eyes. Just as the train starts moving, I yell "See you on Christmas!"

I sit back and close my eyes, thinking of what I'm headed toward. Nix meows and crawls into my lap, then abruptly falls asleep. Lost in thought, the opening of the compartment door startles me. My eyes shoot open. Standing in the doorway is a group of first year girls, consisting of my three best friends, Andrea, Rachel, and Cookie. Her name's not really Cookie, it's Camille, but we all like Cookie much better. Anyways, she does always seem to have a stash of them.

"HI EMBER!" They chorus. They laugh at my expression and sit down, already talking about their summers. They've all been away in different countries, so they're loaded with stories. Cookie hands us each a magnet that says 'My best friend went to Michigan, and all she got me was this lousy magnet.'

"Michigan Adventure was AWESOME! I went on a ton of water rides and got SOAKED!" She enthuses. Cookie spouts out all the adventures of her time in the States, her brown eyes sparkling. Most of the time she was in Michigan, but she travelled to Ohio and Illinois a few times.