the girl with all of the choices

o n e

1139 words

september first- leaving home

"Addison," my mum called from the living room, "you're going to be late! You can't miss the train!"

"I'll be ready in a minute Mum!" I yelled back. I grabbed my wand, my jumper, and my copy of Shakespeare's Three Romantic Tragedies and ran out of my room. I took one last look around my house before running out the front door. I can't wait for fourth year, I thought to myself. This will be the best year yet. 

I ran out to the car and hopped in the backseat. My dad had already packed my trunk and extra bag in the back and even had the car running. He knew I had a tendency to run late. Mum was already seated in the front when I closed the car door. She turned around, smiled at me warmly and said, "You ready sweetheart?"

"Absolutely Mum!"

"Okay, here we go then," mumbled my dad. He always hated when I would leave home. He didn't quite understand my going to Hogwarts. He owns a bookshop in the centre of London and married my mum after meeting her there. She is a professor at University. I inherited my love of books and learning new things from both of them. I had spent the last summer holiday with dad at the shop. I would usually try to drink the entire supply of coffee he had on hand for customers, but he never used to let me. After I came home from third year he let me drink as much coffee as I wanted. Naturally I drank it all. The stereotype is the all British people prefer tea to coffee, but I was the exception. My love for coffee probably stemmed from my desire to be in Paris all of the time. But that was irrelevant in this moment. 

The only thing that mattered was that I was going back to Hogwarts, and that I was happy. Don't get me wrong, I would miss my parents, but I missed my friends and my school more. Hogwarts might just be a boarding school for witches and wizards to some, but to me, it was home. I couldn't do magic at home, and my parents could never really understand my witchy side. At Hogwarts, I could be unashamedly myself. I had friends that I loved. I learned things that ordinary muggles would never learn about. It was my home.

Before I knew it, we had arrived at Kings Cross Station. My parents helped me put my trunk on the cart and push it towards Platform 9 and 3/4. Since both of my parents were muggles, they could not walk onto the platform with me. They would wait outside of the entrance to the platform until 11 am sharp, since that was when the Hogwarts Express promptly rolled out of the station. I hugged my parents and told them I would write as soon as we got there. I grabbed my luggage cart and waved before running at the wall between Platforms 9 and 10. If I'm being honest, I would always start to brim with anxiety while approaching the wall, as if it would materialize before I got through it. I was always afraid of banging my head on the brick wall and embarrassing myself. 

Once I entered the Platform, all of my worries washed away. All around were students young and old, saying goodbye to their magical parents. Part of me always wished that my parents weren't muggles so they could join me on the Platform. I thought they would enjoy seeing a small part of my world. But alas, thinking about the endless possibilities of my parents lacking magical abilities would get me nowhere. I dropped my luggage off and went to find my friends. 

I stumbled across Fawn first. Fawn Stevens was my number one best friend. She had bright honey-coloured eyes and big bouncy curls. Her smile made anyone and everyone feel welcome and loved. Even on the darkest days, Fawn's smile could make you feel unabridged joy. She was a half-blood. Her dad was a pureblood and her mum was a half-blood witch. She lived only about a half-hour away from me, which was nice because it allowed us to hang out whenever we wanted during the holidays. 

I ran over to Fawn and hugged her as I had never seen her before. 

"Fawn, how have you been? I missed you so much! How was the Quidditch World Cup? I'm sorry I couldn't have gone with you, my dad wanted to spend more time with me before today," I explained.

"Addie, I missed you too!" She pulled away from the embrace. She turned around and showed me the name on the back of her Quidditch jersey. The name read KRUM. He was the seeker for the Bulgarian team. "I got this nice jersey," she continued, "but they still managed to lose." She paused, looking around before continuing hesitantly. "Some other things happened, but I can't tell you here. I'll tell you on the train."

"Should we try to find Ainsley or go get a compartment?" I questioned.

"Why don't we try to find a compartment," Fawn responded. "Ainsley knows that we'll have one, she will know where to look for us."

I nodded, and as Fawn turned to go say goodbye to her parents she ran into a platinum blond-haired boy. "Watch where you're going, you twat," he spat at Fawn. As soon as he spoke, I recognized exactly who we were dealing with: Draco Malfoy. The golden, or rather silver boy of Slytherin. Fawn scoffed at him and turned to her parents. Somehow I found my eyes locked on his. They glistened like the stars. They weren't blue, but they weren't grey. I never thought of him as anything more than an arrogant git before that moment, but seeing his eyes made me realize how human he was. The moment was over in a millisecond once he looked me up and down. "Filthy mudblood," he whispered under his breath before walking away. 

I adjusted my hands with anxiety and anger. I hated it when people called me that. I knew that it was nothing, that he was just an icky boy who found comfort in making others feel less worthy than he thought he was. It still didn't remove the sting I felt in my extremities in response to being degraded. My parents were two of the hardest-working most compassionate people I had ever known in my life, and I was proud to be their daughter. I hoped in that moment that I would never have to be in the presence of that git again. 

Fawn turned around. "Ready?" she asked. 

"Ready," I responded. 

And with that, we boarded the train.

Hogwarts here we come.