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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎

𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄
"𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒."
—𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑡, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟑𝟒𝟏𝟑

⋆⋆⋆✧⋆⋆⋆

𝐏𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐔𝐆𝐆𝐀𝐆𝐄 in front of her, Liliana walked across Platform 9 and ¾ with her parents. 

The sight of rushing students and waving families told her that the Hogwarts Express would be departing soon and that she should probably hurry if she didn't want to miss her ride to Hogwarts.

"Study hard!" her father exclaimed as he gave her a kiss on the head once they had approached one of the train doors.

"Be safe, darling," her mother added on with a sly smile. "Stay away from any monsters that may come your way."

"I'll do my best," Liliana giggled as she gave them both a kiss on the cheek. "I'll write to you guys soon! Bye!"

With one last wave of farewell, she headed onto the train. She tugged her luggage behind her as she headed down the corridor, giving waves to familiar classmates and other friends as she passed by. 

She quickly found the compartment that held the three other boys that she had missed so dearly, and she grinned. 

They were all engaged in a strange conversation that Liliana felt as though she needed context for, but their words soon hushed as their heads turned towards her.

"Hey, Liana!" Wesley said cheerily as she slid her luggage next to the others on the metal rack.

"Hey!" she greeted back with a smile as she took a seat next to Devon, facing the other two boys.

"Cedric—or as I like to call him, Pretty Boy Prefect—is making his rounds right now," Devon informed her, a malicious grin swiftly growing on his face. "So . . . that means we have to take our chance and say—"

"Just tell him!" Riley finished for him, nodding quickly. "Tell him you're in love with him!"

"Oh, come on," Liliana groaned, shutting her eyes as she leaned back against the seat. "I've been here for three seconds and you guys are already saying this stuff?"

"Honestly, Liana, just do it," Wesley said sincerely while Riley nodded profusely from next to him. "I really don't think there are any consequences if you do."

"Wha—of course, there are bloody consequences! If I tell him, he's going to say he doesn't like me like that, and then our friendship is ruined!" Liliana pointed out as she folded her arms and huffed. "And then I can't hang out with him anymore, which means I can't hang out with you guys anymore, and I won't have any friends!" She paused for a moment before adding on, "Well, I have other friends, but you get my point."

The three boys exchanged eye-rolls.

Devon scoffed. "You don't know that." 

"I do know that, and it's not going to happen, so please just leave me alone about this," Liliana sighed. 

"Fine." Wesley shrugged. "Your loss."

The topic was soon forgotten as various tidbits of their summer vacations seeped their way into the conversation; Devon gave a thorough recount of his trip to Belgium ("Their chocolate was bloody incredible! I ate so much that I threw up loads of it!"), Riley gave an exciting play-by-play of the Quidditch match he had watched (Caerphilly Catapults against the Falmouth Falcons), and Wesley only waved a dismissive hand and said his summer was fine.