entranced/ f.w.

platform 9 3/4

davina

as i stepped onto the platform, jolting through the bricks, i was happy to feel the familiarity of the place once again.

since i was 11, september first had became a day i eagerly anticipated. i had made friends, learned spells, brewed potions, and had phenomenal meals in the place that i would travel to every year on this day.

from the moment i was sorted into ravenclaw, i knew hogwarts was a place for me. and every year when my best friends ran up to greet me on the platform, it only further ensured my happiness about the school.

"well hello darling," blue marshall, a slytherin third-year, whom was my best friend, greeted me. 

"hello blue," i chuckle, hugging the girl, "how are you."

"extremely and utterly unprepared for our third year," she grins, "you?"

"oh you know, ready to tutor you."

we both pick up our trunks and enter the hogwarts express. we find an empty compartment and seat ourselves in it. i wait patiently for the rest of our friends to arrive, although only one of them is truly my friend. 

it's evident they are nearby when i hear fred and george weasley, fifth year gryffindors, teasing their third year brother, ron, as they get closer to our compartment. 

harry potter is the first one of the friend trio to enter our compartment. he nods at blue and i, earning a nod from me, and an eye-roll from blue. the next is ron, with a sour look on his face from being teased by his brothers. he doesn't even acknowledge us, due to the fact that last year blue nearly jinxed him for speaking to her rudely. the last to enter is hermione, who is the most overjoyed to see us. the three of us practically shriek, as she basically tramples us, engulfing us into a hug.

we proceed to discuss our summer holiday, and how everything was. hermione spent the summer in the muggle world for the most part, enjoying her parent's company.

blue spent the entire summer with the her mother in paris. she went to shops and cafes, and practiced flying on a broom she purchased there. she also ran into blaise zabini, a slytherin whom she's fancied since our first year. they "got a butterbeer and that's all", according to her.

i spent my summer with my mother, who taught me advanced spells, without practicing them of course, and also aided me in my flying. blue and i are both trying out for our respective house quidditch teams. i'm hoping to be keeper, and blue, who is extremely competitive, is going to be a beater. 

we've been on the moving train for about an hour so far, and blue is bugging me every five minutes to go get something from the sweets trolley. while i'm sure her intentions are pure, i definitely think the fact that the trolley is currently by blaise's compartment is influencing her sweet tooth.

i eventually give in, not being able to turn down her pouting face.

as we make our way through the train past compartments, the groups of houses shift from all different to majority slytherin, which is slightly intimidating. yes, my best friend is a slytherin, and i love her immensely, however, some of her housemates are not as accepting as her. they tend to leave me alone, because i was born to a wizard family, but sometimes they decide to comment on blue's lineage, which infuriates me.

in year 2 she made me promise to leave it alone if they ever messed with her, after i almost sent a jinx toward crabbe and goyle. 

as we reach the trolley i see blaise slide out of his compartment, and glance over at the slytherin girl next to me. her eyes have light up, a smirk playing across her lips.

"hello blue," blaise smiles as we approach him.

"hey zabini," she responds, "how was your summer."

they go on with their conversation for the next couple of minutes, but i tune them out. i ask the trolly witch for 2 pumpkin pasties and a chocolate frog and pay her. i am about to turn to listen to my friends conversation, when i decide to peer into blaise's compartment instead to see who he was sitting with. as i expected, pansy parkinson, crabbe, goyle, and draco malfoy, all slytherins, fill the seats. 

i become intrigued when i see crabbe point at blue, turning to malfoy and whispering something. malfoy responds, smirking suspiciously, and rises from his seat. i quickly tear my gaze away from them, and back to blaise and blue.

"oh you'll have to come visit over christmas holiday," blaise says, "mum would love to have a girl around the house for once."

blue nods, turning to me, as malfoy emerges from the compartment, resting his hand on blaise's shoulder.

"come on zabini, you're taking ages," he says.

"shove off malfoy, i'm in the middle of a conversation."

"oh who cares," malfoy replies, "you and i both know a conversation with a half-blood won't do you any good."

i scoff, causing draco and blue to both stare at me. blue's face has a warning look plastered on it, begging me not to say anything. malfoy's looking at me with warning as well, but it's as if he's begging me to say something. 

i shake it off and decide not to engage with him, knowing it would only upset blue further. i turn to her, grabbing her arm lightly.

"come on blue, let's go back to hermione," i say to the saddened girl, "i'm sure we're close to the castle now."

we start to walk off, blue waving shyly to blaise, but before i follow blue, i feel someone's grip on my arm. i turn, ready to tell them off, and meet eyes with the foul slytherin boy who just insulted  my friend.

"you know matthews," he starts, "you really should consort with a higher caliber of friends."

"if they're anything like you," i retort, "trust me malfoy, i'm perfectly fine."

and with that, i turn and storm back to my compartment, furious with the encounter i just faced. if it weren't for blue's request, i would have punched draco malfoy in the nose right where he stood. 

i'm deep in thought, wondering why blue doesn't stand up for herself against them like she does with everyone else as i storm through the train. she's always been fiercely protective of herself and her friends when it came to everyone else, but against the other slytherins she says nothing. i know their comments bother her, but she does nothing to prevent it. 

my deep thoughts distract me as i bump into something hard, causing me to stumble slightly. i look in front of me to find a tall, curly-headed boy in hufflepuff robes.

"i am so sorry," i shake my head, "i wasn't paying attention."

"no, i'm sorry," he says, "if i'm being quite honest, i wasn't paying attention either."

"well i guess we should both pay attention on our way back to our compartments. be careful not to bump anyone on your way back"

i start to walk away, still fuming from my conversation with malfoy and now thouroughly embarrassed with myself as well, but the boy calls out to me.

"wait," he shouts, then shakes his head, "i'm sorry, i didn't catch your name."

"davina matthews," i smile, stretching my hand out to him.

"nice to meet you davina," he smiles, "i'm cedric diggory."

"see you around ced."