they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 1

After good 10 minutes of Astrid's protests about how brainless it is to just charge at a brick wall at full speed and her father trying to convince her that it really was the only way to get to the platform and they wouldn't get hurt, Astrid finally complied. She had insisted though that her father should do it first so that if he was playing some joke on her, he'd be the more ridiculous looking of the two. But since Eric hadn't wanted to leave his daughter behind, he offered a deal that they do it both at the same time. Astrid was still sceptical but she had complied. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't a child who doesn't believe in miracles, quite the opposite really, but she wasn't also so dense as to believe that she was able to teleport through walls. She knew what it felt like to run into one at full speed, and her 9-year old self had had a bump on her head for over a week after the incident.

But listen to her father she did, locking their arms together, they started running and soon enough, they were indeed on a completely different train platform. Platform 9 3/4. Astrid was very confused as to what to think next time she'd go running at a wall. Is that one of her special abilities? To just run in whatever wall and appear wherever she needed?

"Wicked," she breathed as she let go of Eric's hand, taking the bag she had been holding in her right hand and now holding it with both.

She looked over the busy platform as she saw so many families buzzing around, hugging and kissing their kids goodbye, some waving at the tiny faces that were grinning back from the windows of the long, long train.

A few families stood out to her and she had to stifle a laugh, one was a huge group of redheads, all looking almost the same as the other one. Then there was this group of posh-looking brunettes, where the whole family seemed to have the same odd-looking nose. Moreover, there was the especially glum-looking family of platinum blondes. They didn't look the tiniest bit excited and stood out in the crowd like a sore toe. The thing Astrid wondered about was how could their hair be so unnaturally white. She thought maybe it was a trend in their family and they constantly dyed it but thought the idea ridiculous and settled rather on the fact that they were just a family of albinos. She chuckled to herself looking at the other families as she wondered if all of them had made a goal to look almost indistinguishable from one another. Almost all family members were ridiculously similar.

Do I look just as similar to dad as all these kids do to their parents?

She looked back to her side where she saw her dad stand, a crease in his brows.

When she had given Eric the letter, she had thought that he was going to rip it apart. At least that was the expression he had showcased. He had then said he had hoped he had successfully ran away from that life but whatever it meant Astrid hadn't given it much thought until now. In the past month, she had found out a lot of new things including the fact that Eric was a wizard himself but why she hadn't seen him with a wand only crossed her mind now.

Eric looked uncomfortable as he carefully watched the platform and Astrid knew this place tied him to some bad memories. But she didn't have the time to ask about it when she heard the train whistle blow signalling everybody to get on the train. She made a mental note to ask him over a letter... if she ever figured out how to send one.

Eric quickly grabbed her trunk and moved it to where some workers were putting the students' baggage onto the train. He hugged her goodbye and placed a soft kiss onto her forehead wishing her to have a lot of fun.

She didn't want to leave. An immediate feeling of homesickness took over her as she stepped onto the train. She saw all those students chatting and suddenly felt very alone.

She speed-walked to the nearest window as the train started moving and waved Eric goodbye.

What have I gotten myself into?