The Little Lightning Girl

14- My Friends Find Out That I'm Not a Morning Person

James's POV

September 1st

I was going back to Hogwarts today. I was going into my sixth year even though I'd missed the last part of my fifth. The final two weeks of summer had been filled with taking my delayed OWL exams, all of which I passed with flying colors, to my family's surprise. The best surprise was that I'd been appointed Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

I had wondered whether I was ready to take the position, but after some urging by my father and my cousins, I accepted it. As hard as I'd worked to recover, I still had flashbacks and I couldn't always control them. I had my fair share of problems regarding memories from my capture, but I was working on it.

As for Alana, she was still in a coma, all these months later. But the doctors said that she was still growing normally. And when I'd visited her, I had also noticed some changes. Her toes reached further down the bed, and her hair had grown. It gave me hope to know that her body was alright, even if her mind wasn't quite yet. I made a vow, even after I got to school, to visit her as often as I could. She was the one person on this earth who understood what I had been through, and I wouldn't let her go.

Going back to Hogwarts, however much I loved the school, felt strange. It felt like I was returning in someone else's body. I couldn't quite explain the feeling. It didn't help that anyone and everyone stared at me as I arrived on the platform, bid my parents goodbyes, and boarded the Hogwarts Express. Dad had prepared me for that possibility, but the reality was far past strange. But nevertheless, when I boarded the familiar red train and walked down the corridor to find Fred, Louis, and Frank in our usual compartment, I knew I was home.

My best friends put a smile on my face like no one else. As much as I'd grown pretty close with Adrian and Noah over the summer, these boys were family. We talked and joked and caught up with each other for almost the entire train ride. None of them prodded me with questions, and even though I caught each of them looking at me with obvious worry, they acted fairly normal. It wasn't fair of me to expect them to act like nothing had happened and as uncomfortable as their stares were, they were just concerned, and I couldn't be mad about that.

When we got off the train, I noticed the first change. I could see the thestrals. My father had told me years ago why some people could see them and others couldn't. The image of dozens of death eaters dead from the explosion flashed in my mind. For a moment I could even smell the smoke from the fires, but I shook myself back to the present. I'd seen a lot of deaths recently, and the blueish horse-like creatures were clear as day to me. I gave one a quick pat and climbed into the carriage, trying to ignore the strange looks from my friends.

The Sorting was as it always was and the feast was delicious. I was surprised when, in the middle of dinner, someone came and sat on my right. I was more surprised to see Kaley Finch there and Rose on her other side. Rose had moved seats while still eating fried chicken like she'd never do it again.

"Hey, Kaley. How was your summer?"

I decided to ask, because if I gave away the fact that I'd seen her before now, people would ask questions. Since everyone knew she spent her summers in France, and as far as my family knew I'd never gone to France, it would definitely raise questions if I said I'd seen her.

She smiled at me and I felt my heart rate speed up, "it was fine, got to spend a lot of time with my siblings. You saw Felix got sorted into Hufflepuff, right? I thought it'd be Gryffindor for sure."

Her younger brother had received his Hogwarts letter in June, and none of their family had been all that surprised, as the week before, Kaley had caught him levitating himself in his sleep. But even though they weren't surprised, they were ecstatic.