the girl with all of the choices

e i g h t y - e i g h t

10370 words

september first- seventh year

~ Addison ~

This was not what I thought the first day of my last year of school would look like.

Last year, when I was upset about Mum and Dad not being able to go with me to King's Cross, I told myself it would be okay, that we would have this year. But now, they were supposedly in America. I didn't even have confirmation that they made it there alright because Remus and Tonks had to go back into hiding.

I was in Fawn's house. My parents were gone. I was officially fighting in a war.

Very much not the way I thought my life would be for the first day of my last year of school.

Fawn's parents had warned us that we wouldn't be able to apparate to Platform 9 and 3/4. Since the Ministry had fallen under the control of You-Know-Who, His puppet Minister had passed accordances within the Wizengamot that effectively allowed the Ministry to regulate the flux of certain areas of magic such as apparition, the Floo Network, and even the use of Portkeys. They could check apparition histories, trace the magic so that they could figure out who went where and when.

So, we were going to drive. It would seem much more inconspicuous that way. Fawn's parents had a spare car that we were going to leave at the Station. If we needed to go back to her house at some point for the holidays, we would use the car.

My trunk had been in Fawn's room since I left my parents' house with Remus and Tonks. I had been staying in her room too, having felt very grateful and unwilling to give up her company after being away for so long.

The effort of getting to the station was going to be a lot. There would probably be Death Eaters flanked in every shadow to kidnap the parents and families of muggle-borns after they entered Platform 9 and 3/4. We needed to be well concealed.

"Do you think it'll be more beneficial if we shrink our trunks?" I asked Fawn as she piled the last few of her belongings in her trunk.

"Why do you ask that?"

I sighed nervously. "It's highly probable that there will be Death Eaters swarming King's Cross. If we wear normal clothes and we shrink our trunks, we might be able to slip by without drawing any attention."

"They don't exactly like muggles either," she reminded me, her face contorted in worry.

"I know," I said. "But, they will be less likely to murder two muggle girls in the middle of the morning than they would kidnap the families of muggle-borns. Plus, what if they're checking registration for muggle-borns? We would have to present our wands and then I'd probably be taken somewhere and tortured. If we act like muggles, we can sneak up to the Platform entrance without drawing suspicion."

She eyed me warily, her hands crossed over her chest. "And then we'd re-enlarge our trunks before boarding?"

"Yes," I confirmed, standing and throwing my knapsack over my shoulders. "Remus ensured me that there are Order members within Hogwarts. The Platform should be safe, it's just getting there that's the issue."

She was still, her eyes remaining on me. "Do you remember the incantation?"

I smirked at her and crossed over to her nightstand, grabbing my wand from where it was lying before walking back over to my trunk. "Reducio."

My trunk began to shrink until it was the size of a keychain, which was when I picked it up and placed it in my pocket.

Fawn chuckled under her breath. "You are brilliant."