Bright

-2-

Elle POV

Platform 9 ¾ was busy on September 1st, with all the hustle and bustle of students both old and new kissing their parents goodbye and hopping on the train of destiny, as I liked to call it. Draco and I came here by ourselves because Narcissa and Lucius were otherwise preoccupied with their own busy schedules. It did stink to not have them here, wishing us a good year like all of the other parents, but we shared our goodbyes over a plentiful breakfast.

Draco led me through the platform and around the chaos before we reached the drop off station. I put my heavy trunk down next to a big, burly man and he gave me a fresh smile. The man's mustache rested heavily on his top lip and it was apparent that he needed a trim. I kindly returned it and walked with Draco to the train's entrance. One after another, student's piled themselves onto the locomotive in hopes to get a good seat on the train. Draco, due to his name, had already claimed a booth before they even got on the train. His reservation came in the form of Blaise Zabini, who had arrived a couple of hours before they did.

As the train became even more crowded, although I don't quite know how that is possible, Draco took my hand in his to ensure that I would not get lost amongst the sea of children. As we weaved left and right, forwards and backwards through the train cars, we eventually caught a glimpse of Blaise and came rushing towards him and the car that he snagged. Another figure was seated with him, and it looked to be the Theo boy that we met at Diagon Alley a few days prior.

"Hey, Malfoy!"

"Zabini, glad you saved our room!" Malfoy and Blaise did their usual handshake that they created when they were seven in the basement of the manor, where we would hang out when their parents got together.

"Ah, Theo, nice seeing you here with us!"

"Good to see you too Malfoy."

We shared our greetings with one another and sat in the spots open on each booth. Draco sat next to Theo and I sat next to Blaise. We shared a few icebreaker facts about ourselves, that way we could get to know one another better, when this beautiful girl walked into our car. She had chocolate brown hair that she seemed to have curled earlier that morning, because the curls were falling out. She wore a forest green headband, and a pleated skirt. She looked like she already had most of her uniform on. She looked almost lost, like she didn't quite know where to go, or who to talk to. It took me a moment to realise that Pansy Parkinson was the girl standing in our doorway.

"Lost, Parkinson?" Blaise called out, almost mockingly.

"No, I just didn't like anyone else. I figured sitting with you pillocks was better than looking lonely." she retorted sassily.

"Ouch. I should be offended." Draco snarked.

Pansy made her way next to Blaise and I and sat down in between us. There wasn't much room on the bench to begin with, but with Pansy there, it was almost impossible to move.

"Merlin, Parkinson, sit on the ground or something!" Blaise said.

"Why don't you? I am the one in the skirt." Pansy said, her grin growing in size.

Blaise scoffed before he took a spot on the floor in between Pansy and I's legs. We rode like that for a lot of the ride before Blaise got sick of the floor and wanted his spot back on the booth. I offered to sit on the ground and promptly switched with him. We rode mostly in chatters amongst different groups of us when a bushy haired girl stormed her way down our car and opened our door.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy is looking for one."

"No?" Draco replied before dismissing her. She scoffed at us before she slammed our door shut.

"No class... probably a mudblood." Draco sneered, and all of us shared a laugh. I was never fond of the word 'mudblood', but Lucius used it quite often, so I was sort of desensitized to the word by now. Insults were spewed at the girl with the bushy hair, and another bond was formed between the five of us. We all got along like a great band of kids. Draco had his bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle, join in on the fun eventually. All seven of us cramped into a tiny booth and shared our favorite memories before heading to Hogwarts. Theo shared a Nott family tale about their time in Paris when he was eight. Blaise talked about his mother's new husband, and Pansy shared her ambitions for her time at Hogwarts. These conversations continued, and before we knew it, we were getting off the train and climbing into a carriage to actually get to the giant castle.

Not all seven of us would fit into one carriage, so Me, Pansy, Draco and Theo took one carriage, and then Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise took another. It was quite the odd concoction, the four of us. Usually we would take the three person carriage with Blaise, and ignore the other four, but we all seemed to be getting along very well. Specifically Draco and Theo. They just clicked from the moment they met, and they finally are getting to know each other. It was a beautiful thing to see, because I have never seen Draco click with someone so fast. It took him a long time to trust Blaise with even the most mundane things, but it was like Theo was another Draco.

I, however, was not clicking as fast with Pansy as I did with other people. It may be just because she is obviously a closed off introvert, almost how Blaise appeared to the rest of the world. Pansy was quite the observer, she preferred to listen rather than talk.

"So, Pansy, Tell me more about your family."

"My parents are good to me, they take care of me, and they give me nice things. I know that they love me. But I don't see them a lot. They always close themselves off to me, and I never understood why. I choose not to question it anymore." She seemed reluctant to share this information with me, but I was glad that I was able to get her to at least talk to me a little bit.

Pansy and I sat in silence for the rest of the ride, listening to the boys and sharing an occasional glance at one another. The ride lasted longer than I anticipated, so I was filled with joy when our carriage stopped and the door opened. I was the first one out of the carriage, basically running from my seat as fast as I could. When I stepped outside, I saw Blaise waiting with Crabbe and Goyle outside our carriage. I ran over and gave Blaise a hug.

"Man, I thought that carriage ride would never end!"

"Thankfully it did. I just about killed these two buffoons!" Blaise shot back, making Crabbe and Goyle look over almost offended.

"That's hilarious!" I said in between a laugh. "Well Blaise, we are finally here! What do you think?"

"Not what I thought it would be. Almost a let down." Blaise replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on." I replied, grabbing Blaises forearm and dragging him towards the castle out of excitement. He almost didn't seem amused, which shocked me because he was looking forward to this more than Draco and I combined. Blaise trudged along behind me as we made our way up the massive hill and to the steps of the castle. We stood at the steps and looked around for Draco, who seemed to be otherwise preoccupied with Crabbe and Goyle a few yards back.

"Draco!" I called out. His head shot up into my direction, and I motioned him to come to us. "Are you coming? Blaise and I are waiting for you!"

"I'm coming you dolts, hold on a sec!" Draco said, weaving through the other students who were equally as anxious to be at Hogwarts. "Whats up?" he said as he skidded to a halt in front of me.

"Do you remember our plan?" I asked, looking at both Draco and Blaise.

"Yeah" they both replied in unison.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I said with the utmost excitement. Draco and Blaise grew equally as excited as we linked arms at the foot of the steps leading up to the giant castle.

"1... 2... 3!!!" Blaise counted as we readied to climb the stairs. As soon as Blaise reached three, we all collectively decided that we waited long enough, and we climbed the stairs together, and entered the door to our future.