Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE : The train ride to Hogwarts , pumpkin pasties and love at first sight
songs to listen to when reading this chapter : Her by American Dawn
It was a calm yet chaotic ride on the Hogwarts express , the carriages were filled with excited yet nervous first-years and many older year groups who were all boasting about there blast of a summer they had and what exciting places they visited during the summer. The scarlet train huffed and puffed its way through the green splashed countryside ,which all the other students seem to ignore but there was one girl in particular who admired the picturesque English countryside
Sat in the corner of an empty carriage was none other than Liyah Sharp , a Ravenclaw ready to start her fourth year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Being the only one in the carriage she was able to sit with her knees on the blue chequered seats while having a 'Advanced guide to Ancient Runes' on her lap . She tucked her long chestnut hair behind her ears while she turned the next page of her book .Liyah sighed and stared at the reflection of herself through the window .As-well as having long brown hair she had dark brown Bambi eyes to match and 'gorgeous' cheekbones ,Liyah chuckled at the remembrance of when her classmates asked if her cheekbones were 'real' during first-year . Her muggle friend, Cara Blacksmith also used compliment on her features saying how she could out-do all the models on British Teen Vogue.
Cara, she thought . She had been so busy during the Summer she didn't once think about her friend , the friend who was now 6 feet under the ground . Cara had been Liyah's friend since they were 4 and in primary school as well as Spencer and Hanna .Liyah and other two always felt bad leaving Cara on her own as they went to different schools .Obviously they couldn't tell her they were witches going to a school to learn about magic instead of mathematics . Spencer and Hanna attended Beauxbatons academy of magic , which was all the way on the France-Swiss border. If only they were here Liyah thought then she wouldn't be all alone in a carriage swallowed by her melancholic thoughts -
"There you are!" . The carriage door opened , a brunette who looked a bit similar to Liyah was standing ,closing the door behind him . Liyah was startled but giggled as soon as she got over her shock.
"Jack!" she got up from her seat and hugged him tightly .
"Good to see you cousin." Jackson Spearwood was Liyah's cousin , a Gryffindor who was also in the same year as her and in some of her classes . He had the same Bambi eyes like Liyah but was more white in skin tone.
"How was Devon?" Liyah asked pulling away from they hug , a couple weeks before Jackson and the family went down South for some time on the beach before school started again , Liyah and her mother couldn't go as Liyah's mother worked overtime in the Ministry and taking more days of would completely ruin the mood of her mothers boss.
"Ehh it was nice but could've been better." shrugged Jackson as he let go "How are you by the way?"
"I'm fine." Liyah spoke without hesitation , why would he ask that ?
"Its just.... Your going back to school after a long time ...and Cara isn't 'missing'." He rose his hands using his fingers as quotation marks . "You know you can't hide forever , tell you what, why don't you come with me and hang out with me and my friends." "C'mon it be fun , for the past year I've noticed you always on your own as if your allergic to socialising which i know your aren't , your like the most fun person i know."
Liyah paused. She didn't think that not being involved in that many teenage shenanigans has made people believe she's 'not fun' . Even though she did spend the rest of third year buried in books and journals of missing people accounts and subscribing to her local newspaper just so she can get updates of Cara's whereabouts . But she wasn't always like that ,yes the book part was always there as Liyah was avid reader and never went anywhere without a book in her bag but the ' no friend group part' was something she never thought would happen , plus over the long period of solitude , Liyah realised that maybe being alone was for the best after all , true friends wouldn't abandon you and your distorted feelings .
"Thanks for inviting me Jack , but I'd rather just stay. Besides, I'd probably be the topic of conversation since what happened last May ."
"Alright then." Jackson lifted both of his hands as though he had been caught and slowly reached for the door but stopped abruptly .
"Hey Liyah, you know ... if you need someone to talk to I'm always here". Liyah smiled , the thought of Jackson being her shoulder to cry on did calm her thoughts down .
"Thanks Monkey."
"Anytime Bunny." Jackson left, closing the door behind him . Liyah sighed , she never expected Jackson to be this emotional about her circumstances but he was her cousin , basically her brother , of course he would care.
Just then the trolley lady arrived , finally Liyah thought ,maybe some food would make her less miserable. She picked up her purse and walked out her carriage , greeting the trolley lady as she began picking out some sweets . After filling her bag and thanking Madam Trolley she turned around back to her carriage , only to find a troll standing in the door way .
"Alone again Sharp?" Marcus Flint laughed as he made eye contact
"Flint." Liyah whispered but loud enough for him to hear . If there is one thing that Liyah did not miss was Flint's constant comments which were always creepy and inappropriate ,Liyah despised him and she made sure that he knew that she was not up for grabs .
"You know , I always wonder why you're always by yourself , maybe if you get your head out of those books you read you'll realise you're more desirable than any other girl in our year". He smirked , almost proud of himself. If he was a muggle he'd definitely go into politics he'd be a proud Tory.
"Maybe if you read a book you'd be less dense as you are now." Liyah scolded as she crossed her arms . "Now if you excuse me I'm going back to my carriage . She began to walk but an arm stopped her .
Liyah sighed heavily, "Flint if you don't move your crusty arm of me I will drop kick you across this train and send your ass back to London!"
"Easy there tiger , I'm not going to do anything , well not just yet anyway." "now as I was saying , you'd be a great addition to my group , how about you ditch the books and come with me and my friends , I can give you everything you always wanted -
"The only thing you're giving me right now is a headache , your offers may work on other girls but I see right through you Marcus Flint". Liyah began to take a few steps backwards , there was only one thing she could do because of the stupid troll blocking her way back to her carriage ...
SMACK . Liyah swung her bag of treats onto Flint's face , causing him to trip on his face . Liyah made a run for it , who knew pumpkin pasties made great face hitting companions while running she definitely heard Marcus screaming "Your dead Liyah Sharp!" as he cried in pain .
Another group of students also heard the commotion , To investigate , Oliver Wood stepped out his carriage looking from side to side to figure out what had happened , oblivious to the brown haired girl running towards him .
Oliver turned round only to be greeted with a mysterious girl bumping straight into him . THUD
"Oww...Oh Godric I'm so sorry! Liyah stammered as she adjusted herself .
"No it's alright ." Oliver reassured her , still holding onto her hand as she helped him up . It was only now he was able to get a good look of Liyah , Oliver was dazed , he was in awe , how can someone look so captivating , everything about her was perfect , her hair , her face , her eyes . Her eyes , felt as though he was in a dream , and if he was he did not want to wake up .
"Umm are you okay?"
"Sorry what." Oliver had woken up from Lala Land and back to reality, he had almost forgotten that he was in the middle of the corridor .Liyah on the other hand seemed perfectly stable or at least on the outside ,on the inside she felt as if she could crumble .First she had knocked out Marcus Flint with a bag of pumpkin pasties , second she had bumped into a random guy who was probably in her year , even more embarrassing .
"I asked if you are okay, it's not normal for a guy and girl to bump into each other like that."
"And it's not normal for a girl to be running on a train with a bag of sweets in her hand." Oliver replied, lifting up the brown bag of pumpkin pasties "This yours?" . Liyah took the bag from Oliver , their hands slightly touching, neither of them not wanting to let go .What was this feeling? thought Liyah, her stomach was fluttering almost like there were butterflies flying around .
"Why were you running anyway?" Oliver abruptly asked, slowly letting go of Liyah's hands ,just a couple more seconds would have been great he thought .
"Well I was getting a bite to eat and was going to go back to my carriage but that troll Marcus Flint stopped me."
"Did he hurt you?" gasped Oliver , he knew Marcus was trouble but he didn't think he would go as low and target another student , let alone a girl like her, hang on a minute I don't even know her name he thought .
"More like I hurt him , when he offered me a place in his friend group, I lost it and smacked him with my bag of pasties and legged it." Liyah concluded as she pointed at her bag of pasties. "They make great hitting companions by the way , who knew they could do so much damage." Oliver chuckled , this girl he barely knew was incredible. .
"I should probably go." Liyah sighed
" Oh would you like to stay for a bit , me and my friends have loads more snacks in our carriage and they would definitely love your story with the whole encounter with Flint ." Oliver insisted but he didn't want to seem needy either.
"Thanks but I'd rather just go back to my carriage, well be arriving soon"
Oliver nodded , Liyah turned but a voice stopped her .
"I'm Oliver by the way, Oliver Wood." He smiled at Liyah sweetly and Liyah couldn't help but smile back .
"I'm Liyah, Liyah Sharp." She turned swiftly and walked away , her hair bouncing as she walked . Oliver was left alone in the narrow corridor, he walked back to his carriage , sitting there was his best friend - Percy Weasley as well as his twin brothers Fred and George , sitting on the opposite side were two out of the three Gryffindor Chasers Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell .
"What took you so long?" asked Alicia staring straight at Oliver with eager eyes . "What was all that racket in the corridor?"
"That was Marcus Flint , he fell on the floor groaning in pain because a girl hit him in the face with a bag of pasties."
" So where's the girl now?" Katie asked , the rest of them eager to know more about the mystery girl .
"That girl deserves a medal." said Fred with a grin on his face
"More like a trophy." George chimed in "He is such a troll , you know what they say - "Walk like a troll, act like a troll , is a troll ." The group burst out into laughter , the Weasley twins always knew how to make them laugh , it came naturally to them .
"So what happened to the girl?" Katies asked after the laughter died down.
" Well we ended up bumping into each other and we talked for a little bit." He smiled at the thought of talking to Liyah . "And we held hands for quite some time." Oliver admitted smiling.
"Aww Oliver has a crush!" beamed Katie excitedly , " at least you'll have a crush to preoccupy your mind instead of quidditch." the rest of the group giggled uncontrollably, Oliver opened his mouth to argue but paused, they were not wrong , he did talk about Quidditch more than anything after all he was now the newly appointed Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor , of course he had to eat , sleep and breathe Quidditch . "What's her name? "Katie asked after she composed herself .
"Liyah." Oliver replied in an instant ,"Liyah Sharp."
The whole carriage had gone quite, Oliver felt a shiver down his spine,
"What's wrong, do you know her?" Oliver blurted abruptly, he didn't think there was anything wrong with Liyah , she seemed quite feisty now that he thought about it , she'd make a great beater if she was on a Quidditch team after all knocking out Flint with a bag of pasties must have taken a lot of force .....wait what house was she in, the one thing he should have asked as well her name, merlin I can be stupid sometimes .
"Liyah Sharp , she's a Ravenclaw and in our year." Katie explained while gesturing her hands to Percy and Oliver opposite her . "She has the highest grades in our year. I mean she is a Ravenclaw so she must be really clever and she's kind and helpful which is sad now that you think about what's happened to her over the years .
"What stuff?" Percy asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Well towards the end of first year , her dad left her and her mother , no warning just pfft gone." explained Katie while making a clicking noise with her fingers. Later , I think during Christmas third year , her muggle friend had gone missing. There was a whole craze going on in London about finding her but then around May , they found her....but she wasn't alive. Katie paused for a brief moment , the whole carriage was drop dead silent to the point where you could hear the sound of the train's wheels scraping the tracks.
"Her body was found in a river, where exactly I can't remember." Katie said in almost ' im trying to remember but nothing is in my head voice'
"How do you know all this?" Alicia asked surprised.
"Oh , Veronica Abrams was telling us , when I mean us I mean anyone who was in close proximity to her." Katie explained while looking at her shoes annoyed . "The worst part of it is that the girls Sharp used to hang out with - Grenade and Hampton left her for Abrams and her group , didn't even bother to check on her during second forget third year , poor thing must be so upset, I'd crumble if that happened to me." Katie sighed , the whole carriage had fell to complete silence , Oliver was distraught , how could all these horrible things happen to such a sweet person, Oliver wanted to march straight to Liyah's carriage and give her hug , tell her that she didn't have to do this alone, that everything will be okay but obviously that's something you can't blurt out the second time you meet someone after a rather strange but wholesome encounter .
"She seems to be doing okay though." Alicia blurted , breaking the silence of the distraught Gryffindor's .
"Yeah maybe on the outside but you don't know what's going on in a personal sense." Katie said, turning to Alicia . Alicia tilted her head in agreement.
"I wanted to meet her during the summer but I couldn't as I was in Italy the entire time. " Katie said sadly , her eyes staring at the floor . Percy stood up from his seat , putting his hand on Katie's shoulder to console her
"Don't beat yourself up Katie besides, you could always talk to her in school , speaking of school we're nearly here so lets get changed ." The rest of the group agreed and started collecting their belongings. Oliver picked up his rucksack and glanced at the window , the once lush green countryside had turned somewhat brown in colour, the blue sky now had hints of purple and pink in it . The sky reminded Oliver of Liyah's bracelet she had on her arm. He didn't know what this school year could bring him , hopefully a Quidditch win for Gryffindor, new adventures , easier classes but that looked very unlikely but if there was one thing he definitely knew - Oliver had met the love of his life .