The Train
"SIRIUS!"
Sure enough, Sirius had just entered the house with Harry and Jéricho behind him, giggling like loons.
"Hey guys! I'm back! LYRA! What wand have you got?"
Lyra jumped on Sirius in her excitement and proudly showed him her new wand. "Ten inches, mahogany and thunderbird tail feather."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Good for transfiguration, I see. Congratulations, baby girl!"
"Thanks, dad!"
"What 'bout you, Charles?"
The atmosphere suddenly turned tense. Harry frowned. "What?"
"Uh..." Charles stuttered, "Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather."
Jéricho whistled. "That sounds... complex."
Sirius had actually studied a bit of wandlore with James and Remus, and now Jéricho and his friend Cassius Warrington were doing the same. Harry had no interest in it, though.
"Yes, uh..." Lily cleared her throat. "The only second feather from the same phoenix that also gave the feather for Voldemort's wand."
"Ah..." realization dawned on their faces. After an awkward pause, Sirius clapped his hands suddenly. "Hey! So, uh, the surprises I had for Lyra and Charles..."
They were birds. A midnight black raven with white spots, and a beautiful snowy white owl. "Raven for Lyra, and Owl for Charles." Jéricho announced.
"Oh my god!" Charles shrieked as he and Lyra quickly started petting their respective birds.
"Hedwig." decided Charles.
Lyra smirked. "Athena."
Lyra
Soon, they were standing at the station, in front of the red Hogwarts train. They had traveled by the traditional method, and Sirius was currently kissing Lyra goodbye. Lyra wasn't complaining; she didn't get too much affection from Dad as he wasn't around. Charles, on the other hand, was loudly groaning and squirming under his mum's tight embrace.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted at one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
Harry and Jéricho left early, and soon Lyra and Charles were joined by Ron and Neville. They bid their parents goodbye, and Monty and Effie were huffing and puffing.
"C'mon, let's find a compartment," Charles suggested.
Lyra shook her head. "You boys go on. I'll try to see if I can spot other first years."
Understanding flickered in Charles' eyes as he looked between her and Ron and his face fell. Lyra felt bad for about half a second. She disliked Ronald, but he was too Charles' best friend, and she wouldn't want him to leave him alone.
So, Lyra left in search of a compartment and found one with only three first-years sitting. Lyra knocked and slid the door open. "Hey, may I sit here?"
The handsome boy with dark skin and slanted eyes the color of melted chocolate grinned. "Sure, come on." Lyra sat and studied the others, as they did the same. The dark-skinned boy was tall, and his hair was chocolaty and curled perfectly. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he grew up.
The boy beside him was a bit weedy and stingy. Tall and thin, but not at all athletic or lean. His hair was sandy brown, his skin pale, and his eyes a plain brown. Nothing special, but he did look a bit tired.
The girl beside Lyra was a sight. Wavy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her skin was fair, and her height was average. All in all, she was quite pretty.
"I'm Blaise Zabini." the dark boy said. "And these are my friends Theo Nott and Daphne Greengrass."
"Lyra Black."
"Blimey!" Theo spoke. "The daughter of Sirius Black, eh?"
"That's the one."
Daphne smirked. "My sister Serafina's friends with your brother."
Lyra nodded, smiling. "Yeah, he's mentioned her."
"So, which house are you going to? We're all for Slytherin, but I can be a Ravenclaw, I suppose." Blaise asked.
"And I may fit in Hufflepuff." Theo shrugged.
"But Daph's proper evil. And Slytherin." Blaise added, snickering.
Lyra shrugged. "I don't really know. Gryffindor or Slytherin, I guess."
Blaise raised an imaginary toast, grinning. "Well, here's to hoping you're with us."
Charles
Charles, meanwhile, was sitting with Neville and Ron in a separate compartment, feeling bad for Lyra going off alone. He decided that he would go to find her halfway through the journey.
The door banged open loudly and, as expected, Harry and the twins fell in.
"Hey, little bro-" Fred started.
"-you settled in?" George finished.
Ron rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yes. What're you doing here?"
"Can't we greet our baby brothers?" Harry asked innocently.
Charles just sighed. "Where's your other half, Harry?"
"Who?" Harry frowned mockingly.
"You know who!"
"YOU-KNOW-WHO?! Why, I never!" Harry cried in mortification.
Then he promptly burst into laughter along with the Weasleys and Neville. "Sorry, sorry. But you gotta admit it, you fell right into that one. Anyway, Ech's with Lyra. We met her on our way."
"By the way, why's she not with you?" Fred asked suspiciously.
Ron grumbled. "Wanted to make new friends."
"Oh, that's nice." Harry said absently. "Listen, I better get back and get Sera."
With that, he ducked out again. Neville frowned. "Sera?"
"His girlfriend." the twins answered.
"Girlfriend?!" yelped the three young children in unison.
"Well, not exactly-"
"-but it's only a matter of time."
"They've been paying around for a year-"
"-but both are too stupid-"
"-and oblivious to see-"
"they fancy each other."
Charles put his hands up. "Wait, wait, wait! Isn't she with Jéricho in Ravenclaw?"
"Yep."
And then the twins promptly disappeared.
Lyra
"Is there any space here?" came a bossy voice from their compartment door, which was now open. In the doorway stood a girl with large front teeth and bushy brown hair. She was already dressed in her school robes.
Daphne narrowed her eyes and the boys paused in their animated conversation, but Lyra nodded. "Sure."
The girl stuck out her hand. She had a kind of a 'know-it-all' attitude. "Hermione Granger."
Lyra politely shook it, while the others ignored it completely. "Muggleborn?"
"Yes," Granger answered a bit defensively.
They all introduced themselves and scrutinized her until the door opened again and five people popped in. The compartment was now becoming a bit crowded.
"Hey, Ly."
Lyra looked up and grinned. "Ech, Harry. Fred, George."
"Sera." Daphne said.
"Sis." Sera nodded back.
"Why aren't you sitting with the boys?" Jéricho frowned.
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Ron."
She didn't need to say anymore, as they all had sympathetic grimaces on their faces. None of them liked Ron very much, like her. Even the twins considered him a bit of a prat.
"Say no more, cuz." Harry announced dramatically. "I'll go see them."
Harry and the twins went away, and Sera and Jéricho also said their goodbyes soon after. As soon as they were out of sight, Granger fired away. "Who are they?"
"My brother Jéricho and Daphne's sister Serafina." Lyra replied. "And Harry and Fred and George, who were the redheaded twins. Harry's my cousin, and the other two are their friends."
"Oh. Which house are you going to go to?"
"Slytherin." they all responded. Then Lyra added, "But I can be a Gryff too."
"And I might like Ravenclaw." Blaise said.
Theo hummed. "Or Hufflepuff."
"Oh," Granger said. "I think Gryffindor's best, but I suppose I won't mind Ravenclaw. But isn't Slytherin where all bad wizards and witches go? I heard it's evil."
Daphne huffed as the boys made identical faces of disgust. "Prejudices. Slytherin values clever and ambitious people, not ones who are evil. And other houses have produced their fair share of Death Eaters too. Barty Crouch, Ravenclaw."
"Peter Pettigrew, Gryffindor." Lyra spat.
"And Merlin was in Slytherin." Theo added.
Granger's eyes were wide from this new news.