Tiny

A young girl arrived at Platform 9 ¾ on her own on a cold September morning. She was there before the train, hiding in the shadows watching families talk to one another. She could see which families truly cared that they would be losing their children for six months, and which were excited to relieve themselves of them.

The girl was accompanied by a professor that morning to the platform, and has been alone since. She knew that the professor had more important things to do that day to get ready for the incoming students, but the girl thought that it would have been nice to have some assistance from those supposed to help her instead of being stranded.

From across the not quite bustling platform, the girl spotted a young boy much like herself. Hidden in the shadows, hiding from the onslaught of people. The only difference, he had a man with him. While the boy had beautiful blonde hair, a pudge in his cheeks, and height on his side, the man standing next to him was dark. The man was tall, thin, and had both dark hair and eyes. He was gripping the shoulder of the boy as if restraining him. When the boy looked out at the platform he looked hopeful…excited almost. When he glanced up at the man he looked afraid.

Even though the girl knew that there was nothing that she could do for the boy to defend him from that man she decided (if she could) that she would be his friend. The girl squared her shoulders and braved the crowd. She walked briskly across the platform, swerving and weaving herself through the bodies, and as she approached, the man’s grip relaxed and he walked away from the boy.

“Hello,” the girl said quietly. “Are you going to Hogwarts?” She hoped he wouldn’t make fun of her stuttering. She wanted to have at least one friend in her life.

“Yes,” The boy said back just as quietly, “I am…do you want to sit on the train with me?” The girl nodded her head in confirmation. “Cool. My name is Peter Pettigrew, but you can call me Peter” he waited for a response. The girl didn’t give one. “What’s your name?”

The girl hesitated, “Mora.” If Peter noticed the lack of a surname, he didn’t comment.

“Do you need to grab your stuff from your family? I can help!” Peter spoke a little louder hoping to not seem useless. He noticed that all Mora was carrying was her small messenger bag.

Mora looked down at the ground, “no. I have everything.” Mora knew that she didn’t have everything required for her first year at the school. What she did have though was one set of gently used black school robes, one set of a gently used under robe uniform, one gently used wand, one gently used jumper, and the clothes on her back. She lacked the necessary textbooks, potion ingredients, and writing equipment that she would need for the coming year.

“Oh you must have your trunk in your bag. Sorry, I forget that even I have magic sometimes” Peter chuckled quietly. He was silently hoping that this was the case, but when he looked at Mora he knew that he was wrong. Mora was shorter than him, and he was short for his age. She looked as though she had worn the clothes she was wearing for a very long time. They consisted of holes, tears, and discoloration after long time use. Her black hair was wavy and unkept as if no one had shown her how to use a brush. Her eyes were a striking baby blue, but they looked so old and tired. Peter noticed the scars that were visible on her face and hands, and knew that she had been through a lot. Peter knew that while this girl might look like the world was beating down on her, she was going to do great things. He wasn't sure if they would save the world or end it, but he knew that she needed someone in her corner. That someone was going to be him.

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Peter and Mora found a compartment towards that back of the train that had only one other kid in it. Peter looked at Mora and decided that he was going to be the one to ask to sit there. If this kid turned out to be a bully, he didn’t want him to target Mora. Peter knocked on the compartment door.

“Hello,” he said quietly to the unknown kid, “we are first years, and wanted to know if we could sit with you. All the other compartments are full.” He quickly glanced at Mora from the corner of his eye. He wanted to make sure that she was okay.

The kid in front of him looked just as tired as Mora did. He had soft brown hair, and brown eyes with a ring of amber. His sweater looked like it had seen some better days, but it was well loved and taken care of. When the kid looked up he glanced at them. He studied Peter, and it looked as if he was going to say no, but then he glanced at Mora and paused.

“Go ahead” The kid raised his arm and pointed it at the seats across from him. “My name is Remus Lupin, and I am also a first year, what are your names?”

“I’m Peter Pettigrew, and this is Mora.” Peter quickly entered the compartment and sat closest to Remus in the seats across from him in case Mora was still cautious. Mora quickly sat next to Peter after closing the compartment door.

“Nice to meet you,” Remus looked at Peter quickly before focusing on Mora. There was something…different about her. It was putting his wolf on edge, and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Mora on the other hand was freaking out. There is a list of individuals with whom she was directed not to speak to. Remus Lupin was one of them. Remus took another breath, “I would just like to warn you though. I have a friend and over the summer when I went shopping for my school things, we said we would meet each other on the train, and he is a little on the…excited side shall we say.” Remus spoke as if he was an old soul, yet some of his vocabulary was quite shocking to Mora.

“That’s okay. Everyone needs a little bit of excitement every once and a while.” Mora said quietly. Remus thought that she was almost afraid to talk to him. It was almost like she…knew what was going on with him.

As the train departed from the station, the three students didn’t really speak to one another. They were all comfortable enough to sit in silence, and they did so for around 15 minutes. As Hogwarts Express was starting to see the end of the city life the compartment bursted open. There were two boys in the doorway with bright smiles. The boy in the front had short and wild black hair and hazel eyes. The other boy was taller, and his hair came down to his shoulder in beautiful black waves. His arm was draped over the first boy and they were whispering to one another. The two boys came in and squished themselves down into the remaining seat next to Remus, and never once did they break their conversation.

Remus let out a big sigh and coughed to get their attention. “Hello, I’m Remus Lupin, and you are?” He extended his hand to the boy with the wavy black hair. He already knew the other boy.

“Oh, shove it Remus,” said the wild haired boy, “this is Sirius Black, and you already know who I am.” The boy said pompously.

“While yes, James I do know who you are, but the others in this compartment likely do not.” A look of realization flashed on James’s face before his face flushed red. “Anyway, Sirius, it’s nice to meet you, and like I said, my name is Remus. Across from me is Peter Pettigrew, and sitting next to him is Mora.” He looked at James pointedly. “This lump next to me is James Potter. His father and my father used to work together.”

Peter quickly nodded his head. He could feel Mora get closer to him when the attention was placed on her. He figured that she didn’t quite like the attention being on her. Quietly, Peter started talking to the new boys. “Do you know what house you want to be in?”
It was as if Peter struck all of them with a sword. Remus was scared that he wouldn’t get sorted because of his monthly problem. Sirius was scared he would be sorted into Slytherin, and become like everyone else that was dark in his family. James was scared of disappointing his parents, and Mora? Well, Mora was scared of what her guardian would do to her if she didn’t get Gryffindor. She was more scared of what her Guardian would do when he found out that three of the five people he instructed her to stay away from were in the same compartment as her, and they seem to be becoming friends.

“I for one,” said Sirius, “want to be in Gryffindor. My family would hate it, and I would hate it if I ended up in Slytherin.”

“I don’t care where I go,” Said Remus, “but I’d like to stay with my friends”

“I’m probably going to Gryffindor. My mom was in Slytherin, but everyone on my dad’s side has always been in Gryffindor.”

“I think I would like Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I think I’m very brave, but I want to be seen as loyal too,” said Peter.

All the boys turned to look at Mora. She ducked her head and quickly said, “Gryffindor.”

The four boys shared a look. No one should be that scared to have attention on them, and they didn’t know if they could see the quiet and meek girl in the house of the brave. However, the four boys decided that they were going to protect this girl from anyone who even thought to breathe in her direction wrong.

“So we have decided then. We are all going to be in Gryffindor together then. Fantastic!” Sirius exclaimed.

After this conversation seemed to continue between the three boys; James, Sirius, and Remus. Peter would interject every once in a while, but he tried not to move too much because Mora had fallen asleep on him around the 45 minute mark of the journey.

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When the Hogwarts Express finally reached Hogsmead, there was a loud call for first years to go toward the lake. A man, who introduced himself as Professor Slughorn, told the students to sit four to a boat. The five new friends waited for all the boats to fill to see which one of them would be joining another boat, but as they waited, they realized that there was one boat left, and the rest of them were full. The four boys just looked at one another and at Mora. Peter gently grabbed her hand, and the five of them made their way to the remaining boat. Mora, Remus, and Peter sat on one side of the boat, while James and Sirius sat on the other. The boys were all thinking that the Headmaster assumed that because they were one seat short that someone could ride with the professor, not realizing he didn’t have a boat but a floating standing pad. Mora knew, however, that this was a sign from her guardian that he was displeased with her. He told her if she missed the sorting that she would be unable to come to Hogwarts as a student, and he was trying his hardest to make that true.

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The first year students entered the Great Hall, and were greeted by a singing hat. Mora was unsure about what most of the hat was singing, but she recognized the names of the houses and their qualities. Eventually, the students' names started to be called.

“Amelia Bones……Hufflepuff!”

“Severus Snape……Slytherin!”

“Timothy Rines…..Ravenclaw!”

“Georgia Rines…..Slytherin!”

The list continued to go on and on and on until it was down to the five friends.

“Remus Lupin!” There was a quiet lawl in the process. Mora feared that her guardian would find out that she was talking to these students. “Gryffindor!” After Remus was sorted it was like the hat went through them so quickly to where Mora was the only one left.

“James Potter….Gryffindor!”

“Sirius Black…. Gryffindor!”

“Peter Pettigrew…..Gryffindor!”

They didn’t even bother calling Mora’s name. Just waved her up the stairs. All the professors knew her anyway. The hat was placed on her head.

Hello child. Mora shivered. The hat sounded as though he was defeated. You already know where you are placed, dear one. I wish I could put you where you would belong, but we both know the consequences of those actions. Mora took a stuttering breath. I wish you well, dear one… “Gryffindor!”

Mora quickly got the hat off of her head. She raced to sit next to Peter, who unfortunately was sitting across from the other boys. As Mora was the last to be sorted, the Headmaster started the feast. As the hall erupts into conversations, and the professors turn to one another, Sirius strikes up conversation with his new friends. “So I know that I am Sirius Black,” cue hair flip, “you’re James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew,” he pointed to each respective boy before facing Mora, “but you Tiny have not given me your surname. While I don’t like my family, I would like to be able to talk to you without fear of my magic reacting badly if there is by chance a family feud. So, Tiny, what's your name?” All the boys turn to her, and for once, Mora is holding Sirius’s gaze, almost like she was measuring how much she could trust him.

She took a deep breath, “Mora. Mora Riddle.”