The Hogwarts Express
The chambers were silent when McGonagall awoke. Her head throbbing and throat dry. She reached to the bedside table and searched around for her glasses, sliding them on and locating her wand. She pulled a dressing gown on and left her bedroom.
The kitchen was empty and no sound came from the twin's room. The clock in the corner read 8 o'clock. If they didn't leave soon she wouldn’t be back in time for her meeting. McGonagall started to panic. She opened the door but both girls weren't there. Their beds were made and half their belongings missing, not strewn over the floor as they had been for the past few weeks.
"Rowanne? Robin?" McGonagall called, there was no reply.
She strode out the room, bumping right into Professor Flitwick, "good morning Minerva, my you look…"
"Have you seen the twins?" They're not in their room"
"Ah, I think they're a few steps ahead of you there" he smiled mischievously,
"What do you mean?"
"I suggest you get ready, you'll find them"
"What do you mean, Fillius!" He walked off, McGonagall sighed. He was probably right that she looked… well mis-shapen. She waltzed back into her room, changed and put on some makeup. When she finally emerged it was 8:30.
She trotted down the corridors to the Great Hall. Surely they were there.
"Good morning Poppy" she said as she passed the zombie looking witch. Madam Pomfrey wasn't as good at hiding a hangover as McGonagall.
"Ugh" came a grunt from the woman. McGonagall chuckled as she turned the corner, coming face to face with the girls.
They were standing by the gates, trunks at the ready. "Good morning. Your up bright and early"
"We wanted to get a head start"
"So you've both had breakfast?"
"Yep" they said in unison,
"Robin what's that?" McGonagall looked sternly at a thick wooden stick poking out of the pile.
"Ummm nothing" Robin tried to cover her tracks.
"You know first years aren't allowed broomsticks," She pulled it out, allowing a trunk to fall from its place.
"Sorry mum"
"You both have your books? Robes?"
"What's the big deal. We're coming back here anyway" Robin sighed,
"I don't care. I want you to bring all you things on the train"
"Okay" Robin agreed,
McGonagall waved her wand, the two trolleys folded in on themselves, creating rucksacks out of them, "There, that'll last until we get to the station" She smiled, pleased with herself,
"How are we getting there?" Rowanne asked
"Apparition. It's the only way"
"Ugh why!" Robin sighed, "I don't see why we can't just join in the crowds when they arrive?"
"Because you have a great chance at making friends if you go on the train. I met Pom- I mean Professor Sprout on the train"
Robin sighed, but seemed to accept the response.
They walked out of the castle and towards Hogsmeade where they could apparate. Robin was talking excitedly about everything she was going to do, not that any of it seemed to be related to actual school work. Rowanne stayed abnormally quiet. Pondering what might happen the rest of the day. Where would she be placed? What would happen? Would the work be hard? Would she have friends? Her breath quickened and she struggled to breathe, not that this was unusual. Rowanne took deep breaths, calming herself down enough to fool her mother and sister.
“Rowanne? Munchkin? Are you okay?” The two stopped talking and looked to their companion.
"What, sorry, yeah fine. Just thinking"
"Never a good idea" Robin smirked,
"Alright, if you're sure" McGonagall took Rowanne and Robin's hands, "we ready? You know the rules, keep close to me and stay focused"
They felt a pulling force, grabbing hold of them and as it washes over their muscles and limbs felt like they were being folded over each other. Clinging onto their mother the twins felt it subide almost as quickly as it had begun.
They were in an alleyway, you could hear the bustle of the station not that far away and the whistle of trains coming and going. As soon as they landed, Robin staggered away from her mother, clutching a hold of the wall for support and threw up.
"Oh dear, still not used to that princess" McGonagall walked over, rubbing the girl's back comfortingly. She waved her wand, making the mess disappear, then she turned around and aimed at the two rucksacks, they shot up and resumed their shape as trollies. Delores hopped out croaking as they sought refuge from their owner.
"Mum" Rowanne said, looking at her watch, "you know it's barely 9. The train doesn't leave for another two hours"
"I know dear, but I have a lot to do today. The castle is having a ridiculous amount of visitors and they won't leave for a very long time" McGonagall rolled her eyes.
"Okay fair enough" Rowanne frowned,
McGonagall helped them pile their things onto trolleys and they walked out of the alley, crossed the road and entered Kings Cross station. They walked over a bridge that gave them a clear view of the whole platform.
"Now, it's very simple. All you have to do is run at the wall between platform 9 and 10. You'll come out on the other side. I used to do it at a run" Rowanne nodded, her mother continued, "I'll be right here and I'll watch you go. Any problems come back here and we can sort it out alright?"
"Yep" Robin said aimlessly,
"9 and 10" Rowanne confirmed, McGonagall nodded,
"Before you go, I want to give you girls something" She held out a small box and opened it, inside were two necklaces. They had a snake chain with angel charms that glistened in the morning light. One was pink, the rose gem filling the body and head. Silver wings spread out separating the two like a barrier. The other was amber and looked like the sun had been condensed into a singular body.
“Sick” Robin exclaimed, taking the pink one, McGonagall took the amber one out and put it around Rowanne’s neck,
“Thanks mum, it’s really cool” Rowanne hugged her mother,
"You two are going to be alright. Look after each other, yeah?" She said, probably to reassure herself,
"Of course mum, we'll be fine"
"We're seeing you in literally a few hours"
"I know, I know. Have fun alright" She smiled, the girls had rarely been out on their own. Hogwarts wasn't unsafe for them to roam freely, but in the middle of London. It certainly was.
The girls left their mum, making their way down the steps and onto platform 9 and 10. Robin pushed her trolley to the barrier between the two. She looked up at the signs on either side, took a deep breath and ran at it. Closing her eyes at the last minute. But she didn't hit anything.
Rowanne watched the last part of Rowanne disappear through the wall. It was now her turn. She glanced back at the bridge, McGonagall gave a slight nod that was barely noticeable. Rowanne too pushed onwards emerging the other side.
The train was massive, though they'd seen it arrive at Hogsmeade every year, it never looked like that. Humongous and bright, not like it was normally in the dark night's sky. The platform was completely empty, not a soul in sight. It was clearly too early for masses of students that would be arriving.
Robin walked towards it, and Rowanne followed. They pulled the trunks on with great effort and made their way down the carriages.
"Look, Lily's in here" Rowanne turned around to communicate to her sister,
"Cool, I'm gonna find the loo, apparition really doesn't agree with me" Robin shuffled past Rowanne and walked down the carriage.
Rowanne entered the compartment where the red head sat, her head pressed against the window and tiny droplets of silver fell across her cheeks.
"Hey Lily" Rowanne looked at the girl, concerned, "are you alright?"
"Not really"
"What happened" Rowanne sat next to her,
"My sister and I got in a fight just before I left. She called me a freak, told me not to come"
"Oh Lily, I'm so sorry" Rowanne hugged her friend
"I just don't get it, she's never been like that before. We were always so close"
"It's difficult. Especially if she's not a witch but you are. She's probably worried you're going to grow apart"
"Maybe I just shouldn't have come. Stayed behind, nothing would have changed"
"But she would always think that"
"I wish I'd never become a witch"
"Oh Lily, you've always been a witch. That hasn't changed"
"But she never hated me before I became one"
"You always were one, only now you're not alone. Being a witch is who you are, if she can't accept that then she never accepted you"
"I just wish nothing changed"
"A wise man once told me, things always change. They have to. You shouldn't be afraid of change, you need to embrace it. Trust that things will turn out exactly as they're supposed to. One day when you're both older and she's let go of the jealousy she's keeping in, she'll see that in reality, you're not much different. And the two of you will be better for it"
"You think?"
"I know" Lily rested her head on Rowanne's shoulder.
“Okay so before you start I only got lost once” Robin had opened the door and collapsed out of breath on the seat opposite the two girls, “It’s getting busy out there now, I bumped into this other first year. He looked a little lost so I dragged him along” Robin looked at the door but the boy hadn’t come in. In fact he wasn’t there at all, “Oh, ops”
“You scared him off already, or imagined him” Rowanne laughed,
“I did not. Maybe he had other friends”
“Did you even ask his name?” Lily asked, purking up slightly,
“Of course I did!”
“Well what was it” Rowanne smirked,
“It, it” Robin searched for the name, “Oh shut up”
The two other girls laughed, Lily seemed to relax, she was safe. Away from her sister, away from muggles. Maybe Rowanne was right and it was better this way.
“How did you manage to get lost on a train anyway” Rowanne asked,
“It’s easy when you go the wrong way in the first place”
The station was filled up with people now, old and young. Rowanne and Lily chatted as Rowanne tried to distract her. Robin stared out of the window, feeling very out of place. The confidence she had had the whole summer seemed to slip from her grasp. She was going to Hogwarts, and for the first time in her life, she was more nervous than excited. It wasn’t going to be her home, it was her school. It always had been in a way, but as a kid she could get away with absolutely anything, so long as her mother or professor Gonolinne wasn’t around to see it.
Her mother. Robin had never been taught by McGonagall. What would happen there? She could hope that Minerva would be lenient on her children, but then she’d just be fooling herself. McGonagall, lenient! In her dreams. Robin had always been the mischievous one of the two. She didn’t have a fascination with books like her sister so not much had ever been expected of her except to make mistakes and annoy the teachers. That didn’t normally matter to Robin, in fact she quite enjoyed it. But that would mean McGonagall, hell, all of the teachers would assume that of her. She’d never be able to get away with anything, not in a structured routine.
“What do you…” She began before trailing off. The other two were too engrossed in conversation to notice their companion. Robin had never had to fight for her sister’s attention. In fact it had always been the other way around, with people adoring the more outspoken Robin and often overlooking Rowanne.
She stared out of the window, she saw James and the boy that was with him the previous day. They were mucking about and joking with Fleamott while Effie tried to get him to focus on the train journey and in fact the year ahead. That was where Robin wished she was, so care-free, innocent. Unaware or unbothered by the daunting task that lay ahead of them.
She looked across the station. No one really shone out at her. There was one boy, greasy long black hair. He had seemed to have noticed their window, and while his cold, dark expression hadn’t changed, Robin felt very sure she was being watched. Pushing those thoughts to the side she kept looking, eyes darting through the masses of people.
There was Frank Logbottom, she couldn’t quite remember what year he was in. Maybe going into 4 or 5. Robin looked hopefully at her sister, like maybe she could communicate her desire to ask her a question. It normally worked, but not today, Rowanne didn’t even look up. Robin looked back out the window, a tinge of jealousy pulling at her robes. She wanted to find someone, a first year, someone she could befriend instead of relying on Rowanne who clearly had other priorities.
There was one girl that looked her age, she looked to be asian and had blonde hair with brown eyes. Amongst her belonging was a broom, Robin smiled, how she planned to sneak that in she wasn’t sure. But if she did then she was definitely Robin’s hero.
There was another that looked her age, climbing onto the train. She had dark skin and curly brown hair. Her outfit seemed rather odd for the wizarding train station, with a black leather jacket and leopard print boots. Robin started, slightly infatuated, but she was soon brought out of this as the girl climbed aboard and something else caught her attention.
The shrill scream came from the opposite side of the station. There, in all black, tall and more menacing than Robin had remembered stood the woman that had threatened her and Rowanne the day before. Robin couldn't remember their name, Rowanne would know, but she was still oblivious to her, so it would have to wait. The woman was fussing around the boy who looked even worse than he did yesterday. Surrounding them were two other girls. Much older than the boy, they seemed to be quarreling about something but the woman clipped them over their heads and the three made their way onto the train.
"Hey, what are you looking at Rob?" Rowanne had noticed her sister to be abnormally quiet.
"That woman from yesterday"
"Oh yeah, Lils, did I tell you about that?" And as quickly as it came the attention was away from her.
But it didn't last long, as the boy that had been staring at her opened the door of the carriage. He looked as though he owned the place.
"Sev!" Lily cried, leaping forward to hug him. They seemed to know her and he looked very happy to receive her. Robin looked across at Rowanne who shrugged.
"What are they doing here?" He aimed his question at the girls, disgust on his face.
"Sev that's mean" Lily rolled her eyes,
"I thought it was just us"
"It's okay that they're here isn't it Sev?"
"I wanted to talk to you"
"You still can" Lily looked at him confused. The twin's eyes darted between them, this boy was definitely a bit creepy, neither of them liked him already.
"In private"
Rowanne looked across pleadingly at her sister. She didn't want to be there but was too Rowanne to say anything. Robin stood up, her confidence rebuilding, "I think we're gonna go" she winked at Rowanne, pulling her up.
"If you need anything come find me alright" Rowanne said sweetly,
"She won't," the boy snarled. Robin grabbed Rowanne's arm, pulling her back, suddenly feeling very protective. She glared at him, about to speak but Lily jumped in first.
"Severus what has gotten into you. Apologize" she pressed. Both twins looked at eachother, the same thought going through their minds.
"Sorry, I just need to talk to Lily" he looked to the floor, clearly embarrassed and obviously not meaning it. But did as he was told
"See you later guys" Lily watched them go.
The twins made their way down the carriage, the once empty train not so empty anymore. There was one free compartment, sandwiched between some 3rd years and 7th years. They took the chance, slipping inside and closing the door.
"Okay I'm not the only one that thought that was odd right?" Rowanne asked,
"No, so odd. Had Lily spoken about him before"
"I mean she mentioned she had a friend who was coming to Hogwarts but not that he was like that"
"You mean a mindless prat," Robin rolled her eyes.
The train whistle sounded and the girls looked out of the window, taking one final glance at the platform below. Soon they would be home again, only it wouldn't ever be the same.
"Hey look, it's James and Peter, if they don't hurry up they're going to miss the train" Rowanne laughed as the two boys began sprinting down the platform to catch the train. The smaller and slightly larger Peter trailing behind his counterpart.
"Excuse me?" A boy entered, Rowanne recognised him instantly as the boy behind Walburga Black that day at Diagon Alley.
Robin saw her sister tense. It took her a second, this boy was much less timid than the one they'd seen that day, his face seemed to have much more color on it than it had only moments previous. Robin pulled out her wand, and stood up, acting as a barrier between the boy and Rowanne.
"Woah, woah. Geez I just wanna talk" he helped his hands up defensively,
"Sure you're not here to finish what your mother started?" Robin said accusingly,
"Rob, give him a second" Rowanne now stood up, placing a hand on Robin's shoulder,
"Thanks" he nodded at her, "My name's Sirius Black. Robin I assume?"
Robin said nothing, guard still up, she glared at the boy, Rowanne spoke, "that's Robin. I'm Rowanne"
"It's great to meet you properly. Your a legend" he had a giant grin on his face,
Robin looked confused, she glanced back at her sister and Rowanne smiled.
"How about you sit down?" she said. Pulling Robin into the seat next to her,
"Okay, someone is going to have to explain all this to me. You don't want to kill us?"
"What no of course not. You stood up to my mother. I've never seen anyone do that before"
"I'm guessing you and your mum don't get on?" Rowanne asked,
"No, well I can't tell her, but I don't agree with her. If that makes sense"
"Yeah" Rowanne nodded
"Ummm no" Robin still looked confused,
"You mean you don't know about blood status and like the sacred 28?"
"No"
"You're not muggle born are you?" He looked a bit concerned,
"We're not. My sister just doesn't do much reading and our mum doesn't really talk about all that stuff" Rowanne explained,
"I see. I don't read either, waste of time" He smiled comfortingly at Robin, "My mum seems to think that she's superior. Cause she comes from a mainly wizard family"
"Wasn't her husband her cousin"
"Yep. Cause being inbred makes you superior apparently" he rolled his eyes,
The girls chuckled, "so why did you come here?"
"My cousin's were told by my mother to keep me in check. You know, make sure I fall into the right crowd and stuff. So I was supposed to sit with them on the train. But now we've left the station. Who cares right? I'm not sitting with those weirdos"
They continued to talk to him for a while. Learning what they could about him. Rowanne kept glancing at the door. A boy their age had been walking up and down. Clearly contemplating whether to come in.
"Row, what're you doing?"
Rowanne had got up and gone to the door. She stuck her head out. Unfortunately the boy had just turned to take another lap and he collided with her head.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I'll go. Sorry" He sputtered, turning around to leave.
"Wait" the boy stopped. Both Robin and Sirius had joined Rowanne, standing in the doorway, "You look lost. Why don't you come in?" Rowanne smiled comfortingly.
He followed her inside and sat next to Sirius, Robin recognised him, "hey, you're that kid from earlier, see I told you he was real" she turned to Rowanne. Playfully hitting her in the arm.
"I never said otherwise" she rolled her eyes, focusing back on the awkward boy on the seat opposite, "so I gather you're in first year as well?"
"Ummm, yeah" his eyes darted nervously between the three other children in the carriage.
"Got a name?" Sirius asked. He hadn't taken his eyes off the boy since he had appeared.
"Remus" he gulped, "Remus Lupin"
"Well Remus Lupin. I'm Sirius, Sirius Black" Sirius sniggered, shaking the other boy's hand.
They weren't alone long however as a commotion down the hall drew their attention.
"What in the world!" Robin exclaimed as James came toppling into their compartment, Peter at his feet.
James stumbled on in, but composed himself heroically. His companion on the other hand, not so much. Peter had tripped on his own, slightly large, shoes and toppled over landing face-first in the middle of the compartment floor.
Around him were a million treats, chocolate frogs, jelly beans, fudge cakes, jelly snakes and everything else you could think of.
"Are you okay?" Rowanne asked as the boy got up.
"Yeah" he brushed himself off, and sat next to Remus,
"What is all this?" Robin asked as Sirius began to pick up the sweets.
"There you two are" a plump lady with gray hair appeared.
"Sorry" James stepped forward, "here, I'll pay for all of it" he pulled out a handful of coins from his pocket and counted out enough to cover what had fallen on the floor. Maybe even more.
The lady huffed and disappeared, the compartment sat awkwardly. Rowanne looked across the room. Remus and Peter didn't seem likely to start a conversation and Sirius seemed to have turned worriedly, maybe he recognised the two boys. She wouldn't be surprised if the Potters knew the Blacks, though from what Fleamont had said the day before, they probably weren't on good terms. Their only hope was Robin or James.
"What the hell happened to you guys" Robin scouled, half excitedly half confused, though fully intrigued.
"Okay well. Ummm, I'm not really sure to be honest" James pondered the question, " we were running to catch the train. And then we got on and there was like a crash and then more running and well, now we're here"
"Right" Rowanne averted her eyes,
"Sick" Robin grinned,
"Please, I can't possibly eat all of this. Go ahead" James smiled, chucking random sweets around the carriage. He threw licorice wands at Robin and a chocolate frog towards Rowanne, Peter got a set of sugar quills and Remus acid pops. With a box of Burttie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in his hand he finally noticed Sirius. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“Oh I” Sirius spluttered,
“You shouldn’t be here. Your mother tried to kill these-”
“I wouldn’t say kill” Robin rolled her eyes,
“Are you going to hurt them, finish the job? Cause I’ll get there first. To you I mean. Why would you ever think it was a good idea” James had pulled out his wand, though clearly unsure of what he was doing, he seemed to think he was doing the right thing. Rowanne looked desperately across at Robin. Why hadn't she stopped him? Sirius stared into Jame's eyes, unmoving. Terror seemed to build up inside him, completely unparalleled to James' anger.
Rowanne glanced across at Robin, pushing her forward. Robin sighed and rolled her eyes, though she stood to face James, “James, James, calm down” she pulled him back off of Sirius and put herself between them.
"But, has he tried anything"
"No and he won't. It's fine"
"Yes, but"
"James. Please. I'm the last person to say Sirius isn't going to hurt us. I thought he would at first, but if Rowanne says he won't then I trust her judgment. Back off"
"Okay okay" James put his wand away and his hands up. Sitting down next to where Robin had just taken her own spot.
The train chugged on and the carriage had fallen into an awkward silence. James glaring at Sirius suspiciously. Rowanne nugged Robin, egging her forward. Robin rolled her eyes, doing the same to James. Hoping he would get the message. He sighed, but complied.
"So, what house does everyone think they'll be in?" He grinned,
"Remus?" Rowanne asked, the boy had barely said a word,
"Ummm I don't know really" He looked at the floor, "didn't think I'd ever get this far?"
"Fair enough" Rowanne averted the attention again,
"Peter?" She asked but he joined just shrugged,
"Okay then. Well success" Robin smirked,
"What about you Sirius?" James asked,
"James" Rowanne hissed,
"You know where I'm going" Sirius looked glumly out the window,
James stared at him a moment. Pondering the boy, "sorry mate"
"Thanks" Sirius looked up,
"Friends?" James asked, holding out his hand "regardless of where you end up" he added
"Yeah. Friends" Sirius smiled, looking thankfully at the twins, "so what about you two?" He asked. They looked at eachother, and then to James.
"Well their mum's to the head of Gryffindor so we all know where their going" James winked at the twins
"Wait what. Your mum's McGonagall. She's gunna hate me"
"Your screwed mate. McGonagall's gonna eat you alive" James smiled mischievously satisfied.
"You'll be fine, mum won't blame you" Rowanne tried to comfort him
"She won't?" He looked tentatively at her
"Eh, she won't show it to you. It's everyone else you gotta worry about" Robin taunted. Her sister shot her a disapproving look, but that only seemed to egg Robin on "You threatened Gonelline's sweet baby Rowanne. Your dead"
"He's not dead. And I'm not his baby. That's weird"
"He has a soft spot for you. Trust me" Robin smirked, knowing exactly how to get under her sister's skin.
"He definitely doesn't. He sets me twice as much homework as anyone else, he nitpicks every tiny detail, expects the world but doesn't lift a finger and is just a downright ass" Rowanne stared around, breathing heavily. She hadn't realized how much she needed to get the Professor's actions off her chest.
"Look, I know what Professor Gonnolinne is like. I swear he's probably given me double the detentions that mum has, and that's saying something" Robin rolled her eyes.
"Yeah but you didn't get an essay for coughing during his explanation of the beginnings of Hogwarts. Or a detention because you didn't stop your sister planting a stink bomb under his desk, despite not knowing that was your plan. Or a second detention when you pointed that out to him" Rowanne sighed, "you only had one and you actually planted the bomb"
"You planted a stink bomb under a teacher's desk?" James looked enthusiastically at her,
"That's awesome" Sirius smiled, in awe of the girl across from him.
Robin shrugged, to her it was just another Tuesday. But these boys had never been to Hogwarts, they obviously weren't used to the culture that had been created. Not that most of the students or teachers were on a regular basis.
Before anyone else could say anything however there was a knock on the door. A teary eyed Lily slid it open. Rowanne got up, placing her hands on Lily's shoulders as she guided her to the corner of the carriage. She glanced back past Peter, indicating to Robin that she needed to distract the boys, but of course Robin was oblivious to that.
"Lily, are you okay?" Robin asked,
"Yeah what happened" James chimed in,
"Sorry, who are you?" Sirius asked,
"L-Lily Ev-ans" she sniffled,
"Lily, what's going on?" James pressed. Rowanne had an idea, well not a good one but that boy she was with could easily be the cause.
"Severus?" She asked, Lily said nothing but gave a meek nod,
"I hate that guy," Robin piped up, as she proceeded to tell the boys about their encounter.
"So do I" James agreed once hearing the story, "do you wanna tell us what happened?" He asked. Lily shook her head and James looked lost, unsure of how to handle the situation.
"Here" Rowanne said, handling her the chocolate frog she still hadn't opened yet.
Lily seemed to brighten up at the sight of chocolate, Remus made a mental note. He'd been watching the four other children interact. He himself had very little experience in engaging in conversation. And when he had, it had always ended in heartbreak as he was ripped away from what he knew once again.
He observed as they seemed to mesh perfectly well with each other. It was clear that Rowanne and Robin knew James and Sirius before, but the circumstances were unknown to Remus. Maybe Peter knew. He looked at the boy opposite him, he looked at each person differently to Remus. He seemed to be awestruck by James, but hated the existence of Sirius. When it came to the twins and Lily however, Remus had no clue what he was thinking.
Lily held the box pentagon shaped in her hand. She turned it over, inspecting each edge. The blue and gold, and the tiny figure of the frog. She opened it, and the frog jumped up at her, she screamed as it hopped onto the wall behind her. Rowanne however was quicker, picking it up by the legs and handing it back to Lily.
"I'm good thanks, that thing. It's, it's alive" Lily backed away,
"Lils it's fine" James tried to hold back his laughter.
"Sorry, I forgot" Rowanne held back a chuckle, "It's not alive, just a spell" she waved her wand, and the once jumpy frog turned stiff like a stick. She handed it back to her.
Lily began to bite into it, but just as she did a loud croak erupted through the carriage. Lily's face turned white, had she just eaten a real frog. Luckily for her she hadn't. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as a large toad hopped across the carriage, settling on Robin's lap. Lily sighed, it was just Delores.
“What card did you get?” Rowanne asked, Robin and the boys were engaged in a conversation about Robin’s toad. Remus seemed to flit between the two conversations, interested in both while Peter focused on the one James was a part of.
“Ummm, Dumbledore” She smiled, "He's the headmaster right?”
“Yeah, good guy… Bit loopy sometimes” Rowanne chuckled. Whenever someone mentioned Dumbledore her first thought was the image of him, wearing a giant red suit stuffed with pillows and a large brown sack over his shoulder. It had been years since he dressed up like that. Probably since the girls were about 8, but it was still the first thing that came to mind.
“I read about him in one of the books I bought”
“You’ve read the books already? You only got them yesterday” Rowanne looked impressed,
“Well I couldn't sleep last night, too excited. And I got on the train a few hours early so thought I’d flick through them. Probably common knowledge to you lot” Lily shrugged,
“How much do you know about your history?” Rowanne questioned, “The world wars, Kings, Queens, trust me, most people don’t know the names of the four founders” she rolled her eyes,
“Of Hogwarts right? Godrick Griffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowenna Ravenclaw and… Salazar Slytherin”
“See you're doing better than most” Lily smiled, Rowanne had a very unique way of comforting her, though she expected Rowanne could do that with anyone. “So did you want to tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“why are you here and not with that boy of yours”
“Severus isn’t mine, he’s just a friend, a good one”
“A good friend doesn’t make you run out of the carriage, come on”
“It’s silly, and he’s right” Lily looked down embarrassed,
“What did he say?” Rowanne asked, placing a comforting hand on her new friend’s leg,
“Just that I was stupid for listening to Petunia” Lily diverted her gaze even further from Rowanne,
“Your not stupid, I can assure you of that” Rowanne moved her arm to hug Lily, “It’s okay to be upset, and he shouldn’t make you feel otherwise, Petunia is family, and the fact that she doesn’t accept you must hurt, I can’t imagine what I’d do if Robin rejected me”
“Thanks, that helps”
“You should talk to Sverus though, maybe on the boats, clear the air” Rowanne may not like the boy, but it was obvious how important he was to Lily.
“Yeah, I’ll do that” LIly sighed, instant relief pouring throughout her body, “Have you seen the time?” She glanced at her watch, though of course Rowanne didn’t have one.
“No”
“We’ll be arriving soon, should probably go and get changed” But before they could say anything to the others, a strange sight caught their eye.
“So you actually went through with it?” On the other side of the carriage, James and Sirius sat aghast. Why anyone would choose a toad over a decent owl, or even a cat was beyond them. “That's something I would expect from Peter not you”
“Hey!”
“Sorry mate, just facts” James smirked,
“What’s wrong with a toad?” Remus asked if he was going to do this. School. Then he might as well give it a proper try,
“What’s right about a toad” Sirius groaned, rolling his eyes, “They’re slippery,”
“Slimy” James piped in,
“Useless”
“Ugly”
“mucky”
“moldy”
“warty”
“And…” James hesitated
“weird” Sirius finished, winking at his companion. It may have only been a few moments but the two had fallen into a rhythm, bouncing off each other like they had once been a part of the other.
“They’re not that bad” Robin rolled her eyes, “Great for pranks”
“Maybe I’d better get one then” James straightened his back and puffed out his chest,
“Don't you dare” Robin glared at him, “Delores is my signature, besides don’t you already have an owl?”
James sighed, yes he did have an owl, it’d been a present from an aunt for starting school, ‘so he could always talk to her’ like that would ever happen.
“You named your toad Delores?” Peter eyed her carefully, silently judging,
“Well it needed a name” Robin sighed,
“I want to know more about its pranking techniques” Sirius smirked mischievously, James looked at him, then to Robin, grinning.
“I’m not letting you in on the master’s secrets” The corner of Robin’s lips eched up, she looked out the window, hiding her face.
“Oh come on please!” James begged, though Sirius took it one step further. He leapt off the seat and kneeled on the carriage floor,
“Oh master, impart your wisdom on us. We are not worthy, but with your help we can rule the school” He bowed as if worshiping her. James followed suit, dropping to the floor himself and copying Sirius. Robin didn’t know what to do, she sat there, dumbfounded but mainly embarrassed, unsure of what to do.
“What on earth are you doing?'' Lily looked disapprovingly at the two boys, on the floor.
James got up, brushing himself off. Sirius however did not, instead he collapsed back against the side of the train. “We were just acknowledging the greater intellect, malady” He bowed to Lily, who didn’t seem impressed,
“Well we’re off to get changed. Robin you coming?” She asked, Robin nodded, happy to be away from the awkward situation, though a large part of her wished she could stay, being in the spotlight had always been her thing. “I suggest you boys do the same, it won’t be long before we arrive”
“How’d you know that?'' Sirius asked, legs spread across the floor of the carriage as Robin tried to pick her way past them, he didn’t move. Lily just waved her right hand, indicating the watch, and marched out of the carriage, followed by the twins.
The trio walked through the narrow corridor in search of the toilets. The carriages beside them were packed with students, laughing and chatting happily, awaiting the arrival to the school. As they passed one carriage, Robin saw the two girls she had spotted earlier. They were in a carriage with a few others that looked their age. Though they seemed to be getting along better than the others.
They joined the queue of people waiting for the toilet, and when they eventually got back to the carriage, all the boys had changed into their robes. They chatted for a while, James, Sirius and Robin dominating the conversation. While Lily and Robin broke off on occasion either to explain something that Lily didn’t understand or to talk about things the others considered boring.
As the time ticked forward the cold wispy wind around the train increased, a storm brewing. Rain slit the windows and the clouds became dark and heavy, thunder rumbled from above like someone was growling at the children’s return. By the time the crimson dragon had reached the haunting castle, thunder crashed and the rain slit through the sky, pelting towards the train.
In the distance the castle stood between the mist, heavy and dark, commanding the landscape. The gang piled up against the window, staring into the abyss,
“Wow, I mean I’ve seen photos but nothing compares” James stared up in awe,
“Mum was wrong, this is definitely better than Uncle Abbott's castle, for starters I don’t have that sinking feeling of dread” Sirius smiled, seemingly at peace,
“Over there is the astronomy tower, and that one’s the headmaster’s study. Oh there’s Gryfyndore tower” Robin explained excitedly,
“I’ve never seen anything like it” Remes’s eyes widened
“Reminds me of somewhere you’d go for a school trip. Not a school itself!” Lily exclaimed.
The train chugged into Hogsmeade station. There was a burst of moments, and they were off. The school year began, and nothing would ever be the same for the two girls.
The chambers were silent when McGonagall awoke. Her head throbbing and throat dry. She reached to the bedside table and searched around for her glasses, sliding them on and locating her wand. She pulled a dressing gown on and left her bedroom.
The kitchen was empty and no sound came from the twin's room. The clock in the corner read 8 o'clock. If they didn't leave soon she wouldn’t be back in time for her meeting. McGonagall started to panic. She opened the door but both girls weren't there. Their beds were made and half their belongings missing, not strewn over the floor as they had been for the past few weeks.
"Rowanne? Robin?" McGonagall called, there was no reply.
She strode out the room, bumping right into Professor Flitwick, "good morning Minerva, my you look…"
"Have you seen the twins?" They're not in their room"
"Ah, I think they're a few steps ahead of you there" he smiled mischievously,
"What do you mean?"
"I suggest you get ready, you'll find them"
"What do you mean, Fillius!" He walked off, McGonagall sighed. He was probably right that she looked… well mis-shapen. She waltzed back into her room, changed and put on some makeup. When she finally emerged it was 8:30.
She trotted down the corridors to the Great Hall. Surely they were there.
"Good morning Poppy" she said as she passed the zombie looking witch. Madam Pomfrey wasn't as good at hiding a hangover as McGonagall.
"Ugh" came a grunt from the woman. McGonagall chuckled as she turned the corner, coming face to face with the girls.
They were standing by the gates, trunks at the ready. "Good morning. Your up bright and early"
"We wanted to get a head start"
"So you've both had breakfast?"
"Yep" they said in unison,
"Robin what's that?" McGonagall looked sternly at a thick wooden stick poking out of the pile.
"Ummm nothing" Robin tried to cover her tracks.
"You know first years aren't allowed broomsticks," She pulled it out, allowing a trunk to fall from its place.
"Sorry mum"
"You both have your books? Robes?"
"What's the big deal. We're coming back here anyway" Robin sighed,
"I don't care. I want you to bring all you things on the train"
"Okay" Robin agreed,
McGonagall waved her wand, the two trolleys folded in on themselves, creating rucksacks out of them, "There, that'll last until we get to the station" She smiled, pleased with herself,
"How are we getting there?" Rowanne asked
"Apparition. It's the only way"
"Ugh why!" Robin sighed, "I don't see why we can't just join in the crowds when they arrive?"
"Because you have a great chance at making friends if you go on the train. I met Pom- I mean Professor Sprout on the train"
Robin sighed, but seemed to accept the response.
They walked out of the castle and towards Hogsmeade where they could apparate. Robin was talking excitedly about everything she was going to do, not that any of it seemed to be related to actual school work. Rowanne stayed abnormally quiet. Pondering what might happen the rest of the day. Where would she be placed? What would happen? Would the work be hard? Would she have friends? Her breath quickened and she struggled to breathe, not that this was unusual. Rowanne took deep breaths, calming herself down enough to fool her mother and sister.
“Rowanne? Are you okay?” The two stopped talking and looked to their companion.
"What, sorry, yeah fine. Just thinking"
"Never a good idea" Robin smirked,
"Alright, if you're sure" McGonagall took Rowanne and Robin's hands, "we ready? You know the rules, keep close to me and stay focused"
They felt a pulling force, grabbing hold of them and as it washes over their muscles and limbs felt like they were being folded over each other. Clinging onto their mother the twins felt it subide almost as quickly as it had begun.
They were in an alleyway, you could hear the bustle of the station not that far away and the whistle of trains coming and going. As soon as they landed, Robin staggered away from her mother, clutching a hold of the wall for support and threw up.
"Oh dear, still not used to that" McGonagall walked over, rubbing the girl's back comfortingly. She waved her wand, making the mess disappear, then she turned around and aimed at the two rucksacks, they shot up and resumed their shape as trollies. Delores hopped out croaking as they sought refuge from their owner.
"Mum" Rowanne said, looking at her watch, "you know it's barely 9. The train doesn't leave for another two hours"
"I know dear, but I have a lot to do today. The castle is having a ridiculous amount of visitors and they won't leave for a very long time" McGonagall rolled her eyes.
"Okay fair enough" Rowanne frowned,
McGonagall helped them pile their things onto trolleys and they walked out of the alley, crossed the road and entered Kings Cross station. They walked over a bridge that gave them a clear view of the whole platform.
"Now, it's very simple. All you have to do is run at the wall between platform 9 and 10. You'll come out on the other side. I used to do it at a run" Rowanne nodded, her mother continued, "I'll be right here and I'll watch you go. Any problems come back here and we can sort it out alright?"
"Yep" Robin said aimlessly,
"9 and 10" Rowanne confirmed, McGonagall nodded,
"Before you go, I want to give you girls something" She held out a small box and opened it, inside were two necklaces. They had a snake chain with angel charms that glistened in the morning light. One was pink, the rose gem filling the body and head. Silver wings spread out separating the two like a barrier. The other was amber and looked like the sun had been condensed into a singular body.
“Sick” Robin exclaimed, taking the pink one, McGonagall took the amber one out and put it around Rowanne’s neck,
“Thanks mum, it’s really cool” Rowanne hugged her mother,
"You two are going to be alright. Look after each other, yeah?" She said, probably to reassure herself,
"Of course mum, we'll be fine"
"We're seeing you in literally a few hours"
"I know, I know. Have fun alright" She smiled, the girls had rarely been out on their own. Hogwarts wasn't unsafe for them to roam freely, but in the middle of London. It certainly was.
The girls left their mum, making their way down the steps and onto platform 9 and 10. Robin pushed her trolley to the barrier between the two. She looked up at the signs on either side, took a deep breath and ran at it. Closing her eyes at the last minute. But she didn't hit anything.
Rowanne watched the last part of Rowanne disappear through the wall. It was now her turn. She glanced back at the bridge, McGonagall gave a slight nod that was barely noticeable. Rowanne too pushed onwards emerging the other side.
The train was massive, though they'd seen it arrive at Hogsmeade every year, it never looked like that. Humongous and bright, not like it was normally in the dark night's sky. The platform was completely empty, not a soul in sight. It was clearly too early for masses of students that would be arriving.
Robin walked towards it, and Rowanne followed. They pulled the trunks on with great effort and made their way down the carriages.
"Look, Lily's in here" Rowanne turned around to communicate to her sister,
"Cool, I'm gonna find the loo, apparition really doesn't agree with me" Robin shuffled past Rowanne and walked down the carriage.
Rowanne entered the compartment where the red head sat, her head pressed against the window and tiny droplets of silver fell across her cheeks.
"Hey Lily" Rowanne looked at the girl, concerned, "are you alright?"
"Not really"
"What happened" Rowanne sat next to her,
"My sister and I got in a fight just before I left. She called me a freak, told me not to come"
"Oh Lily, I'm so sorry" Rowanne hugged her friend
"I just don't get it, she's never been like that before. We were always so close"
"It's difficult. Especially if she's not a witch but you are. She's probably worried you're going to grow apart"
"Maybe I just shouldn't have come. Stayed behind, nothing would have changed"
"But she would always think that"
"I wish I'd never become a witch"
"Oh Lily, you've always been a witch. That hasn't changed"
"But she never hated me before I became one"
"You always were one, only now you're not alone. Being a witch is who you are, if she can't accept that then she never accepted you"
"I just wish nothing changed"
"A wise man once told me, things always change. They have to. You shouldn't be afraid of change, you need to embrace it. Trust that things will turn out exactly as they're supposed to. One day when you're both older and she's let go of the jealousy she's keeping in, she'll see that in reality, you're not much different. And the two of you will be better for it"
"You think?"
"I know" Lily rested her head on Rowanne's shoulder.
“Okay so before you start I only got lost once” Robin had opened the door and collapsed out of breath on the seat opposite the two girls, “It’s getting busy out there now, I bumped into this other first year. He looked a little lost so I dragged him along” Robin looked at the door but the boy hadn’t come in. In fact he wasn’t there at all, “Oh, ops”
“You scared him off already, or imagined him” Rowanne laughed,
“I did not. Maybe he had other friends”
“Did you even ask his name?” Lily asked, purking up slightly,
“Of course I did!”
“Well what was it” Rowanne smirked,
“It, it” Robin searched for the name, “Oh shut up”
The two other girls laughed, Lily seemed to relax, she was safe. Away from her sister, away from muggles. Maybe Rowanne was right and it was better this way.
“How did you manage to get lost on a train anyway” Rowanne asked,
“It’s easy when you go the wrong way in the first place”
The station was filled up with people now, old and young. Rowanne and Lily chatted as Rowanne tried to distract her. Robin stared out of the window, feeling very out of place. The confidence she had had the whole summer seemed to slip from her grasp. She was going to Hogwarts, and for the first time in her life, she was more nervous than excited. It wasn’t going to be her home, it was her school. It always had been in a way, but as a kid she could get away with absolutely anything, so long as her mother or professor Gonolinne wasn’t around to see it.
Her mother. Robin had never been taught by McGonagall. What would happen there? She could hope that Minerva would be lenient on her children, but then she’d just be fooling herself. McGonagall, lenient! In her dreams. Robin had always been the mischievous one of the two. She didn’t have a fascination with books like her sister so not much had ever been expected of her except to make mistakes and annoy the teachers. That didn’t normally matter to Robin, in fact she quite enjoyed it. But that would mean McGonagall, hell, all of the teachers would assume that of her. She’d never be able to get away with anything, not in a structured routine.
“What do you…” She began before trailing off. The other two were too engrossed in conversation to notice their companion. Robin had never had to fight for her sister’s attention. In fact it had always been the other way around, with people adoring the more outspoken Robin and often overlooking Rowanne.
She stared out of the window, she saw James and the boy that was with him the previous day. They were mucking about and joking with Fleamott while Effie tried to get him to focus on the train journey and in fact the year ahead. That was where Robin wished she was, so care-free, innocent. Unaware or unbothered by the daunting task that lay ahead of them.
She looked across the station. No one really shone out at her. There was one boy, greasy long black hair. He had seemed to have noticed their window, and while his cold, dark expression hadn’t changed, Robin felt very sure she was being watched. Pushing those thoughts to the side she kept looking, eyes darting through the masses of people.
There was Frank Logbottom, she couldn’t quite remember what year he was in. Maybe going into 4 or 5. Robin looked hopefully at her sister, like maybe she could communicate her desire to ask her a question. It normally worked, but not today, Rowanne didn’t even look up. Robin looked back out the window, a tinge of jealousy pulling at her robes. She wanted to find someone, a first year, someone she could befriend instead of relying on Rowanne who clearly had other priorities.
There was one girl that looked her age, she looked to be asian and had blonde hair with brown eyes. Amongst her belonging was a broom, Robin smiled, how she planned to sneak that in she wasn’t sure. But if she did then she was definitely Robin’s hero.
There was another that looked her age, climbing onto the train. She had dark skin and curly brown hair. Her outfit seemed rather odd for the wizarding train station, with a black leather jacket and leopard print boots. Robin started, slightly infatuated, but she was soon brought out of this as the girl climbed aboard and something else caught her attention.
The shrill scream came from the opposite side of the station. There, in all black, tall and more menacing than Robin had remembered stood the woman that had threatened her and Rowanne the day before. Robin couldn't remember their name, Rowanne would know, but she was still oblivious to her, so it would have to wait. The woman was fussing around the boy who looked even worse than he did yesterday. Surrounding them were two other girls. Much older than the boy, they seemed to be quarreling about something but the woman clipped them over their heads and the three made their way onto the train.
"Hey, what are you looking at Rob?" Rowanne had noticed her sister to be abnormally quiet.
"That woman from yesterday"
"Oh yeah, Lils, did I tell you about that?" And as quickly as it came the attention was away from her.
But it didn't last long, as the boy that had been staring at her opened the door of the carriage. He looked as though he owned the place.
"Sev!" Lily cried, leaping forward to hug him. They seemed to know her and he looked very happy to receive her. Robin looked across at Rowanne who shrugged.
"What are they doing here?" He aimed his question at the girls, disgust on his face.
"Sev that's mean" Lily rolled her eyes,
"I thought it was just us"
"It's okay that they're here isn't it Sev?"
"I wanted to talk to you"
"You still can" Lily looked at him confused. The twin's eyes darted between them, this boy was definitely a bit creepy, neither of them liked him already.
"In private"
Rowanne looked across pleadingly at her sister. She didn't want to be there but was too Rowanne to say anything. Robin stood up, her confidence rebuilding, "I think we're gonna go" she winked at Rowanne, pulling her up.
"If you need anything come find me alright" Rowanne said sweetly,
"She won't," the boy snarled. Robin grabbed Rowanne's arm, pulling her back, suddenly feeling very protective. She glared at him, about to speak but Lily jumped in first.
"Severus what has gotten into you. Apologize" she pressed. Both twins looked at eachother, the same thought going through their minds.
"Sorry, I just need to talk to Lily" he looked to the floor, clearly embarrassed and obviously not meaning it. But did as he was told
"See you later guys" Lily watched them go.
The twins made their way down the carriage, the once empty train not so empty anymore. There was one free compartment, sandwiched between some 3rd years and 7th years. They took the chance, slipping inside and closing the door.
"Okay I'm not the only one that thought that was odd right?" Rowanne asked,
"No, so odd. Had Lily spoken about him before"
"I mean she mentioned she had a friend who was coming to Hogwarts but not that he was like that"
"You mean a mindless prat," Robin rolled her eyes.
The train whistle sounded and the girls looked out of the window, taking one final glance at the platform below. Soon they would be home again, only it wouldn't ever be the same.
"Hey look, it's James and Peter, if they don't hurry up they're going to miss the train" Rowanne laughed as the two boys began sprinting down the platform to catch the train. The smaller and slightly larger Peter trailing behind his counterpart.
"Excuse me?" A boy entered, Rowanne recognised him instantly as the boy behind Walburga Black that day at Diagon Alley.
Robin saw her sister tense. It took her a second, this boy was much less timid than the one they'd seen that day, his face seemed to have much more color on it than it had only moments previous. Robin pulled out her wand, and stood up, acting as a barrier between the boy and Rowanne.
"Woah, woah. Geez I just wanna talk" he helped his hands up defensively,
"Sure you're not here to finish what your mother started?" Robin said accusingly,
"Rob, give him a second" Rowanne now stood up, placing a hand on Robin's shoulder,
"Thanks" he nodded at her, "My name's Sirius Black. Robin I assume?"
Robin said nothing, guard still up, she glared at the boy, Rowanne spoke, "that's Robin. I'm Rowanne"
"It's great to meet you properly. Your a legend" he had a giant grin on his face,
Robin looked confused, she glanced back at her sister and Rowanne smiled.
"How about you sit down?" she said. Pulling Robin into the seat next to her,
"Okay, someone is going to have to explain all this to me. You don't want to kill us?"
"What no of course not. You stood up to my mother. I've never seen anyone do that before"
"I'm guessing you and your mum don't get on?" Rowanne asked,
"No, well I can't tell her, but I don't agree with her. If that makes sense"
"Yeah" Rowanne nodded
"Ummm no" Robin still looked confused,
"You mean you don't know about blood status and like the sacred 28?"
"No"
"You're not muggle born are you?" He looked a bit concerned,
"We're not. My sister just doesn't do much reading and our mum doesn't really talk about all that stuff" Rowanne explained,
"I see. I don't read either, waste of time" He smiled comfortingly at Robin, "My mum seems to think that she's superior. Cause she comes from a mainly wizard family"
"Wasn't her husband her cousin"
"Yep. Cause being inbred makes you superior apparently" he rolled his eyes,
The girls chuckled, "so why did you come here?"
"My cousin's were told by my mother to keep me in check. You know, make sure I fall into the right crowd and stuff. So I was supposed to sit with them on the train. But now we've left the station. Who cares right? I'm not sitting with those weirdos"
They continued to talk to him for a while. Learning what they could about him. Rowanne kept glancing at the door. A boy their age had been walking up and down. Clearly contemplating whether to come in.
"Row, what're you doing?"
Rowanne had got up and gone to the door. She stuck her head out. Unfortunately the boy had just turned to take another lap and he collided with her head.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I'll go. Sorry" He sputtered, turning around to leave.
"Wait" the boy stopped. Both Robin and Sirius had joined Rowanne, standing in the doorway, "You look lost. Why don't you come in?" Rowanne smiled comfortingly.
He followed her inside and sat next to Sirius, Robin recognised him, "hey, you're that kid from earlier, see I told you he was real" she turned to Rowanne. Playfully hitting her in the arm.
"I never said otherwise" she rolled her eyes, focusing back on the awkward boy on the seat opposite, "so I gather you're in first year as well?"
"Ummm, yeah" his eyes darted nervously between the three other children in the carriage.
"Got a name?" Sirius asked. He hadn't taken his eyes off the boy since he had appeared.
"Remus" he gulped, "Remus Lupin"
"Well Remus Lupin. I'm Sirius, Sirius Black" Sirius sniggered, shaking the other boy's hand.
They weren't alone long however as a commotion down the hall drew their attention.
"What in the world!" Robin exclaimed as James came toppling into their compartment, Peter at his feet.
James stumbled on in, but composed himself heroically. His companion on the other hand, not so much. Peter had tripped on his own, slightly large, shoes and toppled over landing face-first in the middle of the compartment floor.
Around him were a million treats, chocolate frogs, jelly beans, fudge cakes, jelly snakes and everything else you could think of.
"Are you okay?" Rowanne asked as the boy got up.
"Yeah" he brushed himself off, and sat next to Remus,
"What is all this?" Robin asked as Sirius began to pick up the sweets.
"There you two are" a plump lady with gray hair appeared.
"Sorry" James stepped forward, "here, I'll pay for all of it" he pulled out a handful of coins from his pocket and counted out enough to cover what had fallen on the floor. Maybe even more.
The lady huffed and disappeared, the compartment sat awkwardly. Rowanne looked across the room. Remus and Peter didn't seem likely to start a conversation and Sirius seemed to have turned worriedly, maybe he recognised the two boys. She wouldn't be surprised if the Potters knew the Blacks, though from what Fleamont had said the day before, they probably weren't on good terms. Their only hope was Robin or James.
"What the hell happened to you guys" Robin scouled, half excitedly half confused, though fully intrigued.
"Okay well. Ummm, I'm not really sure to be honest" James pondered the question, " we were running to catch the train. And then we got on and there was like a crash and then more running and well, now we're here"
"Right" Rowanne averted her eyes,
"Sick" Robin grinned,
"Please, I can't possibly eat all of this. Go ahead" James smiled, chucking random sweets around the carriage. He threw licorice wands at Robin and a chocolate frog towards Rowanne, Peter got a set of sugar quills and Remus acid pops. With a box of Burttie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in his hand he finally noticed Sirius. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“Oh I” Sirius spluttered,
“You shouldn’t be here. Your mother tried to kill these-”
“I wouldn’t say kill” Robin rolled her eyes,
“Are you going to hurt them, finish the job? Cause I’ll get there first. To you I mean. Why would you ever think it was a good idea” James had pulled out his wand, though clearly unsure of what he was doing, he seemed to think he was doing the right thing. Rowanne looked desperately across at Robin. Why hadn't she stopped him? Sirius stared into Jame's eyes, unmoving. Terror seemed to build up inside him, completely unparalleled to James' anger.
Rowanne glanced across at Robin, pushing her forward. Robin sighed and rolled her eyes, though she stood to face James, “James, James, calm down” she pulled him back off of Sirius and put herself between them.
"But, has he tried anything"
"No and he won't. It's fine"
"Yes, but"
"James. Please. I'm the last person to say Sirius isn't going to hurt us. I thought he would at first, but if Rowanne says he won't then I trust her judgment. Back off"
"Okay okay" James put his wand away and his hands up. Sitting down next to where Robin had just taken her own spot.
The train chugged on and the carriage had fallen into an awkward silence. James glaring at Sirius suspiciously. Rowanne nugged Robin, egging her forward. Robin rolled her eyes, doing the same to James. Hoping he would get the message. He sighed, but complied.
"So, what house does everyone think they'll be in?" He grinned,
"Remus?" Rowanne asked, the boy had barely said a word,
"Ummm I don't know really" He looked at the floor, "didn't think I'd ever get this far?"
"Fair enough" Rowanne averted the attention again,
"Peter?" She asked but he joined just shrugged,
"Okay then. Well success" Robin smirked,
"What about you Sirius?" James asked,
"James" Rowanne hissed,
"You know where I'm going" Sirius looked glumly out the window,
James stared at him a moment. Pondering the boy, "sorry mate"
"Thanks" Sirius looked up,
"Friends?" James asked, holding out his hand "regardless of where you end up" he added
"Yeah. Friends" Sirius smiled, looking thankfully at the twins, "so what about you two?" He asked. They looked at eachother, and then to James.
"Well their mum's to the head of Gryffindor so we all know where their going" James winked at the twins
"Wait what. Your mum's McGonagall. She's gunna hate me"
"Your screwed mate. McGonagall's gonna eat you alive" James smiled mischievously satisfied.
"You'll be fine, mum won't blame you" Rowanne tried to comfort him
"She won't?" He looked tentatively at her
"Eh, she won't show it to you. It's everyone else you gotta worry about" Robin taunted. Her sister shot her a disapproving look, but that only seemed to egg Robin on "You threatened Gonelline's sweet baby Rowanne. Your dead"
"He's not dead. And I'm not his baby. That's weird"
"He has a soft spot for you. Trust me" Robin smirked, knowing exactly how to get under her sister's skin.
"He definitely doesn't. He sets me twice as much homework as anyone else, he nitpicks every tiny detail, expects the world but doesn't lift a finger and is just a downright ass" Rowanne stared around, breathing heavily. She hadn't realized how much she needed to get the Professor's actions off her chest.
"Look, I know what Professor Gonnolinne is like. I swear he's probably given me double the detentions that mum has, and that's saying something" Robin rolled her eyes.
"Yeah but you didn't get an essay for coughing during his explanation of the beginnings of Hogwarts. Or a detention because you didn't stop your sister planting a stink bomb under his desk, despite not knowing that was your plan. Or a second detention when you pointed that out to him" Rowanne sighed, "you only had one and you actually planted the bomb"
"You planted a stink bomb under a teacher's desk?" James looked enthusiastically at her,
"That's awesome" Sirius smiled, in awe of the girl across from him.
Robin shrugged, to her it was just another Tuesday. But these boys had never been to Hogwarts, they obviously weren't used to the culture that had been created. Not that most of the students or teachers were on a regular basis.
Before anyone else could say anything however there was a knock on the door. A teary eyed Lily slid it open. Rowanne got up, placing her hands on Lily's shoulders as she guided her to the corner of the carriage. She glanced back past Peter, indicating to Robin that she needed to distract the boys, but of course Robin was oblivious to that.
"Lily, are you okay?" Robin asked,
"Yeah what happened" James chimed in,
"Sorry, who are you?" Sirius asked,
"L-Lily Ev-ans" she sniffled,
"Lily, what's going on?" James pressed. Rowanne had an idea, well not a good one but that boy she was with could easily be the cause.
"Severus?" She asked, Lily said nothing but gave a meek nod,
"I hate that guy," Robin piped up, as she proceeded to tell the boys about their encounter.
"So do I" James agreed once hearing the story, "do you wanna tell us what happened?" He asked. Lily shook her head and James looked lost, unsure of how to handle the situation.
"Here" Rowanne said, handling her the chocolate frog she still hadn't opened yet.
Lily seemed to brighten up at the sight of chocolate, Remus made a mental note. He'd been watching the four other children interact. He himself had very little experience in engaging in conversation. And when he had, it had always ended in heartbreak as he was ripped away from what he knew once again.
He observed as they seemed to mesh perfectly well with each other. It was clear that Rowanne and Robin knew James and Sirius before, but the circumstances were unknown to Remus. Maybe Peter knew. He looked at the boy opposite him, he looked at each person differently to Remus. He seemed to be awestruck by James, but hated the existence of Sirius. When it came to the twins and Lily however, Remus had no clue what he was thinking.
Lily held the box pentagon shaped in her hand. She turned it over, inspecting each edge. The blue and gold, and the tiny figure of the frog. She opened it, and the frog jumped up at her, she screamed as it hopped onto the wall behind her. Rowanne however was quicker, picking it up by the legs and handing it back to Lily.
"I'm good thanks, that thing. It's, it's alive" Lily backed away,
"Lils it's fine" James tried to hold back his laughter.
"Sorry, I forgot" Rowanne held back a chuckle, "It's not alive, just a spell" she waved her wand, and the once jumpy frog turned stiff like a stick. She handed it back to her.
Lily began to bite into it, but just as she did a loud croak erupted through the carriage. Lily's face turned white, had she just eaten a real frog. Luckily for her she hadn't. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as a large toad hopped across the carriage, settling on Robin's lap. Lily sighed, it was just Delores.
“What card did you get?” Rowanne asked, Robin and the boys were engaged in a conversation about Robin’s toad. Remus seemed to flit between the two conversations, interested in both while Peter focused on the one James was a part of.
“Ummm, Dumbledore” She smiled, "He's the headmaster right?”
“Yeah, good guy… Bit loopy sometimes” Rowanne chuckled. Whenever someone mentioned Dumbledore her first thought was the image of him, wearing a giant red suit stuffed with pillows and a large brown sack over his shoulder. It had been years since he dressed up like that. Probably since the girls were about 8, but it was still the first thing that came to mind.
“I read about him in one of the books I bought”
“You’ve read the books already? You only got them yesterday” Rowanne looked impressed,
“Well I couldn't sleep last night, too excited. And I got on the train a few hours early so thought I’d flick through them. Probably common knowledge to you lot” Lily shrugged,
“How much do you know about your history?” Rowanne questioned, “The world wars, Kings, Queens, trust me, most people don’t know the names of the four founders” she rolled her eyes,
“Of Hogwarts right? Godrick Griffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowenna Ravenclaw and… Salazar Slytherin”
“See you're doing better than most” Lily smiled, Rowanne had a very unique way of comforting her, though she expected Rowanne could do that with anyone. “So did you want to tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“why are you here and not with that boy of yours”
“Severus isn’t mine, he’s just a friend, a good one”
“A good friend doesn’t make you run out of the carriage, come on”
“It’s silly, and he’s right” Lily looked down embarrassed,
“What did he say?” Rowanne asked, placing a comforting hand on her new friend’s leg,
“Just that I was stupid for listening to Petunia” Lily diverted her gaze even further from Rowanne,
“Your not stupid, I can assure you of that” Rowanne moved her arm to hug Lily, “It’s okay to be upset, and he shouldn’t make you feel otherwise, Petunia is family, and the fact that she doesn’t accept you must hurt, I can’t imagine what I’d do if Robin rejected me”
“Thanks, that helps”
“You should talk to Sverus though, maybe on the boats, clear the air” Rowanne may not like the boy, but it was obvious how important he was to Lily.
“Yeah, I’ll do that” LIly sighed, instant relief pouring throughout her body, “Have you seen the time?” She glanced at her watch, though of course Rowanne didn’t have one.
“No”
“We’ll be arriving soon, should probably go and get changed” But before they could say anything to the others, a strange sight caught their eye.
“So you actually went through with it?” On the other side of the carriage, James and Sirius sat aghast. Why anyone would choose a toad over a decent owl, or even a cat was beyond them. “That's something I would expect from Peter not you”
“Hey!”
“Sorry mate, just facts” James smirked,
“What’s wrong with a toad?” Remus asked if he was going to do this. School. Then he might as well give it a proper try,
“What’s right about a toad” Sirius groaned, rolling his eyes, “They’re slippery,”
“Slimy” James piped in,
“Useless”
“Ugly”
“mucky”
“moldy”
“warty”
“And…” James hesitated
“weird” Sirius finished, winking at his companion. It may have only been a few moments but the two had fallen into a rhythm, bouncing off each other like they had once been a part of the other.
“They’re not that bad” Robin rolled her eyes, “Great for pranks”
“Maybe I’d better get one then” James straightened his back and puffed out his chest,
“Don't you dare” Robin glared at him, “Delores is my signature, besides don’t you already have an owl?”
James sighed, yes he did have an owl, it’d been a present from an aunt for starting school, ‘so he could always talk to her’ like that would ever happen.
“You named your toad Delores?” Peter eyed her carefully, silently judging,
“Well it needed a name” Robin sighed,
“I want to know more about its pranking techniques” Sirius smirked mischievously, James looked at him, then to Robin, grinning.
“I’m not letting you in on the master’s secrets” The corner of Robin’s lips eched up, she looked out the window, hiding her face.
“Oh come on please!” James begged, though Sirius took it one step further. He leapt off the seat and kneeled on the carriage floor,
“Oh master, impart your wisdom on us. We are not worthy, but with your help we can rule the school” He bowed as if worshiping her. James followed suit, dropping to the floor himself and copying Sirius. Robin didn’t know what to do, she sat there, dumbfounded but mainly embarrassed, unsure of what to do.
“What on earth are you doing?'' Lily looked disapprovingly at the two boys, on the floor.
James got up, brushing himself off. Sirius however did not, instead he collapsed back against the side of the train. “We were just acknowledging the greater intellect, malady” He bowed to Lily, who didn’t seem impressed,
“Well we’re off to get changed. Robin you coming?” She asked, Robin nodded, happy to be away from the awkward situation, though a large part of her wished she could stay, being in the spotlight had always been her thing. “I suggest you boys do the same, it won’t be long before we arrive”
“How’d you know that?'' Sirius asked, legs spread across the floor of the carriage as Robin tried to pick her way past them, he didn’t move. Lily just waved her right hand, indicating the watch, and marched out of the carriage, followed by the twins.
The trio walked through the narrow corridor in search of the toilets. The carriages beside them were packed with students, laughing and chatting happily, awaiting the arrival to the school. As they passed one carriage, Robin saw the two girls she had spotted earlier. They were in a carriage with a few others that looked their age. Though they seemed to be getting along better than the others.
They joined the queue of people waiting for the toilet, and when they eventually got back to the carriage, all the boys had changed into their robes. They chatted for a while, James, Sirius and Robin dominating the conversation. While Lily and Robin broke off on occasion either to explain something that Lily didn’t understand or to talk about things the others considered boring.
As the time ticked forward the cold wispy wind around the train increased, a storm brewing. Rain slit the windows and the clouds became dark and heavy, thunder rumbled from above like someone was growling at the children’s return. By the time the crimson dragon had reached the haunting castle, thunder crashed and the rain slit through the sky, pelting towards the train.
In the distance the castle stood between the mist, heavy and dark, commanding the landscape. The gang piled up against the window, staring into the abyss,
“Wow, I mean I’ve seen photos but nothing compares” James stared up in awe,
“Mum was wrong, this is definitely better than Uncle Abbott's castle, for starters I don’t have that sinking feeling of dread” Sirius smiled, seemingly at peace,
“Over there is the astronomy tower, and that one’s the headmaster’s study. Oh there’s Gryfyndore tower” Robin explained excitedly,
“I’ve never seen anything like it” Remes’s eyes widened
“Reminds me of somewhere you’d go for a school trip. Not a school itself!” Lily exclaimed.
The train chugged into Hogsmeade station. There was a burst of moments, and they were off. The school year began, and nothing would ever be the same for the two girls.