Fairytale

Althea was not usually a nervous person. In fact, she prided herself in being quite calm and easy-going. She didn't stress or worry. She thrived in the unexpected, the unpredictable, and the unknown. But standing with her trunk at her feet at Platform 9 3/4 on September 1st 1971, she couldn't recall the last time that she had been this stressed.

Maybe it was the fact she would have to say goodbye to her parents for the first time in eleven years. Or maybe it was the fact that she'd have to find a compartment in a crowded train. Or maybe it was the fact that she could feel little Nellie jumping around in her pocket.

She shifted her weight from one foot to another, jumping at the balls of her feet, as her parents repeated the 'Be nice and don't cause trouble' speech they'd given her plenty of times before. She would be lying if she said that she was paying any attention to what they were saying. As they spoke, her eyes were fixed somewhere behind their persons, looking at all the kids running around the Platform, greeting old friends and loading their trunks.

"Thea, are you even listening?" Her mother asked suddenly in an accusatory tone, breaking Althea out of her trance. Startled at her mother's tone of voice, she shifted to meet her stern gaze.

"Yeah. Be kind to my classmates and professors, fold my clothes, turn in assignments on time, don't cause trouble and yadda yadda yadda," Althea answered impatiently, shifting on her feet again, when Nellie made a particularly daring attempt of jumping out of her pocket. "Can I go now?"

"Actually," her father corrected with a teasing, knowing smile, "we were just saying you should have fun. And write as often as possible, of course. We want to hear about all of your adventures."

"Unless you've overflown a toilet," her mother interrupted. "I really don't want to hear you've flooded another toilet, Thea."

"Merlin, that was one time, mom. One time," Althea answered in exasperation, rolling her eyes. But when she saw the look her mother was giving her, she added hurriedly, "I'll stir clear of the toilets, I promise."

"Good," her mother nodded, appeased.

"Now, can I go?" Althea asked again, growing more impatient by the second.

"Not without a hug and a kiss to your parents," her father said, opening his arm expectantly.

Althea rolled her eyes again, but she obliged. She jumped into her father's open arms and felt him squeeze her. She breathed in his familiar scent one more time, before stepping back from the hug and jumping into her mother's arms next. Her mother's hug was different to her father's. It was softer, more caring, packed with all the love a mother could have for a daughter.

And then, Althea felt Nellie do another sommersault in her pocket. She jumped back from her mother's embrace, grabbed ahold of her trunk in one swift movement and turned around to leave.

"See you at Christmas, mom, dad!" She bellowed as she retreated towards the train. At that moment, Nellie snuck her little paw outside of Althea's pocket, trying to grab at the shiny silver zipper of her trunk.

Feeling Nellie's desperate attempts to escape, Althea kept on walking ahead and hurriedly shoved Nellie's hand back into her pocket. But then...

"Oh, Thea, honey!" Her father's voice called out.

Althea's heart skipped a beat. Her breath caught in her throat, as she turned around sharply to meet her father's gaze. Her palms started to sweat, and her eyes were wide like saucers. She plastered the biggest and most innocent smile she could master onto her face, and pressed her hands over her pocket to keep Nellie from jumping out or being seen. "Yeah, dad?"

"I know that it hurts not taking Nellie with you, but I promise that mom and I will take care of her for you," her father reassured her with a loving smile.

Althea almost felt guilty for a moment. The hand covering her pocket twitched involuntarily, and a sudden urge to tell her parents the truth washed over her. But before she could act on the urge, she suppressed it. Instead of blabbing the truth to her father, she sent him another fake smile, and said, "thanks, dad!"

Before her parents could say anything else, Althea turned around again. She all but sprinted towards the train now, narrowly dodging other kids trying to cross the platform. She had to get into the train. Nellie was getting restless in her pocket. There were too many shiny things around.

After a lot of dodging and effort, Althea made it to the train. She sighed in relief, and handed her trunk to a man that was loading all the other trunks. She told him a quick 'thank you', and then she climbed the stairs onto the train. All the tension and the nervousness left her shoulders. She smiled genuinely this time, and relaxed. She had done it. She'd snuck Nellie into the Hogwarts Express.

But her moment of victory was short-lived. As she walked around the corridors, trying to find an empty compartment, someone bumped into her. Hard. She stumbled, and would have fallen flat on her face if not for her sharp reflexes. She stabilized herself by pressing her hands on the left corridor wall. To her right, a much taller boy (he looked several years older - he might have been a fourth or fifth year) wearing green and silver robes sneered at her, and kept walking onwards.

Althea scoffed. What a jerk. She stood back onto her feet normally, and she was about to go on looking for an empty compartment when she made a horrible realization. Her eyes widened, and her heart started hammering in her chest again. Nellie was gone.

Althea's head swivelled around so sharply that she could have gotten whiplash. She frantically looked around her trying to spot Nellie's dark grey fur to no avail. Nellie was gone, and Althea had no idea where the hell she'd gone. She got a queasy feeling in her stomach as she started sprinting down the corridor of the train.

She ran and ran. Even when she felt the Hogwarts Express jerking forward and leaving the platform, she kept running down the corridor. She would stop at every compartment, and stick her head in to catch even the slightest glimpse of Nellie. But no luck. Nellie was nowhere to be found.

But Althea wasn't about to give up just like that. She kept running through the corridor, looking into compartments and even checking the trolley of sweets that the trolley-witch was pushing forward. This whole routine earned her many curious and even more annoyed glances, but she paid no mind to the disapproving glares of the other students. She had a mission to carry out - Operation Find Nellie.

She had spent the first forty minutes of the journey to Hogwarts skimming through the train, when she first caught a glimpse of what looked like Nellie's gray fur. She stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor, and threw the door of the compartment open with force.

"Hey," she greeted the two boys already occupying the compartment. "Have you seen a Niffler around here by chance?"

"A Niffler?" One of the two boys asked incredulously. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and had black messy hair that stuck out in different directions and weird angles. He looked no older than her. He must have been a first year, too.

"Yes, a Niffler," Althea answered, without looking at the boy. Her eyes were darting around the compartment trying to catch another glimpse of Nellie. "I've lost one."

"You have a Niffler?" The other boy asked, raising his eyebrows in an equally incredulous manner. This boy, Althea noticed from the corner of her eye, had shoulder-length black hair that fell in waves down his face framing his strikingly elegant features. If she hadn't been looking for Nellie at that moment, she probably would have stopped to stare at the boy.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Althea retorted, sending the boy a pointed stare. "Now, you wouldn't mind if I came inside to check, would you?"

The boy with the glasses, still looking mildly shocked, went to reply, but Althea didn't let him. She just shot him a hurried glance, a grateful smile and said, "great, thanks!"

Before either of the boys could stop her or at least protest, she walked into the compartment and closed the door behind her. She crouched down to her knees and started checking underneath the seats of the compartment and around every nook and cranny there was.

"So, uh..." The boy with the glasses cleared his throat, watching as Althea looked around the compartment madly. "What's uh, what's your name?"

"Althea, Althea Holmes," she answered absentmindedly, as she got up from her knees.

"It's... nice to meet you, Althea," the boy said, continuing the conversation. "I'm James Potter," he explained, and then pointed to the other boy, "and this is Sirius Black."

"Mhmm," Althea hummed noncommitally. Just at that moment, when she was about to give up and leave, her eye caught a little ball of gray fur holding onto something shiny at the overhead cabin over James' head. Her eyes widened and her whole expression brightened. "Nellie!"

Quick like lightning, Althea climbed onto the seat next to James and reached for Nellie. She was about to catch her, when the little bugger decided to jump off of the overhead cabin and onto Sirius' lap. Poor Sirius looked absolutely dumbfounded when Althea jumped off the seat and basically lunged herself onto him.

Before Sirius could even process what was going on, a jumpy Althea crash-landed onto him, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"Oof!" He exclaimed in pain. "Bloody hell!"

"Sorry," Althea apologized meekly, but there was no real substance behind the apology. In fact, she wasn't even really looking at Sirius when she said it. Her gaze was fixed on the little Niffler that she was finally holding in her palms. "I'll tell you what, Nellie, you're one slippery sneak! Y'know, once we get to Hogwarts, you're gonna have to stop running away and stealing things. How many times do I have to tell you that stealing is frowned upon in the Wizarding World?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that stealing is frowned upon everywhere, not just in the Wizarding World," James corrected, clearing his throat.

Althea ignored James' comment, and snatched the galleon that Nellie was holding. She held it up for the two boys to see and then asked, "is this yours?"

"Dunno," Sirius shrugged, now having recovered from Althea's landing on him before. "Not mine, anyway. Is it yours, mate?"

"Meh," James commented offhandedly, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't care, really. You can let her keep it," he told Althea, and then added, "it is a her, right?"

"Yep!" Althea said happily, popping the 'p'. "Here, I don't believe you've formally met. Boys, this is Nellie! Nellie, these boys giving you money are James and Sirius."

James chuckled. "I don't think she can understand what you're saying."

"She understands enough," Althea replied with a shrug. "Anyway, well, uh, thank you for the galleon, and sorry for the intrusion."

She went to leave the compartment, when James suddenly shot up from his seat. "Wait! Do you want to sit here with us? I don't think you'll be able to find many other available compartments this late into the journey."

"Hmm," Althea considered it. "I guess you're right. Everything was looking pretty full when I was passing by," she pondered and turned to look at Sirius, "you wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Sure, you can sit here," Sirius said, gesturing to the empty seats with an easy-going smile.

"Thanks!" Althea cheered, plopping down next to Sirius.

"So, how'd you sneak Nellie on here?" James asked curiously.

"Yeah, aren't Nifflers like prohibited, or something? I thought the only pets allowed at Hogwarts are toads, cats, and owls," Sirius added.

"They are prohibited," Althea agreed. "As pets, at least. The school does have Nifflers for like Care of Magical Creatures or something, but we're not allowed to have them with us."

"So how'd you bring Nellie?" James asked again, leaning forward curiously.

"Well, you can't tell anyone," Althea said in a low tone of voice, leaning in as if she were about to share a great secret with them, "but I sort of took her out of her cage during breakfast and brought her here in my pocket!"

"Woah!" Sirius marvelled. "So your parents don't know?"

"Oh, no. Mum would kill me if she knew - she's a real stickler for the rules - and dad wouldn't be able to restrain her," Althea answered conversationally.

"But won't they notice that she's gone?" James asked again with a frown.

Althea shrugged in 'who cares' sort of way. "They will, eventually. But what can they really do about it?"

"They could tell someone to have it confiscated," Sirius theorized.

"Nah," Althea dismissed the thought immediately. "They care too much for little Nellie. They'd never let anyone take her."

"Or maybe they'll send a Howler," James offered alternatively.

"Probably," Althea agreed, "but Howlers are pretty standard. I've heard my mum scream loads of times - what would be so different if she did it through a letter?"

It was then that Sirius decided that he really liked this girl. It was unheard of in the Black household for anyone to disobey mother's or father's wishes, much less sneak a Niffler to the Hogwarts Express behind their backs and receive a Howler. And now here this girl was, going against everything he'd been taught growing up without a care in the world.

"I s'ppose you're right," James laughed out.

As James was talking, Sirius' eyes widened as if he'd just recalled something. He started fishing through his pockets hurriedly like a madman. Then, after many curious glances from Althea, he retrieved the object he'd been hunting for. "Oh, by the way, James and I had some chocolate frogs earlier, and I got this card of Bowman Wright! I've already got two back at home, so I don't really need the extras. James has duplicates at home, too, so he doesn't need it. D'you want it?"

Althea's eyes lit up when she saw the gold card he was showing her. "Wright?! 'Course I want him! He's one of the only three I don't have! And you've got him in gold! That's amazing! D'you know he's the inventor of the Snitch?"

"Yeah! Isn't it cool?" Sirius said, handing her the Wright card cheerfully. When Althea took it from his hand, it was almost like a friendship between the two had been sealed. "So you've got a collection, too?"

"Absolutely! I've actually been trying to collect all the Quidditch cards recently."

"You like Quidditch?" It was James' turn to wonder aloud.

"Who doesn't?" Althea retorted with an ever widening smirk on her face.

"So, have you played before? Got any position you like?" James asked eagerly.

"I don't play very often, 'cause I live near Muggle London and there's not much space for Quidditch, but I play when I visit my cousins!" Althea recalled. "I usually play Keeper, but my cousins always told me I would make a fair Beater."

"Wicked!" James cheered. "I play Chaser," he boasted, puffing out his chest in pride. Then, he turned to Sirius, "what about you, mate?"

"I usually play Chaser, too, but I've always wanted to try for Beater," Sirius said, though not as enthusiastically as James or Althea. He liked Quidditch, but he was never that obsessed with it - certainly not to the level of James' obsession.

"Maybe we can try out and be in the team together next year!" Althea grinned excitedly.

Then, suddenly, Sirius' whole mood darkened. His face fell and he slouched in his seat. With a brooding expression, he mumbled, "if we're in the same house."

"Oh, right. There's that, too," Althea commented. "What house do you two think you'll be in?"

"Gryffindor," James answered right away with unwavering pride, "like my father."

"Cool," Althea turned to Sirius next and frowned at his sour mood. "What about you, Sirius?"

But Sirius didn't answer. He just stayed quiet, still grumbling to himself. Seeing Sirius' bad mood, James sighed and answered in his steed, "he's convinced he'll be in Slytherin. His whole family has been in Slytherin for like generations, and he's being a little git about it."

"Oh, so that's why you look like a kicked puppy," Althea scoffed.

"Hey!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed, surely offended by Althea's words, "I do not look like a kicked puppy! And you know what? You'd be in a sour mood too if you were sorted into Slytherin!"

"But you haven't been sorted yet, have you?" Althea asked pointedly. "Stop sulking around. If you don't want to be in Slytherin, then just say it."

"That's not how it works," Sirius muttered bitterly.

"Sure it is," Althea insisted. "The sorting hat was going to put my mum in Hufflepuff, but she asked to be in Gryffindor and the hat listened."

"Really?" Sirius perked up immediately.

"Yeah! So stop being a drama queen and get your head on straight," Althea scolded him.

With Sirius looking considerably happier, James smiled and turned to Althea. "What about you then, Althea? What house do you think you'll be in."

"Meh, I dunno," Althea shrugged. "Haven't given it much thought, honestly. I could certainly not be a Ravenclaw, 'cause mum says that you have to answer riddles to get into the common room, and I suck at riddles. But I s'ppose I could be a Hufflepuff, or a Gryffindor."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be a Gryffindor with us," Sirius assured her, his spirits now lifted. He then threw his arm around Althea's shoulders in an act of comraderie and shot her a well-practiced grin.

"So, mr. 'my whole family has been in Slytherin' has decided he'll be a Gryffindor all of a sudden?" Althea raised her eyebrows teasingly.

"Sure! Why not?" Sirius boasted loudly now. "Maybe I'll finally break that awful family curse."

"Alright, then!" James cheered. Then, he gestured to the pile of sweets that was still left on the compartment table. There were some empty wrappers - no doubt from the chocolate frogs and the other sweets the boys had treated themselves to earlier - but there were also some untouched packages. "How about we celebrate the breaking of the curse with some Bertie Botts' beans?"

Althea winced. She had some very bad experiences with those beans. "Oof, I don't know. I'm not a big fan of those. I always get the worst ones! Like that one time, when I was with my cousins, I got an earwax one, and then the next time I tried them, I got dirt. I'm telling you, I've got a real bad luck streak."

"Awww, is ickle Althea scared of some beans?" Sirius mocked in a baby voice. "How can you call yourself a Gryffindor if you can't even eat Bertie Botts'?"

Althea shot him a dirty look in return. "Hey, I'm not scared. I just don't want to ruin my taste buds."

"Oh, come on, Althea. Be a good sport and eat some beans with us," James encouraged her with a wicked smirk on his face.

"Nah uh. I'm not risking it. I'm in no mood to taste grass right now," Althea refused adamantly.

"But you might not taste grass at all! You might get watermelon for all you know! And you like watermelon, don't you?" James insisted.

Althea narrowed her eyes at the two boys. "Your eagerness is really off-putting, you know."

"Yeah, whatever, just eat the beans, woman!" Sirius urged her, reaching into the bag and grabbing two different beans. He then stretched his palm out to her, offering her the beans. "Here, how about this? I'll even let you choose between these two."

"How do I know neither is a bad one?" Althea asked.

"You don't! That's the best part!" Sirius told her. "Now, come on, choose!"

Shooting the boys one more glare, Althea hesitantly reached out and took a red-colored bean from his hand. She inspected it warily, and watched as James reached into the bag and got a bean for himself.

"Alright, now that we've all got our beans," James instructed, watching Althea and Sirius holding their beans, "we'll eat them on the count of three, okay?"

Sirius nodded eagerly, while Althea remained silent. James took her silence as a yes, and began counting down. "One..."

Althea looked at Sirius.

"Two..."

She looked at James.

"Three!"

She looked at the bean and then daringly threw it in her mouth. At first, she tasted nothing. Then, she chewed on the bean a bit, and she was hit with the most awful taste. Her eyes widened almost comically and her whole face soured. The taste of boogers filled her every sense, and she felt just about ready to puke. In a flurry of movement, she all but threw Nellie (who had been comfortably nestled into the crook of her left elbow) and grabbed the nearest empty wrapper she could find, spitting the chewed-up bean into it.

But even when the bean was no longer in her mouth, the taste lingered. She looked around frantically for something to wash it down, but all she saw was the faces of two very amused boys. James and Sirius, unlike her, seemed to be enjoying their beans just fine. And not only that, but they looked extra amused - no doubt by her disgusted reaction.

Screwing up her face in a clear display of disgust, Althea glared at the two boys, and it was then, that they broke out into fits of uncontrollable laughter. James and Sirius, who had been making valiant efforts to keep in their amusement, finally gave in and burst into loud, boisterous barks of laughter. Their laughter was so intense, in fact, that they started sliding off their seats and onto the floor.

Althea watched them with an unimpressed look and slouched into her seat, crossing her arms before her chest. She waited for them to calm down, but when she saw that their laughter wasn't waning anytime soon, she finally intervened, "oi, stop laughing, you gits!"

"I-I-" James attempted to say, but any other words he may have wanted to say were drowned out by the sound of his laughter.

Then, Sirius took over. "Sorry, Althea," he said, as his laughter started to cease, though he didn't look the least bit apologetic.

Sirius sat back in his seat, and after a copious amount of laughter, a breathless James stood up from the floor and sat in his own seat as well.

"I told you I have a bad luck streak," Althea grumbled, glaring at the boys.

"Oh, don't be so bitter, Althea," Sirius chuckled, patting her in the head as if she were a child. Then, entirely out of the blue, he added, "hey, you know what? Althea's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? There's, like, so many syllables."

Althea shot him a deadpan look. "It has three syllables. How's that too many?"

"I dunno," Sirius shrugged. "It's just- It feels like such a long name."

To Althea's surprise, James agreed. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

"Mhmm," Sirius hummed in contemplation. "So, I think, that to seal the friendship-"

"Oh, so my choking on a Bertie Botts' wasn't enough to seal the friendship?" Althea deadpanned, glaring at Sirius.

But the boys steadfastly ignored her, and Sirius kept talking, "- we have to give you a nickname."

"A nickname?" Althea asked incredulously.

"Yeah, y'know, some way to shorten your name," James agreed.

"But it has to be something original. It can't be simple, like Thea - that's too standard," Sirius continued his train of thought.

"You can't be serious, right now," Althea scoffed.

"Oh, but I'm always Sirius," Sirius joked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Althea was thoroughly unimpressed. "Never make that joke again."

"Okay," Sirius agreed furtively with a solemn nod. And then, he was back to thinking about nicknames. "How about Allie?"

"Allie?"

"Yeah, no, that could work," James considered it. "Like Althea, Al, Allie. Yeah, that makes sense."

"Sure, but it's not exactly original, is it?" Althea asked involuntarily.

"Why? Does anyone else call you Allie?" Sirius asked.

"No, not really. I'm just saying-"

"If you don't like it, we could also call you Bean," James interrupted her, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Okay, first, that is horribly unimaginative, and second, call me that and I'll train Nellie to steal your stuff while you sleep," Althea retorted.

"Alright, then, Allie it is."