The First Train Ride To School
Sunday, September 1st, 1991
Hallie nervously knocked on the first compartment door she saw, about halfway down the train. The curtain was closed so she had no idea who was inside or how many people, but maybe they would have room for her.
The door was quickly opened by a child around her age who had shoulder-length blonde pigtails, blue eyes, and fair skin with red cheeks. The kid was wearing a white blouse and black leggings with white ballshoes and gold stud earrings. Behind this kid there was another person with equal length hair except it was red and down hanging around their face. They had hazel eyes and were wearing an identical outfit to the blonde, this was clearly an intentional match. They were obviously friends, probably from a young age. Hallie was unsure if she should intrude or not, but she needed a seat.
"Hi, um, I was wondering if I could sit here?" Hallie found herself saying with false confidence.
"Of course!" The blonde said before returning to the compartment, Hallie following.
The other red-head was sitting next to the window on the right side, the blonde across from them, so Hallie decided to sit in the middle seat on the right side, next to the kid she had yet to speak with.
"I'm Hallie, She/Her." Hallie introduced herself, mentioning pronouns as Bill had suggested to do, so everyone would know them.
"I'm Susan, She/Her." The blonde smiled and indicated for the other kid to introduce themself.
The red haired stranger pointed to a pin on their blouse which Hallie hadn't noticed, it was was red with blue writing and proclaimed 'They/Them'.
"Your name." Susan reminded.
The third child sighed, but pressed a button on the tablet looking thing sitting on their lap which spoke "Hannah....For now."
"What do you mean 'for now'?" Hallie asked showing clear intrigue.
"I'm thinking about changing it, but I don't know what to yet." Hannah made the machine inform.
"Oh, cool! Can I ask what that is?" Hallie pointed at the object speaking for Hannah.
"It's an augmentative and alternative communication device, or AAC device. I just press buttons and it says what I can't, which is mostly everything. I can sometimes talk, usually can't." Hannah seemed quite excited explaining this, so Hallie thought it was okay to ask more questions.
"Can I ask you more about it?"
Hannah nodded quickly, flapping their hands a little bit.
"Why can't you talk?"
"I'm autistic, I was sort of hyperverbal when I was little, that means I talked a lot and early. But, as I got older it became harder. That's not that uncommon for a bunch of skills."
"Do you use it even when you can speak?"
"Yeah, usually. It's just more natural for me."
"Do you like it?"
"I love it. I think most people expect me to want to have full verbal control, and I guess I do sometimes, but mostly, why does it matter? I'm communicating either way, it's just this is easier and actually possible for me."
"How long have you used it?"
"I've had this for about a year-and-a-half, before that I used cards and stuff. I prefer this, it's easier."
Hallie couldn't think of any more questions about the AAC device, so decided to change the topic. "What's your favorite color? Mine's purple, I think."
"Blue." Hannah answered first, seeming a little more bold after their previous conversation with Hallie.
"I don't have a favorite, I just like what the sunset colors look like when they come together to make a sunset. Red and orange and yellow and pink and purple and all that."
"Do you like sunsets?" Hallie questioned the blonde, continuing the conversation.
Maybe making friends wouldn't be so impossible.
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Bianca sat down across from the blonde boy, Draco, who had invited her inside.
"What's your last name again?" Draco asked once they were settled in, Bianca on the left, him the right, both next to the window.
"Potter." Bianca answered, she hadn't told him in the first place.
"Potter? But, the only Potter attending this year should be Harry Potter."
"That's me." Bianca informed, she was nervous, but refused to show it. The Dursley's had already made her feel so bad, taken so much of her pride, that was changing now. Bianca refused to be ashamed of her existence.
"Oh....You're trans?"
"I am. Do you have a problem with that? Because I have know qualms about kicking you out of here immediately." Bianca replied seriously.
Draco laughed a little in surprise. "I like you, you're cool. And, no, I have no problems with it. I'm not an expert, or anything, but I do have a trans friend so I'm not completely clueless. He's fine with people knowing and me telling them, don't worry, but I won't say his name now just to be fair. Anyway, he came out when we were seven, so it's chill."
Bianca relaxed a little. "And you're cis, then?" Bianca had read quite a few queer books over the past month, God forbid she turn up at school with no knowledge of her community, but she was unsure whether or not Draco would know what she meant.
"I am." He responded after a few seconds silence. "So what house do you want?"
"Any, I don't care. I know my parents were Gryffindors, but whatever. All it determines is your rooms and schedule, why fret?"
"My mom was a Ravenclaw, and my dad a Slytherin, so I want one of those houses....But, I guess it doesn't really matter, as you said. Especially after the war, everyone, the adults at least, care less about houses than in the past."
"I don't see the fuss in the first place."
Draco just shrugged. "Old people like putting people in boxes, I guess."
Bianca was unsure what to say to that, so again changed the subject. "Want me to paint your nails?"
Draco opened, then closed, his mouth. "I-uh....Yes, please. What colors do you have?"
"A bunch. What's your favorite color?"
Draco thought for nearly a minute before answering. "If I have to be honest, I think pink."
"Any preferences about the shade? And do you want a glittery cover coat?"
"Do you have a bubblegum type shade? And yes."
"I can do both of those." Bianca assured excitedly, pulling out clear, pink, and glittery nail polish from her bag. "I'm gonna put the clear on first, then the pink, then the glitter stuff. Okay?"
"Okay." Draco nodded, an odd, nervous, feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. This was allowed, right?
Draco hoped so, because he thought he might like this to happen again in the future.
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"I'm Damian, He/Him." Damian told to the people who allowed him to sit with them, before taking his own seat.
Damian was not in the mood to socialize, even as the other kids began to talk, so pulled out his book and began reading in the silence provided by his noise canceling headphones.
He couldn't wait for these seven hours to be over.