ONE
CHAPTER ONE
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i. the hogwarts express !
— ON SEPTEMBER FIRST, approximately twenty minutes before eleven o'clock, Taron Lovenus found himself huffing as he pushed along a heavy trolley carrying mounds of luggage. One of the trolley wheels squeaked and groaned and made it quite a task to steer, a task that he was finding rather difficult given the speed at which he was meant to be moving.
He'd tried convincing his sister to push it along, or at least carry something to relieve the weight- particularly her caged tarantula.
"He's looking at me with his beady little eyes again, Edie." Taron whined.
"Well of course he is, he likes you." Eden responded, too caught up in her mind to really care how uncomfortable her fuzzy little beast was making her older brother.
"Well, he freaks me out." The boy stuck out his tongue at the tiny creature, seeing his own reflection in it's eyes.
"Don't be rude to him Taron!" Eden exclaimed, grabbing the cage off the trolley. "Just ignore him, Wesley, he'll learn to love you."
"No I won't."
"Mum!"
"Taron, be nice to your sister and her.... pet." Roselyn Lovenus put a hand on her son's shoulder, less as a sign of warning, and more as a symbol of solidarity.
She wasn't exactly happy with Wesley either- but she did say Eden could get whatever creature she wanted from their trip to Magical Menagerie- though she had been hoping it would be an owl like her older brother, even a cat would have been nice.
"Any chance you could discreetly feed that thing to Hermes?" Roselyn whispered in her son's ear, carful to make sure Eden couldn't hear.
Taron looked at her in disbelief, but kept pushing the trolley along after his younger sister, who was looking around King's Cross station in awe- as if she hadn't been there just last year.
"Right- that's bad parenting isn't it." Roselyn corrected herself, making an odd face.
"Yeah that- and I'd never do that to my beloved bird, mum." Taron laughed quietly.
Hermes nipped gently at his cage, his dark brown and white feathers ruffling, as if in agreement.
Taron shivered in the oddly chilly September air, the thin sweater he was wearing did little to mask the cold. He silently wished he hadn't packed his Hufflepuff scarf so deep within one of his trunks.
"Mum look, there it is!" Eden excitedly pointed to a wall between platforms nine and ten.
"You were here just last year, Edie, and nothings changed." Taron chuckled- all in good nature- at the excitable brunette, before leaning his forearms against the trolly and blowing hot breath into his hands.
"Everything's changed, Taron! This time I get to come with you!" She itched absentmindedly at an old scar over her chin- no doubt from a friendly family game of quidditch gone wrong. Taron had lost track of Eden's constant incidents- he'd never be able to match all of them to their injuries or scars.
"Yeah let's just hope the sorting hat gives you a different house than mine- I'd rather not have you underfoot twenty-four seven, I get that enough at home." Taron joked.
Eden huffed, hugging her tarantula's cage closer to her chest and sticking out her tongue. Not at Taron, it was just something she did when she heard a statement that got her particularly riled.
"I don't wanna be in your stinkin' house anyway." The girl turned up her nose.
Roselyn shared a look with Taron for a split second, before focusing back on her daughter, who had slowed down significantly to walk at their sides.
"Not even when you know Cedric is also in that house." Roselyn teased.
Eden turned fourteen different shades of red, three away from Roselyn and Taron's record.
"Mum!"
Taron tried miserably to hide his snickers as Roselyn completely ignored the embarrassed shout from the smaller brunette, and instead directed them towards the wall muttering an 'Oh look, we're here with thirteen minutes to spare'.
Roselyn and Eden took the lead, walking straight through the solid brick wall between platforms nine and ten, being followed closely by Taron and the still shrieking trolley.
Once they'd made it to the other side, there was steam covering the platform, but not enough to obscure the giant golden writing on the bright red engine that stood proudly next to the Lovenus trio.
'Hogwarts Express'
Eden was practically buzzing with excitement, looking around at all the other students and their families, and even the '9 3/4' platform sign managed to catch her eye.
"C'mon Edie, we gotta get our luggage on, you seemed to think it was pretty important yesterday." Taron deadpanned jokingly, referring to the amount of trunks and suitcases on the trolley that weren't his.
"I didn't know what I should bring!"
"Well your entire room was not the correct answer." The boy laughed, shaking his head. "Besides, I told you what to bring- and then Evanna told you what to bring, and then Mum and Dad and even- Charlie!"
Eden huffed and stuck out her tongue yet again, while Roselyn laughed lightly at her daughter's blind enthusiasm.
"That actually reminds me Mum," Taron began again, pushing the trolly towards the luggage car and avoiding other witches and wizards on the platform.
"Could you use the floo network to let Evanna and Charlie know to look out for Hermes some time this week- last time I didn't warn them ahead of time, a bloody dragon almost burnt Hermes' feathers."
Roselyn agreed, remembering how nearly injured the poor creature was.
"And let dad know we'll miss him!" Eden added.
Their father had been unable to make it, something about surprise quidditch practice. The Montrose Magpies were the team to beat in the Irish/English region, and Taron supposed his father's quidditch captain intended for it to stay that way.
"Of course dear, now hurry up, or you'll barely have time to find a compartment!" Roselyn urged.
They made it to the luggage car with ease, and while Taron grabbed Hermes' cage off the top of the trolley, Roselyn pulled out her wand and uttered a simple spell, allowing the many possessions of the two Lovenus children to just float their way in and settle themselves among the others.
"Alright kids, I'd best get back to the ministry. I trust you can find your way on the train yourselves?" Roselyn sighed, giving her son a hug, and making him hold Eden's caged tarantula as she did the same with her daughter.
"We'll be fine, Mum." Taron assured.
"Okay loves, owl if you need anything." Roselyn finally said, before pulling out her wand and disapparating from the platform.
"Y'know- I don't see why we couldn't have just apparated to the platform in the first place." Taron sighed, handing the beady eyed little Wesley back to his owner as they both carefully placed their creatures among the luggage.
"Because apparation is gross." Eden responded, wiping her hands on her jeans and striding confidently towards the steps of the train.
Taron rolled his eyes light heartedly, following after the girl.
— AS SOON AS THEY'D MADE IT ON THE TRAIN, Eden practically disappeared from Taron's side. He'd seen her approach another first year, who looked nervous and jittery, the two talked and Eden seemed to break the ice easily.
Taron left her to her devices, knowing that kid could make friends quicker than anything.
Instead, he pushed passed a few other students littering the thin corridor, looking in on compartment windows for someone he'd recognize.
"Taron?" A voice called from behind him.
Taron turned on his heel and immediately let one of his boyish grins invade his face.
"Neville!"
The awkward Gryffindor nearly ran into a few students, one of whom stuck out their foot and tripped the poor boy.
Luckily, Taron was there to catch him before he hit the grimy corridor floor.
"Sorry," Neville apologized to the Ravenclaw who's foot had caught his ankle.
"Watch where you're going." They sneered, stepping into a compartment and sliding the door shut.
Neville looked up at Taron, who was still there to steady him, "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Taron smiled, secretly cursing out that Ravenclaw in the back of his head. "How are you! I haven't seen you all summer."
Neville shuffled to stand on his own, fixing his sweater and still blushing in embarrassment from the previous incident.
"I'm alright," he assured.
They began to walk together down the corridor, Neville kept his eyes on the floor- keeping an eye out for any more oncoming obstructions.
"I saw what happened at the quidditch world cup- that must have been scary." Neville shivered. "Were you really there?"
"Amos and Cedric invited me along, we disapparated before all that stuff in the Daily Prophet though- I didn't see the... y'know..." Taron trailed off.
Neville nodded.
Taron felt an oncoming awkward silence invading their minds, and noticed something that would easily change the subject,
"Speaking of Cedric," Taron laughed, pointing through the window of the compartment they'd suddenly stopped at.
There sat Cedric Diggory, clad in a Hufflepuff scarf and looking happily out the window. The compartment was empty apart from him, most likely because people knew those seats were practically reserved.
Taron slid the door open and let Neville in. The abrupt sound startled Cedric, but he grinned when he realized who it was.
"Neville!" He greeted, standing up to hug the boy, who carefully hugged back.
Then Cedric moved on to Taron, greeting him in the same way he had done to the Gryffindor.
"Sorry I couldn't reply to your owl," Cedric apologized, "By the time I got it- I was packing my trunk for school again." He explained.
"No worries, I'm just glad to see you're okay." Taron replied, pulling away and sitting in the seat across from Cedric. Neville simply plopped down on the floor, knowing the remaining seats would be occupied soon anyway.
"You too." Cedric nodded, a soft smile playing at his lips.
The two Hufflepuffs spoke for a minute, mostly about quidditch, before Cedric realized Neville was rather quiet again.
"What about you Neville, you been to Noltie's lately?" He asked.
Noltie's was a wizarding botanical shop in Diagon Alley, Cedric only sparked this particular conversation with Neville because he knew the boy's love of plants.
"Yes actually, I was there just last week." Neville laughed, wringing his hands together, "they just got a new shipment of puffapods- Noltie seemed excited about them, but I've been saving up for the mimbulus mimbletonia for a while now." He stated with awkward enthusiasm, worrying that maybe it was weird to save up money for a plant.
"That's a rare one, isn't it?" Taron asked.
"Yeah," Neville sighed, sinking into a more comfortable position, "that's probably why it's so expensive." He joked.
It's at this moment that the compartment door opens again, and another person bolts inside, tossing themselves next to Taron, leaning their back against him and stretching their legs over the seats.
"Hello, father." A female voice greets, crossing her arms and settling into her spot.
"Hello, problem child." Taron laughs, turning so the woman's head was more or less resting on his chest rather than his arm as he propped one leg up next to her, practically caging her in against the back of the seat. "Comfortable?"
"Very." She replied, relaxing against him, and not complaining when Taron took her blue Ravenclaw scarf and wrapped it around his own neck. He had a tendency to steal his friend's clothes and belongings— they had grown so used to it that none of them even argued anymore.
"Hello Eli." Cedric laughed, shaking his head slightly at the woman's ridiculous behaviour.
Eliza Dryden had always been quite the odd character, she was loud and had a certain disregard for rules. Yet- she maintained being one of the brightest witches of her year- never getting anything less than an O in every class (not including potions during the first year, after their professor knocked her down to an A for whispering to Luna Lovegood about how his hair looked more like a mirror than anything else.)
"G'day Ceddy." Eli tipped an imaginary hat to the boy, who chucked yet again, leaning back against his seat.
The train began to move, and they were on their way to school yet again.
"Has anyone seen Luna and Reign?" Taron asked.
Everyone made a noise confirming they hadn't, but as they did the compartment door slid open, revealing the two girls they had been talking about.
Luna, looking as whimsical as ever, said 'hello' in her dream-like voice before finding her spot behind Neville, allowing the boy to lean against her legs, which were clad in patterned leggings.
Everyone looked up and grinned at Reign, knowing the routine by now as the girl held up her charmed camera and snapped a picture.
"Hello everyone." She greeted softly, sitting between Luna and Cedric, sinking back against the cushiony seat.
The Hogwarts Express slowly picked up speed as the group of teens began discussing their summers, and their enthusiasm for the coming year.