Behind the Shadows [Book One]

Chapter Six:

[[A/N: So this is the last prewritten chapter. From now on updates probably wont come as frequently as they have been due to work and whatnot.]]

Chapter Six:

With the calico cat all packed up, not to mention my clothing and school supplies in the trunk, I'm sure I looked rather... silly, walking through Kings Cross Station. A small eleven year old girl with a trunk that weighed twice as much as she did, a cat caged up on top meowing its head off and a bat-like man walking beside her in long strides.

Definitely a sight to see.

Professor Snape strode in front of me, his cape billowing behind him reminding me of a comic I'd once read.. Batman. He reminded me of Batman. I smiled softly, looking away from him before running to catch up with his long legs and fast pace as he neared Platform 10.

I looked around for Platform 9 and 3/4 but couldn't seem to see it. To the left was 9, and to the right was 10, but there was nothing in between the two! "Professor," I started, giving a short tug to his long sleeved black shirt, "Where is the platform that we're supposed to board?"

He pointed towards a brick column between the 9 and 10 platforms, and instructed me to go into it.

He was joking, right?

By the look on his face, the answer to that was no, I decided after just a few seconds. Professor Snape was completely serious, I was supposed to just walk right into a solid brick wall. Well I trusted his judgment so.. Grimacing, I straightened my shoulders, nodding towards the Professor before I began to push my trolley slowly yet surely towards the supposed platform. There was already a family waiting there, and it didn't take me but a few moments to realize that it was the red haired group that I had seen with my brother at Diagon Alley.

Sure enough, right next to them was the boy himself, all smiles and happiness. Of course he'd be happy, he left behind the only thing that was keeping him back, my mind whispered. I bit my bottom lip, shaking the thoughts out of my head as I kept moving, they were concentrated on their conversation and I was concentrated on making sure my brother didn't see me and that I made it threw that brick wall.

I moved faster, almost running yet not quite and I braced myself for an impact, but it never came. I stopped, looking around and realizing that I was in a crowded train platform, more crowded than even Kings Cross was. Adults and children and teenagers alike were hugging each other, smiling and laughing, saying their goodbyes.

Hunching my shoulders, I looked at the ground as I followed the other (what I assumed to be) Hogwarts students examples, stepping into the train and finding an empty or semi-empty compartment. Unfortunately I wasn't among the lucky to find an empty one, and so the first one that had an empty space I could fit into, I took without thinking much about it.

Looking around at everyone, I sighed with relief that they all seemed to be kind looking faces. A slightly chubby boy with brown hair and eyes who held a gross looking frog in his hand.. or was it a toad?

A gorgeous black haired asian girl, well the roots of her hair were black, but her hair had been dyed a bright red color, like blood.

On the opposite side of the small room sat two redhaired twins, identical and I immediately recognized them from the family that my brother had been with. They must have made it to the train while I was too busy staring at all of the other families that were on the platform.

"Um.. hi?" I put my hand up slightly and wigged my fingers, giving my award winning awkward smile. I was so nervous, honestly I'd never talked to many people. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, Dudley and Aunt Marge, plus Professor Snape and Harry were the only people I'd ever had almost constant contact with.

"'Ello," the two twins smiled, before one of them patted the seat next to them. "Come sit," the one on the right said cheerily, before the other replied with their names. "We're Fred and George. He's Fred."

"No, you're Fred!"

"No, I'm George, Fred."

Blinking, I turned to the two other people in the compartment as the twins continued their arguement, blatantly asking with my eyes if I should be concerned about who I was sitting next to. The boy with the toad shrugged, smiling shyly as he stared at me.

"I'm Neville Longbottom."

"And I'm Fei," the asian girl grinned, her bright white teeth glowling slightly as she thrust her hand out. I shook it without thinking twice.

"Amaryllis Potter."

Their eyebrows all seemed to scrunch together, the twins stopped arguing over who was who and everyone looked at me differently than they had a few moments ago, their eyes suddenly turned calculating and misbelieving.

"What?" I questioned, wondering why they were staring at me like some freaky phenomenon.

"Potter? Related to Harry Potter, you mean?" Neville asked, twiddling his fingers together nervously as he stared up at me.

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Who doesn't know him? He's the Boy Who Lived! Are you his sister?" Fred /or/ George asked. "Because he hasn't mentioned you, and I spent nearly all summer with him at our house, so I would know."

"I dont think he likes me much," I shrugged, looking out the compartment window and pretended to the best of my abilities that I didn't care whether my own brother liked me or not. I could feel the restlessness in the train, not just in our compartments but in others as well, students walked back and forth, and someone stuck their head in telling us we were getting close to our destination and should start putting on our robes.

Nobody else spoke, just did as we were told and got into our school robes and walked off the train as we pulled up to our stop.

There was a large.. large man called all the first years to him, he was the tallest, widest, hairest man I'd ever seen in my life! After all the first years were gathered up, he introduced himself as Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts and told us about how we'd be riding in a boat.

I knew I wouldn't do well in boats, I couldn't swim, what if it dumped over?

But it didn't, the ride went surprisingly well, I was teamed up with one of the red-haired family members, a girl who I knew had to be related to Fred and George, and a taller boy who looked intimidating. I couldn't even get my guts up to speak to him.

Hagrid put us into the care of one Professor McGonagall, whose stern demeanor honestly scared the pants off of me. She explained to us about the sorting, the Sorting Hat, the different houses.. and then finally, she ushered us into what she called the Great Hall, and one by one we were called up to sit up on a stool while a talking hat told us what "house" we belonged in.

"Potter, Amaryllis!" Professor McGonagall called, her voice echoing across the room. Everyone turned to stare at me as I stepped to the front, and for a few seconds I met my brother's eyes. I could see the surprise reflected in them, but I broke contact and sat myself on the stool, trying to relax myself as the Sorting Hat was placed on my head.

"...Gryffindor!" It shouted, and the table that was filled with Gryffindor students burst into spontaneous applause like it had every other time someone was sorted into their house.

It was the table that my brother also sat in.