"We've already lost so much to this fucking war. Don't you think it's about time we gained something?"
( hp deathly hallows - post battle of hogwarts )
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"YOU ARE SAFE WITH US."
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was deadly silent that year.
The previous six times the Patil twins had arrived at the station, they would transition from the mundane bustle of the Muggle train station, to the bright, magical excitement of the wizarding platform. This time, it was as if they had gone from a beautiful summer day to a wake as they crossed the barrier.
Padma Patil stopped her cart only a couple feet past the barrier, her breath catching in her throat at the scene before her. The normally bright, cheerful platform was drained of its color - even the scarlet of the train itself seemed dim. Looking around, she half expected to see dementors floating in the rafters, sucking the life and happiness out of the students forced to return to the school. It felt out of place that there were none.
"Oh my," came the soft voice of her sister. Parvati stopped her cart beside her twin's and immediately took her arm, her identical face just as shocked.
While all the Muggleborns students were absent, the platform was just as crowded, because in their place were Ministry officials. Death Eaters, Padma thought suddenly. In their place were Death Eaters.
"Come, girls," their father said quietly, arriving on the platform shortly after Parvati with their mother. Padma turned to look at her parents and the reality of their situation hit her very suddenly, seeing the look of horror on her mother's face. Her father, however, wasn't looking at the platform as a whole, but at a Death Eater nearby, who was watching the family carefully. "We have to keep moving."
As the family moved down the platform, Padma watched the Death Eater her father had seen, and was thankful when he seemed to lose interest in them. With that weight off her shoulders, she turned her attention to the crowds her family wove through. It was almost silent. The excited hum that always seemed to be a staple of the platform was entirely gone, replaced with the sounds of sniffling and, occasionally, full-on sobs. There'd always been some tearful goodbyes before, but that was all there seemed to be this time around.
Padma recognized many of the students she passed, and while in different circumstances she would have loved to happily greet them, the most she could do today was give them a strained smile. That seemed to be the most that anyone could do. The Patil family stopped toward the middle of the train.
Stopping her trunk, Padma took a sharp, deep breath and held it, knowing her own tearful goodbye was coming. As she turned to her family, she saw that all three of them had done exactly what she had just done, and for a second she wanted to laugh at how similar they all were. Instead, she let out a quiet, heart wrenching sob and met her family in a group hug.
