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Track Five: Hold The Sun: Maya Hawke
Circe was running so fast she swore she could feel embers shedding off of her. The train left at 11:00 on the dot and she was still in the main station of Kings Cross, but rushing at the last minute was her signature trait and she wasn't about to start fourth year without it. In hindsight, Circe supposed she could've started packing yesterday, or really anytime in the past week. It wasn't like she was busy either, fiddling around with half scrapped projects or lying on her roof with Cheddar were really the only two activities that had occupied her time between the World Cup and now. She had been alone for the last week and Circe was eager to see her friends and more specifically, Emrys who she'd heard nothing but radio silence from since the day after the cup. He had sent a note thanking Ted, Andromeda and a confirmation to Circe that he was safe and okay.
The thinnest hand on the clock was rapidly approaching the "12" and Circe was hurtling towards the entrance to the train just as the wheels began to turn. She definitely did not regret hanging back those few extra minutes.
Her older cousin had pulled her aside, making sure that the rest of the family couldn't hear their conversation. The two had always been bad about keeping secrets from each other. Even over a decade ago, when the two hooked pinkies in a fit of giggles underneath sheets with a flashlight illuminating both of them, they promised to never to keep anything from each other. So when Tonks guiltily took Circe aside, presenting her pinky finger to her little cousin and whispering something in her ear that made her eyes burn alight with excitement, their pact was once again kept preserved in a state of childlike truth.
And now Circe was flinging herself onto the piece of metal jutting out from the train, pulling herself up using the bar that rested by the entrance. She hauled herself through the narrow hallway of the Hogwarts Express resembling a mad woman who had dozens of cats. It seemed like Cheese was just one of many that she would eventually own. Circe's first plan of action was to find Emrys, or wherever she found herself first (The sprint to the train had truly exhausted her).
Circe had just finished going through her fifth train car when she decided to stop in an empty compartment, no longer caring if she found Emrys or not. After all, they were in the same house & she was sure she would see him sooner or later. She was only two cars from the end of the train, meaning the car was relatively empty and the cabin she chose thankfully was as well. The witch let her awkward legs lay out in front of her as she took a book out from her satchel that she had no doubt she wouldn't be reading. Her hands dipped back into her bag to retrieve some coins for the Trolley Lady. Her hands barely made it out of her bag before her head hit the plush cushion of the seat, a tiredness setting in due to Circe staying up late the night before taking care of last minute packing and drinking butterbeer with Tonks.
The two had sat crossed legged on the front lawn long into the night — the scattered shards of moon splayed out across the midnight canvas as they stayed awake beneath it, cloaking the girls in darkness while their bare feet dug into the warm earth. A tradition that has started when Circe had first gone to Hogwarts — she'd been so scared of facing the castle alone, without any of her family to shield her (Along with the fear of Snape, which had started long before she actually stepped into the castle. It hadn't helped that Tonks enjoyed embellishing her stories of Potions class, as strength in Potions and Arithmetic were not traits that the cousins possessed.) They'd stayed up till the moon had begun retreating, mindlessly pulling up grass and shredding it while Tonks told tales of her own fourth year at Hogwarts. She'd always been a north star for Circe, helping guide her through the years. She was by no means good at giving advice — but it was a comfort to know someone was guiding her. Now, Circe was regretting her decision to stay up that late, she scrambled to pull her robes on after the Trolley lady arrived and notified her that they would be approaching Hogwarts in less than half an hour. They were just hitting the familiar beats of the cobblestone bridge when Emrys flung open the door, painting Circe's face with ten different shades of shock.
