Order of the Sphinx... Why should HP get to have all the fun?

Chapter 25: Hey There Alina

Disclaimer: I am not J.K.

I wish I was that cool, but no, sorry, these are not the droids you are looking for.

A/N (BREIF): Translations are down the bottom

Chapter 25: Hey There Alina

It was summer in the northern Hemisphere.

Though of course, summer in the British Isles was something reminiscent of our autumn back at home in Australia. It was a joke! I couldn’t help but feel cheated that the heat I so desperately craved and assumed would come when one mentioned summer was absent. There was also another development that occurred after the end of school that I felt cheated about.

I had to stay in England for the summer.

What a load of crock!

I was homesick and was forced into watching the cheery and joyous faces of my classmates and closest friends as they all leapt aboard the Hogwarts Express to go home with barely a ‘goodbye see you in September’ as they leapt aboard the train. My friends tried to be sympathetic, but they were that pleased to be going home for a few months they couldn’t quite muster the enthusiasm required for an adequate sensitive farewell.

So on the first of June, I watched forlornly from the Platform at Hogsmede while my friends all piled enthusiastically onto the scarlet red steam engine. I pouted grumpily with my hands stuck firmly inside my jean pockets and my green cardigan hanging loosely open over a black camisole as they thrust their trunks in the first available compartment they could find. Jen, Ivy and Alice stood on the platform with me, trying to figure out what to say to console me as they shifted from foot to foot anxious to get away from the school and get back home.

“It won’t be that bad Anna.” Jen said lamely, finally finding her tongue. “I’m sure you’ll get that involved in training that you’ll forget all about it! It’ll be September before you know it!” She said, and I felt even crummier than when she had started speaking. “Yeah!” Alice chirped, suddenly struck with something to say, “I bet it’ll be really boring at home anyway. Cold and wet and yuck. We probably won’t know what to do with ourselves after a week or two.” She exclaimed, much too cheerful.

I grimaced. “Yeah, but it’s still home.” I muttered, scuffing my worn volleys against the ground and looking down at them intently so I could try and will away the damn water in my eyes. I was suddenly enveloped in a group hug. “We’re all going to miss you.” Ivy said sombrely. “You’ll have to write to us every day!” she insisted, sounding slightly British. I nodded against someone’s shoulder, the smell of Alice’s shampoo tickling my nose.

The train whistle whined, filling the air with a burst of high pitched sound. The conductor blew his whistle, a warning call for the last of the stragglers left on the platform. Sniffing, I stepped away from the girls and gave them shoves towards the train. “Quick! Get on before you get stuck here too.” I said, as a way of goodbye.

They all piled on quickly, shutting the door behind them and hurried to their compartment, leaning out the window and waving at me, yelling goodbyes. Colin and Will stuck their heads out too, yelling some rather rude sounding goodbyes. I flipped them off, all in good nature of course. I waved with a shaky smile as the train lurched then chugged away from the platform, my waving becoming all the more desperate and wild when they began to move farther and farther away.

 I watched glumly until they were out of sight, and a bit more, long after the train was a speck on the horizon. That’s how Snape found me, standing alone on the platform watching after my long gone friends. He came to stand close beside me, and was dressed much more casually than he usually was, his long buttoned teaching robes traded for a black turtleneck sweater and black slacks.