Nina's Destiny

The Hogwarts Express

It was the first day of September, and I was saying my last goodbyes to Mom and Percy. It was 5:15, but Mom needed to take Percy to his boarding school upstate.

"I promise I'll write all the time," I said as I let go of my brother only to be engulfed in a hug by Mom.

"Are you sure you'll be fine waiting for Morgan and Diane? "she asked worriedly. Her eyes skated to look up the stairs where Gabe was fast asleep.

"I'll stay extra quiet," I assured her. I wasn't too worried. Gabe slept like a pulled me into an extra tight hug before exiting the apartment with my twin.

Sighing, I sat down on the couch with the guitar Morgan gave me for my 11th birthday. It was almost as good as my flute which was safely packed away in my trunk.. The guitar was made of dark cherry wood and was absolutely gorgeous. I began strumming Realize by Collie called while I waited for my two best friends. As I finished the last chord, I heard a soft clapping. It wasn't slow and sarcastic like Gabe's, so it could be two things.

1) Mom and Percy forgot something and came back in or...

2) Morgan and Di were here!

"You've gotten pretty good, Nina," Diane applauded.

"Thanks, Di," I grinned. I carefully put my guitar away in its case and clamped the clasps. "You guys are early! I wasn't expecting you for another 10 minutes!" Morgan laughed happily.

"We figured you were pretty excited," he explained. "That you'd want to get over there as soon as physically possible." Morgan bent down to pick up my trunk, and Di grabbed my guitar case. I picked up Skittles' cage, and Diane held her free hand out to me. I grabbed it, and Morgan took Di's shoulder. All three of us closed our eyes in preparation to Light Travel to London. Mages are able to harness their element to travel from Point A to Point B.

Five seconds later, when we opened our eyes, we were standing in the middle of an alleyway next to King's Cross Station. After fixing my watch to the correct time since we switched time zones, Morgan, Diane, and I exited the alley, and Morgan helped me load my things onto a trolley. Morgan lead the way into the station and over to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.

"I guess this is goodbye for now, "I said, staring at the barrier. It suddenly hit me that I was an entire ocean away from home to go to school. I wouldn't see Mom, Percy, Morgan, or Diane until Winter Break at the earliest. I felt tears burn at the backs of my eyes. Diane pulled me into a tight hug.

"Next time we see you," she said, "You can show us all the cool magic you learned at school." She let me go, and Morgan pulled me into his arms.

"Yeah, Sparkles," he laughed, but I could still hear his voice cracking. I buried my face in his Beatles T-shirt, and he rested his chin on my head. "Promise you'll write at least once a week?"

"As long as you promise to write me back," I sniffled. I couldn't help myself.

"Of course," he promised. "And before you go, Di and I made something for you." Morgan pulled back, and Diane handed me a large book bound in what looked and felt like pastel purple leather. On the top of the front cover, my nickname, Sparkles, was written in silver cursive. Underneath was a picture of Morgan, Diane, and me.

"It goes in chronological order of all the times we've hung out together since we met," Diane explained. "So no matter what new friends you make, you'll always have a little piece of us." I felt a few tears leak down my cheeks as I hugged Diane.

"Thank you both so much," I said as I hugged Morgan one last time. Morgan kissed my forehead, and I could have sworn I saw tears in his eyes.

"We'll see you 'round, Sparkles," he said, ruffling my hair. I glared, but my heart wasn't in it. Diane grabbed Morgan's hand, and the twins left the train station.