Lily Potter And The Secret Bewitchment

Chapter Thirteen - Happy Holidays

Lily awoke, confused and slightly groggy. Looking at the lit dial on George's watch, she could see that it was just after five in the morning. The train was travelling very slowly by it's usual standard, which was apparently to ensure the students got a full night's sleep, as the express had to depart at seven in the evening.

Seemingly, however, the plan did not work for all. Oli was leaning against the window, as Lily was, opposite her. His eyes were open and he was reading. Jayla also appeared to be awake, but whether Oli had noticed was unclear. She was curled up across the seat, exactly like Oli's snowy cat was above her head.

Lily decided to settle down again, but quietly asked Oli,

"Do you have one of those muggle watches that will do alarms?" He nodded silently.

"Then could you please set an alarm for seven so we can all wake up and say goodbye before we reach London?" Lily whispered.

"Yes, I'll do that. Night, Lily." Lily could barely return the notion before leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes, involuntarily.

The constant beeping made everyone in compartment eleven open their eyes. Hugo managed to roll off the seat, and there was much grumbling as Oli turned off his watch. George, who had been sleeping under his hoodie, threw the it at Oli.

"Turn it off!" He did not sound aggressive, just annoyed at being awoken.

"Why, Oliver?" Hugo asked, eyes half open from his position on the floor.

"I'm sorry, guys!" Oli said, as Lily sat up straight.

"I'll hope there was a reason for that." Jayla said, waking up properly. "I barely slept anyway!"

"Guys!" Lily said, as the focus turned to her, "I asked for that alarm, so we could say proper goodbyes before we get to King's Cross."

"Is it that time already?" George asked, grumbling. "The night went so fast."

"For you, maybe." Oli said darkly. "I didn't really sleep either, like Jayla. I was bored out of my mind all night."

"I sleep like a log." Hugo said, eventually getting off the floor. "I now ache all over, thanks Lils."

"Sorry!" Lily put her hands up and laughed. "I thought you might want to be awake for Uncle Ron's terrible driving. You know, you gotta be on your toes, in case you have to jump!" Hugo laughed.

"I'm getting the Knight bus back home. You know, because I'm only in London." Jayla said, "So I definitely won't get any sleep!" 

"I'm going up to Birmingham, where I live, in my parent's car." Oli didn't look very happy with this arrangement.

"Well you guys know I used to live in Scotland, but I got an owl from my mum. Our new house is in Weybridge, in Surrey."

"Awesome. Have you ever seen it before?" Lily asked, curious.

"No, but it sounds really cool. It has a room with a bookshelf that covers the whole of one wall, and one of the panels swings open as a door!"

"That's actually amazing. When can I come visit?!" Hugo joked, and the others laughed.

At that moment, another voice filled the compartment, very loud over the chatter.

"We will be arriving at King's Cross in fifteen minutes time. Please gather up your luggage and wait for a prefect to tell you to leave the train."

"We better put all our stuff away." Lily said, springing into action. "Our first term, finished. Isn't that mental?"

"Too right." Jayla said, "Sixth months since we met, Lily."