LITTLE MISS MUDBLOOD | draco malfoy

4 ; the hogwarts express ✔︎

Y/N finally snapped her trunk shut and secured the buckles. Goldfish trotted over and sat in her lap, nipping water droplets from her hair as she buckled his leather collar around his neck. She gave him a bone and he chewed away while she read Quidditch Through the Ages. Some hours later, after the Granger's had eaten, Y/N and Hermione's huge trunks had been loaded into the Granger's single car, Y/N had attached a sturdy leash to Goldfish, and they had set off.

They reached King's Cross at ten o'clock. Mr. Granger set Y/N and Hermione's trunks on separate trolleys and made sure Goldfish was securely on his leash before walking alongside his daughters with Mrs. Granger. They wheeled the trolleys through the station and approached platforms nine and ten, nervousness running through each of them.

A barrier stood between the platforms and the Grangers stared at it for a minute. People paid no mind to them and Y/N gulped, saying, "I'll go first."

She handed the leash to Mr. Granger and tightened her grip on her trolley. She pivoted the ball of her foot before breaking into a run, cringing as she waited for the crash of her cart into the barrier –

Except, it never came. She felt air rush past her ears before a new buzz met them, a new, excited buzz. Y/N looked around to find a crowd of people on the platform next to a scarlet steam engine. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Y/N looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. Hermione appeared through it a second later, and looked around in awe at the platform, like she had. Mr. and Mrs. Granger came through after her, and Y/N took Goldfish from her father, setting him atop her trunk. The family pressed through the crowd until they found an empty compartment near the end of the train. Hermione held Goldfish as Y/N and Mr. Granger heaved the trunks up the steps and tucked them away in a corner of the compartment.

"We'll miss you," said Mrs. Granger to Hermione and Y/N once Mr. Granger and Y/N hopped off the train. She sniffed. "My two baby girls are growing up."

"Mum!" groaned Y/N as the woman pulled her and Hermione into a suffocating hug. "You're squishing Goldfish!"

Mrs. Granger rolled her eyes and stepped back to allow Mr. Granger to hug his daughters. Mrs. Granger took out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, sniffling, and Mr. Granger offered his arm to her and she took it, leaning on his shoulder as she smiled sadly.

"We love you," she said with a quivering lip. "A lot."

"We love you too, mum," said Hermione and Y/N.

The Grangers said their goodbyes and Y/N and Hermione promised to write to their parents. They boarded the train with Goldfish and sat by the window, waving to their parents one last time before sitting back down, excited for the events to come.

Y/N checked her watch; it was only half-past ten and the train left at eleven. She sighed and sat back, stroked Goldfish as he napped, took the leash off him and set it next to her, fidgeting with it as Hermione read. Looking around, she pulled out her wand, pointed it at Hermione's book, and said,

"Reducio!"

The book shrunk in Hermione's grasp and she jumped in surprise before glaring at Y/N. Grinning, Y/N returned it to its original size and went back to being bored.

She sat, doing nothing, for five minutes before digging through her trunk and pulling out Magical Drafts and Potions and a pen, and began scribbling in the margins. Before she knew it, the train lurched and began to move. Y/N looked out the window and waved to her parents, watching them disappear around the bend. She took a break from writing and shoved her book back into her trunk, sighing. Hermione snapped her book shut and said, "We should get changed."