Elizabeth
Edmund had booked a hotel within walking distance of King's Cross; thankfully, because the weather had picked up, they elected to walk in favor of a cab. London was abuzz with activity, there were lights, cars, and noise. The smell of rain and tea with a hint of motor oil scented the air.
Elizabeth was glad to have Edmund with her, though he was very talkative on the walk. Asking whether she had everything, if she was sure, if she wanted to go, if she needed anything, when was the train leaving, would she write, or text, and so forth. It was quite endearing that the man was so invested in her well being, but she supposed it was his job. She assured him each time that yes she had everything, yes she was sure, yes she wanted to go, no she didn't need anything, they had a half hour till the train left, and yes she would keep in touch.
Entering the station they immediately saw that platform 9 ¾ did not in fact exist in the muggle world. As they approached Platform 10 they noticed some other people with quite a bit of supplies, and a frazzled woman dressed in robes. Elizabeth supposed they were wizards and stopped to watch.
The kids were older than she was, and about a foot taller. Staring at the pillar between platforms they took a running start, and disappeared into the bricks. Although she had to persuade Edmund that he wasn't going to get stuck in the wall halfway because he was a muggle, the pair crossed over to Platform 9 ¾.
As she walked into the train, making sure that Novasol was comfortable, she realized that everyone already had someone to sit by. Elizabeth had never had time to make friends, her schedule filled with all sorts of errands that her mother had concocted. The one person that she actually favored in her whole household was the only one in the station bawling his eyes out.
As soon as she was able to get a good glimpse of the interior of the Hogwarts Express, Elizabeth was surrounded by dozens of the other students scrambling to find a good spot to sit in. She was caught by surprise when another student pushed into her, making Novasol hiss as he was dropped onto the floor.
"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you there." Elizabeth voiced, dusting herself off as she consoled a grumpy Novasol.
"Xavier, please tell me why this low-life is talking to me." Elizabeth glanced up to see a skinny, curly haired girl standing next to a boy that would have been identical to her if it wasn't for his straight hair.
"Zara, you promised that you would at least try to be civil this year." Xavier chided his sister. Zara smirked at Elizabeth, clearly ignoring her brother.
"Yeah Zara, no need to act like Mum all the time." A voice from behind Xavier chimed in as Xavier's twin joined his siblings.
"Oh Xavier, Teddy, you should know me by now." The girl put a hand on her hip and glared at Elizabeth. "Get away from me, b*tch. You need to stay away from your future ruler." Elizabeth, seeing where this was going, replied.
"Really?! You're planning a permanent transfiguration into a measuring stick? Have fun with that. It'll definitely improve all of this...thing you've got going on." She gestured to Zara as a whole. The first year picked up- or rather guided her cat the opposite way as Zara stood there with her mouth wide open, obviously not used to other people having comebacks.
----------------------------------------------
"Now let's see here.....where the fuck am I supposed to sit?" Tori muttered to herself. As soon as she spied an empty compartment, she slipped inside and set her owl's cage onto the cushioned seat. Tori loved it when she had these quiet moments to herself. She was always running from the law back when she had lived with her mother and rarely had peace.
Unfortunately, the door slid open as soon as she had closed her eyes.
"Piss off. This compartment is occupied."
"Oh, well, seein' as you're the only person who is sitting alone in the whole train, I figured I'd take a journey to hogwarts with a pissed off sitting partner to living with a very large cat in a very small train hallway for a couple hours." Tori opened her eyes just enough to see a cramped, smirking girl sharing the tight doorway with a gigantic black panther.
"Er.....alright" Tori stammered. She had never seen such a large feline, and from the looks of its teeth, she didn't want to get on its bad side.
"My name is Elizabeth Black, granddaughter of Sirius Black. Who're you?" Elizabeth extended a hand to her new acquaintance as soon as she took the opposite seat.
"Tori Davis," Tori shook hands with the girl, slightly taken aback by her promptness. "I'm from the U.S., but my foster parents are from the U.K, so I guess I'm British now." Elizabeth chuckled.
"That would explain the accent." Suddenly, a loud crash came from the hall.
"Oi! You wankers wanna have some company?" The two boys that had defended Elizabeth stuck their heads into the compartments. Xavier was more sensible, smiling warmly; while his brother had a wild look in his eyes, wiggling his eyebrows. Elizabeth immediately frowned at them while Novasol snarled. "Down Kitty! We just wanted to find some better company." Teddy plopped down on the seat next to Tori. "Theodore Lestrange, at your service." He pushed back his floppy brown hair and offered a charming grin. Xavier took a seat next to Elizabeth.
"Xavier Lestrange. Sorry about my twin, he's a bit of a nutter." Elizabeth let her guard down, petting Novasol to calm him.
"That's alright," Tori grinned. "Might as well get with the fun group, everyone else on this train shoots daggers." Xavier chuckled.
"You and I think the same way, Tea Sinker." They fist bumped, right before another two girls came crashing into the compartment.
"Sorry," the blonde one blurted. " but our family is crazy huge, so could we shack up here?" Once she got approval from four slight nods, the cousins took up the remaining seats next to Xavier and Teddy.
"I'm Marie Malfoy," the blonde one announced. "and this is my cousin, Renae Lupin." Marie gestured to her quirky companion. After a few awkward seconds of silence, Renae started up a conversation.
"Soooooooo, great weather we're having!" The group all turned their heads to the window, where it was pouring rain outside. Snickers went round, as Renae successfully broke the ice. "I'm guessing that we're all 1st years if we don't have anyone to sit with on the train." Xavier and Teddy exchanged glances.
"Actually love," Teddy started. "We're 2nd years." Seeing the confused looks, he added, "We just wanted to get away from our nauseating sister. She's in your year." Elizabeth narrowed her eyes in remembrance.
"Ah, yes, the ruling stick." she muttered, making the twins nod in agreement, leaving the other girls confused.
"She wants to take after our grandparents and father." Xavier clarified. As everyone else understood, Tori was drawing a blank. "We're purebloods, and she thinks that, as such, she should be ruling the world one day." Tori wrinkled her nose.
"God, are there going to be other people like her at this school?" she asked. They all exchanged a glance.
"Well," Renae started. "Usually those types of people are in Slytherin. It's the most conniving and tricky house at Hogwarts. But my uncle was in Slytherin, and he turned out fine, along with Marie's dad. I guess it doesn't really matter which house you're in, as long as you find the right people." Renae smiled, reassuring Tori. "What house do you think you're all going to get into? I'm shooting for Hufflepuff." Tori looked down at her hands.
"I'll probably be in Slytherin," Tori wailed. "I was such a bad person before coming here, getting fostered by such wonderful people..." Marie stiffened, as she hated when people got emotional.
"No, you'll be fine, it's going to be ok." Marie patted Tori on the head, attempting to comfort her. As Tori composed herself, Marie continued the conversation.
"Well, I'd like to be in Hufflepuff. I may not have had many friends growing up, but I just found my gigantic family, and I'd love to make more friends." she grinned, knowing that she already had found 4 more.
"We're in Ravenclaw-" Xavier started.
"But we won't hold your house against you." Teddy finished with a joking smirk. Elizabeth smiled knowingly.
"I'm definitely getting into Ravenclaw. All I like to do is learn." Her grandfather may have been in Gryffindor, but she did take after her parents at least a little.
"Well I'll look forward to pranking you, m'lady." Teddy grasped Elizabeth's hand and mock-kissed it. Elizabeth smirked, grabbing Novasol and practically dragging the large animal onto her lap.
"I don't think so." she grinned. "My grandfather was notorious for his pranks." She cackled and stroked the cat's fur. "OW OW OOWWWW!" The gang laughed as she gently pried Novasol's claws out of her pants.
"You must have bad karma." said a whimsical voice. Cherry and Alex, the Schmander siblings, popped their heads in the cabin. Cherry smiled gently at the younger crowd.
"'Should probably get your robes on, young ones." Alex suggested. "You don't want to be as unprepared as Teddy and Xavier were last year." The brother and sister chuckled as they made their way back to their compartment.
"What does that mean?" Renae giggled, turning to the twins. Xavier paled as Teddy blushed.
"That would be a story for another time girls." Xavier stammered as he got up and hurried to get his robes on in the bathroom. Teddy winked.
"Yeah, that way we'll definitely be able to talk again."