Ellie, Annie and Y/N stepped out of the muggle taxi and stared up at King's Cross Station.
"Alright. You can make your way to the platform from here right?" Annie asked.
They had rushed out of the orphanage that morning. Most of the kids had already made their way to school but there were still a few kids home alone, with some of the older kids as supervision.
Annie knew she shouldn't have left the kids home alone like that, but she simply had to see Y/N off before he left.
Y/N rolled his eyes at the question. "Of course Annie. I'm not a baby."
Ellie hadn't said anything throughout the entire trip. But knowing that it was time for him to go, she gripped his jacket in a tight hug.
Y/N held her close. "Don't worry. I'll write to you everyday."
"You better." Ellie sniffled.
While they were hugging, Annie also wrapped her arms around the two of them. "Don't you ever think you won't be missed Y/N." she said.
Y/N felt his eyes begin to water slightly. As excited as he was to finally go to Hogwarts... was it really worth hardly seeing these two anymore?
Don't think like that. His brain scolded him. You've waited this long. Don't wuss out now.
"I love you both" he said fiercely.
Annie was shocked. Ellie however, smiled into the hug.
Finally, he was released. "We should really go now." Annie said sadly. "Before the other kids throw a party in our absence."
Ellie said nothing and followed Annie back into the taxi. After Annie had taken her seat Ellie turned around.
"I love you too big brother." she said softly.
Y/N smiled as the taxi drove off, with Ellie waving through the window the entire way. His heart ached.
When the car had disappeared around a corner. Y/N put his hand back on his luggage. He made his way into the station. He checked his wristwatch, quarter past ten. He was incredibly early.
When he reached the platforms, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his train ticket.
"Let's see here, what platform is it?" he asked himself, reading the little number on his ticket. "Hang on, nine and three quarters?"
He quickly looked up at the platforms. Nine and Ten were there, but there was nothing in between.
What the hell?
Dumbledore had defiantly said Kings Cross Station. Maybe he forgot to mention how to find the platform? He remembered when Tom the bartender had opened the archway to Diagon Alley. Did this work in a similar way?
In the end, Y/N decided to just wait and see if anyone else knew how to get onto the platform, a family of wizards should be easy to spot. They'd obviously have a pet with them, either an owl or a cat or a toad.
Speaking of which, Coconut seemed to sense Y/N's distress, she rattled on her cat cage, asking to be released. Y/N obliged, and soon she was frolicking near his feet as he sat down and read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
At around ten thirty five, he heard what he had been keeping an ear out for.
"Are you sure you've understood your instructions Hermione?" came a woman's voice.
"Yes," came the voice of a child, a girl to be more specific. "To get on to Platform nine and three quarters we just-"
Y/N stopped reading and lifted his head. He saw a family of three, a mother, a father and a bushy brown haired girl. If he was honest, they didn't look like a wizard family, in fact, he could have mistaken them for muggles.
He quickly jumped from his seat and hurried over to the family. Coconut following after him.
"Excuse me." he said politely. "Could you tell me how to get on to Platform nine and three quarters?"
The family suddenly looked very nervous. Especially the girl.
"Er, did you hear me say nine and three quarters?" she asked nervously. "I was just kidding."
"No you weren't" he grinned at her. He held up his ticket. "I'm going to Hogwarts too."
The girl very visibly relaxed.
"But I was never told how to get on to the platform." he continued, rubbing his hand through his H/C hair.
"Oh its quite simple really." the girl said. Y/N noted that she had quite a bossy tone of voice. "You just have to walk through the barriers seperating platforms nine and ten."
"Wow." Y/N said, genuinely impressed.
"I'm Hermione Granger by the way, and these are my parents. What's your name?"
"Oh - my name's Y/N L/N. Nice to meet you."
"Want to sit together on the train?" Hermione asked eagerly.
Y/N took a minute to observe her. Based on her obvious eagerness to sit with him, he determined that she, like him, didn't have many friends.
Despite his uninterest in making friends in Hogwarts, he felt bad for this girl.
"Sure." he said. Oblivious to the grins on Mr and Mrs Grangers faces when they saw someone was befriending their often lonely daughter.
Y/N went first, he grabbed his trolley with all of his luggage strapped into it, and walked into the barrier.
Emerging from the other side, he heard a loud whistle from the large scarlet steam engine waiting for him.
Hermione also emerged from the other side of the wall.
"Wow." they both said in unison.