King's Cross was unusually busy for September the first so it took Louis Tomlinson a bit longer than he was prepared to wait to get his trolley to pile on all his belongings.Not that there was much to add onto the cart, as Hogwarts students were only permitted a single trunk along with their caged animal of choice. Each year it was a struggle for the young lad to cram as much into his trunk as possible. And each year he tried taking out a few school books to squeeze in a few more things from home until his mum spotted them lying disheveled on the floor of his room and corrected his mistake.
Louis had his arms folded neatly across his chest and his foot tapped the floor impatiently while they waited in the somewhat impromptu queue to grab a trolley. When he finally reached for one, he pushed it over to where his mum and sisters were waiting, much more patiently than he had, for his return. Piling on his own luggage and then that of his sister Lottie's, his mum secured a large cage on top which housed a black owl, its head softly tucked under its wing as it slept. Louis had only just received the owl the summer prior, after receiving his O.W.L. scores in the post. He had received two Outstanding marks (in Charms and Care of Magical Creatures) and had managed to get by with Exceeds Expectations or Acceptable in all his other subjects with the exception of a Poor mark in History of Magic. But that was a rubbish subject if you asked him.
His sister had only just started at Hogwarts the year before, where she had been sorted into Ravenclaw, much to his distaste. How was he meant to keep an eye on her if they were in separate houses? Louis did his best regardless, and it helped a great load that two of his best mates were Ravenclaw Prefects, so as to keep an eye on the young girl when he couldn't.
Leading the way through the station, Louis pushed the cart with their luggage toward the correct platform, stopping near nine and ten. With a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure his family was just behind him, he straightened out the cart and began walking toward the barrier, quickening his pace as he approached it. He always wondered if it looked quite strange to see someone running toward a solid barrier and then have them disappear entirely, or if anyone even noticed. Probably not.
Once on Platform 9 3/4 he pushed the cart far enough from the barrier that everyone else after him would have room to get through, before stopping to wait. Shortly after, the rest of his family appeared and a smile graced his features.
While his mum cooed over Lottie, who despite it being her second year on the Hogwarts Express was still just as nervous as the year before, Louis knelt down on the cool ground and held his arms out wide for his two youngest sisters to move foward into them before they closed around their small frames. They were twins, and they had several years yet before it was their turn to head off to school. He knew how much they hated his departure, and every year was difficult for him. At least, until he was on the train back to school. He had another sister as well, though she was at that age where she didn't want to seem 'uncool' hugging her older brother in public, so he flashed her a smile accompanied with a wink as she stood behind.
Releasing his grip on the twins, Louis straightened back up and brought a hand to his hair, brushing a few strands out of his face and back into place as he moved toward his mum. She was already on the verge of tears after speaking to her eldest daughter, and now that it was time to say goodbye to her son, there was no hope of holding them back.
No matter how many times he went through this, it never got easier for Louis to see his mother in this state. A part of him was glad she still had three girls back at home throughout the school year, but he still hated having to leave her. He knew she got lonely, and he couldn't blame her for that.
After all, his father had worked as an auror for the Ministry of Magic, and several years after the twins had been born, there had been an accident. He would never forget the morning his mum shook him awake, much earlier than he was used to on the summer holiday, and sat him down in the living room with the rest of his siblings, including the twins who were much too young at that age to understand the situation, and tried her best to explain. Since then, he took it upon himself to be the man of the house, regardless of being only thirteen.
"Mum, save it for later," Louis groaned, but wrapped his arms around her thin frame anyway. "You'll set me off and then I won't be able to stop."
The last thing he wanted to do was get emotional there on the platform, just before meeting back up with his friends. He had spent a few days with a couple of them toward the end of the holiday, when they met up in Diagon Alley to shop for their school things. But he knew they would never let him hear the end of it if he made his way onto the train in tears.
"I'm just really going to miss you, boobear," the woman let out a bit pathetically, still trying to hold back her tears.
"I"ll write you first thing, I promise." Giving her a quick squeeze, Louis released his arms and took a step back to offer her a reassuring smile.
"I know, you always do," his mum nodded. "Make sure to watch after Lottie, she's still nervous as ever. And tell Liam the same."
With a quick nod, Louis pushed the cart further on down the platform to where it was less crowded so he could get on the train. It took him a couple minutes to get both carts and his owl cage settled in the overhead racks in the empty compartment he'd chosen, but as soon as he had finished he collapsed into the seat, leaning his head back into it with a sigh. His friends would find him, he wasn't about to waste any more energy looking for them.
He could see the orange glow of the morning sun through his closed eyelids, a slight tug at the corners of his lips as he relaxed for a few brief moments. The noise of the movement outside on the platform, and in the corridor, were simply background noise to the thoughts rushing through his mind. Mostly of his family, and how much he would miss them while he was away.
Louis was pulled from his thoughts when the door slid open with a quick bang and his eyes snapped open.
"Oh, so glad we've found you, boobear!" his friend's voice went rather high pitched on the last word, a slight tone of mocking hidden in there somewhere.
"Piss off, Zayn," Louis scoffed, rolling his blue eyes before glancing out the window.
"Wouldn't want to go the entire ride back without seeing our boobear," came the familiar Irish accent behind him as both boys entered the compartment.
Normally Louis would have given a sassy remark, but his eyes were focused on his family on the platform, that he could just make out between the other bodies rushing about. Lottie was still with them. Not only that but it always took him a little bit extra to recover from having to bid them farewell. Something that most teenagers didn't have trouble with, but he had always struggled to manage. His family was everything to him.
"Hey, boobear, you in there?" Zayn waved a hand in front of his face.
"Guys, stop giving it to him. I think it's sweet," came the familiar voice, shortly before Louis actually saw the tall curly haired girl enter the compartment, followed by Liam.
"'Ello, Danielle." He actually greeted her, as opposed to Zayn or Niall, after their mocking of his mother's nickname for him.
She replied with a warm smile, tossing her hair back over her shoulder as she took her place beside Liam, leaning into his side as he wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulder. Their matching Prefect badges glinting in the sun, and for a moment Louis wished he had one so he could threaten to take a few points from his friends for harassing him. Though he would never actually take points from them.
Louis was glad to see them, he had missed them the most after the school holiday. After all, he had spent time with both Niall and Zayn over the time off, so he couldn't really miss them too much now.
"Anyone excited for the feast tonight?" Niall asked, bringing the conversation to food as usual.
Rather than answering the other male's question, Louis shifted his gaze to the raven haired boy sat opposite him. "Your sister's starting this year, yeah? Which house you recken she'll get?"
Zayn nodded his head in a way that was both nonchalant and annoyed at the same time. "No clue, have I? Better get Gryffindor though, so I can keep an eye on her. She's just a few compartments over... Think I'll drop in later to make sure she's alright."
"Don't bother her, Zayn, she's probably sat in there all anxious with her mates. She'll be right embarrassed by her brother checking in on her," Danielle frowned. She would know, as she was the only female in their compartment.
Louis nodded in agreement to Danielle's statement. He had four sisters; he knew how they acted differently around just him at home versus when they were with their friends. They'd start blushing like crazy and act all embarrassed. It was a bit amusing, but he didn't know whether to feel bad or not so he tried to avoid situations like that. But he knew Zayn would do whatever he wanted to, regardless of the advice he was given. Much like Louis would in his shoes.
"I hope she gets Gryffindor as well," he replied instead, knowing it was best to direct their conversation back to safe ground rather than whether or not to be a protective older brother.
The look on Niall's face was split between anger and incredulity as he looked at each of their faces. "Why are you bothered with the sorting when it's quite obvious the feast is more important?"
"Go on and give it a rest Niall," Louis teased his friend, rolling his eyes once again. "It's the same every year, innit. I'm sure all your favourite dishes will be there."
The blonde boy hesitated for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face, before he relaxed back into his seat with a nod.
"How was your holiday?" Liam asked, smoothing everything over as usual as he directed the question to no one in particular.
That started them all off on stories about their holidays and the things they did, or in Niall's case, all the food he ate. Once he, Louis, and Zayn had all run out of new things to mention, the attention was turned on the trip Liam had gone on with Danielle and her family.
"It was a bit strange, really. In America, loads of us have tellies and they actually watch programs on them? Muggle programs!" he exclaimed, clearly still surprised by this strange behaviour. It was strange though, as magic folk in Britain didn't find themselves sat round a television watching silly programs designed to entertain muggles.
Liam looked to Danielle, as if asking her to confirm that this is what had happened, and that he wasn't the only one thinking it strange.
"We tried watching a bit of one, it was awful," she admitted, followed by her musical laughter.
It was so strange to think that in various other parts of the world, there were thousands of other witches and wizards like them. Perhaps because Louis' world seemed so small to him, consisting of his mother and sisters and the friends he was seated with in their compartment. Sure, there were plenty of other people in his life, but those were the ones that mattered most.
Their conversation slowed after that, with each of them adding in random thoughts on the subject of other countries, or muggles, but it wasn't a bad slowing by any means. They were just as comfortable in silence as they were in conversation. The only interruption being the older woman pushing the food trolley through the corridor, stopping at their door to see if any of them wanted anything. As with every other trip on the train, Niall was first to pay her for a couple dozen sweets, the rest of them simply picking and choosing a handful of things before she was on her way again.
Liam and Danielle eventually had to head off from their compartment, to go meet up for Prefect duties, so it was just the three boys left then. Their conversation turned to which quidditch team was best; one that always ended in heated debates amongst them. They could never reach an agreement, no matter how much arguing took place. It was looking as if Zayn or Niall might hit the other, Louis just wasn't sure which would cave first, when the compartment door crashed open.
The sudden noise caught him so off guard, his head turned so quick, he thought he might have pulled a muscle. In the door frame stood a tall, gangly boy with a mop of dark curls atop his head. He had the look of someone who had grown a great deal in a short period of time, and wasn't used to his new added height. Or maybe he was just surprised to find himself looking into a compartment with three other boys staring straight back at him.
"Need something?" Zayn asked, his tone a bit cooler than usual. At least he wasn't on the verge of shouting, like he had been with Niall.
"Erm..." the gawky figure let out, sounding entirely unsure of what he was doing there.
Louis scanned the boy as he stood before him, from the relatively new but still scuffed up trainers on his feet to the tight black jeans he had on, held up with a belt just below his waistline, to the simply white cotton tee had on, before settling on the boy's face. He searched his face for a brief moment, moving up from his jaw, his mouth, nose, and finally to his eyes. His gaze settled on those green eyes that weren't alarmingly emerald or anything, but were noticably green regardless, for a split second before the boy quickly looked away.
"Sorry," the boy muttered, one of his hands moving quickly to his head and shaking that curly hair before pushing it back from his face. "I was just uh, looking for someone."
Before any of the seated boys had the opportunity to speak, he backed out of the doorway and slid the compartment door shut.
There was a heavy air of confusion around them as they remained seated in silence. Louis kept his eyes trained on the spot the boy had just disappeared from, squinting lightly as if that would make him reappear.
"Wanker," he heard Zayn say, followed by an eruption of laughter from the Irish lad beside him.
Looking back at his friend, Louis' face was full of confusion, "What?"
"That kid. He's probably just backed out of a dare or something," was Zayn's reply. "Didn't know Prefects were allowed to partake in fun activities. Maybe they wanted him to take away some points, but he realized he was outnumbered and didn't want us to hex him."
More laughter from Niall.
"What?" Louis repeated, his head swimming with confusion.
"Mate, he's a Prefect," he heard Niall say.
Louis couldn't tell if he was more confused over missing the fact that the newcomer had been wearing a Prefect badge (he was sure he'd caught every detail about him) or that he didn't recognize him. He was fairly certain he knew the majority of the school's population as he was quite a social being, both at home and at school. He had friends in houses different to his own, and even three of the people closest to him weren't in Gryffindor. But he liked to think he would have recognized someone, even if they weren't the best of friends.
"Bloody Slytherins," muttered Zayn.
Oh.