"Mum c'mon! We can't be late this year!" I called from the bottom of the stairs. This happened every year even before Jamie started school, she would flap around in a panic not realising I was completely ready with everything I would need for the year.
"Leave her be, it's her way of looking after you two" said Jeff my mum's latest boyfriend
"I don't need her to pretend to look after me, not that it's any of your business anyway – whatever your name" I answered coldly.
"Right, and it's Nick" damn I really thought I had this one's name right, oh well it's not like it mattered he'll not be here by the time I'm next back home.
My mum came down the stairs clutching some socks for my brother and spare quills for me, neither of us said we already had plenty we just went along with it, it made a much quieter life as we had learnt many years ago.
Once we arrived at the public floo point 5 minutes from the station we were running to the train "Shit it's ten to! Hurry up James" I said as I narrowly avoided crashing into an elderly couple. I heard them complain about young hooligans but we couldn't miss the train especially after the womping willow incident the previous year, wouldn't want to be seen as copying Potter and Weasley.
We sprinted through the station and I was very grateful about my mum's weightless charms because there would be no time to find a trolley for our trunks. I saw Jamie over take me, he turned smirking saying "5 to sis" before disappearing through the barrier onto the platform. I followed through as quickly as possible, without catching the eye of the handsome muggle boarding a train, and saw the familiar scarlet steam train. I started to push through the hoards of families saying farewell before I heard the embarrassing screech that is my mother,
"Cass Cass? Jamie dear?" I saw his figure halt and we both head over to say goodbye, "now there isn't much time so you shouldn't have run off like that," I scoffed, we wouldn't have made it if we hadn't run off "Cassiopeia I insist this year you apply yourself, follow your brothers example, you must try and give him a challenge to beat your OWLs and I don't want another letter home about your behaviour, AND DO NOT LEAVE THE GROUNDS AT NIGHT, do you understand?" I growled she never did get the fact I didn't really care if Jamie beat my grades. "Jamie dear do watch she stays out of trouble, good luck for the try outs and have fun darlings!"
The whistle sounded just as she tried to smother us to death allowing us an escape. I chased after Jamie leaping onto the back of the train just as it started trundling away to Hogwarts.
"That woman is insufferable! Like honestly does she bloody expects me to fail, and for God's sake what was that bull shit about 'don't leave the grounds' does she think I'll get lost or something I'm not a r-"
"Great, that's cool, see you later yeah? My mates are over here."
I was too busy grumbling to myself to respond and just continued to pull my trunk along behind me. The first years were getting smaller again and already in the way so I simply waded through them. About halfway down the train I swung open a compartment door saying "miss me boys?" It was the compartment we'd had since our first trip back home for Christmas and we'd taken it ever since, and this did mean occasionally kicking out first years who didn't know about us.
"Close call Cass" said one of my best mates Lee Jordon who stood up to help me put my trunk on the luggage rack "tut tut, magic outside of school?" he said noticing the lightness.
"Not quite it's one of the few useful things my mum has done this summer" the boys laughed having witnessed her paranoia/anxiety (her general floppiness). Along with Lee there were Fred and George Weasley, identical twins and the schools head pranksters. I flopped on the seat next to Fred opposite Lee who was next to George and smiled feeling the freedom of not seeing my mum for at least a few months.
We did all the usual chit chat about our summers, Lee had seen a few quiditch matches and had cousins visit, the Weasley's had been to Egypt!
"What the fuck that would've been so sick!" cried lee,
"It was amazing!"Said George
"Got some great new prank ideas those booby traps were hilarious!"Fred said
"Ingenious!" Said George
"AWSOMNE!" they cried.
I told them about my dull summer of working in a muggle restaurant, which oddly enough they thought was really cool, but then 2 were purebloods and Lee had never got over the fact he hadn't even heard of TV before me despite his muggle born dad.
Until the trolley arrived we alternated between copying up and "checking" their summer homework and planning pranks for the year (Entrance hall an ice arena, house members can only make the noises of their animals – Sly's hiss, Griff's roar, Claw's squawk and Puff's snuffle and scratch – as well as the usual plans that could never be pulled off, like cursing Snape in every way imaginable). When the trolley came I got myself a pumpkin pasty and 2 chocolate frogs while lee got a cauldron cake and some Fizzing Whizbees the twins chose liquorice wands, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and a pumpkin pasty each.
We settled down to each our spoils and I watched the raindrops that were slamming against the window. It was a long way from London where there had been a light drizzle but you felt safe in the crowd, out here you were surrounded only by sheep and trees. I lay my legs across Fred preparing for a nap only to be shoved to the floor. When I glared at him he simply said
"Whoops, I've been having funny twitches recently" in a sickly sweet voice. I rolled my eyes and just lay there on the floor, perfectly happy to sleep down here, if anything it was darker.
After what could have been anywhere between a minute and a few hours I felt the train slow down, the guys were talking about whether the giant squid or the Hogwarts ghosts would kill more students.
"Why didn't you wake me? I need to change!" I said sitting up,
"But we can't be there yet, can we?" said Fred
"Why else would the train stop douches?" I said at this point I was standing on my previous seat trying to pull out some robes.
"I don't know but that's definitely not Hogsmeade, I think there are people out there" said George who was squinting out the window trying to see through the storm.
It was then that the unnatural coolness spread throughout the compartment and I began to shiver uncontrollably. The lights went out. The door opened. A dark shadowy figure speared. The hand reached towards me, dark, skeletal, inhumane. I felt myself breathing harder and heard somewhere deep inside me a long forgotten memory hidden and waiting for this moment, "Daddy in jail, mummy AWOL. Aunty Bella can help you, my pure child." A high pitch cackle. And then a feeling of nothing.
A/N so this is just a quick thing I've started and thought was decent? I wasn't sure whether to carry on so tell me what you think any improvements ect. please! Thanks for reading and I do have some plans on where to go from here I just need to get them down