She was running late again. She leaped onto the train as the door shut quickly behind her. Kneeling on the carpeted floor on the train she caught her breath. Gasping and fixing her hair she opened her satchel checking the precious cargo it held. The egg was still in one piece and was still unmoving, placing her hand on it delicately a small smile spread across her face.
"Bryanna Laurens!"
"Late as usual then Bri?" The two voices surprised Bri and she shut over her satchel in a hurry, putting it over her shoulder and laughing.
"You both finished your abuse yet?" She looked up and folded her arms over her chest. The carriage leaned slightly to the right as it turned a corner and her wand began to roll away. Her hand flew forward and ended up gripping the carpet, luckily her wand was stopped by two shoes. Their owners started laughing and copied Bri's folded arms.
"Hmmm I'm not sure, George?"
"I'm not too sure yet either Fred"
"You two are ridiculous" Fred reached down and picked up Bri's wand while George helped Bri up. Once on her feet Bri adjusted her satchel so that it sat on her shoulders comfortably, the egg added a lot of weight to her otherwise empty bag.
"Why isn't your wand in your bag Bri?" Fred asked and handed the witch back her wand. Bri accepted it gladly and began to walk down the way the twins had came.
"Ehhh Bri!" George shouted after his friend. Bri turned round while walking and grinned. The twins looked at each other and headed after the brunette who continued to walk away her wand at her side. The three entered a cabin and Fred shut over the door. Bri waved her wand and it locked, causing the twins to cast each other another look.
"What have you done now?"
"You make me sound like some sort of criminal"
"Well you sort of are..."
"Fred that's rude, I'm not a criminal"
"Well he's kinda right"
"Maybe a wee bit?"
"No, not a wee bit..."
"anyway what is in the bag Bri" Fred put an end to the exchange now desperate for answers and pointed his wand at the satchel Bri was clutching on her lap. Bri smirked and tapped her nose a mischevious sparkle in her blue eyes. George was growing impatient and leaned forward in his seat. The dark brown leather of the satchel concealed Bri's secret but sat slightly out of shape due to the shape of said secret. Bri unbuckled the flap of the bag and opened it slowly still hidding the contents of the bag from the twins. They both let out and impatient sigh and moved from the opposite bench to sitting on either side of her. They both peered into the bag while Bri giggled.
"That would make a great fried egg" Bri smacked George on the arm.
"George!"
"I mean imagine the size of the omelet" Another smack was delivered.
"Fred!"
"so what illegal creature have you illegally purchased now"
"It wasn't purchased George, and stop using that word..."
"it wasn't?"
"No Fred, I won it... at a bar"
"How did you get into a bar!?" The twins said in unison. Bri quickly shushed them and again tapped her nose causing the twins to roll their eyes.
"If you must know it's an Occamy"
"What's that?"
"Do you listen at all in care of magical creatures you two?" She lifted out the egg and held it with two hands. The twins gazed at the egg loving the metallic shine.
"Is that silver?"
"Yes, not that it matters"
"Pure silver? Wow"
"That's nothing compared to what the egg contains" Bri reassured the twins who was still smiling at the egg. Ever since hearing about the creature it had been an aspiration of Bri's to see one in real life, now she had one of her own. The quiet and tranquil carriage was suddenly interrupted by a loud crack. "No way!" Bri squealed and traced her hand along the newly formed crack in the egg. The twins eyes widened and they looked at the egg in amazement. Bri's face suddenly changed to an expression of horror and she sharply stood up holding the egg. Her satchel fell to the floor along with her wand which the boys both tried to catch. "This isn't good"
"It isn't?" Fred asked picking up her satchel and dusting it off. George had picked up her wand and placed it in her bag. Bri shook her head and quickly handed the egg to George. The sudden weight of the egg in the boy's hands came as a shock. Bri kneeled on the floor in front of Fred and flung open her bag the strap hitting him on the chest. He flicked her on the head in return but she didn't react. He cast his twin a look who simply shrugged. Her eyebrows furrowed as she raked through her bag eventually she found what she was looking for. She pulled a match box out of the bag. It was very small and based on the noise was still full. This didn't last long and the contents were emptied into Bri's satchel. The bag was shut over and placed on the floor after she retrieved her wand from it.
"Do either of you have any bertie botts beans?" She asked now seeming slightly more relaxed. Fred nodded and brought out a box from his pocket. It was quite crumpled but the bright beans looked to be in good shape. Bri smiled and nodded approvingly. "Sorry guys, I didn't think it would hatch this early so I hadn't picked anything up to feed him with"
"Are jelly beans good for it?"
"No, I'll change them obviously"
"You are forgetting she's Professor McGonagall's favourite"
"Fred it's not favoritism I just really enjoy and, if I do say so myself, am very good at her subject" Bri stated matter of factly. The twins had to agree Care of magical creatures, transfiguration and DADA were Bri's best subjects. She simply adored creatures of all shapes and sizes and was often getting caught with various types of magical creatures which she sent away to live where they were supposed to, after being caught of course. She sat her wand, match box and beans on the floor in front of her and sat crossed legged on the carpet. George handed her back the egg which had cracked several more times, she placed it on her lap and studied it carefully. The cracks were easily noticeable compared to the shiny and undamaged silver of the rest of the egg. There was a pecking noise and another crack was made in the egg. Fred and George moved off the seat to sit on the floor beside Bri. Bri was fully focused on the egg and was biting her lip in concentration.
"Come on..." Bri whispered keeping the egg warm with her hands. Fred passed Bri a small towel that he had noticed in Bri's bag earlier hoping it would retain more heat. Fred and George shaped the towel to look more like a nest and placed it on Bri's lap. She sat the egg in the make shift nest and kept her hands on the side of the egg. There was another crack, then another. Finally a small beak poked through the egg. The boys gaped and Bri grinned widely. The Occamy made a bird like chirp and wiggled it's head. It shoved the top of the pointy egg off which George caught before it hit Bri's leg. It once again shook it's head, fluffing up the blue and purple feathers that created a mohawk on its head and slightly down it's body. It was covered in blue/purple shiny scales which seemed to switch which colour they were as the light changed the direction it was hitting them. The small Occamy spread it's feathered wings and flicked it's tail which was also decorated with the same feathers as the mohawk. The Occamy fully opened its bright yellow eyes and let out another chirp.
Giggling Bri tickled under it's chin with her finger, the Occamy let out an almost purr like chirp in reply and nuzzled her arm, before fully coming out of the egg onto Bri's lap. Fred lifted up the other half of the egg gently and watched the Occamy bond with Bri. She was amazing and the boys noticed the way she knew exactly how to hold and touch the Occamy and she was quickly becoming a trustful person for the young creature.
"Can you lift me out a bean Fred? Can you pass me my wand George?" The boys did as they were asked and Bri put the wand in her right hand and placed the bean on the floor in front of her. Using precise and straight forward movements of her wand Bri changed the bean into a tiny dead mouse. George and Fred recoiled and made a face. The Occamy seemed thrilled and quickly ate the mouse before curling up again in Bri's lap. Bri stroked the feathers on its head as it slowly fell asleep.
"Its so..."
"Amazing"
"She, is so amazing"
"You can tell already Bri?"
"Yeah George. If the tip of the beak is more pointed and sharp it's a female, while the males are more squared off at then end"
"why is that?"
"Well Fred if a young Occamy is struggling to make it out of the egg the sharp pointed beak of its mother can help it get fully out" the boys nodded, seeming to understand the lesson. They placed the silver egg into Bri's bag and also put away the towel. The boys left to change into their robes in another cabin while Bri got changed in the one she was in. She tapped the glass with her wand and the door and windows into the cabin blacked out the door relocking. Bri placed her sleeping Occamy into her Slytherin scarf and finished getting changed. Once she was changed she placed a couple of beans inside the matchbox and turned them into a soft bedding inside the box. She them took a final bean and placed it inside and turned it into a small cockroach she then nudged her Occamy awake who dived into the matchbox, resizing itself. It then curled up inside and fell asleep again. She sat on one of the cushioned benches and held the match box in her hand. She gazed out of the window of the cabin, not long till they reach Hogwarts now.
