Chapter One:
Platform 9 ¾ was a buzz with eager students returning to Hogwarts for another year. The chatter on the platform was a mix of talk about the upcoming school term and worried parents discussing the escape of murderer Sirius Black. Parents urged their children to be vigilant and tell their professors if any saw something strange. Some parents debated not even sending their children back for the term. One mother insisted that she homeschool her son or send him abroad to avoid all of the danger in the British wizarding world.
Huddled in a corner of the platform dressed in casual clothes was the figure of Godric Cains. A tall man with dark hair and blue-grey eyes, Godric was a skilled Auror working for the Ministry of Magic. He was one of the many Aurors stationed around the platform, dressed in normal wizarding garb, searching for Sirius Black. Godric was leaning against one of the posts with the newest edition of the Daily Prophet in his hand. He skimmed the pages lazily while keeping a lookout for any suspicious activity. It was a boring post but it allowed him to see his two younger siblings off. While it was boring, Godric was thankful that this morning's affair was normal. No one seemed out of place or too strange.
As Godric began to tuck the folded newspaper under his arm, a head of unruly brown curls ripped around the corner. Godric scowled as he muttered under his breath, "Alex, stop running."
The youngest of the Cains siblings, thirteen year old Alexander, halted his pursuit of his friends upon hearing his eldest brother's voice. Alexander looked over his shoulder and saw the ever serious expression of Godric Cains and his excited expression fell. Godric was often too stern for Alexander's liking but the young man knew better than to push Godric's buttons.
"Sorry," Alexander muttered under his breath, "I was just tryin' to catch up with Harry and the others," he stuck his hands in his pockets and peered around. At thirteen years old, Alexander was already taller than both of his brothers with broad shoulders, a head of thick brown curls, and bright blue eyes. Alexander was constantly teased by Ron and Harry that if he had another growth spurt he would surely sprout up to seven feet tall. Along with his impressive height, his clothes were often a size too big and his jumpers always managed to be on backwards.
"Well, surely you can do that while walking now can't you?" Godric scolded the third year.
Before Alexander could say something else in his defense the second oldest brother, Darren, and the only girl of the family, Helena, approached. Helena was pushing a trolley with her and Alexander's trunk with ease while having a casual conversation with her brother. Perched on top of the trunk was the Cain's family Turkish barn owl, Arty, swayed back and forth inside his cage.
"Why don't you be a gentleman and push the cart for your sister," Darren joked as the four Cains siblings came together on the platform. Darren leaned against the trolley while a few seventh year girls giggled and stared. Darren was handsome man with a head of cleanly styled brown hair, the Cains family blue eyes, a chiseled jawline and carried a sense of pride that many saw as cockiness. Like Godric, Darren was an auror except his job involved more risky missions. He would go months on end without having any contact with his siblings. It was a rare occasion that Darren could see his siblings off but he was able to convince Shacklebolt to let him have the day off before he disappeared on another mission.
"Sorry Ella," Alexander said with a bright smile as he lumbered over to the trolley and took it from his sister.
Helena adjusted her leather satchel and shrugged her shoulders, "It's alright, I'll just get revenge on the pitch."
The only girl of the Cains family was a fifteen year old Ravenclaw by the name of Helena. Unlike the boys who inherited their mother's height, Helena was short like her father with a head of thick dark hair and the Cains family eyes. Freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and under her eyes. Helena's quick wit and fiery personality took after her older brother Darren whom she idolized. Out of all of the Cains siblings, this pair was the closest.
"You wish," Alexander scowled, "Potter's better than Chang any day."
"A good seeker doesn't always win the match," Darren said in a sing song voice while Godric rolled his eyes.
"Said the best Seeker Ravenclaw had in two decades," Alexander protested.
All four Cains siblings were Quittage players during their time at Hogwarts. While the eldest three played for Ravenclaw, Alexander was the odd one out who was a Chaser for Gryffindor. On the pitch all familial love disappeared; Helena and Alexander were fiercely competitive. In Alexander's second match on the team, Helena nudged her younger brother a bit too hard which almost knocked him off of his broom.
Before either could reply Godric cleared his throat, "Come along we can't have Alexander and Helena missing the train," he nodded to the Hogwarts Expression, "Go along now and get settled in. I have to continue searching the platform and Darren has to pack.
Both knew better than to challenge their brother. Helena turned to Darren who pulled his little sister into a tight hug. Darren clung to Helena then whispered, "Please stay safe."
When they broke their hug, Helena nodded and replied, "I always do. It's Alexander who is always getting into trouble."
A mischievous lopsided smirk crossed Alexander's face before one of Godric's stern glares erased it. Godric exchanged a hand shake with his brother while Darren hugged his little brother.
Godric and Helena exchanged simple goodbyes. There was not a lot of familiarity or comfort in their relationship. Being eight years apart, Helena and Godric were never close. She thought her older brother was too serious and Godric thought Helena was too reckless. So, their cold goodbye was enough for the pair.
As the older Cains siblings disappeared into the crowd, Helena turned to her brother and said, "Go find Harry and the others. I'll get our stuff on the train."
...oOo…
Helena Cains walked down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express peering into every compartment. Some compartments were filled with first years sitting amongst themselves and eagerly talking about the upcoming year. A few of the first year students noticed Helena's bronze and blue sweater which followed by enlarging eyes and whispers. Helena smiled as she found an empty compartment and slid the door open.
Lazily, Helena took her satchel off of her shoulder and place it down as she plopped down beside the window. Letting out a long sigh Helena put her feet up on the opposite seat and settled down into the seat. Helena intended to sleep for the majority of the train ride. As the train began pulling away from the station the sound of the compartment door sliding open followed by a thick Irish accent broke through the silence.
"What are you doing sleeping!" The boulderous sound of Gwen O'Hare echoed through the compartment.
Helena opened an eye and saw the curly blond hair of her best friend. Gwen was a tall pure-blood witch with wild blond curls, bright green eyes, a face full of freckles and plump lips that always were a hue of red. The Irish witch came from a wealthy yet broken family, though few knew of how troubled her relationship with her parents was. Any negative feelings Gwen felt were masked by an ever present smirk and musical laugh.
"The twins and I have been looking for you everywhere," Gwen said as she stepped into the compartment. Gwen tossed her leather satchel onto the overhead racks then scooted Helena's feet aside. Gwen saw down and let out along sigh, "The other two should be along any moment."
"You look well rested from your holiday," Helena said as she sat up. She tucked her feet under her bottom gave her oldest friend a warm smile.
Gwen and Helena met on board the Hogwarts Express their first year. The pair instantly hit it off as they gushed about potions, magic and quittage. The girls compliment each other; Gwen was fisty and outgoing with a horrible temper to boot Helena was more calculating and curious about most things.
"Italy was beautiful," Gwen said as she reached into the pocket of her sweater. She retrieved a white silk handkerchief with brilliant blue initials 'H.M.C' stitched above a corner, "I got this for you along with a few books on Italian Magic that mum is sending. I know you said not to get you anything but I had to, besides it let me run away from my parents arguing for a bit."
Gwen claimed her parents marriage was destined to fail before it began. A Slytherin woman marrying a Gryffindor was never supposed to happen. Her parents bickered constantly. But it was always at its worst when one of their children was about to enter Hogwarts about which house they would be sorted into. Gwen's older sister, Ava, was sorted into Gryffindor while the only O'Hare boy, Connor, was sorted into Slytherin. Gwen often told the story of sitting on the stool and as soon as Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head Gwen begged the hat to put her in neither of her parents houses. Since then it was often a source of conflict amongst the O'Hare clan.
Helena took the handkerchief and smiled, "Thank you so much Gwen, it's gorgeous," she folded it carefully before placing it in the front pocket of her satchel.
"It's nothing really," Gwen insisted. Before she could say anything else the compartment door was swung open.
Standing in the doorway were two lumbering ginger men with goofy smiles and sweaters that were a bit too big for their lean frames. Those who knew Helena and Gwen always thought their friendship with the Weasley twins to be a bit odd. But since their first ride on the Hogwarts Express the four were inseparable.
"Well if it isn't our favorite Ravenclaws," Fred said as he swaggered into the compartment. His hair was shaggier than it was last year but hung around his head in a charming boyish way. He plopped himself down beside Helena and wrapped an arm lazily around her shoulders.
Out of the four, Helena and Fred were the closest. During their first year the odd pair became close friends after Helena saved George from being caught by Filch after pulling a prank on Snape. Fred admired the bookish Ravenclaw's more mischievous side and often brought it out in her. In tern, Helena forced the twins to be more focused on academics.
The only time the pair were not attached was when they were on opposing sides of the Quidditch pitch. But when they weren't playing against each other, they would cheer on the other with such furious delight and last year when Ravenclaw was in the house finals, Fred even donned blue and bronze face paint.
As George sat down beside Gwen the Ravenclaw turned her nose up. While Helena was friends with the Weasley twins, Gwen was more like an unwilling accomplice. Many professors believed that without the two Ravenclaw girls, the twins would be insufferable as students and classmates. The two girls mellowed their trickster friends out. Snape even realized that breaking the twins up and paring them with the girls would cause less problems in the classroom.
"We were hoping to do a bit of catching up before you two oafs arrived," Gwen said as she scowled at George as he pretended to get cozy beside her.
Gwen and George had a strange relationship. Since their second year George harbored an unreturned crush on the blonde witch. Gwen pretended to be ignorant towards George's feelings and tried her hardest not to lead him on.
"Oh come on," Fred and George said in unison.
George popped a piece of chocolate frog into his mouth as Fred continued the conversation, "We thought you'd want to see your two favorite Gryffindors before your other know it all friends arrived."
"Come on now," Helena said as she playfully elbowed Fred in the ribs, "You both know we barely have any other friends than you lot."
Gwen shot Helena a surprised look, "Cains, how dare you admit our lonercy to these two," she jerked her thumbs at the twins, "Now that they know our secret the taunting will be relentless."
Fred smirked as he reached into his knapsack to retrieve sandwiches for the ride. Before handing one to George he passed one to Helena and whispered, "Mum made this one for you."
"Your mum is too sweet," Helena said with a warm smile as she unwrapped the roast beef sandwich.
As the Hogwarts Express lurched forward out of the station the small group of friends eagerly filled each other in on their summer activities. Fred and George told the two girls about their family winning the Wizard Lottery and being able to go see Bill in Egypt. George retrieved a copy of the Daily prophet from the pocket of his jacket to show the girls. Surprisingly, Gwen did not seem annoyed by George being so close to her and showing her the paper. Instead she seemed excited for the twins and wanted to hear about their trip.
Once the twins were done relaying the story of their summer holiday, Gwen wasted no time telling the story of her summer vacation in Italy. She showed off her tanned skin and smiled as she retrieved a small photo album from her bag. She began proudly showing off all of the pictures she and her family took. Helena, who had received copies of each picture in the letters she and Gwen exchanged over the summer, simply leaned back and smiled at the excitement on her best friend's face.
"What about you Hela? What did you do this summer?" George asked when he noticed that Helena was staring off into the distance.
"My mum and dad got reassigned to New York again," Helena said as she adjusted her positioning. Her parents were magical lesions between the MACUSA and the Ministry of Magic. When Alexander turned eleven and their parents decided they could continue their lives without worrying about their children. Growing up, either Mrs. Cains or Mr. Cains would stay home with the children while the other worked. But most of the time it was either Godric or Darren who took care of their siblings whenever their grandparents couldn't and they weren't in school.
"So Alexander and I had to help them pack because Godric was busy with work. But Darren got reassigned to some super secret auror mission that he couldn't tell us anything about. I know he and Godric have been talking about it but whenever we ask any questions they tell us 'it's just auror business,'" it frustrated Helena that her brother's jobs were so secretive.
Fred and George snickered before Fred said, "I'm sure it's very dangerous. There's probably a dragon involved."
"I hope there's a dragon involved," George chuckled earning a dirty look from Gwen.
"I'm sure whatever it is it's important for the welfare of the Ministry," since first year Gwen had a crush on Darren Cains. Gwen never tried to hide her feelings either; for Gwen showing emotion was something that came as easy as breathing. Gwen was bolstorious with her feelings, another personality trait that separated Gwen from her siblings.
"Gwen you're drooling," Fred teased which earned a laugh from everyone in the compartment.
"Now," Helena said as she nestled against the window so she was facing everyone in the compartment, "What class is everyone looking forward to?"