Blaine Anderson walked through King's Cross station, his mother's hand occasionally brushing a stray dark curl off his forehead. His father was pushing his luggage trolley ahead of him, shooting a smile Blaine's way every so often.
Next to Blaine was his older brother, Cooper. Blaine was going to be in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For the past few years, Blaine had missed Cooper for most of the time: as Cooper was older, he had already been attending Hogwarts for a few years.
When the Andersons reached the brick wall in between platforms nine and ten, Cooper and Anna, Blaine's mother, went through first. They looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then just walked briskly at the wall.
When Blaine and James, his father, had watched them disappear, they waited a few seconds before checking no one was watching and speed-walking through the wall.
Although he had been to platform nine and three quarters every year since Cooper began attending Hogwarts, Blaine would never get over how…awesome it was.
There were clouds of steam billowing around the platform like flights of swallows, and wizards in either flowing robes of various colours or muggle clothing. There were many luggage trollies around the station, carrying a variety of suitcases and caged animals: from owls, to cats, to toads.
Already beginning to get impatient to get to Hogwarts, Blaine was hopping a little bit on the spot, his grey Converse-covered feet making no noise against the tarmac of the platform.
When it was time to say goodbye to his parents, Blaine was torn. He would miss his mother and father, of course, but Cooper had reassured him that Hogwarts was a good enough from any homesickness. First, Blaine's mother bent down to give him a hug; telling him that she loved him and she'd miss him, and most of all to be careful.
When it was Blaine's father's turn to say goodbye, he also crouched down to give his son a hug. He had already given Blaine all the advice he could think of, telling him many stories from his own days at Hogwarts. Instead, James now settled for a kiss on the forehead and a quick 'I love you, buddy'.
Blaine told his dad he loved him too, before turning to see Cooper carrying both of their cases onto the train. He hopped on to the carriage after his big brother, and into a compartment with a couple of Cooper's friends.
"Guys, this is my little brother Blaine!" Cooper said, ruffling Blaine's curls. "Blaine, this is Gary, this is Marvin…" Cooper continued to introduce his friends to Blaine, and Blaine was listening – honestly, he was! – but something on the platform distracted him.
It was a boy, he was probably about the same age as Blaine. He was wearing a pair of grey, tight jeans; a white, long-sleeved shirt; and a bow tie and pair of Converse the same shade of turquoise. His hair was perfectly styled.
He was clinging onto an older man, who Blaine presumed to be his father. The boy looked like he was close to tears, but he didn't want to cry. The thing that struck him the most, though, were his bright blue eyes.
He could see them even from his vantage point in the train carriage. It was strange, although he looked upset, there was a kind of pride in the boy's eyes. This intrigued Blaine, and made him decide to befriend the little brunette boy.
Blaine turned his attention back into the carriage to answer a question that Marvin had asked him, but when he turned back, the boy was gone. Blaine tried to discreetly look around for him, but he was distracted by the compartment door sliding open.
It was the man from the platform. "Uh, is there any room in here?" The man asked, looking unsure when he saw one of the older boys get Cooper into a headlock. "It's my kid's first year here, he doesn't exactly know anyone."
"Awesome! It's my little brother's first year as well, I'm sure he'd like a friend!" Cooper said, wrestling himself out of Gary's headlock and extending a foot to tap Blaine on the knee.
"C'mon then, Kurt, I need to go before this train leaves with me on it!" He chuckled, nudging the little pale boy forwards into the compartment. Instead of laughing, though, the boy – Kurt – looked up at his father, fear in his eyes.
"Hey Kurt, you definitely want to be in this compartment, we get the food trolley first, that means we get to buy as much as we want, and nothing will have run out yet!" Said Alistair, one of Cooper's friends, with a thumbs-up and a wiggle of the eyebrows. Kurt smiled slightly, but still leaned against his father's side.
"Okay, kiddo, I have to go," Said the man. "I'll send you letters and stuff, you just promise to reply, okay?" Kurt nodded, hugging him one last time. Everyone else in the compartment turned to look out the window or to talk to each other, knowing that this was a moment for just Kurt and his dad.
The man straightened up after giving Kurt a last squeeze, and dragged a suitcase with 'K.E.H' written on the side into the compartment. Cooper immediately stood up and helped the man hoist the case onto the luggage rack, being raised as the perfect gentleman by his parents.
The man gave Kurt a cat carrying case with a Burberry cover on it. Kurt put the case down gently onto the seat, and hugged his dad around the waist.
The man leaned down and wrapped his arms around his son, giving him one final hug and a kiss on the top of the head.
"See you at Christmas, Kurt," He said, stepping out of the compartment. "Have a good time, ok? Write and tell me what house you're in!" Kurt waved goodbye, looking quite miserable.
As the door slid shut behind the man, Kurt slid himself up onto the empty seat beside Blaine. He was staring at his knees; his hands knotted together in his lap. "I'm Blaine!" Blaine said, holding a hand out for Kurt to shake.
"…Kurt," The boy said, a smile creeping onto his features. "Is it your first year here as well?"
"Yeah, but my brother is in his sixth year now, so I've been told loads," Blaine chuckled. "Was that your dad?" He asked, as he noticed Kurt's eyes scanning the station outside.
"Yeah, he went to Hogwarts when he was our age," Kurt said, smiling a little bit. Blaine decided that he liked it when Kurt smiled. "Are your parents here?"
"Yep, that's them over there!" Blaine said, pointing to his parents and waving manically at them when they looked at him. They both chuckled and waved back. "Is your mom here as well?"
"Um, no…" Kurt said quietly, shuffling his feet where they dangled in mid-air.
"Was she busy today?" Blaine asked gently.
"She died three years ago…" Kurt said, twisting his pale hands together in his lap.
"I'm so sorry, Kurt," Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's knee. "Do you miss her?"
"Yeah," Kurt said, wiping at his eyes with his shirt sleeve. "But I like to think she's watching over me and dad somehow." Blaine smiled at him.
"Your dad seems really cool!" He said, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah," Kurt smiled. "He's the best!" He said.
The carriage doors began to slam shut up and down the train.
"We're going!" Blaine said, leaning over to look out the window to wave at his parents like a lunatic some more. Kurt was slightly more placid, waving at his dad with a small smile on his face.
As the train began pulling out of the station, Kurt and Blaine both leaned further out of their seats to keep waving, both of their respective parents laughing. Cooper and his friends were behind them, all of them also waving.
When they were out of the station, Blaine and Kurt were in a completely separate conversation from Cooper and his friends. They had covered many subjects, but were now on the subject of pets.
"So do you have a pet?" Kurt asked, crossing his legs on the seat.
"I have an eagle owl!" Blaine said cheerfully, his back against the wall behind him so he was facing Kurt. "He's called Lava because he has orange eyes." Blaine said seriously. Kurt smiled.
"I have a cat," Kurt said. "His name is Gucci!"
"Is that him in the case?" Blaine asked, gesturing towards the Burberry case sitting on the floor where they were sitting.
"Yeah, do you think we should get him out?" Kurt asked, picking up the case. Blaine nodded enthusiastically, and Kurt unhooked the latch on the case, revealing a sleek, black cat with striking green eyes.
The cat immediately slunk onto Kurt's lap, rubbing his head against Kurt's narrow chest. "Gucci, this is Blaine! He's my new friend!"
Blaine smiled at the cat, and reached out to stroke it on the top of the head. When Blaine began stroking the sleek, black fur, the cat began to purr; its eyes narrowing in bliss. Kurt smiled.
"He likes you!" He said, running a hand along Gucci's tail.
After passing the rest of the train ride playing with Gucci and eating the food they bought from the food trolley, Blaine and Kurt pulled their robes on. They disembarked the train at Hogsmeade station, and said goodbye to Cooper and his friends.
The boys walked towards a large man with an unruly beard who was calling for first years. Blaine informed Kurt that he was called Hagrid, and despite his intimidating appearance, he was very friendly. They were led down a path to the edge of a huge lake, where they stepped into a small rowing boat. As they floated across the lake, no doubt by magic, the boys were silent, just taking in their surroundings.
When they rounded a corner and Hogwarts castle came into view, both of their jaws dropped. Around them, they could hear all of the other first years letting out little gasps. They had been told what Hogwarts looked like, but nothing could prepare Kurt and Blaine for the huge castle towering over the lake, golden slits showing where lights were on in rooms.
When they had reached the other side of the lake, all of the first years disembarked from their boats, climbing up some steps into the main building of Hogwarts.
Inside Hogwarts, they were met by Professor McGonagall. She gave a short speech; briefly outlining what was expected of the first years. Then, before they knew it, they were following McGonagall into the Great Hall, under the watchful eyes of every pupil and teacher of Hogwarts. The children lined up as a stool was placed in the centre of the raised platform of the hall.
A hat was placed on the stool. Suddenly, three slits on the hat opened like eyes and a mouth. It began to sing a song, highlighting qualities of each of the four houses of Hogwarts. Then, the sorting began.
The first name was called. "Adelaide, Samantha." A girl with short brown hair tied back in a ponytail stumbled towards the stool, sitting down as McGonagall placed the hat on her head. It fell over her eyes for a few moments, before announcing "Hufflepuff" to the hall. There was welcoming applause from the Hufflepuff table, before the next name was called.
"Anderson, Blaine." Blaine walked forward and sat down on the stool, his curly head of hair disappearing underneath the hat.
Blaine was nervous, but he knew he'd be okay. Although he didn't really mind which house he was placed in, he kind of wanted to be in Gryffindor, as that was Cooper's house, and he had heard many stories from the common room.
Before he knew it, the hat had called "Gryffindor", and Blaine was being ushered down to the Gryffindor table to rapturous applause, whoops and cheers from Cooper and his friends.
Blaine sat beside Cooper, smiling at other Gryffindors as they joined the table. A boy called Wesley sat beside Blaine, and a boy called David sat on Wes's other side. During the applause when each new student was assigned a house, Wes, David and Blaine spoke to each other.
As Cooper watched them from his space with Marvin and Gary beside him, he knew that Blaine was going to fit in just fine. He made friends easily; in fact, he'd already made a friend on the train. Cooper absently wondered what house Kurt would be in.
"Hummel, Kurt." McGonagall called, as "Hudson, Finn" stumbled down to the Hufflepuff table. Kurt stepped up to the stool, holding his head high. As McGonagall lowered the hat onto his head, he hissed at her to watch his hair, resulting in a chuckle spreading through the hall.
After the hat had been on his head for a few seconds, Kurt heard it announce "Slytherin". Kurt stood up, smiling nervously at Blaine as he sat at the Slytherin table beside a blonde girl who he remembered as "Fabray, Quinn".
He sat through the rest of the sorting calmly, smiling as a girl called Santana Lopez sat beside him at the Slytherin table. When everyone had been sorted, food appeared magically on the plates, and everyone began to talk, laugh and eat.
A/N
This was intended to be just a little short Hogwarts!Klaine piece when the boys had already been at Hogwarts for a few years, but of course, it started at the station and became this. I'm sorry if it drags on, but I'll try to make the next chapter better!