"Wake up, wake up, it's time!"
Meredith woke up with a jolt. It was only five a.m. "Finn!" she said to her alarm clock, "Is it possible that you are more excited than I am?" she asked with a sly grin.
"Well, of course I am excited, Mer!" Finn was literally jumping up and down on Meredith's mahogany nightstand," My baby girl is finally going to Hogwarts! And let me tell you, your mum is even more excited than I am."
"Yeah, right," Meredith scoffed. As if her mother even remembered who she was, let alone remember she was going to Hogwarts.
A year had passed since that dark, stormy night when Gary Clark had tried to kill her mother, the legendary author of 'The Dark Times' and a survivor of The Battle of Hogwarts, Ellis Grey. The curse, though not killing her, had partially wiped out her memory, which meant that Meredith, 11, was the sole care-taker of the house, and of course, herself.
"Mer, we are not going to have this discussion again. You know she loves you, even though she was a little…uhm…'unexpressive' of her love. Come on now, go take a shower and get dressed"
"I will miss you, 'mummy Finn'" said Meredith as she started to pack, because, well, of course she hadn't packed yet!
She burst out of the door at 9 am, made a quick stop at St. Mungo's to say goodbye to her mother, (who just muttered incoherently), and took the Knight Bus to King's Cross station. The muggles did not even glance at the beautiful skinny 11-year-old trying to lug around a huge suitcase, they had simply marked September First as 'Weird-children-lugging-around-suitcases-at-King's-Cross Day.'
Meredith took a deep breath and prepared herself to cross the barrier to reach Platform 9 ¾. She started walking slowly, as if walking toward Doomsday, when she heard a voice, "Uh, you're doing it all wrong."
She turned around to see a girl about her own age, her eyebrows raised and her expression smug. "I read it in 'The Dark Ages', you're supposed to do it at a run. Merlin's beard, let me show you" She was about to run, the confused Meredith's hand in one hand and her luggage in the other, when Meredith heard another voice.
"Cristina Yang, you will not run around in railway stations." Said a woman Meredith assumed was her mother "It's bad enough I am allowing you to go to this 'magic' school, but you must behave like a lady" Cristina slowed down, uttering "muggle" under her breath.
Meredith was just watching all this, an amused expression on her face. Her mother had never cared much about what she did, so this was all very new for her. She let Cristina drag her along, as they magically (well, duh) crossed the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, and saw the red Hogwarts express, gleaming there in all its glory. She just stood there, taking it all in-
"Uh, excuse me, but we need to go. It's almost 11" Cristina nearly screamed over the sound of the train and all the people.
Meredith picked up her trunk, and they boarded the train. They were so late, that no compartment except the last one was empty.
They sat down, and Meredith started to gaze out of the window, looking at all the people waving goodbye to their children. Her mother never was, and would never be, one of them.
"Oh, do you want to wave to your parents?" Cristina asked, smirking. "It's alright; I won't think you are a dork. Go ahead, wave. By the way, I didn't see your parents when we came- were they too far behind?"
"Yeah, something like that," Meredith forced a smile. "Your mother seems great, though!"
"Oh, please, she is just so annoying. I wish she would lay off me for a little while." Cristina clearly had some very strong feeling towards her mother, too.
"You know, you still haven't told me your name…should I be scared? Are you an ex-Death Eater or something? Cristina laughed at her own joke.
"Hahaha, no. I am Meredith. Meredith Grey."