Chapter 1 - Katia
"Last Friday night,
Yeah we danced on tabletops,
And we took too many shots,
Think we kissed but I forgot." I giggled as I watched my friend sing her favorite song out loud. She had her lime green headphones in and her eyes closed, so she didn't know I was there. She was wearing her "lazy" jeans, a grey t-shirt, and her neon orange sneakers. They are her oldest, most ripped, most faded, and most comfortable jeans.
"Last Friday night,
Yeah we maxed our credit cards,
And got kicked out of the bar,
So we hit the boulevard,
Last Friday night.
We went streaking in the park,
Skinny dipping in the dark,
Then had a ménage a trios,
Last Friday night,
Yeah I think we broke the law,
Always say we're gonna stop-op,
Whoa-oh-oah." Emmy finally opened her eyes and jumped. She paused her song and said, "Why did you scare me like that?"
I rolled my eyes at her and giggled. "Come on Em, you have to finish packing. I've already put my stuff by the door!"
Emmy stared at me, "But, we're leaving for London, like tomorrow!"
"Not "like tomorrow". Exactly tomorrow. We leave to go to London in exactly 17 hours, and 14 minutes!"
"Chill Katia!"
"Chill. Chill! Chill! In 16 hours and 13 minutes we'll be leaving for London. Once we get we'll go straight to Kings Cross Station at exactly 10:45 A.M. sharp, 10:30 A.M. if we want to be safe. And we'll be heading to Hogwarts, the best wizarding school in Europe, maybe the whole entire world! So don't tell me to chill!"
Emmy put her hands on my shoulders and spoke calmly, "We'll be going to just a school, even though it's a Wizarding school. And we'll be going together." She smiled at me and I smiled back. Emmy always knows how to calm me down.
I had helped Emmy finish packing earlier and was lying in bed with the lights off, trying to sleep, but not able to. I just couldn't fall asleep. I was so nervous about Hogwarts that I couldn't sleep. I sat up and grabbed my iPod from my nightstand. I sat it in my lap, put in my headphones and turned on my sleeping track. I often have trouble sleeping, so I put together a track of slow songs that usually make me sleepy. Tonight, it wasn't working. I sat up and grabbed the glass of water I always kept on my nightstand and refreshed every night. I took a long deep swallow, almost draining the glass, than sat it back down. I closed my eyes, rested my head on my pillow, and pulled my sheets up to my chin. I tried really hard to fall asleep, but I couldn't.
I got up out of bed and grabbed my golden blanket. I wrapped it around me and slipped on my sliver fuzzy house shoes. I shuffled quietly to my door and slowly pulled it open. I slid my way to the door opposite of mine. I pushed it open and crept in. I quietly said, "Emmy. Emmy, are you awake?"
She rolled over and moaned. She slightly lifted her head and said, "Now I am. What is it Katia?"
"I can't sleep. Can I sleep in your spare bed?"
Even though it was dark, I could tell that she had a slight grin on her face. "Come on Katia." She stayed up until mid-night talking to me. I fell asleep while she was talking about the time she had walked 4 miles to my house when she locked herself out of hers. She was 6 at the time and I had heard the story a million times before. I fell asleep in Emmy's other twin bed. She had two, side by side in her room. Emmy had moved in 2 years ago, when we were 11, after her parents had died. That's why I am so worried. It's going to be Emmy's and mine first year at Hogwarts. My parents have taught us for the past 2 years, but we both really want to go to Hogwarts, and my parents think Emmy and I are ready.
When I woke up, it was to the smell of waffles and bacon. I looked at the digital clock in Em's room and saw that it was 7:12. Em was asleep in the bed beside me and I quietly slipped out of the spare bed. I shuffled back across into my room. I had slept in my house shoes. I changed into a pair of skinny jeans, a gold sweater, and black leather boots. I walked downstairs and saw Mom with flour on her hands and a smile on her face.
"I made waffles!" she grinned at me and put a warm plate into my hands. It was stacked with bacon, waffles, eggs, and everything was drizzled in syrup. I smiled back at her and she asked, "Milk or Pumpkin Juice?"
I made a face like it was a difficult decision, "Hm… I guess I have to say… Pumpkin Juice." Mom laughed and then went to pour me a glass of juice. "I'm gonna go wake up Em."
A groggy voice from the stairwell called out, "Don't you worry. I'm up." She was dressed in skinny jeans, a neon green sweater, and her neon orange sneakers. She also had on a neon pink, 2 inch wide bracelet and neon yellow make-up. Her hair was up in a ponytail that was bound by a large piece of bright purple. Even though she was so bright, her eyes were half closed and her arms were hanging limply at her side. She looked like a goof ball. What's funny is that I'm the Pureblood, but I know how to dress like a muggle better than she does, and her dad was a Muggle-born! She took a deep breath and her eyes shot open. "Do I smell bacon?" Mom smiled and handed her a plate identical to mine.
We sat down and ate our breakfast while Mom explained what was going to happen. "Adam," that's my dad's first name, "has hired a car to take us to the station. Don't forget to change into your robes after a while on the train. Once you're there, go straight to the Gryffindor table." Earlier this summer, we had gone to Hogwarts and been sorted into Gryffindor together by the Sorting Hat. We were jumping up in down at the fact that we would be in the same house.
We had just finished eating when Dad came in and said, "The car is here." Em and I stood up and headed to the stairwell when Dad said, "Don't bother going back upstairs, everything is already in the car."
Em and I both smiled and simultaneously said, "Thanks." We both kissed him on the cheek and hoped into the car. Our owls, Kelly and Zapada, were already in the car in their cages. Kelly is Em's owl. Em named her after her mom. Zapada is Romanian for snow, and since Zapada is a snowy owl, I thought it would work. We picked up our owls and sat them on our laps. I looked at Emmy and she gave me a look that meant "Oh My God! I'm SO Excited!" Either that or it meant, "I'm about to die!" But since we weren't in any danger I figured it was the first. And at the time, I was right. But I had no clue how soon it would be that her look would mean the latter.
Emmy and I talked about how excited we were to be going to Hogwarts during the whole hour drive to London. Once we got to Kings Cross, we all piled out of the car and grabbed my and Em's stuff out of the back of the car. We loaded our trunks, parcels, and owl cages onto 2 trolleys and walked into Kings Cross. Emmy and I were side by side when we got to platforms 9 and 10. We winked at each other and inconspicuously slid into the solid brick wall between Platforms 9 and 10 onto Platform 9 ¾.