"James, I really think we should go over everything again. Just one more time."
James sighed, turning around to face his mother. "Mum, we've already gone over everything a million times. I have all my books, I have my robes, I have everything that I could possibly need."
Ginny looked at him. "Did you remember to pack enough socks and underwear?" She asked.
James's hands flew to his cheeks. "Oh no!" He cried. A look of panic crossed Ginny's face, and James laughed. "I'm kidding, Mum. I told you. I have everything. If I forgot something, you can owl it to me."
Ginny sighed, and she smiled down at James. "I know. I'm just worried about you. Here I am, sending my first child off to Hogwarts. It will be so different without you at home."
"You'll still have me and Albus!" James looked over to see that Lily had run up behind their mum, with Albus and their dad following close behind.
"Everybody ready?" Harry asked. James nodded anxiously, along with the others. The family all headed towards Platform 93/4. As he ran towards the wall, James closed his eyes tightly, opening them in relief when he arrived on the other side. He barely noticed his family coming behind him, as he was too focused on the train. He stared at it in awe and excitement. James could still hardly believe he was finally going to go to Hogwarts.
"Now, James." Harry began. James turned to look at him. "Remember to be good. Behave yourself, don't give your Professors any trouble, don't get detentions, and be nice to your classmates."
James rolled his eyes, grinning at his Dad. "I know Dad. I'll be good." He promised.
"And don't forget to write." Ginny reminded him.
"I'll try to remember." James replied, nodding.
"James!"
James turned happily to see his cousin Fred running towards him, followed by Roxanne and his Uncle George and Aunt Angelina.
"Fred!" He called, waving excitedly.
Fred arrived next to James, grinning widely. "I'm so excited! I can't wait!" He cried ecstatically.
"I know! It's the best day ever!" James agreed.
"It's 10:50." Angelina commented. "You boys better get on the train."
Fred and James gathered up their stuff. James turned to hug Ginny and Harry. "Bye Mum. Bye Dad." He said.
"Bye, James." Harry grinned proudly, straightening up and ruffling his son's hair.
"Good-bye, James." Ginny exclaimed, throwing her arms around him once more.
"Good-bye, Mum." James said again.
Ginny stood up. "Now, I want you to write me as soon as you can, okay? Tell me everything."
James nodded. "Okay, Mum."
Ginny leaned down once more and kissed him good-bye, and then Harry hugged him one more.
"Bye, Mum, bye Dad. I love you." James said softly, hugging them both again.
"We love you too." Ginny said, and Harry nodded in agreement, smiling.
James heard sniffling behind him. He turned and saw Lily trying not to cry. "Aw, Lils, don't cry." He said.
"But I'll miss you!" Lily wailed.
"I'll be back for Christmas." James told her.
"But that's so far away!" Lily replied, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"I'll write you all the time. Promise." He assured her.
Lily thought about that for a second. "Okay." She finally decided.
"Bye Lily." James hugged her, and she planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek.
"Bye James." She said. He made a face and wiped his sleeve on his face. He then turned to Albus.
"Bye Al." He said.
"Bye, James." Albus replied, hugging him.
James turned away, when heard a voice say, "No good-bye for me, huh?"
James grinned in delight and turned around once more. "Teddy!" He cried.
Teddy laughed and hugged James. "Bye James."
"Good-bye, Teddy." James said.
After they had finished saying all their good-byes, James and Fred climbed onto the train together. Once they were on the train, they decided to go find a compartment. Halfway through the train, they found a compartment that had only two people in it; their cousins Louis and Molly.
They entered the compartment and sat down. "Hey guys." James greeted.
"Hi." Louis said, looking towards them.
"Hey." Fred said.
Molly looked up. "Oh, hello guys."
"The train leaves in about 5 minutes." Louis informed them.
"I'm so excited!" Molly said, smiling like a maniac.
The four of them continued waiting anxiously for 11:00 when the train would leave. Occasionally one of them would remark on how exciting it was, or they would say hello to one of their relatives walking past, but mostly they just sat in silence. Every so often Louis would call out the time.
"It's 10:59!" Louis yelled suddenly. "Just one more minute."
Everyone began leaning out to call last minute good-byes to their families. "Bye, everybody!" James called.
"Bye James! We love you!" Called Ginny.
"You promised to write! Don't forget!" Lily reminded him. Harry and Albus just waved.
Suddenly, almost before they knew it, the train was pulling out and they were on their way.
Gloria May and her family had arrived at the train station at 10:00 on September 1st. She personally thought that was a bit early, as the train didn't leave until 11:00, but her mum, May May, had insisted.
"It's better to be early than to be late." She had said. Gloria had only shrugged. It wasn't as if she had anything to do. She had double checked to make sure she had packed everything the night before, had eaten breakfast, and then sat there until they left.
By 10:45, however, Gloria's mum seemed to be wishing they hadn't come so early. Her triplet siblings, Amy, Madalyne, and Eman had become bored and were constantly asking their father, Jonny, what Hogwarts would be like when they finally went next year. Gloria was also occasionaly pestering her father with questions, but was really to excited and nervous to do much of anything.
"Waaaah!" Gloria looked over to see her 1-year-old sister, Josephine, begin to cry. She sighed, brushing her charmed-black hair out of her face, and began wondering once more about Hogwarts. Her thoughts were soon interrupted.
"Gloria!" She whirled around to see her grandmother, Grace, and her grandfather, Zachary, coming towards them.
"Grandma! Grandpa!" She exclaimed, hopping up and rushing towards them. "You came!"
"We did promise we would." Zachary laughed.
"We weren't about to miss seeing our granddaughter off to her first year of Hogwarts." Grace laughed. "Oh, and here comes your cousins now."
Grace looked to see her Aunt Flora and Uncle Benjamin following after her cousins, Jackson and Amber. They were twins, and were about to start their second year at Hogwarts.
"Amber! Jackson!" Gloria called, waving happily. All over her siblings heard this and started calling greetings to their cousins.
"Hi Uncle Benjamin. Hi Aunt Flora." Gloria said, hugging everybody.
After they had all settled down, Gloria turned to her cousins and asked for the thousandth time, "What's Hogwarts like?"
"Well," Amber began, "for starters, after we get off the train, all the first years will ride the boats across the lake. Everyone else rides the carriages up to the school."
"Then once you're there, you'll get sorted, as you know." Jackson put in.
Gloria nodded, thinking of what to ask next. "Tell me more about Hogwarts Quidditch matches!" She exclaimed.
"Why?" Jackson asked. "You won't even be allowed to play this year."
"No, but I will next year. I'll be a beater, just like Grandma was, and this year, I'm going to watch every match. Besides, you guys will be playing!" Gloria cried out in excitement.
"Not necessarily." Amber reminded her. "Only if we make the team. We may not."
"You may not, but I sure will." Jackson boasted. Amber shoved him playfully.
"Guys, it's 10:50. You need to start getting on the train." Jonny said.
Gloria hugged him, and he kissed the top of her head. "Bye Glory-bean." He said.
She laughed. "Daddy!"
"Sorry. I forgot you're all grown up now. Good-bye, Gloria." He hugged her once more.
Gloria turned to May. "Bye Mum." She said, hugging her.
May hugged her back. "Bye Gloria. Don't forget to write."
"I won't." Gloria promised before turning to Eman, Amy, and Madalyne, hugging them each in turn. "Bye Eman. Bye Amy. Bye Madalyne." She told them.
"Bye, Gloria." Eman said.
"Yeah, bye Gloria." Madalyne replied.
"Good-bye, Gloria." Amy hugged Gloria once more.
"Bye, Josephine." Gloria said, leaning over to her. She just blinked back at her, then reached up and touched her face.
Gloria turned to her grandparents and hugged them. "Bye Grandma. Bye Grandpa."
"Bye Gloria." They both replied, hugging her back.
Gloria turned and said good-bye to her Aunt and Uncle, and then her and her cousins got onto the train. Amber and Jackson immediately ran off to find their friends, leaving Gloria alone.
Before long, the train began moving, Gloria waved and called out one last good-bye to her family. Soon, they disappeared out of sight, and she was on her way.
