There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Disclaimer- everything belong to J. K. Rowling
The Beginning
"Alicia, hurry up, we have a train to catch" yelled mom.
"I'll be right down" I muttered but loud enough for my mom to hear.
I heard my mom say something about being in the car and then it was silent. Finally. I got my bag and cellphone and then with one last look at my room walked out closing the door softly behind me. As I had expected my parents were sitting waiting in the car. I sighed as I walked towards our family's small grey car. My mom tried making conversation with me but I really wasn't in the mood so I pretended to be really tired. Being that I had been up all night worrying, I really should have been tired, but surprisingly I was feeling pretty awake.
I turned on my iPod and with very obvious yawning, good acting on my part, I shut my eyes. And thankfully she got the hint. It wasn't that I was upset with my mom or anything I just didn't want her to bring up that conversation. Which she always did. Always asking me how I felt about grandma passing away and if it hurt me and trying to get me to deal with it. I had no patience to discuss any of that with her though. While all of my friends were hanging out during the summer I had spent my time with my grandma at the hospital. She had been very sick and although I knew her time to go would come it had come earlier than any of us had expected. One day here the next day gone. I hated thinking about this because it always made me cry. I really did miss my grandma. Tomorrow was my first day of school at, Rosaline High, but I was going to be starting a month late. My mother had decided that our family needed time to relax together. As a FAMILY she had stressed. I think she had expected me to argue and say that I wanted to stay and start school with my friends. I didn't really care about that though. It had been really hard lately. I felt like I had no connection to my friends. They were all into shopping and boys and I was mourning the loss of my grandmother. And although they tried to understand and be there for me they just didn't get it. Yes this vacation would be good and hopefully give me the time I needed to get myself back together. The time to properly mourn grandma and then move on.
I think I might have dozed off because it felt like only minutes later my mother was nudging me awake and telling me that we were there at the station. I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the sign that said King's Cross Station. I got out of the car sleepily. The jolt of cold air helped me wake up though and shivering I turned back to grab my sweater from the car. My dad got my suitcase out for me and handed it to me with a small smile. I smiled back but it was hard. He had been really quiet since my grandmother had passed away. I ached the most for my dad who had not only lost his father at a young age but now his mother was gone too.
We rolled our suitcases through the train station and then sat down at a bench by platform 10.
My mother handed me my ticket and said that her dad were going to go pick up some food for the trip at a small shop nearby. I nodded at her and looked down at my ticket.
Platform 10
London to Edinburgh
Leaving at: 11:00am
Arriving at: 3:30pm
One passenger age 18
I glanced at my watch. It was a Michael Kors watch that my parents had given me back in June for my 18th birthday. Back then it had seemed like the biggest deal. Something I just had to have to fit in with all my rich friends. I had hinted about it to my mom for months beforehand and she hadn't let me down. But now it just seemed to mock me with its silliness.
9:30. Argh still an hour and a half left to wait.
I looked around the station taking everything in. There was a couple of people strolling in now and I knew that in a half hours' time the place would be so full with people that I would barely be able to see two feet in front of me. From 10:00 to 11:00 was like a second rush hour here at King's Cross station. I put my earphones back in, cranked up the volume on my iPod, and just starting spacing out.
10:00. Where are mom and dad?
I got out my phone and texted my mom.
Where are you- Alicia
Stopped to chat with an old friend of ours we will be back soon. The train hasn't come yet right?-mom
Nopes- Alicia
K let me know - mom
K- Alicia
You okay honey? - Mom
Yups - Alicia
I put my phone in my bag just as this old guy came and sat down on my bench. He took out a newspaper and started reading it. I turned the other way to look at all the people walking around. Suddenly I felt a hand on my knee. Ohmyg-d no way in hell. Is this guy kidding me? Creep! I pinched his hand and he yelped. I held back my laughter and giving him a glare I yanked my bag and suitcase and stalked off to find a different place to wait. I chose a relatively empty spot right by the barrier in between platform 9 and 10. I faced away from the crowd of people so I wouldn't have to see Mr. Old creep checking out my legs which he was currently doing all the way from his bench. Glancing at my watch again I saw that it was almost 11 anyway and that our train would probably be arriving shortly. I got out my phone to text my mom again when all of a sudden I got this creepy feeling that someone was staring at me. You know that tingly feeling that you feel at the back of your neck and it gives you chills all over? That what I felt and it was really intense. I quickly turned around to glare at Mr. Old creep but he had left the bench. Weird. I turned back around and I felt it again. I slowly turned around and pretended to be looking at my phone while I checked out the area. The station was full of people and most were walking by busily.
But then I noticed this family of redheads and they were all staring at me. Like seriously staring at me and this entire family had red hair. The mother, and I guessed it was her because she was pushing the trolley with all the suitcases, was a short and plump lady. I don't know why but she just kind of looked really motherly to me. There was an older looking man who also had red hair and he was wearing really odd clothing. Then there was this really hot guy who looked around 18 or 19 and a pretty girl who looked around the same age. Hmm maybe they were twins. Okay this was really creepy now they were all staring at me and whispering frantically to each other. I looked down at the screen of the phone to see if I had maybe grown horns or something. None. Phew. Okay but then why are they all freaking out. Gosh what does King's Cross have against me. For the second time that day I grabbed my bags and started to walk away. And weirdly enough they all looked pretty relieved about that.
As I was walking I had this intense urge to look back. So I did. The mom and dad were still standing there with the guy but the girl was gone. I didn't even see her anywhere around them. It was like she had disappeared during the second I had been walking. I saw the guy take his bag, say something to his dad, kiss his mom, and then he started jogging towards the tracks. I was still watching as he picked up the speed and that's when I realized with an unpleasant jolt in my stomach that he was heading straight towards the barrier that I had just been standing by. I lost him for a second in the crowd but then he reappeared still headed towards the barrier. In the split second before it happened I knew that he was about to crash straight on into the hard brick of the barrier. I stood frozen and I couldn't get the words out to stop him as I watched aghast as he slammed in to the wall. And disappeared from view. Like seriously disappeared. I rubbed my eyes expecting to see him lying on the floor bleeding his brains out or something. But he was just gone. It was like the barrier had swallowed him up.
As I was still staring at the spot where the guy had literally been two seconds ago I saw his parents holding hands also jogging straight towards the barrier but at a much slower pace than their son had. Maybe from their angle they were able to see where he had gone. Yeah that was it. He had probably just turned in time and was on the opposite side of the barrier. That would make sense. But as I watched they also got right up to the barrier and as they hit it they just vanished. Blinking madly I jogged towards the barrier and looked around at the other side. No redheads. What the hell. I went to stand where the family had been standing just minutes ago.
My phone buzzed and I got momentarily distracted from my confusing thoughts.
Coming now u still by the bench- Moms
Yeah around there- Alicia
My phone said it was 10:45. I angled my head and looked at the barrier. It didn't seem and different from here. I decided there was only one thing left to do and that was retracing their steps. I started weaving in between people slowly quickening my pace. It was odd how at the times when everything would seem to be happening quickly time slowed down. That was the time when everything becomes larger and in your face. It was like this during the last seconds before my grandma had passed away. I had seen the line on the clock slowly ticking, her every last breath was suddenly magnified, and I remember the nurses walking just outside the glass window. It was just like that now. I noticed everything. From her skirt to his freckles and even the child who had ice cream dripping on his shirt. Nobody seemed to notice me though as I slipped by them one by one. And then the barrier was right in my face and I was going too quickly to stop anyway. So I just shut my eyes and prepared for the inevitable crash. And I just kept running. And running. I peeked one eye open and there was no barrier. I turned to look behind me and it was still there. But the rest of the train station that I had just been standing in was gone.
I was hyperventilating as I glanced around me taking everything in. There on the barrier was a sign reading: Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. In front of me was a wrought iron archway bearing the words Platform Nine and Three Quarters over the platform. And there was people rushing all over parents and teenagers all walking around with identical carts as the redheaded family had been pushing. Some even had owls in them. There was smoke in the air and it was making me feel kind of woozy. For a moment I wondered if I had perhaps passed out but when I felt pain after pinching myself I realized that this was entirely real. And then between the smoke I saw a large red steam engine. It had the words Hogwarts Express on it.
And then someone was pushing me and telling me to hurry onto the train or id miss it. And someone was taking my bags and saying they'd hurry to the back of the train for me to store it for the ride. And I was helped up by yet another and then I was inside the train and someone was shutting the doors. And everyone on the platform was waving. And people were running past me laughing with their friends chasing after a toad. And I had no clue where I was and what had just happened. I was barely processing when I felt a tap on my shoulder. And then I blacked out.
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