Red and orange leaves drifted through the air and scattered noisily along the pavement. The sky was gray, but despite the dreariness of the day, an undeniable cheer and warmth existed among certain people that crowded the train station. Men in long pea coats brushed hurriedly past with briefcases in hand; women corralled their children along to their train. One family in particular blended nearly perfectly with their surroundings, despite the odd truth that shrouded within two if its members, who pushed their carts along happily.
There were three girls. One was thin and tall, with blonde hair that matched the mother's tied back into a tight plait. Her face looked as if she had sniffed something rather sour that morning. Another, only slightly younger than the first, had fiery red hair that matched their father's and framed her heart-shaped face. The last, obviously younger than the other two, had red hair also, but hers were braided into two plaits on either side of the back of her head. Her eyes were almond-shaped and bright green, as was the common trait between her and her sisters. She seemed the most nervous of the three girls as their parents shuffled them along into the station.
They came to a stop in front of the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The older red-haired girl turned to the younger one, and sensing her nervousness, turned to her parents.
"Mum, Dad, can Ivy and I go together?" She asked, putting an arm around her younger sister's shoulders. The younger girl, Ivy, momentarily forgot her nerves.
"I can go by myself, Lily, I'm not a baby," she protested mildly, smiling lightly to relieve the bite of her words. Lily rolled her eyes and retracted her arm.
"Ivy can go on her own, Lils. If she wants to," their father said, glancing at his youngest daughter, and she nodded eagerly. He smiled down at her, and Ivy's family waited as she ran toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
Does this seem like odd behavior?
This was not so for witches and wizards, who wished to come across Platform 9 ¾. Platform 9 ¾ was where the Hogwarts Express resided only a few times each year. At the beginning of term, at the end, twice during the winter, and twice during the spring. The Express would take young witches and wizards from ages eleven to seventeen to the most well-known magical school in all of northern Scotland: Hogwarts.
Ivy disappeared from her family's view, and she gasped in wonder and amazement at the large, magnificent red train that shone brightly through the hazy fog of the morning. Laughter rang throughout, owls hooted, cats meowed, and Ivy thought she even heard a croak or two.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Lily said beside her with a dreamy tone to her voice. Ivy deduced she must have come through only a moment after her own arrival.
Lily and Ivy looked remarkably similar, with their hair the same shade of red, their eyes the same color and shape, and their faces both heart-shaped. Sometimes, people mistook them for twins instead of older and younger sister who were a year apart. There was, however, a major personality difference.
Lily Evans was kind to everyone unless given a reason not to be. When she had a reason to not like you, the grudge could last a long time and her temper was short with that person. Other than that, she was thoughtful and kind, offering friendship to everyone who deserved it. She was also intelligent, and loved books and was doing well in all of her classes.
Ivy Evans was rather intelligent, herself, but that was where the similarities ended. Her kindness and respect weren't given out lightly. She was mischievous and childlike, preferring exploring her knowledge through elaborate tricks and dangerous (and sometimes silly) experiments instead of with a book. Instead of an owl (like Lily's owl, Tanner), Ivy had gotten a cotton-candy blue pygmy puff from Diagon Alley, and named him The Destroyer. Said pygmy puff trilled occasionally from his resting spot on her shoulder.
Ivy turned from staring in awe at the train to her older sisters. Petunia, her oldest sister and the only blonde of the three, was scowling and remarking scornfully at whatever Lily was saying. Ivy walked a bit closer to their spot a few feet away, and listened.
"…Pet, can you please write back to us? If not me, at least Ivy. You'll ruin the whole semester for her if you keep on with your selfish acts! You remember how she was this summer after she got her letter and you ignored her…" It was true. Petunia had been one of the few in Ivy's tiny trust circle before her oldest sister began blatantly ignoring her after she'd gotten her letter. She'd never gotten along very well with Petunia, but at least they had had their moments. Those moments had now ceased to exist entirely.
"Ugh. I'm not doing anything for either of you two freaks!" Petunia glared at Lily, her bony fists clenched at her sides.
"Petunia!" Their mother scolded. "You take that back about your sisters right now!"
Petunia crossed her arms and turned away from them. "That's okay," said Ivy, blank faced before their mother could admonish Petunia again. "I don't need an apology. And I'd rather not get letters from the likes of her either."
With that, Ivy roughly snatched up the handle to her trunk and stormed over to one of the open doors of the train and hefted it up the steps and through the narrow passageway. Without thinking about where she was going, she shoved open the door to a compartment to put her trunk in.
"Woah, woah! Where did you come from?"
The voice startled her, and she jumped only a little before looking around at the compartment's four inhabitants. One had the messiest raven hair she'd ever seen, and circular glasses over his hazel eyes. Another was short, plump, and mousy. Yet another boy, closest to the window on the left side, had sandy hair that was neatly combed to one side. He looked the same age as the rest of them, yet older at the same time; it was weird. The one closest to her left had dark, wavy hair and charming grey eyes that twinkly curiously at her.
She blinked and looked at the raven-haired boy who'd asked the question. "Oh, I didn't realize this one was taken. Sorry," she said briskly, about to close the door when the raven-haired boy stopped her again.
"Wait, wait!" She paused, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you, by any chance, related to someone by the name of Lily Evans?"
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Big sis didn't mention me to all of her schoolmates? I'm heartbroken," she said dryly.
"I like this one better than older Evans," said the boy with dark, wavy hair, grinning boyishly at her.
She smirked and couldn't resist the opportunity to badmouth Lily a little. "Oh, most people do…"
"Ivy!" Lily said from the end of the narrow passageway. Ivy leaned back and saw Lily hurrying toward her with her own trunk. "There you are! You didn't say goodbye to Mum and D- " she paused and looked around at the four boys that were all looking at her with identical looks of dreadfully mischievous familiarity.
"How did you end up near them?" Lily asked, staring at her sister in incredulity.
"Well," Ivy started, a cheeky grin working its way onto her face. "You see, I opened the compartment, and people were actually in it! Imagine that, Lils, people being in here…"
"Shut it," she snapped, and Ivy just smirked at her. "Why don't we go sit in my friends' compartment instead? You'll get in trouble somehow hanging around these half-wits."
"Hey, I resent that!" The boy with wavy hair said loudly. "I am not a half-wit! I am a full-wit, thanks!"
"He's right, Lils, that was rather rude," Ivy shook her head at her sister. Lily glared at her. "Why don't you go and find Captain Hook, and I'll stay here?" Lily gave her one last withering look, but turned back to the compartment of boys. She smiled politely at the two boys nearest the window (who returned her smile), but glared menacingly the two nearest to them.
"You get my sister in trouble and I'll hex all of you into next term," she said fiercely, before walking away briskly with her trunk in hand. She called over her shoulder as she walked away, "And go say goodbye to Mum and Dad!"
Ivy grumbled and looked around the compartment. "You guys mind if I sit with you?"
"Not at all!" grinned the raven-haired boy.
"Yes, do sit!" chimed in his loud, wavy-haired friend. Ivy noticed that the other two boys were uncommonly quiet. She fit her trunk up onto the rack, and turned back to the still-open door.
"I'll be right back," she said, giving a friendly smile and a nod before heading out to bid farewell to her parents. She got good vibes from the foursome; usually, her gut feelings were pretty accurate, so being kind to them seemed appropriate. If she hadn't she would've just moved on to a different compartment.
Outside, her parents stood with Petunia beside them, her arms still crossed and her expression still sour. Her mum kissed her cheeks and gave her a hug that almost broke her back (in her estimation) and nearly threw The Destroyer off of her shoulder.
"Be careful, honey. And listen to Lily! She was here last year, so she'll know a bit more about the school." Her mother said, and Ivy smiled secretly at how she had just done the exact opposite.
She tucked The Destroyer into her pocket safely before her dad kissed the top of her head and lifted her a foot up off of the ground. Ivy giggled at first, but then demanded to be put down. "Stop that! I look like a little kid!"
"You are a little kid, kid," said her father, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "And have fun. You'll write if any boys give you trouble, right?"
"Yeah, Daddy, sure."
"Not sure; I want a definite here."
Ivy sighed and nodded her head, and hoped it was enough. Her dad seemed to think it was, and hugged her tightly one last time. "Good. I'll come up to the school if I have to."
"Daddy, you wouldn't even be able to see it."
"So what?" He grinned and tugged on her plaits.
Ivy pulled them from his grip and waved one last time at them, throwing a scornful gaze at Petunia, and scampering off to get back to her compartment. The trains doors were beginning to close, and Ivy just barely made it to the last one before it snapped shut with a hiss. She took a deep breath and walked purposefully down the narrow walkway until she came back to the foursome's compartment. A platinum-blonde boy was standing just outside of it with two bulky, dumb-looking boys flanking him. A frown formed on Ivy's face as she scrutinized the blonde boy. He was older than her, a lot older. Probably a seventh year.
"Is there a problem here, gentleman?" Ivy asked coolly with more bravado than she felt. The older boy towered over her and stared coldly at her with piercing gray eyes. The two boys nearest to the front of the compartment had stood and their wands were drawn; they were tensed to fight, but Ivy felt they were restraining themselves for some odd reason.
"Another mudblood?" The blonde boy sneered. "You must be related to that other piece of mudblood filth, Evans."
"Watch it, Blondie," said Ivy, dropping her cool façade and glaring at the older boy. "No one gets to call my sister names but me." She felt her pocket and was inwardly relieved her wand was there.
"You obviously don't know who you're talking to, mudblood; I'm Head Boy, and of the Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy," said the blonde, whipping out his own wand. The two boys Lily had warned her not to mess with had been watching the exchange like a tennis match, but finally stepped in.
"That's enough, Malfoy, you slimy git!" said the wavy-haired boy.
"Yeah!" barked the raven-haired boy. "And I think we need to wash your mouth out for using that dirty word! Scourgify!"
Pink bubbles began to foam rapidly at Malfoy's mouth, and he spluttered and coughed wetly, running back to another end of the train to find someone to undo it for him. His two cronies stumbled stupidly after him. Ivy turned to the boys and grinned at them.
"That was awesome! Can you teach me how to that?"
"All in time, young one," drawled the wavy-haired boy. "All in time."
Ivy tilted her head to the side. "I just remembered I still don't even know any of your names."
"Oh, yeah," blinked the raven-haired boy. "I'm James. James Potter." Ivy shook his hand.
"I'm Sirius!" said the wavy-haired boy loudly and pompously.
Ivy snorted. "Obviously not."
"Well, actually, you're right about that," he smirked at her. "Sirius. Sirius Black."
"Oh," she said, blinking, but shaking his hand also. They stepped back into the compartment and settled down. Ivy found herself seated between Serious Sirius and the partition next to the door. She turned to the other relatively reserved boys, and they introduced themselves as well.
"Remus Lupin," said the boy with neat, sandy hair. Up close, Ivy noticed that an abnormal amount of scars pockmarked his young face. He didn't reach for her hand, and Ivy didn't either. He seemed to be uncomfortable with contact with people he didn't know, and Ivy could sympathize, so she respected his personal space.
She turned to the plump boy, but James spoke for him. "This is Peter. He's not much of a talker, though, so bear with him." He said, ruffling Peter's mousy brown hair. Peter gave her a timid smile and wave, and she returned it before introducing herself.
"Well, I'm Ivy. Ivy Evans, and this is The Destroyer," she said, gesturing to the light blue pygmy puff that she had placed back on her shoulder at some point. They all stared at him (The Destroyer) oddly. "Don't judge until you see what he's capable of."
"He's a pygmy puff. What could he possibly do that earned him that name?" asked James incredulously.
"Well, we had steak for dinner the other night and demolished two on his own. And he bites."
"He bites?" Peter asked quietly, staring wide-eyed at the little fluff ball that trilled happily on Ivy's shoulder.
"A biting pygmy puff?" Sirius got his face up close to The Destroyer.
"Sirius, I wouldn't- " but it was too late.
"EUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"