I watched 'Year Without A Santa' while writing this...that's why my little first year is named Ignatius Thistlewhite.
Thanks to Godricsgrl89 for beta-ing this story for me!
Addie LaRae
She felt like all the heat in the platform had disappeared. She stood there with her cart full of a trunk and a duffel bag, an owl cage balancing on top. In the beginning she had been looking for Remus or Alice, but her eyes had landed on the brunette waiting to board the train instead.
Her honey colored eyes met Lily's and her whole body stiffened. Last year she and Lily wouldn't have arrived to the platform separately. They normally spent all of August together and came to the train together too. Both were seventh years now, and Gryffindors. They had shared everything until this summer, or maybe it was the end of last school year that changed everything.
Lily raised her hand in a small wave, offering some kind of attempt at still being friends.
The girl just turned away and focused on boarding the train.
"Lily!"
Lily turned and smiled when she saw Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter came over to her. Last year had been the turning point in Lily's relationship with the four boys. Lily turned from watching her once-upon-a-time friend board the train and hugged Remus.
"How are you all? How was your summer?" Lily smiled, respectively giving each boy a hug.
"Fantastic!" Sirius laughed.
James began to talk and Lily followed them onto the train, listening to him describing his summer in Godric's Hollow. Remus excused himself from the compartment the five sat in, not that anyone noticed they were too engrossed in James' story.
Remus headed down the aisle until he came to a seemingly empty compartment in the next car over. He pushed open the door and walked into the compartment, sitting down across from the brunette that Lily had seen earlier.
"Theodora." Remus whispered, reaching out and resting a hand on her knee.
"Go away Remus." She whispered harshly, pulling away from him and looking out the window.
"What happened?" Remus asked, not giving in. Lily had told him about her growing distance. About their falling out last year, but Remus had noticed the change, the increased time the young girl chose to spend alone.
"Nothing happened." Theo replied. She stood up and shouldered her bag, heading for the exit.
Remus blocked her way, moving in front of her and grabbing her arm. "Theo, I'm you friend. You can tell me."
"I can't, I can't tell anyone." The bag dropped again and Theo Whittaker was sobbing. Remus held onto her in a hug, gently stroking her back. He wanted to help, to be her friend. But he didn't know what to say.
She wouldn't talk about it to anyone. She had been removed from all form of life the entire summer. Her mother and father had noticed the change in their daughter's behavior. They had noticed the increased amount of time she spent locked in her room and, though they hadn't realized it, the amount of time she had spent absent from the house in the middle of the summer.
"Theo please, I love you, you know that? I only want you to feel safe." Remus whispered, cupping her face in his hands and looking into her eyes. He kissed her forehead lightly, tenderly reminding her that she was safe with him.
Theo and Remus were not dating, far from it. They were simply friends. Ever since the train in first year they had been friends. She was a quiet type, standing in the background of her friends' antics, academic achievements and comical pursuits. She fit in with everyone because she never really talked to anyone. It wasn't until the end of last year that Remus and Lily had noticed the extreme lack of interest she had shown in anyone of her friends.
"Please don't tell Lily about me crying like this. I don't want her to know." Theo whispered, pulling away from Remus and going to sit on the seats near the window.
"She thinks you hate her." Remus replied, sitting across from her again.
"I don't hate her, I just…I don't want him to get hurt." Theo replied, referring to the friend she wouldn't disclose. The boy she had been spending an increasing amount of time with.
"Who," Remus pressed. He felt like that question had been asked a million times.
"I can't…everything changed Remus. Everything is changing and I'm afraid of it. I don't want to lose my friends." Theo confessed.
"Which friends," Remus asked and he couldn't help the bitter taste in his mouth as he it passed his lips. They had always been friends, loyal to each other. But lately he had felt her loyalty shift.
"Remus!" Theo glared at him.
"Theo, I want to help you. But you're not letting me."
"Then go away. I don't want your help. I just want this bloody trouble to end. All this talk of war coming and people choosing sides they don't want to be on."
"Who's choosing sides?" Remus asked.
And before she could stop herself, Theo's mouth was running a mile a minute. "That stupid bloody git! He said he wouldn't do it and then he did. You should have seen that disgusting mark on his arm. I didn't mean it, I was angry, we both were. I told him I hated him and he…I just wanted him to understand how I felt. He said he didn't believe them and then he joined anyway and I know his family is that way…you know, deatheaters. And then he said I was only friends with him because I liked Sirius. But that's not true…I really do care about him. I mean I'm bloody well worried and I spent half the summer at St. Mungo's. I don't really hate him I just…and then, I don't know, he was angry. I should forgive him shouldn't I? God Remus what am I doing?"
"You're friends with Regulus? What did he do to you?" Remus asked shock and hurt present on his face.
"I can't…I'm sorry, no one can know. If they find out…I don't want him to get hurt. He doesn't, he doesn't mean it. He doesn't know what he's doing." Theo replied, looking away.
"Sorry to crash your party but I was wondering if I could borrow my friend for a moment." A female voice spoke, breaking the conversation.
Remus turned to look at the owner of the voice. A seventh year Slytherin girl, small in frame, like someone had sucked all the fat out of her body and she had never passed through her growth spurt. Her platinum blonde hair was curled and bobbed, sitting against her cheeks and heavy bangs covering her forehead. Her lips were painted bright red and pulled up in a smirk.
"Dahlia Kempt," Remus muttered. He had nothing good to say of the girl who sneered at him when he spoke.
"I have to go." Theo took her bag again and walked passed Dahlia out of the compartment.
On occasion, and with as much sarcasm as he could muster, Snape would refer to the two girls as twins. Theo was the exact opposite of Dahlia. Tall with baby fat still clinging to her body and making her a sometimes uncomfortable 16, her brown hair went passed her shoulders in unkempt waves that she could never seem to make lay right. The brown was dark like chocolate but tangled and mousy. She rarely wore makeup; her belief was that no one was ever really looking at her.
"I was looking for you on the platform." Dahlia stated as they weaved through curious first years and bored older students.
"I ducked in before Lily could come over to talk. Unfortunately Remus found me and then, well, I simply burst into tears." Theo replied, wiping at her cheeks to dry them off.
"I can see that." Dahlia laughed lightly, her voice softer then when she had greeted Remus. Reaching in her coat pocket she took out a handkerchief and handed it to Theo.
"Must you stamp your initials on everything?" Theo smiled at the DK that was embroidered on the edge in silver and green.
"You never know." Dahlia remarked, opening a compartment door and walking in to where Snape and Regulus sat.
"Chocolate frog," Snape asked, scooting over so Theo could sit beside him. She liked the window seat the best; she had been shoving him out of the way for the window seat since they were in second year.
"I'm alright thank you." Theo murmured. Dahlia watched her best friend to see that the attitude she had walking through the train had changed the moment she had entered the compartment.
"I think you two have some sorting out to get done. Shall we Severus?" Dahlia asked, opening the compartment door and ushering Snape through.
Both seventh years left the compartment, deciding to take their posts as prefects and scare the heck out of some of the yet to be sorted first years. It was one of Dahlia's favorite past times.
"I saw you talking to Lupin." Regulus spoke, moving to sit next to her.
"He wanted to know what was wrong. As you know, everyone seems to think I've changed." Theo replied.
"Just because you don't feel like hanging around those mud…them, hanging around with them doesn't mean you've changed." Regulus replied.
"I don't know that I haven't. This summer has been trying. Things out there are changing Regulus, you can't deny that. Who's to say we aren't changing as well, looking for something to believe in." She whispered, glancing at his arm before looking back at his face.
"That doesn't mean anything Teddy. I didn't…not on purpose. You know how my mother is. I wouldn't have done anything. But they were there. They were watching and they know who you are. They know you're friends with muggleborns. That you believe what Dumbledore has been saying." Regulus admitted.
"What's the matter with believing that? You don't even know who you're following. You know nothing about him besides what he chooses to tell you. Dumbledore is being honest with us!" Theo stated, annoyed with her friend.
"I never said I didn't believe him. But I'm 16 years old. I have no say in what I do when I'm at home. Besides…Sirius left to go to the Potter's this summer. I was subject to my mother's fury all summer long. I couldn't stop her or them." Regulus whispered.
"I'm not mad at you Regulus. I'm just afraid. I don't want you to get hurt." Theo answered.
"I won't." He replied and squeezed her hand lightly. He pulled away when he heard the train come to a stop in Hogsmeade. "Come on, Teddy."
Theo stood up, taking her bag and grabbing Dahlia's too as she exited the compartment with Regulus. He followed her down the corridor, dragged Severus' bag along with him as they walked. Snape and Dahlia were already outside, standing in a sea of upperclassman looking annoyed and bored respectively.
"Here…you're lucky we didn't leave your shit on the train." Regulus dumped Snape's bag on the ground in front of the boy, who scoffed in reply and took his bag.
"I suppose I ought to go find Lily." Theo spoke, handing Dahlia her bag. "I'll see you three later."
"See you at dinner." Regulus smiled and gave her a hug before letting her walk off to find her fellow Gryffindors.
She headed through the sea of students trying to get to the carriages, to ride up to the castle. She missed being in first year. All she had to do then was follow Hagrid up to the boats and arrive at the school. She liked first year a lot better than seventh year anyway. She felt kind of bad for the all the first years heading up with Hagrid. Soon they'd be grown up and there'd be a whole lot more trouble than they ever expected.
"Peter!" Theo shouted, seeing the shorter boy up ahead. She didn't see anyone else with him.
He turned around and smiled, completely oblivious to what was going on with her. "Hey Theo!"
"Where's everyone else?" She asked pushing passed some people to stand beside him.
"I'm not sure. I left my bag in the train and had to go back to get it. I think they got a carriage already." Peter replied anxiously.
"Great, you can ride with us." Regulus' voice sounded behind them as he clasped a hand on Peter's shoulder and pushing him forward to a carriage.
"Um…alright," Peter nodded and got on the carriage. Dahlia and Theo sat down beside Peter, Snape and Regulus sitting across from them.
"Looking forward to classes?" Dahlia asked curiously, looking at Peter and smiling.
"Not really. I'm rubbish at most of them. I do like potions." He mused, surprising Theo because she had never really heard him talk about classes before. He was always more of a silent tag along with Sirius, James and Remus.
"I love potions!" Dahlia smiled. "I'm excited for this year's classes. I'm taking advanced double potions. Theo and I are going to be partners right?" Dahlia looked passed Peter at Theo.
"Since when, I'm partnering up with Severus, we like making the rest of the class look like idiots," Theo grinned at Snape.
"It's true." Snape nodded.
"Well…we'll have to partner up then Peter." Dahlia smiled and linked her arm with Peter's.
"I'll be so depressed next year, I won't know anyone." Regulus spoke up.
"Try getting yourself a girlfriend or something." Snape replied dryly.
Theo laughed at the annoyed expression on Regulus' face as they pulled up to the castle. All five of them piled out of the carriage and Dahlia waved at them as she walked into the great hall with Snape and Regulus. Peter blushed and looked away, waiting for Theo as she pulled her hair back.
"Well, shall we?" She smiled at Peter and gestured toward the door. Peter smiled and walked in with her, going down the Gryffindor table until they came to Lily, James, Sirius and Remus. Peter took a seat beside James, Theo sitting on the other side next to Lily.
"Hey, we thought you got lost or something." Sirius remarked as Peter moved his bag under the table.
"No. I didn't know where you guys were so I rode up with Theo." He replied and pointed to her like they didn't already know who she was.
"Hey! I haven't seen you the entire train ride." Sirius answered. Beside him Remus made a peculiar face.
"I was sitting with Dahlia Kempt." Theo replied and offered him a smile. Lily noticed that the girl from the platform, who would barely look at her, was gone and replaced with the Theo that Lily had grown to know over these last 6 years.
"If she wasn't so hot I'd protest." Sirius replied and grinned.
"Ugh…you're disgusting Sirius. Honestly." Lily remarked and reached over to smack his arm.
Theo laughed and turned her attention to the front of the hall as Dumbledore came up to the podium. He started speaking, talking about the first years and how everyone needed to remember that they were first years once, that this should be a place where they can feel at home and safe, a place for all of them, even the older students, to live and learn.
The doors opened at two neat long lines of new students walked into the great hall as Dumbledore placed the stool and the sorting hat up front. Looking at them it was easy to tell the students that were muggleborn and the ones who were pureblood or half-blood. The muggleborn kids walked through in pure shock, staring at everything around them in wonder. Some weren't even watching where they were going, just staring at the ceilings. Some of the purebloods tried to look like it was no big deal to be at Hogwarts while others looked understandably overwhelmed.
"They're so cute!" Lily gushed, smiling at the kids walking up to the front.
"I know…I miss being a first year." Theo mused and waved at some of the kids walking passed.
"Anyone we know?" James asked curiously, looking through the crowds.
"Iggy!" Theo called, waving to one of the eleven year old boys walking down the row. The boy, with dark brown hair and a gap between his teeth, looked over at her and smiled, waving back.
"Hi Theo!" He called, his voice still a little high.
She smiled and gestured for him to keep walking. He hurried to catch up with the other students and stood up front beside another boy with dirty blond hair that he seemed to know.
"Is that Ignatius Thistlewhite?" Lily asked looking up the rows at the boy.
"Who?" Sirius asked confused as to how the two girls knew the first year.
"Yeah that's Iggy." Theo answered Lily first before turning to Sirius. "That's Everett Thistlewhite's little brother. Everett graduated last year."
"Didn't you date him?" James asked, watching as the first student approached the stool and sat down.
"In 5th year I did. I met Iggy at Christmas that year. He's the sweetest kid; my family has Christmas with theirs every year." Theo supplied, watching the kids getting sorted. Two to Gryffindor, three to Ravenclaw, another two in Hufflepuff and one to Slytherin had already been under the hat.
The kids kept going, one after the other, Sirius commenting that they should hurry it up because he was hungry. Remus elbowed him the ribs twice for the comment, all their attention focused on the children. It was exciting to see the kids being placed in a house, to see the kids that they would be mentoring and living with for the rest of the school year.
Theo smiled as Iggy went up after his blond friend, who had gone into Gryffindor. Iggy's parents had been a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw; both his elder brothers were Ravenclaw's too. She watched him nervously place the hat on his head, sitting down on the stool and waiting in anticipation to see what house he would be in. She figured he might be a Hufflepuff, his mother was one and he was similar to his mother in a lot of ways.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted and Iggy whooped up happily, nearly taking the hat down the platform with him, until he remembered and placed it back on the stool. The Gryffindor table clapped and Iggy ran over, grabbing his friend and dragging them down the table to where Theo was sitting.
"Theo! Theo! I'm in Gryffindor! Can you believe it? First one in my family!" He shouted, excitedly.
"That's awesome! Come here, sit down." She laughed and scooted closer to James, who took the opportunity to scoot closer to Lily. "Iggy, that's Lily Evans and James Potter, aka Head Boy and Girl. You'll never get in trouble if you're nice to them. And that's Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. They're trouble makers."
"James is just as much a trouble maker!" Sirius protested and James grinned, shaking his head at the little boy.
"I know Lily, hi Lily! Oh…this is Noah Jenkins. He's a muggleborn." Iggy replied.
"Hi." Noah smiled, clearly overwhelmed by everything going on.
"Hi Noah, don't worry…you'll get used to this place soon. I promise." Lily smiled at him, knowing exactly how he was feeling.
"Finally," Sirius muttered as the last student took her seat at the Slytherin table. Dumbledore took the hat and the stool and informed the students that dinner was served. Noah nearly fell off the bench as the food appeared in the bowls and dishes in front of them.
"Can we eat that?" Noah asked, looking at the food in awe.
"Of course, it's from the house-elves downstairs in the kitchen." Theo answered.
"I'll show you where the kitchen is later." Sirius promised. "You and I are going to be best friends Noah."
"Try not to spend too much time with him." Theo replied and Remus laughed.
"Well, why are we all talking? In the words of Dumbledore…let's eat!" Sirius announced and began piling his plate with food.
(I did this a long time ago and it was great fun...Review and I'll give you a sneak peek of the chapter 2!) (It's called bribing...I like calling it 'I love you so much I'm giving you a gift')