Chapter Two: Scarlet Steam Engine
Emmeliner awoke, many days later, September the first. She jumped out of bed and quadruple-checked that everything she would need was in her trunk. She pushed in the Charms book she had been reading through for weeks. Sighing, Emmeline snapped closed the lid of her trunk. She heaved it cautiously down the stairs. She rubbed her arms, thikning of whether she had left behind anything. She walked back up and picked up Beetle's cage, sitting it atop her trunk.
Beaming, Emmeline walked into the kitchen. She ate some cereal and her family trickled in one at a time. She smiled widely at them and said excitedly, "Today's the day!"
Issabela nodded and smiled slightly, poking at her breakfast. She said dryly, "Yes, Emmeline, we've only been hearing about this for two months!" She rolled her eyes and smiled anyways. Mom looked at Issabela oddly, and then smiled proudly at her daughter.
"We're all proud of you, honey. We can't wait to hear what Hogwarts is like." Dad nodded and swallowed his last bite of eggs. He rumpled her hair and laughed, standing to carry her trunk to the car. Emmeline finished breakfast and sat in the backseat, Beetle on the seat beside her, a book about Harry Potter on her lap, and her sister beside her. And so began the long, uneventful drive to King's Cross Station of London.
***
As Emmeline put her owl beside her trunk on the trolley, she dog-eared the page in the Harry Potter book, putting it quickly into the trunk. She hugged and kissed her family and promised to write. She walked into the station and walked between the big plastic green numbers, labeled 9 and 10. She had read about how to do this... She was scared, though. What if she walked into the wrong pillar? Or what if this really was a big joke?
Emmeline shook her head and looked back at her parents, gathering her courage. She faced the barrier and watched as a group of normal people walked by. She started toward the barrier, closing her eyes and bracing herself. She opened her eyes to turn and say one last goodbye, but found herself on a big, outdoor platform. A huge scarlet steam engine blew white smoke everywhere. The platform was misty, students and parents everywhere. She felt strange, there without her parents. It seemed like everyone else had wizard parents. She blushed, even though nobody would see anyways.
Emmeline pulled her trunk and her owl's cage up onto a compartment, one she had thought was empty. A thin, blond boy with piercing blue eyes looked back at her as she turned around in the cmpartment. She gasped slightly and shook her head, her loose curls falling about her. "I'm s-sorry..." she mumbled. His curious, pale face broke out in a grin, making him look better than he had.
"It's okay. You can sit here with me, if you'd like. I've got noone to sit with." His eyes sparkled and Emmeline nodded happily. She pushed her trunk and Beetle's cage up onto the rack and sat down across from the boy. He tilted his head slightly and asked, "What year are you, then? I'm a second year." Emmeline blushed slightly.
"I'm in my first year." A certain kind of look crossed his face, as if that explained much. He pulled his robes a little, seeming to be thinking about something.
"So, are you a half-blood? Dad says almost everybody is anymore."
"No, I'm Muggle-born. My letter came a few months ago, on my eleventh birthday." Emmeline smiled slightly as the boy nodded. He smiled a little bit.
"I'm a half-blood. My dad's a pure-blood, but what does it matter, anyways? Nobody cares about that anymore. Well, you probably wouldn't know, would you?" Emmeline shook her head and blushed. He shook his head when he saw her cheeks flush. "No, that's not what I meant. I just meant that... Well, it really doesn't matter anymore. It used to." He smiled a little. Emmeline suddenly realized that she didn't know much about him at all yet, not even his name. He seemed to realize the same thing then, too, because he soon asked, "What's your name? I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy." He stuck out a hand and she shook it timidly, a grin breaking out on her face. His short blond hair rippled and she pulled her hand back.
"I'm Emmeline. Emmeline Fexx."
They talked about the school for awhile, and watched the landscapes flash by, pointing out the seemingly random changes in the window. After a while, a tall, dark-skinned witch pushed up a cart covered in many different kinds of sweets. Scorpius stood up and pulled out a black bag with coins in it, buying some of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and a Pumpkin Pasty. Emmeline selected a Cauldron Cake and a Caramel Turtle. She had never heard of a Caramel Turtle before, and it sounded like the chocolate turtles that her mom made for her at home. She paid the witch 3 Sickles and 4 Knuts, sitting down on the seat across from Scorpius and biting into the Turtle. Warm caramel gushed into her mouth and she squealed, surprised. Scorpius laughed, almost dropping his Pasty. The two new friends laughed for what seemed like ages, talking more about teachers and classes, Peeves the poltergeist, and Harry Potter, a topic Scorpius knew a lot about. According to Scorpius, his father had been in school with Harry. Emmeline was happy to have found a friend already in this new school. It seemed like the long train ride would never end. And then, the scarlet steam engine pulled into a station, the sun long ago set.