It was with increasing uncertainty that Lauren Lewis approached platform nine of Kings Cross Station. As she walked her gaze flitted between the big clock on the wall, what was - in her opinion at least - a rather confusing train ticket, and the well-read scrap of parchment in her hand.
In the week that she had known her, Lauren had learned to read Bo's messy, scrawling handwriting, and she was almost certain that the untidy p.s. at the bottom of her most recent letter said "Oh, before I forget. I'll meet you at platform nine at quarter to eleven, show you through the barrier. It can be a bit, umm, what's the word you would use?" Here Bo had made several failed attempts at spelling, each crossed out more viciously than the last, until "Dawnting. You know, scary. I might take you up on that offer of a pocket dictionary after all! Anyway, can't wait to see you, Lots of Love, Bo."
Lauren smiled at Bo's spelling of the word daunting, but in this case, she had to agree with its use. Behind her, her step-mother pushed her loaded trolley for her. "Lauren, are you sure that ticket says platform nine and three quarters?"
"Yep."
Coming to stand beside her in front of a blank stone wall, she said "Well, we'll just have to wait for Bo to explain then. What time did she say she was coming?"
"Quarter to."
Her step-mother nodded, glancing at the clock on the wall. In her cage, Lauren's barn owl, whom she had named Hen (short for Henry (Gray, author of Lauren's favourite human anatomy textbook,) which had been shortened even further from Henrietta, an idea put forward both by her step-mother and, surprisingly, Bo), hooted sleepily. This was met by the hooting of another owl, and through the crowd of commuters Lauren recognised Toby, perched precariously on Bo's head and blinking excitedly at the suit-clad, briefcase-toting muggles gazing curiously at him.
Lauren had to stifle a laugh as she saw her brunette friend approaching, laden down with a large assortment of bags and dragging a huge trunk behind her.
The minute hand of the clock reached fourteen minutes to eleven as she reached her new friend and, dropping her luggage with several loud bangs on the floor, flung her arms around her and almost yelled in her ear "I'm so, so sorry I'm late! I dropped Toby's cage and the door kinda broke." Unwrapping her arms from their inadvertent choke-hold on the blond she rooted amongst her luggage, pulling out a cage with the door hanging off by one of its hinges. Toby, unbalanced by the sudden movement, fluttered off her head and perched on top of Hen's cage where he ruffled his wings before settling down and promptly falling asleep.
Bo glanced up at the clock, then bent down to grab her luggage. "Come on, train's going to leave soon."
Lauren took hold of the handle of her trolley. "So where is platform nine and three quarters then?"
Bo gestured nonchalantly to the wall behind her. "Through there." Piling her bags onto Lauren's trolley, she grabbed hold of the handle with her. Lauren shook her head, holding up her hands and backing away.
"Through a brick wall!? It's impossible, Bo!"
"Not impossible Lauren. Magic." She grabbed her friends hands in hers. "A few days ago you learned that broomsticks could fly. Sometimes physics doesn't apply to this world, Lauren. But the alternative is so much cooler."
She felt the anxiety leave her friend, and squeezed her hands. "Do you trust me?" Gazing into those deep brown eyes Lauren couldn't say no. She nodded, her throat dry, and turned towards the wall.
She emerged, gasping, into bright sunlight. Cracking open her eyes, she saw a beautiful red steam train, a trail of thick smoke curling out of its funnel. There were young wizards everywhere, talking to their parents, talking to each other, climbing into the long carriages, there was one boy chasing a toad that was desperately hopping to freedom.
A porter approached to take Lauren's trolley, and Bo suddenly appeared and grabbed Hen's cage. "Don't want her locked up with all the luggage do we?"
Blinking dazedly, Lauren shook her head, partly in response to Bo's rhetorical question, mostly to clear her head. Turning to the barrier, she asked "Where's my step-mother?" Bo came to stand at her shoulder. "Not sure. Maybe muggles can't get through the barrier?"
Lauren looked shocked and upset. "You mean she's stuck back there, all alone? I have to go back." She made to head back through the barrier, but just then her step-mother appeared, head down, eyes closed tightly. Bo pulled Lauren aside just in time to avoid the older woman careering into her.
Nancy stopped just short of them. "Umm, Mrs Lewis?" she turned towards Bo's voice, eyes still closed. "Please tell me I'm didn't run head first into a solid brick wall and am only now regaining consciousness."
"Nope, you're on platform nine and three quarters."
"Oh good."
She opened her eyes, grinning at the two eleven year-olds. "Professor McCorrigan did say I would be able to get through the barrier, despite being a, what do you call it, a muggle?"
Bo nodded. "Well, it's a good job you can. Lauren was just about to go back for you."
Just then, a whistle blew. Bo gestured towards the train. "Come on, it'll be going in a minute."
Lauren ran to Nancy and hugged her tightly. "I'll be back at Christmas."
"I'll be waiting."
"Don't… don't let him boss you around anymore."
Nancy pulled back slightly, gazing down at her daughter. Lauren gazed back solemnly. "He isn't going to be a part of our lives anymore Lauren." She knelt down level to the child's deep brown eyes. "I'm leaving him. We're leaving him. We don't ever have to see him again and now you can grow up safe and happy. I'm only sorry that it took so long."
Lauren wordlessly hugged her tightly, burying her face in her shoulder. Relief flooded her. She had hoped against hope when Professor McCorrigan had told her who she was, her mother would finally be able to escape her father. She knew the older woman only stayed for her sake. Now that she was safe and away at Hogwarts, she could leave, start again without him.
Somewhere, a clock chimed eleven. Lauren and Nancy pulled apart, both wiping away tears they didn't want the other to see. Bo took her friends hand, nodded to Nancy, and they hurried onto the train. It slowly began pulling out of the station, children waving and calling out to goodbye's to their parents, Lauren hanging out of the window to kiss her mother one last time.
Steam hissed, the train's wheel's creaked and once more a whistle filled the station. Then they were out of the station and the Hogwarts Express was picking up speed. Bo wrapped her arms around Lauren for a few moments, then together they turned to find a compartment.
"Every where's full," Bo complained as she and Lauren searched fruitlessly for an empty compartment. She switched Hen's cage to her other hand as the combined weight of two owls was making her arms ache.
"Ah, here we go." They stopped outside an empty compartment, Bo shouldering open the door and dumping Hen on an empty seat. Toby toppled from his perch and, hooting grumpily, waddled over to an armrest to perch and try to fall asleep again.
Bo flopped into a seat, Lauren sitting slightly more gracefully next to her and pulling out a well-read paperback from her coat pocket.
There was a knock on the window, and Bo and Lauren turned to see a tall boy with blond, curly hair, and a slightly shorter black boy, sporting a stylish hat. They entered the carriage, squeezing in opposite Bo and Lauren, grinning.
"Hey there," said the blond boy. "I'm Dyson and this is Hale," he gestured to his friend. "Can we sit here? The only other free compartment is full of Slytherins." He shuddered exaggeratedly and he and Hale laughed.
Lauren nudged Bo. "What's a Slytherin?"
Bo began to reply, but Dyson loudly cut her off. "What do you mean, you don't know what a Slytherin is?" He turned to Bo. "Is she kidding me or is she just really slow?"
Bo caught hold of Lauren before she could throw herself at Dyson, her book dropping forgotten to the floor. "Slow?! Who are you calling slow you pretentious, half-witted little mongrel? I'm obviously far cleverer than you if you can't even tell if someone is addressing you or not."
Dyson looked shocked for a moment, but then started laughing. "Oh, feisty little bitch aren't we?"
Bo growled, letting go of Lauren and lunging for the boy. "Don't you dare call her that!" she drew back a fist and let it fly, the sound of it smacking against Dyson's jaw resounding through the carriage.
"Ouch! What the hell was that for!?" He saw Bo raise her fist again and raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise to me, apologise to her."
He turned to Lauren, whose face showed a strange mix of anger and awe. Wiping a small trickle of blood from his lip, he said "I'm sorry I called you a bitch. I didn't mean it."
"Good," Bo replied for Lauren. "Now get out. Go sit with the Slytherins, you'd get on well." Dyson slunk out of the carriage, rubbing his jaw. After a moment, Hale got up and followed him. He stopped at the door, turning to the girls and saying. "I'm sorry about him, It's that time of the month," before pursing his lips and heading after his friend.
"Stupid oaf," Bo muttered, taking her seat again. She winced when her knuckles knocked against the arm rest. Lauren gently took the injured hand in hers, gently prodding the bruised knuckles. "Can you straighten your fingers for me?" she asked. Bo complied, hissing in pain. Lauren gazed up at her, brown eyes full of concern. "What's the diagnosis, Doc?" Bo joked.
"I think your knuckles are only bruised, but you should put an ice pack on them to reduce the swelling." She sighed. "Bo, why did you hit him? You don't need to feel obliged to punch people who upset me."
"Yes I do. You're my friend. People say mean stuff about you, I'm gonna hit them. Besides, I couldn't let you hurt your hand if you punched him."
Lauren laughed, shaking her head and resting Bo's hand back on her knee. "Thank you for your concern Bo."
"No problem."
"But seriously Bo," her grin was gone, her face solemn. "Thank you. For standing up for me. No one ever has before."
They held each other's gaze for a moment, before "Anything from the trolley?" sounded from down the hallway. Bo's eyes lit up, and she rummaged in her pockets for some money. Lauren stilled her hand. "Allow me. It's the least I can do to thank you for smacking that boy for me."
The sunset blazed orange through the carriage windows as the train rattled onwards. In their compartment, Bo and Lauren slouched tiredly amongst the remains of a wonderfully unhealthy lunch.
Gazing at the rapidly darkening sky, Bo listened to the sound of turning pages as Lauren read from the book she had brought with her for the journey. Rousing herself from her stupor, she stood and stretched. Earlier she had fetched their robes from their trunks, and now she reached into the overhead compartment and started to change into them.
"You should probably start getting changed too Lauren, I think we're nearly there."
Half an hour later, the train pulled into Hogsmead station. There was an almighty rush of noise as people began to exit the train, owls, cats and toads adding to the din with various hoots, meows and croaks. Bo grabbed Lauren's hand, the other was holding Hen's cage. Toby was perched on her shoulder again, refreshed from his nap and watching the hustle and bustle around him with bright yellow eyes.
"Come on, our luggage will be brought up."
Following the crowd, they tripped onto the station. "Firs' years over here," boomed a loud voice. They followed it to a group of nervous looking eleven-year olds, all crowded around the largest man Lauren had ever seen.
"Everyone here?" he asked. "Right. My name's Hagrid, I'm gamekeeper at Hogwarts." He surveyed the crowd. "Follow me, we're going by boat to the castle."
They walked a little way through the darkness. Once they caught sight of Dyson, laughing with a haughty blond, a pale, skinny boy who was waving his arms around menacingly, to shouts of laughter from a few others, but they lost sight of him as they rounded a corner and were herded by Hagrid into wooded row boats.
Bo and Lauren clambered into a boat with a short girl with dark hair and a sulky expression. "Hi, I'm Bo." Bo held out her hand to the girl, who shook it. "Kenzi."
"I'm Lauren," Lauren offered from beside Bo.
"Delighted, I'm sure," was the reply.
Bo was taken aback slightly by the girl's less than enthusiastic greeting, but the cause soon became apparent.
Sighing, she dipped her injured hand into the cold, black waters of the lake. Alarmed, Kenzi hissed "What are you doing? There's a giant squid in this lake, that is apparently very fond of humans."
Bo withdrew her hand, stifling a scream when the boat suddenly rocked. But it wasn't a giant squid attack.
"Kenzi, we meet again."
Kenzi groaned. "Not you again. What do you want this time?"
Dyson faked offence. "Kenzi, why are you so upset? Is it because of the giant squid? Because I'm only sixty per cent sure that it isn't going to capsize and devour us." He laughed.
Kenzi blanched, hands gripping the side of the boat as it moved off across the dark water. From beside Lauren Bo growled "Dyson. Haven't you learned it's rude to tease people?"
Dyson jumped. "Bo. Didn't see you there. I wasn't teasing her. I..errr." He trailed off. Bo tapped the side of her face with her good hand. "How's the jaw Dyson?"
She could see the bruise standing out purple against his skin.
He locked eyes with her defiantly. Bo had to admit she was impressed he wasn't cowering in the bottom of the boat yet. Her glare sometimes had that effect on people.
Locked in a staring contest, they both jumped when Kenzi and Lauren gasped, turning to see a huge castle, lights blazing from each window, standing out against the night sky.
"It's beautiful," Lauren whispered.
Bo took her hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
They were ushered inside by a stern old witch, and made to stand by the huge double doors that Lauren assumed led to the dining room. From behind them she could hear the chatter of students and the scraping of benches. Lauren fidgeted nervously as silence fell.
She could hear a muffled voice addressing the students. It took her a moment to recognise Professor McCorrigan's calm, collected, tones. Beside her, Bo tapped the fingers of her good hand nervously on her thigh.
The talking stopped, and after a heartbeat, the doors swung open, and the first years were shepherded into the great hall. Lauren gazed in wonder at the ceiling, making a mental note to ask Bo how the candles stayed up in the air. Magic, no doubt would be the answer.
The hall was huge, four long tables stretching from one end to the other, the students sat at each seemed all to be in the same house, a sea of faces and bodies clad in black robes all turned to watch the first years shuffle nervously towards the table at the far end of the hall, at which sat stern professors.
After what seemed like an eternity they reached the end of the hall and stood there huddled close together, not quite sure what they were meant to be doing. Lauren could see a stool with a rather battered hat resting on it.
On the train, Bo had explained how sorting worked, what each of the four houses were and what they stood for. Lauren had thought that Hufflepuff sounded like a nice place to be. Bo however was adamant that they would both be in Gryffindor.
The elderly witch from earlier (Lauren thought her name was Professor McGonagall,) began reading names from a scroll of parchment. Lauren watched nervously as Avery, Jackson, a short boy with bright blue eyes, sat trembling on the stool, the hat lowered onto his head.
She jumped when a rip near the hat's brim opened and a voice boomed "Hufflepuff!"
One of the tables, it's students wearing yellow ties, a house crest with an inexplicably noble looking badger sewn onto their black robes, began cheering and clapping. Jackson took the hat off his head and trotted over to sit with them, students clapping him on the back and shaking his hand.
This continued in the same vein for some time. For some reason Dyson was sorted into Gryffindor, at which Bo murmured to Lauren "I think the hat's broken." Hale followed soon after. The haughty blond Dyson had been with when they got off the train, Tamsin, was sorted into Slytherin, along with the skinny pale boy Vex. Kenzi earned a few good-natured laughs when she forgot to take the hat off her head, but was soon running back to the Gryffindor table.
"Dennis, Bo", called Professor McGonagall. Bo squeezed Lauren's hand, before letting it go and taking her place on the stool. She felt the hat lowered onto her head, jumped slightly when she heard it whispering in her ear. "Well, well, well, look what we have here. That dark heart certainly belongs in Slytherin, you've great potential for evil dear."
Bo whispered from between clenched teeth "I'm not evil."
"Oh, not yet, not for a while. But it's there, and it's not going away. But then again, neither is that inherent goodness. Maybe that will win out eventually. Who knows, better put you in…" She heard its booming voice proclaiming to the gathered students – "Gryffindor!"
Sighing in relief, she ripped it from her head and almost ran to the cheering Gryffindor table, taking an empty seat opposite Dyson and Hale, who, despite earlier, congratulated her. She turned to watch the rest of the sorting.
She crossed her fingers beneath the table when it was Lauren's turn, the large hat slipping over her ears and almost covering her eyes. She knew that Lauren would be in Gryffindor, nobody she knew had a bigger, or braver heart.
Beneath the hat Lauren listened as it whispered "Lauren Lewis, Lauren Lewis. My, you've not had the best of starts have you? But you're brave. Loyal. Your friends are lucky they have you. Especially Bo."
Lauren frowned when it mentioned Bo, but it disappeared when it yelled "Gryffindor!" Grinning happily, she leapt of the seat, pausing only to pull the hat of her head and ran to join Bo at the Gryffindor table.
Bo pulled her into a hug "I'm so glad we're in the same house."
"I remember you saying most adamantly that we would both easily be in Gryffindor."
"Yeah, 'course." She released her, a huge smile plastered on her face, mirrored on Lauren's. "But I'm still glad."
As the sorting finished, and gasps of delight filled the hall as delicious food appeared on the tables, Lauren sat smiling, watching as Bo exchanged banter with Dyson, Hale and Kenzi, happy that she was finally somewhere she belonged.
AN: I think someone mentioned the whole age difference thing, but I decided to have all the main characters in the same year, it works better with the semblance of a plot I have come up with. Besides, Dyson is like seven hundred years old in the show anyway. Speaking of, Dyson is a bit of an ass in this chapter, but I will make him more in character at some point. (But not so much that Bo feels the need to apologise for hitting him.) Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.