AN: Thank you to the people who are following this! I'm sorry it took a little while, but I haven't had the time to post this. It's a short chapter, but it does what it needs to do before we properly get to where the action is.

New Beginnings

On the last night of August, Parvati had not slept. As the son rose on the first of September, she was still sitting on the wooden chair in the garden, observing as the stars faded into the blue. She was tired, definitely, the bags beneath her eyes and the yawn she so desperately held back being the enemies that would no doubt reveal her sleepless night. She had tried. She had lain in bed for hours, watching her sister's chest rise up and down as Padma slept calmly, but she failed to do the same. She was too excited and too nervous and so she ditched the warmth of her bed, wrapping herself in a cardigan and resigning herself to the fact that she would remain awake. As the time drifted on, she found herself imagining what Hogwarts was like, how she'd fit in and the friends she would make. She thought about Padma and Hannah, and the girl from the tailor's. And night turned to day as she sat still in that chair, breathing in and out the air of that summer night. She was ready. She knew she was.

She hadn't realised she had fallen asleep, right there on that chair, until her father woke her up at 8:00sharp. He had understood why he hadn't been allowed to go with them to Diagon Alley, but Indra would be damned if he was about to let his daughters go to boarding school without taking them as far as he could go. He realised that he wouldn't be able to leave them on the train the way Sima could, but he could go with them until the entrance to Platform 9¾. And he would.

"Long night, Pati?" he asked, gently waking up Parvati from her rest.

"You have no idea, Papa…" she replied, stretching out her arms and yawning. She was tired and slightly afraid, homesick already if she was honest, but she was also thrilled. Her father smiled as he helped her up, both of them facing the glass doors that led to the kitchen, where Padma and Sima were already making breakfast.

The four of them sat together, enjoying the last few moments they'd have of each other's company until the twins would return home for Christmas, as was their deal. The air was also filled with excitement, however. Padma and Parvati could not wait for their arrival to their new home, and though it was positively bittersweet for Indra, Sima was completely head-over-heels to see her daughters following her own footsteps.

Padma and Parvati took longer to get ready than most days, as if trying to hold on to a piece of their current lives, knowing that everything would change the moment they'd be fully immersed in their mother's world. They said goodbye to their small, but comfortable room and to the beds they'd slept in all their lives before heading out of the door and closing it.

Their bags had been brought downstairs the previous night, making it easy to take all of their belongings to the car. Another muggle invention Sima adored, she had never gotten the gist of driving, however. At 9:30 the family left their home, making their way towards King's Cross Station. The traffic was clear, with not many cars on the street, and they arrived at the station in record time.

Even though it was essentially muggle architecture, the train station was breath-taking. Large columns and stone made their way for curved glass windows and archways that invited them inside. Though the streets themselves were not yet bustling, inside the station there were groups of people already gathered, awaiting for arrivals or passing their time until departures. Knowing the way they had to take, Sima wasted no time in guiding her family through the corridors and booths that decorated the place. There were a total of six hidden platforms at King's Cross, each headed to a specific location accessible only to those with magical inclinations. Only one in particular, however, was of their interest. Soon, they were at Platform 9, and she could not help but smile as she saw the familiar brick wall, a gateway to her world.

She stopped suddenly and looked back at Indra. "This… You…" Sima wasn't sure how to phrase it. She wasn't sure how to tell her husband that this is where he would have to say goodbye to their daughters. It was 10:30 already, time having flown as they made small-talk, none of them wanting to touch the subject of farewell and so when they had arrived there, Sima had not been sure how to address it. Indra, however, smiled and nodded, unoffended and understanding. He kneeled down, looking his daughters in the eye.

"Now then, girls, you be good. I know you'll make us proud and I promise you we'll see each other soon. I wish I could go in there with you, I wish I could carry on, but you know… Muggle dad and all that." He rubbed his head, trying to continue smiling as tears began to appear in his eyes and a feeling of uselessness began to crawl over him.

The two girls threw their arms around him, bidding him goodbye and telling him that they promised they'd be back soon and that they loved him, that even if he was not a wizard, they'd never have chosen anyone else. His heart jumped at the sudden declarations, but he found he had no choice but to let them go. They had a bright future ahead of them and he was not about to stand in their way.

He waved goodbye as they charged towards the wall, suddenly disappearing in front of his eyes. Sima kissed him quickly and followed the two, leaving him alone to his thoughts, his hands pressed against the stone as if, somewhere within him, his hopes had not yet died.

Parvati gasped as she found herself on a single platform, a bright red train on its tracks. Though she was disappointed her father could not see this, she still relished in the bustling atmosphere. Unlike the other platforms, this one was crowded and alive. There was a lot of crying, from the first-year parents mostly, as those whose children were already older consoled their friends, telling them that it was for the best, reminding them of past accomplishments and how their children were sure to have the time of their lives. Old friends hugged and clapped each other's backs as groups of girls giggled and whispered, pointing as they caught up on exactly what had happened during the summer.

"No sign of her." Padma whispered to her sister, clutching her hand tightly. "Is it awful for me to hope she doesn't make it?"

Parvati laughed, but the moment was short-lived as their mother called on them to help put their baggage on one of the carriages. They went forward and placed their luggage in specific compartments. From afar, they spotted Hannah and waved, a gesture she returned, smiling. Sima hurried over to whisper a few words to her mother, before going back to them.

"Well now…" she said, looking over a clock and seeing it was already 10:50. "I suppose you two better hurry on up." She sniffled, breathing heavily as tears began to roll down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around her daughters. "I love you both and write, please. Write a lot. And I know you'll have the time of your lives, but keep me informed and don't make me go after you." Padma began to cry too, but her sister's harsh look made her swallow her tears. This was their mother's moment to break, and they had to be strong for her. A chubby ginger woman with kind eyes came over to her and handed her a tissue.

"Now, now, Si… There's no need for tears! Imagine if we'd never been…" she spoke soothingly, smiling at the twins.

"I know, Molly… I know." Sima replied, finding comfort in the arms of the woman who was clearly a few years older than she was. To Padma, it seemed as if her mother had cried on those motherly shoulders before. "She's right, girls. You two go on now. And I love you!"

Sima continued waving as Padma and Parvati made their way onto the third carriage, caught between a bustle of scared faces that most likely reflected their own and the shouts of reunion that echoed as old friends suddenly found each other once again. They made their way through the cabins, not knowing exactly where they'd fit, unsure and hoping that there was still an empty one somewhere they could be alone in.

"Hey you two!" a girl's voice shouted from behind them, but they did not think it was addressing them. A moment followed before the voice spoke again. "I'm talking to you, twins!"

Parvati and Padma stopped in their tracks, turning around not knowing the origin of the voice until they saw its owner. It was the girl from the tailor's, the one they had only briefly met, but whose voice and complaints they would definitely recognise from anywhere. She called them over with her hands, opening the door to her cabin for them. They sighed in relief as they made their way to her and piled inside, Padma taking her seat by the window, beside two boys, one of whom she was happy to see again, and Parvati sitting across from her, beside the girl.

"Now then," the girl began. "I'm Lavender Brown, and I'm sorry our previous introduction was so brief. These two are Ernie MacMillan and…"

"Anthony Goldstein." Padma completed Lavender's sentence, much to the latter's surprise. "Nice to see you again…"

"Always is," he joked, earning him an eye-roll from both Parvati and Lavender. The other boy was quieter than Anthony and very big for his age, though not fat. He had dirty blond hair like Lavender's, but his eyes were deep blue. He was kind, and the five of them made simple conversation as the train pulled away from the station and began its journey towards Hogwarts.

Between guesses of what would await them once they arrived and the stitching of different facts or rumours each of them knew, the five began weaving out their knowledge of the school, unknowingly speaking a ridiculous amount of nonsense, naturally. None of them had any older siblings and the recounts of their parents seemed to produce contrasting information, but they ignored any conflicts and just continued, creating in their minds a vision of the school that they hoped would resemble the real one in at least some way.

After two hours on the train, the group already having revealed everything they believed to know and mesmerised by the scenery that flew by the window, with the endless green fields and the lakes as the steamer continued down its track, the Honeydukes Express finally came to their cabin. Anthony was the first to stand, eyes wide as he took in the number of sweets it carried. The trolley-lady was a plump, round-faced woman with grey hair pulled into a bun. Between the five of them, they bought six chocolate frogs, three slices of cauldron cake, two packets of liquorice wands and eight pumpkin pastries, which Ernie claimed were his favourites.

After sharing the food, the conversation died down as both Parvati and Lavender fell asleep, with Parvati leaning on the window and Lavender leaning on her. Ernie took out a small notebook and began to jot down one thing or another using a quill that seemed not to rely on ink. Anthony and Padma were essentially left to themselves and between silent conversations and small jabs at the other, they laughed quietly and Padma was glad she had already found a friend.