Dacia poked another owl nut through the cage, and watched as Will pecked at it until it opened, and devoured it. He cocked his head to the side, and looked at her, with his huge, intelligent blue eyes. He chirped at her, and she laughed, opening the door to the cage. He hopped out, and nuzzled his beak against her hand. He still looked quite sick, and often coughed up small amounts of phlegm. She decided, that, in the morning, she would take him to the vet. It wouldn't look that odd, surely, just a girl taking her pet owl to the vet. Standard stuff, sure.
She sighed, and put him back in his cage, pulling out her homework from the two days ago. She had her pencil in her mouth, and was chewing it thoughtfully, when Christina came galloping into her room, crashing headfirst into the mattress.
"Watcha doin?" She said, peering over Dacia's shoulder at the homework.
"Literature." Moaned Christina, rolling over and clasping a hand over her chest dramatically, "Tell me," She cried to the ceiling fan, "If Mrs. Collins teaches in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, is it still boring?"
Christina laughed, and swatted her with a pillow, giggling.
"Stmsmp!" Giggled Dacia from under the pillow.
"Okay, but seriously? You're doing the homework literally the morning it's due!" Said Christina, "Irresponsible much?"
"That is not true!" Said Dacia, "I'll have you know that it is most certainly not due today!"
Christina raised an eyebrow.
"It was due yesterday!"
They both collapsed in fits of laughter, and started whacking each other with pillows. This lasted for a good ten minutes, until Dacia's phone started buzzing insistently on the desk table. She groaned and took one last thump at Christina's head, before walking over to check what it was bothering her about.
It was an alarm, and it was reminding her that she was going to be late for school.
"Oh, Crap!" She shouted, and she grabbed Christina and pulled her out to the door, shouldering her own bag as she did so.
"Come on!" Laughed Christina, freeing her hand, and swinging Dacia out the door in front of her. Together they jogged out the door, and giggled as they both magicked some ivy onto the porch of her house.
"You know we won't be able to get away with this forever, right?" Said Dacia, as they finished, the last of the ivy curling around the top of the terrace, "They're going to catch us. I bet there's rules, and stuff. You know." She wiggled her fingers, "About magic."
Christina laughed, and threw back her long, blonde hair. "Come on, let's run, we have to get to school in time!"
September 1
Will was tweeting loudly in his cage, earning some strange looks from bypassing strangers. Dacia checked her watch, and it was almost time for the boarding of the train. Her mom was looking around as well, and she didn't understand how they were supposed to find platform nine and three quarters. Dacia looked around, and saw another family that had an owl in a cage. She rushed over to them, and tapped a boy on the shoulder. He turned around, and she drew a small breath in when she saw his face...
He had his hands tucked into his jeans, with a loose black tee shirt. He was tall, and slender, with his pale face framed by chin length black locks. His eyes were a deep chestnut, and they seemed to pierce right through her soul. He rolled his head back with gracious ease, and his hair fell into his eyes. Dacia suddenly felt very self conscious of her weight and appearance, and smoothed her shirt. He looked at her, lazily.
"Yes?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I, um, I, uh... Well, I erm.. I was just going to ask, I was just... Going to..." She was staring up at him, getting lost in his dreamy, chocolatey eyes, and the curve of his face, and the mischievous glint in his smile...
"Yes?" He repeated, clearly amused.
"I just... I just wanted to know, to know..." She stuttered, stumbling over her words, "Um," She cleared her throat, "I just wanted to know where the, uh, where the platform was?"
"Muggle born, are you?" He asked, his eyes sparkling.
"A, a muggle...? What's- What's a muggle?"
He laughed, "Oh, oh, a muggle, well... well, a muggle is just someone- well, someone who doesn't have magic."
The woman in front of him turned around, and grabbed his wrist.
"Sirius, don't talk to that piece of mudblood trash, get over here, Regulus is already on the platform!"
"Sirius... Black." He winked at her, and his mother jostled him away from her. Still, the flash of his smile was visible, even as she marched him away.
"Dacia!" She shouted after him, "Dacia Rendale!"
He grinned at her, even once she had taken him away, and, smirking at her, ran straight into a nearby column.
And disappeared.
She stared at the spot where he vanished, and shouted "Mom! Chris! Look, come on, let's go!"
They followed her, and she explained how the boy had suddenly vanished, and how he had went straight into the wall. She tok a deep breath, and ran straight at the wall, plunging into the brick before they could tell her to stop. She braced for the impact, feeling her breath against the cold wall, and then suddenly, she fell right through the column. She came through, coughing, with steam filling the air in front of her. She stumbled through the mist, and saw the Black boy waving at her. She smiled, shyly, and wiggled her fingers at him. He laughed, and boarded the train.
Christina came back behind her and said, "Ooh, who was that? Me likey!"
"Oh, stop it!" Said Dacia, pushing her friend away, "Come on, let's go!"
Her mother waved her goodbye, and helped load her true onto the train. She kept shouting out things that Dacia might forget, and Dacia laughed, "Mom, stop it, I'll be fine!"
She boarded the train with Christina, and walked down the hall, looking for somewhere to sit. Suddenly, the boy that she met earlier poked his head out of a compartment, and gestured for her to join him.
"Um," Said Dacia to Christina, "Chris? Um, Chris, do you mind if I, uh sit there? I'm sure you can, um... Well, you know."
"It's fine! I totally understand." Said Christina, nodding towards the boy, "I like your friend. Tell him hi, from me." She wiggled her eyebrows.
"Oh, shut up," Said Dacia, poking Christina, and ducking into the compartment with Sirius.
It turned out that they were not alone. Another boy was sitting across from Sirius, lounging with his feet up on the windowsill. He, too, was pale, thought not as much as Sirius. He had jet black hair, which was sticking up and being generally unruly. He wore glasses, and was holding a dark wand, twirling it around and around.
"Oh, hey!" Said Sirius, looking up at Dacia from his perch on the right side of the booth, "Who's your friend?" He raised his eyebrows, smirking.
"Oh, shut up," Laughed Dacia, sitting down, "Who's YOUR friend?" She asked, tilting her head to the other boy.
"Oh, right, this is James! James Potter." Said Sirius, "James, this is Dace. Dacia."
James stood up, dramatically flourishing his wizard's robes, "James Potter!" He said loudly, "Please to meet your acquaintance, milady," He bent down to kiss her hand, and flashed her a smile.
"Oh, stop flirting, James! Come on, let her sit down." Said Sirius, shifting to make room for her, and offering her the seat.
No more than five minutes after she had taken her seat, they heard a quiet knock on the sliding door of the compartment.
A boy stood there, eyes determinedly set on the floor. He had dark blonde hair, almost brown, and wasn't very tall. He had scars all over his body, a large gash over his right shoulder that he had clearly tried to hide by buttoning his shirt up as far as it would go. It looked recent, and was still pink and slightly rough-looking. He looked tired, and scared, with dark circles under his eyes.
"Excuse me... Could I sit here? All of the others are full..."
"Yeah, sure! Hey, what's your name?" Asked Sirius.
"My name's Remus. Remus Lupin."
