Up From the Ashes
It has finally come time for the students to board the Hogwarts Express! Before the train leaves, Professor Dumbledore asks Aurwen to board the train. This is so that she will have a chance to make new friends on the way, instead of suddenly appearing during the Sorting Ceremony with no one knowing who she is. The trip to the station was uneventful, she spent most of her time exploring or helping the Trolly Woman set up her cart.
When the train finally pulls into the station, Aurwen finds a compartment and waits for the other students to board. Some of the returning students recognize her and say their 'hellos' before finding their own compartments.
Loud laughter and someone yelling catches Aurwen's attention. She peers out of her compartment, along with many other students, and finds two boys holding their sides in laughter. One of them is tall with long black hair, while the other is somewhat shorter with dark brown hair and glasses. The person they are laughing at is shorter than both of them with oily black hair, who is currently drenched green slime. But he isn't the one yelling. A girl with fiery red hair and piercing green eyes is the person who is shouting at the two boys, telling them to apologize.
"Chill out, Tiger Lily." The glasses boy manages between his laughter. "It's just a harmless jinx."
"Yeah, it'll wash right off." The other boy adds between fits of laughter.
The girl, Lily, gives a look that could kill. "That's not the point you idiots! Ugh!" She yells in exasperation and storms off, grabbing the hand of her friend. "C'mon, Severus, let's go before we catch their stupidity." She makes her way down the train car, passed Aurwen's cabin, and onto the next car.
The two boys are still laughing, but the glasses one is fidgeting with a slight frown. He sighs and looks longingly towards Lily. "Man Sirius, why does that woman get to me so?" His friend laughs and pats him on the back. "It'll be okay Jamsie. You just like the ones that are hard to get." He says with a large grin.
They start heading down the car, looking for a compartment to sit in. When they come to Aurwen's, they stop. "Hey. Do you mind if we crash in here?" Aurwen shakes her head no, she doesn't mind. She scoots over next to the window to give the boys room. "Is this your guys' first year?" She asks them, leaning her back against the window.
"Sure is!" The dark haired one, Sirius, replies with a wolf-ish grin. "Yours?"
Aurwen nods her head, yes. "I've been at Hogwarts, though, since last March." Looking between the two boys, Aurwen realizes something. "I'm Aurwen Flannery, by the way." She offers the two boys a hand.
Taking her hand, Sirius introduces himself first. "I'm Sirius Black."
"And I'm James Potter." James replies with smiles. "Why have you been at Hogwarts already?" He asks curiosity clearly apparent on his face.
Aurwen smiles and laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, I was kicked out of my orphanage for being 'strange', and no one would adopt me for too long. I got lost and wound up in the Forbidden Forest." She fiddles with her hands in her lap and continues, "This centaur brought me to Dumbledore and I found out that I'm a witch. I've been there since."
The boys look from each other, then back to Aurwen in wonderment. James opens his mouth to say something but a cough from the compartment door stops him. The three look up to see a blonde boy standing in the door way. "Um, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but could I sit with you? Everywhere else is full."
The three look at the boy, taking in his hand-me-down robes and disheveled look. He looked like he either had a very rough night or his mother didn't want to let him go; probably both. Aurwen speaks up with a reassuring smile, "Of course. Come on in." The boy places his trunk in the overhead shelf and takes his seat. Once seated, he looks between Aurwen, James, and Sirius. "I'm Remus Lupin, by the way." He offers his hand to each of them, which they gladly shake. "I'm sorry if I appear rude, but I couldn't help but overhear your story."
Aurwen chuckles with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's no problem. I've told this story to many people." With a smile she adds, "And I always say, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Aurwen Flannery, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"James Potter and this is my best mate-"
"Sirius Black, and no offense, but you look rough, mate." The raven-haired boy says, motioning to Remus' tousled hair and askew clothing. "What happened, your mum not want you to leave?" He asks with a playful smirk.
Remus laughs and takes a bar of chocolate out of his pocket. "Yeah, something like that." He takes a bite and runs his hand through his hair. "Mum's a Muggle, so she's a bit…um, overwhelmed I guess you could say. I've never been away from home for longer than three days. Even then, I was at a hospital, and she visited every day."
James chuckles. "Sounds like my mum. Hooray for the 'empty egg syndrome'. Or whatever they call it." Sirius leans over and whispers to his friend, although loud enough for the others to hear. "It's empty nest syndrome."
The children laugh at a flushing James' as he nonchalantly says, "Whatever."
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts is filled with laughter at jokes, memories, and future plans. Apparently, Remus' father was a wizard and his mother was a Muggle. James and Sirius are distant cousins, and their families are pure-blooded. But the Potter's are considered "blood-traitors" because of their acceptance towards Muggles, "mud-bloods" (which were Muggleborn), and half-bloods. Sirius is close to becoming one if he "keeps acquaintance with the traitors", as his mother puts it. He could care less, though.
About 15 minutes from the school the four change into their school robes and start talking about which house they think they are going to be sorted into. With a disgusted expression, Sirius announces, "If I am sorted into Slytherin, like the rest of my family, I swear I'm going to puke. Please let it be Gryffindor." The rest of the group laughs at his antics.
"I think I'm going to be in Gryffindor. All of my family has been, and I can't see myself in any other house." James says, with his trade-mark grin. "Can you imagine me in Ravenclaw?"
"I might be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor…" Remus starts off, but trails away with a pondering expression.
Aurwen smiles and adds her inference, "I have no clue which house I'll be in. I knew people from all of the houses, and I'm not sure which I'd fit into."
The four pre-teens' attentions are drawn away from the conversation by the scene outside the compartment window. A large castle, nestled on top of a large hill, greets their eyes. On one side is a large expanse of woods, the Forbidden Forest, and on the other a great lake, the Black Lake. Their faces light up as the train pulls into the station. Each of them is eager for the new year ahead of them.