Chapter 9
After finding a carriage full of equally terrified looking first-years- including Lily- and leaving Fred with them, Molly continued to push her way down the train to find her friends.
Spotting several manic hands waving at her through a compartment window, Molly slid open the door, just to be tackled to the floor with a hug from her best friend, Rosie Starke.
"I missed you!" Rosie shouted as she launched herself into her friend's arms, "Six weeks is way too long, they really need to shorten the holidays."
Molly laughed and pushed her soft ginger hair out of her face, "You get to see me all day every day for nine months, Roz. Don't you get sick of me?"
"Sick of you?" Rosie repeated, shocked. "Never!"
The girls helped each other off the floor and Molly looked around the rest of the compartment. Her other best friend, Matt Carpenter, sat next to Jamie, engrossed in conversation with another Hufflepuff boy who Molly vaguely recognised. Opposite the boys, sat Kitty Weaver, the excitable Slytherin girl who the Gryffindors had befriended last year. Molly and Rosie took a seat on either side of Kitty. Rosie swung her legs up and used the other two's knees as a foot rest.
The Hufflepuff boy next to Matt looked up at the girls opposite him and raised an eyebrow at Molly.
"You're Molly, right?" he asked, running a hand through his hair which was a mix of brown shades, styled in a perfect quiff.
"Yeah," Molly replied, "Sorry, but erm, who are you?"
"Daniel Wilson. Pleasure."
"Hmm."
Molly wasn't overly impressed. Daniel seemed too perfect. Granted, that was her original opinion of Jamie, and now he was one of her best friends, but Daniel was like a girl's idea of 'perfect'. His face was perfectly chiselled, and he had a soft brown tan and beautiful green eyes. His British accent was tinted Australian and his voice was so smooth it made Molly cringe.
Looking at him and Jamie, Molly could tell why the two were such good friends. She knew half the girls in her year thought of them as gods, although that wasn't because they knew them properly and actually enjoyed their company.
Rosie, however, clearly thought the opposite of Molly and was smitten with the Hufflepuff.
"Where are you from?" Rosie asked, "I love your accent!"
Daniel laughed but kept his eyes on Molly, "I was born in Australia but I've lived here since I was five. My dad was Australian but he and my mum didn't work out; wizards do things differently in Australia apparently, my mum didn't like it so we moved back here."
"So you're a pureblood?" Rosie asked.
"Roz, stop interrogating him," Matt laughed.
With a scowl at Matt, Rosie turned instead to talk to Molly, "So, you moved house!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, and?"
"What's the house like? Is it nice?"
"Lovely," Molly said sarcastically.
"You don't like it?" Kitty asked.
"I love the house," Molly confessed, "It's mum and dad that are annoying me."
All her friends turned to look at her so she continued, "They won't stop arguing with each other! The tiniest little thing means dad storms out the house and stays with Uncle George. He sees Fred and Roxy more than me, and mum spends all day sulking."
"That's what it was like with my parents. They argued and then my mum spent the night in a separate room, and now-"
"You live on a different side of the world" Molly snapped, turning her nose up, "Really reassuring, thanks a lot."
"All I'm saying is-"
"In the politest way possible, I don't really care what you're saying."
The compartment fell silent. Daniel had a strange, fiery glint in his eye which Molly found quite disturbing. Matt and Rosie were both staring at Molly in concern after hearing about what was happening to their friend. Kitty and Jamie seemed torn as what to do and eventually started a very awkward conversation to ease the tension in the carriage. Molly remained silent, watching the students pass the compartment doors and deep in thought about her parents.
Eventually, Rosie stood up and announced that she'd be back soon, before hurrying out and sliding the door shut. Molly stared after her friend before glancing at Matt who looked equally confused. The two shrugged at each other and began a game of exploding snap.
The rest of the train journey was fairly uneventful. Rosie returned about ten minutes after she left looking solemn, but refused to tell anyone where she went. Molly somehow managed to hold conversations with Daniel without strangling him, which she saw as quite the achievement.
When the train screeched to a stop in Hogsmeade station, Molly was glad to escape the packed train and get some fresh air. She made her way over to the carriages with Matt, Kitty and Rosie, thankful that Jamie had taken Daniel off to the other Hufflepuffs. The four clambered into the carriage and chatted happily as they got closer to the castle.