A/N: A huge thanks everyone who's stuck with this story, if it weren't for some poking and pushing i'd probably still be twiddling my thumbs and fussing over if my story is good enough or if i'm a good enough writer. Just saying that Chapter 10 is basically finished and just needs to read-over work, so it shouldn't be long before I get that uploaded; but I hope you all enjoy the double-upload =)

Chapter 9: A New Start

Phoenix was awoken by a sharp rapping on the door to her room. She rolled over and tried to block out the noise, but it was too loud. Eventually she gave in and sluggishly left her warm bed, groping around for a dressing gown she found on a hangar some feet away. After lazily pulling the jet-black gown over her and tying it, and many shrieks of 'Okay! I'm coming!' she unlocked the door and opened it,

'Ouch!' She cried as something hard struck her forehead.

'Oh dear, I am so dreadfully sorry!' Khairos was leaning with his back against the wall, wand held casually in his left hand and pointing at something that looked vaguely like a fist, 'Nice little charm that, saves you having to do it all yourself, the knocking, I mean, not punching people.' He was quick to acknowledge the large red mark on Phoenix's forehead where the magical fist had struck her.

'Never mind; these things happen I guess…' Phoenix replied, rubbing the mark with her hand, 'What time is it?'

'Oh, seven O'clock in the morning.' Khairos blurted, staring down at a strange silver watch, 'I'm sorry but I must dash as I am needed up at the school to aid in the preparations. Faia is waiting for you downstairs.'

Before Phoenix could question him further, he was already marching down the corridor, his sparkling white cloak billowing behind him. She thought it best to make sure everything was ready now, and she checked everything off on a small piece of parchment she'd found on the desk in her room. Using a quill and ink weren't as alien as she first anticipated, and it was just the scratching that annoyed her, although she quickly grew accustomed to it,

'Okay, broomstick, check.' She ticked next to the word on the parchment, 'Books, check. Cauldron, check. Money, check.' It was at that point that she realised she'd forgotten one fatal thing. How she would get to King's Cross in the first place. She couldn't be seen trawling all her wizarding stuff around London followed by a similar girl who stared at everything around her, in complete awe of muggle lifestyle. At that moment, something tapped on the glass of the window behind her and she jumped so violently that she tore the parchment in two. Turning sharply on her heels, she spun around and saw a large tawny owl with an envelope clamped in its beak sitting on the windowsill outside. Phoenix walked over to the window and unlatched it, letting the owl hop in. She took the envelope from its beak and started to pull it open, stopping as the owl kept nipping at her fingers and screeching loudly,

'She wants some food.' Phoenix jumped again and yelped at the surprise entry of Faia, who came in and stood next to Phoenix, a few bits of bacon held in the palm of her hand. The owl hooted merrily as it ate the scraps, eyeing the thicker slices on the plate Faia brought with her, 'I also thought that you might like some too.'

'Faia! Don't do that! You know I startle easily.' Phoenix said, 'Although you came just in time, I was afraid this guy would start taking chunks out of me if I just kept standing there.' She reached for the owl, which turn its head and nipped her angrily on the finger as it guarded the stash of bacon. Recoiling, she left Faia to tend to the owl and headed over to the bed, where she sat herself down and tore the envelope open, revealing a small slip of parchment and two small and metallic gold tickets. She reached for the parchment first,

'Dear Phoenix and Phoenix's friend,

I thought you might be a little stuck for travel, so I managed to persuade Professor McGonagall to give you these two tickets. They'll allow you to travel on any wizarding transport – apart from the Hogwart's Express, but you already have your tickets – for free on the date they're valid. All you need do is leave the Leaky Cauldron and stick out your wand hand as if hailing down a muggle taxi. That should summon the Knight Bus which you'll take to King's Cross, show the conductor the tickets and he'll let you on for free, and you'll get a complementary cup of hot chocolate! From there on, you're on your own, though.

All the best,

Professor Evan Toras.

P.S. Sorry about your friend, I never caught her name.

P.P.S. Actually, I should've remembered it in madam Malkin's, Faia isn't it?

P.P.P.S. Your broom arrived safely; it is in my office for safe-keeping.'

'Hey, Faia, come over here.' Phoenix said, still staring as Faia bounded across the room to her. Phoenix passed her the note and one of the tickets. Printed on it was a large 'H' and a small sentence that read, 'I, Minerva McGonagall, request that the bearer of this ticket be allowed free access to necessary wizarding transport on account of important Hogwarts business that must be taken care of swiftly and without unnecessary delay.'

'I don't get it, how do they know it's not a fake?' Faia asked, staring at her ticket.

'I dunno.' Phoenix replied, 'Perhaps a spell of some sort?'

'Perhaps.' Faia's eyes glazed over a little and then she snapped back into reality, 'Sorry, got lost in my thoughts.' She said, looking flustered. She rolled up the sleeve on her left arm and revealed an exact replica of her father's watch on her wrist. She gazed at it for a while and tugged the sleeve down, 'Unless I'm very much mistaken, it's almost nine O'clock, we'd best get ready.'

Phoenix was stunned, 'Nine O'clock? Already? Are you sure?'

'Not really, although time works in strange ways. It's best to be early than late, though.' Faia replied.

After an easy half an hour of packing the remnants of their possessions and confirming that the time was indeed now half past nine (much to the delight of Faia), the pair sat in the bar of the pub going over the plans for the journey.

'So,

we get on, find a nice comfy compartment near the middle of the train, change into robes around halfway through the journey and read up on what we're facing?' Phoenix went over the plan for the umpteenth time.

'For the umpteenth time, yes!' Faia laughed, 'Don't worry!'

They left the pub at ten O'clock and followed the instructions Evan had given them. Seconds after Phoenix had flung her arm out, a tall, triple-decker; garish purple bus sped out from a side street and rocketed towards the two girls, stopping millimetres away from the curb. On the back was a slightly boyish man, his hair a dirty blonde and his face covered in spot scars. Two reasonably large ears sat on either side of his head. He wore a dirty black and purple bus conductor's uniform plus matching cap, and had a ticket machine hanging from his neck. He hopped off the bus and pulled a torn bit of a parchment out of his top pocket, then cleared his throat and read aloud,

'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor today.' He stood staring at the two girls, nobody moving, 'Well? You gunna buy a ticket or not?'

'Oh, no, we have these.' Phoenix flashed her ticket, as did Faia. Stan took the tickets, bit them, held them both up to the light and finally slotted them into the ticket machine, which gave a loud, high pitched 'ping!'

'Oh, also seems you're entitled to a free 'ot chocolate each.' Stan looked behind him and bent down, 'The 'ot chocolate's a scam, there ain't no 'ot chocolate, you'd be down to St Mungo's burns department faster than a… sumfink fast.' He whispered, 'Now, where to?'

'King's cross.' Faia said, pointing to the luggage behind her and Phoenix.

'Ah, o' course. Oi! Ern! We got special deliveries to King's Cross courtesy o' 'ogwarts.' Stan shouted into the bus, 'Don' worry, I'll get 'em trunks.' He turned and said to the two girls.

Phoenix followed Faia inside, gazing at the rows and rows of seats, a lot of which seemed exceedingly unstable. Bolted to the ceiling of the bus was a great glass chandelier that seemed strangely out of place in a bus. At the wheel was a small, elderly wizard wearing large thick-framed glasses. Instead of a regular seat, there was a dirty green armchair that looked as though it had been an old bit of furniture at some point. Stan pushed past the two girls and gazed around the almost empty first deck. He soon slid the two trunks under some seats near the back, at the same time pulling a tall but thin wizard out from underneath another row of seats. The wizard's robes were crimson and covered in muck,

'Sorry 'bout the ol' sudden stop Mr Trackler, dust yerself off an' 'old on to the railin's next time.' Stan apologised, brushing some dirt off the wizard's arm and then making his way towards the front of the bus, 'Ms Brown, Mr Dongae and Mr Arlie, 'fraid yer gunna 'ave a bit o' a wait, gotta go to King's Cross firs' he shouted up the stairs. Three inaudible voices of several pitches replied and Stan tapped on the wall to the driver's compartment, 'Take 'er away, Ern.' He said, smiling wryly at Phoenix and Faia as they took their wobbly seats.

Ern jumped and pushed a few buttons, causing the bus to shudder. Suddenly, it shook and tore down the road, weaving in and out of the cars. Phoenix watched as lampposts and dustbins leapt out of the bus' way as it continued its speedy run. The streets were littered with cars and the pavements with muggles, all of them oblivious to the triple-decker purple bus that contracted and squeezed through the smallest of gaps before expanding again and racing away. The seats rolled across the floor on wheels, going with the flow of the bus and making Phoenix feel quite ill. Faia, however, seemed to be enjoying the experience.

It took only a short time for King's Cross station to enter view, and a far shorter time to violently stop next to it, throwing all the seats and luggage to the front and launching the man known as Mr Trackler up and over the row of seats in front of him. Stan grinned to himself as he went to fetch Phoenix's and Faia's bags from the front, giving them directions to the station trolleys and stepping back on board the bus.

'Well, I'll be seein' ya. People to go, places to meet ya know.' He smiled and dipped his head in a small bow, clutching to the pole at the back of the bus with one hand, the other waving. A second later, the bus had gone.

The two girls heaved their trunks over to the trolleys, loaded them with their baggage and started over to platform 9, hoping to find the entrance to 9 and ¾. Faia knew more or less where it was, having followed her siblings there before her, and it took only a few minutes before they were standing before a giant brick pillar, with a sign saying '9' on the left-hand side, and '10' on the right-hand side.

'What's the time?' Phoenix asked, staring at the solid barrier.

'Quarter-to-Eleven.' Faia replied, looking down at her watch. Whilst the Knight Bus was fast, the careful manoeuvring necessary to avoid the muggle traffic had taken time, although it still beat being caught in a traffic jam on a muggle taxi, or having to push through the bustling crowds of London's streets.

'So, what now?' Phoenix enquired, looking over at Faia.

'We run.' Faia said as she wheeled her trolley back and lined up with the brick barrier.

'Surely not? You'll crash!' Phoenix shouted, ignoring the stares from passers by.

'It's important that you not think you'll crash, taking it at a run is best. If all goes well you'll pass straight through and onto the platform.' Faia winked and Phoenix, 'Meet on the other side.' Phoenix watched, mouth agape, as Faia pushed her trolley forwards, picking up speed until she was at a full run, aiming directly for the barrier. Phoenix closed her eyes and prepared for the crash from the inevitable collision. But it never came. She opened her eyes and Faia was gone. She wasn't anywhere on the platform, so she must've gone through.

Phoenix lined herself up with the barrier, taking a deep breath and running at it. Three metres, two metres, she was going to hit it! 'Whack!' She found herself thrown to the floor, her trolley toppling over and her whole left side aching. She sat up, wincing at the pain and staring up at a large boy with greasy black hair, piercing green eyes and an angry snarl.

'Watch where you're going, bitch!' He shouted, before disappearing through the barrier.

Phoenix got up and collected her trolley, placing her trunk onto it and running at the barrier, determined to get through. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as the gap closed; only opening them when she was sure that she was through. Before her was a grand crimson steam train, with Hogwarts Express on the front of the engine in large gold letters on a red plaque. The sign on the side showed a strange crest, with 4 animals surrounding a black 'H'. The sight was enthralling. She turned and saw many children of all sizes and ages waving goodbye to their parents, and only quickly realised that the platform contained exceedingly few students, the last ones struggling with trunks or clothing or a bothersome pet.

'Phoenix!' Faia called from the closest door. Phoenix turned and saw her gesturing for the trunk. She pulled the trunk off the trolley and quickly passed it to Faia, clambering aboard just before the doors closed. A large clock on the wall at the back of the platform chimed 11 O'clock, and the train started moving, edging further and further away from the station. Phoenix stared through the window as her whole past, her previous life, was flashing away before her eyes, and making way for a new start. Phoenix smiled and started off down the corridor through the carriages to find Faia.