1st September 1971
King's Cross
Platform 9 ¾
Erica Snowdrop dashed onto Platform 9 ¾ with an exuberant yell. She read the hanging clock and released the nervous breath she'd been holding. "Ten minutes!" she shouted to her emerging parents and brothers. Without waiting any further for them, she charged into the hoards of parents and students already gathered on the platform.
The Hogwarts Express gleamed in scarlet majesty, white smoke billowing upwards. Students were filling up the carriages, chatting in compartments and waving to parents from doorways. Hooting, hissing and ribbets of the various pets became even louder as she entered the crowds. Pets moving in their cages all around her. Parents side stepping around her. One or two of them chided her for hurrying through but they weren't the ones who would be late if she slowed down.
She navigated the gaps between groups proficiently, moving further and further up the platform. All the while she glanced through the windows. The first six or seven windows were already full of excited, chattering faces. She felt a stab of envy in her stomach, wishing they'd gotten here earlier, that her brother Tyson's owl hadn't gotten stuck up the chimney again and that that same brother hadn't left his trunk behind after they'd been side-apparated to the station.
Still, ten minutes. That would be enough right?
Erica hurried past the second carriage and anxiety continued to flicker and grow in her chest. Please, Erica prayed as she pulled up short to avoid running down a couple of playing toddlers in her path. Come on, come on, come on, come on!
She skirted around a dark haired couple in equally dark, sophisticated looking robes. The man was lightly pushing a dark haired boy through the carriage doors. He cut a tall, narrow figure. Another boy, a smaller one, was hovering next to the woman. He shared his parents' dark features and taste for clothing, dressed in a dark shirt and trousers. His mother turned and Erica was presented with a visage that would have been beautiful and refined if the expression had not tainted it with a haughty sneer. Dark eyes stared into hers and then looked away from her. Erica suppressed a shiver and continued on.
The fourth carriage was much quieter and had significantly less parental traffic on the platform. Erica slowed down and continued at a walk towards the fifth carriage and the nearly empty platform next to it. She stopped and looked towards the nearest window, peering in at the empty compartment. She grinned at her reflection. Her dark brown hair already had some tangles in it as it wrapped around her face and shoulders.
"Erica!"
She spun around at the sound of her mother's agitation, offering up a wide grin. "Well we made good time!" she declared, holding up her hands in a shrug.
Mariana Snowdrop instantly wrapped her daughter in a tight hug, her equally dark hair sweeping around Erica's face like curtains, blocking out the world. She rocked her a little and one hand rubbed Erica's back in long sweeping movements, almost as though she were consoling her. Erica returned the hug, more than a little confused.
"I'm fine-" she began to say but her mother pulled back and crouched down. She took hold of Erica's shoulders firmly, interrupting her.
"No, Erica, listen to me," she said, looking up at Erica. Her eyes were the same blue as Erica's, as her sons', if slightly darkened by her hair falling forward. Erica thought her mother was beautiful with her perfectly ovular face and delicate cheekbones. Her long lashes softening the blow of any sharp look she might give Erica. Only now her brows were creased with worry and there was no sparkle in her eyes, no laughter or affection. "You must not run off like that again. Erica. We could have lost you."
Erica frowned back at her. "I was only looking for somewhere to sit, Mum." she protested. "I wasn't going to leave the platform."
"And what if a Death Eater was here?" her father reminded her. He reached over and put a hand on her head affectionately.. "They have kids too and they don't always wear masks. They could have snatched you and taken you away," he explained. His voice was gentle but Erica could hear the urgency in it. Her father knew about these things more than most from his work in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry. She looked up at him. He was built solidly with black hair that curled slightly against his ears. Luminous green eyes exuded warmth and reassurance along with a cautious smile.
"That's how sick some of these people are. They wouldn't think twice about taking you," her mother murmured, voice fraught with fear. "All it would have taken-"
"Darling," Edward Snowdrop counselled his wife, placing both hands on her shoulders. "I think she understands. We don't need to scare her."
Mariana pressed her lips together as if forcing herself away from the instinct of going into detail. She nodded and rose up to her full height, letting go of Erica.
Erica frowned, her hands making fists at her sides. "I'm not scared of them! Those evil bastards! If they tried to take me-"
"Language!" her mother cut in sharply though Erica thought she saw some sparkle return to her eyes. "You're my brave girl," she told Erica, caressing her daughter's cheek and beginning to smile again, "but these people are demons and you cannot underestimate them. You need to stay safe. When you're not in school, you need to stay close to us, understand? Nowhere is completely safe from these people."
"Except Hogwarts," Edward reminded her.
"Yes. Hogwarts is safe."
"The Dark Lord won't try anything there with Dumbledore at the helm," Erica's father declared with a wide smile. "He's too much of a coward to take him on." He stepped forward and leaned over to pull her into a hug. Erica returned it fiercely as he kissed her on the forehead. "But don't you worry about that," her dad urged her.
"You just focus on enjoying Hogwarts and work hard," her mother agreed with a far more relaxed smile. "And remember to write and tell us what house you get in."
Erica stepped back from her dad with a huge smile. "I will. I hope I get put in Gryffindor. That sounds like the best house."
"It's certainly the noisiest," her mother recalled with a laugh. "So I'm sure you'd fit right in."
"Of course that's if you get in at all," her brother Tyson emerged from behind their mother with a laugh and playfulness in his eyes. "The Hat might declare you a squib." Erica gave him an exaggerated eye roll and a huff of laughter. Both of their parents groaned with their father shaking his head towards his youngest son.
"Every year you make that joke," he reprimanded him affectionately, "and every year it's just as terrible."
"Hey, this is my last chance to do it," the third year protested. He towered over Erica, having grown a couple of inches over the summer. He reminded her of a giraffe with his lanky frame only with long dark hair that was pulled into the messiest ponytail Erica had ever seen on him. She could see her mother eyeing it with a frown as he moved forwards to take Erica's trolley.
"Tyson did you even brush your hair this morning?"
"Of course I did," Tyson declared with the tiniest of winks in his sister's direction.
"Sure. I believe you, thousands wouldn't," their mother retorted with a small shake of her head.
"Sounds about right," Erica's other brother Grayson emerged from the nearest carriage door. Built like a bear, he took up the door's space and most of its height. Unlike Tyson though, Grayson's hair was far tidied. He kept it trimmed to the bottom of his neck. He reached out to pick up Erica's trunk. "Also the train leaves in five minutes."
The amusement vanished from Mariana Snowdrop's face and she beckoned Erica towards the train. "All right sweetie, you take Athena and find a compartment." She hugged Erica one more time and kissed her cheek. Erica clung to her for a moment, suddenly conscious of the gap in time between now and when she'd next see her.
She pulled away and followed Grayson onto the train, picking up Athena's cage on the way. Her barn owl hooted softly at her as she climbed onto the train. To her left, the fourth carriage was already almost full so she and Grayson made their way onto the fifth carriage, passing half filled compartments until they reached an empty one.
"You can come and sit with me and my friends if you want," said Grayson as he lifted her trunk into the luggage compartment. "You don't have to sit here on your own."
"Nah, I'm good here," Erica said, passing him Athena's cage. He tucked it in carefully next to her trunk. Erica sat down next to the window and looked out.
"I'll come back and see you after I say goodbye to Mum and Dad," he promised as he disappeared from the compartment.
"Okay," Erica shrugged and leaned against the window to get a better look further up the platform. Tyson was waving and walking away from their parents while Grayson approached them. She watched him hug then both, indulge his mother kissing his cheek. He pointed towards Erica's compartment and she waved at them.
Leaning back in her seat, Erica began to grin to herself. This was it. She was really going. Not even Tyson's lame jokes could dampen her spirits now. She smoothed out her robes and rested her arm on the window sill. Noise filled the surrounding compartments more and more. As the seconds passed, Erica began to feel more and more restless, excitement melting into her nerves. She wondered whether any other first years were nearby. Perhaps they would come by looking for a place to sit. The thought of all these unknown people possibly becoming future friends filled the 11-year-old with delight.
Erica looked back out the window. More people were walking alongside these last two carriages now. So many people waving their kids off. She thought of what her dad had said, about there being Death Eaters among them. There had to be at least one or two, blending with the crowd, looking like ordinary people. Laughing, chatting and smile while waving their kids off to school, all the while planning more murder in the backs of their minds. Erica felt her insides beginning to squirm at the thought of it.
Footsteps sounded near her and Erica turned to see a boy standing in the door frame. His Hogwarts robes were hanging off his shoulders and he was lugging a trunk behind him He didn't look much older than her. In his other hand, he was holding an owl cage. His gaze swept over the nearly empty compartment before fixing on Erica. His eyes were the same grey as the owl he was carrying. His hair was jet black, some of it hanging in his face. "You waiting for someone?" he asked.
Erica gestured to the empty seats. "Nope."
The boy grinned a little before stepping further in. He stowed his luggage and owl cage in the opposite luggage compartment. He flopped down in the window seat and stared across at Erica. His robes fell even further down his shoulders but he did absolutely nothing to adjust them.
"The name's Sirius Black," he declared. "You a first year too?"
Erica nodded. "Yep. I'm Erica Snowdrop."
Sirius seemed to consider her for a moment. "Snowdop," he repeated. "You're related to the Bones family aren't you?"
Erica felt her defences prickle. "Yeah, why?"
The boy shrugged. "I know a lot of wizarding families and who the purebloods are."
The defences within Erica were growing sharper and sharper. She felt them moving into her blood, pressing like needles into her skin. "Does that matter?" she challenged.
Before Sirius could speak, a shadow passed over the window and a sudden, rapid set of knocks against it startled them both out of their conversation. The elegant, dark-haired woman from earlier was frowning in at Sirius, dark eyes becoming huge and furious as she looked at the state of Sirius' robes. Erica realised now that he'd been the boy whose father had been him pushing onto the train.
"Sirius Orion Black, what have you done to your robes?!" she shrieked through the window, jabbing her finger at the glass. "Wear them properly!" she instructed him. "And sit up straight, you foolish boy. You're a Black for heaven's sake!"
Sirius straight up scowled at her and in that moment Erica could see the resemblance between them, a kind of angry haughtiness in their features. At first he did nothing but when she drew out her wand and pressed it against the glass, Erica heard him growl and he adjusted his robes, straightening up in his seat. He continued to glare at his mother who looked no less fierce even though he'd followed his instructions.
"You will carry yourself with more dignity young man. You have better breeding than to sit like a neanderthal," she snapped before her gaze shifted away from him and landed on Erica. Her brows remained creased and her eyes looked her up and down. Her lips curled into a terrible sneer and she lifted her chin slightly. "And who are you, girl?" she demanded.
Erica decided there and then that she hated the woman from her tone alone. She clenched her fists and glared through the window at her. "Erica Snowdrop," she bit back with ice. An unpleasant sensation began to crawl its way up her throat, filled with suspicion. In the back of her mind, she found herself recalling what she knew of the name Black in wizarding society. Her father had spoken about them and it had not been favourable. Anger began to colour its way into her cheeks.
Sirius' mother's expression turned, if possible, even more disdainful. "Not a pureblood then," she remarked. "At least you're not a mudblood," she added.
Erica's fists clenched so hard, she felt a stinging sensation in both of her palms. She opened her mouth to speak but Mrs Black just cut her off.
"No matter," she flicked her free hand towards Erica as if she were a flea and looked back towards her son. "Not the most promising company for a Black, Sirius. I expect better. Your father expects better." She lowered her wand and stalked away from the train, gracefully side-stepping all of the platform traffic as she rejoined her husband. Erica stared after them both as they headed back towards the barrier with the smaller boy Erica had seen earlier.
"They're not going to wave you off?" Erica asked Sirius, bewildered that any parent would dodge out of that opportunity. She saw her own parents waving at her as Grayson stepped back onto the train. She waved back once before returning her attention to the scowling boy in front of her.
"No." Sirius answered shortly.
An awful, stiff silence filled the air between them and Erica grasped her robes and bunched them up as she thought about Mrs Black's hateful face and her condescending words. Erica grit her teeth for a moment as the anger released itself throughout her body. The idea that she should be ashamed of being a halfblood was every bit as stupid as her parents had told her but up until now she hadn't met anybody with such views. Now she had, she felt like her insides were polluted with rage. She wanted to say something about it; the words were sitting on the edge of her tongue. Somewhere in her young mind, she knew that those words would likely start a fight but she didn't care.
"Your mother-" she began.
"-is the worst," Sirius filled in for her as he looked out of the window. A lot of the anger had left his face but there was a kind of hollowness In his expression. "I know," he added without looking at her. She saw his own arm draped across the window sill, his fingers also curled up in a fist. He spoke stiffly. "She's always like that. Absolutely mental about all that pure blood stuff. All my family is."
Erica thought back to the question she'd asked before Mrs Black interrupted. "Does that not matter to you? She is your mother."
"And I'm supposed to agree with her am I?" the boy shot back defensively, his gaze snapping to her, eyes cloudy with anger for a moment. His expression changed after a couple of seconds and he seemed to deflate in front of her. He looked back out of the window. "Sorry," his voice was barely audible. "I just hate it. All of that crap."
Erica felt a great pulse of relief spread through her body and she offered her fellow first year a smile. "Me too," she admitted. "It just doesn't make sense to me. Loads of muggleborns are great wizards and witches."
"Exactly," Sirius said, now looking at her again. "My Uncle Alphard is kind of rubbish at magic and he's a pureblood. So… those ideas are just stupid." He lifted his arm off the sill and supported his head with his hand. "There's a muggleborn performer in Diagon Alley who does really ace magic. They call him-"
"Bubbling Beckett?" Erica leaned forward a little. "Who makes all those bubbles-"
"-with the different smells-"
"-and the sounds-"
"-and the effects!" All the grumpiness had fled Sirius' face now. Instead it was lit up by a grin and wide, enthusiastic eyes. He gestured vicariously miming all sorts of effects. "Like the blue smoke that turns the crowd's hair different colours!"
"Or the one which makes everything smell like pineapple," Erica giggled.
"My favourite is the one that explodes and stars fly everywhere." Sirius leaned back into the seat, his stiffness gone and his grin relaxing into a smile. "Bubbling Beckett is the best," he said. "Way better at magic than my Uncle Alphard anyway." The smile on his face began to fade away. "So all that stuff about muggleborns is just a load of rubbish isn't it?"
Erica nodded. "Yeah. Do your parents know you think that?" she asked as she leaned against the window, pressing her cheek against the cool glass.
Sirius pulled a face. "Do you mean have I ever told the demented banshee that is my mother what I really think? It's not worth the earache."
Erica decided that she'd pressed the issue long enough. Besides she could hear the whistles blowing and parents were stepping away from the doors. She felt her stomach fizzing with delightful tingles. That was it. They were about to set off. She waved towards her parents who were walking along until they were opposite her and Sirius' compartment. Her mother blew kisses at her between waves and her father mimed writing. She grinned at them. The train doors began to shut one by one.
"Eri," she heard Grayson's voice and turned to see him stood in the door frame with Tyson, both of them waving at her parents. "I'll come and check on you later."
"I'll be fine," she protested before gesturing to Sirius. "This is Sirius Black. Sirius, these are my brothers, Grayson and Tyson."
A kind of stiffness took over Grayson. "Black?" he repeated, looking towards the younger boy with mingled distrust and surprise. Next to him, Tyson was beginning to scowl too. Erica thought about Mrs Black again and her attitude and wondered if that was what was going through her brothers' minds as they looked at Sirius.
Sirius had gone very stiff again, glaring up at Grayson defensively. "And?" he retorted.
"I'm surprised to find you sitting with a halfblood," Tyson growled behind his brother, "considering your family."
"Yeah?" Sirius crossed his arms. "No law that says I have to believe in that rubbish is there?"
Erica watched her brothers warily. Grayson was still watching Sirius as though deciding whether he wanted to let this go or not. Beneath them, the train began to rumble and Erica looked back out the window. She thought she saw her mother's eyes tearing up a little as she blew yet another kiss at her. Slowly, the train began to move, pushing the view of her parents in the opposite direction. Instinctively Erica leaned forward to try and hold onto them for just a few more seconds but as the train gathered pace, they disappeared in the sea of crowds and then, in a blur of brick, the train entered the tunnel.
Erica leaned back in her seat and eyed Grayson who was eyeing Sirius once more. Sirius was glaring at him just as intently.
"You're Andromeda's cousin, right?" Grayson asked and his hard stare softened a little.
Sirius' features relaxed somewhat. "Yeah."
"She's all right so I guess we'll soon see about you." Grayson remarked.
"Don't trouble yourself," Sirius sniped. "By all means judge away."
Tyson pushed past Grayson and leaned over the younger boy with a cold glare. "Oh believe me. You hurt our sister and I'll do more than judge you."
Erica threw up her hands. "Oh for God's sake, leave it out!" she declared, eyes ablaze. "Are you going to be like this with every person I meet?" she demanded, her gaze jumping from one brother to another.
"If they're a Black, yeah," Tyson answered without looking away from Sirius.
Grayson's hands grabbed his brother and pulled him away from the younger boy. "That's enough, Tyson. We've said our piece. If he's like Andromeda, there's no issue." However his eyes focused hard on Sirius. "If not well we'll see what happens," he declared as he pushed his protesting brother out of the door, closing it behind them both. Their footsteps echoed as they walked away. Erica turned her attention to Sirius, her features full of exasperation.
"I'm sorry about my stupid brothers."
To her surprise, Sirius began to smile. She liked the way it lightened his features and it gave her some hope that her brothers might not have ruined her first friendship at Hogwarts. "S'okay," he said with a shrug. "At least they care."
"Too much," Erica muttered as she lay her elb on the windowsill and rested her cheek against her fist. "Tyson is such an idiot."
Sirius laughed and looked out the window. They were emerging out of the tunnel now and London was passing them by in a stream of chimneys and rooftops. The sun was peeking through the blanket of grey clouds and in the other compartments, the hub of chatter was rising. A few long minutes passed before Sirius spoke again.
"So…" he began, "now we've both finished apologizing for our families…"
Erica turned back to him with a laugh. "Yeah."
"Do you like Quidditch?"
Erica's eyes flashed with enthusiasm and she lifted her cheek off her fist with a grin. "I love Quidditch," she confirmed. "I'm a Holyhead Harpy through and through. What about you?"
Sirius wrinkled his nose and scoffed. "Seriously? A Harpy? I had high hopes when you said you liked Quidditch." He shook his head exaggeratedly mocking. "Oh dear."
Erica rolled her eyes. "Oh don't get stuffy. They're playing really well lately. Anyway who do you support?" she asked as she folded her arms firmly.
Sirius jabbed a thumb into his chest. "Being someone with taste, I'm a Cannons fan."
"Wow and you think my tastes are bad?" Erica laughed. "At least the Holyhead Harpies don't change half their team every year. I'm surprised the Chudley Cannons are as high in the league as they are with that kind of player swapping going on."
Sirius raised his chin defiantly. "That's because they know how to pick talent and how to ditch the deadwood."
"Yeah yeah," Erica flapped her hand at him and they both let out quiet huffs of laughter. Loud peals of laughter and noisy chatter filled some of the immediate quiet.
"I suppose it could be worse," Sirius mused after a couple of minutes. "One of us could have supported the Ballycastle Bats."
They both burst out laughing at that prospect and Erica shook her head vigorously at the prospect. "Oh god they are so bad. I want to cry for them when they play. They literally just have their name going for them." Her dad had taken the family to see a Ballycastle Bats versus Holyhead Harpies match and the Bats had been annihilated with the score being 350 v 110 in the Harpies' favour. Her brothers had spent the rest of the evening tearing strips out of all the bad plays the Bats had made. Erica felt kind of sorry for them at the end of all the mockery.
"Their seeker may as well be playing blindfolded," Sirius agreed as he laughed. "And their beaters keep almost hitting their own players."
"I would not want to manage the Bats," Erica agreed as she reached up to wipe some tears of mirth out of her eyes.
"Me neither," Sirius agreed. "I'd want to manage a team with an actual chance at winning."
Erica nodded. "I think I'd rather play Quidditch. I'd play Chaser if I could." Many a happy hour had been spent back home playing Quidditch with her brothers. (Grayson unfairly being Keeper so it was even harder to get the quaffle into the hoops their parents had set up.) Edward had taken the other Keeper post so she and Tyson would compete against each other. Sometimes they added a snitch in and doubled as Chasers/Seekers. That was one of their favourite pastimes during the summer during the long days and the light nights.
"I'd go with Beater or Chaser myself," Sirius mused as he glanced towards the compartment door. "Maybe Keeper even. But not Seeker."
"Why not?"
"Because they hardly get to do anything except chase the bloomin Snitch. And the thing is a tricky bugger. No, give me the quaffle any day. Or a bludger."
Erica flinched a little and hated it. Her brothers laughed whenever she did it but the thought of the bludger brought on unwanted imaginings of it colliiding with her fae or knocking her off her broom. She'd had numerous nightmares about that happening and her plummeting to her death. She shook her head out of those thoughts. "Beating is definitely not for me."
"It helps to imagine my mother's face for it," Sirius grinned and Erica laughed at him.
"Okay yeah I'd happily imagine your mother's face," she agreed. It felt strange to be insulting someone's mother but since Sirius seemed so at ease about it and, having been judged by the woman, Erica felt little shame about joining in such talk. She folded her hands in her lap and eyed him curiously. "So do you play with the bludgers at home?" she asked. It wasn't something her own family had done because of both her personal preferences and her mother's propensity for panicking about the bludgers.
"Yep. Me and my brother use all three balls, well mostly. Regulus wants to be a seeker so he practices with the snitch and I practice with the bludgers. I once hit a bludger into my father's ribs. Broke about six of them," Sirius recalled.
Erica brought her fist up to her lips with a grimace. "Did you get in major trouble?"
Sirius smirked a little but then the expression died down "Not really. Father said I had a good swing. I just need to get better at aiming."
"That's pretty forgiving of him," Erica mused.
"He also said I should try out for the Slytherin house team when I get to Hogwarts."
"You want to be in Slytherin?"
He shrugged. "It's more of a Black family tradition. All of us have been in Slytherin."
"Every single member of your family?" Erica's fingers gripped her seat. "Ever?" When Sirius nodded she let out a puff of breath. "I mean wow."
"Yeah." Sirius looked at the floor, his expression morose and sour all at once. "My family's all from the evil house."
Erica leaned forward, nudging his leg with hers. When he looked up into her face she gave him a smile. "Not everyone in Slytherin is evil though. Grayson said your cousin is all right and she is Slytherin right?"
"Andy's all right yeah," Sirius grumbled. "But most people who come out of Slytherin end up believing in all that rubbish and some of them become Death Eaters."
Erica suppressed a shudder as she thought about her father's warnings about Death Eaters and how she had to be careful outside of the home and Hogwarts. The thought of Death Eaters waiting in dark alleys and in plain sight made her feel more than a little ill. Her stomach churned and churned, adding to the nausea. The idea that this boy might grow up to be like that seemed to her impossible. He was so against his family beliefs right now. Surely that would help him in the future.
"Anyway," Sirius continued miserably, "the rest of my family are like that. Horrid and stupid."
Erica looked down at her own feet. Honestly she didn't know what she could say to make him feel better and yet there was one thought she'd not spoken that was so true and so simple. She clasped her fingers and lifted her face to look at Sirius. "I don't think you're like that or you will be," she said. "I think you get to choose what you want to be. Parents can't control that right?"
Sirius half-smiled at her. "I don't know. My mother seems to be giving it a bloody good try."
"That's all she can do," Erica said. "She can't force you into being a puppet."
Sirius' smile began to grow again and he said nothing. However, when he looked out of the window, there was a brighter look in his eyes than there had been seconds ago. The two of them sat in a much more companionable and comfortable silence, watching as they left the great city of Central London behind. Fields and trees raced by the windows along with the passing smoke from the train. Erica let her thoughts drift towards Hogwarts, what it would be like to see the castle up close for the first time and not from the distance of Hogsmeade on her family's many visits. How wonderful it would be to walk through those doors and find out to which house she belonged to.
"Where do you want to be?" Sirius' question came after many minutes of silence.
Erica smiled as she gazed out of the window. "I'd like to be in Gryffindor," she admitted. "Like my brothers."
"Oh yes your brothers," Sirius mused though there was a teasing undercurrent to his tone. When Erica looked over at him, he grinned at her before returning his attention to the window.
A sharp rapping drew their attention instantly to the compartment door where a very messy haired boy stood, fist against the glass, trunk behind him and an owl cage in his other hand. He pulled back his hand and pushed a set of glasses further up his nose before sliding open the door. "Don't suppose I could join the two of you could I?" he asked, pulling his things into the compartment with him. "I may have had a bit of trouble with my last companions. They seemed to take offence to me."
Erica's eyebrows shot up. "Why?" she asked. Sirius looked amused; his smile was twitching.
"Oh well, you know," the boy put his owl cage on the seat next to Erica, adjusted his glasses again and ran a hand through his bird's nest of hair. "They were spouting all of that pureblood is better blood rubbish and I tell you, I wasn't having it." He lowered his hand and looked between Erica and Sirius. "This is where you're going to tell me that you buy into all that, aren't you?"
"Nope," Erica popped the p with a wide grin.
"You're in the right place," Sirius agreed and held out his hand. "Sirius Black."
"James Potter," the other boy declared as he shook Sirius' hand vigorously. He then held out a hand to Erica who shook it as well.
"Erica Snowdrop," she informed him.
"Nice to meet you both," James said before turning to his luggage. Sirius got up and between the two of them, they stowed his trunk while Erica found a space for James' owl cage. A great horned owl squawked within it. "Oh don't worry about Henry," James told her when she withdrew her fingers from the cage. "He doesn't bite, generally."
Erica didn't ask what situation constituted not "generally" and sat back down. James sat down next to Sirius.
"I can't wait until we get there," he declared. "My parents told me about all the house ghosts," he continued. "I wanna meet Nearly Headless Nick though I expect I'll see him lots if I do get into Gryffindor. Although the Bloody Baron seems pretty wicked himself. I guess that would be one perk of being a Slytherin," he mused. He eyed Sirius and Erica with a smile. "Where do you two wanna be?"
"I'd like to be in Gryffindor too," Erica said.
Sirius was frowning. "I'll probably end up in Slytherin like the rest of my family."
"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you were all right!"
"He is all right," Erica said. "Anyway not all Slytherins are bad and you might not end up there anyway."
Sirius did not look convinced. James seemed to pick up on this.
"As I said, you'd get to have the Bloody Baron as your house ghost," he offered enthusiastically, "and I heard their common room is under the lake. You might get to see merpeople or the Giant Squid. Come to think of it you'll be near the kitchens my dad said. You can go for midnight snacks any time you like. Plus you're near the Great Hall too. You won't have to climb loads of staircases to go to bed…"
He continued to ramble on, listing more benefits such as not having to go far to Potion classes and the like. All the while Erica looked over at Sirius who was smiling and more at what James was saying. Finally his smile cracked and he released a huff of laughter that broke off James; speech.
"Actually come to think of it, I rather like the thought of being in Slytherin myself," he joked. "If I wasn't so set on following in my father's footsteps, I might have joined you," he nudged Sirius with his elbow once he'd finished.
Sirius said nothing but his considerably less gloomy demeanor seemed to encourage James.
"As Erica said, you might not even be Sorted there. We," James gestured to himself and Erica, "might not be sorted into Gryffindor. We just don't— are we slowing down?"
Erica looked out the window. The countryside was passing by the window slower and slower until it was crawling by. A great screeching sound accompanied the change of pace and Erica hunched her shoulders, wincing at the sound. "We're stopping," she said, peering out the window "But Hogwarts is hours away yet so why?"
James got up and moved to look out of the window too. "Maybe something's wrong with the train. We can't have run out of fuel. Maybe there's a fault."
"Whatever it is, I hope they hurry up," Sirius said. "Otherwise-"
A shadow passed by the window and the three children jerked backwards from it with identical cries of surprise. James had staggered back towards the door and his glasses had slid down his nose again. He pushed them up as he caught his breath. Erica scooted away from the window and even Sirius had moved away from it on his side.
"What the hell was that?" Erica asked. She could hear similar gasps and questions being asked from the other compartments. Another dark figure moved past the window and Erica covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from calling out.
Sirius inched closer and closer to the window. He looked out and to the side as best as he could before stiffening. "They've got hoods and masks," he declared.
Sirius, James and Erica's faces fell at once as they shared a look. "Death Eaters," they murmured..