Adalia shot up in her bed at the sound of a pot banging next to her door.
"Up, up! Off to freak school you go, freaks!"
Her cousin, Dudley, hit the pot a few more times before moving down the hallway to Harry's room. Adalia fumbled for the small lamp that sat on the floor next to her bed- also on the floor. When she pulled the cord, a dingy yellow light turned on that did nothing to illuminate the room. Although there wasn't much to be seen in the first place.
Her room consisted of a mattress on the floor, the lamp, a small table with her toiletries, and her Hogwarts trunk tucked into the corner. Most of the time, it was hidden under a blanket in the event someone came into her room. And what a shame it would be if someone began to question the trunk that was so out of place in the muggle world.
A small knock sounded on the door before Harry stepped into her room. He shut the door quietly behind him, so as not to alert the Dursleys to their "scheming time", as they so liked to call it.
"Fifth year." he whispered.
Adalia smiled ruefully at him. "We have nine whole months away from here. M'excited. Not gonna be much of a break though."
Harry looked down at the scar on his arm, a constant reminder of Voldemort's reincarnation and the fact that their lives, along with those of everyone they loved, were at risk. To Adalia's surprise, he chuckled.
"I'd take fighting Voldemort any day over dealing with these pigs. "
"I'm sure you would, Harry. Personally, I would deal with a few more years of annoyance before facing the most evil wizard of all time. But maybe that's just me." she responded.
Harry stood up, ruffling Adalia's bedhead even further. "You're such a Slytherin, 'Lia."
The happy moment- one of the first ones all summer, for them- was interrupted by the door swinging back open, revealing Petunia holding two slices of bread (her lock had been removed years ago, after an incident involving a dungbomb and Harry's owl, Hedwig).
"Eat up," Petunia screeched with glee, "it's a long ride!"
She backed out of the doorway, glancing around the room with a scowl before turning down the hallway. Harry glanced at Adalia and pursed his lips before taking a bite of the bread.
"I'm going to finish packing. You should, too." Harry said, gesturing to the pile of books sitting, stacked next to her trunk.
Adalia nodded before Harry left the room. Her and Harry had gone to Diagon Alley for a short shopping trip a few weeks prior. The Dursleys had been all too happy to drop them off and spend a day without having to deal with them, as were Harry and Adalia. Even though Vernon picked them up four hours after they had planned, leaving the twins to sit at the bus stop across from the Leaky Cauldron with their bags of school supplies. The confused glances and glares they got from passerby were a small price to pay for a day in the Wizarding World during summer.
Adalia sighed, climbing off of her bed and dragging her feet to the trunk sitting in the corner. Part of her wished she had gone to 12 Grimmauld Place when Sirius had offered, instead of spending the summer on Privet Drive. But she knew that as much as Sirius and Remus loved her, everyone else in that house was uncomfortable with her relationships with her Slytherin classmates. Harry refused to leave her alone at the Dursleys, and as such they stuck the break out together.
After shoving a few stray books and clothes into her trunk, she shut and latched the lid before dragging it into the hallway. Harry was already waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, clutching Hedwig's cage tightly in his free hand.
Adalia gestured to the owl. "I bet she'll be excited to get to stretch her wings."
Harry grinned and nodded, before telling her that Vernon was waiting for them in the car. She was neither surprised nor disappointed that Petunia and Dudley weren't there to see them off. Together, her and Harry loaded their trunks into the backseat of the car while Vernon sat and watched.
"Took you two long enough." Vernon griped, "Now hurry so we can be rid of you as fast as possible."
"You know, maybe if you had helped us get our trunks into the ca-"
"Harry. Don't bother." Adalia cut him off.
All three of them rolled their eyes and made a silent agreement to sit in silence for the rest of the ride to the station. Adalia leaned back in her seat and tried to ignore the popping sound the car made whenever it went over a crack in the road, instead admiring the garden homes that lined the road into London. The window was cold as she leaned her head against it, and she allowed it to relieve her forehead of the stress that had been building up all week.
Even though they hadn't discussed it, her and Harry both knew that this year wouldn't be the same. What with Cedric dying in the cup last year and Voldemort being resurrected, (although the ministry was still pushing propaganda against Harry's recounting of the Triwizard Tournament's last task. They had an eyewitness account of the Dark Lord being brought back from the dead, and they chose to pit everyone against a fifteen year old.) this year at Hogwarts was going to be hard on both of them.
And Adalia knew that Harry would be getting the brunt of the criticism. A part of her, one she knew was being selfish, was thankful this was the case. The other part of her was worried how he would handle it. Her heart pounded harder in her chest as they neared the station, and she began to gather her small travel bag. The parking lot outside of the train station was bustling as they pulled in, and Vernon didn't bother finding a spot to park and unload.
"Well, see you in nine months. Or not. Try not to get expelled."
The twins shared a glance and pulled their trunks out of the car, ignoring the cars lined up behind them honking aggressively. Adalia hit her head on the roof of the car, causing a sharp jolt to shoot through her skull.
"You okay, Lia? We've got to get going. It's already," Harry glanced at his watch, "10:37."
Adalia nodded, shaking her head to clear the pain. "Just hit my head. Let's get going."
They finished pulling the trunks out of the car and shut the door with a bang. Vernon sped off without so much as a goodbye.
"Good-fucking-riddance." Harry chuckled.
Adalia turned and smiled at him, pushing her cart through the station. All around them, muggles pushed their way through the crowds, trying to catch their train to work, or lunch, or whatever one did at nearly 11 o'clock on a Monday. Adalia's boots made a soft padding noise on the stone floor that was nearly drowned out by the noise of the crowd. They walked past platforms seven, eight, and nine and stopped right before they got to platform ten.
"We're nearly late. I'll go first." Harry said, approaching the wall.
He closed his eyes and took off in a sprint towards the wide brick pillar, disappearing through it like he was never even there. Adalia glanced at the passerby, but none of them looked twice at the strange teenagers vanishing in mid air.
"Figures," Adalia mumbled, "I wouldn't want to notice us either if I were them."
She sighed, taking one last glance at the station before looking directly at the wall. Her foot took a step forward seemingly automatically, and then another, and another, until she was jogging directly into a brick wall. Her eyes shut, and she took the last few steps, bracing herself for the collision her subconscious still expected. It didn't come.