Eveliyne's POV
Eveliyne Greengrass woke up to her mother's voice. As usual, Eveliyne had woken up late, or at least, later than her mother expected of her. Groaning and mentally cursing, Eveliyne rolled to the side so that she was lying on her back. Blinking spots out of her eyes, she glanced at the calendar at the foot of her bed. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light, but when the spots finally faded, Eveliyne found herself staring at the tiny label she had marked the box '1 September' with.
She gaped, clearly in disbelief, at the words ' First Day Of Hogwarts ' written in a neat scrawl. In a flash, she was out of bed. Needless to say, her morning routine took little time as well. She threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before hastily throwing a few things into her trunk as a bit of last-minute packing. Heaving up her trunk, she ran down the stairs, or tried to. Running with a trunk packed to the brim is not an easy feat to do, and running down stairs with a trunk packed to the brim certainly isn't either. She bumped into, or rather, almost knocked down, her mother at the foot of the stairs and nearly dropped her trunk.
"Well, somebody's excited." Daphne Greengrass commented with her eyebrows raised.
Eveliyne grinned at her mother and replied, "I still can't believe today's the first day of Hogwarts. Why haven't you changed yet?"
Daphne grimaced at her daughter and stepped out of the way to let Eveliyne pass. "I've got some work to do, Eliyne, it's very important. I wouldn't miss seeing you off on your first day at Hogwarts if it wasn't. You understand, right, Eliyne?"
Eveliyne nodded mutely, slightly crestfallen. She managed a smile at her mother before turning around and saying, "And I guess I'll be going with Scorpius?"
"Yes, and I think Astoria will be there too. I wish I could see her, ask about - you know… how she is with everything going on. Send my love to her, and my apologies." Daphne smiled sadly, but after checking her watch, snapped out of her reverie and ushered Eveliyne outside.
"You should get going by now. Come on, into the car. Remember, try to make friends," Daphne said.
Eveliyne's expression turned puzzled. Car?
"What… what exactly are you talking about?" She asked slowly.
"What do you mean? The car is-" Daphne came to a stop as she realised there was no car in sight.
"Draco! He's late! Again! I knew Astoria should never have married that little scum! Always late! Never does anything! And now because of him, you're going to be late! I should never have relied on him! Oh, when I see him again I'll-"
Eveliyne never found out what her mother would do to her uncle due to the black vintage Ferrari that appeared out of nowhere. The Ferrari's black tinted window scrolled down as it drove closer, revealing none other but the very person Daphne had been ranting about.
"Remind me never to make you angry again, Daphne." Eveliyne's uncle Draco said with a fake shudder when his car stopped in front of them.
Eveliyne stifled a laugh and said, "I don't think teasing will help her temper right now. If I were you, I wouldn't have turned up in fear of being sent to St Mungo's."
Draco gave a pained smile and replied, "To be honest, I considered that."
Daphne glared at Draco. "Very funny. Now go before your sorry ass actually does end up in St Mungo's."
Draco put his hands up in defeat, "Scorpius is in the back seat. You'd better get in the car before your mum murders the both of us."
Eveliyne didn't need to be told twice. She heaved her trunk into the boot with Scorpius's, swung the car door open, and got in. It wasn't surprising that she ended up waving goodbye to a positively fuming Daphne Greengrass.
"At least she didn't hex him. Remember last year Easter?" A voice came from behind her.
Eveliyne didn't need to turn around to identify who had spoken. "Yeah, your dad seems to be the only one who can get under her skin." Eveliyne chuckled, still waving to her mother.
It was true, though Eveliyne had heard enough retellings of Daphne and Draco's fights to know that the same could be said the other way around- and that if not forced together by Astoria, their easy verbal sparring would be much more heated.
However, the voice merely harrumphed, "No greetings for me, my dearest cousin?"
Eveliyne rolled her eyes at the dramatized sentence and turned around just in time to see a pout on her cousin's face.
"What, did you want me to say, 'Hi Scor! I had no idea I'd bump into you! Such a coincidence!' , when I knew perfectly well you would be here?" Eveliyne said in a skeptical tone.
Scorpius grinned at her, all pretense dropped. "Such a sarcastic person."
"Why the tone? Envious?" Eveliyne said with a cock of her head.
A playful nudge came her way. "Well, we'd better get ready. Dad drives very fast."
Eveliyne gave him a faint smile. "If you say so, but nobody can drive so fast that they can reach King's Cross Station in-" She glanced at Scorpius's watch and then out of the window.
"Twenty minutes. Especially if you're driving from Plymouth. Magic car or not." Eveliyne added upon seeing the expression on his face.
Scorpius smirked at her, "Suit yourself. But you're going to eat your sentence soon." Eveliyne decided not to correct him and instead prepared herself for the overwhelming thrill of excitement that would surely take her once she arrived at King's Cross station, platform 9 and ¾.
They arrived eighteen minutes later and Eveliyne cursed. She owed her cousin five Galleons and she had already lost Sixteen to him in the span of a week. How could her cousin, being the dork he is, still be able to drain so much of her money? At that rate, she would lose all her savings by next month. Judging by the triumphant look on Scorpius's face, he was probably thinking along the same lines.
Draco got a trolley for Eveliyne and Scorpius and they made their way to the pillar between platform 9 and 10. They halted in front of the broad rectangular pillar and Draco turned to face Scorpius and Eveliyne.
"Okay, now we have to pass through the pillar to get to our platform. Don't worry about smashing into the wall, that'll just make you more nervous. If you want some time to steady your nerves, I'll go fir-"Draco's reassuring speech was cut off by Eveliyne.
Without saying a word, she stalked up to the pillar, braced her hands on her trolley and broke into a run.
A moment later, she reappeared on platform 9 and ¾ and was greeted by overlapping voices and thick, white steam which rose from the scarlet train on the track. Eveliyne moved to the side, squinting in an effort to see through the thick mist blanketing the platform. Last-minute goodbyes, parents checking with their children if everything on the booklist had been packed, first years promising to write to their family members, Hogwarts friends both old and new greeting each other, and chides from parents could all be heard. Eveliyne frowned- most of the students had already boarded. Were they really going to be late?
Just as she was considering passing back through the wall to check on her cousin, Scorpius emerged with Draco, both faces drawn and pale. Eveliyne's impatient mood faded in a second. It couldn't have been more obvious what they had been talking about.
Composing herself, she made a face at Scorpius and said, "Hurry up, thanks to you we're gonna be the last ones on the train." Some colour returned to his face as he nudged her with his elbow, chuckling. Mission accomplished, she thought to herself as she said a quick goodbye to her uncle. Draco gave her and Scorpius both a swift hug before taking her cousin aside to 'have a quick conversation'.
Eveliyne had enough tact to pretend she hadn't the faintest idea what they were talking about. A minute later, Scorpius had returned to her side and they were exchanging hasty farewells with Draco before making their way to the Hogwart Express.
Once they had loaded their trunks, they hopped onto the train, Eveliyne taking the lead as they walked down the corridor in search of an empty compartment. Finally, they claimed a compartment nearing the end of the train and both claimed seats next to the window. As the train doors started slamming, Eveliyne took one last look at the platform. She caught a glimpse of a ginger-haired girl and two boys hurriedly jumping onto the train, but was forced to look elsewhere when the last train door slammed and they started to move forwards.
Breathing in deeply, she tried to calm her nerves and rapidly beating heart. It was obvious Scorpius was having the same problem. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, fingers twitching as if no position felt right.
Suddenly, the compartment door slid open and the two first-years she had seen just mere moments ago entered. The girl definitely didn't want to sit in their compartment. Her eyes kept darting to Scorpius and she looked very uncomfortable.
A grudge against Malfoys, then, Eveliyne thought to herself bitterly. As if they needed another person to hate them. The boy, however, looked as if he was about to combust from a mixture of excitement and nervousness. He reminded her of Scorpius- and Merlin knew the world didn't need another one of him.
"Hi, is it alright if we sit here?" The boy asked, fingers drumming the door nervously.
"Oh, sure. There's more than enough space," Scorpius replied cheerfully.
Eveliyne threw him a sideways glance. He had to have noticed how reluctant the girl was- as much as she called him a dork, he wasn't stupid. Looking at his expression, brightened at the prospect of making new friends, Eveliyne couldn't be sure.
Eveliyne scrutinized the newcomers as they sat. The girl was a red-head with pretty features and thick bushy hair. She wore her Hogwarts robes and had her wand tucked into her pocket. The boy's hair was a dark shade of brown. He too was wearing a brand new set of robes. After a moment of shuffling as they made themselves comfortable, the boy looked up at them with a nervous smile.
"Hi, my name is Albus Potter and this is my cousin, Rose Weasley."
"Rose Granger-Weasley." The girl corrected.
Eveliyne's brows went up. Well, that more than explained her reaction to Scorpius.
Scorpius returned the grin, "I'm Scorpius."
The boy, Albus, turned to look at her. Eveliyne stared back stoically. If he expected her to be as friendly and blissfully ignorant as Scorpius, he was wrong.
"Don't mind Eliyne. She's just upset because she owes me five galleons now too, on top of sixteen." Scorpius said with a look at her when she didn't reply for a full ten seconds.
Albus widened his eyes in shock, "Isn't that kind of a large sum of money?"
"Well she's an overconfident person, so what did you expect?" Scorpius snorted, earning a glare from his cousin and a laugh from Albus.
Even Rose's mouth quirked a little.
"So, your name is Eliyne?" Albus asked, completely butchering the pronunciation.
Eveliyne turned to glare at Scorpius. There was absolutely no way she was going to let another person call her that. It was bad enough with her family.
Scorpius rushed to explain at Eveliyne's growing hostility, "Her name is Eveliyne. Eliyne is just a name that's used in the family. As you can see, she doesn't like it."
"Family?" Rose asked, unable to hide her surprise.
Eveliyne realised that it was the first time she had directed a sentence at them. She supposed it was a good sign that Rose was trying, and tried to respond in kind with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm his cousin." Eveliyne responded, smirking slightly when both jaws dropped.
"B-but… you're blonde. A-and she h-has...black hair." Albus managed to stutter out.
"Oh, that's because she's adopted," Scorpius replied easily.
To their credit, both of them nodded in understanding. Eveliyne found herself reconsidering her judgement of Rose. While she was still uncomfortable looking at Scorpius, she didn't seem to be a bigot, and didn't show any shock or pity, which Eveliyne appreciated.
At that moment, the trolley witch reached their compartment. She barely managed to slide the door open and get out two words before Scorpius and Albus started ordering sweets. Eveliyne caught Rose's exasperated look and offered a twist of her lips in return. Rose grinned back as they silently laughed at their cousins' antics.
A moment later, the boys were engaged in a heated debate on whether Puddlemere United or Tutshill Tornados was better, stuffing candy into their mouths every alternate sentence.
Eveliyne fiddled with her chocolate frog, wondering how to start a conversation. Seeing Rose's attention on the other two's debate, a tentative idea struck her.
"So, do you like Quidditch?" Eveliyne asked, unwrapping a Chocolate Frog as she gauged Rose's reaction.
She knew it was the right question to ask when Rose replied enthusiastically, "Of course! It's the best sport ever. My favourite team is the Holyhead Harpies."
"So is mine!" Eveliyne said, glad to find someone else who was a fan, before widening her eyes as realization struck her.
Granger-Weasley… meaning...
Rose smiled in understanding, "Yeah, my aunt Angelina plays for them."
Eveliyne gaped for another few seconds.
Finally collecting herself, she laughed, "I don't know why I'm surprised, your entire family is famous. I guess it's just hard to wrap my head around the fact that you're quite literally related to the most famous people in the world."
"Yeah, it's hard for me too. Mum was adamant to not let the reporters touch us, so I never really got how well known they really were until recently," Rose chuckled.
Eveliyne smiled but she didn't know Rose well enough to be sure whether Rose was as flippant about the topic as she seemed. She chose to steer the conversation into safer waters and soon, they were engaged in a recounting of the Holyhead Harpies' match against Puddlemere United.
"Yeah, they played really well that match-" Rose was in the middle of saying when both boys, who had been ignoring them until then, turned to face her in unison, looking as if Rose and Eveliyne had just committed a huge crime.
"No way! Puddlemere was godly that match!" They cried, apparently forgetting whatever team they were rooting for in their debate to defend the Quidditch team.
That immediately caused an uproar, the boys shouting that Puddlemere United was undoubtedly the best, the girls retorting that while Puddlemere United was good, Holyhead Harpies was inhuman. Which led to many angrily recounted Quidditch matches and synonyms of 'amazing' and 'god-like' and- well, you get the idea. Only Quidditch could ever unite people like that… against each other, but oh well.
Eventually, they came to an agreement that they would accept each other's opinions, and Rose pointed out that Montrose Magpies would always be superior anyways (much to the incredulity of the others), nearly causing another 'evenly spoken conversation' that anyone else would have considered as a full out argument. Finally, Scorpius and Albus decided to give them the silent treatment and with a huff, Eveliyne and Rose returned to their own conversation. Eveliyne was pleasantly surprised to learn that Rose already knew many spells, shared her love for books and potions, and was generally very similar to her.
The rest of the ride was spent trying out Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, exchanging Chocolate Frog Cards, throwing Pumpkin Pasties at each other, and having a rather short discussion about which Quidditch position was the most important which, shockingly, did not end up in another argument as all of them, excluding Albus, played the Chaser position.
"Great," Albus said sullenly upon hearing about it, "I'm surrounded by people who want to be Chasers, of all the positions."
They didn't get the chance to defend their position or even poke fun at him, though, for a mere second after he spoke, their compartment door slid open once more and a girl in Hogwarts robes tumbled in.
Panting and shutting the door behind her, she collapsed on the seat beside Albus, who stared, looking very alarmed, at her. Eveliyne, who was gaping at her like the others, couldn't blame him.
"Oh, hey," the girl waved, seeing their expressions, "I'm Thalis. Thalis Ezruon."
Her introduction was met with more gawking, but Thalis didn't seem to notice- or mind. She was peering out of the glass square in the sliding door, attention fixed on the corridor.
"Umm." Albus said, looking at Thalis as if she had just barged into their compartment- Oh wait, that's exactly what she had done.
"Uh," Albus started awkwardly, seeing the others unanimously vote for him to start the ball rolling with their expressions.
"Who are you looking for?"
Of all the things in the world, he had chosen to go with that? Merlin, he was more like Scorpius than she had thought.
Thalis gave a non-committal sound, only seeming to realise Albus had spoken moments later.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Uh, just looking out for someone…" she trailed off.
Eveliyne decided that Thalis couldn't have given a more vague answer.
Noticing Thalis's wind blown hair, she couldn't help but blurt out, "Were running on top of a train or something?"
Scorpius gawked at her, his friendly personality scandalized, but Eveliyne didn't see the problem. Thalis didn't seem like the kind of person to be affected by comments like that.
"Oh, that," Thalis said nonchalantly when Eveliyne gestured at her hair, "I actually was."
She seemed to have given up looking out for whoever she was running from, and was now facing them completely. Eveliyne's brows rose- out of both shock and bewliderment, and maybe some suspicion Thalis wasn't exactly sane. Alright, fine, admiration too.
"Pretty sure you're not supposed to be up there for safety reasons…"
She ignored Scorpius's judgemental look. She wanted details, and if she had to pretend to be even slightly prefect-like for it, she would.
"Anyway, I would have thought Hogwarts would have put up charms to make sure no one went up there," Rose added thoughtfully.
Thalis shivered, "Oh they don't need a charm. That old bat's the train's guardian or something- even charms don't work as well to get students away."
"Old bat?"
The rest shared Scorpius's confused sentiment.
"The trolley witch. She's absolutely terrifying."
Eveliyne honestly doesn't know what to be more flummoxed by- the fact that Thalis had decided to go up onto the roof of the train, or the fact that the trolley witch, of all people, was terrifying. Her barging in of their compartment without warning seemed hardly significant in comparison. After all, bafflement seemed like a constant feeling around Thalis Ezruon.
"Well… we're nearly there, so Scor and I need to change." Eveliyne said slowly, unsure of what else to do.
They left Rose and Albus with Thalis (Merlin help them), and hurried to the changing rooms to put on their robes. They had hardly finished when the train came to a stop. Joining the long line of students alighting, Eveliyne turned around, eyes searching for her newly made acquaintances. Even Scorpius had disappeared.
Deciding that she would find them later, she followed the line out of the train.