"Um…Dad?" Abby asked softly, clutching tightly to the grubby ticket in her hand. She'd been so excited about finally going to Hogwarts, the school she'd heard so much about, that she kept checking her ticket to be sure she was really and truly going. It had been that way since she'd gotten her ticket over the summer. "I-I don't understand…I see a 9, and I see a 10, but where's platform nine and three-quarters?" She had checked her ticket so many time she knew her platform number by heart.
Harry laughed purely from the memory of his own experiences with the wizard barrier. He'd had to stop and question a complete stranger, which had been a very big deal to a quiet, shy, soft-spoken little boy of 11 years. Of course, if he hadn't approached Mrs. Weasley, he and Ron might have never met. Abby saw the distant look on her father's face and half-wished her mother were there. Her dad, she had learned over the years, had a habit of falling wistfully into daydreams of his memory. She gave his shirtsleeve a fierce tug to bring him back into reality. He shook his head as though coming from someplace deep inside himself. She shot him a quick look of impatience.
"Oh…oh right. Yes, well, you see that brick barrier there, between nine and ten?" he asked, bending down a bit to her eye level and pointing in front of him. "Just walk straight through there. Walk right into it and don't stop; keep going ahead until you see the train station. Would you like me to walk in with you?"
She turned to face him so quickly her hair whipped across her eyes and nearly left a mark. "No! I mean, I really don't think you have to. I've heard so much about Hogwarts from you and Mom that I practically know the place by heart." It was, of course, only half the truth. In reality she was growing tired of her dad holding her hand through everything. She'd overheard his debate over sending her to school, and it angered her. How could he think that of her? He wasn't God, and she wasn't Jesus. He acted like he was God's gift to the world or something. She wouldn't be able to pay attention because everyone would bother her about his fame. It was complete nonsense to her, and besides, even if it were true, it wasn't like she couldn't take of herself. She was getting a bit tired of him insisting that he go with her everywhere to watch every move she made. When they went shopping for school supplies it was all she could do to convince him she could go into the Apothecary on her own. He seemed stuck on the idea that Voldemort himself had the main goal in mind of killing her and only her.
Still, the crestfallen look on her father's face made her feel guilty about turning her back on him. "It's okay Dad; I'll still make sure to write and all," she told him, giving him a bright smile. "Besides, I've got Paul. He'll look out for me." Harry looked down and smiled at her. Such youthful enthusiasm, he thought. I remember being that way. Abby had the same adventurous gleam in her eye that he used to have when he used to go searching for Dark wizards inside the school.
"All right Abby," he said with a sigh. She was his little girl. The last thing he wanted was to let her go off to school for a year. "You behave, all right? I don't want to hear about you blowing up any teachers or anything. And trust me, I will hear everything from Dumbledore, so you watch yourself."
She watched him give her the lecture, and struggled not to burst out into laughter. It was obvious that, as stern as he wanted to be, there was a certain amount of sparkle to his eyes that showed he hadn't quite been the most well behaved first year when he was in school. It was clear he half-wanted to try the things he was telling her not to do. Besides, he knew she was entirely too quiet to even so much as talk back to a teacher.
"Okay Dad, I'll try my best," she told him, quickly tossing her arms around his neck. "Paul's waiting for me. He's saving me a seat on the train." It was rounding 11:00 now and she didn't want to miss her only way of getting to Hogwarts. It was nice to help her father reminisce about the "good old days", but she didn't want to listen to it forever. She grabbed her trolley of belongings and turned for the barrier; thankful she would be away from home, at least until Christmas.
"Have fun, Abby!" Harry called after her as she walked toward the layer of brick. She disappeared into it, and he couldn't help but sigh. It felt like only yesterday he and Hagrid had made their first journey into Hogwarts together. He remembered just how frightened and alone he'd felt when he first boarded the train. By the end of the day he'd had two new friends and never felt so happy in his life. Now here he was, dropping his daughter off at the station for her own first day. He hoped she would have as a start as he'd had. In a way, part of him wanted to go along with her.
Abby winced as she walked into the barrier. Something just didn't feel right about walking straight into a brick wall. She braced herself for the impact, murmuring "ay, Dios mio" beneath her breath…but it never came. Instead, she stopped and opened her eyes. She was in a whole new train station, staring face-to-face with a beautifully clean engine with the words "Hogwarts Express" written in big, bold letters across the front. A sign swinging above her confirmed the fact that she was, indeed, at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. She realized that she'd been holding her breath and quickly released it.
"Abby! Over here!" called a familiar voice in the distance. Glad for some company, she wheeled her things over in the direction of the voice. There, standing by the engine, was her best friend Paul Finnigan. His chin-length, sandy blond hair danced in the warm summer breeze, and his bright blue eyes glittered in anticipation of her arrival. He was smiling and motioning for her to get on the train.
"Come on, we're gonna be late," he called hurriedly, running toward her and grabbing her luggage. She felt as though a hurricane of activity had just passed her and disappeared into the car. She paused for a moment, caught off-guard, and just laughed. What else could she do? She was escaping her parent's reign for a full year, going to a school that taught the ancient craft of magic, and spending four straight months with her best friend in the world. To tell the truth, her laughter was more of relief and excitement than anything else. Giving a dreamy sigh that sensed of anticipation for the coming term, she lifted herself up onto the train and began her search for Paul.
Just as both her feet had cleared the ground, the engine gave a start. She was jostled back for a moment, then regained her balance and headed in the direction of Paul's very loud, quite distinctive voice. She felt her way along the small walkway with one hand planted firmly against the inner wall, and ducked into the car it was more than obvious Paul had gone into.
He sat lengthwise across one of the bench-like seats, his back to the window and his knees nearly drawn up to his chest. Well, one was, anyway. The leg farthest from the backing of the bench was dropped down to the floor, and he'd wrapped both arms around his other knee. All in all, he looked very comfortable and at ease. Then again, he also had an older sister who went to the school. He probably already knew half the first years in Hogwarts.
"Come on Abs, you going to stand there all day or come sit with me?" he teased, motioning toward the empty seat opposite him. She nervously tucked a lock of her waist-length, silky straight black hair back behind her ear and sat herself comfortably down on the cushioned seat. Just as Paul was easily comfortable in any situation, so she was shy. She felt a bit more at ease around him, though, since he was practically her brother and she had known him her whole life.
His eyes followed her as she sat, his eyebrows furrowed in wondering thought. He dropped both feet to the floor and sat directly facing her, leaning forward slightly and staring with intrigue at her forehead. She shifted uncomfortably at this strange sort of examination. Finally he spoke to explain himself.
"Move your hair again…there, that bit over your right eye," he urged. She gave him a puzzled look but did as he asked, brushing away the loose strands above her eyes. He leaned in more and moved it away with a few more brushes of his own fingertips. She couldn't help feeling as though he was some sort of archaeologist, searching delicately for treasure buried beneath the sand of her hair.
"Huh. Never noticed that before…'suppose your hair was too long for me to see it. You've got a trace of the Phoenix mark. If I'm not mistaken it's in the same place as your dad's, but much fainter." She breathed a sigh of relief at the comment. Is that all? she thought, settling her hair back where it belonged. She'd thought she'd accidentally nicked herself or something. She laughed softly as he sat back in his seat again.
"Oh that. Yeah, I've had that since before I can remember. At first I thought it was just a birthmark, but then my mum started telling me I got it in some sort of accident. She wouldn't tell me what, though. I never really bothered to care too much. Then I noticed my dad had one just like it. I mean, it was hard not to notice, what with the Order adopting it as theirs and all. He told me quite honestly that he'd gotten his scar from being the only one to ever survive the Killing Curse of Voldemort. I asked if I got mine the same way, but he just smiled and said no…you don't suppose he's lying, do you?"
Abby had never given much though to the jagged mark above her eye. It was thin enough to have been drawn on with a very sharp pencil, and was usually hidden by her lengthy hair. Sometimes it even disappeared completely, only to reappear every so often. It had reappeared once as thick as her father's, and she'd deeply resented it because it marked her as a Potter. She loved her family, but sometimes wished she wasn't related in any way to "Harry Potter, Muggle savior and wizard warrior".
Paul lifted an eyebrow at her in doubt. "Your father? Lie? I doubt it. Your mum was probably right; it's probably just a birthmark. Odd birthmark, though…well, let's forget it and go get something to eat, all right?"