Chapter 3

Leaving

Andy lifted the wand, feeling a surge of heat and power in her arm. On impulse she raised

the wand, pointing into a corner. A flash of red light erupted from the tip, shattering a chair in the

shadows of the shelves. Andy's mother woke with a start from her nap. Mr. Olivander siezed

Andys arm just in time before she shattered anything else. He took the wand to the front of the

room, muttering to himself. Andy was still elated minutes later as she walked down the street,

carrying all of her books and other supplies. Andy and her mother decided to go to the Magical

Menagerie to pick Andy a pet. As they entered the store, it only took seconds for Andy to

make a strong connection with one of the kittens. She looked into the dimly lit cages and tanks,

but was uninterested in anything she saw. There, right in front of her, was a midnight black kitted

that would fit in the palm of her hand. It leaped onto her shoulder licking her face and digging its

claws into her shoulder. Andy turned her head to its fullest extent, looking ito the gray eyes of

the frisky kitten. The kitted licked her nose. Giggling, Andy vowed to have this kitten. She

presented it to her mother, who, although skeptically, allowed her to purchase the pet.

By this time there was hardly any money left, even with the money her mother had picked

up while her robes were being fitted. Andy walked out of the store, now, in addition to

packages, she had a kitted in her arms. They entered the three broomsticks and approached the

counter, looking to sit down.

"Are you two intending to travel back tonight?" Asked the balding bartender.

"We were, yes. Why?"

"It's far too late now, tell you what, because you two are knew here abouts, I'll let you have

a room. I also have an old trunk you can use if you need one."

"Really? That is so kind of you." Replied Mrs. Black/Glenn, Andy looked at her mother as

she adopted a high pitched, girlish voice and became stary eyes. Was she flirting with this old

man? He actually isn't that old, maybe he'll be good for mum. Andy went into room 11 and

dumped her packages on the bed. She took her wand out again and looked at it, it was so

beautiful. She lifted it again, and waved it in the air. As she did so it began to emit red sparks.

Again, that irresistable surge of power came again, causing her to want to destroy things, to use

magic. She put the wand down, hearing a knock on her door. It was Tom, the bartender, with

his trunk.

"Thought you might want this, I just dug it up from the attick. It might be a little dirty, but it's

better than nothing."

"Thank you very much, you're so kind." A little dirty was a major understatement. Andy

took a towel from the bathroom and wet it, wiping the entire trunk out. When she removed the

towel, it had gone from white to brown. Andy loaded her cauldron into the bottom, and put her

robes inside it. She loaded her books into the other half of the trunk, stacking them neatly. She

put her potions supplies on top and closed the trunk. She just needed to get home and put in

shoes, socks, underwear, bedding, and hygenic items. Other than that, she was all set. Andy lay

down on her bed, and realized how hungry she was. She picked up her kitten, whom she had

named Merlin after the only wizard she had ever heard of besides Morgana, and headed

downstairs for some food.

Tom and her mother were sitting at a table together, talking in hushed voices. Her mother

was looking stary eyes again. Andy rolled her eyes and approached the two.

"Sorry, er, excuse me?"

"Yes, how may I help you?" Asked Tom, standing up and putting his apron back on.

"I was wondering if I could have something to eat."

"You two haven't eaten? It's well past 9:00 by now. I'll fix you something, just you sit right

down there."

"Thank you very much." said Andy, sitting obediantly. After an hour had passed, Andy was

comfortably full. She stood up, kissing her mother on the cheek and going upstairs to sleep. At

10:00 the next morning Andy rolled off of the bed. Merlin hissed and jumped on her head.

"Oh, you're up, good. I think we should go home. We have a lot of shopping to do in the

Muggle world as well if you are to leave for Hogwarts in a month." Andy and her mother spent

the next weeks outfitting her for boarding school. She bought bedding, sationary, monogrammed

towels, a laundry bag, lots of underpants and socks, and was finally ready to go.

Andy spent the last few days of summer with her friends, who were all back. She did not

tell them that she was a witch, or that her father had bee a wizard murdered by a deadly society.

She told them that she was going to boarding school because her mother thought she would do

well with more discipline, that this was a punishment for her acting out in school. They saw every

movie out that summer in the last few days of break, and spent hours hanging around people

houses, enjoying eachothers company.

"I promise, I'll write you as soon as I get there." Andy said the night before the train was

scheduled to leave.

"The second you get there?" Asked a tearful Shelli.

"The very second, I'll even write the letter o nthe train."

"You better." Said Shelli, giving her a hug and walking out the door. Shelli lived in the

appartemnt across the street from Andy's appartement, and the two girls had been friends since

the first day of pre school. Shelli was always there for her, and Andy would miss her more than

anyone else when she went away. Two months ago, nothing had seemed better than going to

Hogwarts, but now, with the date drawing ever nearer, she was starting to get butterflies in her

stomach. What if they don't like me? What if they think I'm a loser because I never knew

about magic before. Maybe I shouldn't have named Merlin merlin, will that make them

think I'm a stupid little kid who doesn't know anything?

Andy went to bed early that night, after taking a shower. She woke up early the following

morning and paced her room, checking and double checking that everything was in her trunk. At

9:30 her mother woke up and made berakfast. One of the benefits of having a mother who

compulsavely overate was that she always made a lot of good food. Not to mention here was

never a shortage of snacks, making her house the popular place to hang out after school. Andy

sighed, brushing her hair. It was 10:14, and she had been counting down the minutes until they

would leave. The train left platform 9 and 3/4 at 11:15, and they wanted to be there 15 minutes

early. It took 15 minutes to get there, so hey were leaving at quarter of 11. Andy threw some of

her own books into her trunk, along with some blank journals. She had arranged her quills and

inks by color and size. She was excited, but also nervous. She paced her room biting the nails of

one hand and storking Merlin with the other.

She finished brushing her hair and threw the brush into her trunk. There was a section

devoted to bath products, her robe, monogramed towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, and hair

scrunchies. Andy flopped onto her bed, looking at her watch. Andy counted to one hundred

slowly and closed her eyes. Calm down girl, it's okay. You'll be just fine, it'll work out

well, you'll do fine. Calm down. Andy shrieked into her pillow, venting some of her nerves.

She went back into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of twizzlers, she had picked up some of her

mothers eating habbits. Realizing what she was doing Andy dropped the bag and stepped onto

the treadmill Andy's mother had bought in an effort to get back into shape. that had lasted all of

a week. Andy turned the speed up to 6 miles an hour, increasing the slope. She ran faster and

faster, pushing herself for more. After 20 minutes she was sweating profusly, without enough

time to take a shower. That was dumb of you Andy. Way to make an impression, show up

on your first day looking sweaty and disgusting. Smart move. That will deffinately help

you make friends. I'm sure the first thing they will think is wow, that girl is cool, lets go

hang out with the girl who doesn't care enough about herself to take a shower! Willing

her mind to shut up she got off the treadmill and entered the bathroom, splashing water on her

face. She looked around the bathroom for anything she might have forgotten. There was nothing

of course, she had already pased around the entire appartement 50 times at least. Andy looked

at the face of her watch, 10:47, okay, time to go now.

"MOM!!!!" she yelled.

"I'm right here, don't yell like that, you'll wake the dead." Andy had never liked that

expression, firstly, she would not wake all of the dead people by screaming, many of them had

rotted by now or were burried too far away from her house for her yelling to effect them at all.

Secondly, if the dead were asleep, they would not be dead. Andy and her mother went

downstairs and flagged a taxi. They loaded her trunk into trunk of the taxi and drove to Kings

Cross Station. Andy's mother had to get to work, she had already take too much time off as it

was. She hugged Andy goodbye and kissed her, making her promise to write her the moment

she arrived at Hogwarts. It wasn't until the taxi had left again, with her mother, and she was

standing alone with a trunk she could barely life that she realized he had no idea how to get to

platform 9 and 3/4. She looked around, there wasn't anyone wearing robes, and no one stood

out as a witch or wizard, not that she knew what one would look like or recognize one if she

saw one. She took her ticket out of her purse and approached a policman.

"Excuse me sir, I was looking for platform 9 and 3/4." Andy asked the man in the blue

uniform, showing him her ticket.

"There is no platform 9 and 3/4, are you messing with me?" He asked, looking at her

suspiciously, but not touching the ticket.

"Well, what about the train that leaves at 11:15?" Asked Andy persistantly.

"You are messing with me, you little punk." The policeman said, growing increasingly

impatient.

"I'm not." Andy assured him. "See? Look at my ticket." Before the policeman took her

ticket a young man who looked to be about 15 came up.

"There you are silly! We were looking all over for you!" Andy's heart lept, whoever this boy

was, he was hott, and he also had a trunk just like her own! "I'm dreadfully sorry officer, my

sister is a little wrong in her upper story. We're taking her to stay with my grandmother by the

sea, the doctors said that would be good for her."

"Oh, I see. I'm very sorry." Said the policeman, not lokoing at Andy indulgently.

"We're very sorry to have wasted your time officer." Said the handsome boy as he pulled

her away. When they were out of earshot the boy adressed Andy. "What the hell did you think

you were doing? Platform 9 and 3/4 is a secret, obviously muggles don't know about it! You

can't go on about it to everyone you see. Are you stupid?" He had said muggles! And he had

also mentioned platform 9 and 3/4, he must go to Hogwarts as well, thank goodness.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize. How do I get to the platform?"

"You walk through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 of course, what did you think

you did?"

"I didn't know. I'm a first year." Andy said, looking into his grey eyes. He really was

handsome.

"Didn't your parents tell you?" He asked suspiciously.

"No. My mother is a muggle, and she left. My dad died when I was 7."

"Oh, so you're a mud blood?" Said the boy in a mixture of contempts and disappointement.

Why wasn't she offended by that? most girls get all offended and march away when I

insult them like that, obviouslt this one is of higher class than mud blood Granger.

"What's a mud blood?" Asked Andromeda, unaware of the fact that he was insulting her to

the highest degree.

"Someone who has muggle parents."

"Well, what do you qualify someone whos father was a pure blood from a good family, but

whos mother is a muggle?"

"A mudblood is what I call them, although I suppose since you are a member of the

pureblood family you are slightly better than the rest." The boy seemed ginuinly puzzled by this

question.

"And why does it matter? I mean, if we can all do magic, then why does it matter what kind

of family we have?" She asked innocently.

"Are you kidding? Of course it makes a dfference." He said, as if she were commiting

blasphemy.

"How?" Said Andy curiously.

"It just does." He said, flustering and obviously trying to come up with a better answer.

Now that she mentions it, why does it make a difference, Dad never got around to

explaining that part of it. "Come on, I'll show you how to get onto the train I suppose, even

if you are a mud blood."

"Thank you, I'm sorry, but what's your name?"

"Draco Malfoy. And you?" He looked at her, to see if she would snicker at his name as

everyone else did every time he said it. Her facial expression did not change in the slightest, she

just nodded and told him her name. I like her already, and she's quite pretty, even if she is a

first year. Maybe she doesn't count as a mud blood if she also had pure blood, he would

have to ask his father. At this thought his stomach clenched, his father. If I ever see him

again, who knows where he is right now? Besides, it's not like he would come how to mum

and me anyway.

"Andromeda Black. But all my friends call me Andy." She extended her freshly manicured

and lotioned hand. It was very small in his large one. You know what they say, big hands big

feet, big feet big shoes...

"Well Andy," wait, did she just say her name was Andy Black? As in the Black

family? Maybe she did qualify as a pure blood if she was really a Black, but maybe she

meant a different Black family. But if she was a Black, didn't that make her related to

Sirius and Harry Potter in a way too? "follow me, I'll show you to the train. Here, let me

help you with your trunk." He lifted the trunk on top of his own cart and started to wheel it in

front of him. As he lifted it she saw his muscles ripple under his shirt. "Jeez, what do you have in

here, bricks?" He asked, smiling at her. He had perfect pearly wite teeth. Andy couldn't help but

try to remember whether or not she had brushed her teeth that morning. She ran her tongue over

her own plaque covered teeth and folowed him through the crowded Kings Cross Station.

"Here, since this is your first time through, come with me." Andy smiled now, regardles of her

plaque covered teeth. He was so sweet!

"Thanks. And thank you for saving me from the policeman."

"Oh, it's no problem at all." He said, brushing off her thanks. They walked through the

barrier to platform 9 and 3/4.

Authors Note: Sorry, I just felt the need to throw Malfoy in there, I know he's a bad guy, but I feel like he needs to be redeemed. There must be a good guy hidden in there somewhere...maybe...we'll have to see...read and review as usual!!