* Meeting friends *

The train was out of the station and Platform 9 3/4 was a small dot in the horizon. She sat comfortably in the seat of the compartment she was now sharing with Teddy and opened her book. She was through the third page of the story when the book suddenly flew out of her hands. She looked at it, confused, then looked at Teddy sitting in front of her and waving his wand with a mischivious grin in his face.
"Teddy, come on! Give me my book back!" she asked as she tried to reach it. Teddy just laughed a bit.
"Come on, Belle! You're not going to spend our very first ride in the Hogwarts Express just reading, are you? Don't be such a bookworm!" he said swaying his wand back and forth, the book still flying.
"Just give it to me, Edward!" she shouted. Teddy swayed her wand again and the book flew out of the compartment.
"Go and get it, bookworm." he laughed. She got up and angrily stroded out of the compartment. She looked both sides and spotted it. She went to it as a tall, blonde boy picked it up. He looked at her.
"Is it yours?" he asked, handing the book to her. Belle looked at him and met his gaze. His eyes were sky blue-coloured.
"Yeah. Thank you." she said, taking it.
"It's a nice book. It has lots of stories." he said. Belle looked at him, shocked.
"You... you know this book?" she asked. The boy nodded.
"I read it to my sister a couple of times." he said, then he held his hand out to her. "I'm Adam." he said.
"I'm Belle." she said, shaking hands with him.
"Like in the girl in the story?" he asked with a smile. Belle looked at him, confused.
"What?" she asked.
"There's this muggle story called Beauty and The Beast. One of the main characters - the girl - is called Belle." Adam said. Belle looked at him, shocked. She couldn't believe that someone besides her knew about muggle stories.
"I-I... I know. It was my mom's favourite story when she was a little girl. And my dad was reading it once while she was pregnant with me, and he said that the girl reminded him of mom and that he was sure that I was going to be like her, so... they named me after that character." she said, blushing a bit.
"I think it's a nice name." he said, still staring at her. She smiled.
"Do you... are you going to your compartment?" she asked, curious.
"I'm actually looking for one. They're all occupied." he said kind of hopeless. Belle smiled a bit.
"You can seat with us, then. Come on." she told him, and they both started walking. "So... how do you know muggle fairytales?" she asked.
"My dad's a muggle and my mom's a witch, so we were raised both ways. What about you?" he asked.
"Mom and dad are magical, but mom's a muggle-born, so she keeps a lot of muggle customs. We have many books at home, muggles and magic ones." she explained as they reached her compartment. She opened the door and walked in. Teddy looked at her, smirking.
"You found it already!" he said. She stuck her tongue at him and sat down. Adam sat next to her.
"He's Teddy Lupin. Teddy, this is Adam." Belle said introducing one another. Teddy and Adam shook hands.
"So... any ideas which house you're gonna get? I'm hoping to be in Gryffindor like my uncle Harry and my dad. Mom was a Hufflepuff, so I guess that would be alright too." Teddy said. Adam shrugged his shoulders.
"Dad works in advertising in the muggle world. Mom's a Wampus. She studied in Ilvermorny, so I guess any house in Hogwarts would be OK." the blonde boy said.
"What's Ilvermorny?" Teddy asked, confused.
"The school of witchcraft and wizardry in the United States. Apart from Hogwarts, there are other nine magical schools around the world. Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons Academy in France, Castelobruxo in Brazil, Durmstrang Institute in Bulgaria, Mahoutokoro in Japan and Uagadou in Uganda are the most reknown ones after Hogwarts." Belle said in her most matter-of-fact, Hermione-ish tone. Teddy rolled his eyes with a boring expresion in his face while Adam looked at her, astonished.
"Wow! You know a lot! Anyway, mom moved to the UK after graduation. She met my dad in muggle London while looking for a place to live. They were neighbours. She works in the Ministry now, in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, in the International Magical Trading Standards Body." he explained. Belle just looked at him.
"My mom works there as well. She started in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures but then she moved to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." she said. Adam looked at her, interested.
"What about your dad?" he asked.
"Dad was an Auror, but he quit when my sister Rose was born. Now he works in a joke shop with my uncle George." she said, putting her book in her bag.
"Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Best joke shop in the world." Teddy said, grinning. Adam looked at Belle, shocked.
"Your dad's a Weasley? Auror Weasley?" he asked, his big blue eyes looking at her. Belle sighed and nodded. "So, if that's your dad, then your mom is..." he continued, putting two and two together.
"the Ministry of Magic." Teddy concluded with a smile as Belle kicked his shin. Teddy gave her a look and she glanced back.
"That's quite cool!" Adam exclaimed. Belle shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess so." she asked.
The rest of the ride was nice. They talked about everything and anything. Belle and Adam realized they both had many things in common such as books and games, and Teddy found out he was a Quidditch fan as well. It was nice to find someone out of the family circle to talk about magic and other stuff. Silently, the three of them were hoping to get in the same house so they would be together and built their newly relationship through the forthcoming years.