Hi, so I decided that I would lengthen the chapters a bit, so it may be a bit confusing for those of you who have read this far, but there's nothing new in the past chapters, don't worry!
Izzy fell back to the ground, looking up with her eyes wide at the girl who had knocked her down. She was short and Izzy couldn't guess her age. She had long, shimmering blond hair and these stormy grey eyes. She had a kind of air about her as she fell back toward what Izzy assumed was her family. They were all blond haired, radiating a power she couldn't place, but one she definitely didn't like. They wore expensive looking clothes but didn't seem too happy about it, glancing at Muggle's with almost a look of disgust. Izzy stood up, "I'm so sorry! That was my fault, I didn't see-"
"Are you alright, Izzy?" Moony came up behind her, helping her, his eyes concerned before glancing up at the family and putting a fake, polite smile. "Lucius…Narcissa…" he nodded civilly, helping his adopted daughter brush dust off of her clothes.
"Lupin…is this…yours?" Lucius asked with almost a tone of apathy, as if the thought of Moony having a child be unthinkable. Izzy frowned.
"I'm his adopted daughter. Who are you?" She glanced at the girl she had run into, who was giving her a distasteful look like Lucius' but her eyes gleamed with apology and curiosity.
"These…are the Malfoys, Isabelle. Is it…Draco's first year as well?" He glanced at Narcissa for an answer but she seemed to be gazing at Izzy, eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yes, and Jett's as well." Once again, Izzy caught a small bit of a dislike in his tone when he said the name "Jett," obviously the girl's name. She was reassuring the other blond boy that she was alright, obviously bickering.
"Well…I apologize for the mishap. Have a good day," Moony nodded before gripping Izzy's shoulder tight and leading her into the stone barrier. She flinched thinking she was about to get a bloody nose but when she opened her eyes she found a completely different picture. Families were buzzing around, some with long robes that looked like bigger versions of her Hogwart's robes. Kids bustled around, running toward the train, with owls hooting loudly. Izzy frowned again, remembering she didn't have a pet to bring with her this year, but didn't let Moony see.
"Welcome to Platform 9 and 3/4, Izzy," Moony said with a wide smile, trying to hide his distaste from whatever was bothering him. He moved them away from the entrance toward the mass of people, and as she approached she saw the giant, crimson train. Smoke was piling from a pipe, and there were at least a dozen train cars, or so she thought.
"It's huge! And…is that the Hogwart's Express?" She almost bounced with excitement, forgetting about the small squabble with the family just a few minutes before. Moony put his hands on her shoulders to still them and looked down at her with a proud smile.
"This is where we part, Izzy. Will you write every once in awhile? You can use the school owls… And whatever house you are put into, it'll fit you the best. I…" He hesitated again, glancing around and settled on the blond-haired family of four again. Izzy noticed the lady, Narcissa, was still looking at her with a puzzled expression. Moony stepped between them and bent down again. "I love you, and I'm very glad you came to live with me. We'll discuss about coming home for the holidays in a bit, but…I just wanted to tell you…your last name-" Suddenly, the train whistle called sharp and loud and there was a scramble for the train. Moony sighed and hugged her, "I'll tell you soon. Now come on! You don't want to miss this!" He snaked through the crowd, adding her trunk magically to the pile and brought her to the stairs. "Owl me! Now go on, love you, have fun!"
She glanced back at him before hopping in and bounding up the stairs but having no idea where to go from there. She glanced down the hallways and decided to take the less-populated route, trying to find other First Years she could possibly befriend. As she turned to go down that hallway a familiar-looking, brown-haired girl called her name.
Izzy turned just in time to be almost knocked down to the floor in a bone-crushing hug. She froze at first not realizing who it was before- "DEST!" She laughed and hugged her back, smiling so wide, she couldn't believe she had forgotten that her best friend would be here too! "How are you!"
"I'm pretty good, the week went by fast, I think. I have so much to tell you though! You know the Johnson brothers, well we had a football game and I was goalie and-"
"Wait, wait, wait! We need to find a place to sit first-" Izzy said, still laughing.
"Oh! I already have one…I think. I'm not sure, it was empty so I just put my bag down there, oh and Stripes will be waiting there too, so I don't actually know but-"
"Who's Stripes?" Izzy asked, feeling like she had missed an entire year of her best friend's life rather than just a week.
"Stripes is my kitten that Miss Beth gave me because I'm leaving for school, and she wanted me to take a little piece with her…so this is one of her cat's kittens. Here, he's really funny!" Dest pulled her along until they entered the compartment where two others were already sitting. Izzy entered cautiously, feeling their gaze go on the two of them. One was a boy, a bit plump and a boyish sort of face. The other was a girl with bushy brown hair and eyes that looked like they analyzed your every move.
"Hermione, Neville, this is Izzy! She's my friend, I've known her for ALL my life and we just found out only a month ago that we're witches, and she's really smart!" Dest, who was smiling, hoping to almost impress the two others, glanced at Izzy.
"Erm…hello," she answered, waving her hand in a friendly gesture, never comfortable around strangers.
"Nice to meet you, you hadn't happened to find a toad on the way, did you? Neville here lost his and, well, did you see one?" Izzy shook her head and Neville frowned, his hands going nervously through his hair.
"Gram is going to kill me…" he muttered as he glanced at Hermione, who once again seemed to be thinking.
"Well…where did you last see your…toad?" Izzy asked sitting down before yelping as a big fuzzy creature jumped onto her lap. It took her a moment to realize it was a kitten and not some odd creature about to bite her. He was white with black stripes like a tiger, and he rubbed the side of his head against Izzy's hand. She gingerly petted him and his fur was soft and smooth. Glancing up she found Dest smiling at her as if to say, "See? Stripes. I told you he was perfect!"
"He was in my hands and I got on the train but then some boys hit my shoulders and he hopped out of my arms."
"Here, come on Neville, we should change into our robes now before there's a line anyways. We can look for Trevor on the way. Will you and Izzy keep a look-out for Trevor, too, Dest?" Both girls nodded and Hermione and Neville left to look for the frog.
"So…what about you? How has the past week been with…with Mr. Lupin?" Dest asked hesitantly, as if she didn't want to say the wrong thing. Izzy glanced at her, trying to read her feelings on the matter but couldn't.
"It was pretty good, I got to go camping. He lives in this cottage in the middle of the woods, and its small but it's great! I really wish you had come though…it would have been so much more fun." Izzy gave her best friend a sad smile before hugging her. "I missed you, being able to talk to you in person. Even the letters weren't enough…but now we're going to be able to see each other all the time! Just like before, right?"
"Right. I missed you too, Izzy, but I got along… Worst case, I could always go and talk to Miss Beth. But you're right, we'll see each other every day and it'll be as it should be!" They talked for a bit longer, retelling stories of the past week apart and predicting what the magic school would be like.
"I heard on the train there's also a candy cart…do you think that's true?" Izzy asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Neville was talking about it before. I think it went past us already though…"
"Darn, I was going to buy us a chocolate bar or something. Mr. L- I mean, my Dad gave me one Galleon to use if I got hungry. Think I'm allowed to go looking for it?" Izzy bit her lip, glancing toward the compartment doors as if the candy cart would appear so she wouldn't have to.
"I don't see why not. I'd rather stay here and change, just in case Hermione and Neville come back. I can come if you need-" Dest corrected herself, beginning to stand.
"No! No it's alright; I'll go and be right back. I'll ask about Trevor on the way as well!" Izzy stood, smiling and held the Galleon tight in her hand as she began down the hallway. She saw older students that towered over her, some smiled at her and others glared as she walked past. All along the way, though, she didn't see the candy cart once. She was about to turn back as she saw an older student walk from the next train down with a handful of candy in his hands. Following where he came from, she entered into the train.
It was one long, open caboose, with no compartments but furnished tables and chairs. Everything looked expensive; there were chandeliers on the roof of the train, drapes over the windows. All of the students wore their school robes, which were trimmed with silver and green. She tried to think back to Hogwarts: A History if there was some meaning to it. Before she could remember, though, she walked right into a blond haired girl, shorter than herself but who looked familiar.
"Ow- Oh! You're Jett! I met you on the platform, right? I never got to introduce myself, I'm Isabelle Lupin-" Izzy stuck her hand out as Jett turned around to study her, but before she could speak or move another voice rang out from behind her.
"What are you doing here? Mudbloods don't belong in the Slytherin Carriage." Jett moved to the side to glance back at the other blond boy she had seen on the platform: Draco Malfoy.
"You're…Draco Malfoy, right? Why don't I belong here? I'm just coming to get some candy-" Iz said, cocking her head to the side, confused by the word "mudblood" as well as his attitude for her being here.
"Jett, come sit back down, we don't associate ourselves with them-"
"Don't tell me what to do-" Jett crossed her arms but sat down anyways, across the table from him and stared out the window.
"Associate with who? I'm just trying to be friendly-!" Getting a bit annoyed, Izzy's eyes flashed.
"Well we will never be friends. You shouldn't even be allowed IN Hogwarts, my Daddy's trying to change that, in the Wizengamot-" Draco retorted smugly, smirking down at her.
"What is the Wizen- whatever that is, and why does it matter? I haven't even done anything to you-"
"My Daddy says you don't actually have any magical power. You're just Mudblood scum-"
"That's enough." An older voice came from behind Izzy and she jumped. Turning around she saw a taller boy with a badge that read "prefect." "She's here to get candy, keep to yourself, Malfoy." He gave Draco a look before walking away to sit farther in the train cart. Draco gave her a look of pure disgust but turned away, not saying anything more but talking in hushed whispers with two other boys that looked to be their age.
Moving along, she quickly bought the candy and walked out of the carriage, not even glancing back at Malfoy. She had just reached the compartment with Hermione, Neville and Dest all inside when the train began slowing to a stop.
I apologize if this isn't moving very quickly, but I'm trying to get a base line for the story. It should speed up within the next few chapters! Review please, it always helps me to update faster!