CHAPTER 1: IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM
It was a very pleasant autumn morning as I walked along the streets of London to king's cross station along with my mom and dad. I was full of excitement as well as a bit sad as I approached it. This would mean that I would be separated from my parents for 4 months till the Christmas holidays -the longest in my eleven years on earth. My parents, David and Jane Kress were aurors and they did abandon me for short spans of time when they were stuck in serious work. But 4 months would be an unusually long separation. Well we had arrived a bit early as the platform 9 3/4 wasn't packed with wizards and witches as it should've been. I cranked my neck around to see around me. I went closer towards the express to take a closer look at its insides. I saw my face reflecting on its polished glass-my deep blue eyes sparkling with anticipation and my dark brown long straight hair which was tied back into a ponytail looked neater than ever. I smiled, satisfied with my appearance. Well I, Cindy KRESS had to impress my teachers on my first classes itself .My father always said "FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION".I had already studied my set books off as much as I could after I bought them from Flourish and Blotts.
I turned to find my dad talking with a tall wizard with a thin face and long black hair which he had tied with a grey ribbon down his front. And close to him, wearing a frown was probably his son. He looked as if he would be the same age as me. I noticed that he was very good-looking. His eyes were grey, and his sleek black hair fell over them with a casual elegance. He was lounging with his back on a pillar as support and his hands were deep in his pockets. He wore a white shirt that stuck out of his dark blue jeans and I noticed that a few buttons near his collar remained unbuttoned. I felt hot near my ears and my limbs went numb. I stood there staring at him for a whole few minutes awkwardly which I realized suddenly as he turned to glare at my stupid face. Maybe I was blushing red because my mother came closer with concern in her eyes to ask me if I was feeling well [maybe she thought I had caught a sudden fever].
It was now 15 minutes before the train left the station. I took my luggage up the train and found an isolated compartment and settled down in it. A moment later a boy with light brown hair settled in the seat opposite mine. I noticed that he looked sick and his head drooped towards the glass of the window. It looked like he hadn't managed to catch a proper sleep for the past few days.
The Hogwarts Express whistled and it took on motion. I stuck out my hand to bid farewell to my parents. Soon they disappeared as the train took a round corner. I sighed and settled down on my seat to find the guy opposite me dozing off. Well he really is sick, I thought and my mind again drifted off to that boy whose charming looks had made me behave like a fool few minutes ago.
After a great boring half an hour however someone else entered our compartment. It was a girl, who had almond shaped green eyes and thick dark red hair. She was followed by a hooked nose boy having lanky greasy black hair that covered a great deal of his face and he was frowning slightly. They sat down on the seat opposite me. The boy stared for a moment at the dozing boy beside him and then he said to the red head girl," don't worry lily, it'll be fine. Once we are in the same house you don't have to worry.I'll always help you in your work. No one will even doubt you are muggle-born." The girl who looked teary looked up and said, "do you really think, sev, it'll…..be alright?".The boy said with a grin on his face and he nodded his head abruptly,"yeah! Absolutely."This seemed to cheer her up.
I, who was listening to their conversation, said,"So, you guys have already decided which house you want to be in, do you?"The greasy haired boy seemed to be taken aback on my sudden interruption {god I really was dying to discuss with someone regarding things at Hogwarts}. He said with a smirk on his face,"well, nobody knows which house they'll be in, we can just guess.""Oh, I hope I'll be in ravenclaw . I heard that people in ravenclaw are witty and clever…..now that both my parents were in Gryffindor."I added after an afterthought. The boy said,"I bet I'll be in slytherin" . I winced. I had always heard from my parents that the slytherins were an unpleasant lot and that a lot of them showed a great deal of interest in the dark arts.
Now the dozing boy opposite me woke up with a start and asked,"what! Are we already there?" The red head girl said that we hadn't. I closed my mouth with my hand as I stifled a snigger.
"well, what are your good names?" I asked them. The girl smiled and said,"im lily. Lily Evans. I'm muggle born, so I don't know a lot about things at Hogwarts and magic. I just hope everything will go fine." The greasy haired boy said curtly, "I'm Severus snape."He looked like someone who didn't want to make friends easily. However, the boy seated opposite me stretched out his hand and said, "I'm Remus Lupin". "Nice to meet you." I smiled awkwardly and shook his hand."I'm Cindy Kress."Well, this fellow looked friendly and courteous, I thought."I hope you are in ravenclaw too, "I said. He smiled and then started to look out through the window. Meanwhile, lily and Severus had started their little conversation again. Severus looked a lot pleasant when he talked to lily.
Well, nothing mattered to me at this moment as it was one of the happiest moments of my life as the Hogwarts express sped off amidst lush green valleys and then dark tunnels. I had always wanted to come to Hogwarts since I was six and and my dream was about to come true.