Chapter 5 - This Means War

Skye's gut twisted with anxiety. She and Helen had arrived at Kings Cross in plenty of time and it had been twenty five minutes to when she had pushed her trolley, complete with trunk, to stand under a sign indicating platform nine. However, Skye couldn't help but doubt if it was half past, and not twenty to, that she was supposed to meet Tabitha. Or maybe it was at platform ten instead?

"Skye!" Skye felt a rush of relief as she turned to a shout of her name to face Tabitha who was pushing a trolley topped with her trunk and a cat carrier. Her arm was raised high and waving frantically, almost hitting an older boy with the same raven black hair and brown eyes, in the face. Skye grinned and pushed her trolley to meet the approaching family.

"Hello," she greeted the family of four with a smile. The boy, Tabitha's brother, Skye thought, hung back leaning on his trolley whilst gazing around. The two adults however, approached Skye with welcoming smiles.

"Hello Skye," Mr Hart chirped. Tabitha had obviously inherited her dark locks from him, but his seemed to be sticking out in odd directions, "and of course it's a pleasure to meet your mother here. Must be exciting for muggles! A child witch!" Skye's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Helen's eyes narrowed at the man.

Skye began stammering, 'he meant… he didn't mean… uh…"

"A child which is bright enough to attend such a prestigious school. You must be very proud indeed," Mrs Hart interrupted smoothly. She on the other hand had light blonde hair streaked with dark patches.

Mr Hart's face had drained of colour.

"Yes. Of, of course," he gulped.

"Well, we better head to the platform. Don't want to miss that train, do we?" Mrs Hart smiled at the girls.

"Isn't this the platform?" Helen asked with eyebrows narrowed.

"No, it's just down there. Don't worry, we can take care of Skye," Tabitha smiled sweetly. Skye's panic grew. If there was one thing Helen was good at it, it was sniffing out a sneaky and suspicious child.

"I think I'd rather see her off," Helen said stubbornly. She wasn't leaving.

"Well, of course you do," Mrs Hart was rooting into the depths of her large handbag. "Now, where did I put those train tickets?" Mrs Hart's hand appeared to grasp something within her bag. Something peaked out, quick as lightning, while she muttered under her breath.

"My goodness! I've left the stove on. I need to go, Skye have a wonderful time and be sure to write," she hugged Skye in a tight embrace before rushing off in a blind panic.

"Good work, dear! My goodness, I'm sorry about that, Skye. I thought Muggle parents always knew. I mean they're always told!" he garbled.

"Err… that's alright, Mr Hart. Helen's not my mother so I guess she's not allowed to know," she explained.

"Mum, we're going to be late," Tabitha's brother stated.

"Honestly, Toby we're standing right by the entrance. Go on then. Show them how it's done," she breathed with a wave of her hand to shoo him away.

Toby grinned at Skye before running full pelt at a brick wall. She let out a yelp and was gobsmacked to realise there was no unconscious Toby at the base of the wall. He had just passed through.

"Dad, take my trolley please." She grabbed one half of Skye's trolley causing her to shift over. "Together?" she grinned with excitement. Skye's churning stomach seemed to settle at the question. She nodded and braced for impact as Tabitha yelled, 'Go!'.

"And they stick the landing!" Tabitha yelled as they emerged onto the platform.

Her whoops of celebration had seemed to attract the attention of the surrounding families. Usually, Skye would have resembled a tomato by this point, but she was still shaking from the experience.

"You better move out the way before you're run over," Toby's voice came from her left.

"That was not pleasant," she uttered as she maneuvered the trolley with shaking hands to stand near Toby.

"You get used to it," he shrugged as Mr and Mrs Hart came through the wall.

"Are we allowed to trade Skye for Tabby cat? She's displayed something akin to normalcy, which is highly refreshing, I must say," he inquired to his parents whilst watching his sibling run down a line of staring students, giving one boy with bright red hair a high five that was offered as she passed. Skye laughed at her potty new friend. She was a keeper that one.

XxX

Soon, Skye and Tabitha were stood in the window of their compartment of the bright scarlet steam engine, The Hogwarts Express, whilst waving goodbye to her parents. Toby had headed off to sit with friends, but not before wishing his little sister good luck for the sorting.

"Remember, it's Ravenclaw or you're being disowned," he had smirked.

Tabitha sighed with content as she settled into her seat.

"Skye, you would not believe how long I have been waiting for this. It's going to be brilliant. Feasts in the Great Hall, sunning ourselves on the Quidditch pitch, no parents to yell at you for jinxing anyone. Heaven," she sighed.

"Quid ditch? Is that some kind of hole with money in it? Like a wishing well?" she asked.

Tabitha let out a laugh, "not quite. It's wizarding sport. We fly around on broomsticks trying to get a ball in three big hoops, whilst the seeker tries to catch the small golden ball, called a Snitch."

"Ok." Skye couldn't really picture it, but she nodded anyway. "So, you're going to be in Ravenclaw house then?"

"No way. I wouldn't even make it in the dormitory. My brother says you need to answer a question every time you want to get in," her voice raised an octave in disbelief. "Mum and dad were Ravenclaws though so I guess it kind of runs in the family," she shrugged.

"My dad was a Gryffindor," Skye revealed.

"What? But I thought your were muggle-born?" Tabitha questioned.

"No, my dad was a wizard, but he's gone. Mum's a er… muggle though," the term felt foreign to Skye, but her mother had always said her dad had affectionately referred to her as so, since she was non-magical, so she knew what it meant. "She was the one who told me all I know about the wizarding world."

"But if your mum knows about the wizarding world, then why… hey, look! It's that boy who ran away from you in Flourish and Blotts," she exclaimed. Skye thanked the heavens for her friends short attention span as she turned to gaze out the door as Tabitha opened it up. "Hey you! Blondie!" Skye took in the familiar golden locks and gazed at the shocked face of the boy.

"Me?" he whispered.

"There you go, Mikey!" A red head smirked at his expression. Skye recognised him as the boy who gave Tabitha a high five earlier.

"And you were worried you wouldn't have any friends to sit with!" Or maybe the other boy gave Tabitha the high five. Skye wasn't sure since they were identical, both faces plastered with a smile as Mikey shifted uncomfortably.

"You owe my friend an apology! You thought she was a talking book stack!" She demanded as she crossed her arms in anger.

"Sorry…" he mumbled as he stared at his feet. Skye couldn't help but laugh at the poor boy who, most likely, didn't have a clue what he was apologising for.

"Have I missed something, Georgie?"

"Apparently, a girl who resembles a book stack," the twin named George replied. Skye could feel her face growing hotter at the attention they were giving her.

"Ha, I can see why! She's well read," he chuckled at his own joke.

"That was terrible, Fred," George shook his head in mock shame at the pun.

"Well, book-related humour isn't exactly my speciality."

"I'm just gonna go…" Mikey started to turn in hope of leaving the piercing stare that Tabitha gave the boys, but unfortunately he wasn't going to be able to escape that easily.

"See, even this one's fed up with the double act," Tabitha scoffed. Skye coughed, trying to cover up a laugh as George's face resembled fake-shock and Fred gasped, clutching his heart dramatically.

"We're hurt, Mikey. We take you in, in your hour of need, and you side with two girls instead of the great Weasley twins," George exclaimed.

"Yeah, well obviously he's got good instincts," Tabitha grabbed his arm and nudged him into the seat next to Skye, like it was some sort of victory. She had already forgotten that she was originally mad at him it seemed.

"Obviously," Fred smirked.

"Good luck with your new friends, Mikey!" George shouted as they began to walk out the compartment. Poor Mikey looked like a lost puppy as they walked away.

"Er hello, I'm Skye" she held out her hand in greeting. Mikey looked at her outstretched arm as if it was a snake.

"Michael," he breathed. Obviously deciding her hand was safe, he shook it reluctantly as Tabitha sat back down with a huff.

"Do you prefer to be called Mikey? They weren't teasing you were they?" Skye asked with concern.

"I bet they were, the big bullies!" Skye decided to ignore Tabitha's outburst while she cooled down.

"No, everyone calls me Mikey. They were quite nice actually. I was worried no one would like me and I'd be all alone. They said I shouldn't be worried though," the boy looked a bit embarrassed as he admitted his worries and glanced at the girl's reaction.

"Well, you can be our friend if you like," Mikey smiled at Skye's offer. "To be honest I'd probably be in your situation too, if I hadn't met Tabitha at Flourish and Blotts."

"Flourish and…" Mikey's mouth made a large O shape. "Wait, you were the book stack that made me run out?"

"She's not a book stack," Tabitha's voice hinted that she was much calmer now.

"Kind of. I was sitting on the floor behind all the books so you couldn't see me," she said sheepishly.

"You scared the living daylights out of me," he laughed. "I had to make my mum buy my books after that. There was no way I was stepping a foot back in that shop."

"Because they could talk? Is it that bad?" She questioned.

"Well I have to admit it startled me, but then I started to think if they can talk, what else can they do? What if one eats me? One big gulp and you'll never see me again!" His arms waved around energetically.

"I guess it's not entirely impossible," Tabitha mused.

"Don't tell me that! I'll have nightmares." Skye couldn't blame him. The thought of her dear books turning on her made her shudder.

Soon Tabitha was laughing, which seemed to be contagious since they all joined in. Soon they were swapping funny dreams they had, stopping occasionally to ask Tabitha to explain what half the things in hers were (apparently her grandmother had made recent appearances, represented as a niffler in a bright pink dressing gown with matching bonnet). As she reached for her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for a picture, a yowl came from the pet carrier, which drew her attention.

"Oh, Pat you're awake," she stated affectionately.

"You called your cat, Pat?" Mikey puzzled over the odd name, while Skye let out a breath of amusement.

"It's short for Patronus. So she can protect me from evil," Tabitha stated matter-of-factly. She began murmuring to the small, black cat as she opened the carrier.

"Want a sweet?" Michael offered Skye some sort of fruity chew, by the looks of it.

"Yes, please. I'm starving!" she moaned as she started unwrapping the sweet. It looked to be strawberry flavour from the red packaging. Michael started tearing at a blue one.

"Don't worry, the lady with the food trolley will be coming around soon," Tabitha reassured Skye as she turned her attention away from Pat the cat. Her face dropped at the sight of the now empty sweet wrappings. "Where did you get those sweets?"

Mikey covered his mouth to reply as he chewed, "Weeseys 'ave 'em too 'ee," he garbled mouth full.

"Spit it out!" she shrieked, but it was too late. Michael seemed to be turning a shade of blue that started at his lips and then spread to his face.

"Michael! Your face is blue!" Skye had aimed to say, but all she spouted from her mouth was the whistling of a boiled kettle. She could feel the sensation of a flushed face, but by the look of Mikey's wide eyes she guessed she was probably as red as he was blue. He also appeared to be shivering, as if from a cold chill.

At the high pitched sound two red headed twins came bouncing down the corridor to peer in. Both doubled over in laughter at the sight of the two oddly coloured faces staring back in shock. Skye didn't think her face could get any redder. That was before they started laughing, thereby causing her ears to smoke.

As Michael stood up and opened his mouth to yell at the pair, a familiar song seemed to emerge from his mouth singing 'dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh' that reminded Skye of one those mechanical singing Santas. At these developments the two twins only laughed harder, but this time Skye had to join in. The chorus of 'Jingle Bells' was too much for her and now her own laugh had turned into periodic whistles that made her sound like 'The Hogwarts Express' itself.

This only worsened matters as Mikey joined in her laughing, tears strolling down his face as he began the classic Christmas song's chorus. Even Tabitha, despite her fury, couldn't keep back her laughter, even letting out a small snort, that seemed to silence, and then reinstate the madness, in an instant.

Declaring their mission complete, the two Weasley twins slipped away from the chaos, unnoticed, with tears of laughter still in their eyes. It was a while before the compartment of three could even open their mouths without starting a fit of giggles once again. However, with a smile on her face Tabitha began to look mischievous all of a sudden.

"You're kind of creeping me out there, Tabitha" Skye joked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Her voice trembled with glee. Skye and Mikey gave each other a look that seemed to confirm they both had no idea what she was getting at. "This means war," she decreed.