01. September 1982
The soft rattling of the train made her yawn tiredly, while her eyes remained fixed on the darkness stretching out before her. She did not want to miss the moment when the monotonous landscape opened up in front of them, revealing for the first time the legendary castle they had been told so much about in the past.
Briefly, her anticipation was overshadowed by a feeling of heaviness and the corners of her mouth twitched down menacingly, but before she could lose herself in her sad thoughts of the past, the sliding door of their compartment was pushed open with a loud bang and she flinched in fright.
She gave her brother a nasty look and watched him silently as he struggled with the tie of his school uniform.
"I already know I'll never learn," he muttered, tugging at the piece of fabric for a moment longer before scowling at her own perfectly fitted tie. Then he held his own out to her. „You do it."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly and grinned at him. "What do I get in return?"
His expression darkened for a moment before he too smiled. Threateningly, he raised his hands and approached her, "I can just tickle you until you do it."
"You wouldn't dare."
"No?" he pretended to think for a moment. Then he shrugged, "but I'm the older of the two of us. I have more rights than you."
"You're only twelve minutes older than me," she protested loudly. But before he could have attacked her, she reached out for the tie and waved him on.
It took her only a few seconds to bind the piece of cloth perfectly and with a jerk she tightened the loop so much that her brother let out a strangled sound. Indignantly, he loosened the tight noose and adjusted his tie before shoving Wanda back into the seat cushion of the train compartment with a firm shove. „Idiot."
She just shrugged. "Says the guy who can't even tie a bow."
"Not everyone is so bent on being perfect."
"And not everyone is as stupid as you!"
Annoyance flashed across his face and he was about to make a mean retort when his anger gave way to childish enthusiasm. Hastily he stumbled past his sister and pressed his face against the cool glass to catch a glimpse of the surroundings. She quickly followed him and also looked out into the darkness, which by now was illuminated by a variety of twinkling lights.
"I think we're there!", Pietro stated the obvious and Wanda rolled her eyes in irritation, but said nothing and instead looked at the small station they seemed to be entering.
True, they had not yet seen the magic castle, but nevertheless, all at once her heart gave an unpleasant leap and began to pound. Nervously, she kneaded her fingers in front of her body and looked at the many lights until she could bear the inner turmoil no longer.
With a firm grip, she grasped her brother's hand and literally clung to his arm, whereupon he, without hesitation, returned the pressure and intertwined his fingers with hers.
It was the day they had both awaited for so long - the day they could finally go to Hogwarts and leave this damned orphanage behind, at least for the coming school year. But now that this moment had finally come after these long two years, they both seemed to feel unready to start this new chapter of their lives.
The only comfort they had left was each other. And that thought seemed to be the only thing that could reassure them at this time.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
"Pietro Maximoff!"
For a split second he squeezed her hand in a reassuring gesture and threw her a warm smile before breaking away. The small group of remaining first years parted in front of him and let him through the crowd up to the podium where the stern looking professor, who had introduced herself to them as Minerva McGonagall when they arrived, was waiting for her brother with that strange hat in her hands.
With a confident, and no less mischievous, grin, he crossed the podium and dropped inelegantly onto the wooden stool before flashing an even wider grin at the waiting crowd. He wiggled his feet excitedly and looked to Professor McGonagall, who approached him and placed the too large hat on his head. Promptly, like the times before, it came back to life and looked sceptically down at the child; its leathery eyebrow raised thoughtfully as it did so.
"So," the strange voice finally began after a moment's consideration, "you are energetic. With you, I don't even have to think long about where you might be best placed. Yes yes, that's a wonderful fit," for a moment the hat was silent - as it always seemed to be in order to build up the tension - then it shouted loudly, "Gryffindor!"
Loud cheers erupted from the table on the right side of the hall. A smile spread across Pietro's face and McGonagall also nodded at him with a smirk on her face before directing him towards the applauding table. With a little hop, he jumped off the chair and gave Wanda a quick wink, then hurriedly ran over to the house that would be his family for the next few years.
And for a moment she looked after him with relief - once again filled with anticipation of the time that lay ahead of them here, until suddenly her heart seemed to stop.
"Wanda Maximoff!"
A lump spread in her throat and she had to swallow hard as she instinctively cast her eyes to the floor and dropped her shoulders. She was uncomfortably aware of everyone's stares and only hesitantly did she start to move as the group now split on in front of her, clearing a path towards the podium.
She made an effort to make herself as small as possible as she approached the waiting professor with slow steps. She looked stern and intimidating, but Wanda thought she recognised a smile of encouragement on her lips when she finally reached the step to the podium.
She anxiously kneaded her fingers and played with the tip of her tie until she finally reached the small chair. Much more reluctantly than her brother had been, she sat down and almost flinched in fright when McGonagall approached her with the oversized hat which she carefully lowered onto her much smaller head.
It slipped over her eyes, obscuring her vision, before the woman replaced it again with a soft 'oops'. Not a second later she felt the thing wobble on her head before a loud exclamation made her wince.
"Well, well, didn't I just sit on your head?" a giggle went round and a blush shot up her face before she quickly lowered her gaze to the floor. The hat seemed unfazed by this reaction and continued to speak in a clear voice. "But I must say, this is very interesting."
Uncertainly, her eyes twitched around the room until she found her brother at the Gryffindor house table. Sensing her nervousness, he confidently raised both thumbs in the air and smiled broadly at her before the hat's voice caught everyone's attention again.
"Yes yes, I can see the true courage of a Gryffindor in you too," a slight smile twitched at her lips and she looked to Pietro again, "but I must honestly confess that you would be better off elsewhere."
Her heart seemed to stop. For a moment, time froze around her and her eyes grew wide as they remained fixed on her brother - who looked no less shocked than she was.
This was not meant to happen. She couldn't - didn't want to be away from him. She had never been.
"I'll send you to - Slytherin!"