The next morning, Vivienne found herself in King's Cross Station, fighting the urge to hold Papa's hand in the crowd. While Diagon Alley was much bigger than this place, she had never been around so many muggles, and it made her nervous. What if someone was able to guess she was a witch? She wished there was something that she could have done with her owl, who she had named Darwin, to try to blend him in.
However, Gran and Papa seemed natural, moving in and out of groups of people like it was nothing. Her mother was in the car that Papa had driven them all to London in, so Vivi knew that they were trying to move faster than just leisurely. They had waited close to the last minute so that Gran and Papa could still see her off properly.
Finally, they pulled up between platform 9 and 10. They had told her the trick in the car, but she wasn't overly excited. Floo was one thing, but she had never walked through anything before.
Papa looked around, trying to be inconspicuous, as if he didn't have an owl and a huge trunk that contained a magic wand and spell books on his trolley. "You're clear Cora," he said, sure that no one was watching them.
"Alright, here we go," Gran said, taking Vivi's hand. "Just like walking through a door."
She didn't feel like she had much choice in the matter, as her grandmother started hustling her forward, not giving Vivi a chance to protest, even if she wanted to. They got closer and closer to the wall, and she closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she was on a completely different platform, looking at a scarlet red locomotive. She smiled, and then Papa was back beside her, pushing the trolley.
"Let's find you a seat," he said, waving his arm at the cars.
They all walked the train, and it didn't come to much of a surprise that they ended up at the last car. Vivienne led the way with Darwin, and Papa pulled the trunk behind her, until they found an empty compartment.
After placing the trunk and Darwin carefully in the compartment, fear seized Vivi's heart, thinking that this was the moment that she was going to leave everything behind that she ever knew. Instead, Papa said, "Now, go tell Gran goodbye, and that you'll see her at Christmas."
She sighed in relief, and a new smile bloomed across her face. She had another opportunity to put off the inevitable, and she was going to take it.
Vivi stepped back off the train, Papa behind her, and practically fell into her grandmother's arms. "I love you Gran," she said in a way of farewell.
"I love you too wee yin," Gran said back, kissing her head. "You're mama loves you too."
If Vivi hadn't felt like crying before, she did now. She had said her long goodbye to her mother last night, and a quick one in the car before coming into the station. Aurora didn't think that she could make the trip into the building and onto the platform.
Vivi stood up with tears in her eyes, but Gran smiled, so she smiled. "Tell Papa goodbye, you have to get boarded."
She might have been embarrassed if she thought that someone was looking at her hugging her grandparents goodbye, but she wasn't the only one. She lurched for her grandfather and hugged him tight.
"Je t'aime tellement mon amour," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "I know that you're going to do your best."
"I love you too Papa," she said back. "I'm not scared."
"Of course not," he said, holding her out at arm's length. "A Beaumont is never scared."
"She's got to make the train Phil," Gran reminded.
"Better do as Gran says. We'll be here to pick you up for Christmas before you know it," Papa promised.
"Bye," Vivienne said in a hurry. "I'll make sure to write as soon as I can."
She got back onto the train and found her compartment, Darwin hooting in what seemed like encouragement. She looked out her window and immediately found Gran and Papa, getting ready to wave when she felt the train start moving.
However, before that came to be, she saw a familiar face in the crowd. Messy dark hair and round glasses peered around before starting to try to unload his own trolley. Luckily, a pair of red headed twins helped him lift his heavy trunk, and Vivi sprang to action.
When she saw Harry coming up the aisle with his own snowy owl, much the same way Vivi had, she said, "Hey!"
"Hey," Harry said with a smile, after overcoming what looked like surprise.
"If you need somewhere to sit, it's just me in here," she said, hoping getting to know Harry would be as easy as asking him to sit with her.
"Really? That would be great actually," Harry replied.
"Yeah, no problem, come on in," Vivi said, stepping back in and sitting down in her seat.
First came Harry and his owl, and next came the twins and his trunk.
"Thanks," Harry said, turning to the twins. Before anything else could be said, someone called 'Fred, George?' and the twins gave goodbye nods before leaving the compartment.
So it was just them, and Vivienne all of a sudden didn't know what to say. She figured, 'Hey, evidently my mostly incapacitated mother and your dead parents used to be best friends, and we met each other as babies' might be overwhelming.
Luckily, he was gazing out the window, and Vivi was happy to do the same. She relocated her grandparents, who had moved to accommodate the red-headed family of whom the twins were a part of. Soon, the whistle blew, and the Hogwarts Express started rolling.
"Is that your grandmother?" Harry asked.
As Vivi waved, she said, "Yes, my Gran and my Papa."
She didn't know who dropped Harry off at the station today, but he didn't wave. She worried that maybe she was making a fool of herself, but didn't stop until she couldn't see Gran wave back or Papa blowing kisses anymore.