Chapter Text
September 1st, 2017. On this day, thousands of ordinary people were busily running to and fro around Kings Cross Station. So busy were they, that no one noticed the dozens of parents and young children disappearing into a wall between stations 9 and 10. Behind that wall was another station, known only to wizarding folk. There in the centre sat a proud, red steam train, the Hogwarts Express. Hundreds of secondary school children clambered aboard, waving goodbye to their parents as the train left the station. Most of these students were looking forward to a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but a small handful, the new first years, quivered in their boots, wondering what adventures school would hold for them.
A short first year girl with shoulder length brown hair, waves at her parents as they disappear behind her. A lot of the new girls around her were crying already, but not her, she never cried. She scurried along the wobbly hall until she found an empty carriage room. She sat down and stared out of the window, wondering what her new school would look like.
Another first year girl with long golden hair knocks on the carriage door that the first girl when in. “Hi” she says in a shy tone “Um, do you mind if I sit here?” She points to the seats opposite to the first girl
The first girl looks up and smiles brightly at the second “Sure, have a seat! My name’s Roman, by the way, Roman Polliglum.”
The second girl walks in and smiles lightly to the other girl. “Thanks, Roman. I’m Eva, Eva Titan.” Eva holds out her hand to Roman for a shake and Roman happily shakes it. “Pleased to meet you Eva. So is it your first year too?” Roman asks her
“Yes this is my first year” Eva says with a mix of excitement and shyness “I’m so excited” she says, her shyness starting to fade from her voice “I’m hoping to get into Hufflepuff house. What about you?”
“I don’t know…” Roman says “My mum was in Ravenclaw, and my dad was in Gryffindor, and all the time I was growing up they would joke about which of those two I’d get into, and whichever one I did would be ‘the best house!’” Roman chuckles at the thought of it “I guess they’re both nice houses, but I don’t mind where I get sorted, as long as I’m happy there.” She smiles at Eva before asking “What about your parents? Which houses were they in?”
“Um, well both of my parents were in Gryffindor, my mother a pure-blood, my father a muggle born, so I’ve grew up with both sides of a coin really.” Eva says “But my parents always say I should be in Gryffindor as it ‘runs in the family’ but Hufflepuff sounds a far nicer place to be in.”
“Well, I hope you get into Hufflepuff then” Roman says smiles at Eva
“Yes I hope so too” Eva replies
Roman starts talking again “I wonder where I’ll get sort-“ before getting cut off as the carriage door flies open and a boy with bright green eyes and jet black hair bursts in. He slams the door shut behind him and crouches behind it. An older, slightly similar looking boy runs past, looking briefly into the carriage room, then runs on. The boy sighs, then stands, suddenly facing Eva and Roman. “Oh… Sorry… I didn’t realise anyone was in here…” the boy says awkwardly
Eva, looking a little shocked when the boy comes in, comes to her senses and says “Oh, um, it’s okay. Are you alright?” her shy tone coming back as she speaks.
“Uh, yeah… Sorry, I was just trying to get away from my brother.” the boy says “He fusses too much, and thinks that just because I’m a first year I can’t look after myself” He finally sits down, next to Eva “He wanted me to with him and his goody-two-shoes friends, but I gave him the slip, that’ll teach him!” He smirks, as if proud of himself
Roman, her tone turning slightly salty, say to him “Well that’s not very fair on your brother, he’s probably worried sick!”
“Roman’s right, he probably is worried” Eva says, her shy tone melting away yet again. “But I do understand where you’re coming from. My older sister comes here too and I refused to sit with her the train journey to school, as she’d just go on and on about I’m not doing things right or something”
The boy puts his hands behind his head and sits back “See? It’s all cool. I’ll just hang here for the journey.”
Roman scowls at the boy and crosses her arms “Sure, don’t ask us if that’s okay. What was your name anyway? I’m Roman, and this is Eva” As Roman says Eva’s name, she gives a little shy wave
“Oh yeah introductions.” the boy says “The name’s Al.”
Eva looks at Roman when she crosses her arms and gives her a look as if saying ‘that’s not very Hufflepuff of you’ “Well it’s nice to meet you Al” She smiles at him before grabbing some headphones and plugs them into her iPod
Roman leans forward when Eva brings out her iPod “what’s that?” she says in slight confusion
“Oh, I’ve seen those… It’s a… MP3? Something like that. Muggles use them to listen to music”
Eva, not used to a lot of attention, says with her shy tone seeping back in “Yeah, it’s uh, a MP3 player, you use it to play music, muggle gadget”
Roman looks at Al accusingly “How’d you know that? Are you a muggle born?”
Al laughs a little “No, but my dad was brought up my muggles” He says to Eva “Where’d you get it?”
Eva, not used to a lot of attention, says with her shy tone seeping back in “Yeah, it’s uh, a MP3 player, you use it to play music, muggle gadget”
“I grew up in the muggle world” Eva tells Al “I have these sort of things” She takes out her headphones and offers them to Roman “Wanna try?” she asks
Roman cautiously takes the headphones and places them in her ears. She take them out, then back in, Out. In. She laughs at the amazing muggle gizmo “That… That’s really clever!” She hands the headphones back to Eva “I guess muggles have their ways of replacing magic”
Eva laughs at Roman’s reaction to the headphones “You be surprised at what muggles can actually do” She offers the headphones to Al “I’m guessing you’ve never used them either?” she says before Al rejects them with a soft smile on his face “Oh I have, we use quite a lot of muggle tech in my house” he says to Eva
“Fair enough” Eva says, placing the headphone back in her ears “So, what house do you wanna get into?” she asks Al happily
“Oh Gryffindor all the way!” He says “Both sides of my family have been in Gryffindor for generations!”
Eva smiles and say “Awesome! I’m hoping to get into Hufflepuff!“
The door slides open and Al’s bother pokes his head in
“Aw cra-“ Al says before getting cut off by his brother
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” As Al’s brother starts shouting at him, Eva slides up to the corner of the seats, hoping not to get into any trouble
“Aw, lay off James! I’m not a baby! I don’t need to be in your sight 24/7!” Al says to his older brother
“What would dad say if he knew you’d run off like that?” James says
“Um? Well done?” Al says back “He wasn’t well known for following the rules when he was at Hogwarts.”
“So he wouldn’t want you following in his footsteps!” James says, sounding furious. “And that’s not exactly a good excuse, let me tell you now that being the son of Harry Potter doesn't buy you any favours with the teachers!”