And Let Us Begin

The train was whistling as the steam from the engine soared in the air. Parents and their children were milling about, shouting their goodbyes as they boarded the train. The first years were easily spotted, clinging to their parents or older siblings.

I stood next to my mother, saying our goodbyes as I heard my name being called from behind. Cranking my neck to see who it was, I was engulfed into a pair of arms. All I could see was dark red hair and I knew who it was, Eden. My arms found their way around her as I inhaled her scent of strawberries and vanilla.

“I’ve missed you Lil’,” Eden said as she pulled away from me and straightened out her clothes.

A light chuckle escaped my chest as I smiled at her. “What has it been? Four, five days tops since we last saw each other? Really Eden, you need to get over me.” I crossed my arms and gave her a stern look; although, it didn’t last long because at that moment I began laughing hysterically.

Eden herself sprung a grin and giggled along with me. “Eh, what can I say? I love my best friend.”

“Hello Eden,” my mother chimed in. She had been standing there watching mine and Eden’s little reunion.

She beamed a smile at mother, “Hi Mrs. Ryann. Am I allowed to take Lily away with me? The train will be leaving soon.”

“Of course, but let her father and I get in one last hug. It will be a few months before she is back home,” my mother stated. She turned her body to where my father was talking to a man. As I looked closer I saw that it was Lucius Malfoy, who had his wife Narcissa standing next to him. Alongside them was Draco who looked bored out of his skull.

Holding up a finger, he walked from the Malfoys and over to where the three of us were standing. “Hello Eden. Are you ready for the year to start?”

She shook her head up and down violently as she responded, “Yes sir. As ready as I will ever be.”

“Take good care of Lily for us,” he let a light laugh out.

“As long as she looks out for me,” Eden demanded as she looked at me with a grin.

I looked back at her as I said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Anyways, goodbye father, mother. I love you and I will miss you.”
“We love you too,” they said in unison. “And you’ll write?” my mother added.

“As often as I can.” I gave each of them a hug before Eden and I went off to the train. I looked back one more time and saw that my parents had joined the Malfoys in a conversation. Looking to the side I saw Draco watching me and I got a shiver that ran through my body. Why is he looking at me? I thought. Turning my head forward, I put the thought in the back of my mind and continued my way to my final year at Hogwarts.

Flashback:

“Is this seat taken?” a soft voice asked me as I sat in my seat quietly. My head turned toward the voice as my eyes gazed to the little, red haired girl that stood in front of me.

I shook my head as I spoke a soft “No.”

“Good. May I sit with you then?” she asked even though she was already placing herself into the seat next to me.

I looked at her questioningly, studying her features and trying to figure out as much about her as I could from just her appearance. She wasn’t tall for our age, but she wasn’t short either; maybe a few centimeters or so taller than I was. Her hair was red, but more of a burgundy and her eyes were a warm, honeysuckle that fit perfectly with the small freckles that lined her cheeks and along the top of her nose. The hair that had fallen out of its tie was slightly wavy, but by no means was it curly.

“Eden’s the name. Eden Maybury,” she said as she shoved her hand toward me.

Startled at first, I just sat there like a small child who had just gotten caught doing something wrong. Then I grabbed her hand and a large grin found its way onto my lips as I shook. “Nice to meet you Eden. I’m Lily Ryann, first year.”

Her eyes lit up as I had spoken, “I’m a first year too! What house do you hope to be sorted in?”

My grin grew even larger at the mentioning of our houses. “Slytherin. My whole family has been placed in there as far as anyone can remember. What ‘bout you?” I asked eager to hear her response. My hopes were that she would like to be in Slytherin as well so that maybe she and I could share a dormitory together.

“ME TOO! Well, not the whole family bit, but my mother was in Slytherin and my father didn’t go to Hogwarts. He went to Brennen Wood in Ireland. Him and mum met when she traveled after school,” she rambled on.

My face turned in amusement at her silly stories, until she suddenly stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, I tend to ramble. I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me,” she said, slowly going into a whisper.

“Oh, no! I like your stories. You’re funny. I would love to be friends with you!” I exclaimed. “So, friends?” I held out my hand as she had done to me when offering her name.

She took my small hand into her’s, griping it tightly, “Best friends.”

From that day on, Eden and I had been inseparable.

The two of us sat in our seats, talking away at what we thought our last year of Hogwarts would be like. There was so much chatter going on around us that neither me nor Eden had noticed two people had sat in the seats across from us.

“They aren’t even acknowledging us!” a deep voice spoke over the others.

“Bloody hell! It has been almost the whole summer. Obviously they don’t care enough,” another voice stated.

Quickly, the two of us snapped our heads toward the two across from us. “JUDE! OWEN!” I shouted as I saw the two boys sitting across from us.

“Finally. Now where are our hugs?” Jude asked with a gruff voice.

The four of us stood up, exchanging hugs before placing ourselves back into our seats. Jude and Owen were both Slytherin 7th years like Eden and myself. We had met after the sorting in our first year and the four of us just seemed to get along. Jude’s father, Samuel Yale, worked with my father at the Ministry. We had seen each other throughout the summer, but he had traveled for most of it. Jude was a boy who could get any girl in the school. His hair was a dark brown, almost black, and his eyes were bright blue orbs that captured everyone’s attention. He had a temper, but for some reason many girls seemed to be attracted to him. I always thought that was why he had gotten into Slytherin; he’d defend himself anyway that he needed.

Owen Everest on the other hand was the opposite. His dark blonde hair hung around his ears and his eyes were a dark, chocolate brown. He was one of the sweetest boys I had ever met, but he was also sneaky and sly. Owen and Eden had briefly dated in our 3rd year, but found that dating one of your best friends was not the best thing to do. Owen lived further away and was with his family while we were on holiday so neither Eden or I had seen him much over summer.

“Have a good summer boys?” Eden asked as she stretched her legs out, kicking Owen in the shin. She laughed as he winced in slight pain.

“Ouch,” he grumbled out. “Mine was okay. Kind of boring. What about yours?”

“Same. Sat around. Partied. The usual my dear,” Eden said nonchalantly. She had a menacing smile on her face as she tried to make Owen jealous. He just brushed it off and looked at me.

“And you?”

“Same as Eden really,” I stated while shrugging my shoulders. “What about you Jude? Anything interesting?”

He looked nervous at first, but quickly changed his demeanor as he saw I looked at him curiously, “Nah. Boring. Glad to be back at school.”

“I see.” I didn’t believe a word he said, but it was our first time back altogether after months apart and I didn’t want to start it out badly.

As we all began to talk, I felt someone hit me on the shoulder as they passed. “Watch it, will you?” I spat out as my eyes gazed to the perpetrator, Malfoy.

He didn’t say anything, but kept walking by. His eyes stayed on me until he traveled to the next carriage. Before he left, I saw a hint of something in his eyes, but I wasn’t quite sure of what it was. I shook my head and went back to our conversation.

That was the second time today that he was looking at me. I was really starting to think that this year was going to be more interesting than it was fun.