Thorns

I pushed my luggage trolley swiftly through the bustling train station as Remus fought to keep up with me. He was honestly treating me like a first year, as if I hadn’t already been away from home for school since I was 11. He held my precious barn owl, Peetrie, in one hand and the other hand nervously kept pushing back his untidy hair. I didn’t understand his nerves, even though I knew Hogwarts was a much bigger school, he had nothing to worry about; I could handle myself.

“Go straight to Ginny’s compartment and sit down,” he said, breaking a sweat with anticipation.

“Oh, calm down, I’m seventeen! I will be fine,” I said, becoming a little fed-up with his constricting parenting. I always felt loved by my adoptive father, he never was the type to stay up late and worry until lately. I saw his brow always creased with concern, and how every action of mine was carefully noted. This new adventure was exhilarating; I wish he wouldn’t act like he was feeding me to lions.

“Behave, Jessalyn,” Remus told me seriously, holding both my shoulders as we stood just feet away from the crimson Hogwarts Express.

“I’ll try not to fall in love with a werewolf or something, I swear. Don’t worry about me, you are starting to sound like an old man,” I replied to his dismay. He hugged me tight, before allowing me to aboard the train. I stopped and gave him one final wave before steeping inside. I couldn't help being uneasy and a little perplexed by his obvious uneasy demeanor.

The train car was filled with students in a kind of disorder unlike Bauxbatons. I enjoyed this chaos. It didn’t take too long to spot the long, red hair of Ginny Weasely. We had met through-out the year at the Order’s functions, but our time was restricted to emergency events only. It seemed we never knew what was going on, but I always had the hunch Ginny was a little more knowledgeable then me.

“Jessalyn, I can’t believe Remus let you out of the house!” Ginny said with eye brows raised. I smiled genuinely. She knew my sheltered life. Truthfully, I was becoming a bit of a rebel. I felt like a mustang in a pen, and when Remus would actually let me have some slack, I would run with it.My old friends and I would stay up late with Firewhiskey in our hands and laughing hysterically. I wondered how easy it was sneaking boys into the dorms at Hogwarts...

“Yeah, yeah. Just direct me as soon as possible where the parties are at. I’m ready for a school with some boys; the lack of testosterone in my life is starting to make me wilt,” I retorted dramatically.

“As long as you don’t touch my Chosen One, then we will be great terms,” Ginny replied, jokingly, “There are a couple lookers in Gryffindor. The Hufflepuff boys are sweet, but you would run over all of them in a heartbeat. Ravenclaws are usually too busy for relationships, and don’t even TRY with Slytherins.”

“Why not?” I asked, perplexed.

“They’re bloody gits, that’s why. Not a single person in Slytherin is decent,” she replied with a fiery passion. I merely nodded in agreement. For Ginny to dislike you, then you had to be rotten to the core. She had always seemed so effortlessly cool to me, and I was excited to spend more time with her.

The whole “house” situation was new to me, but she assured me I would be sorted into hers; Gryffindor. I didn’t see why I just couldn’t go ahead and get my Gryffindor robes and scarves, but Ginny informed me that the Sorting Hat was tradition, and even though my house placement was obvious, it would still be sat on my head in a matter of minutes to declare my acceptance into Gryffindor to the whole school.