Delicate | James Potter

1.17

~

Kings Cross Station looked to be busier than it had been back in September, though it usually tended to be this way at Christmas, with friends and families much more eager to see their children after four months apart. Perhaps the bigger crowd had something to do with the extra security patrolling the platform too. The Aurors weren't as subtly blended in as it seemed they wanted to be, though they didn't appear nervous at all. Alice wasn't sure why they were there, especially when places like this were always considered safe; maybe the dark wizard attack in yesterdays Daily Prophet was bigger than made out to be.

She frowned a little, but tried to push it from her mind. Alice had spent half of her train journey sleeping, awoken only to be told they were twenty minutes away from London and therefore her mum. She was incredibly excited to see the woman, because writing via owl just wasn't really the same. Now she, along with Dorcas and June, were climbing out of the train and onto the platform, bags in hand. They'd successfully secured their own carriage once again, and so it had been a pleasant ride overall- much nicer than last year when a green-faced first year burst in and threw up right in front of them.

"Oh! There's my mum!" Dorcas yelped suddenly, making Alice jump a little. Even over the loud chatter, Dorcas could find a way to make her voice above the noise. "Okay, bye guys. I have to be quick or my dad will complain about paying for parking."

She moved in for a quick hug between the three of them, but it was June who pulled them in tight. She sighed. "I'm gonna miss you two."

Alice giggled into Dorcas' shoulder. "It's only three weeks."

"Three weeks too many." Juniper released them both and a collective exhale was released. "Sorry, that was too tight."

"Godric Juney, you're suffocating me." Dorcas smirked and lifted her backpack onto her shoulder, eyes lingering slightly on June's smiling face. "See you soon."

June and Alice made their way through the barrier together because both had muggle parents who thought it best to wait outside the enchanted wall. Unfortunately they got stuck waiting for the old guard to give them the signal to go,  so long that they almost thought he'd fallen asleep standing up. Eventually he gave them the go ahead and they were able to re-enter platform nine without drawing the attention of anyone.

"Alice!" Wendy Winter's voice carried through the building at the sight of her child, and Alice beamed eagerly at the familiar sound. In seconds she was being engulfed in another hug, though this one lasted a lot longer. "Oh sweetie, how I have missed you."

"Hi mum." The blonde tucked a hair behind her ear and grinned sheepishly, suddenly aware of the fact they were in public and her mother had just shouted to her. It was a good job they'd made it far enough away from the barrier, for now there were multiple watching eyes.