𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 | 𝐡. 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝟏𝟐𝟗 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝

𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨, the bright scarlet train was the only colour in sight as everyone waiting on the platform appeared to be wearing black - no doubt a sign of respect for Dumbledore's Funeral which to Harry felt like a lifetime ago yet it was merely hours, hours spent huddled around Ophelia's frame as she stared absently through the window - neither of them were much use for any conversation at all and so Hermione and Ron spoke to one another quietly, snacking on the few baked treats Gwen had sent ahead of time for the trip that Ophelia no longer had an appetite for.

Stepping onto the Platform all they could see and sense was misery and grief, they could not walk a few paces without seeing someone dabbing their eyes or blowing their nose on a soggy handkerchief, it seemed everyone remembered Dumbledore fondly and were deeply saddened to see him go, and those who didn't realised that a symbol of strength had been torn down - they looked hopefully at Ophelia and Harry who were one of the last ones to leave the train, many of them seeing what they wanted to see while plenty of others pitied them.

The only faces that seemed relieved at all to see them were that of their kin, as Remus, Sirius, Arthur Weasley and surprisingly, Mr Granger were standing together as a unit of strength - Hermione let out a small gasp upon seeing her father before erupting into tears - Ron and Ginny dove onto Arthur and Ophelia waited until Harry was hugging Sirius to let go of his hand to embrace her dad.

Shoving her face so deep into his jumper that she could not see a single shred of light and she could not squeeze out one bead of tears though she had plenty to cry over, Remus held her tightly as he lovingly patted her hair, resting his chin atop of her head.

After a moment or two of them all embracing individually they separated, Ophelia lodged herself into her father like she did the first time she walked through this platform, when they resurfaced in King's Cross the group made their way towards the queue of Black Cabbies which were slowly being filled by muggles that were flowing out of departing trains when the teenagers noticed a single dark purple cabbie that the muggles were avoiding, choosing every other taxi around it but that one.

"Go on kids, climb in." said Sirius, opening the door for them. "Leave the trunks, we'll sort those out."

The five teenagers exchanged a look before clambering into the cab only to realise that the interior was almost triple the size of the exterior. Inside they found black leather booth like seats lining the walls of the vehicle aside from the partition wall which slid to reveal James driving and Regulus as his passenger, both gave a wave to the new passengers as the trunks were loaded into the boot which they sensibly assumed was also extended - Harry regarded his surroundings and realised that this was most likely what a Muggle Limo looked like, they even had a small basket filled with drinks and snacks in case they were peckish - the four men joined them inside of the car as each sat beside their family member, Hermione's dad giving her a whimsical smile as he looked around the car.

"Isn't this cool?" said her father, "The wonders magic can do never cease to amaze me!"

Hermione giggled, Ron smiled at her smile which in turn brought a half-smile on Ophelia's face as she caught Ron's eye, his ears turned pink as she smiled warmly at him giving him a subtle nod of encouragement.

"I suppose you're wondering why it is that we're all here together?" asked Arthur clasping his hands together.

*I was beginning to think it had something to do with the whole war thing going on, but I could be wrong." Said Ophelia with only the slightest hint of sarcasm which went right over Arthur's head as he continued on.