after dusk - draco malfoy

iii. | three

THAT NIGHT, I HAD EATEN DINNER with Harry and his friends, Hermione and Ron. A lot of Ron's family were there as well. I was quickly introduced to his parents, his Mum, Molly, making sure I felt welcome. I was then introduced to Ron's siblings - Fred and George, the twins of the family, Percy, Ron warned me he was a bit stuck up and a good two-shoes, and finally Ginny. Ginny was a year below us and she just seemed so cute.

The following day, we all travelled to Kings Cross. My Aunt and Uncle drove me to the train station to wave me off before they both had to go to work. Aunt Emma still got emotional when she saw Harry the following day, being reminded of her late good friends.

We made our way up to the wall in between Platform 9 and 10 and my Uncle gave me my ticket. I looked at it confused. Platform 9¾. I didn't think there was such a thing. My Aunt and Uncle smiled, looking over their shoulders. "Run at the wall, as fast as you can," Uncle Leo told me. I furrowed my brows quickly before he laughed at me. "Just trust me."

I gripped onto my luggage trolley, praying to Merlin I wasn't about to hurt Farley by crashing into a wall. I ran at the wall, closing my eyes. I opened my eyes and I had arrived on a different Platform. Platform 9¾. I turned around, looking back at the wall, seeing Aunt Emma and Uncle Leo running through the wall.

"Right," Aunt Emma began, handing me Farley off my trolley, a smile still on her face. "You take her on to the train, we will sort out your luggage," she told me. I nodded my head and began making my way on the train. I couldn't find Harry and his friends and the train was already pretty full.

I began walking down the train to try and find an empty compartment before I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Ron's older brothers. "Where you going, squirt?" One of them asked me. I couldn't tell the difference between them, but I just rolled with it.

"I can't find anywhere to sit and can't find the other three," I explained to them, stilling holding on to Farley's cage. The twins brought me into their compartment and welcomed me to the train. The two taught me ways to tell which twin was which, that helped me a lot. The pair of them were quite the comedy duo act. They made me laugh pretty much the whole way there.

I wasn't laughing, however, when the train came to an abrupt stop. Fred knitted his brows together and stood up, looking out into the corridor. "We can't be there yet," he mentioned. The train jolted, making him fall back into his seat. My heart began pounding. Fred turned to me as the lights flickered off. "This doesn't usually happen."

The train became ice cold and my heart kept pounding it my chest. All I could think was: What if they've found me? I was terrified that the train was being bordered by death eaters, trying to find me and finish the job You-Know-Who never got to finish. I began feeling like all the happiness in the world had just gone. I started to hear a whimpering in my head, one that sounded so familiar, but I couldn't remember where it came from.

A bright white flash filled the corridor and not too long after, the train began moving again. Fred and George unintentionally helped to distract me and keep me from worrying too much about what had just happened. "Probably just a first-year messing about," George dismissed it, not looking worried in the slightest.

A few hours later, we arrived at the school Platform, where everyone was speculating about Dementors taking over the train. I was guided by a very short teacher, likely to be a dwarf, to the school to get me sorted into my House. I was slightly worried about which House I was going to be sorted in, I favoured Gryffindor as my parents, Aunt and Uncle had been in that House. Plus, all the people I had met so far were in Gryffindor so it would help me settle in a lot more if I were to be put in Gryffindor.