Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
September 1, 1977
Platform 9 3/4
"Have you all got everything? Galleons for sweets on the train?" Euphemia asked as she checked the luggage.
"Yes, mum," Thea said with a smile.
Her brown leather suitcases were stacked on top of each other and being loaded by a train hand, the same as Sirius and James's.
She looked at the station, this was her last time here for the beginning of the year.
She was happy to start her life, but she already missed what she was leaving behind. The steam from the train blew her loose hairs and she smiled at the chaos.
Someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned to face Sirius, who was smiling down at her. She nudged him a little bit. He laughed lightly.
"Please be good. I-what am I hoping for? It's you two," Euphemia said in annoyance.
Fleamont brought Thea into a big hug as Euphemia hugged the boys and then they switched.
"I love you all. Remember to have fun!" Euphemia called after them as they walked towards the train.
Thea quickly found Lily and dragged her into the compartment with the boys.
"Hello," Lily said awkwardly.
Thea rolled her eyes, "Merlin, Lil, you're worse than me."
"What? I am not! There is no one worse as socialization than you," Lily exclaimed.
"Well I thought so too, but I think you've just outdone me," Thea said with a scrunched nose.
"Unbelievable. James is my favorite Potter sibling now," Lily huffed as she turned away from the Potter girl.
Thea smirked and made eye contact with Sirius. James, still in shock, was shoved up and switched places with Thea.
"What? What's going on?" Lily asked, exasperated.
"He's your favorite Potter, so you two should sit together," Thea said triumphantly.
"You're cruel, Potter," Lily replied with a shake of her head.
Thea just winked at her and snuggled into Sirius while opening All Quiet to reread.
"Anything from the trolly, dears?" the trolley woman asked as she made her rounds.
They each purchased anything, but James noticed Peter didn't move. He normally loved getting cauldron cakes or Droobles gum.
He dashed out of the compartment as she had already passed. Coming back, his arms full of cakes, gum and Bertie Botts, he distributed it in the cabin, making sure to give Peter the most.
Thea saw it and smiled as she licked a sugar quill (which James knew were her favorite).
She looked up and saw the stars. His eyes were swirling with all the stars in the sky.
"Hey," he whispered down to her.
"Hey," she whispered up.
She read aloud quietly. He'd already heard it before, but he liked the sound of her voice. The way it embraced him and made him feel warm and comfortable.
He loved the way she would look up ever so often to see if he was listening and he would smile and nod.
He loved being friends with her and he loved the way she made him feel. She made him felt like he belonged. Like he wasn't a burden. Like he could stay at the Potter Manor forever.
He looked up at James, who was deep in conversation with Lily. He said he wouldn't. He said he wouldn't on the train to Hogwarts in the second year. He made a pact. An oath. A promise.
But maybe, just maybe, in the time between the past and the future. The liminal space in between, he could have it. He could forget about that one, silly, little rule.
He would only betray his friend in the in between space. The space between chapters. Between lines. That's where their whatever this was lived. That's where it thrived. Because it was everywhere. It was cloaked over the text and it seeped into every crack, but never showed face.
He was waiting for a page break. For the empty space, no conditions.
Just him and her and the one little possibility to write their own story.
"Are you listening?" Thea asked as she looked up from the page.
