Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Platform nine and three quarters was extremely busy, and Christy didn't like it one bit.
She hated being jostled around by people. People who were much, much bigger than her.
She had yet to find anyone she knew, and just couldn't suppress the tightness in her chest, or the spinning of the station.
She paused briefly, leaning on the cool, brick wall for support, but it didn't help. It was moment like this, when she wished she'd let Lily tell her more about this whole anxiety thing, which for clarification, she didn't have.
Maybe it was the fact that it was extremely stuffy in that god-forsaken train station, or maybe it was this overwhelming sense of fear, or maybe it was a mixture of both. But for whatever reason, Christy couldn't breath.
She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back the tears, trying desperately to breathe deeply, but with no avail. Merlin it was so much easier when someone was there to hold you and tell you it was going to be okay.
Her legs tingled so she allowed herself to slip down onto the concrete. She tried to open her eyes, but everything was disorientating and blurred with tears. In fact, she barely registered when a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around her. But the ringing in her ears lessened, and muffled though it was, the unmistakable voice of James Potter took its place.
"Just breathe with me Christy, that's it. You're doing so good." he whispered.
And slowly but surely, she began to re adjust to her surroundings.
"Five things you can see." he said. "People, the train, my trunk, the walls, the floor." she replied, her voice shaking. "Four things you can touch." "My jeans, my hair, my wand, my bag." "Three things you can hear." "The train whistle, your voice, footsteps." "Two things you can smell." "The steam, your cologne" "One thing you can taste." "The orange juice I just drank."
By the end, her voice wavered less, and her hands weren't shaking.
"Better?" he asked, gently. She nodded, then mumbled "thanks." "'s alright." he smiled.
He helped her up, and took hers and his own trunks, putting them onto a trolley.
"Come on." he took her hand in his, and squeezed it, before leading them through the crowds to drop off their bags, and then onto the train.
