New Love & Old Friends

Chapter 4

September 1st had finally come around, and Chloe was standing with Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and Ron's two best friends, Harry and Hermione, on Platform 9 ¾. Chloe laughed as she watched Ron and Hermione bickering over Hermione's cat trying to eat Ron's pet rat, with Harry simply looking between the two of them, unsure if he should intervene. Chloe and Hermione had gotten very close over the last few years, and she thought of her as a little sister. She was as close with Harry as she was with Ron; she would stand up for them any day, and she cared about them immensely but they weren't too close. Occasionally though, she'd give the two boys girl advice. But they were lost causes.

"Fifth year, this one should be interesting! We've got Quidditch, pranks to pull on Filch, more girls to impress with our dashingly good looks... and, oh yeah! How could I forget about our new Death Eater friend?" Fred joked, which earned him an elbow in the gut from Chloe.

"Hey! I'm only joking. I am seriously looking forward to meeting her."

"Me too. Seeing as you had absolutely nothing bad to say about her, she seems perfect." This made Chloe nervous. What if the twins didn't like Theo? What if Theo didn't like the twins? What if... A million other 'what if's' flew through her head, and due to her distraction, she didn't even notice the Slytherin girl standing only a few feet away.

___

Theo always looked forward to going back to school. She didn't have to worry about her home life while she was there, which was quite relieving. She felt as if she finally had a place in the world. Aurora liked Hogwarts, but she did get homesick at times, and Theo would always be there to help comfort her through it.

"Did you hear that Hagrid is the new Care of Magical Creatures professor?" Aurora asked excitedly. Since both Aurora and Theo were good with animals and plants, they'd been looking forward to this class since their first year.

"Yeah. I'm happy for him! I think he'll do great."

"I wonder who will be in our classes this year," Aurora started, "what if we have some with Chloe!" Aurora smiled widely at the thought. Theo smiled back, but was also extremely nervous. Her and Chloe had been writing for months, but what if things were somehow different in person? What if the really good conversation they had had during detention was a one off thing? Theo's mind was racing, and she felt a pit starting to form in her stomach. Due to her intensely racing thoughts, she failed to notice her Hufflepuff friend standing nearby, but Aurora didn't miss a thing.

"Hey, isn't that Chloe over there?" Aurora asked, turning Theo's body to face the direction she was pointing. Theo weaved her eyes through the bustling platform and saw her standing next to two extremely tall boys, and a couple of other kids she didn't feel the need to identify. Her eyes went wide, and she immediately turned right back around.

"Nope."

"Are you sure—"

"Nope. Nope. Nope." Theo put her head down and walked a couple feet away from Chloe trying to get as far from her as possible, but Aurora quickly stopped her.

"Woah, hey, what're you doing? Is that not her?"

"No, it is... but she's with... people."

"So?"

"So? So? So, it's scary! I don't want to talk to people."

"Oh, please," Aurora started turning around, "hey Chl-"

"NO!" Theo yelled, jumping in front of her. "Why the hell would you do that?" Theo demanded, not hiding her anxieties at all.

"Why wouldn't I? You've been dying to see her in person again all summer and now's your chance." Aurora explained, stating the obvious.