Platform 9 3/4 --So As I walked along I realized a new beginning... September 4th 1971

I walked with my family down to the station looking for the platform. " Now, Professor Dumbledore I think his name was said that it's a wall to get onto the platform I need to be." I told my parents knowing full well they probably already knew that. But which one was it. I didn't think I'd be getting there on time at all. Thanks to the lack of me knowing where the heck I am supposed to go. I didn't want to be late for the sorting ceremony. My family and I stood for a moment and looked around. Then we saw three people walk by quickly and sharply. " James you always wait until the last minute don't you....Platform nine and three quarters hurry up. It's always so packed with Muggles I'm surprised no one sees us running into the wall." I heard the lady with long black hair say.

So I turned to my parents. " I hate to eavesdrop but I think we should just follow that family....they said Muggles...so I think I'll be going in the right direction. " I said as I eagerly followed the the family in front of me. There was a tall man with messy hair and a boy that looked to be about my age with messy hair. " Alright dear...we'll come with you to get you settled also to make sure nothing breaks." The lady told her son. The boy smiled innocently as he could muster. I frowned a little, why would he want to break anything?

So we reached a pillar, I looked up and saw Platform signs for nine and for ten. " Harry could you please go first. That way we don't send James first..." She said. So, the boys name was James, I watched eagerly as the man named Harry walked for the ...wall? I watched as he disappeared. I had to know how to walk through the wall. " Uh...Excuse me?" I asked loudly. My parents following suit. " Could you tell me how too...um..get through?.." I stumbled on asking her. Thankfully she cleared it for me, " Oh you're going to Hogwarts...that's wonderful dear. Well, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. Best do it at a run if you're nervous." She told me. I smiled, " Thank you."

Turning to my parents and my sister who had been grudgingly brought along. " Well,I'll write you everyday to let you know what's going on. " I told them I hugged my parents. My mum looked like she may cry. I looked to my sister. " Bye Tuney..."

I turned back to the wall and took a deep breath and noticed that the messy haired boy hadn't gone through yet. He must want me to sit with him. Which didn't seem like a bad idea. I looked around and wondered where Severus was. He had told me a little about Hogwarts. I took another deep breath and started to walk quickly at the wall. I'm crazy...I thought to myself. I had walked and shut my eyes. When I opened them I was on the Platform. Hogwarts express steamed away in front of me. This is fantastic!

My parents have used the flu to get to the platform. Narcissa hated this way of travel; you never knew if the fireplace was cleaned. I smiled to myself, wishing for her to end up with at least one dust spot. It was amusing to see her get into a fit over something as insignificant. And surely parents and Andromeda would run to her rescue. Me? Well, I had better things to do then listen to wining. Sure it was amusing for the first minute or so but then it got to me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my sister … I loved myself more though and my time was far more valuable than spending it on pointless bickering over a spot. And sure it was, there was one speck of dirt on her little dress and Narcissa broke into tears. I watched my parents and Dro jump to her rescue, yet again… It never fails, the first day of school. I rolled my eyes and started walking towards the train. I looked around trying to find any familiar faces… There was Malfoy with his overly emotional mommy. I couldn’t keep myself from smiling at his facial expressions every time she leaned to kiss him. It was truly priceless. He was holding his cool even when she shoved a pair of fluffy while socks into the pocket of his robes. I should bring it up in the conversation… There was Rabastian and Rodolphus talking to their father… There were Rockwoods, Parkinsons, Averys… There were many unfamiliar faces as well… It was my 5th year and I was made a prefect. I was sure Malfoy was the other prefict. It was Narcissa’s first year and Dro’s 3rd. For some reason I was happy to be back, but of course I would never admit that fact to anyone.

I was talking to my father when my eyes stopped on Bella who was passing by. I gave him a warm hug before heading towards Bella,.
“Hey Bells” I spoke with a smile on my face.
She slowly turned towards me, not stopping, “Don’t call me that, unless you want me to start calling you Aqua.”
I shivered at her words.
She sighed, “Andromeda is with Narcissa, now stop bugging me.”
I was dumbstruck by her sudden reply. I even stopped for a moment before shaking the shock off and picking up the pace to catch up to her, “What? Why did you tell me that?!” I whispered with a little bit more emotion then I cared to show.
Now it was her turn to stop, “Listen, Avery, I am not blind. I saw you ogling her for the past year. Why wouldn’t you just tell her how you feel instead of torturing yourself? If she likes you, well, then it is great, if not, well then you can just move on with your miserable life? Merlin only knows why you got sorted into Slytherin…” She smirked at me, “If I didn’t know any better I would have placed you among Hufflepuffs”. I turned red at her words, “Don’t you dare insulting me like this Bella. Besides, if it wasn’t for me, we wouldn’t have won a Quiditch cup last year.” She rolled her eyes at my reply, “Whatever, Avery. Just talk to Dro.” She stalked off leaving me in my own thoughts.

I walked in between my parents as we made our way toward the Hogwarts Express. Everything was so frantic; I was nervous, and the sight of all of the older kids had me clinging to my father, who was trying his best to tear me away from him.

"Elisabetta, look at me." he ordered, quietly, yet firmly. "Do you really want our friends to hear about how my daughter cried her way onto the train? Do you?"

"No, Father." I sniffled, turning to look at my mother. She shook her head.

"You'll have fun once you get to school, darling. You're sure to be sorted into Slytherin--"

"What's Slytherin?" I asked, my sadness temporarily forgotten.

"It's one of the four houses at Hogwarts. It's the only house worth it's salt, as far as I'm concerned. Now listen." my father added, kneeling down to my level. "You know what I've told you about the kids at Hogwarts. There are some you befriend, and there are some that you do not befriend. You and I have had many talks about this, honey. Do you remember?"

"Yes." I muttered.

"Good. Now off you go." he said, giving me a quick hug before I got on the train. "Write to us, Betts!"

"I will." came my reluctant answer. What have I gotten myself into?

There were so many other children here, I saw the boy who called me like him. Severus...he looked at me oddly. It was weird, I shook my head as I tried to ignore him. Telling me that I was a freak. That was just not nice. I looked around at the other children around us. Noticing everyone in long cloaks. I smiled, this was where I get to go for seven years? This would be fantastic. I said goodbye to my parents and saw a few other boys he had sandy brown hair ..the other blond and the taller boy had long black hair. Then there was one with very messy black hair. He had glasses and they seemed to know each other or just getting to know each other well. The were laughing at something and pointing to Severus. I wonder Why. I shrugged. Looking back to the entrance where I said goodbye to my parents. I knew they were going to be happy for me and waiting for me to write them. I wasn't watching were I was going and bumped into the boy with messy black hair. I looked to him and smiled. " I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you." He just kind of shrugged at me and said it's okay." He then just stopped talking. " Are you okay?" I asked him. Hoping I didn't hurt him to badly.

I laughed as James bumped into the girl. She hadn't introduced herself but James looked like he wanted her too. Shaking my head. " Guys, Maybe we should get on the train?" I asked everyone. I mean I was happy to sit here. But not to happy to go back with my parents. I suppose I've had to grow up quickly. Meaning, if I wasn't sorted into Slytherin like the rest of them something was wrong with me. Great. Hell, I don't want to be sorted into Slytherin.

I grabbed my trunk and lugged it onto the train, bumping into a boy with greasy hair and coal-black eyes. A shock ran down my spine, almost like I knew him, even though that wasn't the case at all.

"Excuse me." I murmured, feeling my face grow red with embarrassment as I rolled my trunk past him. I hadn't gone far when I turned back around to look at him again. Several students were already snickering and pointing at him, and for some reason, I felt a strong urge to do something quite mean to them. No one deserved to be mocked, especially not him.

Up ahead I spotted a student with messy hair, and felt an instant dislike for him. There was something about him; I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but it made me despise him right on sight. This is going to be a wonderful year, I thought, rolling my trunk past the boy and not bothering to keep it from hitting him. Take that, jerk. came my next thought as I found an empty compartment and stuffed my trunk over one of the seats before hanging my owl on a hook just to the side of the seat.

I frowned as the girl with dark hair past us. " That was rude.." I said simply. She hadn't introduced herself and we all didn't do anything to her. Fine... I knew I wasn;t going to like her that much. I shook my head. " We should get on the train maybe?" I said loudly for them to move. I smiled to Severus as I walked with the boys I just met.

Jerith McKennon casually strolled onto Platform 9 3/4, wishing his parents would leave him alone so he could at least try to look cool, even if he was a bit nervous about starting at Hogwarts. Just ahead of him, he spotted a girl with long, black hair pushing her way past other students, her parents beside her.

"Mum, Dad, I don't need you to--gah! Geroff me!" he exclaimed, as his mother bent down to give him a kiss. "Everyone's staring at me!"

Finally, after another moment of listening to his parents give him advice, he was finally able to pull his trunk after him and onto the train. The first thing he did was look around for the black-haired girl he'd seen; as it turned out, he didn't have to look for very long, as he accidentally bumped into her halfway down the long corridor.

"Watch out!" Betta shouted, as someone bumped into her from behind. She turned around, her eyes blazing, and found herself face to face with a blond boy who was wearing a smirk on his face. "Are you mad? Don't touch me!" Saying this, she hurled herself into a nearby compartment and slammed the door, not realizing that there was already someone in the compartment. It was the same greasy-haired boy she'd seen out on the platform.

"Oh, hello." she said casually, setting her trunk down in a corner of the small area and hanging her owl's cage on a nearby hook. "Do you mind if I sit in here with you? Everywhere else is full."

Severus looked up to see a dark-haired girl standing in the doorway, a disgusted look on her face. "Er...sure." he said, nodding toward the empty seat in front of him. He waited for her to put her things away and then sit down before speaking. "I'm Severus. Severus Snape." he introduced himself.

I went with the boys and entered the train as we went to find a compartment as we walked by one I recognized as Severus. I knocked and slid the door open just to say hello. I didn't want to bother him while he seems to be making friends. " Hi Severus." I smiled and said hello to the girl sitting with him. " Hi, I'm Lily Evans."

Betta turned to look at the new girl. "Hi, Lily. I'm Elisabetta, but everyone just calls me Betta." She smiled at Lily. "You and Severus know each other already?" she queried, making room on the seat so Lily could sit down. "That's good. My mum and dad are particular about who I talk to, but they're old." Betta frowned. "They go on and on about being 'pureblood' or something like that. I have no idea what it means, but they want me to be careful about who I make friends with." She smiled again. "I don't care. I'll make friends with anyone I like!"

I walked in with my trunk and told the boys I would be in there in a little while. " A few of those boys told me they can help me around Hogwarts. I've read about that....Pureblood and halfblood and muggleborn." I told her nodding. Glad to hear her say she doesn't care, I didn't care much either. Just glad to know people that don't care about people like that. Only on who they are. " It should only be based on how you treat people. " I nodded.

"You don't know what a pureblood is?" Jerith exclaimed loudly, pushing his way into the compartment and grinning at Betta. "A pureblood is a witch or wizard who comes from an all-magical family. You have purebloods, halfbloods, and Mudbloods--those are witches and wizards who are born into familes that have no magical background. A halfblood is someone who has one magical parent." He sat down on Betta's other side and put an arm around her. "You must be a pureblood. You have the look."