Novalie was so late.
She would have been on time - because for once, she hadn't been the reason something had gotten in the way. She, Malic and Liam, her brothers, had been all ready to leave in her eldest brother's old, red Toyota, a car that already made the strangest noises whenever Malic tried to take it anywhere. This time, however, when he turned the key, there was nothing.
Not even a little sputter or a reluctant shudder. Just complete, devastating silence.
"The fuck?", Malic cursed, flicking on the car's lights as if that would somehow help him figure out what was wrong.
Miraculously, they worked, which only made him click his tongue in irritation, "Car's fucking dead."
It took nearly an hour of discussing the problem with a few neighbours, poking around under the hood and Malic making increasingly creative threats against his car before they finally found a solution. One of his friends was willing to lend him a run-down, dirty moped that had held more bumps and scratches than any reasonable person would feel comfortable riding on.
Not Novalie, obviously - she was delighted!
With an excited grin, the redhead let her eldest brother place the oversized helmet on her head before climbing onto the back of the moped, squeezing in behind her him. Liam meanwhile looked offended by the fact that there was no room for him on that tiny vehicle.
"Unfair.", he pouted, wrapping his arms around Novalie in a tight hug, "Bring me back one of those Chocolate Frogs again when you're back."
"I'll bring you one hundred!", she promised with her usual grin.
How she was going to afford that many was a question for another time.
And so, they set off at the astonishing speed of fifteen miles per hour.
At some point, Novalie even heard Malic questioning whether walking wouldn't have been a faster way of getting to London King's Cross, but in the end, they stubbornly stayed on the little moped all the way to the station.
"Now hurry off.", he instructed once they finally arrived and as the Ravenclaw slung her bag over her shoulder, wobbling slightly beneath its weight, "And no eating glass this time. I mean it, Nova."
"Yeah, yeah.", she laughed, throwing her arms around Malic for a quick hug before rushing into the station.
She barely made it onto the Hogwarts Express.
The moment Novalie had stepped inside, the doors closed behind her and the train began to move. She didn't even have time to catch her breath before she was already completely focused on finding one of her friends among the compartments.
"Oliiiiiver! Where are youuu?", she called, walking along the corridor and pressing her nose against the little windows in each compartment door to inspect whoever was inside.
Sadly though, she only spotted faces she barely knew.
And so, as the train gathered speed and her legs began to grow tired, the Metamorph finally decided to give up on her search for the moment. She grabbed the handle of a random compartment door and slid it open, fully prepared to invite herself into whatever social gathering she happened to find - except that there was no gathering.
There was only one girl inside.
"Oh, how odd!", Novalie exclaimed with a bright smile.
She tossed her bag carelessly into the luggage rack, closed the compartment door behind her with a loud thud and threw herself into the seat opposite the lone person.
"Almost all the compartments are stuffed and you somehow managed to get one all to yourself. That's, like, super crazy.", she tilted her head, studying the girl with dark hair with open curiosity, "Don't you have, like, friends?"
Her eyes travelled up and down the other one, trying to determine whether she was in the same year as her or perhaps a new student altogether. Of course, she didn't even bother to introduce herself first.
