A Badger and a Lion Walk Into a Train PV Closed

Mentioning/Interacting With: @Krystal White

Backdated to the first train ride of the 2020-2021 school year

Autumn's Speech
English: #6B5076
Welsh: #9E8FB9
Uzbek: #874343

Naomi's Speech
English: #B91DBE
Uzbek: #37BE26

Amina's Speech (Autumn's Mother)
English: #151147
Uzbek: #6B7BC2

Last year, the car ride to the Hogwarts Express had been silent and cold.

This year, Naomi had decided to come along.

"I'm telling you, I've done my calculations! I should be able to fit into this suitcase which I conveniently accidentally brought with me!"

"Well, did you check for how much you could stay in there before it becomes uncomfortable and you have to beg me to let you out except I can't because a student decided to ride in my compartment?"

"I did. And the chances are extremely low, considering you're both unlikable and unapproachable."

"Damn me for teaching you to always prepare for all possible outcomes."

Naomi only grinned at that.

Autumn also smiled, and turned her face away from her sister's to the back of her mother's head. Her mother hadn't said anything much during the car ride.

She hadn't said anything much over the holidays.

She used to be so happy, so joyful, so... loving. Then, after his death, she had been so quiet. She had refused to even look at Autumn, much less talk to her. Then she had been angry and loud, and she had yelled and she had screamed and she had insulted. Then, once again; silence.

Some days, Autumn would appreciate that. After all, she didn't have to face any problems or tension she had with her mother if none of it was brought up, and they could avoid the issue altogether.

On other days, it would drive her insane. She would wish her mother yelled more, because Autumn knew she wanted to. She would wish her mother was less passive with her anger, so the stupid tension would stop constantly building and they could talk their mess out like mature adults!

Except neither of them were mature adults. Autumn was not an adult, and her mother was not mature. A mature person would not do this, would not place all this anger and disappointment and hatred onto a child.

A mature person would deal with their grief accordingly, they would go seek professional help maybe, maybe they would get over it themselves, and stop their stubborn anger at a dead man. And no matter how much she denied it, Autumn knew her mother was still mad at her dad. She had been there that night. 6 years ago, she had been there, behind a locked door, hearing their fight. They didn't know she knew. They thought she'd be surprised when her father died 3 weeks and 2 days later. She wasn't. With that fight, she learnt many things. But two of these things always stuck by her.

1. Nobody knew what they were doing, not even adults. Especially not adults.
2. Listening was the key.

She thought about that for a while. It seemed that she had been zoned out, because she did not her Naomi calling her name for a while.

"Autumn. Autumn. Autumn! Autumn Artemia Ivy!"

Autumn jumped out of her thoughts and back into the car and within her surroundings in what seemed to be less than a second.

"MutatioSkullusisadarkcharmwhichcausesthesubjecttogrowmultipleheadsandisnotableforitsuseinAncientEgypt!"

"Chill down. Have you stayed up all night studying again? Come on, it was the last night of the holidays; why would you do that to yourself?"

"Oh, look! We're here! We're here and I can leave and not answer that question because I don't know either!"

"Mum, are we there?"

Mum. Autumn flinched at the word.

Amina was Autumn's mother. Amina was Autumn's primary caregiver. But Amina was not Autumn's mum. She hadn't been Autumn's mum in years.

A mum cared for their child, protected their child. A mum did not feel ashamed for their child's mistakes; a mum corrected them and told their child that they did well anyway.

But Autumn supposed her mother was Naomi's mum. She wasn't the same person to the both of them.

After a hesitant pause, her mother spoke.

"Almost, my lily. Only 5 more minutes."

My lily. Good grief, this was getting worse for Autumn by the second.

The next 5 minutes was spent with some more bickering between the two siblings. Soon, the car trip was pulled to a halt due to reaching their destination.

Neither Autumn, nor Naomi, were hug people. This fact was ignored for a moment, and Autumn felt so welcome in her sister's arms. They would always be together, no matter how far apart. It didn't matter if Naomi couldn't come with her to school; she had already shown her first sign of magic, so she clearly was not a squib, and they lived in the United Kingdom, so logically she would join Autumn at her school next year.

Autumn smiled, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she looked and felt both calm and peaceful. Then she realised that she still had to leave the car, and her sister with it.

She sighed and unlocked the door, releasing their hug. Going to the back trunk, she took out her bags and went back to the passenger section. She looked at Naomi one last time before turning away to the station and walking away.

"I love you," she said, "be safe."

Naomi rolled her eyes that. "You're so cheesy."

But she smiled too, and Autumn noticed a tear forming at the edge of her right eye.

And that was it. Autumn walked through the gates into the station as she heard the car engine start up again, and the car leave. She inhaled and exhaled, and walked over to Platforms 9 and 10. She saw what seemed to be muggle-raised first years trying to understand where in hell the platform was. She remembered her own first train ride, a chaotic questioning of who had thought it was a good idea to make first years run into a solid barrier. She remembered how she had seen it as a stupid idea, something silly out of Wonderland. Then she had thought about sort of as a test of trust, to see how much the new students' were letting themselves believe. She certainly had not believed much. She didn't regret it.

She clapped at the new students.

"Anybody looking for Platform 9 3/4?"

This got her a few strange glances and glares from confused muggles, but some eager nods from the children which she had presumed to be the first years.

"Here."

She ran backwards, concentrated on a point in the wall, and pulling her bags in with her, she ran through the barrier to where the train was. She patiently waited for the other children to arrive, and they did, one by one.

She smiled to herself, trying to sort them into houses in her head. The one who had looked at her like she was insane and had tried to put her hand through before she fully went through? Ravenclaw. The one who smiled as if she had dared him to walk into a wall and had not hesitated before running face-first in? Clear Gryffindor. The one who had seen the hesitance in the students faces and helped them get through, because she had done this before?

Hufflepuff.

She rolled her eyes. Naomi had been right; she was being so cheesy today. She could not afford to go soft.

She entered the train, looking for an empty compartment where she could read the new muggle historical thriller book she had bought. And Naomi had been right; she had been up studying all night. So that gave her another to options; take a nap to catch up on all the sleep she had missed the night prior, or study and revise so that her job was fully finished.

She finally found an empty compartment, and seated herself, feeling comfortable. Bringing out her book, she began to read the first few words, only to be interrupted by someone opening the door to her compartment.

She guessed Naomi had been inaccurate in her predictions after all.