Finished A New Beginning

Harmony Hollins, accompanied by her very excited parents, cautiously wheeled her large suitcase around the crowds of people at King's Cross. A person preferring to travel light, this was the largest bag she'd ever had the misfortune of manoeuvring but it was necessary if she wanted to function for a whole school year. Alone. Her mother's excited whispering prevented further pondering as the family approached the very solid-looking brick wall that apparently led to the Hogwarts Express.

"That's it, Harmony," Her mother grinned down at her before turning to her father, eyes shining. "Ooh, remember our first year?"

The wall loomed in front of Harmony as her parents' reminiscing faded into the background. It looked suspiciously solid and she didn't quite fancy smacking her head, no matter how much her parents reassured her it was just skilled illusion. Harmony awkwardly turned in a circle, trying to discreetly scan the crowd for spying eyes and, finding none, slowly reached a hand out to feel at the very solid brick that would definitely hurt so bad when she walked into it-

And her hand went through

Eyes wide, she snapped her hand back to her side and stared at her parents who had replaced their animated conversation with matching looks of amusement. While her father scanned the crowd once more, her mother approached the wall and took Harmony by the shoulder.

"Shall we?"

Despite her hand fading painlessly away a few moments before, Harmony couldn't help but tense every muscle as she was led through to Platform 9 3/4, but it was unnecessary and the two emerged on the other side, her father sweeping dramatically through the smoke a few moments later.

There were so many people! She scanned the platform as her parents lead her around, trying her best to note as many people as possible in case any of them ended up meeting her or being important people or maybe even being best friends or being in her classes or impacting her life in some way there were so many possibilities! Over this way, two friends were hugging after a long holiday and over that way, a lady was smiling at who Harmony assumed were her equally awestruck husband and son and over thataway, someone had their face pressed against the windows as they waved to their parents.

"Here we are, kid" her father announced as they drew to a stop near a door on the train. "Got your school robes? Several quills? Toothbrush? How about your brain? I think I might have seen that lying in the backseat on the way here"

Harmony rolled her eyes good-naturedly as her mother, trying not to smile but failing miserably, lightly shoved her grinning father. "Yeeees I've got everything"

There was a moment of pause as their laughter died down and Harmony looked both her parents in the eyes before crushing them both in a tight hug. She could feel her mother's breathing stutter as if she was about to cry and as she pulled back, she saw through her own watery eyes how her parents were tearing up.

"I'm just so proud" her father exclaimed, reaching out to envelope Harmony in another hug. "You're growing up!"

A few more moments of farewell, promises to write, and instructions to be safe later, Harmony was alone on the platform and staring through the door into the train. She didn't mean to be dramatic (Of course she did, she was a theatre kid in a theatre family) but her entire future lay on the other side of this journey. She took a slow, deep inhale and prepared to step inside with the exhale when a taller body pushed into her shoulder, causing her to let out her breath as an awkward "pouh".

"My deepest apologies," she hears a young male voice exclaim as she regains her balance.

"It's alright" she reassures, looking up to see a brown? reddish? haired boy standing a few steps away.

Although her introverted heart pounded at the idea of actually talking to the people she was some excited about, Harmony forced her mouth open in the hopes of making her first friend.

"What's your name? I'm Harmony."

Flynn struggled to decipher the name of the girl as the train's whistle suddenly became near-deafening.

"Hermione? Pleasure to meet you. My name is Flynn," he exclaimed. Flynn could see her face scrunch up in perplexity, so he repeated himself to carry his words above the commotion that surrounded them.

"This is so surreal, isn't it?" he began, but he was cut off by a second, louder whistle from the train that pierced through the air and commanded their attention. This time, it was accompanied by an imperative bellowing voice echoing through the platform.

"All students to board the Hogwarts Express! Final call for students boarding the Hogwarts Express!"

Flynn looked back at the girl and thought she had been waiting to say something, but he accidentally cut her off as he was committed to getting his farewells said. He spoke quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

"Sorry, I have to go. I shall see you around."

It came out as a confusing, mumbled mess in the haste of the moment as he wrestled his overpacked suitcase onto the train and made his way through its long corridors, trying to find an empty compartment to sit in.

Eventually finding a quiet compartment on the opposite end of the carriage, Flynn flopped onto the empty seat, catching his breath from the hectic morning he just endured. His suitcase sat temporarily strewn carelessly between the seats. He knew he would move it eventually, but for now, he wanted to rest and think about all that had happened and had yet to happen on what he thought would be the most fun and confusing day of his life.

He pondered what it would be like without his parents, what living around other witches and wizards would be like. He thought of the enigmatic girl he bumped into on the platform. What was her name again? "Hermione?" No, that couldn't be right, but it's the only thing he had heard, so he let it stick in his mind. Why did she stand out so much from the crowd? What made her cling closely to his thoughts? "No matter," he said to himself. Maybe they would encounter each other again at some point, and he could solve this riddle he had put unto himself. Or at least he hoped they would, because then he would at least know one person amongst the crowd of unknowns and potential friends. That thought alone was comforting enough for him to hold onto.


interacting with@Harmony Hollins

What. The. Heck.

This was her fate, wasn't it? Doomed to eternally be friendless forever! Not only did Harmony have to leave all her muggle friends behind with promises to keep in touch, but now the universe evilly cackled at her feeble attempts to meet new people.

The large train she stood next to was incredibly ear-piercing but Harmony was fairly certain the boy in front of her (what was his name? Flint? Finn? Fallon?) had just called her Hermione. Now, she did find interest in the stories of the Golden Trio and she found similarities with the famed muggle-born but why on earth did Flint decide it was appropriate to make that absurd leap, both physically onto her and logically onto that name? As she stood watching Finn try to say something else, a shrill whistle sliced through the air and gave her an instant headache. Lovely.

"All students to board the Hogwarts Express! Final call for students boarding the Hogwarts Express!"

However irritating Finnigan was, Harmony didn't want to leave misunderstandings between a potential classmate and decided to try clearing the air one last time before it was too late for the train and their budding schoolmate relationship.

"Let's get a compartment together" she wanted to suggest, however terrifying the idea of prolonged lengths of time in a confined space with a stranger was. Unfortunately, luck seemed to have left with her parents and Clint hastily shouted something else before disappearing into the crowds of people clogging the train corridors.

Dang it.

Not wanting to be left behind and have yet another headache, Harmony picked up her now irritatingly large bag and heaved it onto the train, pushing close to the remaining crowd of students as everyone tried to find a place to sit. The train doors closed, Harmony thankfully on the correct side, and the Hogwarts Express jolted into life, flinging her into the wall. Bracing her hand on the wall, Harmony looked sternly at the ground and finally took an uninterrupted deep inhale and exhale. She looked up to see the remaining students had all gone, either into compartments or somewhere further down the train, and reached down for the handle of her suitcase to begin her own search.

Several compartments later and the only thing Harmony had found was that her old suitcase wheels absolutely hated carpets. She continued down the corridor, head turning left and right to search for an empty compartment and finally, finally, she was saved. She yanked her suitcase in behind her and shut the door which, thankfully, did not catch or protest. Harmony Hollins was on her last nerve and if the train door protested, she would have had no choice but to throw hands. As a vertically challenged child, she made the intelligent decision to not bother with storing her bag in the overhead storage spot and left it laying in a corner of her compartment. She collapsed on the seat, sending a dull ache up her side. She hadn't felt it initially, but apparently Quinn was a stronger tripper than he thought.

She could feel an army of intruding thoughts about her misfortune attempting to barge their way into her brain and shoved them off, choosing instead to wonder about Hogwarts and all the magic it was bound to offer. Such a long time she'd be spending with her classmates: learning; eating, living together. Her parents always gushed about the lifelong relationships one could build at the castle, the experience one could gain, the family one could forge. Now that she sat alone with her thoughts, racing towards the castle, Harmony felt quite intimidated by the whole concept.
Well, it's quite too late for backing out now, She thought to herself. Let's see where this thing goes