December 23
13:42 pm
Kings Cross Station

"Liam, this way! You have your trunk right?"

"Yeah, and Boomerang too,"

"You took him out of his carrier?! Liam!!"

Katrina had her small trunk in one hand in Liam's in her other. She weaved expertly through the crowds, calling out for Liam to duck under bird cages and dodge between sappy hugs. They only had three minutes to catch the train. They had to make it out in time. Well, they had thirteen minutes, but Katrina wasn't going to chance missing it. They bursted out of the fake brick wall between Platform 9 and 10 and into the main station. No one noticed them. Perfect. Katrina counted three terminals and ran over a bridge with Liam at her side.

"Train from Kings Cross Station to Greater Manchester all aboard! Train 203 departing in nine minutes. I repeat train 203 departing in nine minutes. All aboard!"

"That's our train Liam, come on!" Katrina pushed Liam before her and grabbed the two train tickets out of her pocket and held them before her at the train attendant. The man took the tickets and punched out something before handing it back and waving them into the body of the train.

Most of the cars were full. Large families settling into their compartments. Katrina had Liam walk in front of her, ensuring that nothing got left behind. Boomerang looked over Liam's shoulder giving her a silly look. "Don't drop Boomerang," Katrina repeated, "I won't" came the short reply. Nice going Kat, now ever your brother is frustrated with you.

Katrina swung into an empty cabin and pushed Liam to one bench of the cabin. Katrina took the other and slid both trunks up against the wall. Boomerang curled between her crossed legs and started purring loudly. "If we get in trouble for having a pet out of a cage," Katrina looked to Liam, tried to prod a smile out of him, "I'm blaming you,"

It wasn't long before the steady pace of the train had lulled Liam to sleep. It had been a long way so far. From Hogwarts to Kings Cross, Liam hadn't stopped talking. It had been nice to catch up. He had been focussing on grades more. Made some more sane friends. Aspired to join more clubs. He had even talked as much as he could about their guardians. Now, as the landscape blended, Katrina spaced out and tried to put as much together as she could.

Emma Sprigs. Her guardian mom. Katrina unfolded the picture from her inner pocket. She had received it from their letter exchange. Emma had blonde hair, fair skin, and bright brown eyes. She had a pretty smile too. If Katrina had to guess, she was probably in her late forties? From their letters she had really nice and formal writing. She seemed very eager to meet Katrina, she was Katrina's legal guardian after all. Liam said that she was fast to smile and loved to hear stories. She was also a good cook. And she did a lot of sewing. Katrina remembered that she was a Squib, fascinating to learn about.

Neil Sprigs was her guardian dad. He had graying hair and a scruffy beard. He had light blue eyes and a big smile too. He also had glasses that looked like they belonged. In the photo, he was holding Emma's arm. It seemed sweet and close. You could see their connection. Neil had wrote one letter to Katrina. He seemed sort of like a tender giant. He did woodwork but couldn't very much because of his hurt ankle. Liam had said that he was more quiet, but when he got started with a story he could draw it in the air. He was a wizard, though they apparently only used magic for the stories.

It was two hours before the train began to slow. Katrina rubbed Liam's knee to wake him up and gave him a smile. "I can't wait to meet them,"

Getting off the train was much less hectic. One by one people filed out of the train. Katrina felt her pulse race. Her eyes darted about. Boomerang paced in his carrier, feeling the anticipation in the air. Just a few more steps. She would meet her guardians. It was actually going to happen. At last she would have a family again. And not her foster parents. This was it.

"Liam, Liam, over here!" A rich voice carried over the noise. Liam raced ahead and Katrina followed just behind.

Katrina at last looked back at her guardians. Into their smiling faces. In that moment, it took everything in her not to cry. She was home.

December 23
In the Car
16:52

Katrina sat in the backseat of her guardian's car. It was still unbelievable. She was with her new family. There was a whirlwind of emotions swirling around in Katrina and she was having troubles processing it all. She just needed another few hours to compose herself. To make sure she was the perfect daughter. Put together, funny, sweet, endearing, not traumatized, not paranoid, not worrisome. Liam seemed to have no troubles, he was already telling her guardians his stories. Mostly the same ones he'd told Katrina. There was hardly any trouble for Katrina to stay silent. Laugh when she was supposed to. Occasionally make a remark about something.

There was a beat of silence and Katrina realized that they must have asked Katrina something, "Pardon?" What are you saying Kat? Since when have you said 'pardon'? "Oh, we were just asking you how you've been doing," Came the gentle response from Emma. "I've been doing alright. Lots of studying. I did get to go to Hogsmede with a few friends to paint a mural. As a part of an errand,"

Katrina knew her response was too quick. It was already pre-planned, just like a lot of other things. She had a decent response to anything they could ask on the tip of her tongue. "Oh, they're still doing errands, eh?" Neil asked, with a deep laugh. "Sure are, I do every one I can!" Katrina could hear the forced cheeriness in her voice. There was no way they were falling for it. But they didn't know her very well. So there was a chance she could get away with some.

The conversation switched back to Liam and Katrina slumped in her seat. The house couldn't be too far from here? Right? Katrina watched in curiosity as the crowded city grew more and more sparce. Katrina realized one thing she had never thought to ask about was the house. There rolling hills and it was a while between each time Katrina spotted a house. Then she realized the houses were getting bigger. They also had more and more stories. They got more elaborate and fancy. Manicured lawns with impressive fountains and long paved driveways. Houses hidden in the growing forested areas, large houses with a lot of stories and a lot of windows. Certainly, they had gone the wrong way? These seemed like Pureblood houses. More like mansions, really.

"Almost there!" Liam turned to Katrina with an excited smile. Katrina failed at hiding her bewilderment. They turned down a long road, it was compacted gravel. There was a smattering of snow lining the road and Katrina's eyes danced at the forest. Could it really be? The car turned down a slope and Katrina got her first view of the house as they pulled into an absolutely massive house.

"Is this-" Katrina stuttered, "This is the house?" She couldn't hide her astonishment with any amount of coolness. It was beyond words. She'd never thought that they could be rich. Not like this. She'd assumed they'd live in a town home or a three bedroom at most. This could easily be a five or six bedroom at the size. And they had land, tons of it. "Sure is!" Neil responded happily.

"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? They're rich!" Liam turned to Katrina with a mischievous and knowing grin. He darted out of the car and grabbed Boomerang and his trunk from the back. He raced up and around the corner, presumably into the house.

Katrina walked to the front of the house and gaped at the mansion. It wasn't a house, it was a mansion. It was one of those moments that she wanted to pinch herself. Wake up. Be disappointed that it was all a dream. But it was real. The cold wind blowing. The gravel under her feet. The HUGE MANSION that she was now going to live in.

Emma and Neil ushered Katrina in and she followed, starstruck as she got a tour of her new home. It was a delightful mix of modern and wood (exactly the writers' dream home). It was about three stories and had large windows that let Katrina get a glimpse of the humbly opulent rooms. To the right of the entrance was a fireplace and nice furniture. She could peek into a kitchen as well. To the left of the entrance was more of the same but it also had a huge patio looking out to a snow covered area and Katrina got a peek of an ice covered lake. Katrina followed Emma up two flights of stairs and into a quiet room of the house, her bedroom. It was quite massive and Katrina could hardly believe she'd be living here.

Emma left Katrina to soak everything in and after a while, Katrina made her way back downstairs with Boomerang in her arms. The fire was roaring and Neil was sitting in one of the chairs with his cane. Emma was making something in the kitchen that smelled like smoked salmon. And was mixing up a salad soaking in dressing. Liam was bent over some sort of electronic on the patio with earbuds in probably talking to a friend. Boomerang began to purr and the only thought in Katrina's mind was, 'I'm home'.

December 23
In Bedroom
19:22pm

Katrina had had a few moments to settle in. She'd grabbed her trunk from the car and scooped Boomerang up in her arms and she climbed up the stairs once more. It was going to take her a long time to get used to all the opulence. Sure, the Sprigs didn't show off the wealth with big displays of exotic vases and expertly chiseled statues, but it was the small things that made it show. And extra design engraved onto the bottom of the railing, a place most others wouldn't bother. A humble painting on the wall by an artist Katrina recognized. A simple looking chandelier that when you bent in close, you saw that the outside had the finest layer of real silver paint. But the house was absolutely massive.

Katrina plopped Boomerang in her room beside her trunk and turned to the bed. There was folded bedding in one of the hallway closets and Katrina got to work. She was sure that her guardians had meant to make her bed, but honestly, there was something gratifying about doing it yourself. Lying the sheet out, tucking in the sides, messing around with Boomerang as he tried to catch the 'mouse' under the covers that was really just Katrina's hand. She playfully tossed the sheet over Boomerang and smiled as he tried to find a way out she popped her head under one side and Boomerang raced over, rubbing his head and most of his entire body lovingly on her face. When the task was at last finished, the bed was made and Boomerang had claimed the sheets and blankets with his fur. Simply having the bedding on and doing it herself made the room feel far more cozy and far more 'Katrina'. The top blanket, the accent one, was a teal chunky knit blanket she'd made for herself. Which only made the room seem that more like home.

Katrina grabbed the journal Neil had made and a few sketching pencils out of her trunk and set them on her nightstand. She also took out the little origami dragon she'd made a while ago and set that beside it. Now the room was officially hers. Katrina slid her trunk under her bed with ease and took a look around her room.

Then she remembered what she had been forgetting, clothes. There was a closet across from the door that she hadn't looked in yet. Perhaps she could hang her clothes up instead. Katrina opened the door and was astonished by what she saw. The closet was massive, about the size of her room back at her old home. There were shelves and rods and boxes and almost everything was full of clothes. They were her size and colors and styles that she loved. Her guardians had put so much work into the room and Katrina couldn't help but feel her eyes well up at the thought.

Katrina walked back to the room to say something to her guardians and as she left her room she saw the words 'Katrina Walker's Room' engraved right into the wood of the door. She stopped mid-stride and felt the tears well up further. It had been so long since anyone had cared. She had Bridget and she had her brother, but it hadn't gotten to her head that she mattered enough to be cared about.

The emotional girl returned to her room and sat out on the patio looking out to the yard. Boomerang lept into her lap and Katrina sniffed, trying not to cry. They cared. They cared so much. Then the toxic thoughts returned, just like they always did. What if it was only because they had to, because their names were on the will? What if it was all coincidence? If she could act, couldn't they? Besides, they were trying to replace her parents, just like her foster family did. There wasn't any way that it was all real.

With her conflicted emotions, the thirteen-year-old stared into space, trying to figure out everything.