Platform 9 3/4. I made it! This is it! - Olive thought. Her mom dropped her off, gave some quick instructions such as "behave", "do as you're told", "don't cause any trouble", as if she was a difficult child, wild, a threat to human kind. It did not make any sense. Her brother was the one she had always had to be on top of or he wouldn't do his chores or his school work. Yes, Olive did get involved in a couple of fights (that her mom knew of) but it's not like her mom really cared about the fighting itself. What mattered to her was what other people would think of her if they heard that her daughter had got into a fight or was seen as trouble.

Her older brother Lane was already talking to his friends and getting into the train when her mom shouted a goodbye. Olive could see how she was a bit broken hearted that he didn't seem to care that they were going to be apart for a while. Olive's mom had told Lane on the way to the station the usual "Take care of your sister!" while Olive rolled her eyes. Her dad would have whispered to her "Take care of your brother!" but he wasn't there to do it this time. For different reasons, it was common that Olive's dad would miss important dates. She pretended to not care anymore. Pretended to herself mostly since nobody really asked or talked to her about it, so it wasn't too hard.

It was just for a few seconds that Olive's attention was drawn elsewhere. This beautiful girl with purple hair (actually, a few shades of purple) was surrounded by people who appeared to be family or maybe family and some friends. All boys and young men. Olive wondered what it was like to have a big family, do things together.

That miserable thought was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a whistle and a man calling people to board the train for the first time. "You don't need me to wait for you to board, do you?"- asked her mom with an almost imperceptible trace of shame for not staying until the train left like most parents."No. You don't have to. It's alright." - Olive responded putting on her independent and tough girl face and pushing down the knot on her stomach. Before she could count to three, her mom was already gone. Olive took her time to board the train though. As if she needed a few more minutes to take it all in. She observed everyone around her, pictured their backstories in her mind as if they were characters in a story she was playin in her own mind. She fought the urge to feel sorry for herself, for having family there who didn't really care she was leaving, who pretended to not be going the same way. Because it didn't matter she had a brother going to the same school or a parent who came to drop her off. The truth was that she was alone in this world. She had been so far. Her hope was that this could be about to change. She knew how to be alone. Would she know how to NOT be alone? That was more than just making friends. That meant connecting, really connecting.

She took a deep breath and got into the train while she heard the last call to board the Hogwarts Express.