˜”*°•.˜”*°• Leaving The Mundane •°*”˜.•°*”˜ solo

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Leaving The Mundane •°*”˜.•°*”˜

^{September 1st}
Robin stood in the middle of the small gift shop located in the famous King Cross Station. She was staring at one of those neck pillows that people used when going on long trips and wanted to get a few hours of shuteye. She knew that the train ride she was about to embark on would be the longest she'd ever been trapped in a metal tin can for hours on end. The six-hour drive from her city in Wales had taken long enough, her mother waking her up at three o'clock in the morning to make sure that they got to the station on time to drop her off for the train to her new school.

Her new school. Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. About a month prior, in early August, quite the strange visitor had shown up on her family doorstep in Milford Haven, tall pointy hat and a letter that would change her life. She never imagined for a moment that all of her hopes and dreams would come true, and she would be blessed with magic. Robin, from an early age, had been a dreamer. A dreamer with endless imagination and more love of the strange and unknown than she had for her own family. Not to say that she didn't love her family, but a part of her daydreams included being whisked off into a fantasy world where she could finally be on her own.

Robin had a large family - four older brothers and a younger sister. Two of which were in the same gift shop as her, looking around for any potential snacks for their journey home. Jeremiah, the brother closest to her age at fourteen, was a gangly boy with a knot of dense curly hair on his head that desperately needed to be picked out. Her seven-year-old sister, Samantha, was holding her right hand with the grip of an experienced sailor, absolutely dreading the loss of presence of her beloved big sister. As much as Robin adored her sister, and entire family of course, she was excited to be leaving. Her role at home wasn't the best one - she simultaneously bore the responsibilities of the eldest daughter and the younger sister of four irritating moronic boys. Jeremiah had been growing on her recently, and only recently, but the others were just permanent annoyances who only showed their love by pranking and teasing her.

That is to say, she was glad she had a chance to truly start from scratch on her own terms. She knew that she would be just fine academically- she would ensure it, no matter the cost.

Sighing, and giving up on the idea that the purple polka dotted neck pillow was meant to be hers, she squeezed her sister's hand and trailed off towards the snack section where Jeremiah had the large clear door of the refreshments open, finger to his lips pondering his drink of choice.

"Don't think too hard now, Jer." Robin teased him, coming up from behind. "Pick out a drink Sam. Mam will be back soon."

Her little sister, short and bobbed curly hair with red rimmed cat-eyeglasses was a spitting image of Robin- just pixie sized, skipped up to the drinks. She dipped under Jeremiah's arm and grabbed a chocolate milk, holding it to her chest alongside a box of M&M's.

"Should I get a Redbull, RoRo?" Jer asked her, purposely using the name she hates and not even turning his head. "If I fall asleep on the way back, I'll miss the tourney in the morning." He had some stupid Call of Duty tournament that he had been talking about for over a week. Apparently only Call of Duty could convince him to have a semblance of a regular sleep schedule - no, not like he has school or anything.

"Sure. But you know what they say, Jer Bear," she says, smirking at him. "Redbull gives you wings." He rolled his eyes, sighing at her, and grabbed a couple of blue drinks off the shelf before letting the clear door slam shut. He had been giving her a hard time about being the sole "witch" of the family after she threatened to torture him with all of the new spells that she'd be learning at her school. All he did was laugh and since then, Robin has been trying to convince him of different ways she could mess with him. She could tell that as much as he laughed off her newfound ability, it made him slightly nervous.

He, along with most of her family, grew up Christian like most of the people in her town. They weren't regular church go-ers or anything but hearing terrible stories about the wicked "devil" for most of your life will make the concept of magic a little terrifying to someone who has none. She decided to use it to her advantage, no matter how crude. The boys certainly had always used their strength, so after she learns it, she will be quite delighted to use her magic. Giving him wings would probably be a little too advanced from what she read in her first year Transfiguration book, but that didn't mean she couldn't bluff.

"Can I have a Redbull, too?" Samantha asked, eyes wide, looking at the drinks in Jer's hands with mesmerizing focus. Robin felt a little bad for accidentally tricking her younger sister, who was already confused enough as it is as to why her only sister has to leave, but that she is also going to a magical school. Robin tried to keep it simple for the girl but decided that the truth is better.

"If you drink Redbull you'll have a heart attack and die." Robin told her sister bluntly, shoving Jeremiah in the shoulder as she moved past him, grabbing a bag of Pretzels and dragging Sam to check out. Robin could see their mother, Christine, making her way toward them, having just parked the car. She wore a long tan sweater and jeans and had a cigarette in her lips, puffing as she walked. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head and her eyes dragged with exhaustion from having driven since the ass-crack of dawn. She approached the girls in line, who had just been joined by Jeremiah, now with a bag of Doritos and a Slim Jim. Her eyes skimmed over the assortment of snacks that we have collected and nods, stepping up to the counter as the guy checking out leaves.

They leave the gift shop with a few plastic bags in tote, Robin stuffing hers in her bag that she brought along for the Train. She grabbed the trolley with her trunk on it and began hauling it toward the direction of Platform 9 and 10. Robin wanted to be on the train as early as possible to ensure she had a car alone to herself, allowing her some time to stalk observe the other students as they arrived. Robin knew she had a lot to learn about this new wizarding world - these were her last moments as a normal girl - she was eager to leave immediately.

"Let's goooo!" Robin sang in a falsetto voice, dragging the trunk behind her.

"Jer, why don't you get that for your sister," Christine says, a puff of smoke leaving her lips. Jeremiah huffs a sigh of irritation and grabs the trunk, pushing it nearly twice as fast as Robin was. She also huffed at her own strength, her Achilles heel, and continued along through the throng of people toward her future.

Samantha ran up, grabbing Robin's hand once more, eyes staring to water up.

"You're gonna come back, right?" She asks, eyes focused on her feet, taking two steps for every one of mine. "Not like Daddy?"

Robin's heart cracked just a bit, and she frowned, looking at her sister. No - she would never leave her. But she won't be around anymore. They'd had this conversation before and Robin decided that as much as it would hurt, Sam needed the truth from her.

"Always." Robin promised. "I'll never leave you. Dennis? Maybe him. But not you, Sammy. I won't be around a lot but when I am it will mean so much more, know what I'm saying?" Robin assured her baby sister, squeezing her hand. The girl smiled at her joke but still looked pretty upset. Robin tried to help. "I'll write at least once a week, Sammy, and you can write me back. You'll be okay."

Robin was really not great at comforting her sister, but that's because she couldn't imagine being reliant on someone the way that her sister was reliant on her. It was probably for the best that the girl has some time apart from her bigger sister. She'll eventually have to learn independence, she thought. We all do.

Sam let go of her sister's hand and dragged behind, Robin too busy thinking about all of the day's possibilities to even notice. She wondered what her favorite subject would be - they all seem so new!

Finally, they approached the brick wall that they were told about, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Robin approached it, casually stopping a distance away and turning to her family.

"This is it," she says, a smile on her face and a queasy feeling in her stomach. Her mum looked to be close to tears. She handed the cigarette to Jeremiah to hold and she surged forward to squeeze Robin. Robin didn't even have a chance to lift an arm so she had to awkwardly let her mother squeeze her, her own elbows digging into her side. Christine let go and pat Robin on the cheek once, snatching the cigarette back from Jer who was taking a quick hit. Weird interactions were kind of the norm in the Marie household. Robin forced a smile before turning to Jeremiah.

"Well, thanks for coming, Jer." She said, meaning it. He kept her entertained with his playlists on his iPod for most of the ride. She didn't really have any reason for electronics anymore and decided to leave it at home as to not chance breaking it, since she learned from the kind house visiting wizard that tech and magic don't do great together. He played a bit more classical music than a kid his age should be playing, but she didn't mind. He was an odd one just like her, the only reason she didn't mind him coming with them on the ride. He kept her entertained with riddles and word games, and anyone who could stump her was someone to keep around, she told herself.

She was sad that Jer didn't have any magic, and it seemed he might feel the same way. They were pretty similar people. after all. She just got lucky. She smiled warmly at him. "Peace. I'll write?" She says smirking, breaking eye contact with him to look at her family. "I love you all. Please drive home safely. I'll send a letter as soon as I figure out how, I promise."

They exchanged a few more hugs and kind words, mostly from little Samantha, her tears finally spilling over. Robin decided to take pity on her sister and whispered in her ear as her parting words, "Maybe you could be magic too. We will see when you turn eleven, maybe even sooner if you're lucky." Kissing her cheek, Robin turned away from them before they tried to get any mushier on her. Robin actually did hope her sister had magic, but she wouldn't know for sure until her fifth year in school. She'd be close to graduating when her sister would be where she is now. No point in worrying now.

Steadying herself and grabbing her trolley, Robin pushed it toward the brick wall that would lead her from the world of the mundane and into the world of the murky and weird.

Reducio

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