When: 1st September, 2025
Where: King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4

Walking into King's Cross Station and traversing the bustling crowds wasn't new to Alaric. He had gone every year with his mother and siblings when it was time to send them off. Corwin and Theodora had both been sorted into Ravenclaw like their father, which was the one piece of information Alaric knew about the man. Their mother, Cassiopeia, and their grandparents, Septimus and Drusilla Vallisborne, always brought the whole family to the platform to see them off to Hogwarts. They said it had been tradition since Septimus himself was a student, and they'd hate to break it now.
Alaric was desperate not to look like a baby, but he did wish he'd found a way to sneak his stuffed dragon into his satchel. It would have made what came next easier if he'd had someone to give a good cuddle to after he left his family. It must have been easier for Theodora and Corwin, he thought, because they had always had each other.
"Are you coming, love?" Alaric's grandmother, Drusilla, asked. She touched his arm gently, guiding him to where his family stood, waiting, in front of the hidden entrance to platform 9 3/4. Alaric nodded and followed her gentle pull, grateful, as always, at how well she understood him. Stepping through the illusory wall, Alaric felt like he was shedding a bit of his younger self and it was a bittersweet moment, the first time he had noticed himself growing up.
"Watch your step," his grandfather, Septimus, wheezed next to him. He had become rather portly since retiring from being an Unspeakable, and he tended to huff and puff quite a bit when they were out, though he still kept up with them well at 74 years old. His thick, brown mustache and dark eyebrows that wiggled playfully when he spoke gave him the look of a rather friendly walrus. In comparison, his grandmother was thin like Alaric, though unlike him she was tall and graceful. She didn't have the overt warmth of Septimus, but she was loving in her way. Growing up with grandmother, clothes were mended before he was aware they had been gone, his favorite dessert was on the table when he was having a bad day, and there was always an extra large portion just for him.
Alaric's mother and siblings were waiting just past the illusion, his brother Corwin using a feather-light charm to carry Alaric's trunk, and his mother and sister smiling in anticipation. Alaric put on his bravest smile and stepped forward on shaky legs with his grandparents walking to either side of him. The platform wasn't overly busy yet as Cassiopeia had a tendency to arrive early for everything. It had always frustrated Alaric throughout his childhood, arriving early and waiting around for events to start. He thought he was finally beginning to understand this time, though, as being early gave him time to acclimate to his surroundings.
Cassiopeia knelt down in front of Alaric, resting her hands on his shoulders and looking into his eyes for several moments. Alaric fought the urge to squirm, instead reaching forward and pushing his face into the crook of his mother's neck, her long black hair tangling around his fingers as he let himself finally shed the tears he'd been holding back. After a long moment of comfort, Alaric pulled back uncomfortably and took the handkerchief his grandfather held out for him, wiping his eyes and then blowing his nose. His mother cast a quick scourgify and handed it back to Septimus with a small smile. "Remember to get some sleep at some point," she said, fondly, and Alaric nodded. "Write often," she added, and Alaric nodded again. "I'll see you on your breaks, don't worry. Your time is going to go by so quickly, it'll seem like you've barely been gone." Alaric nodded one more time, tears threatening to spill again, so Cassiopeia stood, pulling him gently against her side for another hug.
"Don't worry," Corwin added, leaning on Alaric's shoulders. He wiggled with a huff, trying to shake him off, but he held firm with a grin. "If anyone tries to mess with you, tell them your older brother knows all the unforgivables."
"Corwin!" Cassiopeia turned to chastise her young adult son, but Corwin remained unbothered.
"Or you could tell them your older sister is an alchemist and can brew any kind of poison you want."
The sharp, "Theodora!" from their mother was both expected and funny to the twins who burst into laughter. It brought a smile to Alaric's face to watch them interact as always, and he held this moment close, knowing he would miss it at Hogwarts.
After a long moment, Alaric's mother took a half step back and looked him up and down, once again reaching down to pluck lint that only she could see from his robe. "Come on, then," she murmured, let's get you on the train. I'm sure you'll want a window seat."
They began walking as a group toward the train, and the press of bodies and increase in sound told Alaric they had spent quite a bit of time delaying, and they would need to speed up if he didn't want to end up in a compartment with anyone strange. Corwin levitated Alaric's trunk along behind them, and Theodora picked up his satchel and placed it on his shoulder. Alaric smiled at her in thanks, and before he knew it he was watching his brother pass his trunk off to the staff and then Alaric was taking one step and then another up the steps to the Hogwarts Express. The steps felt like they would collapse beneath him, or maybe that was his legs shaking, but the door handle felt real under his hand. The solid brass was reassuring, and then so was the feel of the thin carpet beneath his feet.
He passed a couple of mostly full train cars and made his way to the back, hoping to go unnoticed so he could read one of his books unbothered for the ride to Hogwarts. Sure, Alaric wanted to make friends, but it felt too overwhelming at the moment when he wasn't sure what house he or anyone else would be in, and when he wasn't sure he wasn't going to start crying again as soon as he couldn't see his family out the window anymore.

Word Count: 1066