Tabitha jumped when she heard her mother calling her down the stairs. “Tabitha! TABITHA!” Her mother’s voice echoed through the whole house.
“Yes, Mum?” Tabby bellowed out her bedroom door. Her mother’s head appeared at the bottom of the stairs, her brown eyes full of stress.
“Tabby, the trains leaving in one hour. By the time we haul everyone’s trunks into the car, drive there, and make it through all the crowds, you’ll have about five minutes to board the train. Why didn’t you pack last night, like I asked you too?” Her mother’s voice showed as much stress as her eyes did.
“Because I didn’t expect you to sleep through your alarm,” Tabby said, then slammed her door to continue her packing.
Tabitha Kate Potter looked around her room, trying to decide what was worth taking. She had already packed her clothes and school supplies, now she just needed to pack her personal things. She hesitated, then unpinned her Chudley Canon poster, and laid it in her trunk. Then she remembered.
She shoved things around, desperately looking for her most prized possession.
When she picked up her jumper, she finally found it. The leather bound book that she had explored with her brother as a child. Inside it contained countless tales, each of which she had read a hundred times over.
She carefully placed it into her trunk, along with the rest of her luggage, then heard a knock at the door.
Her older brother appeared in the doorway, his messy raven-colored hair all over the place. “Tabs,” he said, using his pet name for her. “Mum says we’re leaving right now. Need help?” He nodded towards her trunk.
“Yeah. Thanks Trent,” she told her brother. She went over to her trunk to shut it, but found that she couldn’t. She pushed on the lid, but it wouldn’t close.
Trenton sighed. “Here, let me help.” Then he walked over and sat on top of Tabby’s over-filled trunk. The lid slowly closed under the pressure, and he locked it.
Tabby grinned at her brother, and told him a quick “Thank you,” then together the siblings lifted the heavy trunk out of her room. Tabby was unsurprised to see the downstairs in complete pandemonium.
Her second youngest brother, Christopher, was busy second checking his luggage, making sure he had everything that was needed. It was going to be his first year at Hogwarts, and he was scared that he would forget anything.
The youngest of the Potter children, Edward, was throwing a tantrum; he didn’t want all his siblings gone. It was bad enough with only Chris to play with, but now he wouldn’t have any playmates.
Ginny Potter, the mother of all four children, was busy trying to reassure Chris he didn’t forget anything, and at the same time trying to calm Eddie down. Ed stopped crying when a figure appeared at the doorway.
“What’s going on in here? We need to make it to the train, or no one is going to school this year,” Harry Potter scolded his family. He shot a worried glance at his pregnant wife, who looked like she was about to have a nervous break-down.
“Gin-“ he started, then his wife interrupted him. “I’m fine darling. Could you help me with these trunks?”
Harry nodded, then pulled out his wand. He uttered a simple spell which caused all of the children’s luggage to levitate in thin air.
“Come now, dearies. We’re going to miss the train,” Ginny said to her children. She ushered her children out the door, then double-checked to make sure she didn’t forget anything. When she was finally reassured that she didn’t leave anything behind, she walked out the front door, her pregnant belly causing her to do more of a waddle than a strut.
Chris, Trent, and Tabby made it onto the train safely, with only a minute to spare.
Then they departed, all going off the look for their closest friends. Tabby had to walk the whole length of the train before she found her closest friends, Nikki Straight and Quinn Smith.
When she appeared at the compartment door, Nikki jumped up and gave Tabitha a huge bear hug. “Tabs! How was your summer? Mine was good. Oh, how I missed you!” Nikki spat the words out of her mouth, and they came out in a jumble.
Quinn pulled Nikki off of Tabby, then took her turn for a hug (Quinn’s wasn’t as rough, and Tabby was thankful for that).
Tabby looked at her best friends closely, taking in every detail, and making sure they didn’t change to much over the summer holiday.
Nikki’s glossy dark curls were still more glamorous than Tabby’s straight copper red hair. Quinn’s brown eyes still looked intelligent, and still had that shine that Tabitha loved.
Tabby always felt ugly compared to her friends. She was tall for her age, (something she thought she inherited from her Uncle Ron) and had her dad’s knobbly knees. The only thing she like about her appearance was her bright green eyes, ones that made even her feel beautiful... sometimes.
“Could you help me with this?” Tabby motioned towards her rather heavy trunk. Her friends nodded, and together they tucked it into the corner of their compartment.
“Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team this year, Tabs?” Nikki asked. She became one of the Gryffindor Beaters last year, and has been trying convince Tabby to tryout. “I heard they’re looking for a new Seeker. And with your brother as captain, I don’t see how you could not make it onto the team.” Tabby’s heart lightened when she heard her friend say that they needed a new Seeker, but sunk again when Nikki brought up her brother.
It was true. Tabitha’s brother, Trent, was a Chaser, and captain, of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Trenton had already made it clear that he wasn’t going to “hand the spot over” to her just because they unfortunately had to have been born from the same mother.
“You’re really good, Tabby. Really,” Quinn said. Unlike her friends, she had absolutely no Quidditch talent, but also unlike her friends, she had enough brains to make up for it. It was because of her that Tabby and Nikki were even passing half of their classes.
“I’ll think of it,” Tabby reassured her friends, then changed the subject, and went on to tell a funny story about her brother, Christopher.
“I was playing chess with Trent, when we heard an explosion upstairs,” Tabby told her friends, trying hard not to laugh at the memory. “Then Chris came running down the stairs. You should have seen him! His hair was an even bigger mess than it usually is, and his glasses were all bent, and cracked. One hair of his was sticking up on end, still on fire!” Tabby had to stop, so she could catch her breath, she was laughing so hard.
“Then I said to Trent, ‘If he caused my bed to fall through the ceiling again, Chris wouldn’t be able to sit on a toilet the right way for a month!’” Nikki and Quinn were laughing heartily at Tabby’s tale; this was just the kind of thing Chris would do.
“So what happened?” Quinn asked. When Tabby gave her a questioning look, she added, “What potion did he make that caused the explosion?”
“Oh,” said Tabby. “He made this weird potion that turned his room into a jungle. Mum was not happy when she saw what he did.” Tabby smiled fondly at the memory of her brother’s punishment.
“Want anything off the cart?” a woman asked them, rolling along the food trolley. Quinn, Nikki, and Tabby all handed her a large sum of money for all the treats they bought. Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Licorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes; the list could go on. But what Tabby enjoyed the most were Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Sure, some flavors were nasty, but that’s what gave them all the excitement.
Tabby had her face stuck in a Pumpkin Pasty, when Nikki asked her, “What house do you think Chris will be sorted into? He’s smart enough to be sorted into Ravenclaw.”
Tabby silently agreed, though she didn’t want to. She couldn’t bare the thought of her brother being sorted into a house other than Gryffindor, the house everyone in her family was in. Ravenclaw wouldn’t be the worst- imagine if he was sorted into Slytherin! Though she doubted that would happen.
‘My godmother, Luna, was in Ravenclaw,’ Tabby thought to herself. ‘But she’s mad.’ Tabby immediately erased the thought.
The rest of the train ride went smoothly. The three friends shared happy stories about their summer break; Tabby having more tales to tell than the rest of her friends.
When the train pulled into the Hogsmeade Station, the friends quickly changed into their robes. Tabby didn’t want to think about all the homework they’d have this year, or about the possibility that Chris could be sorted into another house. She just wanted to think about the good times ahead of her.
She took a deep breath, then stepped off the train.
AN~ Thanks to my BRILLIANT brother for editing my story for me. He’s the best beta a sister could ask for! :D Sorry this chapter doesn't have much "romance" in it, but the next chapter will introduce you to some knew characters...