Kaylei and Mara stood awkwardly in the corridor of the train, not sure what to do or where to go. They glanced around, looking for an empty compartment, but all of them seemed to be full.
“I guess we’ll just have to sit with someone and hope for the best,” Mara said, attempting to smile. Kaylei weakly returned it. Meeting new people was not one of her strong point; she usually let Mara make introductions.
They wandered around, looking for the emptiest compartment. At one point, Mara commented, “It’s too bad none of our aunts and uncles have had kids. If they did, we’d have at least three compartments!” which made Kaylei chuckle slightly.
Eventually, the girls found a compartment with two boys in it, the emptiest one they had seen. Tentatively, they pushed open the door.
“Anyone sitting in here?” Kaylei asked, pointing to the two empty seats, “Everywhere else is full.”
The boys shook their heads and the girls sat down.
“I’m Mara, by the way. Mara Potter,” Mara said, smiling, “And this is my cousin, Kaylei Weasley.”
The boys stared at the girls, temporarily speechless.
“You’re a Potter?” the one with shaggy blond hair said, staring at Mara.
“You’re a Weasley?” the one with wavy brown hair said, staring at Kaylei.
“Yes,” the girls said together. Kaylei added playfully, “No, we’re not going to get you our parent’s autograph, so don’t even try.”
The boys looked startled, then chuckled nervously. The blond boy said, “Sorry, it’s just that we’ve never met anyone, well, a little famous before. I’m Kevin.”
“Well, Kevin, you’d better get used to fame,” said Mara dryly, “Three out of four of our parents work at Hogwarts.”
“What??” Kevin yelled.
“Yep,” Mara said grimly.
“Hey, do you have a name?” Kaylei asked the other boy, realizing a little too late that she sounded almost rude.
“I’m Paul,” said the boy with brown hair, smiling a crooked smile. He seemed like the more soft-spoken boy of the two. He added, “Kevin is my cousin too, just like you two.”
“Well, tell us the story!” Kevin said impatiently.
“What story?” the girls said together.
“Come off it!” Kevin yelled again.
“The story of how your parents defeated the guy they used to call You-Know-Who,” Paul explained.
“Yeah, that Lord Voldemort bloke,” Kevin threw in.
The girls glanced at each other. Mara began the story.
“My dad and Kaylei’s parents found out that the only way to defeat Voldemort was if they destroyed these things called Horcruxes. It’s where a piece of Voldemort’s soul was put into an object and hidden so that even if Voldemort’s body was attacked, he couldn’t die, because part of his soul was hidden and safe. But Voldemort didn’t just make one Horcrux.”
“He made seven,” Kaylei said.
“Wait,” Paul interrupted, “So he split his soul seven times? How?”
“Killing people,” said Kaylei grimly. “When you kill someone, it splits your soul. Then there is some weird spell or something that puts the piece into an object.”
Paul shivered slightly.
“Keep telling!” Kevin urged.
“So my dad, aunt, uncle, and eventually my mom hunted for these Horcruxes and destroyed them one by one,” Mara continued, “It was dangerous, too. Have you ever heard of a man called Albus Dumbledore?”
“I think so,” the boys said together. Paul added, “Wasn’t he a really famous headmaster of Hogwarts?”
“Yes, he was,” Mara said.
“He died after trying to retrieve a Horcrux,” Kaylei said. “He was weakened by this potion that probably would have killed him without an antidote, but he had to drink it. Then he was murdered by a Death Eater.”
“No, he wasn’t a Death Eater,” Mara interrupted, “He worked for Dumbledore and Voldemort! He was a double agent!”
“Whatever, we’re not sure who he was. The point is, he killed Dumbledore. After he and my uncle (Mara’s dad) had tried to get a Horcrux,” Kaylei said impatiently.
“So that was what started the hunt,” Mara continued. “Our parents found these Horcruxes and destroyed them, and each time, one of them came extremely close to losing their lives,” she finished dramatically.
“That’s horrible,” Paul whispered. Kevin seemed ready to fall out of his seat with anticipation.
“Then finally,” Kaylei went on, “There came a day when all of the Horcruxes were gone. There was nothing for them to do except face Voldemort in person. Which they did, when he attacked. Our parents fought like heroes with other people they knew from this organization called the Order of the Phoenix. But the Order was losing. Our parents were watching people they knew and loved die one by one. From what they’ve told us, this caused a fury and pain inside of them that they never knew. A fury and pain that kept building, until at the same time, they all raised their wands and screamed ’Avada Kedavra,’ which is the killing curse. Apparently, this curse was so powerful coming from four that it blew right through the shield jinx that Voldemort had tried to deflect it with. He died right on the threshold of his father’s home. The Order had finally won.”
Paul and Kevin sat in transfixed silence. This story seemed to have struck home for them. Finally, Kevin broke the silence by exclaiming, “Wait until I write to mum and tell her that I met a Potter and a Weasley! She’ll be sick!”
Then tension was broken and everybody chuckled.
“So what about you guys? You guys have any interesting stories?” Mara asked conversationally.
“Not really, unless you count the time Paul wore a dress all day in public,” Kevin said, smiling wickedly at Paul.
Paul blushed furiously and glared at his cousin. “I was four and didn’t know any better,” he mumbled while everyone roared with laughter.
“It’s OK, Paul,” Kaylei said comfortingly, “I once went around all day wearing nothing but a pair of my older brother’s underwear when I was five.”
This was a cause for more laughter, with Mara shrieking “I didn’t think you would ever get the courage to tell anyone that!”
Once the laughter had died down, Paul said, “I’m starving. I hope the lunch trolley comes soon.” The other three could still see a bit of red around his ears.
“I’ll go see where it is,” Mara began, standing up, but at that moment, the compartment door slid open, and a little old lady poked her head in and said, “Anything off the cart, dears?”
Each person bought what they wanted, and sat down to enjoy the sweets. The rest of the time was spent with everyone sharing stories about their families and eating. Just as the lamps were being lit, Kevin jumped out of his seat, pressed his nose against the window, and yelled, “I think I see Hogwarts!! I see towers behind trees!”
Everyone got out of their seats and also pressed their noses against the glass. Sure enough, they could just get a glimpse of the magnificent castle. They stood there, staring for a few minutes, until Kaylei finally said, “We’d better get changed.”
As everyone pulled their robes on excitedly, Kaylei was struck by a thought: How will people react to being in classes with famous people’s daughters? How will that effect our time at Hogwarts? Uh oh…
A/N: Did you notice anything in some of the conversations? I put some stuff from SS!
Looking For A Reason by RonIsMyHomeboy
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the bits of conversation that I used, not me. She gets all the credit for her characters and story line.