swim || remus lupin

a new wave

A light breeze blew through me and I watched through long strands of light hazel hair as the silver vehicle disappeared into a sea of others. A wave of nerves washed over me as I realized I was truly alone.

Suddenly, a crash of limbs and cheap aftershave knocked me off balance and sent the crumpled piece of paper flying from my hand and into the wind. The two black-haired culprits hadn't slowed their sprint as they cheered a brief "Sorry!" over their shoulders and continued on. A third, mousier than the others, trailed at about 70% of their speed.

I cursed under my breath while the paper blew out of sight but was startled again as a new hand reached out towards me. I grabbed it and hoisted myself up coming face to face with the deepest, liquid brown eyes that threatened to swallow me whole.

"Alright there, love?" Fuck, these English accents.

"Yeah, I think so," I broke eye contact out of fear of drowning and smiled slightly at the teenager in front of me. He was tall and slim yet fit with messy brown hair and a crooked smile. He also had some light scars across his face and down his arms, but I tried not to stare at them out of respect.

"Sorry about James and Sirius, we try to keep them off the streets as much as possible," I laughed and assured him that I had had my fair share of bumps and bruises.

He offered to help with some of my bags and I shook my head, afraid of what he'd think of the strange items my new school required. However, after attempting (and failing) to gracefully hold all of the crates and cases, I accepted the help. He casually lifted the heaviest bags and left me with just a backpack.

"Show off," I mumbled. He smiled back and shrugged.

"I'm Remus by the way," even his name was so intriguing. Why didn't I come to this country sooner?

"Sydney," I replied. "Nice to meet you Remus."

We approached the train platforms and I remembered the paper. On it were the instructions to find the train I needed. But what were they? Remus seemed to sense my hesitation as we approached the large '8' sign and slowed his pace.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to find platform 9 ¾ would you? I know that's an odd request but I'm not really sure how English train stations work, I haven't seen any other fractions along here," I knew I was rambling and looked up to find him grinning widely.

"You're going to Hogwarts?" I nodded. "Right this way."

We approached platforms 9 and 10 and he went to place my things down by the large brick column. I glanced around at the bustling station. So many people zoomed by with no notice of their surroundings. With cooling coffees in hand, crying children on their hips, orderly briefcases by their side, each had their own timeline that would likely never cross with the people right in front of them.

"Alright, I'll get you through and then grab your luggage for you, yeah?" I turned back to the boy in utter confusion. Through where?

"Um, sure?" He cracked another smile.