...moving forward...
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KIERNAN LOOKED AROUND... as she scanned her surroundings, looking for something of which she did not necessarily know. She stood right below a red sign with gold lettering; the sign read "platform 9 ¾ Hogwarts Express". It had the school's crest on it as well. As she continued to scan around the train station that seemed absolutely insane to her, she looked ahead to notice Draco had been waving for her to come over; she ignored him as she was still waiting for her friend to come through the solid brick wall. The girl still wasn't quite sure how that worked, but she was amused as she watched others pass through it.
The overly excited girl turned around as she had gotten a tap on her shoulder. A tall brunette with a prominent red and gold striped tie looked down on the girl as there was a very distinct height difference between the two.
'Excuse me?' The girl said. She was very outgoing and did not seem shy when talking to Kiernan. 'You're right in front of the walkway.' She pointed.
'I'm sorry, I was waiting for my friend who happens to be walking this way now.' Kiernan said as she watched Tobi walk up to her with her trunk and pet owl in hand. 'I'm Kiernan, by the way, and this is my friend, Tobi.' She said as she smiled with her hand in front of her as if she were ready to give the girl a handshake. The girl looked down at her hand for a second and shook her head.
'What an awkward thing for a teenager to do', Kiernan thought to herself before snapping out of her own thoughts and back to the conversation she was having with the tall stranger.
'Well, hello Kiernan and Tobi. I'm Ayla. Perhaps I will see you both at school.' Ayla shakes the girl's hand and heads onto the train.
Draco had still been waiting for Kiernan during the whole ordeal with the girl in the striped tie. As the two girls looked over at him, waiting by the train tracks, he had an annoyed look on his face. Kiernan had seen this face more than she had seen the boy smile; considering she never had, in her short time of knowing him, that was not really a big surprise to her.
The girls walked up to him and the three of them made their way onto the Hogwarts Express.
Kiernan made sure to take in every last bit of her surroundings; she was in complete awe with the sight of everything around her. She saw the perfectly symmetrical rows of blue-ish seats that looked very similar to the booths in the diner where she would always meet up with Tobi.
Draco ushered Kiernan into one of the cut off rooms with the blue seats and sat next to her; the girl did not care too much to sit next to the boy so she moved to the other side of the booth. Tobi followed slowly after, hanging her caged owl on a hook that was right above the entrance and pulling her trunk below her feet to rest them on top; it seemed to be more comfortable to her because of how short she was. The boy rolled his eyes, but neither of the girls seemed to notice. He wondered why Kiernan did not want to sit next to him when he had been nicer to her than anyone back at Hogwarts. Of course, Kiernan did not know how mean the boy could be yet, but she was sure to figure it out soon enough.
Something about the way the girl showed no interest in him, made Draco want to know her even more. He heard the rumors, which he was almost positive she knew nothing about, but there had to be more to her than what he had heard.
A woman walked down the aisle while she dragged a large cart behind her; everyone looked at the cart and it seemed as if their mouths were salivating because everything looked so tasty.
'Anything off the cart dears?' The woman said as she gestured to the plethora of sweets she had carted behind her.
The teens all looked at eachother; Kiernan being the most confused because she had never seen candy like that before. Although, that was not her only problem. The girl only had a small amount of human money, which she did not think the woman would accept.
Draco remembered Kiernan saying that she was still hungry after they left the hotel earlier that day and decided to get the three of them some chocolate frogs. He would never admit it, but he loved collecting the little mystery cards that came with them.
'I'll take three chocolate frogs.' Draco stuck his chin out, trying to seem more intimidating, but the girls just thought he looked funny; they let out a small giggle at nearly the same time. He ignored them.
'That'll be 4 galleons.' She handed the boy his chocolate frogs and took the golden coins from his hand.
Draco passed the two extra frogs to Kiernan and Tobi; he opened his immediately with an excited expression on his face. When he saw the way the girls were looking at him, his face changed immediately to a more nonchalant expression.
Kiernan opened her frog and watched it jump around, which brought her so much joy. Everyone could see the excitement on her face. She pulled out the card that was underneath her chocolate and it read "Artemisia Lufkin".
The girl squinted as she tried to read the name on the card aloud; it was definitely a mouthful. 'Who is... Artemisia... Lufkin?' She said, stuttering and trying her best to pronounce it properly. She hoped at least one of the two would know.
Tobi licked the chocolate off of her fingers and responded to the girl that had been seated next to her. 'She was a hufflepuff back in her Hogwarts days. She was the first female in office and actually became a minister for magic back in like 1970 something.'
Kiernan was still confused. 'She sounds so bad ass. What's a hufflepuff though?'
Draco scoffed. 'She really has no clue about this world at all now, does she?' He was hoping to get under her skin. He grew more and more annoyed every time he left her unphased with his obnoxious remarks. She ignored him.
'There are four different Hogwarts houses to be categorized into. These are: gryffindor, slytherin, hufflepuff, and ravenclaw.' Tobi said; she was very excited for some reason. 'I'm a ravenclaw and Draco is a slytherin.'
Draco shook his head in agreement and Kiernan just looked at the two of them, still confused.
The rest of the train ride was pretty quiet. The girl held her suitcase to her chest as her mind drifted from the insane world she was about to enter to her life back home. She thought of what her father was doing in her absence. Was he looking for her? Did he know where she had gone already? Did he even care that she left?
The cousins noticed the despair in her eyes and she quickly changed her train of thought when she realized they were staring at her.
The train approached the castle and became within seeing eye distance. The girl watched out of her window as the castle grew larger with every second. Her eyes grew wider with excitement and she just knew that she would love it there.
The train stopped and everyone began to exit. Tobi got off first, but Draco cut Kiernan off before she could follow her friend. The boy let out a hand for her to grab onto so he could lead the way for her. She nudged past him and followed Tobi off the train. Draco looked disappointed, but he loved a challenge. All of the girls at Hogwarts were far too easy for his liking. They either hated him or obsessed over him; both of which were not very fun for the boy.
Kiernan wondered why Draco tried so hard to be close to her; boys were the last thing on her mind, but she did not think anything bad of the boy. She looked back at him and gave him a smile; she knew she was going to have fun messing with him.
The girl finally made her way through the doors of Hogwarts and was greeted by Albus Dumbledore, as well as a lot of the students that attend the school.
'We are very pleased to finally have you here at Hogwarts. It took you long enough.' The wizard laughed.
Kiernan grew uncomfortable as the students stared at her and whispered into each other's ears. She grabbed her arm and tried not to seem uncomfortable, but of course, it was far too obvious to hide. Draco grabbed the girl's arm, she was in no position to stop him and she did not really care to, and he dragged her along to the dining hall. Everyone followed to the dining hall and got ready for the very first "mid-semester sorting hat ceremony". Her eyes gleamed with the reflection of the floating candles; it was like nothing she had ever seen before. The girl paused for a moment to really admire what she had been witnessing.
Everyone gathered around as Dumbledore ushered the distressed girl up in front of the rest of the school, accompanying the professors and headmaster. The girl sat onto a light, dirt washed stool and sat very still while the headmaster placed the sorting hat onto her head.
'Hmm, this one is a bit tricky.' The sorting hat said.
The girl gasped as she heard the hat speak; of course, she had never heard an inanimate object speak before.
'Do I sense... a Keen?' The hat said with slight confusion. 'Ah, yes, like mother like daughter, I presume.'
The girl's mother's maiden name was Keen, but how did the hat know that? And what did he mean like mother like daughter?
'Slytherin!' The hat yelled, and all the children with dark green lined robes cheered as he did so.
The girl stood up, still very confused, and walked over to Dumbledore.
'We will discuss your coursework tomorrow. You, unfortunately, will be taking on a much heavier workload to get you caught up to year 6.' The headmaster said.
'Mr. Dumbledore, sir, I don't even have anything on the list of requirements.' The girl was nervous.
'Yes, I figured as much. You need not worry, I will have someone escort you to Hogsmeade first thing tomorrow, miss Margaux.' He said.
The girl nodded her head and walked over to the table full of slytherins. She supposed they would be eating dinner at that point; she was correct.
The girl grabbed hold of the plate that had been placed in front of her and grabbed a chicken leg from the tray in the center of the table, along with a scoop of mashed potatoes; those were her favorite back home. She sat alone at the edge of the table and watched as all of her fellow slytherins whispered to each other and ate their dinner. They all excluded her and she did not feel very welcomed at her, supposed, house table.
'Did you hear that she was the reason the Potters were killed?' A girl said from a little further away. The girls around her gasped.
Kiernan had no idea who the Potters were or where the girl had heard that rumor, but hearing it made her feel terrible. Her facial expression changed very quickly and she was visibly upset because of what the girl said. Draco heard what the girl had said about Kiernan and, for some strange reason, he felt the urge to stick up for her; he was intrigued by the girl and it made him uncomfortable to see her upset.
'Shut up Pansy, you don't know anything about her.' Draco stood up and moved to sit with Kiernan.
'Who are the Potters?' The girl's voice cracked and it seemed as if she were worried to hear the answer.
'We can talk about it another time, alright?' Draco said.
'Thank you.' She looked into his cold grey eyes. 'For sticking up for me, I mean.'
'Yeah, whatever.' The boy left her alone again. It was as if he had completely changed within a span of two seconds. The girl didn't know what to think of him. One thing she knew for sure: he was one moody son of a bitch.
Maybe he wouldn't be too fun to mess with. Especially if he messed with her right back...
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