It was only moments before James and Lily Potter leaned nonchalantly through the barrier and joined Harry on the platform, followed closely by Harry’s little sister, Julie.
“So…what do you think?” Lily probed, chuckling at the look on Harry’s face.
“Whoa.” James laughed loudly and took Julie by the hand.
“Come on. Let’s get your things loaded.” But before Harry could follow, he felt a sharp pain in his back and toppled to the pavement.
“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” a redheaded boy was yelling.
“Harry! Are you alright?” Lily called, rushing to her son’s aid.
“Yeah. Yeah, mum, I’m fine.” When Lily continued to fuss over him, he repeated more firmly, “Mum! I’m fine, alright?”
The redheaded boy offered Harry a hand and he stood up. “Sorry, mate. Took the barrier at a bit of a run. It’s my first time.”
Harry smiled. “Mine too. Harry Potter.”
“Ron Weasley.”
“Are you two coming or not?” James called from several feet away.
“Yeah, we’re coming, Dad!” Harry called back. “Well, see you at Hogwarts then,” he said to Ron with a slight nod and then scurried off to join his family.
By 10:45, all of Harry’s things were loaded onto the train and it was time to say goodbye to his family. It felt strange now that the moment was finally upon them. Lily knelt down to Harry’s eye level and put a hand on his shoulder. Their matching green eyes locked for a moment, before Lily blinked to hold back the tears that were beginning to form.
“I know you’ll have a fantastic year and make loads of new friends.”
“And of course, you’ll be in Gryffindor,” James added, ruffling Harry’s hair, hair almost identical to his own.
“James!”
“What? I’m sure he will be.”
“Harry. What your father is trying to say is that we both loved being in Gryffindor House, but we’ll be very proud of you no matter which house you get sorted into.”
“Well, except Slytherin,” Harry added.
“That’s my boy!” James clapped Harry on the back and grinned. However, his smile was swiftly wiped from his face at a glimpse of Lily’s icy glare.
“No. Including Slytherin. A lot of great wizards have come from that house, too.”
“What, like the outstanding Severus Snape?” But this time, it wasn’t James. Harry looked up and beamed widely.
“Uncle Sirius!” He ran and gave his father’s best mate a hug.
“Hey, Harry! Just came to see you off. Uncle Remus and Uncle Peter said to say goodbye too.” Sirius, Remus, and Peter actually weren’t related to Harry at all. They were James’ school friends, but they’d become like family. They all seemed to be misfits of a sort, without families of their own. But since Lily only had one estranged sister with a husband and a son Harry had never met, Harry had grown close to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
“Oh, they didn’t come?” Harry glanced around the platform, trying to spot them. That’s when he saw him, boarding the Hogwarts Express and waving to his Gran. “Ok, I think it’s time to go. Wouldn’t want to miss the train now would I?” Harry announced with seemingly sudden urgency.
James grinned with pride and exchanged a silent chuckle with Sirius. “Alright then, son. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“That’s not saying much,” Sirius muttered under his breath and smirked at James.
“Have a good term, honey. See you at Christmas. Be safe. Write to us every day, you hear?” Lily said, smothering him in a giant hug.
“Yeah, mum. Of course.” But everyone knew he wouldn’t.
“Bye-bye Harry. I’ll miss you.” Julie added, meekly from behind James’ leg. Harry gave her a quick hug.
“I’ll miss you too, sis.”
He stepped onto the train and waved one last time to his family. “Bye!” he called over the roar of the engine.
Harry rushed through the train, desperate to locate the boy he’d seen earlier. He could barely believe he was going to be going to school with an international celebrity! He scanned each compartment as he passed, but the boy was nowhere to be found. Dejected, he checked one last compartment.
“Oh, hey,” the redheaded boy said when he saw Harry.
“Hi… Ron?”
“Yeah.”
“Mind if I sit?” Ron gestured to the bench opposite him and Harry took it. Immediately they hit it off, swapping stories of annoying siblings and talking about Quidditch.
“You support the Chudley Cannons?” Harry exclaimed.
“Yeah, I do. So what?”
“They’re awful, that’s what.”
“Just because they haven’t won a game since Bartleby Snyder doesn’t mean they’re rubbish.”
“Actually, I think that’s exactly what it—” But Harry was interrupted mid-sentence by the opening of their compartment door.
“Have you seen a toad? I’ve lost mine,” a shy looking boy with a chubby, round face asked from the doorway.
Harry’s mouth fell open. It was the boy he’d been looking for. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “You’re Neville Longbottom.”
Ron looked at Harry, wide-eyed. Harry raised his eyebrows and smiled back.
Neville looked down at his shoes and nodded slightly. “Yeah. I suppose I am.”
“Do you really have that scar?” Ron chimed in.
“Yeah.” Neville tilted his head so that they could see a small scar shaped like a lightning bolt directly in the middle of his forehead.
“Wicked.”
An awkward silence fell between them and Neville turned to leave when a small croak came from somewhere in the compartment.
Neville’s head jerked upward and he looked around wildly. “Trevor?”
Harry crouched down on the floor and pulled a small, bumpy toad from underneath Ron’s bench. As he handed it over to Neville, he smiled and said, “I’m Harry, by the way. Harry Potter. Care to join us?”
And from that point on, Harry could say that he was friends with Neville Longbottom, The Boy Who Lived.
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