Power ~ by EmBot

Chapter Two
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The Hogwarts Express was supposedly one of the wonders of the wizarding world. I had heard so many stories about magical "Platform 9 3/4" and the magnificent school train. When I got there, however, I was quite worried about the sanity of my parents and friends. It was a ruddy train. And, contrary to my early loathing of the muggle world, I had witnessed quite a few trains in my time, and my heart kind of sank thinking that maybe this whole school was just going to be a series of disappointments for me...not to say that school wasn't disappointing, but it was a different kind of disappointing.

My parents walked onto the platform with me. My mother was tall and thin and blond like most of the stereotypical wives of people who were, are, or would‘ve been Death Eaters. I looked nothing like her. My father was tall and thin and blond. I looked nothing like him. I remember always wondering if I was adopted.

Unfortunately for me, I seemed to be the only one who had their parents tagging along with them. It seemed that everyone else had already had friends at the school. I gave my mother a quick hug and shook my father's hand. I looked around for Lucius who had already been to school for three years, but he was nowhere to be seen. My parents took me onto the train and put my things into a compartment for me. They waved goodbye; I looked at them helplessly. My father was already out the door. My mother gave me a slight smile and a little wave and was off too.

I was alone. I scowled moodily at passersby amid whispers of "Look at his hair, he must have swam in a bucket of grease," and "What's stuck up his rear end," until I realized that scowling probably wasn't the best way to meet anyone, and I picked up a book instead. Soon two smiling girls made their way towards my compartment. They both looked around my age. One had kinky brown hair and blue eyes, the other had blond hair and blue eyes and smirked at me as they came closer.

"Hey," said the blond one, "These seats taken?"

I shook my head wordlessly, moved my things and got back into my book. They both looked at each other, laughed a bit, and sat down.

"Hey," said the blond one, who I was beginning to rather abhor, "You gonna talk to us, or just read your book the entire time?"

I glared at her and put my book back in my bag. Once I had, the brunette stuck out her hand. I accepted.

"I'm Natalia," she said. "Natalia Sinistra."

"Severus Snape," I looked to the other one. "And you are...?"

The blond girl grinned at me. I noticed that she was slightly bucktoothed. She also stuck out her hand.

"I'm Larissa Vector, but everyone calls me Larrie."

Natalia looked a bit confused, and looked to me. "No...we don't, actually. We call her Larissa."

"Yes," Larissa said slowly, "But I have decided that my new nickname is Larrie."

Natalia rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and I just looked at them. Natalia seemed okay, but Larissa was going to take some getting used to. I sincerely hoped that everyone at Hogwarts wasn't like her. They went off on a whim about nicknames for a while until I noticed something...they both had the exact same eyes.

"Are you two..." I started.

"Related?" they asked at the same time. I nodded and they giggled.

"We're cousins," said Natalia. "But Larissa lives with my family."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" asked Larissa.

"No."

"Oh." said Larissa. "You're lucky, then. I have twelve."

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "Twelve?"

Larissa grinned. "Yes. Twelve. That's why I live with Natalia. It's hard to stand. Four of them go to Hogwarts...let's see"--she counted them off on her fingers-- " ...there's Tiffany. She's twelve. And then Mark. He's fourteen. And then Edward, who's fifteen, and Katherine. She's seventeen."

"Wow." I said, awestruck.

"Yeah," she said, "Life is sometimes hard, but not nearly as hard as it would be if I wasn't everyone's favorite."

Natalia elbowed her in the stomach. We talked about our families for a while and then about quidditch, until the train started to slow, and my insides started to churn faster and faster. I stood up, walked off the train followed by Larissa and Natalia, and saw the biggest castle I had ever seen. It was like something out of a book, with it's giant lake, and the rolling hills behind it. I heard a call of "Firs' Years" and stepped onto a boat to take me to what was the first day of the rest of my life.

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