As steam billowed out of the train next to her, Lavender tried in vain to calm her mum, who, much to Lavender's mortification, was crying.

"I'm going to miss you, sweetie," Mrs Brown sobbed, while clutching her daughter closer to her.

"Mum, please," pleaded Lavender as she checked her surroundings to make sure no one could see the spectacle her mum was making of herself.

Lavender rolled her eyes. It had been like this for the past month. When the tawny owl from Hogwarts interrupted her birthday breakfast with her Hogwarts letter, her mum had cried. The first time she had tried her new Hogwarts robes on, her mum had cried. All the way on the drive to Kings Cross, her mum had cried. Now, at ten to eleven, her mum was having some kind of breakdown right on the platform. In front of all the people Lavender would be spending the next few years living with.

"I r-remember when you were b-big enough for me to c-carry you in one hand!" wailed Mrs Brown as Lavender started fidgeting out of her mum's choke hold.

Great. Now she was going to be forever known as the girl with the uncontrollably crying mum.

Fortunately, her dad took sympathy on her and pulled his wife away from their daughter and rubbed her back while Lavender mouthed "Thank you" to him. He chuckled and continued to placate Mrs Brown until, finally, she was able to breathe properly.

By this point, Lavender was itching to get on the train. She'd seen loads of girls her age already leave their parents to go and find compartments and she was scared that by the time her mum eventually let her go they would all have made friends and she would be left alone. Even now, she was watching a girl with a rather squashed looking nose waving to her parents from the other side of the train window.

"Lavender," her dad said softly, causing her to whip her head around. He was knelt in front of her, smiling kindly. "You're going to love Hogwarts."

"I know," replied Lavender automatically. "I'm going to be in Slytherin like you and-"

Mr Brown cut her off with a sigh and swept her blonde fringe out of her eyes.

"No, Lav," he said simply. "You're going to make your own stories with your own friends. You don't have to live in my footsteps."

Lavender smiled. She couldn't wait.

"You only wanted to be in Slytherin because green is your favourite colour anyway," chuckled Mrs Brown thickly. Tears were still pouring down her cheeks and her voice was still thick but at least people weren't staring now.

Blushing at her mum's correct assumption, Lavender kissed her on the cheek and gave her a tight hug before moving to do the same to her dad.

"And stay away from boys," Mr Brown said sternly as he let go.

Lavender wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Boys are smelly, Dad. Not to mention stupid."

This seemed to be a great relief to her dad but her mum simply shook her head.

"Give it a few years and-"

"Don't," her dad cut in. "I don't even want to think about it."