CHAPTER ONE
THE BOY ON THE PLATFORM
[01]

song: Ribs by Lorde

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"and I've never felt more alone,
it feels so scary getting old."

Platform 9 and 3/4 was busy as ever, young witches, wizards, and their families saying their farewells.

"Write every week, yeah?" Phoenix's mum softly asked her.

"No! Write everyday please, Nix." Dad begged with puppy eyes and his hands clasped.

"Yes, yes. I'll write to you every chance I get." Phoenix replied with a smile. "How about that?"

"I can't believe you're already going to be a first year." Nix's brother, Leo, said in disbelief. "You're still gonna be a little squirt to me." He ruffled her neat hair, his personal sign of affection.

Nix fixed her hair, annoyed. "I'm only a year younger than you. It's not that hard to believe."

Whatever her brother replied, she tuned out. "So that's little Scorpius." She overheard her Uncle Ron say to her cousin, Rose. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank god you inherited mother's brains."

Although she hated how much everyone worshiped the ground Rose walked on, she never said anything about it.

She followed his gaze to find a platinum haired boy standing a distance away. But to find he was looking right at her.

"Fred, stop it." Her mother said sternly.

"What?? I was just giving Leo some pranki— I mean, toys to share with his friends." Fred Weasley put his hands up in mock-surrender.

Mum gave him an unamused look, but ended up smiling nonetheless.

Two minutes until the Hogwarts Express will leave the station, Nix said their final goodbyes to all her parents, aunts and uncles, and Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur.

The train was packed with students, but Nix and her cousin, and best friend, Albus Potter managed to get a compartment alone.

Three minutes in, the door slide open to reveal the boy who Uncle Ron was talking about. Scorpius, was it?

"Uh.. hi." He started awkwardly. "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Yeah, of course." Nix replied politely. Once he settled down, she questioned him. "Are you a first year too?"

"Yes. I'm Scorpius Malfoy by the way." He introduced himself.

"Phoenix Toh-Weasley."

"And I'm Albus Potter."

The blond haired boy stifled. "You're a Potter..? And a Weasley?" Scorpius ran a hand through his hair. "Is it okay for me to be in here?"

Nix eyed him, "I'm sure it's fine. What's the big deal? We have no grudges for whatever happened in the past."

"Yeah, your family has long made up for it. We're all good here, if you are." Albus smiled at him.

New beginnings it is...

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A/N: the sequel to Her Philophobia, huh? 😏