Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for reading and for such nice reviews! You're all amazing!!<3 Again, I own only my characters (Angie, Gerasim, etc.). The credit for the magical world goes to JKR! (Love her!) So please enjoy chapter three, and leave me a review! I promise to always respond :D If you like this story, save it to your faves!
Chapter Three: Goodbye
“James!” his mother scolds.
“Let her go,” Sirius sighs.
“Watch out for him,” Uncle Charlie whispers in my ear.
“I will,” I promise him.
“You’re a good cousin,” he says, firmly gripping my shoulder. He then shoves me towards the barrier. I glare at him, and he laughs. I back up and run full speed towards the brick wall. I close my eyes as I near it, still as scared as I was five years ago. I feel the brick become smooth around me, and I open my eyes to find myself in a smoke-filled train station. I can barely see anything or anyone, but I can hear the usual first day buzz of hellos and goodbyes.
Dad appears out of the barricade and stands beside me.
“James figured you wouldn’t be able to hold him down, so he sent me,” he explains. He rolls his eyes but laughs a little. “That cousin of yours…”
James bursts through the barrier and skids to a halt beside us. “Hey,” he says, grinning. My muscles tense to grab him at a moment’s notice. He quickly turns and tries to peer through the smoke. “Damn! I can’t see a bloody thing! Where’s Greg? I want to disfigure his face, although it seems as if someone already had.”
I sigh. “James, admit it,” I say. “You’re jealous of Greg.”
He turns and glares at me. “Am not,” he snaps. “Why would I be jealous of a prat like that?”
“Because he’s just like you?” I suggest.
“He is not!” he exclaims. “I would rather have detention for the rest of my life than be anything like that git!”
I roll my eyes. “Fine. Be blind to the truth then.” Sirius emerges from the wall. “You, take care of him,” I say. “I’m going to get settled.”
“Hold on, hold on!” Aunt Dorea and Uncle Charlie appear. We walk away from the barrier, and then my aunt hugs me tightly. “Oh, Angie, you’re growing up!” she sighs. “Good luck, love, and have a good term. We’ll see you at Christmas, and we’ll write every week.” She kisses my forehead.
Uncle Charlie picks me up and swings me around; I scream, he laughs. When he puts me down, he hugs me. “Have a good year,” he says, squeezing me tighter. “Be easy on your cousin and Sirius, all right?”
“No bloody way!” I exclaim, aghast.
He chuckles. “That was the answer I was looking for.”
“Dad!” James complains loudly.
“Sorry, boys,” he says. “I had my fun and so have you. Time to get serious.”
“I’m already Sirius,” Sirius says proudly. Everyone laughs, except me.
“Oh, Sirius!” Aunt Dorea exclaims, hugging him again.
“Mrs. Potter!” he chokes out. “Ack!”
She lets go of him and smiles sadly. “Sorry, dear.” She then attacks James with hugs and kisses.
“Mum! Please!” he protests.
“Oh, shut up!” she snaps.
Uncle Charlie hugs Sirius. “Have a good year, boy. We expect you to write back; you might make the Missus
very upset.” He winks. “Plus, we might not send you cookies.”
“I promise to write back immediately, sir!” Sirius exclaims.
He laughs and hugs Sirius again. He then gives James a big squeeze.
“You two are absolutely embarrassing!” James whines.
“You show your parents respect, boy,” Uncle Charlie scolds teasingly.
“Yes, sir,” my cousin says dully.
“Good luck,” my uncle tells him. “Do well, and don’t get into too much trouble, eh?”
“No promises,” James jokes.
“Oh, please, James,” Aunt Dorea groans, “now
you’re embarrassing
us.”
“He can’t be as bad as Gerry,” Uncle Charlie teases.
Dad shakes Sirius’s hand as he glares at his brother. “Oh, come on, now, Charlie. I wasn’t bad. Just…creative.”
“I’m creative too!” James says, sharing a smile with Dad.
“I’m telling you, boys,” Dad says to James and Sirius, “make friends with Peeves, and you’ll have a thrill!”
“It’s impossible, Uncle Gerry,” James says. “Peeves loves to rat us out!”
Sirius nods. “It’s true. We’re also his favorite targets.”
“I even told him I’m your nephew!” James says.
“Well, Peeves took well to Angie,” Dad says.
I smirk. “Yeah, because I’m your daughter. James is too far of a relation for Peeves to trust.”
“Just prank him well, and you’ll be friends,” Dad advises. He hugs James. “But, for the sake of my daughter, don’t get into too much trouble. You give her grief.”
“They do not,” I say. “They’re just these two stupid gits that are always in the way!”
Aunt Dorea sighs. “All right, all right. Get on the train before it leaves without you!”
“Hey, James! Sirius!” a voice calls from the smoke.
“Bye, Mum,” James says. “Bye, Dad!” He disappears in the smoke. “Peter! I’ve got a brilliant prank!”
“Thank you for…everything,” Sirius says solemnly. “It means a lot to me.” Aunt Dorea hugs him again, and he runs off in James’s direction.
“We’ll meet you outside,” she says to Dad, heading towards the barrier, Uncle Charlus in tow.
I look up at Dad. “Will you be all right?” I ask him this every year and the answer is the same:
“I will,” he replies. “But don’t be worried about me, darling.”
I hug him tightly. My dad is all I have, and it’s always hard to say goodbye. I love school and I love my friends, but every time I say goodbye to him, it’s like I’m leaving a piece of myself behind. And I worry about him a lot. He goes to shrinks all the time, never actually moving on from the greatest tragedy in his life. He’s an Auror—and a good one, too—and a member of the Order of the Phoenix; I know he wants revenge. That’s what the doctors tell me. I know he’s working hard to avenge my mother. So I worry. Because, maybe, what’s truly killing him is her, not You-Know-Who. It’s a sad thing to think, but maybe I’m just as crazy as he is.
“Angie,” he says, slowly peeling me off, “it’s not goodbye forever.” He smiles wistfully.
I nod. “I know, but…goodbyes are always hard.”
“Well, whenever you get sad about a goodbye, just remember that there’s always a hello that follows,” he says.
I laugh. “I like that.” We embrace again. “I love you.”
“Love you too, darling,” he says, kissing my forehead. “Now, go on. Don’t want to be late.”
I release him, and he disappears into the smoke.
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