A Memorable Tale

1 | The Boy Who Had It Rough

"Have you got your owl?"

"It's been squawking in my ear the entire way here, of course I do."

"Your books?"

"Yep."

"Your wand?"

I patted the compartment on my belt and my father nodded. "You have fun, Adventurer."

"I will, dad." At least, I hoped I would. Maybe a serial killer would break into Hogwarts and I'd solve the mystery. Or the walls would start talking and I'd have to find the voice. Or a dragon would come to the school.

The last one's rather mundane compared to the others, but it would still be cool.

I boarded the Hogwarts Express with one more wave to my father and started choosing a booth.

Somewhere in the train, there was Draco, but I had quite literally known him since birth, so I decided I'd stray from him for a bit.

I jolted when I felt something land on my shoulder and I slowly turned, seeing a small toad standing there as if it were a stage. "Why, hello there." I held out my hand and it hopped into my palm. "And where'd you come from?"

I opened a booth and stowed away my luggage in the compartment above head.

"Trevor!" I heard from outside the booth. "Where'd you go, Trevor?"

My eyes travelled to the toad obediently resting on my hand. "Is that you?" I leaned my elbow on the booth's wall, my head leaning on my palm. "So you're a little daredevil, are you?"

The booth suddenly opened and a boy with a round face and large front teeth looked in, relief hitting his features when he noticed the toad in my hand. "Sorry, um..."

"He's yours?" I held out my hand and the toad immediately jumped out of it, but not into the boy's arms.

I kicked the booth's door closed and the boy knelt down to grab the toad before it could jump out of his grasp again. "Thank you..."

"It's not a problem, but where's your stuff?"

His eyes widened and he spun around to see that there was, indeed, no luggage behind him. "Oh no," he mumbled.

"Is it out there still?" I opened the window and peered outside, only seeing crying parents and, for some reason, a running ferret. "I don't see it outside. Did you already stop by a booth?"

"No..." He weaved his hands in his hair, his brows drawing together in distress. "Oh, my grandma's gonna kill me."

I hummed.

He came from the front of the train, so his bag is probably around the front.

"Hold on." I held out my arm as the train's horn whistled and I heard the conductor announce, "All aboard!"

The train moved and the boy grabbed a seat, holding onto his toad for dear life while I continued standing with my arm sticking out of the door.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait a second."

The sound of something heavy dragging down the train echoed in my ears and a trunk was hurled into my arm. "Got it."

"You're a lifesaver!" The boy jumped from his seat and pulled the luggage into the booth. "Oh, um, sorry, would you rather sit alone?"

"Nah, it's fine." I sat across from him with my arms crossed. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you."

"Y/N. The pleasure is mine." He was a pleasant break from Draco's nonsense, with his soft features and bright smile making me feel a bit unsure of how I should act around him. Although I couldn't shake from my mind the fact that his last name sounded so familiar.