The ride home
2086

The sun casted an orange glow over the platform at Hogsmeade. Kevin sat on his luggage , waiting for the Hogwarts Express to arrive in the station. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were glistening from the tears he hadn’t bothered wiping away. He wasn’t crying at the moment though. He stared at the trees and he looked like he had had his soul sucked out by a Dementor.

This was not true of course. Although he didn’t move and stared off in to space, his mind was over working. ‘You NEVER learn from your mistakes!’ ‘Pack your bags, you’re hereby expelled from Hogwarts' ……..Expelled. He was expelled. He moved for the first time in fifteen minutes to look behind him at the castle. Would the other Gryffindor’s wonder where he’d gone? A feeling of hatred washed over him as he looked at the school and turned back.

More time passed until eventually he could hear the engine of the train in the distance. Kevin stood up , turned around to grab his luggage but they were suddenly lifted up in to the air by magic. He had forgotten about his Head of House waiting with him. The two hadn’t talked at all and Kevin hadn’t minded. This whole situation didn’t require small talk. As the train stopped and the doors opened up, Kevin watched as his luggage was put inside.

He hesitated. Looking from the train to Professor Flamsteed. “Take care of yourself, Mister Hirase” the man said and he sounded sincere. Kevin looked away and stepped inside the train without a word of goodbye. “I contacted your parents, they will be at Kings Cross to pick you up” His stomach flipped. His parents.

The doors closed and the train left the station. The ex-Gryffindor still stood at the door and pressed his forehead against the glass. He closed his eyes as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall again and he took a shaky breath to compose himself. It took him another couple of minutes before he picked up his luggage and went to find the nearest compartment.

It was strange sitting in a train by himself. He was used to hearing chatter everywhere. He could actually hear it in his mind but of course those were just imaginative echoes . He sat near the window and placed his feet on the seat next to him. He watched the sky outside getting darker and darker as the minutes passed. Kevin was exhausted. The last few hours had completely drained him both emotionally and mentally and although he did not want to sleep because he was sure he couldn’t , he still closed his eyes.

He woke up again after half an hour of sleep by a voice calling his name. For a second he wondered where he was as he looked around the compartment in a daze. Then the memories came back and he sighed heavily. The sky outside was completely dark now and he could see the stars if he leaned closer to the window to look up. “Kevin?” The fourteen year old turned away from the window to frown at his bag. He thought he had imagined a voice calling his name but now he heard it again.

“Kevin, it’s me, Zander” His best friend was trying to contact him through the two-way mirror but Kevin didn’t feel like talking right now. So he ignored him. He knew it was wrong to ignore a friend. Probably the only friend he had but he simply did not want to see or hear him right now. He leaned back in his seat and stared outside again, ignoring his best friend for now. Zander must have gotten the hint or he simply thought he couldn’t answer for some reason because he had stopped calling his name after a while.

His stomach started to growl as two hours of silence passed. He had been stretching his legs earlier by walking in the corridor. The trolley lady hadn’t come at all and he somehow knew that she wasn’t on board in the first place. It was just him and the driver. He wondered why the Headmistress hadn’t just given him a portkey home. But then she probably thought this would be a good start of the punishment. He should have known, the Headmistress had probably made sure he wasn’t getting any food during the train ride and she probably had contacted the driver that this was a punishment for him.

What the woman did not know though, was that Kevin had candy hidden in his luggage. Zander had given him his candy when they had said their goodbyes in the dormitory. He felt guilty for ignoring him earlier now but the feeling flew away as he opened up his bag and dropped the candy on the seat next to him. He rummage through it and picked up a chocolate frog. He unwrapped the package and bit the frog’s head off before it could jump away. As he chewed on the chocolate he turned the card around and his stomach did a little flip again. Headmaster Dumbledore. He stuffed the card in his bag so that he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t stand looking at any Headmaster or Headmistress right now.

When the chocolate was finished he began to eat the other candies as well until everything was gone. He sighed in satisfaction as he looked outside again . The landscape outside had turned from trees and hills to small villages now. He knew they were nearing the station and after another forty five minutes the train slowed down. Kevin picked up his luggage and dragged them through the corridor to the nearest door. This took some time since he wasn’t allowed to use magic outside of school and by the time he had every bag and trunk at the door the train stopped.

They had arrived at King’s Cross station. The train let out a whistle as the doors opened up and Kevin got out. He was surprised for a second time when his luggage was lifted up in the air again and he looked around to find whoever was helping him and his two different coloured eyes found his father. Fear and guilt were the emotions he felt at the same time at the sight of him but his father said nothing. Kevin knew he was waiting till they weren’t in public.

He followed his father a few steps behind , his head hanging as he stared at the ground. How angry would they be? He pushed the luggage on to a trolley as they entered the muggle world and walked towards the parking lot. The place was nearly deserted. His father stopped somewhere in the shadows and Kevin nearly bumped in to him. He watched as his father looked around before turning his eyes to look at his son.

There wasn’t anger in his eyes, neither sadness. Kevin could have sworn he saw disappointment and he felt even worse seeing this. The silence treatment wasn’t what he was used to. He was used to them fighting. Exchanging verbal shouting but none of this was happening and it confused him. “Hold on to my shoulder” Kevin didn’t say anything as he placed a shaky hand on his father’s shoulder. They turned on the spot and vanished.

Character credits to:
Airey Flamsteed / sweetpinkpixie
Zander Adair / ArianaBlack