Let me start off by saying this has not been betaed, so any problems are solely my own. If you spot anything, please let me know. I'd love to hear some feedback on this vignette as I had a great deal of fun trying to blend a Harry Potter book-esque style of narration with Tomorrow People type narration.
This vignette has been lying around in my head for about six months now and I originally wanted to have it done by the time the movie came out in America. However, my muse decided that working on my serial was a much better thing to be doing and wouldn't give me a break until a few days ago. This story is meant to be self-contained. A different and much longer story that builds off of this is already in my head. If there is enough interest or curiosity I may go ahead and write the whole story. (Blatant pandering for feedback)
DISCLAIMER: The characters of the Tomorrow People and all related characters and concepts are not mine (darn). They belong to Thames/Tetra/Pearson Television and are the creation of Roger Damon Price. They are used without permission, but it's all in fun.
Honest.
The character of Harry Potter and all related characters and concepts are the creation of J.K. Rowling. If you have somehow managed to avoid the indoctrination - I mean phenomenon - of her books, you should go out and buy them. They are a delight to read. The movie's pretty darn good too.
This story is dedicated to TPFICT and TPDIS and a wish for happy holidays to all our members.
Thanks to Anne and Megan who are currently betaing one of my longer projects. :-)
Thanks also to Wendy for being ListMom and Beth for being a good Tigger. :-)
Enjoy.
mike
There was nothing out of the ordinary on this particular May afternoon. The weather in London was typically grey with the occasional beam of sunlight making its way between buildings to come to rest upon Big Ben or some other suitably English monument. One would not describe it as particularly cold, but certainly not particularly warm. King's Cross bustled in the way that train stations seem to bustle in mid-afternoon as husbands and wives scurry home to prepare warm dinners to feed hungry children and themselves.
Two young men made their way slowly along one of the platforms. Both of the young men were tall, but it seemed to fit the dark-haired one better than it did the red-headed one. The red-head's arms looked a bit too long for him and something about the set of his cheekbones made him look very thin indeed. The dark-haired boy, however, walked with a very self-assured step. A smile seemed permanently ingrained upon his face, lending it a quite likable appearance.
"Where the heck is she?" the red-head craned over a passer-by to peer at people disembarking from one of the trains. The sound of a whistle pierced above the noise of the crowd.
"I don't know, Megabyte," the dark-haired youth replied in a melodic Australian accent. A group of kids pushing awkwardly balanced carts passed them giggling.
"You don't think she ditched us, do you?" Megabyte, an American, said with a slight flutter of panic. From somewhere along the platform an owl hooted.
"She seemed quite interested in seeing you again," Adam smirked. "Are you sure this is the right platform?"
"Platform nine," Megabyte said. "I'm sure that's what Beth said."
Megabyte stopped walking suddenly and turned to Adam with a look of confusion.
"Her name *was* Beth, right?"
Adam gave him a friendly smack on the top of the head.
"Megabyte!"
"What? I was nervous," Megabyte started walking again, head stretched to see. "I don't do well under pressure."
"You do fine with mad scientists or alien pods, but you have trouble with making a date?"
"Lay off," Megabyte gave Adam a friendly shove. "It's not like you've been tearing things up lately with anyone."
Another small clutch of kids passed by with large cases. One of them was carrying a cage with a tawny owl inside. Adam thought it made for quite an odd pet.
"I think the train's pretty much emptied out," Adam said, coming to a stop near the end of platforms nine and ten.
"Yeah, maybe she missed ... hey!"
Megabyte shouted as something bumped into him. That something turned out to be a small, greasy looking blond boy with a very narrow face and pointed nose. The boy looked as if he smelled something foul.
"What? Do they grow you Weasley's on trees?" he sneered at Megabyte.
Before Megabyte could even ask what a Weasley was there was a shout from behind them.
"Malfoy, give it back you bloody grimwart!" a high, piping voice called.
Wondering what a grimwart was, Megabyte reached out to hold back the rude blond boy, but he slithered out of Megabyte's grasp, disappearing into the press of the crowd. The boy, Malfoy, had dropped something as he ran. Megabyte reached down to pick it up. It appeared to be just a plain wooden stick. It looked kind of like an old fashioned pointer that teachers would use, only smaller.
"It's all right, Ron," that same high piping voice said, closer this time. "It looks like one of your brothers got it. Is that Fred or George? Or maybe it's Percy. It looks too tall to be the twins."
Three kids came towards Adam and Megabyte. The one with the high voice had to be the girl. Long brown hair flowed down over the shoulders of her blouse. She wore a simple blue skirt, the sort you see school girls wearing. It didn't look quite like a school uniform, however. Two boys accompanied her. One had extremely disheveled brown hair and fragile-looking glasses. There seemed to be a small scar peeking its way through his bangs. The other boy, smallest of the bunch, had a head of shocking red hair. He looked as if he really could have been a sibling of Megabyte's. They stopped a few feet in front of them with a look of surprise.
"Oh, sorry," the red-head said, "we thought you were one of my brothers."
"No problem," Megabyte smiled. "I can see the resemblance. I take it this is yours?"
Megabyte held the stick out. Green sparks spluttered from the tip. Megabyte jerked his hand back in surprise. The boy, Ron, grabbed it out of Megabyte's hand. The sparks stopped abruptly.
"Um, thanks," Ron said, his face flushed with embarrassment. He tucked the wand in under his coat.
"Like I said, no problem."
The girl held her hand out in between Megabyte and Adam.
"Hermione Granger," she said.
Megabyte and Adam took turns shaking her hand.
"Megabyte Damon," Megabyte said as he shook her hand.
"Adam Newman."
"Pleased to meet you," she said then elbowed her red-headed friend.
"Oh," he held his hand out, "Ron Weasley."
The disheveled boy held his hand out next.
"Harry Potter," he said simply.
Megabyte turned his attention to Ron.
"Neat trick with that wand thing," he said. "How's it work?"
"Um, it, well it sort of..."
"Magic trick," Hermione interrupted Ron's stammer.
The two boys looked at her with wide eyes.
"It's part of a magic set Ron's parents gave him," she continued, smiling with a self-assured expression. "That boy was jealous and tried to steal it from Ron. He must have dropped it when he bumped into you."
"Um, yeah," Ron said. "That's what must have happened."
"Pretty cool trick," Megabyte said. "They never had tricks like that when we were kids, huh Adam?"
"Well, we hate to rush off," Hermione said in a very rushed voice, grabbing the two boys as she went. "We need to be getting along home now. It was very nice to meet you both."
The there of them moved off, pushing along carts like some of the other children that had come through the platform. Adam and Megabyte watched them head off, catching a bit of insistent conversation as they went.
"...in front of a Muggle, are you out of your mind?" the boy named Harry said.
"He can't exactly be a Muggle, now can he?" Hermione emphasized her remark with a nod.
After that the threesome was lost in the crowd.
"Strange kids," Adam shook his head.
"I don't know, not any stranger than us, I'd say." Megabyte turned around and saw a young woman coming towards them. "Beth!"
A young woman with dark brown hair came towards them. She wore jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She had a luggage cart with her with two trunks on it.
"Megabyte! Adam!" She held her arms out and gave them both hugs. She focused her attention on Megabyte, "Have you been waiting long?"
"Not really," he blushed. "But we thought we saw the whole train empty out. Where'd you come from?"
"Oh, you must have missed me while I was getting my luggage," she pointed to the cart. "So, who were you talking to?"
"Some kid named Ron Weasley. And his friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."
Beth seemed a bit startled by that.
"Do you know them?" Adam asked.
"Hmm, oh no, I don't think so," Beth said. "Shall we get going? I need to drop these things off with my parents then we can go out on the town."
"Nice to be out of school for the summer, huh?" Megabyte did the gentlemanly thing and took over pushing the luggage cart.
"Definitely."
"Where did you say you were going to school?" Adam asked, looking back between platforms nine and ten, wondering how they could've possibly missed her.
"Oh, it's just a small school up north. I'm sure you've never heard of it."
*********************
End