Legacy

Legacy: Chapter One

King's Cross Station

"David! Stay away from the trains!"

"But Aunty!"

Amanda held tightly onto her mother's hand while her adopted brother David ran ahead of them through the crowd. It was September the first, and like many other families they were heading for Platform Nine and Three Quarters, King's Cross Station, London. For David, it would be his first year at Hogwarts. Amanda was two years too young to go there. She shared the birthday of April the twenty-third with him.

"David!"

The boy had dashed up to one of the brightly painted trains and put his hand on the sign saying 'Virgin'. Patricia sighed, and delved into her handbag for a Wet Wipe.

The cheeky eleven-year-old weaved back to her through the crowd with a grin all over his face. Patricia grabbed his hand and wiped it clean, smiling slightly despite herself. Then she looked at the station clock.

"Quick, quick! Only fifteen minutes to go!"

They hurried through the crowd of commuters, and eventually arrived at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. There were not so many people here, and Patricia took the chance to straighten David up.

"Now, you remember what I told you earlier?" The boy nodded.

"I'm to remember that I am not my parents. I am my own individual self. Whatever people say to me, I am not like that. I am David. Also, just because people don't like me, it doesn't mean that I should hate them back. If I get into any trouble, I should tell Uncle Severus instead of keeping it to myself."

"Very good." Patricia hugged David tightly, then kissed him on the forehead. He was a very special boy, dark-haired like both his parents with dark brown eyes; he was a bundle of energy. He knew about his parents, Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange, and about the war. His one ambition in life was to make up for their mistakes and drag the names of 'Lestrange' and 'Black' out of the gutter. He never forgot that Sirius Black was in the same family, yet he had managed to stay on the side of the right.

David struggled out of her grasp and went to hug his sister. They never cared that their surnames were different; they were as close as blood kin, or closer.

"Bye Mandy. Look after your mum for me."

"Bye, bye Davey!" She hugged him tightly. As the second hand on the clock swung around to ten fifty-five, David grabbed the trolley handles and pushed it towards the barrier of platforms nine and ten. Ticket safe in his pocket, he waved one last time... and was gone.

Amanda and Patricia stared for a moment at the spot where he had vanished, then her mother sighed. Taking a tissue from her pocket, she blew her nose and wiped her eyes. She was not ashamed to admit that she was crying for the boy. It would be a shame not to have him around, with his bubbly manner and endless energy, until Christmas. She would still be able to owl him, but that was not the same.

"Your son just gone off for his first year?" asked a sympathetic voice from next to her. She turned to see a smiling woman holding the hand of a young boy about Amanda's age.

"Yes. It's the first time I've ever been without David. It's... strange."

"My son Gregory has just gone too. I'm Michelle Petersen, pleased to meet you."

They shook hands. "I'm a Muggle, actually, although my brother went to Hogwarts," said Patricia. "I married a wizard though."

"Well, I hope your son enjoys Hogwarts," said Michelle. "The train's left, so I'd better be getting back home. Come on Adam."

Patricia looked at the clock and saw that ten minutes had passed. Holding Amanda's hand, she pulled the girl along. She was very busy looking at Adam, but the crowd soon swallowed the pair up. Not long afterwards, they were in the car and speeding back to their Devon home.