We had arrived at Gringotts and were now standing on top of the shining white steps. Hermione turned to me, her smile never dimming.
"So, you're a first year, right?" she asked it like a question but also like she already knew the answer, "You'll love Hogwarts, it'll be like a second home."
I flinched slightly but covered it quickly, pretending to itch the side of my ear. Luckily, no one seemed to notice.
"Yeah, I bet it's going to be great," I spoke with enthusiasm laced into my voice. It wasn't like I was lying, maybe disregarding some feelings, but I truly was excited to go to Hogwarts.
Hermione nodded, her head of bushy hair bouncing to its own rhythm, and a half awkward silence passed between us.
Then, her eyes went past mine and over my shoulder and she gave an excited but reserved expression of excitement, almost like she wanted to appear more serious.
I turned to see what, or who, she was looking at as she ran down the steps. My eyes widened with shock as I saw the people standing a couple feet away from me.
There was a boy with black messy hair and broken glasses being held up with his hand... he was the person Hermione was looking at... but it was the person next to him that caught my eye. He was a man, but not just any man. He stood practically twice as tall as the average human, hair covering his face and head. His beetle-black eyes stared into the distance, then at Hermione who was still coming towards them.
I guess that's normal in the Wizarding World?
I shifted my attention away from him and back at Hermione, deciding it was rude to stare.
"Harry! Whatever happened to your glasses?" Hermione asked, her gaze lingering on the boy's- Harry's, glasses before turning to the large man. "Hello, Hagrid! It's wonderful to see you two. Oh! Are you coming to Gringotts?"
Harry nodded, looking over at the towering building. "Yeah, as soon as I find-"
"Harry!" a voice called out from behind them, a man with bright red hair and an expression carrying immense relief. "We'd hope you'd only gone a grate to far..."
He continued to speak, but my attention had drifted to the others who were arriving. They all seemed to be part of a family- and all had vivid red hair. There were three boys surrounding their (presumed to be) dad. Behind them, the (still presumed) mom was holding a small girl's hand.
My attention was quickly drawn to the girl, my gaze lingering as she continued to stare at the ground.
There's something about her...
I couldn't explain it, but for some reason I had to know who she was. I felt like... like she was supposed to be part of something, and that something involved me.
But that's crazy, right? I mean, I can't just know that... I'm probably just making it up.
Deciding to ignore the feeling, I blinked a couple times and looked back at Hermione and the people around her. The man with red hair was looking at Hermione's parents- then at me and my father.
"And who might you all be?" he asked, his tone polite and friendly as he offered a shining smile.
I looked at him and gave a slightly awkward grin. "Oh, I'm Aelynn Reyner, and that's my dad." I said gesturing slightly to my left where my dad was standing. "Hermione was showing us how to get here from the Leaky Cauldron."
The man's face lit up with excitement. "You're Muggles!" he claimed delightedly, looking from my dad to who he knew to be Hermione's parents, "We must talk! And oh! Is that Muggle money! Molly, look!"
The man's childish excitement made me raise an eyebrow, but smile at the same time.
"We should get started," the woman holding the girl's hand said while shaking her head, "Come on, Harry!"
"Meet you back here," one of the red-haired boys told Hermione, before most of the group entered Gringotts and I was left with Hermione.
"Come on!" Hermione said, coming back up the steps towards me. "I'll show you how to trade your money!"
My dad hit my arm lightly. "Yeah, let's get some magic money!" he whispered, with a joking smile on his face.
Before I turned to follow Hermione, I grinned at my dad, secreting laughing on the inside.
I'm not the only one who said magic money!