The air at King's Cross Station was thick with the scent of diesel, anxiety, and a million different goodbyes. The Gill family stood in a pocket of quiet intensity amidst the chaos.
"Now, you have your new cloak? The cashmere one, not the school one," Mrs. Gill said, her voice crisp as she adjusted the collar of Shya's coat, her own diamond bangles flashing. Her touch was efficient, not quite tender. "And you'll write? Your father and I expect to hear about your... progress."
"Of course, Mummy," Shya said, her voice a little tight. Her attention was already elsewhere, pulled down to the small boy clinging to her hand.
Arya, usually so bright and curious, was silent, his lower lip trembling dangerously behind his glasses. He stared up at his sister, his hero, who was about to vanish back into a world he could only imagine from her stories and sketches.
"Don't go," he whispered, the words a tiny, broken plea. "It's not fair. You just got back."
The dam broke. Shya's composed facade, the one she wore so easily at galas and in the face of Cho Chang's disdain, shattered. She dropped to her knees, her own eyes filling, and pulled him into a fierce hug, her new galaxy-pearl bracelet pressing against his small back.
"I know, babbu," she murmured into his hair, using the Punjabi endearment she reserved only for him. "I know. But I have to. It's only for a little while. And I'll send you so many letters, you'll get sick of me."
"Never," he sobbed, clutching her.
Over his shoulder, Shya's eyes met her mother's. There was a fleeting moment of understanding, a shared pain, but also a vast, unbridgeable distance. Her mother lived in a world of balance sheets and social calendars; Shya was now part of a world of wands and wonders. They loved each other, but they no longer fully understood one another. Cassian Black, observing from near a pillar with his own aunt and cousin, saw it all: the raw love, the estrangement, the weight of the unsaid. It was a language he understood all too well.
A few feet away, the Livanthos goodbye was a different kind of theatre. Tristan was a storm of emotion, wrapping his arms around Talora's waist. "But who will I build forts with?" he wailed.
"You have Arya," Talora said, her voice softer than anyone at Hogwarts had ever heard it. She was the calm centre of the family storm, stroking his hair. "You have to be brave for both of you."
Her mother, her eyes glistening, cupped Talora's face. "My brilliant girl. We are so proud. Have a wonderful term." Her father, a towering, busy man who had carved out this morning just for her, pulled her into a brief, hard hug. "Show them what a Livanthos can do, darling."
As the warning whistle blew, the two girls finally pulled away, their eyes red-rimmed but their chins lifted. They shared a single, fortifying look—Bob—and turned towards the barrier between worlds.
The platform was a chaotic symphony of hissing steam, chattering families, and the clatter of trunks being loaded. Shya and Talora, having endured their own emotional goodbyes, stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, the familiar scent of old leather and magic washing over them.
"Right," Talora said, her eyes already scanning the crowded corridor. "We need to find Mandy, Lisa, and Padma before the train departs. A full headcount is essential."
Shya nodded, her usual sharpness softened by the lingering ache of leaving Arya. "Let's make this quick. I want to claim a good compartment before the Weasleys start breeding in them."
They moved down the narrow corridor, a sleek duo in their winter chic amidst the sea of uniform robes and casual wear. The train was a roaring beast of pre-departure chaos. They peered into compartment after compartment.
The first was full of boisterous Hufflepuffs they barely knew. The next contained a group of sneering Slytherin second-years who eyed their designer coats with disdain. Then Shya spotted a familiar flash of pastel hair through a partially fogged window.
"There!" she said, pointing.
Through the glass, they could see Mandy, Lisa, and Padma squeezed into a compartment with two other Ravenclaw girls from their year. Mandy was already animatedly showing off what looked like a new charmed necklace, Lisa was laughing at something, and Padma was listening with a polite, slightly distant smile. It was clear their friends had found temporary shelter, but hadn't yet secured their own private space.
Talora slid the compartment door open with a decisive *thwump*. "There you are," she announced, her voice cutting through the chatter. "We've been looking for you."
Mandy's face lit up. "You found us!"
"We've claimed a compartment further down," Shya added, her gaze briefly sweeping over the two other Ravenclaw girls in a silent, dismissive assessment. "It's bigger. And has better light for gossiping."
Padma was already gathering her things, a look of quiet relief on her face. Lisa and Mandy quickly followed suit, offering hurried but friendly goodbyes to their temporary compartment-mates.
As the five of them regrouped in the corridor, the train gave its final warning whistle. They moved as one unit, a reunited squad carving their path through the chaos, ready to reclaim their corner of the magical world.
The moment the compartment door slid shut, the tension of the goodbyes evaporated, replaced by a wave of pure, giddy relief.
As they settled in, shrugging off their heavy winter coats and stowing their carry-alls in the overhead rack, another, more subtle synchrony revealed itself. Shya, with practiced nonchalance, placed her custom Black dragon and occamy skin Birkin on the seat beside her. A moment later, Talora extracted her own from a custom-made dustbag—the same iconic silhouette, but in a rich, Emerald Green dragon skin with occamy skin.
They noticed it at the exact same time. Their eyes met, a flicker of amusement and profound understanding passing between them. It was more than a coincidence; it was a statement. Two different worlds, two different personalities, yet operating on the same rarefied frequency.
"We're back!" Lisa Turpin squealed, flopping onto a seat.
"It feels like we never left," Mandy Brocklehurst sighed happily, "but also like we've been gone for years."
The chatter erupted instantly, a symphony of overlapping voices.
"—and the water was so blue in the Maldives, you could see the fish from the jetty—"
"—Tahiti was stunning, but Tristan got dreadfully sunburnt—"
"—we went to ski in Switzerland, it was—"
"Wait, stop!" Lisa interrupted, grabbing Shya's wrist. "What is THAT? And that!" Her eyes darted to Talora's ears, then to Padma, Mandy, and Shya's wrists again. "We all have them!"
The five girls held out their arms, the sweet Alhambra bracelets glinting, a perfect, pearlescent uniform of their friendship.
"You got them!" Padma said, a genuine, touched smile on her face.
"Of course we did," Talora said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We're a set."
The conversation then turned, with slightly more theatrics, to their other gifts.
"And this," Shya said, holding up her wrist with the galaxy-pearl bracelet, "is for balance, apparently." She tried to sound dismissive, but the way she kept looking at it betrayed her.
"It's beautiful, Shya," Mandy breathed.
"It's very... serene," Talora observed with a knowing smirk. "For you."
"Oh, hush," Shya retorted, but she was smiling.
"And those?" Lisa pointed to the dancing moonstones in Talora's ears.
Talora touched one gently. "A mystery. I think a troll sent them. A very well-dressed one."
They were so engrossed they didn't hear the compartment door slide open.
"Did the troll happen to have excellent taste?"
Roman Nott stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. His eyes were fixed on Talora, a slow, appreciative smile spreading across his face as he took in the moonstone earrings. He held up his own wrist, showing off the vintage Cartier watch. "I've been trying to puzzle this out for a fortnight. It's infuriating. I love it."
Behind him, Cassian's quiet presence filled the space. His grey eyes went immediately to Shya, then dropped to the pearl bracelet on her wrist. He didn't smile, but the intensity of his gaze softened by a fraction. A single, slow nod was all he gave, but it was enough. He had seen.
"Are you two just going to stand there blocking the corridor, or are you coming in?" Shya asked, breaking the moment with her characteristic bluntness.
Roman slid into the compartment with easy grace, claiming the seat opposite Talora. Cassian followed, more deliberately, taking the spot beside Shya.
"The bracelets are new," Roman observed, his eyes sweeping over the matching Van Cleef sets. "A rather elegant declaration of alliance."
"It's not an alliance, it's a friendship," Lisa corrected him proudly.
"Even more powerful," Roman conceded with a charming smile that made Lisa blush.
Cassian's attention was still on Shya. "Your brother," he said quietly, the words just for her. "He was... upset."
Shya's usual sharpness melted away. "He doesn't like it when I leave." She didn't offer more, and he didn't press, but the understanding in his gaze was its own form of comfort.
"The encyclopedia was... comprehensive," Cassian added after a moment, the closest he would come to saying thank you in front of an audience.
"Overwhelming, you mean," Roman cut in with a laugh. "I got through three volumes before my father confiscated them for 'distracting from proper wizarding studies.'" He rolled his eyes. "I've been reading them in secret ever since."
Talora arched an eyebrow. "I hope you're taking notes, Nott. There will be a quiz."
"Wouldn't dream of disappointing you, Livanthos."
As the train carried them north, the conversation flowed easily between the seven of them—a comfortable blend of magical and mundane, of holiday stories and Hogwarts speculation. The grief of the platform was a memory, folded away. Here, on the train, hurtling back toward magic and mystery, was their real world. The matching bracelets weren't just jewelry; they were armor. The meaningful gifts from the boys weren't just presents; they were promises.
Shya looked around the compartment—at Talora gently arguing with Roman, at Padma and Lisa comparing ski resorts with Mandy, at Cassian's quiet presence beside her—and felt the last of the platform's sadness lift from her shoulders. She touched her galaxy-pearl bracelet, then the Van Cleef on her other wrist. She was anchored, in more ways than one.
Talora caught her eye across the compartment and gave a small, private smile. No words were needed. They were back. They were together. And whatever the new term brought—mysterious packages, three-headed dogs, or just the ordinary chaos of magic—they would face it as they always did: side by side, the unshakeable center of their own carefully built universe.