"And you're sure you've got everything?" Mr. Webb asked his daughter for the fifth time that morning, causing Rhea to give a deep sigh. He had been like this all morning, as he had been every day when she was to start a new year at Hogwarts. He would wake her up at 6 o'clock in the morning, her breakfast half-ready on the kitchen table. He appeared jittery, nervous, always fiddling with his glasses, talking on and on about how proud of her he was, while simultaneously reminding her "If things don't work out, you can always give us a call", seeming to forget that mobile phones did not work at Hogwarts.

Rhea's mother, Mrs Webb, however, was the opposite. As the three of them stood outside the entrance to Platform 9 3/4, Mrs Webb had a huge smile on her face, a smile that seemed just a [i]little[/i] too wide. "Oh, she'll be fine, Mark," she said, giving her husband a pat on the shoulder before turning to Rhea. "Remember to say 'hi' to Phelix for me," she said.

Rhea gave a slightly strained smile. "Yes, mum," she said. She noticed two boys heading through the barrier and gave a slight sigh, anxious to join them and the rest of the students on the platform and get away from the stifling atmosphere that both her parents were producing.

It had been, overall, a very tiring and awkward summer for Rhea. The first couple of weeks had been lovely, of course. Her mum was excitable, as usual, desperate for Rhea to show her what she had learnt that year before sadly remembering that Rhea wasn't allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. Her father had been as happy and welcoming as ever, obviously grateful to have his daughter back, and even her older brother Robert had seemed to be in a good mood. However, as the weeks went on, things had become a little sour. Rhea had gone to visit her old school friends once and the whole event had been a mess. They had acted strange, as if they didn't really know who she was. She felt they were whispering behind her back, and when she had called her friends out on it, Amy, her former best friend, had said, "Well, you know what they're saying about witches these days." The whole experience had left Rhea with a bad taste in her mouth and she had refused to pick up the phone to any of those friends for the rest of the summer, spending most of her time in her room reading her potions book and longing to be at school where she could practice making some of those potions for herself.

Even her brother had been acting a little strange during those last two weeks. One he had come back with a black eye. "It's nothing!" he said forcefully to Rhea when she had asked him, then he locked himself in his room for the rest of the day. Mrs. Webb had asked if he wanted her to fix the bruise, only for Robert to flinch away as if he were terrified.

[i]I shouldn't worry about that anymore,[/i] Rhea thought to herself as a few other students made their way through the barrier. "Dad, do you want to come through with us?" she asked. She knew what the answer would be, but she asked anyway.

Mr. Webb smiled. "Not today, pet," he said. He then gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Take care now."

"Are you ready?" Mrs. Webb asked her daughter, also now seeming anxious to move on.

Rhea sighed. "Ready," she said. She glanced at the cage on her trolley, in which a small but fairly handsome barn owl was placed in. "You ready, Ash?"

The barn owl, Ash, was already biting at the bars, as if to say, "Get me out of here already!"

Rhea smiled before making her way through the wall. She charged through the barrier and ending up on Platform. Her mother followed soon after her and the older witch looked around at the students with a sigh. "How nostalgic," she muttered, before eying the Hogwarts Express wistfully. "I do hope you write to me often," she said to Rhea. "Tell me all about the things you learn this year."

"I will, mum," Rhea said. 

Mrs. Webb smiled down at her daughter, an expression that was curiously filled with a lot of sadness. "Rhea?" she said. "You do know that I love you?"

Rhea looked up at her mother. "I love you too, mum," she said, and she meant it. She took her hands off the trolley for a moment and put her arms around her mother in a big hug, not at all embarrassed about what anyone else would think. As much as her mother annoyed her, she knew that Mrs. Webb was really lonely at home. Being a witch in a Muggle family was not an easy thing, and Rhea knew it well. 

They held that hug for almost three minutes before Mrs. Webb let go, making some mumble apology about embarrassing Rhea and pushed her daughter towards the train. "Be good!" she called. "Always do your best!"

"I will," Rhea replied before steering her trolley towards the train. She thought about looking back at her mother for a minute and giving one last wave, but decided against it. She was afraid if she allowed herself to look back, the two of them might end up bursting into tears.