Picnic and first trip

"So this flat has two bedrooms as you have seen. And the area is also very peaceful and quiet. This place is very remote like the others, with not much traffic. But this place still lies near the heart of London," Oscar finished explaining and looked at the five siblings observing the apartment.

Sia looked out the window at the tall trees that hid most of the apartment from the outside, "This place looks good. Nice work, Oscar."

Oscar smirked, "When have I ever failed you?"

"Ya, ya. Smith's the best," Sam waved his hand dismissively.

The highly tanned wizard glared at the boy.

He was a tall, twenty-five-year-old young man with curly black hair and light hazel eyes. Oscar became an orphan at the age of fifteen when his muggle parents died in an accident. After that, the young boy completed his studies on the little money provided by Hogwarts. But owing to his talent, Oscar soon became independent after Hogwarts.

The Smiths were professors at a university. Therefore, they encouraged their son to continue his muggle studies. It later helped Oscar to make a future in the muggle world.

After working together for more than one year, the sibling started trusting the man's efficiency. This year they talked with him about how they wanted to employ him without Gringotts in the middle. The man was not sure at first. Ultimately, they were mere children. But after a bit of persuasion and contemplation, he agreed and signed the secrecy contract.

Now he managed all the things for the siblings. And he was more than happy to do that with the payment given.

Today they were looking for flats in remote places as their hideouts. They were out telling their parents that they were on a picnic. Though they might not have mentioned how far the picnic spot was.

"I thought that you should include a place inside London. The other hideouts are all very far. For emergencies, this can be helpful," Oscar said.

The best thing about Oscar was that he asked very few questions when he knew he would not get an answer. Like in this situation, he knew that the kids were looking for hideouts, but he did not question why.

"That's a good idea," Kar said thoughtfully.

"Whoa. So this would mean that we rejected only two from the ten places Oscar shortlisted," Sten commented.

"Yup seems like it," Al said.

"We will purchase the other eight, Oscar," he continued.

"Alright, I'll prepare the papers," Oscar said.

_____

1st September 1992

Sia stood beside the car, tapping her foot on the pavement restlessly. She checked her watch for the tenth time.

"Dad, can you hurry a bit, please. I don't want to be late today," she looked at her father anxiously.

"Yes, dear, just the last trunk," Michael answered back as he took the last trunk out of the car with his elder daughter.

"Calm down, Sia. We have half an hour more," Kar spoke up while arranging her owl's cage.

"You were just like her on your first ride, Kar," Valerie said as she fondly looked at her daughters.

Finally, the family of four entered the station.

"I don't know why I'm feeling like a nervous little kid right now," Sierra whispered to Kar as the two walked behind their parents to the barrier to platform nine and three-quarters.

Kar snorted, "Now you get how I was feeling."

After checking around for any muggles, they walked through the barrier to the red platform.

It was full of people, cats, owls, and whatnot, like the first day of every session.

They met up with their sibling and their families at the platform. And after exchanging greetings with everyone, the five kids started boarding the train.

"Don't worry, mom. I'll write to you frequently. I'll take care of myself, and Kar will also be there," Sia patiently said as she hugged her mother before boarding the train.

Valerie nodded as she lightly kissed her daughters on the forehead with moist eyes.

The girls boarded the train, and soon it left the station.

"You go find your friends. I wanna browse around the train and make some friends myself," Sia told Kar and left her with her friends.

After walking around for almost ten minutes, Sia finally reached a compartment with only one girl sitting inside. The little red-haired girl peeked out of the window with slight fascination as the city started to fade into the countryside.

Sia lightly knocked on the see-through glass of the window. The girl had not drawn the blinds, so the inside was visible to the outside and vice versa.

The girl turned around and immediately recognized Sierra.

She gave a small smile which Sia took as her cue to come in.

"Nice to meet you once again. Mind if I join you?" Sia asked with a friendly smile.

"Nope, get in. I am almost alone here if we ignore the extra luggage. My stupid brothers found it a good idea to dump their trunks with me as they had too much on their hands to accompany me themselves. Some very fun company," Ginny spoke as she helped Sierra put her luggage away.

Sia chuckled at that. She had fallen in love with Ginny's sarcasm at first sight. It was a bit like Karalyn's. But the difference was that Kar found it too troublesome to speak out, whereas Ginny was an extrovert.

The two girls had just settled down when the compartment door opened, and a bushy-haired girl entered with panic on her face.

"Ginny, have you seen Ron or Harry anywhere? I have been searching around for the last half an hour, but they are nowhere," Hermione said in a single breath.

"Calm down, Hermione, let's look around together. Sia, have you met Harry today?" Ginny looked at Sierra.

Sierra mentally sighed. The siblings had discussed this a few days ago, but they were not changing this incident. The five did not plan on changing anything much in the first three years, as they had decided before everything started.

Today's incident would teach Harry to think of alternatives before taking action.

"No, I did not meet with him today. We should split up and search for them," Sia suggested.

"Alright," Hermione and Ginny agreed.

The three girls split up, and Sia went in one direction while the other two went in another.

After crossing some more compartments, Sia reached one with five boys and three girls. She noticed two particular boys, a blonde and a dark-haired, among the group and knocked on the door.

Everyone inside the compartment looked out as Theo smiled at Sia and asked her to come in.

Sia entered the compartment with a smile and went over to Theodore to hug him. Then she turned to the blonde as he got up from his place and greeted her.

"It's been quite a while since we met. You did not even attend any parties this summer," Theo said.

"I went on a few family trips, then picnics with my siblings and shopping for my first year. There were many things on my plate this summer. Sorry, were you bored without me?" Sia asked him as she batted her eyes.

The two burst out laughing. Even Draco chuckled.

The two made space between them as Sia sat there.

"Who might this be?" a brunette sitting across from Sia asked with a bit of arrogance.

Theo frowned at the girl's tone and opened his mouth to introduce Sia, but Draco cut him off.

"This is Sierra White, a friend of ours from childhood," Draco said with a straight face as he emphasized the word friend.

"Sia, this is Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, her sister Astoria Greengrass, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe," Draco said as he pointed to the respective people.

"Oh. And Pansy Parkinson," he said when Pansy lightly coughed. She was the one who had started the conversation.

Blaise snorted at the blatant ignorance from Droce's side.

"Nice to meet you all," Sia smiled at everyone.

Blaise and Daphne smiled slightly at her, Goyle and Crabbe looked at her blankly, and Pansy continued with her haughty act.

Astoria gave her a big smile and said, "Are you in the first year?"

"Yes," Sia said.

Astoria and Daphne were both beautiful in different ways. Daphne had Blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked very mature for her age and had a sophisticated aura. On the other hand, Astoria looked innocent with a contagious smile. She had rich dark brown locks and blue eyes like her sister.

Crabbe and Goyle were tall yet chubby. It made them look lazy and slow. Contrary to this, Blaise was quite charming and handsome like Theo and Draco. He had dark skin, black hair, and chocolate brown eyes. He was also quite tall.

Pansy had brown hair and brown eyes. She was average-looking compared with the other two girls but still carried herself with utmost confidence. This confidence was borderline arrogance.

"Oh. That's awesome. I was quite worried that I'll make no friends while staying with these oldies," Astoria said as she rolled her eyes at the last word.

"Us? Oldies? Little Astoria, I think you need a check-up. I'll take you to Pomfrey if you want," Blaise said.

Everyone burst out laughing as Astoria pouted.

Sia looked around the compartment at everyone. Everyone was enjoying themselves and was comfortable, nothing like the assholes that many of them were in the company of Gryffindors. Guess everyone loved staying with friends.

She looked at her two sides at Theo and Draco. Their guard was a bit down. The last time she had seen them so free was before the two boys had left for Hogwarts when no one was around, and the three were in a corner at a party.

Things changed a bit after that, especially with Draco. The two boy's families, their houses, and their families' loyalties made it hard for them to get seen in Sia's company. They and Sia ran in almost opposite social circles.