June 8, 1991

Time: 5:30 am

Location: Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Melissa wore blue overall shorts over a green, knitted, front button top and brown leather gladiator sandals. Her father had forced her to wear her strawberry red hair down in pretty waves, though she'd thought it would be more practical to have it up in a pony. "Image, image, image," she mentally scoffed to herself. She was currently sitting in the row of seats set up near her boarding gate and decided to read a book while she waited for the airplane.

"Mom! I don't want to go to Scotland! Eric said that there are little green men living there!" a little girl cried, on the verge of throwing a tantrum.

"Little green men don't live there," the mother replied in a kind tone, but it didn't seem to matter to the little girl.

Their overly loud talking went on for several minutes, and it annoyed Melissa greatly that the mother couldn't convince her own child, who was no older than six , about a simple matter. Plastering on her best smile, she walked over to the little girl and kneeled in front of her, "Why are you scared of little green men?"

"Eric told me that they would eat me in my sleep," the little girl pouted crossing her little arms and sticking out her bottom lip.

Melissa thought for a second and decided on something. "I've lived in Scotland my whole life, and there is nothing to worry about. The little green men only bother people who talk funny like me," she said slipping back into her normal Scottish accented voice.

"Really?" the little girl looked hopefully up at Melissa.

"Truly," she replied with a soft smile and watched as the little girl nodded her head, believing what she said.

The mother looked relieved that Melissa helped her with her child and nodded her head in thanks.

Melissa scowled at the mother and walked closer to her with crossed arms. "I would've thought that a mother would know how to get their own children to behave," she scoffed.

The mother looked at Melissa and blushed a deep crimson before taking her child and walking away from her.

Melissa shook her head, let out a deep sigh, and sat back down. "When is the plane going to get here," she wondered, and regarded the people in the airport around her.

A little girl was begging for something, while her older brother tuned it out with headphones. A couple sat next to each other holding hands, while another girl glared at them. "Love triangles. Dangerous." She kept looking around and noted each person, having something to say about them.

Melissa always had this problem of understanding people beyond the public image. Whether it be her mother, father, classmate, or neighbor, she seemed to be able to see past the layers of deceit. It made her understand and sympathize when she'd rather see them suffer for their own filth. Then again, how was she different from them? She quickly shook herself free of her thoughts and looked towards the gate. Two more minutes, then she could get on the plane.

When the plane finally arrived, Melissa quickly got on before anyone else and sat in her seat. She pulled out a well worn book and began to read it. She had 19 hours of flying ahead of her. 19 hours of self contemplation and crafting the perfect story.

June 9, 1991

Time: 6:25 am

Location: Heathrow Airport

Melissa adjusted her shirt and carefully stretched out her legs as she waited for her luggage to come out. When she spotted the familiar metal suitcase that had Montreal's flag on top, she quickly grabbed it. She carefully checked to make sure her suitcase was still locked and smiled softly seeing that the lock had been left untouched. Melissa exited the busy airport, the smell of impending rain making her loved spending her summer in the United Kingdom. There was always the slightly warm days that smelled of nature and the many days of rain that made the Highlands seem more alive than ever. She would spend hours standing in that rain with her mother and enjoying the stories her family would tell her. She would spend hours dancing in the rain with her mother.

Melissa noticed her mother's bright yellow VW bug waiting at the curb and quickly knocked on the passenger window. April looked up from the book she was reading and smiled softly at her daughter.

"Where have you've been?" she asked in her familiar accent that immediately made Melissa smile as she opened the back door, placing her suitcase in.

"On a plane and going through customs," she replied, and got into the passenger seat. She stretched out her legs as her mother pulled the car away from the airport and made her way towards the highway.

"I could figure that out," April teased softly and pinched Melissa cheek.

"Mither," she whined and batted April's hand away from her face. "Stop that! I'm 11 now."

April let out a bark of laughter and turned on the car radio. A Bryan Adams song whispered across the speakers as they drove towards the hotel. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" she asked as she mouthed the words to the song.

"I...I don't know. Maybe check out this Diagon Alley?" Melissa shrugged softly, though looked at April with hopeful eyes.

"That can be arranged," she replied, before beginning to sing along with the radio.

Melissa rolled her eyes, but tapped her feet along to the beat. She watched the pale gray clouds gather overhead and slowly begin to churn with with impending rain. With almost synchronized precision, the rain splattered across the windshield and dotted the once fairly dry freeway. The soft sound of the tires against the pavement quickly lured her to sleep.

April noticed that Melissa had fallen asleep and once again had the look of torment on her face. She immediately felt the heavy weight of blame settle along her chest. "Fois furasta agus aisling," she muttered and with a flick of her wrist, Melissa relaxed into a peaceful sleep.

"Hogwarts will do her some good like it did me," she muttered as she hummed along to another song.

Hello, lovely readers! Thank you for reading the second chapter of my story and I hope you'll still be around till the end.

Special thanks to my close friend and beta reader, SecretWishX.

Be sure to check out her stories and such. Also don't forget to follow, favorite, or review if you enjoyed this chapter.