InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Cheesy Peas!!"

Just two days ago, Sofía Beatriz Alma Gómez Davis had turned fifteen. As she stood on the train station platform, anyone who looked at her could see that she hadn’t spent the school break squirrelled away at the family home in Montrose. Her warm complexion was more tanned than ever, dark curls lightened by the sun. Although the weather was still fine and hadn’t turned autumnal yet, she had donned a cosy cardigan to keep warm.

Miguel Gómez Blanco and Marisol Palomo Velasquez, once prominent Quidditch players, were now dedicated grandparents and had wanted to see Sofía celebrate her fifteenth birthday as a quinceañera. Normally she didn’t spend quite so long in Mexico but Sofía had jumped at the chance to see more of them and it had been a lovely opportunity to spend time with her cousins who were home from Castelobruxo, too.

Even though she knew she wouldn’t have anywhere to wear them, Sofía had packed the high heeled shoes she had been given at the party in her school trunk. They were tucked between her clothes to protect them and though there was a chance that they would spend the rest of the term stowed away, she still wanted to have them close. Her crown and dress were safe at her parents’ house in Montrose.

Folding her arms over her chest, Sofía frowned slightly. She hadn’t adjusted to the time difference now that she was back and, after being immersed in Spanish for the better part of two months, Sofía found it surprisingly hard to tune back into the rhythm and cadences of the English conversations around her. She even found herself dreaming in Spanish, something that very rarely happened at home.

Despite the difficulty of adjusting to being back, Sofía felt confident. She was officially a young woman now and she was going to own it; she had told herself as much looking in the mirror that morning. Her fifth year at Hogwarts was going to be amazing. She had a boyfriend and a great best friend and no one was going to get away with calling her Sophie or try to hyphenate her two last names.

Looking for a familiar face, Sofía was nearly knocked over by a pair of gangly first years who were already taller than her. She scowled at them when they didn’t apologise. Maybe she was a young woman, but she was still petite. Sofía was the same height as her mother now and didn’t have much hope of growing any taller; it would have been nice, but apparently her genetics didn’t have that in the cards for her.

Sofía heard her name cut through the excited babble of students and parents, turning to try to find the source. It was Blake; her face lit up as she spotted her boyfriend of seven months. He was a fifth year now too and they’d spent all summer texting as much as they could with the time difference. Video calls really weren't the same and she felt happy butterflies at the sight of his smile. It wasn’t just her opinion that he was handsome either, the young wizard attracting a few admiring looks from girls on the platform.

They had worked together on a project for Transfiguration and, perhaps a little predictably for Sofía, she developed a crush. For once, though, it wasn’t one-sided and Sofía had experienced her first kiss in a corner of the library after some successful spell work. It had been lovely to go for walks around the castle grounds holding hands after dinner before they went to their separate common rooms. The only thing stopping her from running over was the sheer number of people on the platform as the time to departure ticked away.

Sofía lifted a hand in a wave instead, brimming with a new surge of excitement for the year ahead and not noticing the large crowd streaming through the barrier onto platform 9 3/4 until she heard familiar laughter. It appeared that some of the Weasley family had arrived together. Sofía didn’t spot him at first, but then he slipped through the barrier with an open book in his hands. Hugo.

He’d grown over the summer, she could tell that much even from a distance. Sofía swallowed, hit by a wave of not just a few butterflies but a whole swarm.

Oh no. She’d thought her crush was gone for good when Blake, with his sandy hair and cocksure grin, had come on the scene. But apparently not, judging by the way her tanned cheeks pinked with pleasure when Hugo spotted her and gave her one of his oh-so-awkward smiles. No, no, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was happy. She wasn’t supposed to have another crush on Hugo. Or, a darker part of her thought, it was the same crush reawakened.

Maybe fifth year wasn’t going to be as straightforward as she’d imagined.