Teddy Lupin, dressed in his usual plaid shirt, ripped jeans, and blue converse, was standing on Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, with his grandmother, Andromeda. The weather was gloomy, as every Muggle weatherperson was predicting a heavy rainstorm.

"Now, are you sure you have everything for your last year at Hogwarts?" She nagged.

"Yes, Grams," Teddy exclaimed, "and before you say, 'Are you sure', I'm a thousand percent positive." At this point, Teddy was impatiently tapping his foot to a steady rhythm.

"Okay," Andromeda began, "but before you go, promise me that you won't get into too much trouble, especially with Victoire." She gave a subtle wink to her grandson, as Victoire was Teddy's girlfriend since the start of summer..

"I promise, Grams," Teddy said quickly. "Now I gotta go before all the compartments are taken. Love you, bye." He gave Andromeda a rushed hug. "Don't forget to write, and I won't either."

With that, Teddy rushed towards the Hogwarts Express, his luggage in tow. He glimpsed Dominique through the thick bustle of wizards and witches of various ages (and some Muggle parents, of course), and gave a quick wave in her direction. Teddy began to ponder as to where Victoire had wandered off; however, Teddy continued his trek to the train.

After some time, Teddy managed to find his way through the immense crowd to the train itself, boarded, and quickly found a completely empty compartment.

Teddy entered the vacant room, lifted his trunk onto one of the shelves provided, sat down by the window, and let out a sigh of relief. He looked down at his wristwatch, feeling as if the Hogwarts Express should have left by now. Unfortunately, assuming that his watch was correct, there was still five minutes until the train would depart from the station.

He spent this free time staring at his own two feet, with the occasional glance up to see who was walking in front of "his" cart. He had seen James, the first-year son of his godfather, Harry, walking with two or three boys his own age, and Dominique with Victoire and some of their friends. Other than that, the rest of the bodies that passed by the open door of the compartment had been those of students Teddy had not known.

Teddy was now staring out of the window, watching the platform slowly creep away, when he heard a male voice speaking through the door that Teddy had forgotten to close.

"Excuse me," it had said, "but may I join you? Everywhere else is full." Teddy was suddenly reminded of the story his godfather had told him about how he met his best friend, Ron Weasley, whose family had treated Teddy as a close (and favourite) cousin.

Teddy looked towards the figure, and was met by a boy approximately his age. He was the same size as Teddy, but more pale with chestnut hair, clad in a black zip-up vest over a Chudley Cannons long-sleeve, faded blue jeans, and black converse.

"Of course," Teddy answered, motioning to the seat across from him. As the boy sat down, Teddy noticed his copper-coloured eyes and his exceptionally white teeth.

"Oh," the boy exclaimed, "I'm Raymond, Raymond von Stryder. Seventh-year Gryffindor, and candidate for Head Boy."

Great, Teddy thought sarcastically, a nerd. These types of people never really meshed well with his devil-may-care attitude. Not to mention the fact that Teddy had never seen this boy since he started Hogwarts.

"Teddy," he replied, "Teddy Lupin. Same House, same year, and...yeah. Y'know, for a fellow Gryffindor, I haven't seen you around much. How come?"

Raymond paused for a second, then replied with, "Oh, I've been around. Keeping the younger Gryffindors in order, making sure that all of Hogwarts' secrets stay secret. I was a Prefect last year, after all."

"So you mean the Chamber of Secrets and the Room of Requirement?"

"Uh," Raymond paused again. How would Teddy know about those? From his godfather, of course. "Well, those in particular, yes, but also..."

Raymond was interrupted by a deafening squeal, and the train had come to a sudden stop, throwing the both of them to the floor. By the time they had helped each other up, the light in their compartment had gone out.

Raymond unzipped his vest, pulled out his wand from one of the inside pockets, and headed out the door. He looked down one end of the hallway, and was instantly consumed in a dense, black fog. Before Teddy could react, the same thing happened to him. Once the fog cleared, Teddy found himself being choked against the compartment window, hanging about a foot in the air. He was face-to-face with a hooded figure, its mouth like a gaping vacuum of nothing. Teddy had become very cold, and was feeling as if this...thing was sucking the will to live out of his body. His vision was fading more and more as every painful second of this torture passed.

"...Patronum!" He heard. This voice was familiar, but Teddy could not tell whether this person was relatively close, or a good fifty metres away. Wherever they were, they made the pain instantly disappear, and Teddy became considerably warmer. He felt his feet touch the floor again, but immediately after, he blacked out.


This is just a thing I've been working on as of late. In my opinion, it's not very good, but I guess that's all up to the viewers (you!). I really hope you like it! Do what you wish to it (except steal, of course); I'd probably be overjoyed either way. :DD