Encounter in a Station

by Oriondruid

Railway trains are not only important to the pupils of Hogwarts to take them back and forth to school. They also the carry Tributes to The Capitol to take part in The Hunger Games, and take their dead bodies home to their grieving parents. So perhaps it is possible that sometimes spirits from both worlds might meet at 'that' station, in the pristine whiteness outside time.

Encounter in a Station

By Oriondruid

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Summary: Railway trains are not only important to the pupils of Hogwarts to take them back and forth to school. They are also the method that carried Tributes to The Capitol to take part in The Hunger Games, and which took their dead bodies home to their grieving parents, relatives and friends after they had been murdered. So perhaps it is possible that sometimes the spirits of children from both 'universes' might accidentally meet at 'that' famous white station, whilst waiting to catch a train in order to 'go on'.

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Disclaimer: As should be self-evident from my site profile photo I am neither Suzanne Collins or Jo Rowling! Therefore I hold no claim to these characters. They are all the brilliant work of the two authors themselves and I thank them both for the opportunity to 'play' in their amazing 'worlds' for a while. This work is intended to be entirely 'Not for profit'.

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Authors note: This is just a mad, fun little idea I had for a 'crossover' It is unrelated to any of my other stories about either The Hunger Games or Harry Potter 'universes' but popped into my head insisting on being written immediately. It is not fully compliant to either The Hunger Games or Harry Potter 'canon'. It also holds within it one key idea which I would normally reject with all my heart! The horrid notion that my dearest Lavender Brown died in The Battle of Hogwarts, which is something JKR herself never specifically stated, despite Steve Kloves' dodgy screenplay for the final film indicating to the contrary. Just one of many objectionable and ruinous unnecessary changes and anomalies he created, to muck up the final part of the story. Grrr! :o(

In all my other 'normal' stories in which Lavender appears she is alive and well, (or possibly at least as well as a werewolf can be), and I love to read other's takes on her, be they 'shipping' her with Seamus, (as is often the case and which works well), Or reuniting her post war with Ron, or even with an OC, (as is the situation to be found in the excellent fan fiction writer who posts on this site as Northumbrian), pairing her up with his own brilliant character Mark Moon, which is definitely the 'ship' I favour most of all as his writing is utterly amazing!

However for this one single story alone I will allow Lavender to 'die', since I think that dear little Rue needs a loving 'older sister' figure, now Katniss can't be around anymore to help her.

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Encounter in a Station

The young girl was sat on a white bench on the platform of a very strange and completely empty train station. Everywhere was white, the benches, the walls, the floor, the roof, even the train tracks themselves that ran in between the platforms. It was the oddest place she had ever been and even more strangely she had absolutely no idea how or exactly when she'd got there. She had been there for some un-specifiable period of time that might have been many minutes or even several hours, she had no way to tell. Unusually for a railway station which would normally have loads of clocks, this one had none and there were no other real frames of reference to judge passing time either. Nobody else had arrived or left and even though she could hear odd noises of trains in the distance and the opening and closing of carriage doors she could see no trains arriving or departing from the other platforms.

She spent her time trying to remember what had happened before she came to be in this strange place and only vague and disturbing partial recollections came to her. Half memories of pain and fear, then a soothing voice which had sung to her and a peaceful sleep before waking here, wherever 'here' was. One thing she did remember though for sure, her name, she was called Rue.

Suddenly she noticed out of the corner of her eye that another girl had appeared sitting on the next bench along, a little further up the platform. Rue had not seen her arrive so wasn't sure how long she'd been there either. The girl was older and dressed in some sort of school uniform covered by a longer cloak like garment. Rue could see that she had some kind of polished wooden stick on her lap, which she was tightly grasping in her right hand as if her life depended on it.

The girl was several years older than Rue was. She very pretty and 'well developed', as Rue had often heard girls described as being when almost blossomed into young womanhood. She also noted the girl had a magnificent 'mane' of long pretty hair which was somewhere between a very light brown and a dark blond, with highlights of a honey colour in it it's tumbling mass. Rue decided that as they were the only two people around she would try and talk to the newcomer, to try find out more about this mysterious place.

She stood up and walked towards the bench the other girl sat on and as she grew near her the girl hearing her approaching turned to look at her and smiled in a friendly fashion. Getting closer Rue could see that she had startlingly blue eyes and that her unusual school uniform bore an embroidered badge on what could only be described as a robe or cloak, which she wore over more conventional schoolgirl attire. This emblem depicted a stylized lion on a shield background and bore the word Gryffindor in red.

Rue spoke first saying, "Hello, I didn't see you arrive, have you been here long? I'm Rue by the way she said holding out her hand."

Taking her hand and shaking it the girl replied. "I'm Lavender." In a soft and friendly voice. "It's nice to meet you Rue, but I'm afraid I don't know how long I've been here or even where here is, do you know? It seems to be some sort of a railway station but it's so strange, all white like this and where are all the people and trains?"

"I'm afraid I've no idea either Lavender." Rue replied sadly.

Then Lavender examined Rue, seeing a pretty child of about twelve. She was dressed for the outdoors, in a pare of olive green jeans, a charcoal grey sweatshirt, a dark waterproof jacket, plus what looked like lightweight climbing boots. The girl had masses of beautiful dark brown curly hair which swept down each side of her head and nearly reached her shoulders. She was a very pretty child with caramel skin that reminded Lavender of her fellow Gryffindor and Quidditch fanatic Angelina Johnson.

As Lavender was assessing the young girl Rue asked her. "Do you remember much about how you got here Lavender, 'cos I only have a few memories and they're all jumbled up. I think I got hurt somehow and someone nice was helping me, I remember her singing and then nothing, it's all blank from then."

Lavender racked her brains trying to remember what had happened to her, then said "All I can remember is that I was falling, I remember I hit the ground with a horrible impact and then someone or something began to attack me, but seemed to get blasted away from my body. Then I passed out and the next thing I knew I was here.

Then Lavender suddenly looked down to her lap and saw the strange stick she held tightly in her hand. For a moment she seemed puzzled then broke down, sobbing and crying copious tears. Rue rushed to put her arms around the older girl and asked her what was wrong. Lavender between sobs said, "I remember now, I remember it! Everything! Looking at my wand reminded me."

"What do you remember Lavender, what do you mean 'everything' and why are you crying?" Rue asked.

Lavender tenderly took the little girl by both hands, her tears drying. Squaring her shoulders she looked at Rue's pretty young face, with a sad smile on her own. She said, "You'll have to be brave Rue, I must tell you this 'cos it's important. I think I'm dead! I remember it all, I was in a battle at Hogwarts, which was my school. It was a fight against an evil wizard and his followers who were attacking us and I think I died in the fighting. I fell from a staircase parapet and then was attacked again as I lay on the ground by one of our enemies. I'm sure I couldn't have survived it."

Rue hugged her and looking puzzled said, "But you can't be dead Lavender, look at you, you're warm, uninjured and alive. We're here now talking, how can any of those things have happened to you, how can you be dead?"

Then Lavender noticed something tucked into the inside of the lapel of the young girl's weatherproof jacket, between the outer layer and inner fleece. It was a long dark tail feather from some sort of bird and she pulled it out and showed it to Rue.

The young child looked at it blankly for a moment and then said with delight, "My mockingjay feather, I found it in the wood, it's my good luck charm! Then suddenly Rue's expression changed as she too started to cry. She nearly slumped to the ground, but was caught before she did so by Lavender, who placed her on the bench beside her.

After some minutes Rue had calmed down enough to speak and began to tell Lavender her tale, saying. "I think you're right Lavender, I think we're both dead. My mockingjay feather brought my memories back, just like your wand. I remember how I died. I was in The Hunger Games as a Tribute for my District. I was trapped in a net and then hit by a spear thrown by one of the older boy Tributes. It hurt so horribly but then Katniss, my dear friend came. She shot an arrow into the boy who hurt me and then she held me, she sang to me so beautifully that the pain went away and then I think I died 'cos the next thing I know I was here."

Then Rue went on to explain to an increasingly furious Lavender just how vile and unfair The Hunger Games were. By the time she finished Lavender was incandescent with anger at what she'd heard, but tried to calm herself down because Rue needed her. She took Rue in her arms and the two girls hugged each other in shock and grief, thinking of how their families would miss them back home and thinking sadly about all their friends who they'd never see again.

Suddenly, interrupting their sorrow, a gentle male voice spoke, one Lavender knew very well. Looking up she saw the familiar figure of Albus Dumbledore her old Headmaster standing over them, dressed in his familiar and splendid silver/grey robes. He said. "Ah if it isn't young Lavender Brown and another pretty young lady, it's so lovely to see you again Lavender." Then turning to Rue the Professor asked, "And what do they call you my dear?" Dumbledore smiled at her, with his bright blue eyes twinkling through his half moon glasses.

Rue was still shocked and felt shy, not knowing the stranger. Her emotions were still a mess, but Lavender replied for her saying. "This is my new friend Rue, Professor. She got here a little bit before I did and we've been chatting whilst waiting for a train to arrive or at least hoping for someone to turn up, but now you have. It's so wonderful to see you here Sir, this place is so strange and scary. It's odd but I don't think Rue's from our world, or even the muggle one. Things seem very different wherever she's from, she just told me they have some sort of horrible competition that forces children to fight to the death called The Hunger Games, it sounds utterly terrible! Not that there are aren't too many children fighting and dying at Hogwarts at the moment, but in Rue's world it's a 'sport' and they're forced to do it every year!" Lavender said, looking very sad.

Dumbledore nodded and said "I see, I agree Lavender that does sound truly horrible. You are right I think, Rue is probably from a different version of 'reality' to ours. This is a large station and it exists outside of 'normal' space and time, it's trains serve many different 'realities' and many times. I believe that normally both of you should never have been on this same platform together, but I suppose even the 'Powers of Light' make ticketing errors sometimes. Dumbledore smiled then cheerfully said, "Anyway young ladies, what else have you two girls been talking about, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"We were wondering where we are and why we're here Professor, but you just answered the first question and as to the second we think we've worked out the answer between us. We're dead just like yourself Sir, aren't we?"

Dumbledore nodded calmly and replied, "That we are dear Lavender, that we are, however it is fortunate that I am here tonight. I really came to chat with Harry Potter, we just had a nice talk and now he's gone back to Hogwarts to finish off an important task. I'm so happy I spotted you two girls from the other platform over there before I left. The pair of you looked a bit lost and I thought I recognised your school uniform Lavender, so I made my way over here. Then smiling kindly he pulled a couple of sweets from his robe pocket and offered them to the girls saying, "Would you girls like a barley sugar, they're muggle sweets and I'm almost as addicted to them as sherbet lemons, but these are not so sharp. They're almost as good for raising the spirits as a Cheering Charm."

Both girls grinned and accepted his offer, unwrapped the sweets and began to suck on them, something which, as Dumbledore had said, immediately seemed to raise their spirits.

Rue, looking far more happy smiled at the old Professor and said, "Thank you very much Sir, these are very nice. So you're Lavender's old teacher are you Professor?"

"Before I died I was her Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore replied."

Rue looked stunned at what he'd said, and replied, "So Lavender's really is a witch then is she Professor? Only I thought what she said made it up about that stick she's holding being a wand, that it was only make believe, just playing to cheer me up."

"No dear Rue." Dumbledore smiled at the child, who was was evidently delighted by his revelation and he replied. "Lavender here really is a witch and a fine young one at that, it really is a magic wand in her hand and no witch or wizard would ever willingly be without one."

Then turning to Lavender he said. "Perhaps dear Rue might like to hold your wand for a moment Lavender, she's probably never even seen one before in her world."

Lavender nodded to her old Headmaster and smiling at Rue she handed the younger girl her wand.

But as she did so, at the exact moment that Rue took it into her hand an amazing thing happened. Bright golden sparks flew out of it's end and a strong wind encircled all three of them on the platform! Rue was frightened and dropped Lavender's wand onto the ground like it was red hot.

The Professor however seemed totally un-phased by this magical display. He beamed at both girls, saying, "Ah, I had a feeling something like that might happen. Perhaps the 'Powers of Light' didn't make an error in bringing you two together after all. Even when I was alive I had a pretty good sense for detecting magic within people and since I've been dead it only seems to have become even stronger. Rue my dear, you're a witch! There are probably many more such as yourself undetected and untutored in your world."

Rue seemed utterly shocked and unable to speak, but bravely she soon rallied and said to the old Professor. "What does this mean Sir, how can I be a witch, I've never done any magic, never had a wand at home and I've never been to a magical school. We only get a simple schooling in the Districts, just reading, writing and maths mostly. Even then at planting and harvesting times we children don't go to school, but work in the fields and the orchards with our parents."

"Ah, but you see my dear, it may be that in your world witches and wizards are unrecognised, perhaps there are only a few, or there may be many with the potential that are never able to fully become what they should be. Maybe magic is just thought of as 'all stories and make believe' in your world and it took your dying to find out it's real. Tell me my dear Rue, is there anything you do that is a bit 'unusual', different from your friends or relatives? Maybe something not as spectacular as what happened just now, but nevertheless an unusual ability others don't have?

Rue racked her brains trying to think then replied, "Well there might be a couple of things. I can climb trees right to the very top whilst harvesting, far higher than anyone else. My mother is always worried that the branches are too thin and they'll break, but they never do no matter how high I go. And I can also use the tree tops to travel, I can leap between them far further than anyone I know and can go long distances, sometimes right across an orchard without ever having to climb down to the ground.

"Ah, that's interesting Rue." The Professor replied. "I think perhaps you might possibly be doing what is known in our world as 'under-age magic', that is to say magic that is not consciously intended and for which you don't need to use a wand. You can probably use your abilities to reduce your weight and also to 'stretch' your leaps beyond what is normally possible. Many of our wizarding children do similar things, often without realising they're magical. I remember Harry Potter once telling me about the time he escaped some playground bullies by magically leaping or flying up onto the roof of his old muggle school. Then there was his mother, lovely Lilly Evans, I recall Severus telling me her 'party piece' was that she used to 'fly' back to the ground from a playground swing at the very top of it's arc. Is there anything else you can think of that you do which is unusual my dear?"

Rue thought deeply and then replied, "Well my friend Katniss told me I seem to be able to make people not notice me, like I can almost become invisible to them and follow them like a shadow.

"Aha!" Cried Dumbledore triumphantly, winking at Lavender. "Did you hear that Lavender my dear, I knew it! A Disillusionment Charm and a pretty powerful one too by the sound of it, for someone untrained. There's no doubt about it my dear Rue, You're a witch for sure and I'd bet you'll be a very good one too, once you get trained up a bit."

Dumbledore then said, "Well we can't hang around here for all eternity girls, the trains are arriving, we'd best be on our way over to the right platform.

Then they made their way across the white footbridge linking the many platforms in the strange station, to where despite not having seen them pull in they found two trains awaiting them, one on either side of the new platform. One train was familiar both to Lavender and Dumbledore, an exact copy of the Hogwarts Express in all it's scarlet splendour. The other train was a very different vehicle, hovering above the tracks without the need for wheels, looking far more modern and sleek externally and luxurious inside from what they could see through the windows.

Rue looked at both trains seeming a bit puzzled, then said, "But which train should I take Professor? Obviously this one is supposed to be mine, it is like those in my world, but if I get on it I'll never learn to use my magic, never be a proper witch in the version of 'heaven' that holds the Panem people and all my lost loved ones. But if I come with you and Lavender then I will be able to learn to use my magic, but I'll never see my people again!"

Rue looked tragically sad at being caught in such a dilemma but Lavender went and hugged her and Dumbledore replied. "Ah my dear, don't worry, it will not be a problem, come with us and I will arrange a very special Floo connection for you to use, to take you 'home' whenever you wish. The Powers of Light are not cruel, I'm sure they must have deliberately put you and Lavender together, so you could find out what you really are. I'm sure they'll grant this to you to compensate for all you've been through. The last thing they'd want to do is to cause you to waste your potential, or for that matter to be permanently separated from your loved ones.

The Professor went on to say, "I think you'll find that you'll be able to 'pop home' whenever you have a break in your studies and visit those whom you love, just like living Hogwarts pupils can go home in the school holidays. When you are a little older then you can decide where you want to spend the rest of eternity, either in our magical 'afterlife or in that of your own Panem District and Capitol people. Or perhaps you'll maybe even decide to split your time between both, who can say? I have a sneaking suspicion that you have a purpose in being with us Rue, perhaps to bring the knowledge of magic into your 'world' and help all the other magical children there become what they ought to be."

Dumbledore led the two girls towards the scarlet steam train as the other one silently departed empty from the station, gliding serenely several feet above the rails, with some sort of blue radiant plasma emmited from devices underneath it

As they neared the carriage entrance Rue whispered in Lavender's ear, saying ."I think that the Professor might be one of those 'Powers of Light' he talks about himself, he seems to know so much. Perhaps he joined them when he died?"

Lavender grinned at her insight and replied, "You may well be right Rue, what with us two 'bumping into' each other and then his 'chance' meeting with us, not to mention his suggestion that I lend you my wand, it certainly all seems to have been a bit too much of a coincidence doesn't it."

The girls both giggled and then the Professor opened the carriage door, smiled and indicated they should enter saying, "Come along then young ladies, once we get going I'm sure the trolley lady will be along with some sweets and such. I'm paying, it'll be my treat, I haven't had a chocolate frog in ages."

Rue took her new friend Lavender and the Professor by their hands and all three boarded the scarlet steam train, which would take Rue and Lavender 'on' to their next adventure.