Steam billowed around the majestic scarlet train, as students rushed about with their trunks, and parents said final goodbyes to their embarrassed children. Platform 9 ¾ was nearly full as the large clock overhanging proclaimed the time, 10:43 am. A blonde girl wove her way past laughing groups of boys and giggling girls to the final carriage of the train. Hauling her trunk up the steps, grumbling softly about needing a weightless charm. She looked around, seeing the compartments around her filling quickly, she dragged her trunk to the final compartment. Glancing in she could see a trunk placed upon the rack above the compartment seats, but no occupant, opening the door she stretched to try and get a glimpse of the name of person sharing the space. She was so focused she failed to notice the door opening again, nor the person behind her, so she was extremely shocked when a voice sprang up from behind her.
"Now why is it that you are poking around my compartment?"
The girl spun around, her hair flying around, almost whipping the boy behind her, if he hadn't casually lent out of the way.
"I… I…, I mean, no, I wasn't spying… I was just…" She stuttered out, as the boy raised an eyebrow at her.
She fell silent as the boy looked her over, before sitting down casually, his next question threw her,
"So what's your story newbie?"
"How did you…?" The girl started, looking surprised
"Simple", the boy gave her a slightly amused glance, "I've never seen you before, add in a new uniform with no house colours, you're new to Hogwarts, I'm guessing maybe, a half-blood or junior pure-blood?" He gave her a small smile, which the girl didn't return.
"You're awfully knowledgeable, for someone hiding in their, erh, own compartment. Pureblood are you?" The girl's pretty face had a slight look of distaste on her face. The boy didn't seem perturbed however,
"So which is it, half-blood or pureblood, for curiosity's sake?" The boy glanced at his nails, nonchalant as ever,
"How do you know I'm not a muggleborn?' The girl fired back
"A few things, firstly, your immediate response, a pureblood would have acted insulted by the insinuation that they weren't important, before trying to establish dominance of the conversation, a muggleborn would have been shocked but awed that I could establish their heritage. Also the fact that you where your uniform with discomfort, and disdain, you hate the restriction of conformity and obliviously miss the freedom of your own clothes, something a muggleborn would not exhibit, nor a pureblood, who are trained to never give away signals like that. So you're either a half-blood or a newish pureblood. Judging from that, I'd say that you were raised and schooled at home, with few restrictions, rather than having transferred from another magical school, however you obviously didn't lack for education, as you are now here for the final year or years of schooling. So again, taking out muggleborn, and most, older purebloods, who have legacies at schools. And yet, I'm going to have to go with junior pureblood, judging by the ease at which you fitted in on the train, you would have been around some magic environments before, something most home-schooled half-bloods do not."
The girl sat down, a slight look of awe upon her face, the boy smiled, genuinely for once,
"So know I know your story, now I need a name to put to a face,"
The girl gave a slightly hesitant laugh,
"Alright Mr Psychic, you're good, I'll give you that, I'm Alisha, and you are?"
The boy gave another smile, "Harry, Harry Potter."
Alisha was enjoying her train trip, something she hadn't expected when she set out that morning, worries over fitting in and finding friends at the forefront of her mind, however it seemed that she had found one, although she hadn't made it smooth sailing, with her snooping, and then her reaction to her companion's name, something she really cringed at in hindsight,
"Potter! As in, Thomas Potter, THE THOMAS POTTER, The Boy-Who-Lived? You're related to him? Wow!"
Harry instantly lost his smile, an ugly expression on his face, "Yeah, Thomas, my brother"
Alisha was a bit taken aback by the venom in Harry's voice, but she recovered quickly,
"Oh, I'm sorry, you must get that a lot, I can see how that would get annoying."
Harry gave her a look, and gave a grudging, "It's okay",
"So you know my story, what's yours?" Alisha was trying to make amends and they both knew it, but Harry obliged anyway,
"Alright, I'm the older brother of the magnificent Boy-Who-Lived, not that you'd ever hear that ofcour-"
"Why not?" Alisha blurted out before she realised what she said,
Harry shook his head, "Because Thomas tells everyone that he is the older brother, and his parents never deny him anything"
Alisha hesitated, about to ask about his parents, but stopped, she didn't want to lose the only person she knew by being insensitive
"So, tell me about Hogwarts, what's it like?" Harry looked grateful that the conversation had shifted.
"Well, first you have to understand the houses, most of the school revolves around houses; classes, points, reputation, friends, enemies, hell, even the way that teachers treat you. All about houses."
Alisha looked surprised, "Really? You can't be friends with people from other houses? Why? That's so stupid!"
Harry gave a bitter laugh, "You've got to understand the stigma of the house, firstly there is Gryffindor, the house of the bold and the brave. Noble warriors who save the world! Next you have the Ravenclaws, bookworms, and knowledge-hoarders, those who would rather watch than participate. Next you have the Hufflepuffs, considered 'Duffers' by most people, because they are the house of loyalty, not the bravest, the smartest or the most powerful. Then finally you have the Slytherins, the sneaky, slimy, evil, baby-eating scum."
Alisha looked confused, "How come you hate the Slytherins? They can't all be bad."
Harry laughed long and hard at that, before giving Alisha an answer, "No, no, no, hah, no, ah, no, I am a Slytherin, but that's the point. In the grand scheme of wizarding prejudice, it is a grand battle between the golden Gryffindors, and the slimy Slytherins. All the other houses automatically assume that a Slytherin is evil."
"Well you haven't slit my throat yet, so I think I'm good for now." Alisha's eyes had a devious look in her eyes as she said that.
Harry gave a wry smile, "you know, I think I like you."
The train trip continued on without drama, with no-one coming to visit the reject Potter's compartment, leaving Alisha to wonder why none of Harry's friends had come to visit. She wasn't sure what to make of her new and only friend at Hogwarts. He was definitely handsome, with his windswept dark hair, pale complexion and vibrant green eyes, with a dark, mysterious vibe. He obviously knew what he talked about, there was no hesitation in his voice, and yet he seemed to be isolated from the rest of the world, after all, what kind of person hates their twin and refers to their own parents impersonally? Alisha was contemplating this when Harry suddenly jerked upright.
"I thought it wouldn't last"
"What would last?" asked Alisha, confused
"My dearest brother has finally decided to pay me a visit, his yearly tradition."
Harry's comment only added to her confusion before an idea came to her,
"You put an alarm ward on the corridor? But, why?"
Harry gave Alisha a long look before standing up and facing the door,
"I don't like to be caught off guard."
Just as Harry finished talking the door to the compartment was ripped open and two boys stood in the door.
"Found a whore to keep you company, have you know, brother." Alisha looked up sharply at the pair, both with mops of bright red hair, with freckled faces and brown eyes, however the similarities stopped there. A victorious smirk covered the face of the speaker, who was significantly shorter and chubbier than his companion who was holding the door, laughing viciously at the comment.
Harry stepped forward, a wary expression on his face, "Get out Thomas, and take your pet Weasel with you."
"Don't insult my friend, you piece of useless shit" The smirk instantly changed to a sneer, as the second red head started forward, only to realise that Thomas was blocking the entrance.
"What's wrong Thomas? Don't like it when someone points out how much you enjoy getting your arse kicked by your lackey? Or does it go deeper? You boys getting more than friendly?"
Both boys faces flushed, their faces almost matching their hair.
"Why you mother-"
"Come here you-'
"I'm not fucking gay you-"
"Beat the little sh-"
Both boys tried to go through the door at the same time, and rebounded, bouncing off the frame and giving each other a quick glare, turning to face the door once more, stopping when they saw the wand pointing at them.
Harry's face was cold, but his tone was even colder, "Now fuck off Thomas, else I'll send both of you to the hospital wing, before the term even starts"
Eyes narrowed the two boys started to move away before Thomas gave a victorious smile, "50 points from Slytherin and a week of detentions. Each."
Alisha leapt up at that, "You can't do that, you're not a teacher"
"Head Boy", came the smug reply.
Surprisingly Harry just laughed, "The House Cup hasn't meant hippogriff shit in the last seven years, and despite what your father told you, Heads Boys and Girls can't give detentions without passing it through the Head of House. And we both know what Snape will do when he hears of this. So honourable Head Boy, threaten us with something real or get out, your pissing me off."
With a final glare Thomas walked off, and Harry shut the compartment and sat down, a sigh escaping his lips.
"So you got to meet the wonderful Boy-Who-Lived, huh."
"But he's nothing like what the Daily Prophet says!"
Harry gave a bitter laugh, something that Alisha noticed, he did a lot of, "The Prophet lives to sell itself, and by pleasing the Boy-Who-Lived, they get interviews and exclusives. And the public can't get enough of their messiah."
"He called me a whore!"
"He's like that, going through girlfriends like a brat goes through toys. The moment it loses it's new, exciting glamour, it's gone. Any girl who tells Thomas to piss off is labelled as a fame hungry, gold digging whore. I don't know if they believe him when he says that they're different, that he really loves them, if they fall in love with his fame, or if they just put up with his groping, knowing that it won't last more than a fortnight."
"So have you dated anyone?" Alisha asked curiously, before covering her mouth, "I'm sorry, that's a really personal question to ask someone you don't really know. You don't have to answer that."
"No, it's alright. I am the jealous, evil, moody, aggressive less talented Potter, and of course, lest we forget, a slimy Slytherin. Only time a girl from another house has come near me was in my third year, when some 6th year Gryffindor wanted Thomas' signature."
"What a bitch! I can't believe someone would do that!"
"Yeah well, there's at least one perk of being a Slytherin. Everyone hates Thomas, so I'm safe from that within my house."
"Why does everyone hate him, I mean, if everyone else is able to put up with him being a complete arsehole, why can't Slytherins?"
"You have to understand, one of the reasons that Slytherin has such a bad name is because most of the children of Death Eaters and lots of the pureblood supremacists are in Slytherin. So of course, the children of Death Eaters won't exactly thank Thomas for vanishing Voldemort, and Thomas often sees himself as the champion of the muggleborns, pissing off the purebloods, which is ironic, as Thomas considers himself to be above the muggleborns. Maybe that's his reasoning, everyone is equal, beneath Thomas." Alisha laughed at that
"You really don't like your brother do you?"
Harry shook his head, "Not much to like. And if there was, 17 years has eroded any goodwill I had towards him."
Alisha looked away, gazing out the window, surprised by the lack of sun in the sky,
"We must nearly be there, why aren't you dressed?"
Harry looked at her with the glint of amusement back in his eyes, "Well normally I get changed around now as there is no-one else in my compartment."
She rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry If I didn't see your name on plaque above the door. I'll just go the bathroom anyway."
With that she left, leaving Harry alone.