I adpoted this story idea from Ketsueki-Ken ages ago, but I never got around to uploading it onto here. Sorry about that! I seem to have a bad habit of doing things like that...


A fifteen year old boy was sitting rigidly in one of the many compartments on the Hogwarts Express, trying to force his heart rate back down to normal. The train had yet to leave the station and he was beginning to wonder if he should just get off now, no matter how upset his mother would be with him for it.

But before he could follow through with this plan, the train gave a sudden jerk and started to head off down the tracks.

The boy let his head fall back against the plush padding behind him with a groan, knowing that he was now stuck on the hellish contraption whether he liked it or not.

He turned towards the window, hoping that he would see something that would distract him from his current state of panic, only to find himself staring at a dim reflection of himself.

He frowned at his reflection, the full lips in the window turning down the same way, and he self-consciously brushed the bangs of his shaggy ebony colored hair away to reveal eyes that were the same shade as the ocean and just as deep.

He had tried to convince his mother that he needed a haircut before the school term started, but she had refused to listen to him even though she knew that his hair grew back out after it was cut with the speed of a weed.

He turned away from the window, wondering if he should consider digging out the Calming Draught that his mother had slipped into his trunk, when the compartment door slid open and a girl walked inside.

Her dirty-blond hair fell down to her waist in a mass of unkempt waves and her light blue eyes, set under very pale eyebrows, were rather protuberant, giving her a permanently surprised look.

The boy didn't mind the intrusion, however, even when the girl sat down opposite him without offering any form of an introduction. But then her face disappeared behind an upside down magazine and his interest was peeked.

"What are you doing?" He asked her curiously.

The girl jumped, her startled eyes darting up from the magazine to look at him. It seemed that she hadn't even realized that she wasn't alone in the compartment. "I don't know you," She stated, her eyelids fluttering in confusion.

The corners of the boy's mouth lifted up slightly into a small smile. "I wouldn't expect you to," He said.

The girl tilted her head at him, perplexed by the way how he was acting. She watched as he turned away from her to stare out at the scenery that was whizzing by them. The action caused some of the strands of his dark hair to move away from his face, revealing a jagged scar that ran from the end of his eye to just below his cheekbone.

She took a sharp intake of breath, but not because the mark unnerved her. It actually made the boy quite…nice…to look at.

"You're Sirius Black's son," She whispered awestruck.

The boy turned away from the window to fix her with a smirk.

- + -

"Hi Harry…Ginny…" Neville Longbottom panted as approached the two other teens. "Every compartment is full… I can't find a seat." He had to gasp out each statement since he was pulling his trunk with one hand and using his other to hold his struggling toad, Trevor.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked, squeezing past the boy and his things to look into the compartment behind him. "There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood and this really hot…" She trailed off, her cheeks becoming a faint scarlet, and strode into the compartment. "Hi Luna," She greeted. "Is it okay if we take these seats?"

The blond nodded, watching as the boys walked in after Ginny.

Harry noticed a boy sitting opposite Luna, but all of his attention seemed to be focused on whatever was passing by out the window.

"Thanks," Ginny said, throwing a smile in Luna's direction before turning to the boy. "I haven't seen you around before. Your not a first year are you?"

The boy looked away from the window to find out who had joined the compartment, allowing Harry to see his face properly. He seemed extremely familiar, although Harry couldn't remember ever seeing him before.

"I think I'm obviously too old for that," The boy drawled dully. "I'm transferring to here from Durmstrang."

Ginny's face flushed with color in embarrassment for asking such a question and she opened her mouth to respond, only to have Luna interrupt her.

"What's your name?" She asked dreamily.

"Cyrus Black," The boy answered. He turned to the newcomers, cold eyes narrowed as if daring anyone to speak out about his name.

Realization came crashing down on Harry as he realized exactly why the boy seemed so familiar. A million questions went shooting through his mind all at once, but when he opened his mouth only one slipped out.

"How?"

Cyrus arched a thin, dark eyebrow up at him inquiringly. "How, what?"

"How did you get that scar?" Ginny blurted out before Harry had a chance to respond.

Cyrus stiffened at the question and shook his head. "I would rather not talk about that," He said softly. He paused, brow furrowing down in what appeared to be confusion. "Who are you people anyway?" He asked. "Its rather rude to interrogate someone without at least giving your name first."

"Oh, sorry about that," Harry said. "I'm Harry Potter and the others are—"

"I'm Ginny Weasley," Ginny broke in eagerly from her spot between Harry and the other boy. She gestured over to Neville, who was sitting over next to Luna. "And that's Neville Longbottom."

Cyrus nodded in a thoughtful manner before glancing over at Luna, the only person who had not introduced herself. "And you are?"

"Luna Lovegood," The girl replied. Harry was almost certain that there was a faint blush on her cheeks before she hid her face behind the upside down magazine again.

"Well, its nice to meet all of you," Cyrus said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to stare out this window and not say anything."

"What year are you in?" Ginny asked, but got nothing but silence as a response.

"Guess what I got for my birthday?" Neville asked in an effort to break the awkward silence that had descended.

"Another Rememberall?" Harry ventured, remembering the device that the other boy's grandmother had given him in their first year.

"No," Neville said. "Could do with one of those, though, I lost the old one ages ago… No, look at this…"

After a few moments of rummaging in his schoolbag, he pulled out what appeared to be a small gray cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with what appeared to be boils rather than spines.

"Mimbulus mimbletonia," Neville announced proudly.

Harry noticed, from the corner of his eye, that Cyrus had turned to look at the strange plant with interest.

"Those are really rare," He said.

"I know!" Neville replied enthusiastically, glad that there was someone who understood the significance of the plant. "I don't even think there's one in the green house at Hogwarts. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My great uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria and I want to see if I can breed it."

"Can you tell me if it works?" Cyrus asked.

"S—sure," Neville stammered, surprised that the stoic boy had made such a request.

"Does it—er—do anything?" Harry asked.

Neville opened his mouth to respond, but Cyrus answered the question for him.

"Of course," He said. "It has an impressive defense mechanism for one if I remember correctly. Right Neville?"

"Yeah," Neville nodded. "I can show you it if you want. Here, Harry, hold Trevor for me…"

He dropped the toad into Harry's lap and snatched a quill out of his school bag. Luna's eyes appeared over the top of her magazine to watch what Neville was doing.

The occupants of the compartment watched as Neville held the Mimbulus mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill.

Instantly liquid was squirting out from every boil on the plant in thick, stinking dark green jets. It hit everywhere from the ceiling to the windows, all the way to the cover of Luna's magazine.

Ginny had flung her arms up in front of her face just in time, so she merely looked as if she were wearing a slimy green hat, and Cyrus, who had seemed to have been expecting this, had dove underneath Luna and Neville's seat to avoid the ooze.

Harry, however, whose hands had been busy holding Trevor, received a face full of the rotten goo, which smelt of rancid manure.

Neville, whose face and torso had been drenched as well, shook his head to get the worst of it from his eyes.

"S—sorry," He gasped. "I never tried that before… I didn't realize that it would be quite so… Don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous…"

Cyrus crawled out from under the seat and stood up, looking around at the others before bursting out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, that was brilliant!" He gasped out, clutching at his stomach. "You should have seen your faces!"

Harry spat out a mouthful onto the floor, not finding the situation humorous at all and feeling as if he was going to hurl.

At that precise moment, the door to their compartment slid open.

"Oh…hello?" A nervous voice said. "Um…is this a bad time?"

Harry wiped at the lens of his glasses with his free hand, trying to see who was there, but Cyrus was still standing up, blocking his view of the doorway.

"Ah, sorry," Cyrus grinned. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Uh…Harry?"

At that Cyrus turned to plop back down into his seat, revealing the rest of the compartment.

"Oh…hi," Harry said blankly when he saw who was there.

It was Cho Chang, the seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She was a very pretty girl with soft, delicate features and long, shiny black hair. Her plush little mouth turned up into a smile when she saw Harry.

"Um…" Cho said. "Well…just thought I'd say hello…bye then."

She closed the door with a blush that Harry wasn't sure was due to him or Cyrus, and left.

Harry leaned back in his seat with a groan, wishing that Cho had chosen another time to come say hello to him.

"Never mind," Ginny said bracingly. "Its not so hard to get rid of this." She pulled out her wand. "Scourgify!" And the Stinksap vanished.

"Sorry," Neville repeated in a small voice.

"No harm done," Cyrus said, casting a cheerful smile at Neville. It was the first time that Harry had ever seen the boy with a proper smile. "I needed that laugh, anyway."

The last statement was something they could understand—he was going to a new school.

- + -

An hour passed by comfortably enough. Cyrus mostly just listened to what was being said, but would speak up when the conversation touched on something that interested him.

The trolley came by eventually and everyone ordered something off it. Cyrus munched on one of his Pumpkin Pasties well the others swapped Chocolate Frog Cards.

Things had slipped into a decidedly relaxed atmosphere until the compartment door slid open again and Ron and Hermione appeared with Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage.

Cyrus gave a start at the amount of sound that came with the arrival and peered at the two newcomers with a guarded expression.

"I'm starving!" Ron said. He stowed Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig before grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself down next to the other boy.

The action caused Cyrus to become rather uncomfortably cramped between the window and Ginny. He tensed up, trying to gain control over his claustrophobia again well Ginny beamed at him, seemingly quite happy about their situation.

"Well, there are two fifth year prefects from each house," Hermione said, sitting down beside Neville. Cyrus noted that she looked thoroughly disgruntled. "Boy and girl from each."

"And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" Ron asked.

"Malfoy," Harry replied at once.

A change came over Cyrus at the sound of that name, his face becoming less tense as it perked up in interest. So…they know who he is…

"And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson," Hermione said. "How she became a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll…" She trailed off, her eyes landing on Cyrus as though she had just noticed he was there. "Who are you?"

Cyrus couldn't stop himself from snorting in disbelief at the girl's lack of manners. He knew that most people had not been raised under the rigid social code that he had been, but honestly, did people not even know proper etiquette anymore?

"I'm Cyrus—"

"He's a transfer from Durmstrang!" Ginny announced excitedly, cutting Cyrus off before he could say his last name.

"I didn't know that you could transfer from wizarding schools," Hermione said, staring at Cyrus with a mixture of interest and astonishment.

Ron leaned forward to see what all the fuss was about and when he saw Cyrus, his mouth fell open in amazement.

Cyrus shifted in his seat, unnerved by the way that everyone in the compartment seemed to be staring at him like some kind of specimen on display. It was causing his claustrophobia to mount to horrible levels.

"You can transfer schools if you have a good reason for it," Cyrus said, turning his attention towards Hermione, "and your parents and the head master have to agree to it."

Hermione nodded, already planning on looking the subject up the next time she was in the library at Hogwarts.

"I'm Hermione Granger, by the way," She said, "and that's Ron Weasley."

Cyrus was about to reply when the compartment door slid open again and his eyes widened in horror. "Who else can possibly want to sit in here!" He hissed.

He shot to his feet, realizing just how cramped the compartment was. It suddenly seemed like there wasn't enough oxygen for him to take in and he knew that he had to get out of the place before he started to hyperventilate.

He whirled around to face the exit, only to discover that there were three people standing in the way of it.

"Get out of the way," Cyrus ordered as calmly as he could manage. "I need to get out of here." He wasn't even paying attention to the three people that he was talking to, lost in the sensation of the cool air that was filtering in from outside… When had it gotten so hot?

"I would watch what I say, if I were you," A snobbish voice said. "I'm a prefect." The last line was spoken with a certain smugness that made Cyrus want to roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Bugger off, Malfoy," Harry hissed.

Cyrus's head snapped around to stare at Harry in disbelief before turning slowly around to the boy in front of him.

Well, this was certainly awkward.

"Now remember, you want to look for Draco Malfoy. I'm sure you'll have no trouble recognizing him."

The tips of long, slim fingers brush against a worn photograph that has been slipped inside of a cloak pocket. "Of course not."

Platinum blond hair…porcelain skin…eyes like chips of ice…a tall, lean frame…that haughty smile…

"He's taller than you now, but don't be intimidated. After all, he'll be…"

"Malfoy… Draco Malfoy?" Cyrus asked breathlessly.

"Yes," Draco replied, brow furrowed in confusion. His eyes trailed over Cyrus, causing a small smile to form on the lips of the other boy.

Cyrus could sense the stares coming from the people in the compartment that were wondering what was going on, but he ignored them.

It took only a few moments before Draco's eyes were widening in realization. "Cyrus Black," He whispered

Ron and Hermione, who had been the only ones not to hear Cyrus's last name, stared at the boy with shock and disbelief.

"Yes, that's my name," Cyrus said. He took a step closer to Draco, his lips spreading into his second genuine smile of the day. "I have waited a long time for this day," He said, slipping into the French that he had learned to use for private conversations such as these.

The smallest of smiles appeared on Draco's mouth as he responded in the same langue. "So have I."

He waved his hand at one of the giant boys next to him, who moved aside to allow Cyrus space to walk besides the blond.

Cyrus stepped forward to leave the compartment, but stopped when someone grabbed hold of his wrist. He glanced down to see that it was Harry, who was looking at him with a confused expression.

"What are you doing?" Harry demanded.

Cyrus frowned at him, not understanding why Harry seemed to think that it was the end of the world for him to leave.

"I'm leaving," He replied. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like my hand back."

Harry nodded, releasing Cyrus's hand, a little pink in the face.

"Thank you," Cyrus said. "I'll come back later to pick up my stuff."

He couldn't see the reactions of those in the compartment, but he somehow got the feeling that Ron wanted to hurt him.