Chapter 1: Returning Home

"OoOoooo, I think you two might be tanned," I said, grinning, "How was Egypt?"

I sat in a train compartment with my three best friends, Angelina Johnson, and Fred and George Weasley, our other friends Alicia Spinnet and Lee Jordan were coming soon, but right now it was just the four of us.

"Yeah it was pretty wicked, loads of old tombs and stuff, we even tried to lock Percy into one of them." Fred said, laughing.

"Tried?" I asked, "Who stopped you?"

"Our other brother-" George started.

"Because you see, we have so many-" Fred continued.

"Except for Ginny, she's a sister," I rolled my eyes.

"Honorary brother" Angelina did too.

"To the point please?" Angelina snapped, losing her already barely there patience with the twins.

"Our older brother Bill took him out, he's fine, just hates us even more now," George said, before leaning back in the compartment seat, rummaging around his bag, and pulling out a portable gobstones game.

"Train leaves at eleven, right?" I asked, having a momentary lapse in thought, I shook my head at my own question, of course i knew what time the train left. "Nevermind-"

"Eleven." Fred said slowly, cutting me off and looking at me strangely, "It's been five years Vern, don't you think you should know this by now?"

I gave Fred a sour look, "It's also been five years of me telling you to call me Veronica, not the stupid nickname that the whole student body calls me that sounds like a leaf!"

"Sorry, but what?" Angelina said, referring to my leaf comment.

"Vern, Fern." I said comparing the two, I punctuated by holding my hands up like scales.

"Ah." Was all she said before looking back down at the quidditch magazine she was reading.

"You know Vern," George started, and god forbid, I could already feel my teeth start to grind before he even finished his sentence. "It's also been five years since we started calling you Vern, so in all fairness you should be used to it."

I got up from my seat, "Say one more word George Weasley, and I swear I won't talk to you for the next five years." I said before going and pulling open the door, "Prefect duties." I added to all their confused looks as to where I was going. And then I left, because I'll be damned if I was going to stick around for another round of 'Let's all make fun of Veronica because she's a prefect.'

And I definitely wasn't sticking around for round two of that, 'Let's all make fun of Veronica more because she's a prefect and will have to spend the next week gallivanting around with Graham Montague because they're partners'. I wasn't bitter at all.

I heard Fred and George laughing as I left, but then I heard Angelina's reliable 'Shut it!' and I knew they'd listen to her. As I walked down the aisle I noticed that the compartments were filling up rather fast, good thing I got here early then, and I only got here early because I had no choice. Mrs Cathrage, or Mrs Cabbage as I liked to call her, ran the orphanage that I grew up in, and to say she was nice, was like saying Fred and George wouldn't laugh before helping you up if you fell over.

She wasn't very nice, but she wasn't very mean, just strict, and definitely suspicious of McGonagall when she came to the orphanage when I was eleven.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as I was walking back to the prefects carriage when someone called my name. I whirled around to find Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger all sitting in a compartment with some sleeping man that looked way too old to be a student, probably in his early thirties. A teacher?

The person who'd spoken to me was Ron, happy chap that guy. "Hey Ron, what's up?" I asked stepping into the entryway to the compartment and leaning my shoulder up against the open door.

"Nothing much, I'm sure Fred and George already told you about Egypt though." He said looking rather miffed that his older brothers beat him to it again.

I grinned, "All they told me about it was that they stuck Percy in a tomb." I said smiling, twirling my red and gold tie around my finger.

"Yeah, but don't you get it Vern? That was the most interesting part." I had to laugh at that.

"So who's ratty tatty over here," I said, pointing with my boot clad foot to the guy sleeping in the corner.

"Professor R.J Lupin" Hermione said.

I looked at her confused, "How has he introduced himself if he's asleep, or did he just fall asleep now?" I asked them.

"No his name was on his case," Hermione said grinning a bit.

"Yeah he's been knocked out since we got here." Harry said, Ron nodding along.

"Shit" I muttered under my breath as the train started moving, I left the three third years looking alarmed as I rushed out for the prefect meeting I was now late to.

Luckily the carriage was right there and I ran in just as the head boy and girl were getting up. She gave me a reproachful look but I ignored it and sat down next to Montague.

It was very boring all of it. The only thing I could look forward too was being able to be out late at night, and being able to dock points. By the time the sun was setting I was almost wishing that I was in divination instead of here. Luckily, we were let go, but a very peculiar thing happened the second I stepped out the door, the train stopped.

I looked to the compartment to my left, and found it to be the one that Harry, Hermione and Ron were in I quickly went in there to look out the window beside Ron.

"What the hell?" I asked softly. Even though I wasn't directly talking to them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all shrugged. Then something even stranger happened, the lights went out. It was night, and we were in the middle of nowhere, with no outside light. Which meant that it was dark, really goddamn dark. I couldn't even see, so I quickly sat down in between Harry and the man, who still hadn't woken up yet, not wanting to fall over.

Before long the compartment door opened again and somebody fell on top of Hermione, I jumped a bit, startled, before realizing it was just Ginny. We had all made quite a ruckus when she came in though, and apparently it startled the man, or Lupin, as was his name. For Lupin all of a sudden was wide awake.

"Quiet!" He hissed, in a rather raspy voice. We all shut up and were just kind of sitting there, not knowing what to do. Then it got cold.

"Uh, anybody else just feel it drop ten degrees in here?" I said from the blackness, raising my hand like I was asking a question, not like anybody could see it.

I heard some murmurs of yes. It was so cold in here that I could see my own breath and my shirt and trousers did nothing against it, I could feel the goosebumps rising on my arms.

Then shit got weird.

I felt cold, so cold, as if my life and being and happiness, was being sucked out. I felt myself sink back into the seat, bad memories of when I broke my arm when I was eight coming back. I hadn't thought it that bad, but now it seemed worse, and it was coupled with fear, fear that had no base or reason.

Then it was gone, almost as if a light switched on, I felt normal again, and then a light did switch on, and the train started moving again.

"What was that?" Ron said in a shaky voice, I looked around, ok, not just me. Apparently everybody had felt some kind of disturbance at whatever that was.

"That was a dementor," Lupin said, frowning, "They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. They were probably looking for Sirius Black."

"On a train?" Harry stammered, I looked at him, and noticed he looked horrible. "Why would a mass murderer be on a train going to a school?"

I found my voice, "Yeah, doesn't he have bigger fish to fry?" I asked, trying not to vomit as I said it. Lupin shrugged and gave us all some chocolate, I was confused as to why, but wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for some good chocolate, so, I ate it. Surprisingly, it worked. I felt a warm sensation go throughout my body, erasing the cold feeling that felt like it would be there forever.

The rest of the train ride was muted, and I left to go sit with Fred, George, and Angelina, who had been joined by Lee and Alicia while I was gone, we all talked about what happened and speculated why the ministry thought sending dementors on a train full of children was a good idea. Unsurprisingly, no one could come up with a good reason why by the time we reached the school.