A/N: Once again, I do not own any Harry Potter characters or places except the ones I create.
THE EYE OF THE STORM
CHAPTER 1: HOGWARTS AT LAST
September first once again... Oh, how I loved that day! Aunt Cissa, Draco, and I were at the train station, getting ready to say our good-byes. Aunt Cissa smoothed Draco's collar before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Be a good boy, Draco. You know what you must do." There was something in the glance she gave him, but she was rid of the expression before I could decide exactly what it was.
"I will. Good-bye Mother." Draco headed towards the train without so much as a backward glance. Once Draco had disappeared into the crowd, Aunt Cissa turned to me.
"You be good, too, Jenna and write often. Tell Draco to, too. Good-bye, darling." She kissed my cheek.
"Good-bye Aunt Cissa. See you at Christmas!"
My good-byes said, I raced off to find Draco. He was sitting in a compartment with Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. I sat next to Pansy, in whose lap was Draco's head. She was stroking his hair intently, as if she had the most important job in the world. I snickered.
"What's so funny?" Pansy demanded.
"Oh, nothing. Just your not-so-quiet obsession with Draco."
Draco sat up and her face turned bright red. "I am not obsessed with Draco!"
My cousin's face lit up with a smile. I assumed he found this almost as amusing as I did. "Yes, that's why his name is written all over your diary."
Pansy's face contorted in anger and I had to fight to suppress a laugh. "I do not own a diary. Diaries are for weaklings."
"Well, you must be pretty weak then, considering the amount of juicy stuff you write in that thing."
Draco was really starting to enjoy this, as was I. We were both snickering now. Blaise just rolled his eyes and stared out the window. Pansy's face turned an even darker shade of red and began to stutter something, but soon gave up. With a growl, she crossed her arms and focused intently on the floor. Torturing Pansy had always been one of my favorite pastimes.
We – well, most of us – sat in contented silence for a few minutes before Draco put his head back in Pansy's lap. She shot me a victorious glance. I smiled and shrugged.
"This has been interesting and all, but I think I'm going to go now. See you all at the castle." I got up and left. I looked into all the other compartments, trying to find my friends. Finally, I spotted Liz. Once I opened the door, I was greeted with squeals and hugs.
"Jenna! It's so great to see you!" Liz held me at arm's length to get a better look at me. "Yup, definitely paler."
I laughed. "You say that every year, Liz."
"Well, it's true!" She widened her eyes innocently.
I looked at my friend. Same light brown hair, same blue-green eyes, and same old Liz. I sat down. "So how's your summer been?"
We talked for a while before someone knocked on our door. It slid open and together Liz and I screamed, "JESSIE!"
We hugged our bewildered friend and he laughed at the sudden tackle he received. "You could let me into the compartment, you know."
I laughed. "Oops."
The three of us walked back into the compartment, none of us letting go of the other. The three of us had been best friends since we met in first year. Nothing could separate us now.
We chatted constantly the whole train ride, stopping only to change into our robes. Within a few seconds of seeing each other, it was as if we had never been apart. When we arrived at the carriages, we still hadn't run out of things to talk about. It was bliss.
Filch inspected us all for dark artifacts and, after finding none, let us board the carriages. I noticed that Draco was a little late and he had a smug smile on his face. What was he up to now?
Once he had been searched, I walked over to him. "What's with the grin, Draco?"
His smile broadened and he said, "Oh, I just sent Potty-Potter back to London with a broken nose."
"What?" I asked breathlessly. I didn't like Potter because Draco didn't like him. I knew it was a little prejudice, but to me, blood was thicker than water.
Draco raised his eyebrows and said, "Better believe it," before getting into a carriage with – who would've thought? – Pansy. She batted her eyelashes at him and I gagged. What a twit!
"What was that all about?" Liz asked me once I got into our carriage.
"Oh nothing. Draco was just bullying Potter again." Liz smiled in approval, but Jessie frowned. He didn't think it was fair of us to pick on Potter.
The carriages began to move forward and I grinned in excitement. The sooner I was in Hogwarts, the better.
"Calm down, Jenna. We'll be there soon," Jessie said when I started bouncing in my seat.
"I. Can't. WAIT!" I said, each word accompanied by a bounce. Jessie and Liz laughed.
I looked out the window and there, straight ahead, was the castle. I almost fell out of the carriage in excitement.