Chapter One
To See You Nice
In a small Muggle town in Kent, a cloaked figure stood waiting patiently in the market square, overshadowed by the clock tower on the public library beside him. Gripped in his hand was a thick, gnarled wand of ebony, lowered to his thigh so as to keep it out of sight. If it had been a market day, the square would have been even busier, but the man was not worried by the number of Muggles that were present, none of whom noticed his presence.
He was tucked into an alley that led up to smaller shops sat behind the library, and from there he had an undisturbed view of the two other cloaked figures across the square from him, both of whom were also melting into the shadows around them, leant so casually against shop walls that they appeared to be sinking into them. Of course, they were currently operating under Disillusionment Charms, but when the time arose for it, the Muggles would have no doubt that they were there.
At the sound of a light crack behind him, the man with the ebony-wand turned calmly to face another robed man who had just apparated behind him. He was thick-set, with a squashed nose and a square jaw, and his hood was lowered.
"Everyone is in position," he said.
"Good. The Ministry shall now learn what happens when they oppose the Dark Lord. Let's see them stick up for these Muggles now when they see what a hindrance it is for them to do so." A pause, then, "you are cleared to attack on the hour exactly."
The thick-set man merely grunted, bowed his head a fraction, then disapparated from the alleyway.
Turning back to face the square, the hooded figure nodded to the others across from him, informing them everything was still going to plan. Scanning the scene before him, he counted eight people in the square, the nearest to him a dark-haired woman who was rifling through her handbag with a young boy of about thirteen years half a pace behind her, his movement sluggish in his early morning tiredness. The woman stopped to search properly in her bag, the boy bumping into her, and at that moment, the bell in the clock tower began to chime ten o'clock.
Waving his wand over himself, the cloaked figure removed his Disillusionment Charm, then stepped out into the sunlit square and pointed his wand at the stationary pair of unobservant Muggles.
"Avada Kedavra!" he said forcefully, and then a green light shot out, and the targeted Muggles received no more warning.
Finding herself left alone with her older sister was never enjoyable for Dorcas Meadowes, but that Rachel was the only family member who was available to see Dorcas off for her last year of school made it all the more unbearable. Rachel too was clearly unhappy with this arrangement, but it had been easier for them not to resist this decision their mother had made. She would have had a thing or two to say about that, and angering her was never worth the trouble.
It went unmentioned, of course, that their mother was only 'busy' in the sense that she was planning some social event to be held later in the week. Dorcas would gladly have gone without her anyway. In fact, both she and Rachel knew that the only reason anybody was accompanying her at all was to keep their father happy; had he not been working, he himself would have been there instead, proud to see the youngest of his four daughters heading off for her last year of education. Life never played out how people wanted it to, however, and as always, the only person who had once again managed to get their way was Mrs Meadowes, who at that moment was probably engaged in some leisurely flower arranging, her mind completely free of concerns regarding her daughters' whereabouts and actions.
Many other families were present on the platform however and Dorcas shied away from them all, trying desperately to not be noticed by anybody, but at the same time, rather aware that she was more than likely failing to do so.
Rachel, having clearly noticed this particular behaviour of hers let out a short, mocking laugh. She folded her arms just below her breasts, pushing them closer together. They were barely covered by the low-cut top she wore. Rachel never left much to the imagination.
"Do you think they're here already, then? Have you seen either of them?" she asked, peering around the station.
Dorcas glared up at her, shaking her head to herself at how rude her sister was.
"I couldn't care less if they were, Rachel. I'm not looking for them."
"Psshtt, as if. You've gone nearly two months without seeing either of them, and now you're trying to tell me that you haven't even thought once about this day and what it'll be like having them around you again?"
"They're not going to be around," Dorcas said. "That's the point." She tried to sound as forceful as she could, but it made no difference with Rachel, who would never care about what Dorcas told her anyway. Years of feuding had seen to that.
Dorcas sighed. Eventually one of them would have to say goodbye to the other, even if it was just so that they would stop wasting their time by standing in each others' presence.
There was still plenty of time available; she had managed to make sure she would arrive at King's Cross Station, get to the platform and find a compartment on the train a good while before it were to even leave. It certainly was not the way in which previous school years had begun but at least it was not stressful.
A cough from Rachel signalled she was getting bored. Dorcas looked back up at her.
"God, it's ages since I came here last," said the older sister. She was right. For the past few years, nobody had come to the station with Dorcas except for their parents, or Diana, the third Meadowes sister. Rachel herself had finished school a good five years ago and clearly felt that she owed it to nobody to go anywhere that would remind her of homework and detention and teachers.
"Well I doubt it's changed." Dorcas chewed her lip. "I'm gonna go now, anyway." She looked hesitantly at her sister, who managed to give her a begrudging sort of smile.
"Okay. Um … have fun."
They stood awkwardly for a moment, then Dorcas turned, scoffing to herself at the ridiculous situation, and wheeled her luggage trolley closer towards the train, getting in line behind a younger student whose parents were helping lift his trunk up the step. Once she had levitated her own through the doorway and into the corridor, with a careful flick of her ash wand, Dorcas turned to close the door behind her, and saw Rachel, back already to her, heading in the opposite direction for the platform exit.
The start of a school year at Hogwarts was always a little chaotic, but Jack quite liked that. It provided some form of entertainment, to kick-start the year off, and put him in high spirits, which was rather necessary considering how long the journey to school was. Already he was bored, due to lack of company; he had made his own way to King's Cross Station this year.
When he had arrived, he had put his luggage on the train then returned to the platform, looking out for people he knew or for something to do until it was time to leave. So far he had not noticed anybody he could be bothered to speak to; most of the older students would not turn up until later, knowing how unnecessary it was to overcompensate for time, and familiar enough with the concept of putting suitcases on a train that they felt comfortable arriving when they were ready to. On the other hand, it was easy to spot a first year student, as they were more often than not accompanied by huge numbers of family members; most arrived far earlier than was required (in order to compensate for their parents' fears that anything could go wrong, including the train deciding to leave without them); and dithered around on the platform for a long time, as nerves kicked in and they wondered how they could ever possibly board a train by themselves and last a whole year away from home.
Jack could barely remember his own first day at Hogwarts. It was the only time both his parents had taken him to the station together, before their divorce the following year. He could recall playing card games with a couple of lads he had met in one of the carriages, but mostly memories of events that far back were now just hazy images.
Leant against a pillar on the platform he watched the people before him, some catching and holding his attention more than others. As he scanned the crowd, grinning lazily to himself, he eventually noticed a familiar face. Dorcas Meadowes was stood near the train, talking to a woman who had her back to Jack. He was pretty sure he had seen her at some point before, and realised it was probably one of Dorcas' sisters. Whatever they were discussing, neither of them looked particularly excited by it. Before he knew it, Dorcas was walking towards the train, and then her sister was heading in the opposite direction. That had to be the sister she disliked. Jack did not know whether to laugh or grimace at the realisation that for the first time, Dorcas had nobody who loved her there for her. He watched as she turned to see her own sister leaving, and then she shut the carriage door and stepped out of view.
Jack frowned. There was probably something he could have done to make Dorcas feel more welcome; if she would have ever let him. It was no secret that she was not keen on him.
If Dorcas knew he was even thinking about her wonderful little life, however, she would not have been happy, so he continued looking down the length of the platform, allowing himself to get distracted by other things. He could always help her out at a later point.
It was then that a brilliant opportunity presented itself; Elayne Clarke, the world's biggest mystery as far as he was concerned, appeared to be having difficulty getting her luggage on the train. Or rather, appeared to be making a scene whilst she attempted to get her luggage on the train. It was no surprise, really, but it was glorious to watch as she stood there, kicking at her trunk, her actions so exaggerated it was impossible to not see she was already seeking attention.
Dressed in a black bomber jacket that merged seamlessly with her dark wavy hair, tight jeans, and what his dad's girlfriend referred to as 'heeled ankle boots, Jack: small and sexy', she tottered around her trunk as though sizing it up for a fight. Jack could see that she was already drawing the gaze of a few parents, though whether it was because of her appearance, or simply her behaviour, he could not tell this time. Not feeling at all guilty at the sudden glee that swept through him, Jack glided forward, heading straight for her. Finally somebody worth his attention had turned up.
Considering its size, and its location in the country's capital city, it was not surprising that Kings Cross Station was rather busy at ten-thirty in the morning, despite the morning rush hour having passed several hours earlier. Although she had not been brought up in the Muggle world - where magic was not so much unused as unheard of - Amelia Burke was aware of how much public transport was relied on, so she could understand why so many people were bustling around the station, buying tickets, or rushing for trains, or even - in the case of one particular scruffy, inebriated-looking young man - urinating in the poorly lit corners, and so on.
As she reached the brick wall that led to Platform 9 ¾, Amelia's brother, Ed, barged past, knocking his trolley into hers with all the clumsiness of a 16-year-old boy. She took a deep breath as he darted through, thankful for the momentary wait he had provided her with. She had never been keen on the feeling that accompanied walking through this wall, but there was no alternative way of reaching Platform 9¾. After a moment, she ran forward, fingers tightening around the handle of her luggage trolley, and filled her mind with the knowledge that the wall before her was not solid, but intangible. There was a weird, momentary, blurred blackness at the corners of her vision, and then before her was revealed the sight of a platform much more packed than the ones she had just left.
The great steam engine that headed the Hogwarts Express stood on the rail tracks, gleaming almost proudly, as though it knew of the great journey it was about to undertake and of its importance in transporting the hundreds of students to the school. One set of parents, possibly Muggle, seemed very impressed with it, and were hurrying their young daughter to stand in front of it so that they could take a photo before she boarded.
It was always a little alarming to find just how noisy the platform could get; with owls hooting, and children laughing, and the general chatter of reunited friends and teary-eyed parents, it was a surprise anybody could be heard over it all. Amelia even noticed one of the older students boarding the train with a wireless in the crook of his arm, as he fiddled with the tuning so that occasional snatches of loud music echoed around everybody.
Ed was a little further ahead of Amelia, scanning the throng of people as he no doubt searched for his friends. Seconds later, their mother materialised behind Amelia, a smile forming on her face.
"Oh, this time of year again!" She put a hand on Amelia's arm. "You might want to take it all in for a moment, Amelia. The final year is a time for revisiting fond memories."
Ed was clearly unimpressed with their mother's advice. "It's just school, mum, it's not like she's going to cry about it when she's finished." He rolled his eyes and looked back at the crowd.
Amelia made a mental note to not get weepy about the end of school in front of him, if it ever came to that.
"Well, your father and I are very proud of you." Vivian Burke liked to say that a lot.
Amelia nodded to let her mother know she understood what she meant, but joked, "what, that I managed to get this far?"
Laughing, Ed rolled his trolley back and forth with impatience. He wore the usual cheeky, boyish grin that had won their mother over time and again whenever she had been on the verge of telling him off.
"Mum, can we go now please? I need to find my friends."
"Of course. I would never keep you," their mother replied, smiling at Amelia as though sharing a joke with her. She reached into her handbag, pulling out her purse. "Here's some money for food on the train, and here's some for you, Amelia."
Amelia took the money without looking at it and put it in her own purse. She and her brother had already been given fifty galleons each by their father the previous night.
"Amelia's got more," Ed said immediately, still holding out what he had just been given as though expecting more to be added to it.
"We'll send you some more at the end of the month," their mother said, "but you don't need much for now." She glanced around. "Well I suppose you might want to hurry up and find some seats on the train before they all get taken."
"I need to find my friends," Ed muttered.
"Yeah, I should probably find the others," said Amelia.
Their mother nodded in acceptance that her children were about to leave, and drew Ed into a brief hug before wrapping her arms around Amelia. "Have a good term. We'll keep in touch!" she called as they both started to push their trolleys towards the train.
Ed acknowledged her with a brief wave over his shoulder, and then they were lost in the throng of students, as they headed for the nearest carriage door.
"For fuck's sake," Elayne muttered to herself as she attempted to drag her trunk towards the Hogwarts Express. She had known when she had packed it the night before, and when she had eventually finished packing it just a few hours ago, that she would never be able to lift the damn thing, but that was beside the point.
She gave up on dragging it, and let it drop to the ground, pushing up the cuffed sleeves of her jacket. Why on earth did these things not come with wheels? Nearby, she noticed a young girl, maybe about twelve or thirteen years old, with her mother, who fixed Elayne with a disapproving stare. Well perhaps she had sworn louder than she realised, then.
Prodding the trunk with her foot, she attempted to kick it forward, though it barely moved, and she nearly lost her balance when her leg swung up higher than she had intended.
"Need a hand, gorgeous?" asked a low voice in her ear, as she felt a hand slide around her waist.
She did not even need to look. "Well if it isn't my shining Jack Knight in armour, " she cooed mockingly. She turned her head upwards to face her new companion. How typical that he had chosen to appear just as she was making a fool of herself.
"And how are you?" It seemed Jack had decided to get a stupid haircut over the summer; it was shaved, slightly longer than a buzz-cut. The clean lines of the cut looked smart but it was definitely a look that was going to require some getting used to.
"Oh, I'm just fine, clearly." Elayne cast an eye around them. "You're here alone, then?"
He shrugged, then without a word, leant forward, grasped her case by the handle and hoisted it up.
"Oh yes, make yourself useful, then," scoffed Elayne. She breezed past and boarded the train through an open door, then started to head up towards the front end. Before long, Jack caught back up with her.
"Where's my case?" Elayne asked him as she continued down the train corridor, the clack of her heels echoing along with her.
"Left it on a rack," he breathed.
Elayne sighed. "Well, what if I need something from it?"
Jack stopped, no doubt to make sure he had her attention. "Then you go back and get it." When Elayne fixed him with a glare, he responded with a casual jerk of the shoulder. "What?"
"You're a pain in the arse," Elayne told him, shaking her head.
"And you're a demanding bitch. Nice to see you again, too, by the way. I swear your tits grew bigger over the summer."
Elayne scoffed but chose to not respond to the provocation, instead asking "I don't suppose you've seen anybody yet, have you?"
"I noticed Emma on the platform, which reminds me, actually-" Jack was cut short by Elayne's sound of disgust.
"I meant somebody of use to me."
Jack threw an arm around her waist again at that point, and cinched her up close to his side. "Oh, come on Clarkey, please can we find Emma? I love watching you two."
"No, you idiot. I don't want to see her."
"Shame: you guys are so fun. Ooh, wait-!" Jack pulled her back so suddenly that she fell right into him. His arms found their way around her, though, and stopped her from toppling backwards to the floor. She could feel his breath in her hair. He was gazing through the window of a compartment, but from the very edge, as though he didn't want to be seen.
"You should go in this one," he whispered right in her ear, his voice sliding down her neck with a chill.
She quickly peered through the window. One of her dorm-mates, Dorcas, was sat by the window, the side of her head pressed against the glass as she stared out at the train tracks. "Why?"
"Because she's alone and you should probably do at least one nice thing before you die." Jack chuckled softly to himself as Elayne swivelled round to punch his arm in retaliation to his teasing.
"Why would she be alone? She's never-" she narrowed her eyes. "Wait. You know something. What do you know?"
Jack shook his head. "Not for me to say. But just try to be nice and go keep her company. If the others care about you, they'll find you eventually." Before Elayne could even open her mouth to protest, he added, "don't mention that I told you to go in there." He released her from the grip of his arms.
Her curiosity got the better of her, and she forgot whatever argument she had been about to make. "Why not?"
"Do you want me to blackmail you?"
Elayne scoffed. "You wouldn't anyway," she muttered, turning towards the door and sliding it open.
Girls were one of the many things that Paul Frost had very little experience in dealing with. Furthermore, girls that smoked were definitely a death blow to his confidence. Thus, when he found himself faced with two fine specimens looking as relaxed as he could ever dream of being, his stomach started doing warm-ups for the Olympic Gymnastics. The part of the train where he had boarded had looked quiet – that was why he had chosen the carriage he had - and he certainly would not have expected to find two such attractive girls so far away from the centre of all the noise and exuberance, where they surely would have received more attention.
But then again, he realised, considering smoking was against school rules, perhaps they were more bothered about not getting caught. Which put him in an awkward position.
They did not seem worried, however. The one nearest to him stepped closer, smiling.
"Hi," she said softly. "Are you looking for somebody?"
Paul's stomach had launched into some fully-fledged somersaults now. "Um, just my friends. I'm sure I'll find them soon. They can't be that far, right?" He let out a nervous chuckle.
Both girls were smiling, which only served to make him feel more uncomfortable. "Maybe we've seen some of them," the other said from just inside their compartment. "We could help you."
"Oh, honestly, it's fine, thank you." They did not seem to get the hint. Either that, or they refused to take it.
The girl nearest to him took a drag on her cigarette as she scrutinised him.
"What's your name?" she asked, coolly exhaling smoke out the side of her mouth.
"Paul ..."
"I'm Amy. That's Helen. You're a seventh-year, aren't you?" She did not wait for an answer. "We're the year below you. Do you play Quidditch?"
"'Course he does," said Helen, who was hidden in the depths of her hooded sweater and the shadow it cast around her face. She now came out into the corridor and placed a hand on Paul's upper arm. "You're built for it," she told him.
Paul had never considered himself as built for anything, but currently that was the least of his concerns.
"I don't play on the House team if that's what you mean."
Amy gasped.
"No way! They should let you on the team. It's your last year an' all, right? You should try to leave your mark. I'm sure you'd get lots of girls." She actually winked at him.
Starting to feel a bit hot under the collar, Paul glanced around, looking for anything that could distract him. The train decided not to fulfil his hopes in this regard.
"So, you're not going to tell anybody that we've been naughty, are you?"
"What?" Paul's head snapped back round to look at Amy, who was wearing a sly grin.
She waved her hand in front of him, cigarette loosely clutched between index and middle finger.
"We're not supposed to be smoking, but you know what it's like: you have an addiction to something, you can't really help it, right?"
"Right." Paul smiled politely. "I won't tell anyone."
"What a good boy."
They all heard a clatter further up the corridor at that moment, and turned their heads to see what had caused it.
"Amelia ..." Paul muttered to himself as he recognised the girl stumbling towards them, clutching quite a large shoulder bag, and an owl cage. She was recognisable, but definitely a lot more tanned than usual, too. When she saw him watching her, she grinned, and Paul noticed Amy and Helen step back a little as she got closer.
"Hey Paul, you alright?" Amelia glanced at the other two girls as she reached them. "Er … hi."
Helen nodded. "We were just talking to Paul about Quidditch."
"I'll bet you were." Amelia seemed rather amused by this, for some reason that Paul could not decipher. "You might want to be careful, by the way," she added, indicating their cigarettes. "In case a Prefect comes down this way, I mean. Anyway, are you coming, Paul?"
"Yeah. I think there's some empty compartments a bit further down." Paul glanced at Amy, and then Helen. "Nice to meet you," he said awkwardly.
"Bye Paul!" he heard one of them call after him as he turned away. "Hopefully we'll see you again soon!" There was a giggle from both of them, and then he was in the next carriage, and the faint smell of tobacco surrounding him was the only reminder that they had even been there at all. He felt like his stomach could have won the gold medal for the performance it had just put on.
"You alright?" Amelia made sure to ask as soon as the carriage door had shut behind them.
"Yeah … shouldn't I be?" Paul always seemed a little confused by everything that went on around him, bless him, and this was no exception. He did not usually get much attention from girls, or at least not as much as Simon did, but when he did get it, he was so oblivious to it, or at least acted so unsure that the effort became almost negated by his lack of response.
"No, of course not, I just know what you're like." Amelia grinned. "I'll shut up now. I don't want to embarrass you." She paused. "So, they wanted to know if you played Quidditch then, did they?"
"How did you know?"
"Some girls are very predictable, love. What did you tell them?"
"That I don't. But they said I should try-out."
That actually was not a bad idea, Amelia thought. "Why don't you? My mum's been going on all summer about how seventh year is so important and it's your last chance to make the most of school and all that, and I get what she means. It's fine for us to say now that we won't have any regrets in the future, but in twenty, thirty years' time, it might be a different matter, I suppose." She bobbed up and down a little bit with excitement, grabbing Paul's shoulder with her free hand. "But anyway, that's not important right now! How are you? I haven't seen you for a while, eh? Did you miss me?"
"I did. You're very tanned."
"Ooooh yes, I know, isn't it amazing! I was actually trying to stay out of the sun most of the time. I can't wait to show Elayne." It was a wicked thought, but the moment she had got back to England from her holiday, Amelia had thought of how people at school would react to her slight change in appearance, and she knew it would be good to see just a little bit of jealousy on other faces. "Do you think we should go find her, actually? She's probably wondering where we are by now, and I imagine Simon and Katie are going straight to their meeting ..."
Now quite excited by the prospect of being back with all her friends, Amelia turned back round the way they had been heading and resumed searching for Elayne.
Dorcas glanced up as she heard her compartment door slide open with a clatter. She had wondered how long it would be before somebody else came in and inevitably asked if they could share the space with her; she had no delusions over the fact that there definitely was not enough space on the train for everyone to have a compartment to themselves.
She had not expected the newcomer to be somebody she knew, however, and was a little taken aback when Elayne craned her neck though the doorway.
"Hey, Dorcas. Can I join you?" This prospect seemed to make her feel awkward, for some reason Dorcas could not fathom. Elayne knew a lot of people, and if she did not feel comfortable sitting with Dorcas, she surely could have found somebody else to share a compartment with.
Not one to be rude, however, Dorcas invited her in, and Elayne began to make herself comfortable on the seat opposite. Much of the way she carried and presented herself was reminiscent of Rachel. There was the same excessive amount of jewellery – rings, earrings, and a long elegant necklace that nestled in the cleavage – that verged on the point of ostentatiousness; the same attention-grabbing clothing, from the heels to the leather jacket. That jacket itself was a statement; she sat hunched with her feet up on the seat, still wearing it even though the train compartment was not cold.
"Is it busy out there, then?" Dorcas asked eventually, striving to make conversation.
"Um, yeah, it's starting to be. I think most people are on the train now."
Dorcas had been able to see though into the corridor and out the window on the far side of the train, but from where she was sat it was impossible to see onto the platform and thus judge how many people still had not boarded.
"Most of the compartments are getting quite full," Elayne continued. "I've just been trying to avoid Jack, to be honest, before he manages to find me." She glanced through the window in the door as though expecting Jack to be peering in at her.
"Fair enough," Dorcas said gruffly. She knew Jack well, and found him to be infuriating company at the best of times.
The two girls sat there for a while, making light conversation and glancing into the corridor every now and again as they saw the occasional student pass by. Then, nearly ten minutes after Elayne had entered the compartment, they heard the banging of someone's trunk outside and the door clattered open again. Dorcas looked up to see another of her dorm-mates, Amelia, entering and grinning at Elayne who let out a gasp at her friend's arrival.
"Amelia, you fitty!" she exclaimed. "I knew you'd get tanned!"
Amelia laughed, and as she stepped further into the compartment, Dorcas saw that she was not alone. Another Ravenclaw, Paul, was just behind her, eyeing the scene before him somewhat nervously. As he caught Dorcas' eye, he smiled shyly at her, then quickly looked back at the other two as though embarrassed by what he had just done.
"... and I didn't really notice 'til we got back home," Amelia was saying to Elayne as she pulled away from her, out of a hug, "and we realised everyone was much paler." She let out another laugh. "Hi, Dorcas," she added, settling down on Elayne's right. "How are you?"
Knowing it would put a downer on this clearly happy reunion if she answered truthfully, Dorcas made an effort to appear cheerful. "Alright, thanks," she replied, hoping they would not press much further.
Paul seemed unsure of whether to sit down.
"Did you want me to move my stuff for you?" Dorcas offered, sliding her handbag closer to her to make some space on the seat, and indicating for him to sit with her. She did not know him well, but she had always had a bit of a soft spot for Paul; he was friendly towards her, once he got over his initial shyness, which was more than could be said of a lot of people.
He seemed to accept this offer, for he took his hands out of his pockets and sat down once he had brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Thanks," he said softly, looking down at the floor.
For the next hour or so, the four of them swapped stories on how they had spent their summer. Amelia had seen Elayne and Paul on several occasions throughout the holidays, so they had little to catch up on, although they had wanted to know the details of the two weeks she had just spent in Tunisia with her family.
"So yeah, we only got back at about two o'clock, yesterday morning," she said, finishing her story, "and then I had to spend all of yesterday packing." Usually before her return to Hogwarts every September, Amelia would completely empty her trunk and sort through all her possessions, throwing out a years' worth of rubbish that would somehow manage to accumulate in there.
Suddenly she remembered something she had discovered the previous night, between the pages of her copy of Asiatic Anti-Venoms.
"Oh yeah, Elayne, I found something you might want to, um … retrieve."
Unsurprisingly, Elayne looked confused by this cryptic suggestion.
"Huh? What is it?"
"Well, I'm not sure if it's something you want mentioned." Amelia gave her friend a vague smile. "I'll give it to you later, anyway."
She could tell by the way that her friend was frowning out the window that Elayne was now thinking furiously about what this mysterious object could be. By the looks on Paul and even Dorcas' faces, they were too.
The train had started on its journey not long after Amelia and Paul had entered the compartment, and they were now speeding north through fields of green which were interspersed with the occasional bright yellow patch of rapeseed.
Not that surprisingly, Dorcas had not spoken too much, presumably due to the unfamiliar company, though Amelia had found herself wondering for a while now why she was alone in the first place. If Elayne had already found out, then she had given no indication, so eventually Amelia decided to broach the subject when Paul had left for the toilet.
Glancing over to check the door was shut properly behind him, she said, "so, Dorcas, are you waiting for friends? Like Jeremiah, or …?" She left the question hanging, unsure how to finish it. If Dorcas was waiting to meet someone, then they were certainly taking their time.
The moment Dorcas looked up, however, Amelia knew by the pained look on her face that it had been a mistake to ask.
"Sorry!, I didn't mean to pry, I was just wondering-"
Dorcas shook her head, a look of awkwardness now etched on her face, as though she didn't quite know what to do.
"No, it's fine. I- Jeremiah and I aren't together any more."
Amelia glanced at Elayne, who said nothing. Elayne had never been good at comforting others. She probably did not even realise she was meant to.
"I'm really sorry to hear that," Amelia proffered as an apology of sorts for bringing the subject up. "You guys were really close." It probably was not quite the right thing to say, but it was certainly true. Both Ravenclaws, Dorcas and Jeremiah had been together for about three years, that Amelia knew of. It was certainly the longest-running relationship within the student body for quite some time now.
Dorcas smiled weakly. "I-" she struggled for words, eventually settling upon, "thanks."
"You know you're welcome to spend time with us whenever you need to, right?" Amelia said, still hoping to make up for putting her dorm-mate in such an awkward position.
There was no reply as such, but it had been an open invitation anyway; Dorcas could do with it as she wished.
Paul returned after a while and, fortunately, brought with him new conversation; apparently Wesley Belmont, a Ravenclaw from the year below, had been caught in a fire caused by Ashwinder eggs, and as a result had a whole arm covered in burns that were still healing. According to Paul it "looked quite cool, but is probably really painful."
Distracted by this story, Dorcas began to ask for more details, and luckily Paul was happy to oblige. Amelia took this opportunity to leave, excusing herself to the toilet.
It was on her return walk to the compartment, having just been greeted by a girl she knew from Gryffindor, that she heard a male voice call her name from behind. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognised the voice and she spun around, her eyes widening in excitement as they fell upon Simon, her Simon, further up the carriage, which he seemed to have just entered.
Without time to feel foolish over it, she let out a scream, running straight towards him, and jumped. Luckily, Simon had a good reaction time, catching her and holding her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Hi," he said, grinning. His shoulders were broader than Ed's even and the sleeves of his plain green t-shirt were tight around his upper arms. He had no difficulty holding her up.
Without really thinking, Amelia leaned forward and kissed him, very briefly. Simon didn't have very long to look surprised before the compartment door opened and he dropped Amelia to the ground.
In stepped Katie, another of their friends, who smiled as soon as she saw Amelia.
"Sorry, I was just putting my trunk on a luggage rack," she explained to Amelia as she hugged her, completely unaware of what she had just missed. "We saw you from further up, so Simon went chasing after you."
Amelia glanced up at Simon who was simply staring at her. He and Katie were both Prefects, and as a result had been in a meeting since the start of the journey. Since their fifth year, Amelia had had to wait even longer than usual to see her two best friends.
"Well we're quite a bit further down," she told them. "Paul and I spent ages looking for Elayne." She started to lead them down the train, threading though a group of students that was so big it had spilled out of a compartment into the corridor. "Oh, I should tell you," she said, lowering her voice as she cast an eye around her, "Dorcas is with us as well. She was already in there, I think, but it looks like she and Jeremiah have split up, so be nice or whatever, you know. She doesn't seem too great, still." She said no more on the matter, trusting that they would be sensible about it; the only one who would need some reminders to be tactful was Elayne.
"How was your meeting?" she asked her friends.
"It was alright," Katie replied. "Not really any different to what it's usually like. "Although have you heard who the new Head students are, yet?"
"I know who the Head Girl is. Lily, Evans, right?" Amelia let Simon slip his arm around her shoulders as he caught up by half a pace to walk beside her.
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Elayne told me. Apparently she saw Mary in Diagon Alley the other week, who had been out celebrating with Lily and Vanessa the night before. She said she didn't know who Head Boy was, though."
"She wouldn't have guessed it anyway," Katie replied. "It's James Potter," she explained, when Amelia turned around and paused walking down the train, stopping Simon short.
"Huh ..."
"I felt quite sorry for Lily," Katie continued. "She looked a bit stressed out."
That was not particularly surprising. Lily and James were known for their arguments - they tended to attract attention whenever they clashed - and although things between them seemed to have died down a considerable amount in recent months, it no doubt must have been rather disconcerting for the new Head Girl to discover that her former rival was to be her new partner for a whole year. Besides, supervising a meeting and giving out instructions to other students was probably quite nerve-wracking.
"Did James actually do anything, or did he just stand around?" Amelia asked, continuing on her way to their compartment.
"He did come up with some new ideas, actually. New methods for patrolling and stuff." Katie stopped herself. "It's all boring stuff," she explained hurriedly. "You won't be interested. But he did sort of help, yeah. He's probably determined to prove his worth, I suppose."
James Potter had just been about to leave the Prefect Carriage of the Hogwarts Express, grateful that his meeting was finally over, when Lily Evans had shut the door on him. Lily, the Head Girl. The boggart to his patronus. He sniggered to himself at that thought; he knew it was not really fair to call Lily a boggart, because she was not some foul, dark creature he needed to overcome, but he was amused by the mental image of what she would look like as one, shuffling and dragging herself across a room with some unearthly moan rattling between her lips. Not that such an image could ever detract from her actual appearance; stood now before him with a patient expression that said she still expected something no doubt gruelling of him, Lily still looked gorgeous, and it had been challenging enough as it was to not spend the entirety of the meeting just watching her.
She started to inch towards him, and James found himself stumbling backwards, as though she had just become a boggart and started to come after him.
"Stop falling over the furniture," she scolded him, sending a tiny shiver of excitement down James' neck; he could not help it, but he loved it when she got a little frustrated.
"Let me out, then!"
Lily sighed. "I want you to do something, first."
James stared at her with widened eyes, but she continued before he got the chance to say anything.
"I just want you to come with me while I go to introduce myself to the new professor."
"What?" James had not even realised there was supposed to be a new professor on the train, and he certainly could not comprehend this strange request. "What do you mean? How do you know there's a new professor?"
Lily shrugged. "I heard a couple of students talking about him before I got to the meeting. They said they'd seen him alone, reading."
James scoffed. "He sounds fun," he muttered sarcastically, ploughing a hand through his hair and pulling it up through his fingers in an attempt to make it stand straight. He did not answer Lily straight away, taking the time to scrutinise her. He usually only had the chance to admire her from afar; whenever they were particularly near to one another, they were firing an endless barrage of snide remarks and – in her case - insults at one another, leaving very little time to stop and think. Her hair was shorter than he was used to, framing her face so that her large, green eyes drew most of the attention. She was wearing light Muggle clothes but also wore her school robes on top, unfastened and with the sleeves rolled up.
She frowned at him and he realised he probably ought to say something, before she decided to address the fact that he was quite blatantly checking her out.
"Why do you want to greet him, then?" he asked. "Surely we'll be introduced to him and everything when we get to the school."
"It's polite," Lily explained to him. "You wouldn't like it if you were completely ignored by all the students on your first day of school, would you?"
"But it's not his first day! He's a teacher, not a student. He's already gone through school."
"Well," said Lily, pursing her lips, "it comes with your responsibility as Head Boy."
He rolled his eyes, waving the suggestion away. "Don't give me that."
"Well it's true. If you want people to take you seriously as Head Boy, you're going to have to show them that you can behave like one."
"To me, that just sounds like 'you have to be a suck-up to get people to like you'."
"James …" she said, looking impatient.
It was that more than anything else that made him give in to her. Six months ago, she would not have called him by his forename. Times had changed, though. Somehow, James had made himself more bearable in the eyes of Lily Evans. Admittedly they were not exactly friends, and they did not socialise together, but the fact that they no longer fingered their wands whenever they encountered each other, or had shouting matches across classrooms was a great achievement. Of course, that did not mean that they had stopped arguing altogether. A world where they did not argue at all would be a strange one indeed. Still, hearing his first name on her lips still was not something he was particularly used to. It sounded almost foreign.
He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked her directly in the face. "I have no choice, do I?" He sighed dejectedly. "It still seems very silly to me, but I'll do it … for you."
She narrowed her eyes at him for a second, and then gradually her mouth slid into a half-smile, and that seemed to make everything worth it. Without another word, she opened the door and led the way out of the carriage.
"That wasn't too bad" Lily said matter-of-factly as they left the teacher's compartment a short while later.
"I didn't say it was going to be bad. Just that it seemed pointless." James began picking at the wall of the train as they stood outside another compartment, slightly further up the carriage. Lily wanted to find her friends, but she felt inclined to at least politely bring an end to this conversation, although it was obvious James had other ideas.
"He seemed alright, I suppose," he muttered. He looked up at her, and not for the first time that day, Lily felt like she was being examined by him.
"I like your hair," he said eventually.
Taken aback, Lily subconsciously raised a hand to her head, and curled a lock of hair around her forefinger.
"Um … thanks. I got it cut."
He nodded, as though this made sense to him, then said, "wish I could do that."
That was quite a confusing thing for him to say. From what Lily knew, James was from quite a well-off family, to whom money was not a problem, so she doubted that he meant haircuts were of a financial issue to him.
"Why don't you?" she asked, for once genuinely intrigued by something to do with him.
"It never works," he muttered.
Puzzled by this peculiar response, Lily wondered how on earth she had managed to find her way into this conversation that seemed to be leading nowhere. James was acting rather unlike his usual boastful, cheery self, which was disconcerting to see, and Lily could not figure out if it was because of something that she had said, or if there was simply something rather pressing on his mind. Luckily, she was saved any more awkward conversation when they were approached by a girl a few years younger than they, who spoke rather insolently.
"You're the Head Girl, aren't you?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "I've got a note for you." She proffered a slip of parchment and as soon as Lily took it from her, turned and left without casting so much as a glance at James.
This unassuming turn of events, however, seemed to have fired him back to his usual self, and he grabbed the note before Lily had had a chance to even open it.
"What's this, then? Has Evans got a love letter?"
"From a fifteen year old girl?" Lily replied coolly.
James raised his eyebrows at her, and she knew it had been the wrong thing to say.
"Not a bad scenario," he said suggestively.
"Just give it back, would you?"
He started to raise it up higher, but she knew what he was doing, and quickly added, "I'm not going to jump to reach it, Potter, so you might as well just give it to me."
James looked disappointed, but still held onto the parchment.
"Fine." Lily remained calm, but turned away, starting to leave him. "I'm not going to beg, so you just keep it. See if I care."
She had taken five steps before he called after her, and then she heard him follow, touching her elbow lightly to signal for her to turn back around and face him.
"It's from Slughorn," he said quite bashfully, holding the note out for her to take back, and then he walked straight past her and left her standing alone in the corridor. Bemused by what had just occurred, Lily unfolded the slip of parchment and glanced down to read it,
Dear Lily,
I would be very much obliged if you would grace me with your presence once again for a spot of lunch in compartment C.
Sincerely, Professor H.E.F. Slughorn
Lily felt a jolt of happiness at getting to see her fellow members of the Potions teacher's exclusive little club, though it was mingled with a sense of disappointment at having to wait even longer before getting to see her friends again. Promising herself that she would only stay at the lunch for a short while, she headed off towards compartment C, putting to rest the distracting thoughts that James Potter's strange behaviour had catalysed within her mind.
"I just don't understand it," James groaned.
"Don't worry about her," said Sirius, shuffling along the seat to sit nearer to his best friend. "Look, we bought you some food." He frowned for a moment, turning a cauldron cake around in his hands and perusing it from all angles, before looking back up at James. "You owe me two galleons and five sickles, but I'm knocking off the three knuts for you because you're my mate."
"Remus told us that Lily jumped you as soon as the meeting ended," Peter said, demolishing a chocolate frog with one swift bite. He had obviously decided to ignore Sirius' advice to drop the conversation.
"She didn't jump me, she just wanted me to do a job. Already." James glanced at Remus who merely shrugged. Being a Prefect, Remus had been in the meeting too, but of course he had been free to leave at the end of it and join Sirius and Peter in their little sugar fest. James just could not believe how foolish he had felt when he had left Lily in that carriage. He had only meant to tease her, and fully intended to return her note, but somehow she had managed to completely rise above it and instead make him look like some petty schoolboy. A petty schoolboy with a mad crush, for that matter. He had never realised before how self-conscious he felt whilst talking to her, probably because he had never held so civil a conversation with her in his entire life. He had even felt ashamed for the first time ever about the messiness of his hair. He had tried to manage it in the past, but it seemed that some element of magic prevented that from ever being possible.
"Well, something has certainly changed between you two." Ever the diplomat, Remus had the logic of a Ravenclaw at times.
"Moony's right, mate," Sirius told him, nodding in agreement. "You didn't come back just now covered in boils, did you? I mean, do you remember that time when you embarrassed her in front of all those Hufflepuffs and she gave you a bright green beard that fell all the way to your knees?"
He and Peter guffawed at the memory, but James was shocked to discover that he did not find it particularly funny any more. "I recall," he said, "but you better forget it."
Sirius grinned. "Is that a threat?"
"Well, let's just say that I don't think a Memory Charm would go amiss."
Sirius laughed. The promise of a confrontation simply made him more excited. "You couldn't even get near to performing it," he said, goading his friend on.
James was almost tempted to rise to the bait, as he always had been in the past, but he could not find it in him to play-fight with Sirius this time.
His best friend seemed to realise this when the taunt was not met with retaliation, and he frowned.
"Wow, she's really got to you this time, hasn't she? You know, I think when we get back to Hogwarts, we should kidnap us a Slytherin kid, take him out on a boat trip 'round the lake and feed him to the giant squid. That'll put you back on the right track." He grinned, and finally, James could not help but grin back at the joke.
"Yeah, maybe we'll get one of the first years, and scare them right into place."
Remus snorted at that, and James glanced across at his tired-looking friend.
"That will definitely cement Dumbledore's faith that you were the right choice for Head Boy," Remus said scathingly, folding up the newspaper he had been reading. "Whilst you're at it, you might as well burn McGonagall at the stake and see if he'll give you an award for services to the school." He bit his lip as though unsure if he should have said what he just had, but then continued, "I'm sorry James, but I think you need to be more careful this year. I know it sounds boring, but you've obviously been given this title for a reason," he indicated James' gleaming Head Boy badge that took pride of place over the breast pocket of his school robes. "We're not in first year any more, and frankly the world has changed quite a bit since we started school." He grimaced at that. "I know you feel embarrassed, but I actually think Lily could be a good influence on you this year. We could all do with growing up a little."
James heard Sirius let out a long groan from beside him.
"Seriously, Moony, sometimes I swear you're not the same age as us," he said, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes. "The things you come out with … it's like you're my parents, except you actually like me and you don't want me to be a Death Eater."
Peter let out a nervous chuckle at that, but Remus merely shrugged, as though he felt no need to explain himself to Sirius.
James cleared his throat. "I get what you're saying," he said eventually, meeting Remus' gaze. "And I suppose I agree, even though I don't want to. But can we have just one last fun train journey, like old times?"
A wolfish grin appeared on Remus's face as he put down his newspaper. "I certainly won't say no to that idea."
Always buzzing for a confrontation, Elayne strode purposefully up the train corridor, paying people no heed unless they specifically addressed her, in which case she waved them away without so much as a glance towards them. It was mid-afternoon now, about four o'clock, she thought, and she had started to get restless after being sat down for so many hours. With the exception of one trip to the loo, and getting up to buy some food from the lunch trolley, her legs had barely been stretched since she had got on the train, and were now beginning to ache quite painfully.
She had no clue where she was going, but she had an idea in her mind, and now she had to see it through. She stepped into another carriage, which seemed a lot quieter than the one she had just left; probably due to the fact that nobody else was in the corridor and most people had kept their compartment doors shut. Further up, however, there was a gap between the last compartment and the end of the carriage, where you could walk the whole width of the train, and see out of the windows on either side, and it was here that she found two students hidden around the corner; a blonde girl, maybe about fifteen, and Chris Murray, a sixth year Ravenclaw, leant against the wall right beside the girl and looking about as lecherous as Elayne had ever seen him.
"Oi," she growled at him.
He seemed alarmed by her presence, apparently having not heard her approach.
"Where's Jack?"
He surveyed her momentarily, as though considering not telling her, then jerked a thumb towards the adjoining carriage.
"Next compartment," he muttered, before turning back to the other girl.
Sure enough, when she glanced around the open door of the next compartment, she instantly spotted Jack. She didn't even have to signal to catch his attention; it was as though he had a radar tuned to locate her whenever she was nearby. As soon as he saw her, he got up and walked over without a word to his friends. She sidestepped to the other side of the door whilst he was blocking the view of her, and without a word, led him further up the train until – to her surprise – they found an empty compartment.
"Miss me already?" he teased, grinning as she shut the door behind her. "Good to see you've finally removed some of your clothing," he added as he looked her up and down, presumably referring to her jacket that she had eventually taken off when the train had warmed up some more.
"Shut your mouth, Jack," she snapped, anger instantly rising in her. She had had hours to stew over the situation he had forced her into, and it was clear by the expression on his face that he had not expected her to react to it in this way.
"You knew why Dorcas was alone," she said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You knew, and you couldn't be arsed to tell me."
"Did you ask her?"
"No, of course I didn't ask her. As if I would ask. Why would I ask? I don't care if someone's sat alone, but I do care that you made it very awkward by getting me to go in there." She sighed, then added, "Amelia asked her, if you must know."
Jack seemed to survey her for a very long time, then he sat down, and Elayne felt strangely inclined to sit down too, even though she had been doing that for most of the day.
"I'm sorry,"he said, moving nearer to her.
She sighed again. "Yeah well that doesn't help, does it? The number of times I've heard you say that, Jack. You never even remotely mean it!"
"Babe, this time I do. I want to help her, I really do."
Elayne was confused. "Well then why didn't you just go and talk to her, if all you wanted was for her to have some company."
He shook his head. "We really don't see eye to eye. Surely you've seen us arguing before? She doesn't like me." He raised a hand to the side of Elayne's face, lifting a lock of hair over her shoulder, and tracing his forefinger back and forth along her earlobe.
"So why do you even care?"
Jack scoffed. "Because my best mate absolutely loves her to pieces, and she loves him just as much, and even if we don't get on, that makes her a good person. If I can at least make sure she's happy, it might just make him happy too. But I've obviously chosen the worst person for that, haven't I?"
She ignored his jibe. "So they're still in love with each other? Why did they break up?"
He shrugged. "I don't know." He clearly saw that she was about to speak again, because he added, " but they're not stupid. Whatever the reason, it must be something important, 'cos they're not the sort to be immature about that sort of thing."
For the first time in a long while, Elayne could think of nothing to say. Then, eventually, she muttered, "Dorcas is really hard to talk to, you know."
Jack smirked. "Did you ever consider that you're the one that's hard to talk to?"
She looked curiously at him. "You're a prick. Not especially to anyone else; just me." She said this quite matter-of-factly.
"And you're a bitch. To everyone; not just me. Selfish, too."
Elayne hesitated for about a second, then grabbed Jack's t-shirt, pulled him forwards, and kissed him. For somebody who had received no warning, he reacted surprisingly smoothly, kissing her back almost instantly. Perhaps a lifetime of wanting her so badly meant that he was ultimately always prepared for this. His hand was still in her hair, and he slid it round her neck, as she tilted her head back slightly. She wanted to pull him closer, but the way they were sat meant she would fall onto her back. Not that that was a bad position to be in … But Jack rose up onto his knees instead, bringing her up with him, raising her arms with his, and she realised he wanted to undress her. She let him pull her top up as high as her shoulders before she finally decided that was enough, and pulled her mouth away from his, breathing heavily.
She kept her eyes shut still, knowing that if she opened them, then it would all be over and she would be back in the dated, oddly-furnished train compartment, just bypassing more boring fields.
"You just can't resist me, can you?" he murmured, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke, teasing her into almost kissing him again.
"Don't flatter yourself," she snorted. "It doesn't mean anything. I'm just horny."
She heard him smirk as he ran a warm hand down her side, until it stopped at her bare navel and stroked softly over her belly-button ring.
"I've not seen this before," he mused. He moved his head from hers, but before she had time to figure out what he was doing, he kissed her on the chest, right where her cleavage started, pressing her cold necklace into her skin.
"Jack!" She wriggled away from his mouth, her eyes finally blinking open. "For God's sake, I'm not going to have sex with you." Her top was still gathered around her neck, resting around her shoulders now that she had lowered her arms.
"I didn't even get to cop a feel," Jack said, staring at her chest, covered only by her bra, before glancing up at her, an eager look in his eyes, like a dog hoping its owner would throw a ball for it to retrieve. "Can I?"
Now quite annoyed again, Elayne shoved him away.
"You're such a creep. Leave them alone." She tugged at her top, pulling it back down. "I can't believe you started undressing me already. You know what they say about guys who don't waste time … Don't have much time to waste."
She exhaled frustratedly, and slumped back in the seat, now focusing on the wall opposite. "I can't believe this is all I did on my first day back to school. And we haven't even got there yet. How bad is that?"
"Back to Hogwarts ..."
Elayne scoffed. "Yeah. Thanks for the welcome(!)"