"What the hell?" someone muttered, their voice filtering through her consciousness all distorted and muffled. "Never seen her before."

"You sure?"

"Sure. Let's get out of here. I think she'd be pissed if we woke her."

Zetha Constantinescue, seventeen, was pissed, only the intruders on her much-needed sleep weren't around to see it.

She woke when they slammed a door and left her alone in whatever place she was. She didn't really care, she just wanted for her head and body to stop hurting and for the... couch, maybe, or bench that she was splayed on top of to stop falling and spinning.

Whatever happened last night, it must've been a blast. Mornings like this always had a dozen of embarrassing stories behind them. Now, only to get to her hangover cure. Her bag had to be somewhere nearby.

Groaning, she rubbed at her face. Her bag was serving her as a pillow, and a bit of warmth between her and the back of whatever she had crashed on had to be her cat. Fumbling through her bag without getting up or really opening her eyes, Zeth found the little vial and tried to drip exactly five drops under her tounge.

"You know what, Carlos? This has got to stop. It's out of hand and I will not have it any more." she said, corking the vial and shoving it back in the back. "I should ask Nan if she can work up a potion to get rid of the hangover before you actually felt it."

She waited, impatient, for the pain to cease and the spinning to stop. Just when she was considering doubling the dose, sweet relief started seeping in.

"Oooh, yeah."

A few more minutes, and she was ready to open her eyes.

Whatever she expected, an empty train compartment was not it.

"What the actual..?"

She shook her head, trying to remember last night. Nothing came.

Looking out of the window, she could see scattered adults waving at the train. A loud whistle split the air.

"Shit shit SHIT!" she yelled, realizing what was happening. "Carlos, we gotta bolt!"

Grabbing her bag and her cat, she tumbled out of the small space and into an unreasonably crowded hallway. Someone elbowed her in the side, making her double over. Not listening to the apologies, she pushed towards the doors, still chanting choice swear words. She had to get off. Nan would kill her very dead if she went to Hogwarts, even if it wasn't of her accord.

The train lurched and started rolling. Zeth kept pushing. Just as she reached the exit, the platform ended and was replaced by a blur of colors. Zeth swore some more, turning around and making her way back to the compartment she had woken up in.

Oddly, it was still empty. She slammed the door closed, letting Carlos down and throwing her bag onto one of the couches.

"We are screwed, screwed, screwed. Why didn't you wake me, you little beastie?"

Her cat blinked up at her, licking his mouth.

"Really? You don't find the idea of Hogwarts so bad? Really? And those Ministry freaks will be all happy and smug now. Zethanie Constantinesque got sent to school. They've been out for me for six years. Shit!"

Dropping herself into a seat, she rummaged in her backpack and drew out her phone, hoping to find something to remind her of what happened last night. Missed calls, maybe. She remembered wishing her grandmother goodnight on the phone. Hanging up. Turning around to see a room with several of her -muggle- friends, drinking and smoking and making out and playing video games as glam rock played in the background. Her current boy, Andrew, smiled at her and jerked his head toward his parent's bedroom. Zethanie downed most of someone's glass and followed Drew into the dark, closing the door as his hands ran up her back and into her hair.

Zeth smirked. Wild, that bedroom session was. Oddly, nothing that happened after came to her just yet. She could have sworn that they had sex twice or thrice and went to sleep.

She decided to sit for a bit and wait for memories to come. They had to.

From what she could gather later, she freaked out over Drew kissing Mary, punched him out and decided to go to freaking Hogwarts. She must have only slept for half an hour or so, enough for whatever she'd taken during the night to lessen it's grip on her. She was surprised that anyone had let her on the train. And what bright mind thought it reasonable to sell her the ticket?

Whatever. Looks like I'm up for one hell of an adventure.

Nan had always said that Hogwarts was horrid - the students had to wear uniforms and weren't allowed anything and were tortured for every step out of formation and, in general, it all sucked. She was so much better off being homeschooled. While the Ministry of Magic allowed it, they made it obvious that she was not, by any means, off the hook. She and her grandmother were annually peppered by home visits, inspections, nosey owls and angry letters that 'firmly suggested' that Zethanie be sent away.

Hogwarts didn't allow phones or any other electronics like her Walkman to work either, so she decided to make the most of her music while she could. Her head was still foggy, and her muscles still sore, so she stretched out on one of the benches and propped her bag behind her head. Soon, she was asleep.

"Wheeeere is your daaaaughteeer? Did you know she was out at the club last night getting high with her new fall friends? Is thaaaaat what you taaaught heeer?! Did you know she's afraid, and she hates ballet, but she dances alone to The Violent Femmes? And she loves when it rains, 'cuz it washes away all the tears, and the pain, and she dreams of a place far awayyy" she howled, having cast a silencing charm on her (oddly) private compartment. Or maybe everyone got their own? Whatever.

"HEEELP IS ON THE WAAAAAAY, THEYSAIDTHEYSAID, HEEEELP IS ON THE WAY!"

She was almost perfectly happy. It felt good, singing off-pitch as the landscape changed outside the window and endless chords and riffs poured into her ears to curl up in her chest like many, many friendly cats to keep her company in the times to come.

"This is just an ordinary day
Wipe the insecurities away
I can see that the darkness will erode
Lookin' out the corner of my eye
I can see that the sunshine will exploooode!
Far across the desert in the sky

Beautiful giiiii-irl, won't you be my inspiration?!
Beautiful girl don't you throw your love around
What in the world, what in the world
could ever come between us
beautiful girl, beautiful girl
I'll never let you down, won't let you down

This is the beginning of your day
Life is more intricate than it seems
Always be yourself along the way
Living through the spirit of your dreams

Beautiful giiii-irl, won't you be my inspiration?
Beautiful girl don't you throw your love around
What in the world, what in the world
could ever come between us
beautiful girl, beautiful girl
I'll never let you down, won't let you down, down!"

"Yeah, I may be off-key, but you're the only one suffering here. Pain of one for the joy of many." Zeth said to Carlos, who was eyeing her with obvious annoyance. The feline sighed and flicked his tail.

Stopping the private concert for a little bit, Zeth sat down, out of breath and with an uncalled-for damper in her mood. "Dude, you killed my vibe. Not cool. How do you even do that so fast and true?"

The train had pulled out of King's Cross at eleven o'clock. She had slept until three. Concert time included, it was now only four, and something told her there were around four or five more hours ahead.

Zeth decided to tidy up - she had to be a mess, considering last night. Fishing a pocket mirror out of her bag, she did her best to wipe streaks of heavy eyeliner and dark-red lipstick from her face. She had a hickey on her neck, her eyebrow piercing looked red, as if she'd snagged it on something, and her skin looked pasty pale. She had seen better times.

Her hair was the usual - a mess. She never really bothered to brush it, since a lot of her curly locks were dreaded, with all sorts of decorations hanging off of them - beads, yarn, chains, shells, string and pendants. Some of the dreads were bleached toward the tips, while her actual hair was light brown. Zeth loved her hair. Her outfit was more practical than fashionable, but who knows fashion these days. She had dressed to party, in black leggings, combat boots, several gray and black tops and her denim jacket, covered entirely in badges. The jacket and her brown leather backpack went with her everywhere, as did Carlos.

Snapping her mirror closed, she settled for another nap, hoping that she could just hop on a return train or something as soon as she arrived. The Ministry would never have it if she tried to use the Floo Network, and her grandmother had always been against appartion, so Zethanie was never taught. Did they even have a return route, if all passengers were staying for a while?

I'll worry about it later.

The songs I quoted are Hypnogaja - Carrie and The Cranberries - Beautiful Girl, which both felt pretty fitting. Also Rise Against - Help Is On The Way, just because it's fun, and let's not care that some of the songs I will be quoting weren't even written yet in the 90's.