Katya boarded the train to receive the same odd stares she received ever since she left Russia into England. Large eyes of various colours staring at her as if they never saw a person dressed as she before. She passed through the corridor, peeking into compartments to see groups and groups of British students, all seemingly dressed in the same type of autumn sweaters and jeans, a few here and there also sporting black robes. Their stares made Katya feel very uneasy, she felt as if she were an alien, perhaps even invading their space with her maroon beret and black long coat. Or maybe they were instead staring less at her and more at her Louis Vuitton luggage. She wondered if muggle haute-couture fashion brands were popular in the English Wizarding World. Her uncle Maxim made the implication to her that outside of their world in Russia that muggle fashion wasn't particular known. Katya tightened the grip on the handle of her luggage.

About two-thirds the way down the train she peered into a compartment to her right. Inside sat three boys, two chubby brunettes eating popcorn on one bench and a very blond, composed boy on the other bench.

The blond boy turned his head to look at her. His straight, almost smug lips turned into a short moment of an enamoured, slightly opened mouth before the boy quickly regained his composure. 'Are you looking for a place to sit down?' he asked.

'Yes,' Katya said, casually turning her attention to the two boys on the other bench, unsure if she wanted to become trapped in a small space with them.

'Then,' the blond boy moved closer to the window to make more room on the bench. 'Sit down.' He smiled nervously.

Katya took a breath. 'Uhm, well …' She saw from the corner of her eyes the conductor nearing up the corridor. She sighed. 'Yes, I suppose.'

She began to bring her luggage into the compartment. For a moment, she glanced toward the blond boy to see that he was not about to raise himself from his seat to help her. Her lips twisted. She wondered if this boy was really that rude not to offer his assistance, or if it was simply a cultural difference between England and Russia. Once she got her luggage inside and placed it to the side of the bench, Katya sat down herself.

'What's your name?' the boy immediately asked.

'Katya.'

The boy paused. 'Sorry?'

She sighed. 'Katya. Katerina. But I go by Katya.'

The boy smiled, perhaps trying not to snicker. 'And where did you receive a name like that?'

Katya eyed him oddly. 'Obviously from my parents.' She rolled her eyes. 'You haven't told me your name, by the way.'

The boy smiled proudly and sat up straigher. 'I'm Draco Malfoy.' He saw Katya smile and added with a smirk, 'And your surname? Are you from a good family?'

'Karkaroff.'

The chubby boys on the other bench began to chuckle. For a moment Katya thought that the shorter, plumper one was about to throw a couple pieces of popcorn at her.

Draco snapped his head to face them and harshly glared at them with his grey eyes. 'Be quiet! She comes from a better family than either of you do! Just as I am, she's your superior!'

The boys silenced themselves. Katya looked at Draco and snickered. A very light pink colour came upon Draco's cheeks as he turned his face to face her, his facial expression that of a little boy who was becoming more and more embarassed.

Draco cleared his throat. 'That's Crabbe and Goyle. Ignore them. They're not very bright, in fact I don't even think they can read.' He heard Katya snicker and added in a snippy tone, 'Well why is that so funny to you? I'm serious.'

Katya casually shook her head. 'I don't want to be here, really. So I have to laugh.'

Draco twisted his lips into a sort of pouty sneer and turned his head to look toward the window. 'You went to the Durmstrang Preparatory School, didn't you,' he said flatly. 'Then, of course, you think you know more than all of us, don't you?'

'Well of course, it's Durmstrang. And because I'm lucky enough to be a Karkaroff, I can learn family tricks of the best family.'

Draco scoffed. 'Of the best family. Your frame of reference is clearly Russian.' He paused before muttering, 'Family tricks...'

'The Malfoys have their own, don't they? Didn't your parents teach you something before you came here, to give you tools to rise higher than the masses of what is here?'

Draco quickly turned his head to look at her, a small glare in his eyes and his lips once again twisted into a pouty sneer. 'Of course they did,' he replied quickly, almost spitting out the words as he spun his short little fib.

Katya sat back in her seat, reading the testy Malfoy boy quite well. 'Okay, then.'

Crabbe and Goyle began to laugh, pieces of chewed popcorn slipping from their mouths. Katya raised an eyebrow and watched as Draco's cheeks turned a light red.

'Go find yourselves some other fodder to much on!'

Katya held back laughter. She watched as Draco glared angrily at Crabbe and Goyle, eyeing their every move as they got up from their seats and stumbled out the door. Once she heard the noise of the compartment door shutting, Katya released her laughter.

'Why do you keep laughing at me!' Draco snapped. 'Is it my name? Is it how I look? Is it just because I'm not Russian!'

'Huh?' Katya asked, genuinely surprised at what he said. 'I'm laughing because you said that they – those two fat boys – much on fodder.' She smirked. 'It was funny. I was laughing at them, and at what you said, but not at you.'

Draco eyed her, his gaze no longer that of a glare. 'There have been people who laughed at my name before.'

'Why?'

'Because in our generation, most people are named with a more standard name – well like yours, like Katherine – rather than with a name from Greek or Latin.' He sat up straighter and stuck his nose slightly into the air. 'My father said that they all sank to blending in with the lower class, like with the Mudbloods. We, however, the Malfoys, continued and will continue the tradition of higher class names for higher class people.'

'You sound proud of your name, so why care if other people in our generation are ignorant and laugh?'

Draco looked at her oddly, his eyes softer. 'Because – because I don't like being laughed at. I'm a Malfoy. I should be respected, not treated as a joke.'

Katya shrugged. 'I'm sure people will laugh at my name too, just because it's different here, despite being normal in Russia.' She looked at Draco. 'But it just shows how stupid they are, don't you think?' She watched Draco nod. 'You know, I met a few people with names similar to yours.'

Draco perked up a little. 'You did?' he asked with a smile.

'At Drumstrang Preparatory I met a Croatian boy named Drago, and a Slovenian boy with that name who was two years my senior. One of my friends was from Romania, and his name was Dragos.' She shrugged. 'So not Draco, but close.'

'Do their names also mean dragon?' he asked.

'No, Drago and Dragos mean …' she thought a moment. 'How do I translate this?' She paused briefly. 'Precious, dear, of a lot of value. Expensive, so to say.'

Draco smiled. 'Or they came from my name, from the dragon in the stars.'

Katya smirked. 'Sure, you can believe that.' She playfully winked at him. Following the wink, she noticed Draco blush and held back a giggle. 'Moment, I have an idea.' Katya reached over to her luggage and opened the front zipper pocket.

'What is it?' Draco asked.

She pulled out an unopened bag of black liquorice. 'This,' she replied with a big smile.

Draco's eyes lit up. 'I like the dark ones too!' He began to reach for the bag.

Katya swiftly pulled the bag away from Draco's reach. 'Just a couple because these are from Germany and I don't know when I'll taste them again.'

Draco pouted a little but agreed. He watched as Katya opened the bag. He held out his hand for her to drop two wheels of black liquorice into his palm. He held one of them in front of his eyes. 'Do I just eat it, or should I unroll it?'

'I usually unroll them and eat them like a string,' Katya answered as she took two pieces for herself out. She then sealed the bag and slid it back into her luggage pocket. 'Like this.' She pinched the end of the liquorice string and slowly began to unpeel the wheel. 'But slowly so it doesn't break. You have to do this.' She moved her fingers to hold the part of the string at the site where it would separate from the wheel and pulled a little more if it apart. 'To support it.'

Draco and smiled and began to copy what Katya did. As he untwisted the wheel he began to lightly laugh. When he finished and had a rope of liquorice in his hands, he looked to see that Katya had waited for him to be ready to eat.

'What now?' he asked.

'We eat.' She smirked. 'Na zdrowie!' She took a bite from her string.

Draco laughed, blushing. 'What did you say?'

'It's how we say Cheers in Russian – literally meaning to health. But try it, the liquorice I mean. Tell me if you like it.'

Draco took a bite and chewed with a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was analysing every flavour he could detect in the candy. He swallowed and nodded. 'It's quite good, but not very sweet.'

Katya shrugged. 'I don't know, it's sweet enough to me.'

'Hm,' Draco took another bite and ate it. 'Have you tried the Liquorice Wand?'

Katya shook her head. 'No, I never ate any English sweets.'

Draco smiled. 'I don't have any with me right now, but surely the Hogwarts Express Trolley will have some.' He paused to eat another bite of his liquorice. 'I'll buy you one.'

'Okay,' she said with a pleasant smile.

With a loud bang, the door to the compartment swung open and in walked Crabbe and Goyle, laughing with each other in chuckles suited for ogres, pieces of crisps and candies fallen onto their clothes. Katya scrunched up her nose in disgust. She looked toward Draco to see that he also held an unpleasant expression regarding Crabbe and Goyle's return.

Katya leaned closer to Draco and whispered to him, 'Really do they ever stop eating? And cleanse themselves a little?'

Draco held in laughter which resulted in a quiet snort. He leaned over to Katya and whispered back, 'This isn't my responsibility. I just have to watch them.'

Katya smirked and nodded. At least Crabbe and Goyle were guffawing enough with each other, that they would not notice the liquorice wheels being finished by Katya and Draco. But, she did have to consider keeping a close watch on that front pocket of her luggage, just in case.

In the next chapter, they will arrive at Hogwarts and Katya and Draco will meet Harry and Ron! Following with the Sorting Hat, which is not happy to meet another Karkaroff