The train station was filled to the brim with people. Nikki could tell the difference between Muggles and magic folk like herself, and it seemed that the majority of the people gathering were witches and wizards to see their children off. It was a shame that Nikki's father couldn't be there to see her off, but she understood. It would be very difficult for him to be seen in public and he was probably busy.
She remembered the instructions given to her and searched for the pillar between platforms nine and ten. Six and seven…seven and eight…eight and nine…There! Nine and ten. And indeed, there seemed to be many students and their families crowded around it. Occasionally, one would break into a sprint and disappear through the pillar. Nikki waited patiently in line until it was her turn and slipped through the magic passageway with little more than a cool stare back over her shoulder.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was slightly less crowded than the Muggle train station, but it was possibly busier. Students were frantically hauling their trunks up into the cars of the scarlet train to settle in for the long ride to Hogwarts. Nikki abandoned the luggage cart she was using and clasped her hand around the leather handle of her trunk. Without saying a word, she climbed up into the train.
She was a quiet person, like her father, and really only wanted some peace. So when she found an empty compartment, she smirked and slid the door open. She retrieved a book before shoving her trunk up on the rack above her seat. She had just begun to read when the door slid open.
"Excuse me, do you mind if we…erm…?"
Nikki looked up. Two boys were standing in the doorway. One had black, messy hair that came down to the nape of his neck and green eyes that were magnified slightly by the round glasses on his face. The other had just-above-shoulder-length, fiery red hair and freckles all over his nose.
"You're new, aren't you? I've never seen you around before," the red-head remarked.
"Just transferred from Beauxbaton," she shrugged. She closed her book. While she was a quiet person, she wasn't one to turn people away when they initiated a conversation. "Would you like to sit down?"
"I didn't know you could transfer," the black-haired boy said as he sat down across from her. "I'm Harry."
"Nikki," Nikki mumbled, sticking her hand out for him to shake. "Nice to meet you." She turned to the red-haired boy. "And you are?"
"Ron," the boy gulped.
"Nice to meet you too, Ron," she nodded before opening her book again. Introductions over. Now back to reading.
"What are you reading?" Harry asked, craning his neck to see the text of the book.
"Muggle book," Nikki replied simply. "I rather like the poetry in it." She left out the part about how her father hated that she liked reading Muggle stories.
"Really?" Ron questioned. "Can you read us some?"
Nikki glanced up before sighing and flipping to a page with one of her favorite poems on it. In a smooth, gliding voice, she began to recite the morbid lines.
"Out into God's sweet air we went, but not in our wonted way, for this man's face was white with fear, and that man's face was grey, and I never saw sad men who looked so wistfully that day.
"I never saw sad men who looked with such a wistful eye upon that little tent of blue we prisoners call the sky, and at each careless cloud that passed in happy freedom by…
"Like ape or clown in monstrous garb with crooked arrows starred, silently we went round and round the slippery asphalt yard; silently we went round and round, and no man spoke a word.
"Silently we went round and round, and through each hollow mind the memory of dreadful things rushed like a dreadful wind, and Horror stalked before each man and terror crept behind.
"The wardens strutted up and down, and kept their herd of brutes, their uniforms were spick and span, and they wore their Sunday suits, but we knew the work they had been at by the quicklime on their boots." Nikki looked up and quietly added, "Oscar Wilde."
Harry and Ron stared at her for a second before Ron gulped.
"Sounds like a bloody morbid fellow."
"Yes, he had rather a dark outlook on things," Nikki smirked. "Still, it's quite beautiful, isn't it?"
"Not exactly what I'd call beautiful," Harry said nervously as he bit his lower lip. "But it was…interesting, for sure."
Suddenly the door to the compartment slid open and a girl with wavy, long brown hair entered. Her nose was pointed and she looked like she was quite knowledgeable.
"Hello, Harry," she smiled. "Hello, Ron. Did you have a nice summer?"
"Yeah," Ron shrugged.
"Not any better than usual," Harry grimaced.
The girl looked over at Nikki and her eyebrows rose.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"My name is Nikki," Nikki introduced herself, reaching out a hand for the girl to shake.
"Hermione Granger," the girl nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine," Nikki smiled wryly. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Nikki lifted her book into her lap. "Don't let me stop you from visiting. Just pretend I'm not here. I promise I won't listen in on your conversation." She patted the cover of the book lovingly. "I have my poetry to keep me company." With that, she winked at Ron, whom she though quite cute, and began to read again.
For a few minutes, that's exactly what happened. Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked and Nikki minded her own business, reading poem after poem until she was on the last section. It wasn't a worry though. She had a book of wizard-written poems her father had bought her the last time they had seen each other. She hadn't gotten around to reading it until now. Maybe it was just her rebellious spirit putting it off.
But just as she was turning to the poem "From the Grave" by Robert Blair, the compartment door slid open yet again. This time, the person entering got a less than warm welcome. Harry's eyes narrowed at the sight of the blonde in the doorway and Ron's lips tightened into a thin line. Hermione simply ducked down behind the history book she had been scanning.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron spat.
"Oh, Weasley," the blonde chuckled. "Weren't you looking forward to my little visit on the train? It wouldn't be right to ignore giving you your yearly welcome." The last word was said with so much venom it could've overpowered a basilisk. But the blonde's eyes soon fell on Nikki and a soft smirk ran across his face. "Well, hello there," he said flirtatiously. "I don't believe I've ever seen you before."
"Are you sure about that?" Nikki replied icily.
"I would remember such a beautiful face," the boy nodded. "My name is Draco Malfoy."
"Nikki," Nikki replied simply. "I'm transferring from Beauxbaton."
"You don't sound French," Draco said, a shade of confusion in his voice.
"I'm not French, so that's probably why," Nikki smirked coolly.
"Well," Draco snorted, "I hope you end up in Slytherin house. We could use some more attractive ladies like yourself." With that, he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it before tossing a backward glance at Harry, Ron, and Hermione and exiting the compartment.
"What a pratt," Nikki laughed. She stood up to get her other book from her trunk. "Please tell me you three aren't in Slytherin. I'd much rather be in your company than in the company of that twit."
"No, we're in Gryffindor," Ron said, puffing out his chest as if he had won some great prize. "And bloody proud of it too."
"You'll want to stay away from Draco Malfoy," Harry warned. "He's been nasty to the three of us from the first day of our first year. He called Hermione…" He trailed off like he was about to say something he wasn't supposed to. Hermione's head shot up.
"He called me a mudblood," she whispered. "You don't have to hide it, Harry. She'd probably have found out sooner or later. Better from us than from the likes of Draco Malfoy."
Nikki paused. Her father was not a fan of Muggle-born wizards. The loyal part of Nikki's soul made her hate them too, but the rebellious side of her made her love them all the more. So, she smiled.
"Really? What is it like? I've never been close to a Muggle before, let alone a Muggle-born witch. Did you know you were a witch before you started going to Hogwarts?"
Hermione looked up at Nikki curiously.
"You don't mind?"
"Not a jot," Nikki grinned. "In fact, I'm quite interested. I was going to read this book on the rest of the ride, but I think I would much rather talk to you. Actually, all three of you seem very fun to be around. I hope you don't mind, but may I join your conversation?"
"Sure," Harry smiled.
"We'd love to talk with you," Hermione said.
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
Nikki looked at Ron strangely.
"Sorry," he blushed. "Ignore that."
