Karen sat alone in an empty compartment. She pressed her face onto the icy glass window and tried to clear her head. So far, it wasn't working. In the past hour, she got a new identity, met the only person who withstood himself against the Dark Lord and got beaten up with her own brother, how exciting.
Suddenly, the door slid open and a misty eyed girl walked in with an awkward boy. They were holding hands. Karen raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, there's someone here Luna," the boy said, glancing nervously at Karen and tucking at his hand.
The girl giggled, her hand still firmly grasping his. "I know that, Neville, I'm not blind."
"Excuse me?" Karen said.
"Oh, hello there, we were just looking for a compartment, you wouldn't mind sharing, would you?" Luna said airily, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.
"No… I suppose not…"
The girl skipped inside and plopped herself down on the opposite bench of Karen. The boy was dragged along.
"So, what is your name? I never seen you around before," the girl pepped.
"Karen, uh, McBride," Karen answered, still weary of her new last name, "And I'm new here."
"Oh goody!" Luna clapped her hands, "I love new people! My name is Luna Lovegood. And this here is my boyfriend, Neville Longbottom."
Neville immediately blushed deep red and muttered something Karen didn't catch.
Luna cupped her ear and chirped, "What's that darling? You're not my boyfriend? Oh, of course you are! Last time I checked, your hands were all over me! I only let my boyfriends do that!"
Karen even blushed a little at the comment and Neville looked like he was about to jump off the train.
"Neville's in Gryffindor and I'm in Ravenclaw, what house are you in?" Luna continued.
"Uh, I'm not sure yet," Karen said.
"Oh right! You're new! Ah, how stupid of me, expecting that they would just include the name of your house in the welcome mail. Of course, only the Sorting Hat could make the right decision. And he will need to look directly in your brain, even though they could perhaps send a ghoul to retrieve it for them, but I guess that would create quite a contradictory."
"Ghouls to retrieve my brain?" Karen frowned.
"Don't mind her," Neville spoke with a roll of his eyes.
Aw, how cute.
"Shush," Luna said and continued, "Well, there are four houses in Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. We complete for points and the house with the most points wins the House Cup at the end of the year, though with all the trouble You-Know-Who is causing, the House Cup hardly ever matters anymore…"
"Trouble the Dark Lord is causing?" Karen interrupted, immediately curious.
"Well, he's officially alive right now, isn't he? So there is ought to be trouble. And Harry's been running around battling Death Eaters and even You-Know-Who himself. They say that Death Eaters' been gathering…"
"Wait Luna," Neville suddenly said as he raised a shaky finger at Karen, "Y, you called him the Dark Lord."
Karen raised her eyebrows, "So?"
"Then, you, you must be a Death Eater! Only they call him by that name!" Neville retorted, his face horror stricken.
"Oh drop it Neville, everyone has a different way of calling You-Know-Who, I actually think her way is more accurate," Luna said.
"Yeah, after all, he is the greatest dark wizard of all times right?" Karen said with a convincing smile.
It seemed like Neville didn't buy it, because he kept shooting Karen suspicious glares.
"Anyway, you were saying, Luna?" Karen drew her attention back onto the girl who was shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Uh, I think Neville and I should, uh, go to see some of our other friends … right Neville?" Luna said.
"Yeah, Luna, let's go," Neville snapped and to everyone's surprise, including himself, he seized up Luna's hand and stood up protectively.
But before they could recover from the shock and leave the compartment, the door slid open and two bodies came charging in. Karen immediately recognized the boy she met from earlier. Beside him stood a tall, skinny red head and a rather bushy haired, pretty witch who was glancing curiously around the room.
"Hey! You're that girl from earlier!" Harry said as he spotted Karen sitting in the corner.
"Yeah…"
"Karen, isn't it? McBride?"
"Um, yeah, that's it."
"I'd like you to meet my two best buds," Harry said cheerfully as he pointed at the girl and boy who were both looking curiously at her, "Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley."
"Ron, actually," the red head corrected.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Hermione greeted with a smile and a wave.
"Yeah, same here," Karen replied awkwardly.
She had never been comfortable around so many people, to be honest. It was the first time in a long time that she had anyone who was interested in talking with her. It felt… nice, she concluded.
"You're new here, aren't you?" Ron said.
Karen nodded.
"Congrats! You're going to have tons of fun at Hogwarts!"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Karen answered with a smile.
"I hope you're up to it," Harry grinned as he plopped himself down on the seat beside Karen, "Because once you're in, there is no way out."
His emerald eyes taunted her, as if daring her to give some sort of signal indicating that she was willing to join their odd little group. She only just met these people, yet she felt a side to her tugging for her to go along with their offer. Karen narrowed her eyes and gave the slightest of nods.
"Metaphorically speaking of course," Harry winked.
A/N : Wow, it's been a long time since I updated. Please send in more reviews! Tell me if I should contiue or not. )
