Chapter Three: Black Trains
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"Ready Keena?" James asked. We were at the train station. There was a lot of noise and it was harder to hear footsteps over the trains that were coming in. Because of all the commotion, I was stuck hanging onto James for dear life.
"Let's go," I said.
James and I ran strait ahead and through the barrier. Mr. and Mrs. Potter came out behind us quickly, pushing our trolleys. I heard owls screeching and felt a cat zoom out between my legs.
"The train is huge!" James exclaimed for my benefit. "A scarlet steam engine and a million cars!"
"A million?" I asked with one arched eyebrow.
"You know what I mean,"
"Let's find you two a car to put your things in," Mr. Potter's rich voice cut through like butter.
"James you push the cart, I'll take Keena," Mrs. Potter was at my arm before James could protest.
"Mum, that's very lazy of you," James said, pointedly. He let go of my arm and I heard him start pushing the trolley away from us.
We found an empty car and loaded our luggage onto it. Well, James and Mr. Potter did. Mrs. Potter and I stood there and waited for them.
"Alright, everything is on," Mr. Potter said.
"Now, James, you be good this year," said Mrs. Potter. "You and Keena stick together,"
"Mum, you make it sound like I've misbehaved," James said accusingly.
"I'd rather not imagine," Mrs. Potter whispered in my ear.
A sharp whistle sounded from my right, where the head of the train was. People started shouting goodbyes from all around us. James helped me onto the train, we turned around, and I waved a little. There was a jerk and the train started moving. James led me to a compartment and we sat down.
"Can I have a window seat?" I asked.
"Why?"
"Because I like the window seat,"
"Okay, move over on your seat to the left," James said and I heard him sit across from me.
We'd been riding for ten minutes when I heard the door open.
"Do you mind if I sit here? I'm avoiding some er--unwanted attention," it was a boy. He sounded slightly desperate as if several people had said no.
"Go ahead," I said, facing the window.
"Thank you," said the boy, sitting down next to James.
"Kind of long dark hair, and a nice build," James said.
"What?" said the boy.
"Do you play Quidditch?" I asked, turning towards him a little.
"Yeah, a bit," he said, still sounding confused. But before he could ask anything, the door slid open again.
"Hello," another boy, though this one sounded shy.
"Sandy brown hair looks kind of tired," said James, describing him for me again.
"Okay," said the boy and I heard his heel turning.
"No, wait, you can come in," said James.
"Thanks," said the second boy awkwardly. "I'm Remus Lupin; I'll be a first year this year."
"James Potter,"
"Keena McIntosh,"
"I'm Sirius,"
"About what?" I said, unable to resist temptation.
"Uh…" everyone except Sirius burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself," I said grinning, and turning to face the boys' direction.
"Hey, what's with your eyes?" asked Sirius suddenly.
"Excuse me?" I said, taken aback.
"Your eyes, they've got a funny bright blue ring around them,"
"Do they?" I asked dazed.
"Don't you ever look in a mirror?"
"No,"
"How do you survive? Not looking in the mirror with such a pretty face,"
"Sirius, I believe this girl is blind," said Remus quietly.
"No way!" said Sirius.
"Actually it's true," said James.
Everyone was quiet and it felt like everyone (or at least Sirius) was staring at me. All that could be heard was the train as it moved along down the tracks. I hate the quiet.
"Remus, have you sat down yet?" I asked.
"I didn't want to bother you," he muttered.
"That's dumb, sit down," I said. I felt the weight come down on the cushion next to me.
"Now, where were we?" I asked.
No one answered. It was quiet again.
"This has got to stop," I said, finally annoyed. "What is wrong with you James? You're the biggest chatterbox I know! I know, we'll talk about something all guys love; Quidditch,"
"All guys?" asked Remus.
"You don't?" came Sirius' smooth voice.
"Well I--"
"How can you not love Quidditch?" Sirius and James yelled in shocked unison.
"I never said that," said Remus quickly.
"Then why'd you ask?" said Sirius.
"Ask what?"
"Ask if all guys love Quidditch!"
"Well, because it is a stereotype,"
"No, it's generalization," I said smiling.
"Yeah! What she said!" said Sirius.
"Wait, isn't stereotyping the same thing as generalization?" asked James.
"Now that you mention it," I said.
"I was just going to see how long it took Sirius to realize that," said Remus.
"Hey!"
The rest of the train ride was the same. Remus and I would use big words with a similar meaning to get Sirius and sometime James confused. It was very entertaining to hear them fighting over definitions of words.
My stomach was just starting to grumble when the compartment door slid open again.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" her voice sounded younger almost, but still had the same old lady tone to it.
I heard Sirius and James jump to their feet and race over to the cart filled with snacks of varying amounts of sugar.
"Keena, do you want anything?" Remus asked before standing up.
"Could you get me a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor?" I asked, digging some coins out of my pocket and handing them to him.
"Sure," he said, accepting the money. The weight left the cushion and I listened to his steps carefully as he walked over to the trolley. The way he walked even sounded cautious. He is very careful with his secret…I can sort of relate I guess…
James and Sirius flew back in and fell into their seats so fast that I could feel the wind coming from them.
"How much did you guys get?"
"We combined our money," said James, no doubt an evil grin was spreading across his face.
"Don't eat too fast," I warned them, as I heard Remus coming back over. He handed me my change and my jellybeans. I counted the coins and found something wrong.
"Remus, you gave me the same number of coins back," I said, frowning.
"It was easier to just give her two galleons than sort through everything," he said matter-of-factly.
"Now I feel bad," I said, pouting.
"Don't worry about it; you can pay me back on the return ride. Or you can give me some of those," he flicked the box.
I opened the box and lifted a bean out. Just as I began to lift it to my mouth three pairs of hands grabbed onto my wrist.
"What are you doing?" I asked as the bean flew from my hand.
"Trust me; you did not want to eat that," said Sirius, ruffling my hair.
"Why? What was wrong with it?"
"It was funny looking,"
"That helps," I said sarcastically.
"It looked puke green and had brown flakes all over it," said James.
"Sounds like the flavor is puke," I said. "But that ruins the surprise. I've found it's more fun not knowing,"
"Really?" said Remus.
"That's too much risk for me," said Sirius.
"Agreed," was James' reply. I listened to them high five and got an idea.
"I think the two of you are just chicken," I said, lifting my nose to the ceiling in a superior fashion.
"Chicken?" asked James sounding hurt.
"Sirius Black is no chicken," said Sirius.
"Prove it," I challenged, taking out another bean at random and clutching it in my fist so that no one could see it. "Close your eyes, Remus will you tell me if he cheats?"
"Of course,"
I handed Remus the bean and he gave it to Sirius.
"He put it in his mouth. You've got to actually bite it Sirius," said Remus. Suddenly the compartment was full of laughter and Sirius' gagging.
"That was bloody awful!" he shouted. I joined in on the laughter at the tone of his voice. I stopped laughing when I heard the compartment door slid open slightly. "No, I'm serious!"
"Well, you're certainly not anybody else in the family are you?" the voice belonged to a girl. She sounded (for lack of different wording) like a bitch. Her voice was slippery and sent an unpleasant shiver down my spine.
"Get lost Bella," said Sirius. I heard him stand up.
"Oh, going to fight me are you?" Bella mocked.
"As if he could handle all of us," this voice belonged to a boy. He had the same sort of voice as Bella only deeper. There was laughter and I could pick out that there were maybe four of them total. Four against four…well three…and then there's the fact that it's probably just me and Remus who know any spells…damn it…
My grip tightened on my wand as I heard James stand up.
"Get out of here," he spat.
"Why would I want to do that?" asked Bella sounding nonplussed. "I was just hoping to have some fun with my dear old cousin here,"
Suddenly there was a crash and I gasped. I couldn't place the sound. Someone must have fired a spell or broken some glass, or both.
"Does magic scare you little girl?" the boy had taken notice of me. I felt Remus shift next to me, probably to defend me.
"Of course I'm not," I growled.
"You jumped pretty high just then," he sounded closer.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Sirius.
"Why? Is she your girlfriend Sirius?" the boy said, grabbing my left wrist and bringing me off my seat. My knee crashed to the floor, and I was half on the ground half being held up in the air. I kept my wand hidden behind my back.
"Slytherin scum," I spat.
"Did you say something wench?" the boy twisted my wrist and I felt a wand tip at my throat. That was enough.
"Expelliamus!" I shouted. I knew I hit my target when he lost his grip on my arm. I heard him go flying into the corridor and a bunch of girls screamed.
"Get off me you idiot!" Bellatrix shrieked, and I listened as the lot raced down the corridor away from our compartment.
"Keena, are you okay?" Sirius was kneeling beside me sounding worried.
"I'm fine," I said, dropping my wand to massage my wrist. "What did they do?"
"That crash you heard was from them attacking James as he took his wand out. Two of them held Remus and me down pointing wands at our throats. I'm so sorry,"
"I told you it's fine," I said.
"No it's not," said Remus.
"First day on the job, and we get attacked," James sounded as though he was talking through a bloody nose.
"Don't worry about it," I insisted.
"No, Keena, I promise, I won't let them hurt you again," said Sirius.
Compared to that, the rest of the train ride was completely uneventful. Remus and Sirius had swapped seats so that Sirius would be closer to me if his cousin came back, though she didn't. The boys changed into their robes, though they made me close my eyes anyway, then they left so I could change. The train began slowing down just as I threw my cloak over my shoulders.
We went into the corridor which was filling up with students by the second. It was very loud and crowded.
"I'll hang onto you," Sirius whispered in my ear.
We headed off the train and into the cool night. I inhaled the night air. It was good to be back at Hogwarts.
"Firs' years this way!" Hagrid's commanding voice blasted through the random conversations people were having.
"Bloody Hell, this guy is big!" James whispered enthusiastically.
"Hi Hagrid!" I yelled as soon as I was sure he'd hear me.
"Keena, how've yeh bin?" Hagrid shouted back.
"Good and you?"
"Bin doin' well meself. All right, we got everyone? Okay, firs' years follow me!"
We followed Hagrid down the stone steps. Sirius was still holding onto my arm, afraid that I would fall if he let go, and I probably would have. We got to the boats and James and Sirius began debating how to get me in.
"Honestly, it's not that hard. One of you gets in and the other just helps me on," I said. The boys shuffled around and we made it in safely.
"Everyone in? Alright, forward!" Hagrid shouted and the boats gave a tug and started sailing along the lake.
"What is that kid doing?" asked James suddenly, I heard him lean forward so that his head was between Sirius and me.
"I've got no idea," Sirius said before I could ask what was going on.
"It looks like he's going to fall in," Remus observed.
"Why? What's going on?" I asked. Before any one answered, there was a loud splash, and I was sprayed with water. I would have laughed, but James and Sirius were both yelling at the boat in front of us.
"What did you push him in for eh?" Sirius shouted.
"Mind your own business, Black," a boy shouted back between peels of laughter.
"It is my business, you got us soaked!"
"Should've used her as a shield then,"
"Let it go Sirius," said Remus evenly, his voice coming from somewhere on my left and sounding slightly strained. "James, help me get him,"
There was movement in the back of the boat and we began to rock dangerously. I could hear the warnings from the students in other boats, but I'm not so sure the boys could. All at once, James and Remus were leaning out of the right side of the boat, causing me to slide over and Sirius to grab hold of my arm with one hand, meaning his other was holding onto his side of the boat, which was in the air. This isn't going to end well…
"Keena, try to climb over to where Sirius is," James huffed. I grabbed a hold of Sirius, who tugged me closer to him.
"Come here often?" Sirius whispered. I could feel his breath on my face.
"No, you?" I asked laughing at how odd we must have looked.
"Bloody hell," James said, clearly strained now. The splashing was growing louder every second.
The boat began rocking so violently I thought it would tip over.
"Aren't these supposed to be--?"
The boat tipped over.
I came up for air and nearly choked on my hair. I wiped it out of my face and swam a little away from the splash war that was now going on between James, Sirius, Remus, and the mystery kid. Normally I would have joined in, or at least headed back to the boat, but neither was an option. So much for magic boats...
"Hey!" I shouted over the splashing.
"Keena! Over to your right!" a familiar voice called.
"Lily?"
"Yeah," I felt a hand on my right shoulder. "Here, come into our boat," Lily said.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," I said. "Didn't you see what just happened?"
"That kid was panicking," Lily said.
"Oh, that would've been nice to know," I said sarcastically. There was more splashing and someone bumped into my elbow.
"Keena, you alright?" it was Sirius.
"Yeah I'm fine," I said laughing at him for panting.
"Good," he said and I heard him turn in the water. "James, I got her!"
"C'mon, James, Remus and what's-his-name are already in the boat. Thanks for keeping an eye on her ladies, I'll take it from here," Sirius said, putting his charming voice back on for the "ladies" in the boat.
"See you later, Lily," I called as Sirius dragged me away.
"Be careful Keena," she called back sounding worried about who was directing me through the water.
Sirius and I got back in the boat with just in time to get off again.
"Keena, what's happened to yeh? Was that you lot that went fer a swim?" Hagrid asked appalled.
"Yeah, Hagrid, that was us," I said as two cloaks were draped around my shoulders. "Guys, I already told you no," I added shrugging the cloaks off and holding them out to be taken back. No one took them. "Don't make me drop them," I threatened.
"You wouldn't," James laughed.
"Oh, but wouldn't I?"
"No, I just said you wouldn't," James snorted.
I sighed in frustration and put my arms down. It wasn't this hard with Ron and Harry…
"C'mon, let's go," Sirius said, taking hold of my arm once more, which was okay for once because I slipped on the cobblestone path that led up to the castle.
The chattering of the first years grew, the closer we got to the castle. The oak doors opened and several girls squeaked in delight. We walked into the hall and stopped after about five steps.
"I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts," McGonagall stopped her speech before she'd even begun it. "May I inquire why there are two of you not in uniform?"
I gasped slightly, realizing I was still holding their uniforms.
"Sorry Professor," James and Sirius said, quickly accepting their cloaks from me.
"Now, why are five of you wet?"
"Well, Professor, it's a long story," Sirius began. "James, why don't you tell her this long story?"
"Professor, the train ride over was quiet warmer than we all expected, you see," James started the way he would talk his mother off when she caught us eating sweets just before dinner.
"So Peter, here thought he'd jump in for a swim," Remus put in quickly.
"And we thought, why not join him?" I added catching on.
"You should really try it some time, Mickey. It was a blast," said Sirius as sniggers came from everywhere around us. They stopped abruptly and it was dead silence for a few moments.
"Refrain from calling me 'Mickey'" McGonagall said stiffly.
"Will do," Sirius said.
Ten to one says he doesn't stop…
So there's chapter three! I hope you liked it! Please Review:-D
