J.K. Rowling is the genius behind Harry Potter, the characters, places, etc. and I am in her debt for providing me with hours, days, weeks, and months of entertainment. I have now become so obsessed that the next level (writing fan fiction) was inevitable.
Chapter 4: The Stranger on the Train
Diagon Alley had been uneventful. Security measures were high, of course, as Voldemort's lackeys had made earlier attempts to infiltrate the area. Recent events had finally forced Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, to admit that Voldemort had returned. As a result, he had extra Aurors stationed around Diagon Alley. It was funny how the presence of the Aurors did nothing to make the people feel safer. In spite of the extra security, however, the trip to Diagon Alley had been free of any drama; they hadn't even run into Draco Malfoy.
The last days before the school term went by in the blur. Bill and Charlie headed off to Hogwarts ten days before the students were due to arrive in order to make final preparations on lessons and things. Fred and George were gone during the days at their newly renovated joke shop and usually didn't return until well after dinner. They were also renovating the apartment above the store, so that they'd be able to live in Hogsmeade as well, but the apartment work wasn't coming along as quickly as they'd hoped. Likewise, Percy was only seen in the evenings, if even then. He was a workaholic of the worst kind, and what extra time he did have he spent with Penelope. So the younger kids had more room to relax around the Burrow during the day. It was pretty carefree, with the younger teenagers filling their days with Quidditch practice, games of Exploding Snap and wizard chess, helping Mrs. Weasley with the housework, and, at Hermione's insistence, a little studying as well. Zora fit right in with the rest of them, and they all acted as if she'd been a part of their gang from the beginning. For the most part, they all hung out together at the Burrow, but every now and again Ginny and Zora took the hint that the other three wanted to be alone, so the two cousins would usually join Mrs. Weasley.
The day before they were due to leave for school, Hermione had them all "refreshing their minds" by going over some Transfiguration notes. Ron, as usual, had a complaint about studying on the last day of summer holiday, but Hermione insisted that the information would be on the N.E.W.T.S. Ron muttered something about them being over a year and a half away, which Hermione ignore. The notes she had were about Animagi.
"Professor McGonagal had us do an interesting assignment last year concerning Animagi," Hermione was happily informing Zora. "There is a simple spell you can do to find out if you could learn to be an Animagus, and if so, what animal form you would take. You only need three blank sheets of parchment and your wand. You say the incantation, acclaro animagus, and your wand projects the animal form you would take onto the parchment. If you get the same animal all three times, that means you have the necessary elements to actually work on becoming an animagus."
Zora, amazingly, was quite interested in what Hermione had to say. "So, did you get an animal?"
"Yes. Mine was a beaver." Ron snorted. When Hermione first got to Hogwarts, her front teeth were rather long, and she did not look unlike a Beaver then. "I was disappointed at first, but when I read up on Beaver personality traits, I found out that it described me pretty well. They're extremely hard-working."
Zora giggled. Then she turned to Ron. "What animal did you get, Ronald?"
Ron blushed to the roots of his hair. Hermione suppressed a giggle, and answered for him. "Ron got a stallion," she tried to hold back the laughter as she told Zora. "And his picture was very clear as well. A big, red, stubborn, unpunctual horse. That's what the horse personality said."
Zora turned to Ginny and Harry. "What about you two?"
"Well, she didn't do that assignment with the fourth-years," Ginny explained, "But when Hermione told me, I tried it anyway. I was a Beagle. But the parts on the dog that are normally supposed to be brown were more reddish. But dogs in general are protective, faithful, and devoted, and Beagles in particular are friendly with others, but also quite fiesty. I thought it fit well."
"And you, Harry? What were you, like a lion, or something?" Zora was the only one who laughed at this joke. Everyone else had suddenly gone silent.
Hermione cleared her throat. "Erm, Harry's picture wasn't consistent."
Zora thought she saw Harry scowl for a brief moment. Then he said, "First I got a Phoenix—twice in a row actually. But the last time I cast the spell, I got a snake. Professor McGonagal supposes it's all my encounters with Voldemort that caused my wand to produce the snake. She said it probably just got confused. But I have a Phoenix tail feather as my wand core. That's probably the reason it produced the Phoenix. It just means I don't have the necessary elements to be an animagus." He looked extremely disappointed by this revelation, and Zora knew why: they had relayed stories of Harry's dad and his friends being unregistered animagi when they were at Hogwarts.
"We've tried to tell Harry to just try the spell again, but he's stubborn. His should've consistently produced a mule," Ron said.
Hermione pulled out three blank sheets of parchment and handed them to Zora. "Do you want to try?"
"Sure, why not. What's the incantation again?"
"Acclaro animagus."
Zora pulled out her wand and pointed it at the parchment. She tried to think of what animal she would most like to be, and decided it would be a squirrel. Squirrels were cute and they got to scamper up in the trees. She imagined the squirrel on the paper, and then said, "Acclaro animagus!"
She watched in amazement as a bluish-green mist flowed from her wand. As soon as it reached the parchment, black ink began to outline the animal. It spread outward and inward, but it was hard to tell what animal it was getting at. Then it began to fill in with a reddish-brown color, just a shade lighter than Zora's hair. A bushy tail began to fill in at the back. Zora was hopeful for the squirrel, but realized that she'd be a deformed squirrel at best. Then Zora realized that she was looking at a fox. Once the ink had finished, the fox was as clear as if it was a photograph.
"Well, it wasn't what I was expecting," she told the attentive audience. She performed the spell two more times, each time producing an equally clear fox, only from different angles. "So, what does a fox mean? That I'm sly and cunning? I was hoping for a squirrel."
Ron stifled a snort. Hermione, however, had the explanation ready in the book on her lap. "This book says that foxes are generous, creative, flirtatious, passionate, impatient, and procrastinating."
Zora's brilliant smile returned. "Well, what do you know? That is me. So how do I put all this knowledge to work now?"
Hermione's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Well, Zora, becoming an animagus is very complicated. That's just the first step. It takes even the brightest witches and wizards years to perfect. Professor McGonagal said it took her six years to get it just right. And then you have to register and take Animagus Ethics classes, and…"
"By the time you've done all that, it saps all the fun out of even being an animagus," Ron finished. Hermione shot him a look. Zora nodded in understanding, but deep down she had a feeling that if she really wanted to become her fox, she could. She didn't say this, of course, because she didn't want to get into a debate with Hermione about the levels of difficulty. Hermione was indeed clever, and Zora really liked her a great deal, but she seemed to have difficulty understanding that some people just naturally had certain abilities that didn't require books. And Zora, apart from being a Soother, stubborn enough to accomplish anything she put her mind to.
That night, Zora dreamt she was the fox. She saw herself freely sprinting through a field. She came to the edge of a forest, where she instinctively met up with a beagle, a beaver, a stallion, and a phoenix. It was the oddest animal grouping she'd ever seen. This animal group seemed content with themselves and their cleverness. But suddenly, the fox felt drawn away from the group. She found herself pursuing a white weasel. And the fox was torn between the weasel and the others, because she felt she belonged with both. But the other animals didn't trust the weasel, and the weasel felt he was too good to be with the other animals. The fox pleaded with both parties, but neither one would budge. Zora finally awoke with a start, feeling frustrated and conflicted.
* * *
Excitement was running rampant through the Burrow on the morning of September the first. Sure, this was nothing more than the usual train ride for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, but it was Zora's first time, and her excitement was contagious. She'd even brought along the camera she'd purchased at Diagon Alley so that she could document her first year at Hogwarts right from the beginning.
Ryan had insisted in paying for transportation to King's Cross, to show his appreciation to the Weasleys for agreeing to care for Zora during the remainder of her education. So at nine o'clock sharp the morning of the first, the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry piled into a muggle van and headed for London. Zora practically hummed the entire way, much to Ron's amusement.
"You'd think she'd never been on a ruddy train before."
"Well, I haven't been on this one, Ronald." Zora resumed her humming. When they got to King's Cross, Zora was like a kid on Christmas morning. She looked at the rest, her eyes bright. "Would anyone mind if I went through with Uncle Arthur first? It's just that, well, my real dad never got to do this with me, and it's kind of a big deal for me." It was amazing that despite her childlike excitement about going to Hogwarts, she was still remarkably mature. No one had issues with her going through the barrier first, as the novelty had worn off for the rest of them years ago.
Zora and Mr. Weasley strode up to the barrier, and once they'd checked to make sure no muggles were watching, they pushed through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. When Harry came through the barrier moments later, he saw Zora's eyes wide with excitement. She was already busy taking snapshots of the Hogwarts Express. It was clearly everything she'd hoped.
After saying their goodbyes, the five teens found a compartment near the end of the train. They'd noticed some Slytherins towards the front and decided to sit in the farthest section from them. Harry hoped that for once he could have a Malfoy-free trip to Hogwarts. Ron and Harry got into a game of Wizard's chess, while Ginny and Hermione filled Zora in on the Who's Who of Hogwarts so that she wouldn't feel left out. Ron was still shocked that Hermione hadn't opted to ride with the prefects as she'd done the previous year. Hermione insisted that part of her duties as a Prefect was to ensure that new students felt comfortable, and as Zora was a new student, Hermione was quite justified in riding with them. Ron smirked. He had a feeling that he was part of the reason that she was riding with them as well. After an hour on the train, Neville Longbottom came in to say hello. He blushed fiercely when he was introduced to Zora, as she greeted him with her usual warm smile and hug. He actually seemed uncomfortable around her, which was an unusual reaction to Zora, but then Neville was quite unusual himself. He never ceased to surprise them. He stayed in their compartment long enough to be polite, and then excused himself. Angelina Johnson also came in to talk Quidditch prospects. The pretty seventh year seemed lost without Fred, but Lee Jordan was a seventh year as well, so she wasn't completely devoid of her old crowd. She didn't stay long either.
In all of Zora's excitement that morning, she'd forgotten to ask Hermione to cast the apathy charm. As Ginny had predicted, Hermione cast the charm correctly on her first attempt, and with amazing accuracy. She had been doing them for Zora each morning since then, meaning that Zora had not yet had to deal with any pressing conversations with Harry. But that morning had been so hectic, she completely forgot. By this point in the train ride, she was feeling rather open, and the glances Harry kept throwing her way made her feel uncomfortable.
She stood. "I'm going to, erm, get some air."
Ginny sat up, alarmed. "Are you alright, Zora?"
"I'm fine. I'm just not used to traveling this long by train."
Ron grinned. "Novelty worn off already, cousin?"
"Shut up, Ron." Zora tried to scowl at him, but couldn't. "I shouldn't be long. I just need to get up and walk around, that's all." She left the compartment and headed to the back of the train. There was a small balcony type thing on the very back. She could step outside there.
* * *
Draco Malfoy grew bored with Crabbe and Goyle very quickly these days. When he was a first year, he found amusement in the fact that they would do anything he told them to. But then both their fathers had done the same for Lucius Malfoy and still did for that matter. It wouldn't be so much to stomach if the two of them weren't such idiots, Draco thought with a frown. Most of the time they don't even know when to laugh at my jokes. Draco seriously wondered how it was possible they were still even in school. They couldn't have done well on their O.W.L.S. He looked across the compartment to the fourth Slytherin sitting with them.
Pansy Parkinson sat there, looking more like a pug than usual. She kept looking at Draco expectantly, which only annoyed him even more. The girl threw herself at Draco unabashedly, which drained all of the fun out of anything Draco did with her. He wasn't sure if it was his family's money or his father's power which attracted Pansy more. It certainly wasn't Draco's personality, because he treated her almost as badly as he treated Granger. Pansy conveniently ignored this treatment and continued to treat Draco like a king. Draco despised her. She'd lost her novelty very quickly also. It was fourth year when he finally gave in and messed around with her. She, of course, had been hinting at such things since they were third years, but Draco was in no mood to snog with Dementors hanging around. It was the Yule Ball when they'd crept out of the Great Hall and found a secluded bush to snog in. Even then, it was only the fact that they were breaking rules that gave Draco any thrill. There was no challenge to Pansy. It was just disgusting. It wasn't that any of the other Slytherin girls were either. Draco could have any one of them he wanted. They regularly made that clear to him. But Draco wasn't interested in their gold digging motives either.
Especially when he thought of where that money was coming from.
But Pansy might come in handy at the beginning of this term to help him-erm-release those stresses. Draco's summer had been particularly miserable, as his father had been home frequently during the summer. Lucius had been in a particularly good mood now that the Dark Lord was steadily rising. He also seemed quite eager to have Draco prove himself to Voldemort the first chance he got. Voldemort, however, did not have any use for the young Malfoy yet. Draco sneered.
As if he couldn't take the revulsion any longer, he suddenly got up. Crabbe and Goyle instantly followed suit. Pansy looked confused.
"I'm going to walk around," he sneered at her. "Don't, worry, we'll come back… eventually." He waited for Crabbe to open the compartment door and then headed towards the back of the train. He'd really wished that for once they wouldn't feel the need to follow him, as he really just wanted to be away from them all, but since they were there, he thought he'd at least make a scene for their benefit. He stopped in the compartment where Neville Longbottom was, but Neville was fast asleep and there was nothing out that looked worth taking, so Draco moved on. He'd find Harry Potter's compartment. Annoying Harry wasn't much of a challenge either, but at least Harry and his fans didn't throw themselves shamelessly at Draco's feet. On some weird level, dealing with Harry Potter was refreshing.
He was trying to think of a clever insult to throw at Potter and Weasley—one that wasn't too overdone yet—when he caught sight of an unfamiliar red-headed girl stepping outside. He'd certainly never seen her before, although she had to be a student. She was too old to be a first year, but not old enough to be the new Defense teacher. The hair was an unfamiliar dark, reddish brown, not at all like other red heads at Hogwarts, he thought. He decided to follow her.
"Crabbe, Goyle, change of plans," Draco said, "I'm going outside for some air. Make sure no one bothers me." Crabbe and Goyle exchanged clueless looks, shrugged, and then turned their backs to the door, their massive bodies completely blocking the aisle.
Draco ran his hand lightly over his impeccable hair before opening the door.
Zora turned when she heard someone open the door. At first she was annoyed because she thought it might be Ron, coming to tease her some more. But when the door opened, Zora froze. Looking into her own eyes were the most intense steely-grey eyes she'd ever seen. Her powers sort of picked up on pain, torture, anger, and frustration, but mostly arrogance, but for some reason she also felt this electric spark begin in her stomach and quickly travel to the rest of her body. She could actually feel the hairs on her arm begin to rise. She'd never felt this way before.
She liked it.
She flashed the blonde stranger her dazzling smile but was quite disappointed when he returned it with the most insincere smile she'd ever seen. He walked with an air of importance, not unlike Percy, but this boy's arrogance stemmed from something different altogether. But she was instantly drawn to him despite the fact that every sense in her body warned her that he was a jerk. Perhaps it was the fact that he was styled almost as impeccably as she was, or maybe it was his Quidditch-trimmed body, the outline of which she could see through his luxury robes.
Draco continued to size up the girl on the back of the train. She smiled at him when he met her eyes. His heart gave a jolt, which he quickly suppressed, and he gave her a sly smile in return. She was pretty, with short, dark, reddish-brown hair that she had styled flawlessly. Her green eyes contrasted her hair perfectly, making them even more striking than they already were. She was dressed stylishly as well, and Draco could tell she came from a wealthy family by the quality of her designer robes. Her forest green robes matched her eyes exactly, making them stand out even more. She was petite, but her athletic body was very well-proportioned. Draco found himself wishing that her robes had been cut just a little lower at the neck.
He approached her and cleared his throat. "A little old to be starting Hogwarts, don't you think?" he wasn't quite as nasty as usual, but he had to try, just in case.
"Actually, I'm a fifth year, but I transferred. I'm Zora W…"
"You're American." Draco interrupted, looking perplexed by this.
"Yes and no. I'm transferring from an American school. But I'm actually British. My step-father is American though, and I've lived there since I was nine. But my mom wanted me to finish my education at Hogwarts."
If Draco was at all impressed with her, he didn't show it. He was very hard to read. "I suppose you think you're hot stuff, since you'll be the only American student, don't you?"
Zora was a bit put off by his rudeness. She really didn't see the need for it, but she could also sense there was something else to it. "It was nice to meet you," she finally said, "but I should head back to my compartment now. My friends will worry." She made to move past him, but something was holding her back. She liked the way she felt in the presence of this condescending stranger. In her hesitation to leave, she caught his eye. She felt her heart pound, and she quickly looked away.
Draco knew he'd hit the right spot. He could tell she was attracted to him, not that he blamed her, and she was torn between wanting to be in his presence and walking away at his rude remark. And she was certainly sexy herself. She said she was a fifth year, but Draco thought she looked older than him. She was heading to the door, but Draco didn't want her to leave yet, either. He wanted to say something, but as he knew nothing about her, he couldn't risk saying anything that might come back to ruin his plans. But still, he wanted badly to touch her, even if it was only her smooth forearm, which he could see clearly now that she was reaching her arm out to open the door. He had to make a move, something, anything. If he played it right, then at worst he would be seen as simply propositioning a good looking girl. Even Lucius wouldn't have a problem with that.
He suddenly grabbed her forearm, as if he hadn't really meant to do so. Electricity rocketed through her arm as she felt his grip on her arm. He looked down at her arm and gently caressed the smooth side of it once. That should do it, he thought, now she'll want to come back. One thing he'd learned from all the Slytherin girls is how to tell when a girl was attracted to him. And he could tell by the way a shiver had run up her arm that she was really feeling him. He smiled, although it was not the kind of smile that Zora would have found inviting except for the fact that she found him so damn intoxicating.
"That's right, Zora," he said mockingly, but in a way that sent chills up her spine, "Certainly don't keep them waiting." But the way he looked at her when he said her name was astounding. Zora still wasn't sure why he made her feel like that. But she hoped she would see him again, and soon.
She watched as he entered the train again and headed off with two big lugs in his wake. It wasn't until he and his followers entered the next compartment that it occurred to Zora that she hadn't caught his name. Then she remembered to rejoin the others. She decided against telling them about her encounter with this handsome stranger. Besides, she had no idea who he was, and if she just said a guy with pale blonde hair, well, that could be lots of guys. She decided she'd just wait until she got to talk to him again. Perhaps by then she'd be able to think of something to say to him so that she could feel those tingles again as he said her name. She looked at the spot on her arm where his fingers had touched. It felt warm. Zora sighed, feeling much like a school girl, and headed back to her compartment.
Draco headed back to his compartment feeling strangely satisfied. This new girl from America had made him feel so extraordinarily anxious that he even forgot to be nasty to Harry Potter on his way back. He entered his compartment and grimaced when he saw Pansy still sitting there faithfully. She returned his grimace with her most oily smile. He decided to allow her to massage his feet as he let his thoughts turn to Zora.
Zora, he thought, Zora… wait, I didn't get her last name. No matter, it's not like she'll be hard to miss with that hair. Not at all like that nasty red like some people have at Hogwarts. Hers is striking, mesmerizing almost. Draco continued to think about Zora as Pansy talked endlessly about who-knows-what. Draco wasn't listening. He was too busy hoping that he would get to see Zora again very soon.