.
Finding Our Way
- Part 1 -
Dreams Asunder
Chapter IV: The Accidental Stowaway
"What!" Ginny exclaimed, before reality set in. Oh hell. I'm on the train to Hogwarts. Mum is gonna have my hide! She crumpled down into the seat; this is not how today was supposed to go! She probably wouldn't even be allowed to attend Hogwarts next year after this. And Harry! She thought desolately how could he ever like me after doing something so stupid? She'd dreamed of Harry Potter as long as she could remember. The courage she had summoned to meet him and the excitement of helping and showing deserted her at the prospect of the next few hours on the train next to the boy she had crushed on since before she knew what the word meant.
Trembling and embarrassed, no – mortified, she lifted her head so that she could see his face. The Harry before her was the exact mirror of the one from her dreams, but she didn't find that odd, although perhaps she should have. What she did think was odd was Harry's worried look. "Are you alright?" he asked, softly.
Not trusting herself to speak, she just nodded. I can't believe I forgot to get off the bloody train! She moaned hiding her face this must be so embarrassing for him "Well at least you get to go to Hogwarts, like you wanted" he said in the same soft voice, but with a hint of a smile. He reached out a hand as if to pat her reassuringly, but flinched and withdrew in on himself when he realized. The action puzzled her, but she let it go, not wanting to make the situation any more uncomfortable.
The silence stretched between them, both awkward and comfortable at the same time. It was strange Ginny thought, that she felt both reassured being near Harry and yet impossibly shy.
It was Harry who finally broke the silence, asking – thank the lord – a practical question, that she could pretend anyone else had asked. "Don't other people get stuck on the train as well? People – Muggles – get on the wrong train all the time."
Yes, thank the lord for Harry Potter who made it so easy to forget who he really was. "I dunno" she answered. "Do you live with Muggles?"
"They're the only relatives I have" Harry said with a trace of bitterness.
Ginny noticed that he didn't call them family and once again felt awkward about bringing it up. "I'm sorry about your family" although she wasn't quite sure what she was apologizing for.
Harry didn't seem to know either, but ducked his head in thanks, smiling warmly, and some of the awkwardness faded. They were both still shy, and she wondered why on earth he should be shy around her – after all wasn't he the hero? But there was something familiar about him, from more than just a dream; about those bright green eyes and…
"Hey, is this compartment available? Everywhere else is… GINNY?" The long searching moment was broken by the loud arrival of another red head, tall and lanky, with a smudge of dirt still on his nose; it was undoubtedly her brother Ron.
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.:✯:.
"Ron-" Ginny squeaked. Could this day get any worse?
"Ginny! Mum is gonna kill you! How did you manage to get stuck on the train?" Ron demanded.
"Well I was, uh, talking" she finally managed to mumble out.
"Talking? Talking!" Ron yelled incredulously "To who?" he glared around the compartment, his suspicious gaze alighting upon Harry. "Who are you?"
"I'm Harry" Harry answered, not sure quite what to make of the taller boy.
"Blimey!" Ron blurted, all hostility leaving his face unexpectedly. "You're the one from the platform – Harry Potter!" He shot another look at Ginny, and she turned beet red, although the whole issue of her being on the train seemed forgotten.
Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room. She thought, although to give Ron some credit, ignoring the presence of Harry Potter in the room was tantamount to the same thing.
"So do you really have the scar?" Her tall, lanky brother picked up the conversation.
Ginny rolled her eyes rather exaggeratedly at this but Harry just obligingly pushed his messy black bangs aside. His scar had never been all that special to him it seemed, although being gawked at would make him feel decidedly uncomfortable. That realization only served to turn her even redder, and her eyes dropped to the floor.
"Wicked!" Ron proclaimed at the sight, earning him another eye roll from his sister. "So do you remember what happened? You defeated him after all!" He left no allusion as to which 'him' he was referring.
Ginny barely suppressed a groan, and actually managed to hold Harry's eyes long enough to give him a sympathetic look, she had a feeling that her brother wasn't going to make being a friend easy on him.
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.:✯:.
Harry's heart rate quickened as "Not really…" In truth Harry did remember flashes – images of a room being lit up by a sickly green light and screaming – and they tortured him in his nightmares. Sometimes those nightmares included other things, memories that were hazy and confused, but filled with a feeling of cruel pleasure. Once he even dreamed that he was the one levelling what he now knew to be a wand at a woman and laughing as she died in the green light, before turning the wand on the baby she was shielding. He had woken up screaming, and for once took comfort in the confines of his cupboard bedroom.
"Just a lot of green light" he finished. This seemed to satisfy Ron although he noticed Ginny was watching him closely. She blushed and turned away as he met her gaze.
"What about your parents?" Ron asked. Harry just shook his head.
"You prat, Ron!" Ginny hissed as soon as the words left his mouth, the cute blushing girl seemed to be forgetting her shyness as her temper flared. His earlier discomfort forgotten, he smiled at the byplay.
"What?" Ron asked obtusely. Ginny didn't dignify this with a response, at least not verbally. "Ow!" Ron yelped suddenly, as Ginny slugged him on the shoulder. "Alright, alright! Sorry… geesh" Ron murmured, abashed.
"It's alright, as I said, I don't really remember much." Harry was trying to hide a smirk, his mood drastically improved by their byplay. He was loath to admit that he wasn't at all offended by Ron insensitive prying into his parents' deaths on the back of years of the Dursley's slandering. Shaking the thought aside, he just enjoyed the company of the two redheads, his first friends.
After Ron's insensitive line of questioning he'd immediately launched into a vivid description of his own family, and Harry found himself feeling envious, but he quickly crushed the thought. Ginny he noticed, was being practically silent, only offering a word here or there, and he himself just mainly nodded. Ron seemed perfectly fine to carry the conversation when it turned to his pet.
"-and so Scabbers has been in the family for years" he was saying, Ginny snorted in disgust but otherwise didn't comment. "He was Percy's before mine, although I think Charlie might have found him first. Of course 'perfect prefect Percy' got an owl this year…"
"I've got an owl" Harry said softly, suddenly afraid about how his companion would be received.
"Really?" Ron asked.
An indignant hoot from Hedwig in her cage drew there attention, and so he brought her down from on top of his luggage. "This is Hedwig."
"She's beautiful" Ginny cooed softly. Harry smiled.
"How do you know it's a she?"
"Honestly Ron, Hedwig is a girl's name. And a good one." she added to him, despite her cheeks staining pink, again. He didn't now it was possible to blush so much… it was kind of endearing to him, and for some reason made him feel more comfortable in the fact that he wasn't the only one uncomfortable. At least that's what he thought.
Ron seemed a little sulky after being introduced to Harry's Owl, and for a while the conversation was scarce as Harry had no idea what to say. Ginny seemed content with the silence, and she had moved seat next to him so she could stroke Hedwig on his shoulder. He did notice that she kept her eyes steadfastly on the floor though. The awkward silence was ended by the arrival of the lunch trolley.
"Anything from the Trolley dears?" The kind old witch asked.
"Blimey, is it lunch time already?" Ron was out of his funk in a moment at the thought of food. Harry met Ginny's gaze as she rolled her eyes, and smirked in response. It was pretty funny to watch.
"Can I get you anything then?" The serving witch repeated to Ron.
Ron pulled out a wrapped home made sandwich from somewhere in his pocket. "I've uh – I'm all set." Harry gave him a sympathetic look, that sandwich had definitely seen better days.
He looked to Ginny beside him and remembered that she wasn't even supposed to be on the train, with some surprise. He wondered for a moment what would happen to her once they got to Hogwarts, what her parents would be thinking right now.
Moving to the immediate problem he asked "Have you got any lunch Gin?" She sook her head in the negative. "Me neither."
The trolley lady smiled down at them. "So what can I get you?"
This drew Harry up short. He had no idea what anything on the trolley was, so he said the only thing that came to mind. "A bit of everything, I hope this is enough." He fished into his pockets for the galleons he had got from his vault.
"More than enough" she said, ringing him up. "Have a good day."
Unloading his pile of sweets onto the seat, he looked at Ron and Ginny's gobsmacked faces for the first time. "What is it?" he asked, self consciously. "Go on help yourself." He had made sure to buy enough for three.
"Thanks Harry" Ginny muttered, while Ron alternated between glaring at her, and staring longingly at the pile of food.
Thinking quickly Harry spoke to Ron. "Tell you what Ron, I have no idea what any of this stuff is, so I'll swap you some for your sandwich."
"Are you kidding?"
"I'm serious." Not giving him a chance to wallow in misery any longer He reached over and snatched the sandwich from Ron's hand, depositing a random assortment of snacks in his lap.
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.:✯:.
Ginny watched as pride and hunger warred across Ron's face. It was inevitable which the victor would be, although she hoped Ron wouldn't resent Harry for it. It was so nice of him to buy them all food.
As Ron hesitantly took a bite of a sugar quill his resolve collapsed altogether and he began stuffing his face in the way she'd become accustomed to growing up with him. With Ron in a good mood, the conversation picked up again, although with his mouth largely incapacitated it was mostly just her and Harry talking.
She surprised herself as they easily chatted back and forth about various magical sweets and, upon Harry's discovery of chocolate frogs, collecting the wizard cards. It was easy to not think of him as the baby superhero from her childhood when here he was an ordinary, yet unbelievably cute, boy. It was a good thing she thought, that he was no superhero who'd faced off against evil wizards multiple times. She didn't know how she would survive in his presence if he was.
She laughed loudly as Scabbers lunged and spilt a box of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans from his hand and buried himself in it. Ron was just threatening to turn him yellow, empty words she knew since it was a 'Fred and George spell', when the compartment door slid open again.
A bushy, brown-haired young girl strode in. "Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one" she announced, although Ginny was sure it was meant to be a question. Her sharp brown eyes locked onto Ron and the wand in his hand. "Are you doing magic? We're not supposed to outside of school, but Hogwarts: A history considers the train a grey area, although I was aloud to practice a few simple ones when the Professor visited our house – they all worked for me. Well, let's see it then."
"Blimey, don't you need to breathe?" Ron asked, and Ginny directed a swift kick at his ankle, although honestly she was thinking along the same lines.
"Oh, perhaps I should have introduced myself. I'm Hermione Granger. And you are?"
"Ron Weasley." He answered stiffly. "And this is my little sister Ginny."
Ginny glared at Ron for introducing her as his little sister but before she could retort Hermione had started speaking again.
"Really? Are you twins? Are you both starting Hogwarts this year?"
Ginny was embarrassed all over again, as Ron told of how she'd been talking to 'the Harry Potter' and forgot to get off the train. He seemed to be teasing, but it really hurt her, that he'd mock her front of someone else, they didn't even know. And especially about being stuck on the train with Harry. After all, her entire family knew of her childhood crush on the Boy-Who-Lived.
Hermione for her part looked scandalized at Ginny. "You know you're breaking the school rules!" she protested condescendingly. "They might not even let you back next year."
Harry had remained silent throughout the whole confrontation so far, and Ginny was startled to hear his voice all of a sudden. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I bet people missing and staying on the train happens all the time"
"No it doesn't!" Hermione contradicted. "Since the train was first implemented few people have missed and there has never been a case of someone being on the train when they're not supposed too. It's warded. People who aren't on the Hogwarts staff or roster can't get on the train – or rather, it doesn't leave if there's someone on it who shouldn't be." As if only now realizing the importance of the information she shared, she turned an accusing eye on Ginny. "How did you end up on the train?"
"I don't know!" Ginny snapped, angry and frustrated with both the bossy girl and Ron.
"You must have done something!"
"She didn't do anything!" Harry suddenly snapped, followed by a sigh. "I was there ok. Maybe your wards aren't as good as you think. You don't even know how they work."
"I read about them." She insisted. "Hang on, you were there? You're Harry Potter! I've read all about you, but I thought you of all people wouldn't help break the rules."
Ginny sat there stunned as Harry argued on her behalf. Ok, she was pretty angry herself, and silently fuming, but Harry still stunned her. It made her feel indescribably warm inside.
Hermione seemed to subside a bit, looking at Harry almost studiously. "I'm sure proper authority will take care of it, it's not really our problem to deal with." She quickly changed tack yet again. "I'm a muggleborn. I heard that you were raised by muggles too."
"Er – right." Harry said, now looking very uncomfortable.
"Weren't you looking for a toad?" Ginny piped in, taking a slight malicious pleasure in the sudden look of guilt that flashed across the other girl's face.
"Oh! Right. I should probably check that Neville hasn't found it already. You should think about getting changed soon, we can't be too far from the station." Hermione stood up then and turned promptly back at them one last time in the door way. "You've got some dirt on your nose." she said pointedly to Ron, then guided the door shut behind her.
"Bloody mental!" Ron said glowering at Hermione's last comment. "Honestly. She's as bad as mum."
That thought sent a cold chill though Ginny, as she wondered what was going to happen when her mother found out. She didn't want to face another reaction like Hermione's, and her mother was known to have temper far worse.
She was grateful when the compartment door slid open again to a shy, pudgy faced boy, tearing her away from her thoughts. "H-have you seen my t-t-toad, T-Trevor?" he asked.
"Sorry mate" Ron said, and the boy looked down.
"Oh, al-alright."
"Hey, is it Neville?" Harry asked.
The new boy looked surprised. "Yeah. That's me" he managed not to stutter.
"Hermione just left here, I think she headed the other way down the train. Are you new to Hogwarts this year too?"
"Yes" he brightened.
"Would you like a hand looking for, Trevor, was it?" Harry offered quietly "This is Ginny and Ron" Harry introduced, continuing "and I'm – "
"Would you move, Longbottom!" a sneering voice came from the carriage. As Neville looked torn between entering the compartment and fleeing down the carriage, Ginny patted the seat beside her.
He smiled gratefully, and sat down, revealing a pale blonde boy in the hall, flanked by two others; massive, hulking and rather stupid looking.
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.:✯:.
"People up and down the carriage have been talking" the pale boy said slowly "That Harry Potter is on the train."
Harry instantly recognized this boy from Diagon Alley and their run in at the wizarding tailor there. Madam something or other's. The other boy had never seen his face, and it seemed that he didn't recognize him.
Beside him Harry heard Neville gasp, and his eyes seek out Harry. The pale boy's eyes were also locked on the same place, the slightly visible bottom of Harry's scar. "This is Crabbe, and Goyle" he indicated to each of the massive boys on his left and right. "And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."
A badly concealed snort of laughter split the silence and Draco turned his baleful gaze on Ron.
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask you yours. Red hair, and hand-me-down clothes – you must be a Weasley." He said the name with such scorn that Harry was forcefully reminded of the Dursley's. "Oh and there are two of you? You spread like the plague."
Ron was shaking in his seat in fury, his ears burning bright red, only the sight of the two bodyguards on either side of Malfoy kept him at bay. Ginny too seemed to be stewing on the spot.
Malfoy wasn't done yet though, he ignored Neville and focused on Harry. "You will learn that some types of wizards in this world are better than others Potter. I can help you there."
"I think I can tell the wrong type for myself thanks" Harry deadpanned right back.
Draco's face coloured, and his eye's narrowed in anger. "My Father told me of your parents Potter – hanging with the wrong sort. If you're not careful you'll meet the same end."
"I'm sure" Ginny sneered "Voldemort couldn't kill him, and you think you could!"
Everyone flinched apart from him at the mention of Voldemort's name, and Ron continued to stare at his sister incredulously. Malfoy seemed to only be getting angrier, and he took a menacing step towards Ginny. Ginny shot up to meet him, and Harry grabbed her hand to hold her back.
It was then that the strangest of things happened. Malfoy looked ready to slap Ginny, but she threw a hand out towards him. It didn't connect, but then it needn't of, because Malfoy was thrown out of the compartment. But that wasn't all, his robes; from where Ginny's hand had pointed and radiating outwards, were changing colour to a bright hot pink.
Malfoy staggered to his feet, throwing of Crabbe and Goyle's hands. He shot a venomous look back into the compartment, but then looked down at himself and rushed back down the train towards his own compartment, trying to cover himself as he went.
In the wake of the sudden magical blast, Harry felt strangely tired, like he'd just run a long distance. Ginny too, looked to be wavering on her feet, and he helper back down onto the seat. The compartment was filled with a tense silence for a long moment before Ron burst into laughter.
"That was brilliant Ginny!"
"The git deserved it."
"But what did you do?" Ron asked, "I mean how-?"
"Dunno Ron" She answered. Harry smirked, and began to recant his tale of his previous run in with Malfoy. Neville too added a story from earlier on the train, and they spent the rest of the ride abusing the 'slick git' as Ginny termed him. Harry thought the name was quite fitting.
Before they knew it a loud voice rang over the train announcing that they would be arriving in 10 minutes and to ensure that everyone had their robes on and left their trunks behind.
It was a frantic rush for Harry and Ron to robe themselves while Ginny waited outside the compartment. Neville had returned to his original compartment to change, bolstered by their assurances that Trevor would turn up.
A couple of minutes later when they invited Ginny back in Harry realized she would stand out like a sore thumb at the station. It seemed Ginny knew it too, because she looked like she was absolutely dreading the train arriving. It was then Harry had an idea. He had plenty of spare robes, and he was on the small side, out of he and Ron, Ginny was far closer to him in stature – by a long margin.
Quickly sifting through his trunk he pulled out another set of robes and thrust them at Ginny.
"Um, what do you want me to do with these?" she asked.
"Take them, put them on" he said. "Come on Ron." He beckoned for the other red head to follow him out of the compartment.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed. "Ginny is going to stand out on the platform if she isn't in robes. This way she can come with us to the castle, and speak to a teacher without being embarrassed in front of the whole school."
"Mate, are you sure you want my sister in your robes?" Ron asked. Ginny harrumphed loudly. "And mum won't like her in your things."
"What?" Harry muttered, before inspiration struck again. He fished back into is trunk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen from the Dursley's and scribbled a quick note on it. HE then shoved the note into the pocket of the robes still being held by Ginny. "There. Now come on Ron, or she won't have time to change!" Harry gave Ron a bit of a shove to get him on his way, and saw Ginny looking curiously between him and the note in the robe pocket. "Don't worry about it now" he told Ginny, before joining Ron outside the compartment.
It was barely five minutes later that the train began to slow to a stop. It came to a full rest and he and Ron looked anxiously back at the compartment to where Ginny was changing. Thankfully the door opened moments later and Ginny rushed out, trying to smile past her worried face. They were at Hogwarts.
Now I won't apologize for my portrayal of Hermione, and to all fans of her character, I will stand by my word that I will not just bash her character. However for young children/preteens facing someone with her attitude initially, and especially someone in Ginny's situation is never going to be friendly meeting.
On the other end Draco deserves everything he gets, but that's another element altogether.
Upon review of the first book I did find Hermione's character initially quite hard to stomach. And while Harry and Ron are definitely not faultless in the situations that arise, I find Hermione is quite self centered, whether intentionally or not, and I it is on this basis I am portraying her in this chapter, and I believe that she would percieve Ginny's being on the train an affront to her person as she is breaking the rules and being supported in it by someone she somewhat idolizes (Harry).
~Benign vieweR~
