Chapter TWELVE

"Crabbe and Goyle should have secured a cabin for us," Draco says.

No one asks who 'Crabbe' and 'Goyle' are, because soon enough, two boys come down from the other end of the corridor and Draco nods curtly at them before he beings to follow them further onto the train.

"Didn't he say, friends?" Naruto whispers.

"Seems more like minions," Sakura replies.

They are lead into an empty cabin. Draco immediately takes a seat by the window and the two boys obediently sit opposite him.

"Apparently, Hogwarts is hosting a special event this year," Draco tells them, as they move about putting their things onto the compartments above. "Father was told by Cornelius Fudge." Sasuke sees Naruto roll his eyes as the Malfoy begins praising his father again and while he does not make such an outwardly reaction, he agrees with his teammate. Sasuke then eyes the space between the boys, then the space beside Draco, before he nudges Sakura into the latter seat and sits beside her.

Naruto huffs, then takes a seat opposite Sasuke. "Could you and Sakura-chan switch seats?" He asks. "I don't want to spend the entire time staring into your ugly face."

Sasuke scoffs. "I'm more worried looking at you would make me blind."

"Boys," Sakura sighs. "We're not even moving yet, so please, try to be mature." She then turns to the two boys openly staring at them. "Draco, who are your friends?"

Draco makes a face at the term but does not correct her. "Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe," he says curtly. "Goyle, Crabbe, these are Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. They're children of my father's friends."

The two boys nod awkwardly and Sasuke decides to leave the diplomatic or political or friendly whatever all to Sakura, who smiles brightly at them.

"He says friends, but calls them by their surnames," he notes.

"Maybe you do that for people you aren't that close with?" Sakura says. "Like back at home."

A moment later, there is a knock at the compartment door and Sasuke looks up to see a girl as well as two boys, all in a green tie, just like Draco, Gregory, and Vincent. "Draco!" The girl calls, then she eyes the members of Team Seven with part curiosity and part irritation in her eyes. "Who're you?"

One of the boys pulls the girl back. "Thought we could sit with you, but I guess your compartment's full."

For a moment, Draco looks torn, and Naruto speaks up. "You can sit with your friends if you want. We can go look for another compartment."

Draco looks alarmed at this, and he shakes his head. "No, it's fine," he says, and instead chases the two boys opposite him out of the cabin. The two boys don't even complain as they shuffle out and Sasuke catches the frown on Sakura's face as she watches them.

Naruto, now awkwardly sitting alone opposite them, grabs Sakura's wrist and tugs her over to sit next to him. Sasuke sighs, but follows, because he was not sitting squished between a bunch of magic children.

The girl rushes over and seats herself next to Draco, and the two other boys squeeze in next to her.

"Pansy Parkinson," Draco says, gesturing towards the girl. "Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," the blond says, grinning. "This is Haruno Sakura, and that's Uchiha Sasuke."

"He said our surnames first," Sakura supplies helpfully.

"Why are sitting with Draco?" The girl asks, rather haughtily.

Draco quickly leans in. "Our parents are friends," he says. "They're here for a year as transfer students."

Pansy huffs and folds her arms but Sasuke sees a familiar glint in Theodore's eyes and realizes that the boy too must have some relation to the Dark Lord.

"Transfers?" Blaise asks. "Then you aren't sorted yet?"

Sakura shakes her head. "We're doing that when we get to school today," she explains.

"Which house are you hoping to get into?"

Sasuke narrows his eyes, recognizing that the answer to the question would be a rather important one. He glances over to his teammates; it appears they were already being asked to choose a stance.

However, Draco, surprisingly, appears to be biting his lip, but he does not say anything.

"Well," Sakura begins. "The housing system is very new for us. Where we come from education, is done a little different, so we're really not sure."

Instantly, Pansy's attention seems to turn from the Hogwarts houses to where Team Seven came from. Sasuke knows he should be listening, just in case someone asks him about something alter and his story clashes with the one Sakura is currently weaving, but he is just so bored.

His blond teammate leans in towards him from behind Sakura. "Do you think Lucy asked his son to keep an eye on us?" Naruto asks.

Draco jumps at their change in language, but for now, none of them pay him any attention.

"That would explain why he didn't want us to leave, and Lucius did tell him something earlier," Sasuke agrees. "Though what happens if we're sorted into different houses? Draco either isn't very good at this, isn't thinking it through, or there's another reason."

"What are you saying?" Pansy asks, curiously. "What language is that?"

Sasuke sees Draco flinch again and his hand twitches, almost like he wants to the stop the girl from further questioning her. Sakura, however, simply smiles. "It's Japanese," she tells her. "The boys are just nervous; they revert back to our mother tongue when they're nervous."

Sasuke tries his best to not look offended; it is a good cover, but he was most definitely not nervous. From the corner of his eye, he sees Naruto's lip twitch.

"Well, I guess it must be pretty nerve-wracking to enter a new school," Theodore guesses, and Sasuke sees him and the young Malfoy share a look.

"It helps that we already know some people going in," Sakura says easily, and not once does her smile waver. "I have to say, it's also a little exciting."

Finally, Naruto loses it. He bursts out laughing, and hand flying to his head as he shakes.

Sakura turns to him, her smile no longer present, and stares blankly. "What?" She asks.

"You sound so normal, Sakura-chan," Naruto gasps out. "You sound so nice-"

The blond's words are cut off by a sharp intake of air as the pinkette nails him in the side with a painful looking elbow jab. He doubles over and clutches at his stomach.

Sakura turns back to the Hogwarts students, who are now staring at them, her smile back in place. "He's nervous," she says.

IMPORTANT QUESTION:

Does anyone know WHY people need to have seen death be able to see thestrals?

Was it ever explained?

Chapter twelve is here~

Darque: They get sorted next chapter (Probably. They will, unless they're attacked by something before they get to school and they're delayed).

Raven: Dun Dun DDDUUUUUUNNNNNN.

Darque: We haven't written it yet, but the SORTING WILL BE HERE SOON.

Raven: Now we're just going to go converse over google docs chat for the FINAL SHOWDOWN: WHERE TO PUT TEAM SEVEN.

Darque: Oooo yessss.

Read and Review~