Chapter Four
-The Lonesome Train-
The day before the end of the summer holidays couldn't have come fast enough for Meredith. She'd spent the last two weeks stuck inside with Mafalda since she was too worried she'd bump into Silas and his friends if she left the house.
That evening she sat next to her father on the couch, he squeezed her shoulders with his arm.
"Why are you so quiet today, Meri?" he asked fondly.
Meredith shrugged, not willing to tell her father about the fight with Silas- or to bring up that failure of a shopping trip. Other than that one argument her parents had had, no one had mentioned anything to do with the trip to Diagon Alley. The look on her mother's face when anyone even whispered the word 'Weasley' caused her mother to scowl in dislike.
"Just nervous for school," she said distractedly, "I haven't done all the reading like Mafi has- I don't want to be left behind."
It was a lie, although she hadn't read much of her textbooks, but it put her father's mind at rest.
"Only little nerds do the reading before the school year has even started," he whispered to her.
Meredith snorted a laugh.
"I bet you did the reading when you were at school," she said slyly.
"Yes, well, your mother was always the cool one."
"You would never see your father without a book of some sort in his hands." Mrs Prewett walked into the living room and gracefully sat on the arm of the chair. "I was too busy joining all of the social clubs at school," she said happily, "maybe you should join one, make new friends?"
Meredith pulled a face- she would not be adding on more work to her inevitably busy school year. She also knew her mother wanted her to find less troublesome friends. Meredith hadn't told her everything about what had happened last year at Hogwarts but had mentioned enough for her mother to suspect her friends were bad influences.
It wasn't long after that, that Mr Prewett ushered her off to bed, knowing she'd need the rest.
The next morning, Mr Prewett woke the girls up early while Mrs Prewett made breakfast- cheese and ham omelettes with finely diced red peppers. A personal favourite of theirs.
Everything was organised and ready to go at the Prewett house. The night before they'd packed the trunks into the car with all of the girls' belongings. Only thing left to go was Hobgoblin, who chirped nervously at the busy kitchen. He'd gotten used to spending the mornings perched lazily in the sun with only Mrs Prewett keeping him company. Meredith thought it hilarious that of all the people in her family to bond with the skittish owl, it would be her mother. The two were often seen sitting at the kitchen table while Mrs Prewett read a book or folded laundry.
"Eat up," Mrs Prewett said as she put Hobgoblin back into his cage- he puffed at her indignantly.
"That owl is going to be miserable without you, mum," Meredith said with a mouth full of omelette.
"Close your mouth, Meredith," Mafalda said, her nose scrunched in disgust. Naturally, Meredith opened her mouth wider and showed off the chewed up food. Mafalda threw a napkin at her face.
"I'll miss the owl more than I'll miss the two of you," Mrs Prewett said light heartedly.
The girls protested back, immediately joining forces against their mother.
The morning was so enjoyable that Meredith was almost sad to leave her family home.
They said goodbye to Mrs Prewett at the door, each giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Just as they were pulling out of the driveway, Meredith saw Silas standing on his front step. He gave her a small smile and a wave before he bolted back inside. At least she got to see him once before leaving- maybe she'd send him a letter this term and see how he responded.
The drive to the London train station was a long one and they spent it singing along to the radio- even Mafalda joined in.
Mr Prewett stopped at the drop off spot, not bothering to turn off the engine as he had to leave for work promptly once the girls were out. They grabbed their trunks from the boot and threw them on a nearby trolley. Meredith carefully placed Hobgoblin's cage on top of the cases- the owl seemed close to passing out from panic.
They waved the silver family car off before they headed into the train station. Meredith was craning her neck to see if she could spot the Weasleys.
"I doubt they're here yet," sighed Mafalda, "that would actually require them to be on time, you know."
Meredith didn't respond, instead she pushed the trolley quicker to the pillar separating platform nine and ten.
"I'll go first," said Meredith. She pushed her legs into a sprint, rushing herself and the trolley towards the wall.
One second she was surrounded by gormless muggles, the next she's looking at the beautiful, shining red steam engine.
Mafalda wasn't far behind her, and quickly started pulling her trunk from the trolley.
"Hey! You'll knock over Hobgoblin," said Meredith crossly.
Mafalda ignored her and waved over an older Slytherin, who came over to help her with her things.
"Later," she remarked absently as she left Meredith on her own.
Meredith huffed in frustration. She grabbed the handle of Hobgoblin's cage with one hand and used her other hand to pull her heavy trunk to the ground. It landed with a loud thump, causing her owl to screech in fright. Meredith's cheeks went pink as people turned to stare at her.
"Did you need a hand, Meredith?" a small voice asked.
It was Neville. His light brown hair fell lazily against his forehead, his green eyes almost watery with his nervousness. Meredith smiled tightly at him.
"Sure," she said, handing Hobgoblin over to him and using both hands to drag her trunk to the train.
"You can put your stuff in my compartment, Meri," Neville said happily, helping Meredith hoist her trunk up the steps.
They weaved through other students until they finally found their compartment. It was still empty except for Neville's things- including his small tank for his toad, Trevor. Meredith fiddled with the bracelet around her wrist- remembering that she'd never actually thanked Neville for the gift from last year Christmas.
He noticed her touching it and smiled happily- she felt too embarrassed to say anything. Instead she started lifting her trunk up to the storage above their heads. After lots of huffing and a bit of swearing, they managed to get it safely stowed away.
"How was your summer?" asked Neville. "Gran made me read all my textbooks over and over again- she wasn't very happy with my marks."
"I just spent it with my family," Meredith said distractedly, looking out the window for her friends. "Have you seen Harry?"
Neville looked crestfallen for a moment. "No not yet- but look! There's Hermione!"
Hermione was on the platform giving her parents a big hug goodbye.
Meredith pulled open the window and stuck her head out.
"Oi Granger!" she yelled loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the area, "hurry up! - oh, hello Mr and Mrs Granger!"
Hermione's parents waved as their daughter rolled her eyes.
It wasn't long before the task of shoving a new trunk into the luggage storage was underway. Meredith, Hermione and Neville fell into their seats once they were done.
"I guess we're just waiting for Ron and Harry, then," Hermione said.
"They'd better hurry- or the train will leave without them!" Meredith said, still staring out the window- trying to spot a messy head of black hair- and of course a redhead too.
The train made a quick jolt before very slowly moving forward out of the station.
"Maybe they're already on," said Neville reassuringly.
"I'd have seen Harry," snapped Meredith- blushing instantly at how she must have sounded.
"Well there's nothing we can do now," said Hermione calmly, "we'll just find them later- maybe they're with Ginny and the twins. It is Ginny's first year, after all."
Just then the door slid open and in the doorway were the very people they were discussing.
"Alright you three," said Fred.
"You wouldn't mind watching Ginny, would you?" asked George. "She's a nervous wreck."
"I am not!"
"Well she will be if she stays with us the whole trip," responds Fred before gently pushing Ginny into their compartment and closing the door.
"Where's Harry and Ron?" asked Meredith as a way of greeting.
"How are you, Ginny?" asked Hermione- talking loudly over Meredith's question and sending her a dirty look as if to say she was being rude.
"I am a little nervous but okay otherwise- just hope I get into Gryffindor." She fiddled with the sleeve of her sweater before taking a seat across from Hermione, next to Neville. "Where's my brother- and Harry?" She blushed when she said Harry's name.
"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us that," Meredith said, a pit forming in her stomach. "Oh they're up to something stupid, aren't they?"
"More than likely," agreed Hermione, sharing a knowing look with Meredith.
They sat there for an hour having light conversation- Meredith and Hermione getting more and more worried.
"Should we just go have a look?" Huffed Meredith, "there's no point sitting here and doing nothing but worry."
"I'll come with you-"
"That's alright Neville," Meredith said quickly, "you can keep Ginny company for a moment."
Ginny looked likely to complain but didn't want to hurt Neville's feelings.
The two girls made their way down towards the back of the train, glancing in each compartment. As expected, there was no sign of the boys, but there were signs of some bullied first years.
"What happened to you then?" Meredith asked a sniffling girl with black hair. Her shoulders shook as she hiccuped.
"These Slyrherins came in here and took all our treats and jinxed her to dance- actually one of them looked a bit like you! She said that-"
"Okay that's enough," interrupted Meredith, making the blond first year boy slam his mouth shut so hard it made a snapping sound. "What's your name?"
"I'm Colin Creevey- both my parents are normal so me being a wizard was really shocking- they're so proud though and I've got this camera-"
Meredith huffed in exasperation, this small, scrappy first year sure knew how to talk.
"I'll go get your things back," Meredith said loudly, talking over Colin.
"Is this a good idea?" Hermione whispered to her urgently as they left the first years in their compartment.
Meredith shrugged.
"I just think starting a fight with some Slytherins is a bad way to start the year," continued Hermione, "and fighting with your sister after I know how hard you've been working to keep things friendly! This just seems counterproductive."
"I won't fight, Hermione, I promise." Meredith quickly turned to face her friend, stopping her in her tracks. "You should go back and make sure Neville isn't boring Ginny to death-maybe Harry and Ron are there. I can talk to my sister on my own- it's like you said, I have been working hard to be friends with her and it's paid off. She'll listen to me."
Hermione seemed doubtful but knew arguing with Meredith was no better than arguing with Harry. Both were unbearably stubborn once their minds were made up.
Meredith continued on, looking for her sister. She heard them before she saw them. Malfoy's obnoxious laugh echoing over the noise of the other students. It was followed by a shrieking heckle which could only come from Pansy Parkinson, that was followed by the dull huffs of Crabbe and Goyle- who clearly didn't get whatever joke had just been told.
Meredith paused before she came into sight of the Slytherins, trying to hear if her sister was in there with them but she couldn't hear Mafalda at all.
The group of scowls and hisses she received when she slid open their door would have scared off a lesser person, but it just made Meredith raise her chin in defiance.
"Where's my sister?" she asked as politely as she could.
"Why should we tell you?" sneered Pansy. She was sat very closely to Malfoy, obviously trying to impress him with stories of her undoubtedly extravagant summer holidays.
Meredith angled her head in mock interest, pursing her lips innocently. "I didn't realise that they taught lap dogs to talk- how interesting."
Pansy whipped out her wand with a growl- Malfoy laughed but didn't stop Pansy as she leapt to her feet. Meredith got her own wand out but remained standing steadily in the doorway, her playful expression replaced with a concentrated glare. She was ready to retaliate to whatever Pansy threw at her- she had a painful jinx to get revenge for from last year, when Pansy had sent a curse at her so hard Meredith had knocked her head and had gotten a nasty bump.
"Meri!" a voice gasped behind her, "what on earth are you doing- put those wands away immediately- are you both stupid?"
Mafalda pushed past Meredith into the tense compartment. Pansy scowled at her and looked ready to jinx her too but was apprehensive of attacking a fellow Slytherin. That could be a lot more trouble than jinxing a Gryffindor like Meredith.
"Your sister," Pansy said in disgust, "came in here looking for you- and then she called me a dog!"
"If it barks like a dog and smells like a dog…" Meredith shrugged, back to playing innocent.
Mafalda sighed and pinched her nose, looking about fifty years old.
"What did you want, Meri," she sighed, ignoring the two girls snarling at each other.
"You and your… friends stole from some first years- I've come to collect it."
"Really Meredith? You're playing hero now- we haven't even gotten to school yet and you're being so typically Gryffindor. All brawn and no brain."
Meredith flapped her mouth uselessly- not wanting to bicker in front of Malfoy and his gangs.
"All that food is already gone," continued Mafalda, not sounding guilty at all, "if you really wanted to help those crybabies- you'd teach them to stand up for themselves- but anyway, you should go back to your friends. It's time to change into our uniforms anyway."
Meredith scowled and knew she'd been beat. What was she thinking would happen when she came here? She was just frustrated that she couldn't find Harry and so went looking for the best fight she could find- and it would have been a great fight if her sister hadn't shown up when she had.
Meredith turned to go without a word but turned suddenly to face Pansy.
"I still owe you a jinx, Parkinson, don't think I'll forget."
She slammed the door shut before she could hear the response and stormed back to her compartment, where she found Hermione, Ginny and Neville- but still no sign of Harry or Ron. Hermione eyed her in question but Meredith ignored her and instead grabbed a cauldron cake and bit into it aggressively.
After she gulped it down, she told them about the interaction with the Slytherins.
"Did you go and tell those first years that there was nothing to be done?" asked Hermione.
Meredith blushed guiltily. "I completely forgot."
Hermione looked disappointed but didn't press the conversation.
"You did the best you could," said Neville sincerely.
"Thanks Nev," Meredith said, knowing that if nothing else, Neville was always good for a pat on the back. If he wasn't quietly worshipping Harry, he was trying to please Meredith. He looked down fondly at the bracelet he'd gotten her for Christmas, the little frog dancing with her every move.
"We really need to change," said Hermione sternly, "we'll be pulling up at the station any moment now."
It wasn't long before they were all changed and waiting for the train to stop. Meredith helped Ginny straighten the collar of her cloak and pushed her hair out of her face.
"You'll be fine, I promise," she said softly, so as not to embarrass Ginny- who was after all, as proud as any Weasley. "It will be over before you know it and then you'll be sitting next to me at the Gryffindor table, shoving your face with the best food money could buy."
The air outside of the train was warm and thick and Meredith fanned her face as she looked around. She wasn't sure where her, Hermione and Neville should go next. The first years had just been called over by Hagrid- Ginny giving Meredith a quick one armed hug before bolting over- so that they could take the boats over the lake. They stood cluelessly for a moment before they spotted the twins.
"Oh there's Fred and George," breathed Hermione in relief, "we'll just follow them."
They trailed behind the twins and their best friend Lee and came up to a line of horseless carriages. Each carriage was quickly getting filled with students.
"Let's get in this one, before we're stuck with someone horrible like Malfoy," Meredith said, leading them to a carriage near the back.
The inside of the carriage had dark purple cushioning with black lining. Overly dramatic, Meredith thought. It smelled slightly of old mothballs and dust- probably because they only get used once a year.
"I wonder what's pulling it," murmured Hermione.
No one else replied, knowing she was just ruminating and didn't expect any of them to know the answer.
Just before leaving they were joined by Lavender and Parvati. At least they're Gryffindors, thought Meredith, albeit annoying ones.
"Hello you two," Meredith said as the carriage magically pulled forward, "have you seen Harry?"
"I'm good thanks and you?" Parvati responded with a pointed look, knocking elbows with Lavender.
"Is he your boyfriend or something?" Lavender asked, blinking her large brown eyes in interest.
Meredith thought she looked like a baby cow- cute but clueless.
"No, but he's our friend," Meredith gestured to herself and Hermione, choosing not to react to their teasing and hoping this carriage journey was over quickly. At least the darkness helped cover her pink cheeks.
Hermione took over the conversation from there and did all the pleasantries. She pestered them with questions about their holidays and how excited they were to be in second year. Meredith watched on gratefully as Hermione took the attention away from her.
Meredith sighed happily when she saw the lights of the castle at the top of the hill. They were finally at Hogwarts.
They entered the entrance hall and Meredith grinned happily at all the moving paintings and candle lit chandeliers.
It was so strange entering the hall this way instead of how they had last year, it made Meredith feel like it was her first year all over again. They sat grouped with the other second years in their house. Dean and Seamus joined them, pulling Neville away to talk about Quidditch. Meredith couldn't help but feel relieved.
She was listening to Katie Bell tell a ridiculous story about a six legged toad chasing her across her yard when the Great Hall doors swung silently open. The hall fell quiet as McGonagall led the nervous first years down the hall.
"Alright Ginny!" called out the Weasley twins, causing several students to titter in amusement.
Ginny waved half heartedly but was visibly shaken by the attention.
Meredith watched their faces turn from controlled terror to slightly less terrified confusion as Professor McGonagall placed the raggedy, old sorting hat on a stool in front of them.
The hat opened it's gruff mouth, causing several first years to jump in fright- Meredith sniggered with Parvati and Lavender while Hermione seemed torn between paying attention and joining them.
Before they could start laughing again the hat began it's song:
Another year is dawning before us all
Like it has done for centuries before
I know I'm not a pretty hat,
And neither am I tall
But I can place you and your young fellows
In your home at this dear school
So listen to my wisdom or I'll make you look the fool
Your place might be in Gryffindor
Where the mighty and daring do roam,
Or you might be in Hufflepuff,
It's where the kind and just call home
You could be a Ravenclaw,
With wisdom you can share
Those Ravenclaws choose truth always over dare
Yet you could be in Slytherin
The ambitious and the sly
You'll find your true calling if it's with the snakes you lie
Please step forward
I promise I'll be fair
In finding your place at Hogwarts
We'll make the perfect pair!
The hall erupted in applause for the hats song- chuckling at the cheesy rhymes. McGonagall let the noise continue for a brief moment before drawing open the scroll with the names of first years. She went through the first few names with the first Gryffindor being a surprising addition.
"Creevey, Colin!"
The boy stumbled up to the hat, tripping over his robes and knocking the stool across the floor. Laughter followed after him and surprisingly he laughed too.
He'd been sitting on the stool for a second when the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Surely not," said Meredith through a shocked laugh.
"Don't be rude," whispered Hermione, but she smiled slightly.
McGonagall moved through the list at what felt like a snail's pace. Other than Creevey and his spectacular falling incident, the rest of the sorts were uninteresting.
"Lovegood, Luna!"
"Did she Lovegood?" whispered a fifth year Gryffindor. "The Lovegoods are proper bonkers."
"I bet Loony Lovegood will be sorted into Hufflepuff," snorted Lee, causing a few Gryffindors to laugh. The nickname of "Loony Lovegood" spread down the table like wildfire.
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat yelled loudly, almost like it was responding to the whispers from their table.
Luna Lovegood blinked her large, pale silver eyes as she scanned over the entire hall. He white blond hair swished as she practically skipped to the Ravenclaw table. A few students in blue had their hands clamped over their mouths to smother their laughter. Meredith felt bad for the girl but quickly moved on as McGonagall carried on with the list.
Finally it was Ginny's turn. Despite her fears, Ginny walked to the stool with a wobbly, but proud tilt to her chin, her red hair shining brilliantly against her back.
She sat on the stool with a stiff back, and Meredith amusedly noticed that her feet didn't touch the ground. The hat- just like it had with Ron- quickly called out "GRYFFINDOR!"
Meredith, Hermione and the swarm of Weasley's cheered out the loudest, drowning out the rest of their house.
Ginny sat next to her fellow first year Gryffindors, grinning down the table at her brothers.
Ginny was the last student on the list and with that all over, Dumbledore stood up to address the school.
Unlike last year, there were no dire warnings of not entering any corridors of death.
"I must remind you that under no circumstances are any of the students to enter the Forbidden Forest-"
"Unless for detention," whispered Meredith, grinning cheekily at Hermione and Neville.
"- Filch has also asked me to remind you of the very long list of banned items, which can be found on his door at the caretakers office," Dumbledore said, keeping a very calm face, but Meredith noticed his mouth twitched slightly in amusement. "Now since you're going to struggle hearing me over your rumbling bellies- I encourage you to dig in!"
The plates in front of them filled with delicious food and they immediately tucked in. Meredith had some sort of beef stew that she applied abundantly to some mash potato. Meredith noticed a change to the tone of talking. Suddenly it went from casual conversation to excited whispers- followed by gasps of disbelief. Meredith and Hermione shared a knowing look. It had to have something to do with Harry and Ron.
"Did you know about this?" asked Seamus excitedly.
"Know about what?" Hermione asked reluctantly.
"Apparently Harry and Ron flew to school in a flying car and smashed straight into that angry tree!"
"We definitely did not know that!" Hermione said, panic rising in her voice. "They'll be expelled for sure if that's true!"
"Let's hope it's not true then," Meredith said, suddenly not hungry at all, "you know how drastic rumours are at this school- for all we know they were just late and got dropped off by Ron's dad."
In no time at all, the prefects started calling for the first years to follow them.
Meredith and Hermione followed the rest of the house as the prefects rounded up their small wards.
"They wouldn't be so stupid, would they?" asked Hermione quietly, shooting looks all around her, trying to spot their two friends.
"They absolutely would be," Meredith said, picking at her nails nervously, "we'll just have to wait at the portrait hole until they get there and then we'll beat answers out of them if we have to."
"That will not be necessary, I'm sure."
They checked the common room when they got in to make sure the boys weren't there but were not surprised when they found their usual spot empty. So instead they stood at the portrait hole until they heard two very familiar voices. They swung the portrait hole open, Hermione already starting a tirade.
"Where have you been- we've been hearing the most ridiculous rumours! You didn't actually fly here in a magical car did you because you'd have been expelled-"
"Well we haven't been expelled," said Harry.
Both Meredith and Hermione puffed up in response.
"Spare the lecture," Ron said impatiently, "we've already heard it from Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore- so just tell us the new password."
"It's wattlebird," Meredith said in equal impatience, "but don't think we don't want to hear all the details."
They ignored them and pushed past into the common room where they were greeted with cheers and congratulations. Meredith blocked out all the noise, annoyed that they couldn't just have a quiet moment together and instead had to watch the boys have their shining moment in front of the whole house.
Meredith and Hermione were pushed to the side by the admiring Gryffindors as they pulled Ron and Harry into the centre of the room. They found themselves, with crossed arms and glaring eyes, stood next to Percy- who was posed in a similar position to them. Meredith was evilly delighted when Harry noticed the three of them watching him and Ron like three vengeful gargoyles. He nudged Ron and they dashed towards their dormitory- Meredith grinned at their retreating backs, looking forward to watching them get yelled at by Percy.
"Tomorrow morning is going to be great fun," she said to Hermione.
A grim nod was Hermione's only response.
They really could be petty when they wanted.