Harry shuffled awkwardly along the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, glancing at compartments along the way to see if they were empty. Nervously, he flattened his fringe, eager to avoid any unwanted attention. The longer he could retain his anonymity, the better.
"Looking for someone?" came a voice from behind him.
He jumped reflexively and turned to see the girl from Diagon Alley. She was standing directly behind him, her arms folded and a slight smirk on her face. What was her name again?
"How do you do that?" he complained.
"Do what?" she asked, tilting her head contemplatively.
"Just- appear like that," he explained, gesturing helplessly with his hands, "from nowhere."
Zara Dubois. That was her name.
She shrugged. "I wasn't aware that I did." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "So, are you? Looking for someone, that is."
Harry shook his head. "Not really. I'm just trying to find an empty compartment."
"Try two doors down," Zara suggested helpfully.
Harry picked up the handle of his trunk again and dragged it down the narrow corridor to the door Zara had suggested and peered through the glass. Inside was a blond boy, sat alone gazing out the window.
"There's already someone in this one," he said flatly.
Zara waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, that's just Draco. I promised I'd meet him here." When Harry didn't move, she raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Well, go on in, then."
Feeling it was probably best not to argue, Harry slid open the glass door with on hand, jamming a foot over the threshold to keep it in place. The blond boy looked up, startled.
"Um," said Harry awkwardly. "Hi."
"Hello," said the boy cautiously, his eyes narrowed.
"Are you going to go in or not?" came Zara's impatient voice from behind him. "You're blocking the doorway."
"Zara?" asked the boy- Draco- in surprise.
Harry squeezed into the compartment, allowing Zara to slip past him. He wondered offhandedly where her trunk was. "Hi Draco," she said airily, sprawling across one of the seats and propping her feet up. "Oh, this is Harry," she added as an afterthought, gesturing vaguely in Harry's direction. Harry nodded at Draco, and sat hesitantly across from Zara, who was already fishing in one of her pockets. "Aha!" she exclaimed, pulling out a pack of cards and slamming them down on the little table. "Do either of you play poker?" she asked, looking at Harry and Draco with surprisingly piercing eyes.
Harry and Draco glanced at each other in mild confusion.
"Uh, no?" said Draco, just as Harry replied with a hesitant "Yes?"
Zara shrugged. "That's okay. You two can play together. I think I have some poker chips in here somewhere." She rummaged in her pocket again. "If not, we can just play for sweets or something."
Eventually, Zara managed to find some poker chips, and the three of them began to play. It was a bit awkward at first, but Zara was more than capable of pretty much single-handedly carrying a conversation, and it wasn't long before both Harry and Draco got past their initial shyness- if only to complain about Zara's uncanny poker abilities.
Harry gradually felt himself begin to relax in the presence of Zara and Draco. He'd been paranoid for so long about being the centre of attention once he got to Hogwarts, but Zara didn't seem to particularly care about who he was, and he was pretty sure Draco hadn't put the clues together and recognised him. And on top of that, he genuinely liked them. Draco, to be sure, was a bit pompous and had a certain touch of arrogance, but he was self-assured and had a refreshing sense of humour. Zara, on the other hand… she was unlike anyone Harry had ever met. Sharp, lively, slightly eccentric and overspilling with untamed energy. And yet there was a certain gravity to her, an air of otherworldly knowledge. Sometimes, when he and Draco were talking, she would go oddly quiet and a shadow of indescribable sadness would pass over her face. It would vanish within a second.
Eventually, he plucked up the courage to ask what houses they thought they would be placed in. It was a subject that he knew could be delicate, especially where inter-house rivalries and family legacies were concerned, but he reasoned that it was best a matter broached early, before it had the chance to do damage later on.
As soon as he had phrased his question, Zara and Draco glanced at each other, and something unspoken passed between them.
"Slytherin," said Draco after a pause, while Zara remained quiet. "I mean, my whole family have been, so it's sort of a given." Harry shifted uncomfortably; that was not the answer he'd been hoping for. Sirius had always been extremely vocal in his dislike of Slytherin, and Harry was more than aware of the house's infamous reputation. But then again, he had a nagging memory that someone had once told him his Auntie Evangeline had been in Slytherin, so perhaps it wasn't so bad.
"And you?" he asked Zara gently, when she didn't answer. Her gaze was on the Scottish countryside flying past the window.
She glanced at him a little self-consciously. "Same here."
"Oh. Okay," he said, digesting this new information.
Zara seemed to pull herself back to her former vivacity with some effort, a little smile forming on her lips. "Let me guess: Gryffindor, right?" Harry nodded. Zara shrugged carelessly in response. "I don't really buy into that whole Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry, personally. The whole idea is a bit stupid. So let's just make a pact, here, that whatever houses we get put in, we stay friends. Sound good?"
Draco shrugged, but Harry smiled, a bit relieved. "Sure," he said.
Staying friends with two Slytherins was easier said than done, Harry soon discovered. Not just because of the prejudice that was so strong against the house, but also because he spent so little time with them. Mealtimes, common rooms and dormitories were all partitioned by house, and it turned out that Harry could only really meet up with Zara and Draco during break or if they had a class together. Meanwhile, his life was taken up more and more by friends in his own house: Neville, Ron, Hermione, Seamus and Dean, while Zara and Draco turned out to be quite popular among the Slytherins, gathering quite a group of friends of their own. There was no falling out between the three of them, no conscious parting, but rather the growing realisation that they would only ever be friends from a distance. Still, even as they grew apart, Harry cherished them as his first friends at Hogwarts, and held comfort in the fact that, any time he glanced across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table, he could always be sure to receive a wicked smirk from Zara.
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! Hopefully we should have a new chapter (or two) out sometime in August, depending on how much I procrastinate.
But anyway, I have exciting news! The wonderful Bellees has agreed to translate Morality and Immortality into Russian, so any Russian speakers, or people that just want to practice reading Russian can read this fic on her page when it comes out. I will keep you guys updated on this in the coming months. A big thank you to Bellees for offering to do this, and for your support of this story. If anyone else wants to do translations into other languages, don't hesitate to contact me.
As always, love you guys!
Amy Grace xx