"I mean it," she said. "Tell me why or you will die slowly and painfully."
She sounded serious. Harry gulped and backed away.
The last girl Harry had noticed, the one with huge French braid, stood and walked over to the very scary Bree and placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. Bree looked at her and sighed.
"What, Mynta?" she asked, roughly brushing the hand away.
"It's okay," Mynta said. "I'm sure he's sorry. Besides, you hexed that pale boy and if you do something like that again, the professors might get mad."
"So?" Bree arched an eyebrow, unconvinced.
"Well," said the raven-haired girl. "If you keep that up, you might get sent back to Miss Wincham's.
Bree's smooth skin paled, but she acted calm. "Okay. I let you off easy today 'cause I'm nice. Next time you won't be as lucky, punk." She punched his shoulder and sat down.
Harry felt strangely nervous around all these new people. "Umm...is it okay if I sit here?" he asked. "I thought my friends came in here, but I was wrong."
"All right," Bree said, though reluctantly. She seemed to be the spokesperson for the strange little group. "Who're you, anyways?"
"Oh. I'm Harry. Harry Potter."
The eight pairs of eyes did the usual flick up to his scar and back. Bree nodded and stuck out her hand, which Harry took and shook. Everyone's names came out in a cacophony of sound.
"Bree Jones."
"Della Diaz."
"Thom Asbury."
"Glen LeBlanc."
"Mynta Wynn."
"Liana Castaneda."
"Sharon Farley."
"I hate myself and want to die."
That last one came from the boy with the bloodsoaked paper. Della smacked him.
"Don't mind him. He's always rather depressing. Tell him your name, Nene."
'Nene' blushed and hissed, "Don't call me that. My name is Rene Hudson. Will you leave me to my writing now?"
The other boy, the one called Thom, said, "Just leave him alone, Della. He's not going to be social no matter how much you try."
Harry fell backwards as the train jerked into motion, half crushing poor little Mynta. Mynta had the unfortunate chance to be standing behind Harry, who was at least a head taller than her. He stood immediately, muttering apologies to the floor, but Mynta waved a hand at him.
"Don't worry about it. I'm all right." She smiled sweetly, tilting her head slightly to one side. For a moment, she was all Harry could see. There was something about her face that drew him to her.
A tap on the shoulder from the auburn haired girl with the dark green robes snapped him out of it. "If you're done goggling at my friend, I'd like to finish my conversation with her." Seeing his somewhat blank look, she added, "Liana. Castaneda. Remember? I said my name, you fell backward and started checking Mynta out."
Harry blushed bright red. "What? No I didn't. I don't check people out--not that I wouldn't check Mynta out--I MEAN not that she's not pretty or anything but really, I'm--oh, never mind."
Mynta peered at him over her tortoise-shell glasses. "Stop while you're ahead."
"Okay."
Suddenly, the compartment door opened. Hermione and Ron fell in with a jolt of the train. They looked a bit embarrassed and stood up quickly.
"Umm...hello," Hermione said. Ron echoed her and watched everyone wave.
"Hi," said Harry. "You're probably wondering who all these people are."
They nodded.
"Well, we're exchanges!" said Sharon, the girl with lovely grey eyes and midnight hair. "We're replacing students at your school for the year. Professor Dumbledore thought that it would be a good way to prove that we're not frightened of You-Know-Who, now that he's...you know..."
"You know about You-Know-Who?" Ron asked, gaping at Sharon. "I thought everything was being covered up and stuff and how would you know and you know...who?"
"It got out," said the girl with eyes that changed colour and robes like Sharon's. Harry thought her name was Glen, but he wasn't sure. "We know all about it. Dumbledore wants You-Know-Who to know that we aren't scraed of him, so he organized transfers."
"Where are you all from?" asked Harry, taking a seat by Mynta.
Hermione looked at them all carefully, also sitting down. "I used to have all of the schools memorized based off of their robes," she muttered, frowning. "I've forgotten them, though."
"Well," said Glen, gesturing to herself and Sharon, "We're from the Salmon School of All-Purpose Magic. See? We have salmon coloured robes, which really sucks because I can NEVER match lipstick colours to these awful things. My full name is Glenda Alta LeBlanc, by the way. It means 'pure and good, high and white.' I can speak French AND English."
"Your middle name is Alta? You never told me that," said Sharon. "Well, mine's Hope. My name means 'Princess hope of the fern-clearing'. I come from the same place, Salmon School for All-Purpose Magic."
"Thom and I are from the Lancaster Academy of Sorcery," said Della proudly. Her eyes were bright violet with excitement and happiness. "My full name is Adele Cassandra Diaz, which means 'Noble, shining upon man'."
"I don't have any middle names," said Thom. "I'm just Thomas Asbury of Lancaster."
"You do so," Della said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Tell them."
"No."
"Fine. I will, then." Della turned to everyone and said in a stage-whisper, "His full name is Thomas Rapur Jebay Asbury. He doesn't like his name because Rapur is one letter away from 'raper'."
Everyone laughed.
"Well, anyway," said Mynta from her place between Harry and Liana, "I'm Amynta Hallie Wynn. My name means 'defender of the white hay-clearing'. Liana and I are from Greenbriar's Contemporary Academy Promoting Good Muggle-Wizard Relations of the Future. GCAPGMWR for short, or just G-Cap."
"This Greenbriar names things like you, Mione," said Ron with a laugh. Hermione glared at him.
"And I'm Juliana Natalie Castaneda," said Liana. "'Soft-haired child of Christmas Day'. I'm from G-Cap, too." She smiled sweetly.
"Rene Terry Hudson," Rene muttered. "And my falcon, Apollinaire. Of Beauxbatons. Now leave me alone."
Bree opened her mouth and out came an insane amount of syllables. "Jaibria Liarielle Migan Haideen Daah Jones at your service, Bree for short. I'm from Miss Wincham's Academy for Young and Proper Witches and I never want to go back."
Hermione was amazed. "You have such cool names," she said. "I'm only Hermione Antigone Delilah Aurelia Heylie Anne Granger."
"Really? I'm Harry McKennedy Potter," said Harry.
"I thought your middle name was James, Harry," said Ron.
"It was, but I thought McKennedy would be a MUCH kewler name than something so stupid like James," said Harry, because, y'know, your dead father's name is NEVER as cool as something like McKennedy. Unless his name was McKennedy, but in this case it wasn't and Harry was deeply scarred.
"Well, I'm Ronald Charles Arthur Weasley," said Ron.
"Are you all in 5th year?" asked Hermione, growing bored at the topic of names.
"Yeah," the other students all said.
"Hey look!" called Ron, who was lookeing out a window. "We're here!"
A/N: What do you think? Review or we'll be sad and won't be able to write another chapter!
Bree Jones
Della Diaz
"There is no Q in my name."
She sounded serious. Harry gulped and backed away.
The last girl Harry had noticed, the one with huge French braid, stood and walked over to the very scary Bree and placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. Bree looked at her and sighed.
"What, Mynta?" she asked, roughly brushing the hand away.
"It's okay," Mynta said. "I'm sure he's sorry. Besides, you hexed that pale boy and if you do something like that again, the professors might get mad."
"So?" Bree arched an eyebrow, unconvinced.
"Well," said the raven-haired girl. "If you keep that up, you might get sent back to Miss Wincham's.
Bree's smooth skin paled, but she acted calm. "Okay. I let you off easy today 'cause I'm nice. Next time you won't be as lucky, punk." She punched his shoulder and sat down.
Harry felt strangely nervous around all these new people. "Umm...is it okay if I sit here?" he asked. "I thought my friends came in here, but I was wrong."
"All right," Bree said, though reluctantly. She seemed to be the spokesperson for the strange little group. "Who're you, anyways?"
"Oh. I'm Harry. Harry Potter."
The eight pairs of eyes did the usual flick up to his scar and back. Bree nodded and stuck out her hand, which Harry took and shook. Everyone's names came out in a cacophony of sound.
"Bree Jones."
"Della Diaz."
"Thom Asbury."
"Glen LeBlanc."
"Mynta Wynn."
"Liana Castaneda."
"Sharon Farley."
"I hate myself and want to die."
That last one came from the boy with the bloodsoaked paper. Della smacked him.
"Don't mind him. He's always rather depressing. Tell him your name, Nene."
'Nene' blushed and hissed, "Don't call me that. My name is Rene Hudson. Will you leave me to my writing now?"
The other boy, the one called Thom, said, "Just leave him alone, Della. He's not going to be social no matter how much you try."
Harry fell backwards as the train jerked into motion, half crushing poor little Mynta. Mynta had the unfortunate chance to be standing behind Harry, who was at least a head taller than her. He stood immediately, muttering apologies to the floor, but Mynta waved a hand at him.
"Don't worry about it. I'm all right." She smiled sweetly, tilting her head slightly to one side. For a moment, she was all Harry could see. There was something about her face that drew him to her.
A tap on the shoulder from the auburn haired girl with the dark green robes snapped him out of it. "If you're done goggling at my friend, I'd like to finish my conversation with her." Seeing his somewhat blank look, she added, "Liana. Castaneda. Remember? I said my name, you fell backward and started checking Mynta out."
Harry blushed bright red. "What? No I didn't. I don't check people out--not that I wouldn't check Mynta out--I MEAN not that she's not pretty or anything but really, I'm--oh, never mind."
Mynta peered at him over her tortoise-shell glasses. "Stop while you're ahead."
"Okay."
Suddenly, the compartment door opened. Hermione and Ron fell in with a jolt of the train. They looked a bit embarrassed and stood up quickly.
"Umm...hello," Hermione said. Ron echoed her and watched everyone wave.
"Hi," said Harry. "You're probably wondering who all these people are."
They nodded.
"Well, we're exchanges!" said Sharon, the girl with lovely grey eyes and midnight hair. "We're replacing students at your school for the year. Professor Dumbledore thought that it would be a good way to prove that we're not frightened of You-Know-Who, now that he's...you know..."
"You know about You-Know-Who?" Ron asked, gaping at Sharon. "I thought everything was being covered up and stuff and how would you know and you know...who?"
"It got out," said the girl with eyes that changed colour and robes like Sharon's. Harry thought her name was Glen, but he wasn't sure. "We know all about it. Dumbledore wants You-Know-Who to know that we aren't scraed of him, so he organized transfers."
"Where are you all from?" asked Harry, taking a seat by Mynta.
Hermione looked at them all carefully, also sitting down. "I used to have all of the schools memorized based off of their robes," she muttered, frowning. "I've forgotten them, though."
"Well," said Glen, gesturing to herself and Sharon, "We're from the Salmon School of All-Purpose Magic. See? We have salmon coloured robes, which really sucks because I can NEVER match lipstick colours to these awful things. My full name is Glenda Alta LeBlanc, by the way. It means 'pure and good, high and white.' I can speak French AND English."
"Your middle name is Alta? You never told me that," said Sharon. "Well, mine's Hope. My name means 'Princess hope of the fern-clearing'. I come from the same place, Salmon School for All-Purpose Magic."
"Thom and I are from the Lancaster Academy of Sorcery," said Della proudly. Her eyes were bright violet with excitement and happiness. "My full name is Adele Cassandra Diaz, which means 'Noble, shining upon man'."
"I don't have any middle names," said Thom. "I'm just Thomas Asbury of Lancaster."
"You do so," Della said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Tell them."
"No."
"Fine. I will, then." Della turned to everyone and said in a stage-whisper, "His full name is Thomas Rapur Jebay Asbury. He doesn't like his name because Rapur is one letter away from 'raper'."
Everyone laughed.
"Well, anyway," said Mynta from her place between Harry and Liana, "I'm Amynta Hallie Wynn. My name means 'defender of the white hay-clearing'. Liana and I are from Greenbriar's Contemporary Academy Promoting Good Muggle-Wizard Relations of the Future. GCAPGMWR for short, or just G-Cap."
"This Greenbriar names things like you, Mione," said Ron with a laugh. Hermione glared at him.
"And I'm Juliana Natalie Castaneda," said Liana. "'Soft-haired child of Christmas Day'. I'm from G-Cap, too." She smiled sweetly.
"Rene Terry Hudson," Rene muttered. "And my falcon, Apollinaire. Of Beauxbatons. Now leave me alone."
Bree opened her mouth and out came an insane amount of syllables. "Jaibria Liarielle Migan Haideen Daah Jones at your service, Bree for short. I'm from Miss Wincham's Academy for Young and Proper Witches and I never want to go back."
Hermione was amazed. "You have such cool names," she said. "I'm only Hermione Antigone Delilah Aurelia Heylie Anne Granger."
"Really? I'm Harry McKennedy Potter," said Harry.
"I thought your middle name was James, Harry," said Ron.
"It was, but I thought McKennedy would be a MUCH kewler name than something so stupid like James," said Harry, because, y'know, your dead father's name is NEVER as cool as something like McKennedy. Unless his name was McKennedy, but in this case it wasn't and Harry was deeply scarred.
"Well, I'm Ronald Charles Arthur Weasley," said Ron.
"Are you all in 5th year?" asked Hermione, growing bored at the topic of names.
"Yeah," the other students all said.
"Hey look!" called Ron, who was lookeing out a window. "We're here!"
A/N: What do you think? Review or we'll be sad and won't be able to write another chapter!
Bree Jones
Della Diaz
"There is no Q in my name."
