I suppose this chapter is the real start of the story, when Bellamy first lays eyes on Remus, instantly enchanted by him (oooooooh…^_~). It's a bit long, but I can't help that. I hope you guys like it. R/R please!
Another Disclaimer: In this chapter my plot merges with J.K. Rowlings'. All of Bellamy and her friends and classes and stuff are part of my plot. Well the classes are J.K. Rowling's but I…manipulated them. Pretty much everything else was taken from PoA. Bellamy, Krystal and her family all belong to me. Oh and so does the diner and the car. Everything else is J.K Rowling's. That was long wasn't it? Phew…
Chapter 2: Falling in LoveMr. Garrisey hit the gas pedal and soon they were driving down the road. It was clear that Krystal's father had little experience with cars due to the sudden bursts of speed they put on and the frequent abrupt stops. However, since they all came from wizarding families, nobody really noticed it. Mr. Garrisey was focused on the road ahead of him, though, determined to look just like any other person just driving. To his left, Devin sat scowling at the dash, undoubtedly still jealous of his sister and Bellamy. In the back seat, the two girls were whispering and giggling about things teenage girls like to whisper and giggle about. Bellamy had just finished telling Krystal about a rather interesting article she had encountered in Witch Weekly magazine when the car pulled to a halt in front of a small, shabby looking restaurant. Its paint was a peeling, dirty white. A large faded sign on a post just outside of the restaurant read "The Early Bird Café" and a tiny billboard below it announced that "bacn and ggs" were half price until noon.
"He we are!" said Mr. Garrisey as he climbed out of the car.
"You've gotta be kidding," grumbled Devin.
Krystal gave the building a skeptical look as they headed towards the front door. Bellamy didn't mind it so much. At least she had her friend with her. And not to mention, a voice in the back of her head reminded her, I don't have to walk. They walked towards the door and Bellamy, who was the first to reach it, held it open for the rest of the party. They entered a small room with a bar and several booths lining a wall by numerous windows. Devin plopped down on one of the worn plastic seats on a booth in the corner. Mr. Garrisey lowered himself into the spot next to his son, and the girls sat together across from them.
"Let's see what they've got to eat," said Krystal who was obviously hungry. "That dinner last night wasn't very filling."
They each picked up a menu and started reading. Bellamy scanned hers for something wholesome to eat; she had only just realized that she was starving. She settled on a stack of blueberry pancakes and a side of toast. She placed her menu on the table watching the others decide one by one what they were going to get. Soon a wizened old lady wearing an orange dress and a white apron approached their table.
"Good morning dears," she said with a polite smile. "What can I get you today?"
They went around the table, placing their orders as the woman jotted them down in a small notebook. Soon, she had left them again and took a set of double doors back into the kitchen. They talked for a while after that. The conversation strayed all over the place, jumping from how odd Muggle restaurants are to Quidditch, Bellamy expressing her opinion about the Ballycastle Bats ("Best team that ever graced a Quidditch pitch."). They all kept their voices low, naturally. Heaven forbid a Muggle hear about quaffles and snitches. They were interrupted shortly after by the waitress who brought their food and drinks to the table.
"These eggs aren't half bad," commented Devin as they started into their meals.
"Well you seem to have snapped out of grouchy-git mode, Devin," observed Krystal with a smirk.
Devin glared at his sister gloomily and finished the rest of his breakfast in silence. After they had cleaned their plates, Krystal's father paid, promptly refusing Bellamy's money for her own meal. They piled back into the car at 10:30 and headed for King's Cross Station.
* * * * *
When they finally arrived at the train station, Bellamy and Krystal stacked their school trunks onto trolleys. They pushed through the crowded station, swerving around Muggles and the occasional witches and wizards also heading for Platform 9 ¾. The group reached the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at about 10:50. Devin and Mr. Garrisey were the first to go through the barrier, pushing the girls' trolleys ahead of them. Then after Krystal had looked around and confirmed that nobody was watching, she and Bellamy casually sank through the solid brick, emerging onto Platform 9 ¾. Bellamy took her trunk from the trolley Devin was pushing and she and Krystal stacked their luggage with all of the other trunks on the train.
"Bye daddy!" Krystal hugged her father right before they boarded the train. She simply stuck her tongue out at Devin, and then gave him a warm smile. She didn't really hate her pesky little brother.
"Bye, honey," said Mr. Garrisey, hugging his daughter back. "And you too Bellamy. Oh and be careful this year girls. Don't forget about Sirius Black," he added nervously, waving to the departing friends. Sirius Black was a murderer who'd escaped Azkaban and his whereabouts were unknown.
"Don't worry Mr. Garrisey, we'll be fine," called Bellamy over her shoulder as she climbed aboard the scarlet steam engine after Krystal.
The Hogwarts Express slowly started to move just as Bellamy had gotten on. She ran over to Krystal who was waving to her family out of the nearest window. When the train had turned a corner, and the platform was out of sight, Bellamy suggested that they find a compartment. They scanned up and down the train, searching for an empty one. Finally they found one close to the end of the train occupied only by a couple of jittery looking first year girls. Krystal looked at them and smiled, thinking of how she and Bellamy became best friends on the train as first years, just as nervous. Bellamy, who was sympathizing for them, decided to try and make them feel a little more comfortable.
"Hello," she said, looking at a small brown haired girl. "My name's Bellamy Stern." She extended her had.
The girl shook Bellamy's hand and muttered, "I'm Leah Dawson."
Krystal seemed to have gotten the idea, too.
"And I'm Krystal Garrisey," she said to the other girl with braided auburn hair and freckles.
"Gwendolyn Marsh," the redheaded first year replied, smiling.
"So do you two know what houses you want to be in?" inquired Bellamy.
"Well my mum was in Hufflepuff," said Gwendolyn. "But my dad was in Ravenclaw. I think I'd rather be in Ravenclaw like my father."
Krystal smiled. "That's our house." She turned towards Leah. "What about you?"
"My parents were Muggles," she replied. "I have no idea what house I might be in, but I hear the Ravenclaws are smart. I guess it'd be nice to be in that house."
Soon, they started talking, and the first years looked a lot less tense. Krystal was going on about little brothers with support from Gwendolyn ("Little brothers are the absolute worst. Period." "Amen!") when the witch with the food cart came in. They pooled their money and bought several Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, and other candy to share for the rest of the trip.
"These cauldron cakes are great!" Leah said, sinking her teeth into one for the first time. "Where have they been all my life?"
The girls laughed and continued talking and eating. Not much long after they started did rain start pouring down outside, accompanied fierce thunder and lightning. It got steadily worse throughout the trip, and it seemed to get dark at much too early an hour. Krystal and Bellamy decided to put on their school robes (they normally did it just as the evening came), and the first years followed suit. Sure enough, not even a quarter of an hour later, the train slowed down and stopped.
"This isn't right," said Bellamy, looking a bit confused. "We can't have arrived already."
"Well, they say time flies when you're having fun," suggested Krystal. "Maybe we were just enjoying ourselves too much to notice how long we've been here."
But Bellamy's suspicions were soon confirmed as the lights in the train flickered and went out.
"What's happening?" whispered Leah from somewhere in the corner.
"I dunno," said Gwendolyn. "It…Ow! That was my knee!"
"Sorry!" came Krystal's voice from near the door.
After a few minutes of struggling and bumping into each other, Bellamy and Krystal found their wands.
"Lumos," they whispered together, and each wand emitted a narrow beam of light.
Bellamy crept up to the compartment door and slid it open a few inches. Krystal stayed behind, comforting the first years. Bellamy scanned the train with the light of her wand. She had to stifle a scream when it hit a tall figure cloaked in black that was seemingly gliding down the length of the train. As it came closer the compartment, she turned to the first years and Krystal and told them to get back.
"It's a dementor!" Bellamy whispered.
"On the train?" said Gwendolyn.
"Just stay away from the door!" Krystal replied, dragging the girls towards the window.
Bellamy inched back into the shadows and muttered "Nox." The light of her wand vanished. Krystal did the same. Now they were enveloped in darkness and all that could be heard was their panicked breathing. Only seconds later, they heard a weird rattling noise outside the compartment. Suddenly everything went cold, much too cold for an August evening. The dementor was standing right by the window. Horrible memories started racing through Bellamy's mind, as well as the others', but it wasn't close enough to weaken them…yet. They cringed in fear, expecting it to burst into the compartment at any moment, and attack them. Bellamy and Krystal had their wands at the ready, shielding the first years from view. But nothing happened. The dementor passed in silence and moved along the train.
"Oh my gosh," whispered Leah, who was clearly all right, but looking very shaken. "What was that thing?"
"One of the most horrible creatures in the world," answered Bellamy with disgust in her voice.
"I bet they've put them here to keep Sirius Black at bay," said Krystal.
"Well obvi…," Bellamy started.
But she never finished her sentence. It seems another party wasn't as lucky with the dementor as they were. The heard a thud, and then a male voice was talking, possibly to the dementor. The noise was pretty close, probably in the compartment next to theirs. Then they heard the man mutter something, but this time a white object streaked past their window, following the dementor that was fleeing from it.
"What was that?" asked Gwendolyn. "It actually ran away from it!"
"It was all white, maybe it was a unicorn," suggested Leah.
"No, you can't get unicorns onto a train," said Krystal. "But it must've been something powerful."
Suddenly the lights flashed on and the train was moving again. But they started hearing more noises from the other compartment; a few dull cracks and a crinkling noise.
"Okay, this is just too weird," said Bellamy. "I'm going to see what the noise is."
She opened the compartment door again. Turning to the right she stalked out of the room, but not paying attention, she collided with a tall figure and tripped backwards over the hem of her robes. The figure quickly grabbed her hand before she fell. She looked up and was about to say thank you, but then she saw the figure's face. It was a man, but he was not like any other man she'd seen before. He had lovely grey eyes that seemed to be alive, on fire, looking back into her own. He grinned at her with a wide smile she could have just died for. His hair was a light brown, with small streaks of grey in it, however he looked much too young for it.
Bellamy opened her mouth to say thank you, but all she could manage was a feeble laugh. Her mind immediately demanded that she try again and that this time don't make a fool of herself. She was suddenly very self-conscious. His handsome face still smiled at her, making it about 50 times harder for her to concentrate. She finally worked up the nerve to speak again.
"Well, uh, thank you. You see, I was just going to check on that compartment, because, er, we kept hearing odd noises…," Bellamy said.
"Oh, I see." He looked at her curiously. "Well, we unfortunately encountered a dementor, but we're okay now. Thank you for your concern though."
"If you don't mind my asking," Bellamy started, "who are you?" Immediately realizing how stupid that sounded, she quickly added, "I mean, I've never seen any adults on the train before. I was just curious."
"Oh forgive me," he said. "Where are my manners? I'm Remus Lupin, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." He extended his hand.
She took it, rather gratefully. "I'm Bellamy Stern. I'm starting my fifth year at Hogwarts. I'm in Ravenclaw."
"Ah, Ravenclaw," Lupin said with a warm smile. "I was in Gryffindor in my days here, but I rather envied the Ravenclaws. I had a bit of an obsession with good grades." His expression changed rather quickly, from a warm one to a more polite one. "But if you'll pardon me now, I have something to take care of at the front of the train."
"Oh, of course," Bellamy said, stepping out of the way. Lupin continued down the train, but turned around and looked at her before he got too far.
"It was nice meeting you Bellamy," he called to her.
"You too, Professor," she called back to him. He smiled one of his gorgeous smiles and continued walking to the front of the train.
Bellamy slipped back into her compartment, giggling to herself. She sat back down next to Krystal with an enormous smile on her face.
"So are they okay?" asked Krystal, sounding concerned.
"What?" said Bellamy, confused. "Oh yeah, they're fine." She remembered the dementor and the sounds she had supposedly checked on. "They're perfectly all right."
And with that last statement, Bellamy leaned back in the seat, crossed her arms, and continued smiling. I think I'm going to like it at Hogwarts this year, she thought to herself. I think I'm going to like it a lot.