A/N This is our first attempt at fanfic (it's a joint effort between me and
a friend.)
We are open to any suggestions particularly about the title as we are
currently divided. Please review constructively. We are both very aware of
the abundance of Mary-Jane type characters; any comment as to whether
either of ours falls into the category would be very much appreciated!
Thanks!
Disclaimer- Harry Potter and all the associated belong exclusively to JK Rowling. We do this solely to fill our tedious days and are not generating a profit from its publication. However both Rikki and Imogen belong to us.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
Chapter 1 Boarding the Train
Rikki Carmichael and Imogen Usher stood to the side, surreptiously watching the milieu move around the platform with a clear sense of purpose and direction. The two girls, both exchange students from Beauxbatons seemed to lack this inherent familiarity and instead talked quietly amongst themselves.
"Do you think we should board?" Rikki, the shorter of the two asked. She had dark blonde hair and glasses, her usually open and bubbly face darkened with anxiety and nervous excitement.
Imogen shrugged her shoulders laconically. "We probably should if we want to get good seats." She seemed less nervous then her blonde counterpart, but she had been to many a new school in her younger years and the sight of new faces had lost it previous novelty. The two boarded the train just as a family emerged from the magical barrier, apparently unscathed.
"Oh Ginny, watch that poor owl! Honestly, Ronald, you can go and find Hermione after you've said goodbye."
A tall adolescent leaned down and kissed his mother before motioning to the dark-haired boy beside him. The two moved confidently through the throng, waving and calling to old friends and acquaintances. They looked about and waited for their friend, unaware that they stood in the spot previously occupied by the two Beauxbatons girls. Ron Weasley looked over the heads of the crowd before calling out a bushy-haired girl struggling with a heavy trunk.
"Oi Hermione! Oi! Over here!"
Hermione turned at the sound of her voice before launching herself at him with an excited squeal. "Ron, wow, it's so good to see you! Look at how much you have grown! You too, Harry!"
She said turning to the raven-haired boy surveying the scene with a bemused grin.
"Its good to see you too, Hermione." He said carefully, giving her a chaste hug. Those two are so oblivious, he thought to himself, everyone knows but them. Maybe this is the year they will get it together. The three were preparing for their last year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after six long years of schooling.
"We should probably get a compartment," Harry said to the two of them. "Wouldn't want all the little first years to get the best ones."
"Too right mate. Nasty little buggers, those first years, positively vicious." Said Ron relieving Hermione of her trunk.
"Honestly you two, we were first years once, remember?"
Ron snorted derisively. "Us? Course we weren't 'Mione, you must be mistaken. Now quickly before I have to hex them out of our compartment."
Meanwhile Rikki and Imogen exited the luggage compartment and found a thankfully empty compartment at the back of the train. The settled and Imogen pulled a muggle paperback book out of her carry on bag.
'I don't know how you can just tune out and read at a time like this." Said Rikki exasperatedly. Imogen looked up and cocked a mildly amused eyebrow.
"The serial killer could dismember someone else any chapter now. How can I not?"
Just as Rikki sighed and began to warn Imogen that such morbid fascination could come to no good, the glass door slid open to reveal three Hogwarts students. The two groups studied each other, as if sizing up the newcomers when Hermione spoke.
"Can we join you? Everywhere else is full."
Rikki appraised her with a thoughtful expression before answering. "Sure."
Harry exchanged a sceptical look with Ron but sat down nonetheless.
"Are you new?" Ron asked curiously. "I don't think I have seen you 'round."
"We're exchange students form Beauxbatons. I'm Imogen and this is Rikki." "Hermione Granger," said Hermione. "And this,' gesturing to Ron 'is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."
Rikki visibly perked at Harry's name, her eyes roving his forehead. Imogen, however, did not seem perturbed. Muggleborn or not, she knew who Harry Potter was, but was sure that he was sick and tired of being treated like a spectacle in a circus. I know I am, she thought wearily. She smiled carefully at the two boys who smiled warily back. Harry was surprised to find they were exchange students. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything of the sort the year before and Harry wasn't even aware there was an exchange program between the two schools. Ron however was a having a harder time curbing his curiosity.
"Why don't you have French accents then?"
The girls exchanged a knowing glance.
"We were born in Britain, but we received acceptance letters from Beauxbatons not Hogwarts. That's also why our names aren't French in origin." Said Rikki.
"You speak French?" said Hermione interestedly as she remembered her own holiday to the European country in her third year.
"Fluently. We had to; all our lessons were in French."
"And you're in the seventh year." Harry asked watching Imogen intently. She hadn't spoken a word since they introduced themselves, feeling uncomfortable under they're questioning. Their eyes met and Harry wondered what secrets those grey eyes held.
"Yes, we're staying for the rest of the year." Rikki answered before Imogen could even begin. "We'll be graduating with you."
The rest of the journey went well, with much talk between the teens. Imogen and Rikki asked the other three about Hogwarts and lessons and alternatively they were asked about their old school and their home lives. Rikki was from a prominent pureblood wizarding family, whose father was a magical property investor. Imogen was muggleborn, brought up by her mother after her father died a few years back. She seemed reluctant to elaborate on the subject, leaving Harry to inwardly question the manner in which he died. Was it Voldemort? After his resurrection and the incident at the Ministry of Magic, deaths and disappearances were common place, the attacks rendering many students orphans. She wouldn't be the first to lose a parent. They changed into their robes and arrived at the station in the pouring rain. After Ron, Hermione and Harry waved briefly to the enormous form of Hagrid, they made a mad dash for the carriages, the rain washing down in sheets. Suddenly Imogen gasped and pointed to the front of the carriages.
"What in the world are they?" She asked.
"What's what?" Rikki shouted over the deluge. "I can't see anything."
"They're Thestrals!" Harry yelled fighting to be heard over the torrent. "I'll tell you about them later."
He grabbed Imogen's hand and they bolted after Rikki who was climbing into the carriage afterRon and Hermione.
Once they were safe from the downpour and had caught they're breath, Imogen turned to Harry.
"What did you say those things were?"
"Thestrals." he said, shanking his head and drenching everyone with more water.
"Harry!" Hermione scolded
"Sorry.' He said apologetically. "They're Hagrid's." he said to Imogen. "They pull the carriages to Hogwarts.
"Why couldn't Rikki see them then?" she asked, perplexed.
"They're only visible to people who have seen death." He answered carefully. Imogen's features froze and she began to adjust her robes compulsively.
"Who was it you- "Harry was cut off by Rikki.
"Miserable weather. Is it always like this?"
Harry tried to catch Imogen's eye: Rikki had quite obviously cut him off before he could ask her, but her eyes were fixed out the window, her expression pensive. The carriage lurched onwards; the conservation rang around Harry while he studied Imogen. She was still gazing out the window, occasionally reaching up to the brush the red gold hair, which dashed, across her eyes. With almighty jerk, the carriage came to a stop and Rikki and Imogen shared an anxious glance. They were finally at Hogwarts
Disclaimer- Harry Potter and all the associated belong exclusively to JK Rowling. We do this solely to fill our tedious days and are not generating a profit from its publication. However both Rikki and Imogen belong to us.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
Chapter 1 Boarding the Train
Rikki Carmichael and Imogen Usher stood to the side, surreptiously watching the milieu move around the platform with a clear sense of purpose and direction. The two girls, both exchange students from Beauxbatons seemed to lack this inherent familiarity and instead talked quietly amongst themselves.
"Do you think we should board?" Rikki, the shorter of the two asked. She had dark blonde hair and glasses, her usually open and bubbly face darkened with anxiety and nervous excitement.
Imogen shrugged her shoulders laconically. "We probably should if we want to get good seats." She seemed less nervous then her blonde counterpart, but she had been to many a new school in her younger years and the sight of new faces had lost it previous novelty. The two boarded the train just as a family emerged from the magical barrier, apparently unscathed.
"Oh Ginny, watch that poor owl! Honestly, Ronald, you can go and find Hermione after you've said goodbye."
A tall adolescent leaned down and kissed his mother before motioning to the dark-haired boy beside him. The two moved confidently through the throng, waving and calling to old friends and acquaintances. They looked about and waited for their friend, unaware that they stood in the spot previously occupied by the two Beauxbatons girls. Ron Weasley looked over the heads of the crowd before calling out a bushy-haired girl struggling with a heavy trunk.
"Oi Hermione! Oi! Over here!"
Hermione turned at the sound of her voice before launching herself at him with an excited squeal. "Ron, wow, it's so good to see you! Look at how much you have grown! You too, Harry!"
She said turning to the raven-haired boy surveying the scene with a bemused grin.
"Its good to see you too, Hermione." He said carefully, giving her a chaste hug. Those two are so oblivious, he thought to himself, everyone knows but them. Maybe this is the year they will get it together. The three were preparing for their last year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after six long years of schooling.
"We should probably get a compartment," Harry said to the two of them. "Wouldn't want all the little first years to get the best ones."
"Too right mate. Nasty little buggers, those first years, positively vicious." Said Ron relieving Hermione of her trunk.
"Honestly you two, we were first years once, remember?"
Ron snorted derisively. "Us? Course we weren't 'Mione, you must be mistaken. Now quickly before I have to hex them out of our compartment."
Meanwhile Rikki and Imogen exited the luggage compartment and found a thankfully empty compartment at the back of the train. The settled and Imogen pulled a muggle paperback book out of her carry on bag.
'I don't know how you can just tune out and read at a time like this." Said Rikki exasperatedly. Imogen looked up and cocked a mildly amused eyebrow.
"The serial killer could dismember someone else any chapter now. How can I not?"
Just as Rikki sighed and began to warn Imogen that such morbid fascination could come to no good, the glass door slid open to reveal three Hogwarts students. The two groups studied each other, as if sizing up the newcomers when Hermione spoke.
"Can we join you? Everywhere else is full."
Rikki appraised her with a thoughtful expression before answering. "Sure."
Harry exchanged a sceptical look with Ron but sat down nonetheless.
"Are you new?" Ron asked curiously. "I don't think I have seen you 'round."
"We're exchange students form Beauxbatons. I'm Imogen and this is Rikki." "Hermione Granger," said Hermione. "And this,' gesturing to Ron 'is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."
Rikki visibly perked at Harry's name, her eyes roving his forehead. Imogen, however, did not seem perturbed. Muggleborn or not, she knew who Harry Potter was, but was sure that he was sick and tired of being treated like a spectacle in a circus. I know I am, she thought wearily. She smiled carefully at the two boys who smiled warily back. Harry was surprised to find they were exchange students. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything of the sort the year before and Harry wasn't even aware there was an exchange program between the two schools. Ron however was a having a harder time curbing his curiosity.
"Why don't you have French accents then?"
The girls exchanged a knowing glance.
"We were born in Britain, but we received acceptance letters from Beauxbatons not Hogwarts. That's also why our names aren't French in origin." Said Rikki.
"You speak French?" said Hermione interestedly as she remembered her own holiday to the European country in her third year.
"Fluently. We had to; all our lessons were in French."
"And you're in the seventh year." Harry asked watching Imogen intently. She hadn't spoken a word since they introduced themselves, feeling uncomfortable under they're questioning. Their eyes met and Harry wondered what secrets those grey eyes held.
"Yes, we're staying for the rest of the year." Rikki answered before Imogen could even begin. "We'll be graduating with you."
The rest of the journey went well, with much talk between the teens. Imogen and Rikki asked the other three about Hogwarts and lessons and alternatively they were asked about their old school and their home lives. Rikki was from a prominent pureblood wizarding family, whose father was a magical property investor. Imogen was muggleborn, brought up by her mother after her father died a few years back. She seemed reluctant to elaborate on the subject, leaving Harry to inwardly question the manner in which he died. Was it Voldemort? After his resurrection and the incident at the Ministry of Magic, deaths and disappearances were common place, the attacks rendering many students orphans. She wouldn't be the first to lose a parent. They changed into their robes and arrived at the station in the pouring rain. After Ron, Hermione and Harry waved briefly to the enormous form of Hagrid, they made a mad dash for the carriages, the rain washing down in sheets. Suddenly Imogen gasped and pointed to the front of the carriages.
"What in the world are they?" She asked.
"What's what?" Rikki shouted over the deluge. "I can't see anything."
"They're Thestrals!" Harry yelled fighting to be heard over the torrent. "I'll tell you about them later."
He grabbed Imogen's hand and they bolted after Rikki who was climbing into the carriage afterRon and Hermione.
Once they were safe from the downpour and had caught they're breath, Imogen turned to Harry.
"What did you say those things were?"
"Thestrals." he said, shanking his head and drenching everyone with more water.
"Harry!" Hermione scolded
"Sorry.' He said apologetically. "They're Hagrid's." he said to Imogen. "They pull the carriages to Hogwarts.
"Why couldn't Rikki see them then?" she asked, perplexed.
"They're only visible to people who have seen death." He answered carefully. Imogen's features froze and she began to adjust her robes compulsively.
"Who was it you- "Harry was cut off by Rikki.
"Miserable weather. Is it always like this?"
Harry tried to catch Imogen's eye: Rikki had quite obviously cut him off before he could ask her, but her eyes were fixed out the window, her expression pensive. The carriage lurched onwards; the conservation rang around Harry while he studied Imogen. She was still gazing out the window, occasionally reaching up to the brush the red gold hair, which dashed, across her eyes. With almighty jerk, the carriage came to a stop and Rikki and Imogen shared an anxious glance. They were finally at Hogwarts