Maera sighed as she straightened Harry's tie for probably the hundredth time that morning, the Hogwarts Express hadn't pulled into the platform yet and she was hardly going to leave Harry alone. There was a call from a little ways down the platform that had them turning, "Harry!"
At his name Harry gave the other boy a grin, glad to be free from his godmothers fretting hands. "Draco, good to see you," His green eyes slid to the two blondes just behind his friends. "Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy." He greeted with a respectful nod.
"Narcissa, Lucius." Maera smiled, "I trust you've been well?"
"Indeed, dear cousin." Narcissa smiled back before smirking. "You're looking well."
"Yes, I'm afraid Sirius' escape has caused me a bit of trouble." She said, lifting a few strands of hair to inspect them. She had for the day spelled her hair blonde and straight, it made her appearance different enough to avoid any trouble. "Not so bad as during Bellatrix' trial, but bad enough."
"Yes," Lucius smirked. "I heard about your stay at the Ministry. The young auror, Rogers, was it?" She nodded, raising an eyebrow. "I do believe he is searching for a new place of employment."
Maera smothered her smile, "Oh? Well, I do hope whoever might have had a hand in that knows they have both mine and Severus' thanks." There was a loud hiss as the train rolled in and their attention went back to their respective children. Harry tried to hide his smile as Lucius began to give Draco a quiet speech on upholding the Malfoy name, only to frown as Maera attempted to straighten his hair as much as possible before going after his tie once more. "Stay out of trouble Harry, try not to give me a heart attack before getting to school."
"Draco! Language!" Hermione snapped as the train came to a sudden stop. She moved forward to look out the window. The blonde muttered an apology as he picked his potions text up from where it had fallen. "We can't have reached Hogwarts already."
"Maybe we should lock the door," Harry frowned, as the lights flickered and went out. There was a scream from somewhere down the train and Harry jerked to his feet, stumbling in the darkness towards the door. It slid open with a bang as someone rushed in before it shut just a quickly, locking with a loud click. Marcus Flint's wand lit, flickering dimly in the surrounding darkness. The older boy sighed, sliding the blinds on the door shut and ordering Hermione to do the same with the windows.
"You three alright?" He asked, facing them with a grim expression. At their confused nods, he glanced back to the windows. "There are Dementors on the train."
"Dementors?" Harry and Hermione asked together, glancing at each other.
"They guard Azkaban. They kind of suck out happy memories and make you remember bad ones." Draco muttered, his silver eyes fastened on the compartment door. "Looking for Sirius Black, I'll bet." Flint gave an agreeing sound from where he stood, wand held tightly in his hand.
"Oh!" Hermione gasped, her breath hanging in the air as the dew on the window turned to ice. Crookshanks hissed from where he had jumped into the luggage rack.
Harry jerked suddenly, as the sound of screaming filled his ears. "Who's screaming?"
Flint glanced at him sharply, before his gaze swung back to the door as the lock clicked and it began to slide open. "Expecto patronum!" Something large a silver shot out of his wand towards the door, and the feeling of oppressive sadness lifted. Harry dropped into his seat, as the screaming faded. Through the crack in the door, he could just make out other silvery beings gliding down the hall. The lights flickered before coming back on and the train jerked forward.
