Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. However, I do own Gretchen Krell and Kayla Strill. I also own the owl, Shirashome. But otherwise I own nothing.
"Ouch! Quit shoving, Strill!"
"You quit shoving, Krell!"
"Stop!"
"You!"
"ENOUGH!" roared Libby over the two of them. She picked up both bickering girls by their shoulders and tossed them into the car. "Do you want to go back to Hogwarts or not?"
Krell, the smaller of the two girls, shot Libby a dirty look. The other girl, darker and taller than Krell, was Kayla Strill, who also shot Libby a dirty look.
Libby sniffed at the two and climbed into the driver's seat. She pushed her short blond hair behind her ears and pushed her oval-rimmed glasses up on her nose. She watched the girls with the eyes of a hawk through the rear-view mirror.
Krell looked back at Libby with distaste. Libby was a graduate of Hogwarts School, the top of her class in Slytherin house. Krell, who was also a Slytherin, did not have to think twice before immediately labeling Libby as her number one public enemy.
Libby pulled the car out of the parking space, easing it out onto the road. She stopped at a red light. "I hear they've got quite the group of first years this year," she mentioned casually, making a quick inspection of her nails.
"First years are dullsome and boring," Strill reminded Libby. "They do nothing but wander around and get lost."
"Well you would know first hand, wouldn't you?" asked Krell dryly, playing on Strill's awful sense of direction (not that her own was any better.) Strill glared at Krell, her face turning pink.
"I hear this year--" continued Libby, shifting the car back into drive, "--Harry Potter's coming to Hogwarts."
"WHAT!" both girls shrieked. Libby slammed on the brakes, causing two Muggle cars in back of her to bump into the bumper. Shouts and swears let loose at Libby as she scrambled out of the car to fix the problem.
"Harry Potter?" Krell mused, looking thoughtful. "The one who survived...VOLDEMORT?"
"SHH! You must not speak his name!" Strill hissed frantically. Krell giggled and fell back into her seat.
"It's not as if saying his name has got anything to do with him, Kayla," Krell reminded her. "It's only a name."
Strill's face remained skeptical. Her expression changed once Libby opened the car door, poked her head back in, and told them both matter-of-factly that they would have to walk the rest of the way to the train station because they had broken the car.
With some difficulty and with no assistance from Libby, the two girls finally managed to get their trunks out, tugging them along the way. Strill's grey owl, Shirashome, fluttered her wings impatiently in her cage. This caught the eye of several Muggles, which caused the faces of both girls to brighten another shade of red.
"I can't understand why you bother with that retched owl," Krell muttered, mostly to herself more than anyone else, "when you could have any other type of familiar."
"And I suppose your cat outranks my owl?" asked Strill, stopping to catch her breath. They were only feet from the car and already wiped out.
"By a mile." Krell smiled, her cat coming round the corner. The tiny orange kitten hopped up onto her trunk and mewed loudly. Strill nearly had a fit of laughter, but recovered herself in time to see Lucius Malfoy approach them from behind.
"Having trouble, girls?" he asked, his voice cool. Krell made a face, not bothering with formalities-- her father, Roger Krell, was good friends with the Malfoys, and thus she didn't think politeness was required in this sort of situation.
"Only a bit," said Strill, in shock. She, unlike Krell, had never had the displeasure of meeting Lucius Malfoy, or any of his pure-blood family.
Lucius graciously offered both girls a ride with him and his son, Draco. Krell accepted his generous offer with an offer of her own-- to make sure his son ( a first year) was as respected at Hogwarts as he was outside of it. With this offer she and Strill climbed into the waiting vehicle of the Malfoy family and drove away, leaving Libby behind to gawk and shriek.
-
Strill was immediately fascinated by what she saw-- even the sight of the rest of the Malfoy family seemed to set her off into a fit of amazement. Krell rolled her eyes and introduced herself to Draco, a small blond boy slouched in the car.
"Draco Malfoy," he introduced, shaking her hand. She nodded.
"Gretchen Krell," she grinned, sitting down. Strill sat in amazement. "And this is Miss Kayla Strill. Forgive her open mouth."
"No offense taken, Miss Krell," said Mrs. Malfoy, smiling. Krell nodded at Mrs. Malfoy. Strill sat in utter wonder and gawked at the leather interior of the car.
Minutes later they arrived at the train station, where Strill, Krell, and Draco departed from Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.
"I met the most interesting person today," said Draco suddenly. "Harry Potter. Did you know he's coming to Hogwarts?"
"We heard," snapped Krell, forgetting her manners. "We're off here, Malfoy--we'll see you in Hogwarts." Draco barely had time to nod before Krell and Strill vanished around the corner, running to get to platform nine and three-quarters, the train that would take them both to Hogwarts school for Witches and Wizards.
"Close call?" asked Strill sarcastically, dragging her trunk with some grunting effort. Krell aimed a kick for Strill's shin but missed, hitting her foot on a rail. Krell shouted and dropped her trunk on the tail of her cat. The cat shot off in the opposite direction, hissing and spitting.
"Look what you've gone and done," Krell muttered. "You've scared him off. Now I've got to find him so we can board the train. You're such a dimwit, I swear." Strill dismissed this as Krell's usual rantings-- going on about how she should just kill herself now before her friends dug her an early grave.
"I'd better be off," Strill shrugged after Krell had stopped muttering, "I've got to get back to Draco and the rest of the first years." Kayla Strill was a first year this year. Krell would be a second year.
"You just want to go find Popaeko," drawled Krell, recollecting her things. Popaeko was the wizard Strill had fancied since she was little. Strill's face went scarlet. Krell laughed at her friend, bid her goodbye, and walked through the next wall into platform nine and three-quarters.
Krell stuck her head back through the wall. "Be sure and find my cat for me, Strill," she said, smiling, "or else."
"Of course," said Strill. She knew better than to take Krell seriously half of the time. With this said, Krell's head vanished back into the wall, gone to the Hogwarts Express.