Just to tell people, this might seem like a HPOC, but it's not. Harry is kinda…odd around girls he doesn't know well. At least that's how I've seen it. Also we'll find something out about Sabra that explains some boy's behaviour around her. It's mostly from her point of view, so anything she doesn't realize, you won't. At least, not until someone brings it up.
Disclaimer: :::Bows.::: The honourable JKR owns these characters and places; I reserve Sabra and this storyline for myself.
Sabra trotted down the platform, barely managing to avoid bumping people as she steered her cart towards the track. She and her mother reached the sign stating 'Platform 9,' right next to the 'Platform 10' one. She looked at her mother who shrugged, just as baffled as she.
Sabra walked up to the station guard; he was standing stiffly at attention. She stood in front of him for a moment until his eyes flickered over to her. "Yes?" he barked.
"Umm… Do you know where I can find Platform 9 ¾ ?"
"No!" He glowered down at her. "And you're the fifth person to ask me that today! This happens every year; I'm of the opinion that you fools are getting duped by someone very rich right now." And with that, he turned away from her and stood at attention once more.
Sabra slowly walked back to Mrs. Levi, shrugging her shoulders. They looked at each other for a moment unsure of what to do, when they heard the low-pitched croak of a toad and someone muttering, "Muggles; look at all the muggles. They're everywhere!"
Looking in the direction it had come from, they saw an old woman with a very odd hat pushing a cart filled with trunks and bags. Behind her, a chubby boy trotted after her, trying to keep hold on a toad struggling madly for release.
"Er, Ima? Is it just me, or does that woman have a bird on her hat?"
"Unless it's me too, I think you're right."
Judging by the looks of the muggles around the pair, it was not just them. A large stuffed vulture was perched on the woman's hat, seeming to glare at everyone around it.
Sabra watched them closely until they reached the barrier, wonder what they would do. The woman pushed the boy in front of her and he walked over to the barrier. Pushing his arms to the brick wall, he seemed to melt in.
Sabra's eyes opened in understanding; she walked over to the barrier, watching in comprehension as the woman went through as well. She poked a finger experimentally at the brick and nodded satisfactorily.
Taking hold of her cart, she pushed it carefully at the wall, noting with interest as a muggle bumped up against the wall with no sign of sinking in.
"Maybe the spark of magic in the witch or wizard is what fuels the barrier's effect," she mused over it as the tip her cart sunk in.
She motioned her mother over and carefully pushed the cart farther. Her mother came and linked arms with her as they quickly walked in.
For a moment, all she could see was blackness, even with her eyes wide open, then she flinched as light poured in. She blinked for a moment, getting her eyesight back, then widened her eyes.
There was a humongous platform with the sign 'Platform 9¾' hanging above it. Children packed the place, swarming into the train and giving tearful goodbyes.
"Impressive," her mother whispered in her ear. "But are all these kids going to fit?"
Sabra laughed as her mother beckoned to a porter and gave him the trunk along with a silver sickle. He nodded courteously to her and took it, carefully stowing it in the baggage car while they watched.
"Do you have your bag?" Mrs. Levi asked. "The one with your robes…"
"And my books and my quill, I know, I have them. I did go to school before, remember? I'm sixteen!"
"Yes, I know, just never so far away. Before, Savta Shoshannah lived a broom flight away from you."
"Oh, Ima! That reminds me; did you talk to Hamoreh Dumbledore about the food? You said you would."
"And I did." She shook her head mockingly. "It is a curse that children never believe you."
Sabra rolled her eyes, pulling her mother into a hug. "I have to go; see, all the children are getting on."
Her mother hugged her back, sniffling a bit. "I'll send letters with Gadó l. Just write back."
"I will Ima. Litraot." She hugged her again, kissing her on the cheek. Then she grabbed her bag and ran to the train; turning around, her mother waved.
"Shalom Sabra! Litraot!"
Sabra turned back around and headed into the train while Zion batted at yet another strand of hair. Walking down the corridor, she peered in through the first compartment door, looking for a place to sit.
In the first one, four girls sat together, cases of magical make-up floating between them. They giggled, looking in mirrors and fluffing their hair.
In the second, two boys and two girls were leaning in, whispering excitedly and holding cards with moving pictures on them. One of the girls had a chocolate ring around her mouth and the other pointed it out, laughing as a boy handed her a handkerchief.
When Sabra looked in the third door, she saw three boys lounging on one bench, their feet propped up on the other. They looked slightly nasty, and she told herself she could easily come back if all the others were full.
Sabra passed through this car, the rest of them filled, and into the next. Looking in the third door, she saw three people, a girl and two boys, laughing friendlily and talking. Looking closer, she saw it was the three from Diagon Ally! She was about to open the door when the red-head, 'no Ron,' she corrected herself, said something quietly. Harry and Hermione, she remembered, gasped, and Hermione quickly pulled out her wand and sent purple fire at the door; Zion hissed at it and unsheathed his claws. It disappeared, but now the scene inside was now dimmer, and mechanical looking, and Sabra was willing to bet that any noise she heard would be faked as well.
She turned dejectedly around and walked back the way she came, heading for those boys' compartment. As she got close, the train gave a lurch, and she pitched forward; before hitting the ground, a pair of arms encircled her and quickly pulled her up. She looked up into a pair of light grey eyes as her catcher held onto her arm until she was steady.
A blond boy, slightly taller then she was, gently held her arm as she shook her head to clear her eyes.
"I'm very sorry," she said blushing brightly. "The train, and it moved, it surpr¾ ."
He nodded, smiling at her. "Do you have somewhere to sit?" He asked, looking below her face, perhaps at the necklace that was revealed by her collar.
She shook her head, blushing even more furiously, bright enough to show up on her olive-gold skin. Now he knew she was new here; even though he obviously didn't recognize her, it hadn't showed that she had no friends. Now he would walk off, back to the two boys he was sitting with. Zion, as if sensing her feelings, stuck his nose in her ear and meowed softly.
The boy gave a slightly sarcastic bow, gesturing to the door she was in front of. "Then would you like to sit with me and my two friends? I'm sure we can make room for you."
Sabra raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Sure." Then as he opened the door, "oh, and I'm Sabra. Sabra Levi."
He smiled smoothly at her and held open the door. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Draco Malfoy. These are my companions Crabbe and Goyle."
She grinned, relieved that she had found a friend, even here in this cold country.
Sabra sat herself on the bench across from the boys and opened her bag, pulling out a book. Zion meowed again and settled down, nestling himself under her ear and twitching his tail under her chin.
She looked nervously at the boys who seemed to have relaxed and even fallen asleep; they had their eyes closed gently. She frowned in puzzlement; they had gone from awake to asleep in a matter of moments. Shrugging, she opened her book and began to read.
"Well I guess he's better then that Michel Corner bloke, but really!" Ron was saying. "Dean Thomas? C'mon!"
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's antics. "Okay," she said. "Enough with that; I think the train's going to start. Harry and I have been stuck with muggles all summer; tell us what's going on with the Order!"
"Well," Ron looked nervously around then leaned in. "Dad says Dumbledore reckons it'll be this year. You know, the final battle. He says You-Know-Who has waited for sixteen years and now he's discovered; he needs to make a move before Fudge realizes what's up and listens to Dumbledore."
Harry and Hermione gasped. "What?!" Hermione asked loudly.
Harry bit his lip, astonished even though he already knew what was coming.
"Wait a second," Hermione said. "Someone could be listening."
She muttered something under her breath and shot a stream of lilac fire at the door. It quickly vanished, but Harry saw something flicker at the edge, a splash of red. He glanced at Ron to see if he had noticed it, but he was busy gaping at Hermione.
"Was that a level seven concealment charm?"
Hermione nodded. "From the second I place the spell, people outside can only see what we've been doing for the past five minutes, fed in a loop. That's what they hear as well."
"But before that, even seconds before, they could still hear?" Harry asked bluntly.
"Well, yes. Why?"
Harry stood up; he was sure he had seen someone at the door. "I'll be right back," he said. "I think someone was listening."
He stood up and walked to the door, leaving Hermione and Ron gaping behind him.
Once in the corridor, he turned around and looked at the door; to any unsuspecting viewer, it would seem that all three of them were still inside chatting happily about friendly topics.
He turned to the side that the figure had headed and walked down, peering in all the compartment and looking at familiar faces. Ginny, Neville, Lee Jordan and Luna sat together in one; since the battle people had been more accepting towards her. In the next was a nervous group of first years, they sat stiffly and quietly and it looked like none of them had moved since they got on the train. In the third were Lavender and Parvati and two of their friends, giggling and making themselves up.
Harry stopped before looking in the next compartment; this was the one in which Draco, Crabbe and Goyle sat. He peered carefully in and saw the three boys sitting on one bench and a girl wearing a red blouse sitting on the other.
Harry did a double-take and looked again; it was that girl from Diagon Ally, the one who had knocked Ron and Hermione down! 'What was her name again?' he wondered, then remembered. 'Oh yeah, Sabra; that was it.'
He glanced in again and saw the three boys apparently asleep, but someone familiar with them could spot the cracks under their eyelids and the malicious grin they were struggling to hide.
Sabra was reading quietly on the other side, a bag draped over one shoulder while a small black kitten dozed on the other. She had her ankles loosely crossed and her hair was pulled back with a few strands tickling her nose. She pursed her lips and blew at one with annoyance; looking up to brush it away, she spotted Harry.
Her eyes widened with shock and recognition, and Draco's head snapped up to see who she was looking at. He saw Harry standing at the door and his eyes narrowed; striding to the door he threw it open.
"What do you want, Potter?" he hissed. "I thought we made it clear that we were sitting here. Besides, we've already got someone filling that seat; don't we, Sabra?"
The girl in question quailed under their joined glares. Trying not to show her nervousness, she carefully placed her book back in her bag and looked politely at Harry. "May I enquire as to the nature of the business that brought you here, Harry?" she asked sweetly.
Draco glared harder at Harry and asked him again, "what are you doing here?"
Harry glanced at Sabra, then back at Draco. "I was actually going offer to let Sabra sit with us, but now I see she's comfortable here, so I'll just go." He turned back around and stepped out the door, ready to go.
"Wait!" A voice called after him. "I'll come! They can have their compartment back!"
Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Sabra attempting to move forward with Draco holding onto one of her arms and Crabbe getting up to hold the other. They both got their wands out at the same time and pointed it at the two holding her.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The boys let go of her, arms and legs shooting together as they fell to the ground, stiff as boards; Goyle was dispatched of just as efficiently.
They stood for a moment, wands out and glaring, before Sabra carefully
stuck her wand back in her waistband and bit her lip sheepishly. "Er, I shouldn't have done that." She looked down, her face red, but snapped back up when she saw the three boys lying on the floor.
Harry put his own wand away and grinned. "Yes you should've. Draco's a git, he deserves it."
Sabra lifted her foot to step over Draco, then looked down at her skirt and thought the better of it; she stepped around him and out past Harry into the corridor.
As he closed the door, she pulled her wand out again and pointed it at the door. "Non aperio!"
A gold cord shot out of her wand and lined the edges of the door frame; when it hit the metal it sunk in, effectively sealing it shut.
After that, she put it away again and followed Harry down the hall. He counted off doors and waved to some people inside; she walked quietly, more aware then ever that she knew no one here.
Before they reached his door, Harry stopped, and put out his arm for her to stop as well. "Two questions, Sabra. First of all, what were you doing in Malfoy's compartment in the first place?"
She scratched Zion behind the ears as he licked her ear; giggling, she pushed him away. "Sorry, what?"
"Why did you came with me? I mean, Draco wasn't mean to you before you decided to leave, was he?"
"I'm not as stupid as boys think I am. I see it when they stare."
"What? What are you talking about?"
She fiddled with the charm around her neck and muttered something, turning red again. She was thankful for the dark skin that hid most of the colour.
Harry looked at the charm around her neck, it was one he had never seen before; it looked like an upside-down hand, gold with a jewel in the middle. He gazed at it a moment, then realized in which direction he was staring. "Oh! Er…Sabra! Heh, sorry."
She grinned at his embarrassed face and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Now, what was you're second question?"
Harry raked a hand through his hair. "I was wondering what you were doing with Malfoy and co. in the first place."
"Oh, that. When the train started I fell…" She ignored Harry as he sniggered. "Yes I know, again. I fell on Draco and he invited me to sit with him."
"One hell of a way to meet boys," a voice said from behind the door.
"Ron!" Hermione chided, sliding out with him. They came out, grinning sheepishly at the fierce look Harry gave them. "Don't even bother asking," Hermione said. "We were eavesdropping."
"Well I figured that," Harry said. Come on, let's get inside. The trolley lady's coming and I want some food."
They trouped inside and sat down, dropping bags and stuff on the seats and stepping back out with knuts and sickles ready.
A few minutes later, they all sat happily with the boys on one bench and the girls on the other; sharing candy and food and laughing as the ones they gave caused ill effect with others.
Sabra bit the tip off of a Bernie Botts Ever Flavoured Beans and grimaced.
"What did you get?" Ron asked, biting the leg off of a struggling Chocolate Frog.
She fed the bean to Zion and laughed as he took it eagerly. "Sardines."