Nearly as soon as her mother left, Evanna pulled down her trunk and changed into her Hogwarts robes. There was no way she would let any of her new schoolmates see her in such frilly outfits. She was far more comfortable in black, anyhow. Perhaps she'd order herself some Young Witch magazines when she settled in, find some clothing more to her taste out of the thumb of her strict father and overbearing mother for the first time in her life…
"Oh sorry," a voice said as the compartment door busted open. The girl standing before her had flaming red hair and her face was a similar color. She looked as though she had ran all the way to the train. "We got to the platform rather late-my stupid brothers-and I thought this compartment was empty-I'll just head on, then."
"No, no, it's alright," Evanna said. "There's no one else in here. You can sit with me."
"Alright," the girl replied. "My name's Ginny."
"Evanna. How do you do?"
Ginny gave her an odd look, and Evanna realized how obnoxiously posh she must have just sounded. Her cheeks burned a little.
"I'm fine, thank you," Ginny said with a small smile as she hefted her trunk into the grate above her. "Why are you already in your robes? Are you a muggle-born?" she bluntly. Evanna jerked back in offense.
"I'll have you know, I am as Pureblooded as they come, thank you," she said, sticking her nose in the air snootily.
"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you, your highness," she said. "It's not like there's something wrong with it-my brother's friend was top of the first years last year and she's a muggleborn."
Evanna smirked. "I knew my brother was lying about that."
Ginny laughed. "Oh yeah? Who's your-"
"Oh, hello Ginevra," a dreamy sounding voice said from the compartment door. "That's a lovely diary you've got. Though I'd be careful-looks like a great hiding place for the nargles."
"Thank you Luna," Ginny said drolly, giving Evanna a sideglance. Evanna did her best not to snicker. "Come on in. Evanna, this is Luna Lovegood. Luna, this is Evanna. I crashed her compartment."
"Lovegood? As in the Quibbler?" Evanna asked, doing her best not to let her disdain show. These were the first girls her age she had met, Lucius having always insisted on training while Draco had his playdates. She would not be messing this up for anything.
Ginny shot her a measuring look.
"Yes, my father is the editor," Luna replied, all but floating to take a seat next to Ginny.
"Interesting," Evanna replied, taking in the girl's radish earrings and large orange Wellingtons. She certainly looked the type.
Luna looked at her with surprisingly sharp eyes. "You look like léitheoir aigne."
"Excuse me?" Evanna said, unsure what the other girl was talking about but unwilling to let it slide should it be an insult.
"You know, the druid women who-"
"Would any o' yeh mind if I-"
Another girl was at the compartment door, with caramel skin and big, grey eyes. She seemed a bit hesitant, but had a sort of steady confidence that Evanna had been taught to associate with magic. She was of old blood, Evanna was sure.
"Yes, come on in," Ginny said jovially. "I'm Ginny, and this is Luna and Evanna."
"Bridget," she said in an Irish brogue. "Bridget Travers."
Evanna recognized the name as belonging to the Sacred Twenty-Eight. She had been right about the girl being from old pureblood stock.
"Anyone fancy some Exploding Snap?" Ginny asked with an almost wolfish grin.
Soon the girls were laughing merrily as cards exploded in their lap and the English countryside seemed to race by the window beside them. Eventually, the other three left the compartment to go to the bathroom and change into their robes, coming back with strange rumors of Harry Potter not being on the train and a flying muggle car zooming around the Hogwarts Express. Evanna tried not to snort at the absurdity.
"Did anyone say what the car looks like?" Ginny asked, biting her lip nervously.
"What does it matter?" Evanna said. "Since when can muggles make things fly?"
Ginny seemed to blanch. "Excuse me, I need to go check on my brother's."
Before the redhead was able to leave, however, the door opened again, revealing Draco standing there, looking stricken.
Father will kill me.
"Evanna, have you been sitting here with a Weasley this entire time?" he asked.
"And if I have?" Evanna replied coolly. "Aren't they part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight? It's not as if I've been playing chess with a Mudblood."
Ginny jerked at the word, but no one said anything, feeling the tension rising between the two siblings.
"First you go palling around with Potter-"
"I ran into the boy! On accident!" she snarled.
"And now you are playing Exploding Snap with blood-traitors! There is a reason Father wouldn't let you out of the Manor!"
Evanna was ready to spit something back viciously, but then Bridget spoke up.
"Maybe you two should go somewhere else fer this conversation?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
Draco flushed and jerked his head. Evanna sighed, knowing she would have to follow.
"Look," her brother said as soon as they were out in the corridor. "I just came by to check in on you. That was-well-kinda-you know, at the train station-"
Evanna felt the pit of her stomach fall out. "Mother helped me, gave me some sort of weird looking bracelet," she shrugged, feeling deeply uncomfortable. "But Draco, you can't just do that!"
"But that was a Weasley," he whined.
"Well, I didn't know! I've not exactly been out and about like you," she said bitterly. "But the last thing I need is another bloody Lucius Malfoy breathing down my neck!"
Without further ado, she marched back to the compartment she had been sitting and threw herself back inside.
"So," she said. "Does anyone know of a way to make sure you're Sorted away from your family?"