Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or names in this story created by J.K Rowling (who is a very talented lady.) I only own the plot, and new characters you won't recognise.
Chapter Two: The Unexpected Stop
After about an hour on the train, the trolley lady trundled past with her usual selection of treats. Being seventeen-year-old girls, they all politely declined the offer of the fattening sweets. The trolley lady, who was no spring chicken herself, gave them a toothy grin and said, "No 'arm in getting some meat on yer bones. A coupla other students ordered 'alf the cart's worth!" She trundled away serenely.
"I think I know who they were," Lily said scornfully. (She didn't notice Alice and Wyona exchange a meaningful glance.) She glanced outside. The sun was setting, casting a golden hue on the curving features on the countryside. "We're nearly at Hogwarts!" At the mention of the school's name, all three felt nervous. Their memories of the previous year included studying until midnight, propping open their eyelids during class and hastily-scribbled notes. How much worse could their seventh year be?
The girls decided to change into their black school robes a little earlier. Wyona changed in the carriage as Lily and Alice waited outside.
Alice flicked her gaze to the left and noticed Frank Longbottom at the other end of the train. She said hurriedly, "I might go and dash off to the loo – won't be long" and disappeared.
Lily smiled to herself, and then began to feel slightly dizzy from the rocking motion of the train. Leaning her temples against the wall, she closed her eyes and tried to visualise peaceful rainforests, silver-streaked waterfalls.
"Well, well, Evans."
The smug voice calling her by her surname could only mean one thing. Images of running water and tropical trees broke as she opened her eyes with a snap and stood up straight.
"Potter – what are you doing here?"
She noted with annoyance that he had grown even taller over the summer. He looked down on her small frame with a bemused expression. "Why, is it now illegal to stretch my legs during a long trip?"
Your very long legs, Lily noted, before feeling horrified at what she had just thought. "Potter – if this is meant to be a trick of some sort –"
"Hey, Evans, will you go out with me?"
Lily sighed inwardly. She had been expecting that for a long time. "No."
James contemplated silently. The one-hundredth and first time he had been turned down by her. 101. I should celebrate this or something, he thought.
"Evans, did you know that that was the one-hundredth and –"
The train jolted suddenly, and came to a sudden, unexpected stop. Lily jerked forward onto James and clutched him as she lost her balance. He (who had of course kept his composure after hours of training in the testing conditions of Quidditch) regarded her with an amused eye. She found that extremely irritating.
"Well," he said, "if you liked me that much you could've just told me –"
The rest of his words were drowned out by a siren, emitted by a teacher's wand. The signal that there was something – something bad – nearby. (Lily hurriedly righted herself.) All the students in the corridors dashed here and there, squeezing into compartments and slamming the sliding doors shut.
James grabbed Lily by the arm. "In here, Evans –"
He pushed her into the carriage opposite, which was already thronged with students. Lily recognised Wyona among the sea of faces, looking fearful – and she hoped with all her heart that Alice was somewhere safe, perhaps with Frank. Then she gasped as the entire train and its occupants disappeared, merging with the country scene. Several people screamed. Lily stared at the train tracks below, two yards from where her feet should be. One of the teachers' doing, she thought, casting an expert Disillusionment charm. But what could be so bad that the train had come to a stop and everyone needed to be hidden?
A large crack broke through the whisperings. Everyone immediately fell silent. Then Lily saw it – a rustling in the tall grass bordering the tracks, followed by a black hood emerging from the fronds. By now everyone knew enough not to make a sound. Then a face appeared – a pale face with gingery-blonde hair and watery eyes. He stared right through the train, as if confused, and Disapparated. The moment he was gone, the train started travelling again, faster than before, as everything gradually shimmered into being again.