"Would you.. I mean, if you don't mind, would it be okay if I sat here?" She said, anxiously fiddling with her wand as she stared at the boy.
"Ahh, I mean, yeah, sure I guess." Harry replied, his mind awash with conflicting emotions as the bushy haired girl sat across from him.
"I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger." The girl added as she sat down, nervously eyeing the boy opposite.
Harry looked down, studiously avoiding eye contact with the bushy-haired bookworm. "Harry. It's a pleasure" He said, talking mostly to his shoes.
An awkward silence filled the cabin for a moment as Hermione stared at Harry, who persisted in looking anywhere but at her. Could it be? She thought. No. Surely not.
"Harry as in…?" She ventured anxiously.
Internally, Harry sighed. He was used to it by now, of course. The whispers and the glances at his forehead. His hair could only conceal so much, after all. Still, the last thing he wanted was to go through the next year or so with dozens of starstruck kids ogling him.
"Yep. That's me, what of it?" He snapped, a little harsher than he intended.
Hermione's eyes widened a little. "Well, it's just that I've read all about you! You were in Modern Magical History, and The Rise and Fall of the Dark A-"
Harry cut her off angrily. "Yeah, my parents died, and I got cursed, and I don't even bloody remember what happened. But hey, I was the only one to survive the killing curse, so hooray, I guess it was all worth it."
Unbeknownst to him, Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears a little, as she set her mouth into a firm line, determined not to cry. Nice work, Hermione, she thought, way to make a great first impression. Talk about his dead parents and his scar, that'll sure make him like you. Idiot.
Meanwhile, Harry sighed internally again. He hadn't meant to be so rude. Not really. He just didn't like talking about it, especially when he didn't deserve any of the plaudits he got. Not that anybody else knew, except, of course, Dumbledore, but it had been his mother, not him, who really banished the Dark Lord for a decade. Compared to her, he didn't really do anything.
"Sorry." They said, simultaneously.
"I ju"
"I didn't me-" They talked over each other accidentally, before an awkward silence claimed them again, neither wanting to interrupt again. They looked at each other.
"I-I didn't mean to be rude" Harry started.
"No, I shouldn't have talked about it."
"No, really, its fine."
"No, really, it's my fault."
"I-"
They were interrupted again as a set of brown skinned twins Harry recognised as Padma and Parvarti, opened the door.
"Sorry, we don't mean to interrupt." The one on the left (Padma?) said. "But, well, you're first years too, right? Do you mind if we sit here with you?"
Hermione and Harry glanced at each other for a moment, before looking back at the two girls.
"Of course!" Harry said, his cheerful mask slipping into place. "The more the merrier!"
The two girls gave a grateful, coordinated smile, before sitting down opposite each other, with Padma next to Hermione and Parvarti next to Harry. Neither seemed to have noticed that they were sitting with one of the most famous wizards of the age, but Harry suspected they'd work out quickly once they got a good luck at his face.
"I'm Parvarti, by the way. And this is my twin sister, Padma." Parvarti explained as Hermione looked curiously at her new companions. "You can tell us apart because I'm the pretty one." She smiled by way of indicating it was a joke, although the slight wince Padma had on her face for a moment suggested it cut a little close to home for the more bookish twin.
"Hermione, Hermione Granger. Its lovely to meet you both." Hermione replied, with a slight smile. "And this is…this is, ah, well.."
Harry took over the introduction. If there was one thing he hated more than the Dark Lord, it was awkward introductions. "Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you both." He smiled with his hand outstretched, ready for squeals of excitement that he was so used to hearing. Sure enough, the two girls looked at each other, wide-eyed, before giving twin squeals and eagerly taking his hand.
"You're really him? Oh, Merlin, it's really you!"
"You are so, brave, Harry, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you!"
"This is amazing, I knew you were in our year but I never guessed-"
Harry internally rolled his eyes. He'd heard it all before, more times than he could count. Outwardly, however, he kept a firm image of benevolent kindness as he smiled at them.
"Yes, yes, I know, its all very exciting. But you know all about me, how about you tell me more about you?" He grinned at them. People so loved to talk about themselves, especially when somebody they wanted the approval of wanted to hear it.
"Well, we're from India originally, but we relocated here in '83, a few years after we were born." Padma explained enthusiastically, gesturing with her hands.
Another knock at the door. They all looked to the noise, to see a red haired, freckly child nervously opening the door.
"umm..Hello. You mind? All the other cars are full." He said, somewhat timidly.
Harry narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. Ron. Weasley. The loud-mouthed brute embodied everything Harry loathed about Gryffindor. Impetuous. Stupid. No regard for consequences, and an idea of honour and dignity that would baffle the lowliest peasant. The lad had been a thorn in Harry's side from day one, acting as either an unconscious irritant or a conscious harasser. And those were on his good days. How he believed that anybody would believe that ridiculous excuse about all the other cars being full was beyond him. Before he could speak, however, Hermione spoke up.
"Please, take a seat, if you wish. I expect we'll be leaving soon." She said imperiously.
Harry smiled at the irony of it all. If Hermione knew what happened between her and the weasel, he wondered if she'd be so welcoming.
"Err, thanks, I guess. I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley." He smiled gormlessly, with a desperation to please that Harry had come to associate with the weasel. Still, formalities and protocol had to be observed, it just wouldn't do to be rude to the kid, not at this juncture anyway.
"Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." Harry said coolly, with his usual easy smile that came so naturally after years of practice.
Ron's eyes widened comically. "Blimey. It's you. Have you really got the…well, the.." He looked around at the passengers, before lowering his voice to a whisper. "the scar?"
Harry rolled his eyes, unable to internalise it this time, before pulling up his hair. His red, angry scar was still there, of course, and the entire cabin turned to gaze at it reverently. He supposed it was too much to hope for that it had inexplicably disappeared and retracted into his skull at the sight of the junior Weasley.
"Woah." Ron said wonderingly, before pulling his gaze away from the promised land. "Oh, and, er..who are you lot, then?" He said, with somewhat feigned interest. Another round of greetings followed, punctuated with some awkward handshakes. Ron finally sat down next to Parvarti, before a final knock at the door sounded. A chubby, black haired boy with a frightened expression stood at the door, almost quivering with terror.
"E-excuse me…m-may I sit, may I sit here?" asked Neville Longbottom.
Harry narrowed his eyes again at the newcomer. Neville was, truly, the most pathetic wizard he'd ever known. A spineless invertebrate, with no magical skill to speak of save a freakish addiction to Herbology. For as long as he'd known him, Neville had lived almost every waking moment with some sort of fear or apprehension, and Harry felt equal parts pity at revulsion at the big-boned lad. Still, he allowed, Neville could be a useful ally. The Longbottoms had quite a bit of wealth and prestige to their name, and if he could get Neville onside he'd have something of ally on the Wizengamot when he left school. SO, as distasteful as it may be, he had to play nice. For now.
"Cousin!" Harry stood up with an effusive gesture, beckoning him in with a big smile. "Good to see you, please, do come, take a seat next to Padma there."
"C-cousin?" the boy squeaked nervously, his eyes widening as he regarded this strange, kind boy.
"Yes, I'm Harry, Harry Potter, and with the bloodlines as they are, well, I'm sure we're related in some way or another." Harry explained genially as he sat down. "Anyways, what house do you think you'll be in?"
"I…I dunno. Hufflepuff, I guess, they're probably the only ones who'll take me." Neville said despondently. "Nan's got her heart set on Gryffindor though, says that my dad was good enough for it, and so should I."
Harry winced at the boy's lack of self-confidence. He had learnt early on in Slytherin that if you had nothing to give, and talked down to yourself, people would treat you with the same disrespect that you treated yourself.
"I think I'll be Gryffindor, meself." Ron butted in, giving his unasked for opinion. "All my brothers are, and my dad was too, so I'll probably go there, I reckon. I don't really mind though, as long as I'm not in Slytherin." He added with venom. "I dunno how we get sorted, though. Fred and George said that we have to fight a troll!"
Hermione scoffed. "Honestly, Ron, they wouldn't make us fight a troll before our first lesson, that would be just silly." She explained condescendingly. "I don't know who these 'Fred and George' are, but I don't think they're a reliable source of information."
Ron narrowed his eyes a little, the condescension going over his head, but the small slight towards his troublemaking brothers not. "And who asked you? What would you know about how we get sorted anyhow?" He asked, an edge to his voice. Time to stop this before it got out of hand. The last thing Harry wanted was to deal with two angry 11 year olds before the damned train even got started.
"I expect I'll be in Slytherin, myself." He said, a little smugness creeping into his voice. Let them chew on that! The "golden boy", going into nasty, evil Slytherin? He hoped that everybody would be as shocked as they were last time. A part of him was looking forward to savouring the looks of horror on the faces of the other houses.
A short silence filled the cabin at this shock announcement, broken (of course) by one Ron Weasley.
"A Slytherin?" He asked indignantly, "Blimey, why would you want to be a Slytherin? You know that's where all the dark wizards come from, right mate?"
"In case you didn't notice, the Slytherin motto and values say nothing about being a factory for dark wizards. Guess what the house values are? Cunning, and ambition. I can't possibly see the problem with that. What's wrong with wanting to improve things, having goals and knowing how to get there?" He retorted, trying to keep anger out of his voice. "All I want to do is help people, you know." He finished, trying to make himself as wide-eyed and innocent as possible.
Ron, unexpectedly, subsided without even a hint of a grumble, as the group seemed to give a satisfied nod. Then, the sound of a whistle passed into the small compartment, and Harry settled back into his seat as conversation began to haltingly fill the cabin again, whilst the train gave a jerking motion, beginning the long ride to Hogwarts. As he settled back, he failed to notice a brown lump crawl out of a certain redhead's bag. The rat stared at him with intelligent, wary eyes, considering the boy, before scampering back to the warmth of its owner's pocket.