To all of my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful day however you celebrate (or don't). Also, it's my birthday! Happy birthday to me!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
Chapter 3 – September First
Lucy was crying. She couldn't help it; saying good-bye to her parents was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. She had never been away from them. Since she had never attended school, she'd spent much of the past ten years at home with her parents. It finally hit her that once she left for Hogwarts, she'd be on her own.
"Don't cry, sweetheart," Sue cooed as she rubbed Lucy's back. "We'll see you next summer. If you want to come home for Christmas, you can do that, as well."
Lucy squeezed her mother close. "I'm sorry I'm crying," she replied. "I'm just going to miss you so much." She glanced at the Weasley family, who were huddled close together a few feet away, trying their best to blend in with the Muggles. "Don't worry about me, though. I'll be fine with the Weasleys."
Sue let her go and gave her a watery smile.
"We aren't worried," Dan said as he hugged Lucy next. "We know that you'll have a wonderful time. Just be sure to write to us every once in a while."
"Of course, I will," Lucy agreed.
With one last farewell, she pushed her trolley towards the Weasleys. Just before they entered the train station, Lucy turned and waved to her parents. Sue and Dan waved back, and the next moment they had disappeared. Lucy sighed and hurried after the Weasleys.
She had become quite good friends with the Weasleys in the past month. A lot of her time was spent with Ginny; neither girl had ever had a sister before, and they had both enjoyed having a sister-like figure around. Other times, Lucy had joined Ron, Fred, and George in flying contests around the Weasleys' land. Flying on a broomstick was one of the highlights of Lucy's summer. Since she had lived in a Muggle town before, she wasn't allowed to fly in case she was seen. The Weasleys lived in the country, so they could fly practically anywhere they wanted.
"Come on, everyone," Mrs. Weasley called as they started through the train station. "It's the same every year," she complained rather loudly as they walked. "Packed with Muggles, of course."
Ron and Lucy cringed, hoping none of said Muggles heard her talking.
"Now, what's the platform number?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Nine and three-quarters!" Ginny announced. She was walking with Mrs. Weasley and holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go, please?" she begged.
Lucy giggled softly.
"You're not old enough, Ginny. Be quiet," Mrs. Weasley admonished, sounding tired of Ginny's constant bothering. "All right, Percy—you go first." She nodded at Percy and then said to Lucy, "Watch Percy closely."
Percy walked briskly towards the barrier, and, just as it seemed he was about to crash, he continued right through the wall. Lucy nodded in understanding.
Suddenly, she felt as though they were being watched. She looked off to the side and saw a dark-haired boy observing them closely. On top of his trolley was a cage with an owl, and he didn't notice Lucy looking at him.
He must be waiting to get onto the platform, Lucy decided, and turned her attention back to the barrier, where Fred had just disappeared through the wall.
"Come on, Lucy!" George called, pushing his trolley forward.
Lucy laughed and followed him closely. She sucked in a breath of air as she got close to the wall, but just like others, she passed right through the barrier without crashing.
"Over here!" Fred called from a compartment in the middle of the train.
George told Lucy to follow him, and they both walked over to Fred. Together, they heaved George's and Lucy's trunks into a compartment, storing them away. Lucy kept her backpack slung over her shoulders and Evie's cat carrier in her hands.
"Don't worry about trying to get to your trunk when we get to Hogwarts," George explained. "They bring up the luggage separately. Come on—let's get down to the platform. Mum and Ginny should be waiting to say good-bye."
The three of them hopped out of the train and started looking through the steam clouds to find Mrs. Weasley.
"Oy, Fred! Lucy! C'mere and help!" George called suddenly.
Fred and Lucy turned, surprised. They hadn't even noticed that George had walked away.
Fred hurried over, and he and George helped a boy shove his trunk onto the train. With a lurch of recognition, Lucy realized that the boy was the one who had been watching them on the other side of the barrier. She followed the boys onto the train and watched as Fred, George, and the boy stowed the trunk into an empty compartment.
The boy looked up gratefully, pushing his hair out of his eyes. All three of them zeroed in on the scar on his forehead.
"What's that?" Fred questioned, pointing at the boy's forehead.
"Blimey," George said, gaping. "Are you—?"
"He is. Aren't you?" Lucy pressed.
"What?" the boy asked, seeming confused.
"Harry Potter," the three of them chorused, their voices laced with awe.
"Oh, him," the boy said. "I mean, yes, I am."
Lucy, Fred, and George stared at him for a moment, and he started to turn red.
"Fred! George! Lucy!" Mrs. Weasley's voice called from somewhere outside of the train.
"Coming!" the three of them called. They all flashed grins at Harry before leaping out the door and back onto the platform.
"Ron, you've got something on your nose," Mrs. Weasley commented as Lucy and the twins rejoined the rest of the family. She grabbed his face and started rubbing at his nose with a handkerchief.
Ron tried to jerk away from her but to no avail. Lucy and Ginny started laughing.
"Mum—Geroff," Ron protested before finally wiggling out of her grasp.
"Aw, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nose?" Fred teased, causing Lucy and Ginny to laugh harder.
"Shut up," Ron muttered darkly at all of them, his face bright red.
Lucy bit her lip, trying to control her laughter.
"Where's Percy?" Mrs. Weasley asked, paying no attention to what her kids were laughing at.
"He's coming now."
They turned to see Percy striding towards them with his robes already on. His prefect badge gleamed in the sunlight, and he had his chest thrust out, so people would notice it.
"Can't stay long, Mother," he said, rather pompously. Lucy thought he was trying too hard to be mature; he was only fifteen years old, after all. "I'm up front," Percy explained. "The prefects have got two compartments to themselves—"
"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" Fred couldn't help but interrupt, feigning surprise. "You should have said something! We had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," George pretended to muse. "Once—"
"Or twice—"
"A minute—"
"All summer—"
"Oh, shut up," Percy snapped.
Lucy and Ginny laughed again, and Ron joined in this time.
"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" George asked on a more serious note.
"Because he's a prefect," Mrs. Weasley pressed, sounding proud of her son. "All right, dear—well, have a good term," she said to Percy. "Send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek, and he left, his chest still sticking out.
Mrs. Weasley turned to the twins next and said, "Now, you two—this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've—you've blown up a toilet or—"
"Blown up a toilet?" George repeated. "We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea, though," Fred added. "Thanks, Mum."
"It's not funny," Mrs. Weasley snapped. "And look after Ron and Lucy, now, will you?"
"Don't worry. Ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."
"Shut up!" Ron insisted. The tips of his ears turned pink.
"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" Fred asked. "You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"
Apparently, Lucy hadn't been the only one to notice him when they were back in the station.
"Who?" Mrs. Weasley sighed, sounding as though she was waiting for some sort of joke.
"Harry Potter!" Lucy joined the twins in saying his name, hoping to convince Mrs. Weasley that they were telling the truth.
"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum?" Ginny started begging again, standing on her toes to see if she could find him anywhere. "Oh, please—"
"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you ogle at in a zoo," Mrs. Weasley scolded. "Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"
"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there—like lightning."
"Poor dear—no wonder he was alone. I wondered," Mrs. Weasley said. "He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."
"Never mind that," Fred said impatiently. "Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"
Lucy felt her eyes widen as she and Ron exchanged a look of disbelief.
Mrs. Weasley glared at him. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred," she commanded. "No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day of school!"
"All right, keep your hairnet on."
The train whistle sounded.
"Hurry up!" Mrs. Weasley said, suddenly frantic, and Lucy hugged Ginny hard before she jumped up onto the train with Ron, Fred, and George.
The three boys leaned out the window to kiss their mother good-bye. Mrs. Weasley demanded on giving Lucy a kiss, too, stating, "You're practically like a daughter to me now." Ginny started crying.
"Don't, Ginny; we'll send you loads of owls," Fred said soothingly.
"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat," George amended, grinning widely.
Lucy laughed.
"George!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, to which George added quickly, "Only joking, Mum."
The train began moving, and Lucy almost wanted to reach out and pull Ginny into the train with her. Oh, well, Lucy thought. She'll be with us next year.
Ginny started chasing the train, laughing and crying at the same time, but stopped at the edge of the platform when it was moving too fast. She waved after them, and Lucy waved back, not altogether sure if Ginny could see her.
Then she turned away from the window, looking over to see only Ron standing behind her. Fred and George had already wandered away.
"C'mon—let's find somewhere to sit," Ron suggested as the train began to pick up speed. Lucy nodded, and together they walked along the hallway looking for an empty—or mostly empty—compartment to sit in.
A few minutes later, Lucy stopped Ron by hissing his name at him. He paused, looking questioningly at her, and she motioned to the next compartment. "This is where Harry Potter is sitting," she explained.
The two of them glanced inside, and, after seeing nobody else inside but Harry, Ron slid the door open. He stepped into the compartment, and Lucy followed him.
"Anyone sitting here?" Ron asked, pointing to the seats opposite of Harry. "Everywhere else we've looked is full."
Harry shook his head, glancing to Lucy, and a look of recognition flitted across his face.
Lucy and Ron settled into their seats. Harry watched both curiously as Ron glanced at him and then quickly away. Lucy was glad she had Evie to distract her.
"Hey, Ron, Lucy." Fred and George were standing in the doorway. "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train—Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."
"Right," Ron mumbled, visibly paling at the mention of the tarantula. He had told Lucy that summer that he hated spiders.
Lucy nodded to the twins.
"Harry," said George, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother, and Lucy Jones, who was living with us this summer. See you later, then."
"'Bye," the three younger kids replied.
Fred and George left, shutting the door behind them.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out. He looked slightly guilty at his question but didn't back down.
Harry nodded.
"Oh—well, I thought it might be one of Fred's and George's jokes," said Ron.
Lucy glared at him; she had seen Harry, too.
"And have you really got—you know…" Ron pointed to Harry's forehead.
Harry chuckled, pushing his hair back to show them his scar.
Ron stared, gaping. "So that's where You-Know-Who—?"
Yes," Harry answered, "but I can't remember it."
"Nothing?" Ron said eagerly.
"Well—I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."
"Wow," Ron said. He continued to stare at Harry, and Lucy nudged him in the side with her elbow. He quickly turned to look out of the window again.
Lucy shook her head and opened the carrier to let Evie get out and stretch her legs.
Harry broke the silence a few minutes later when he asked Ron, "Are all your family wizards?"
"Er—yes, I think so," said Ron.
He continued to discuss his family with Harry while Lucy listened, scratching Evie's head. When Ron pulled his pet rat Scabbers out of his pocket, Evie leaned over to sniff him and then went back to being pampered.
"How about you?" Harry asked, turning to Lucy. "What's your family like?"
"I don't know much about my parents," Lucy replied. "They died when I was very little; a year old, I think I was. I was adopted by a magical family in America, so I've lived there almost my whole life.… Until now, of course."
"I'm sorry about your parents," Harry said.
"I'm sorry about yours," Lucy replied.
Harry looked away, glancing at Scabbers. Then he told Ron about not having any money before, so it wasn't a big deal if Ron couldn't afford an owl. This progressed into him telling Ron and Lucy about the Dursleys, the only living relatives of his mother.
"—and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard, my parents, or Voldemort—"
Ron gasped, and Lucy let out a small squeak.
"What?" Harry asked, confused at their reactions.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people—"
"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry defensively. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn.… I bet—I bet I'm the worst in the class."
"You won't be," Lucy said immediately with a shake of her head.
"There are loads of people who come from Muggle families, and they learn quick enough," Ron added.
Harry frowned but didn't reply.
~LJ:TH~
There was silence for a while after that. Harry and Ron both gazed out the window, watching as the scenery passed by the train. Lucy went back to petting Evie.
Around lunchtime, a smiling woman broke their silence by opening the compartment door and asking, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
Harry immediately leapt to his feet, followed closely by Lucy. Ron blushed and muttered about having brought sandwiches.
The other two went out into the corridor. Lucy watched in wide-eyed amazement as Harry bought a little of everything and handed over quite a bit of gold to pay for it. Lucy herself picked out a Pumpkin Pasty and a couple of Chocolate Frogs before following Harry back inside.
"Hungry, are you?" Ron asked Harry as he dumped his sweets onto the seat.
Harry replied, "Starving!" He opened a Pumpkin Pasty and tasted it.
Lucy, in the meantime, tossed Ron a Chocolate Frog. He caught it and then pulled out the sandwiches that Mrs. Weasley packed. Opening them, he grimaced.
"She always forgets I don't like corned beef," he muttered.
"Swap you for one of these," Harry piped up, holding up a treat. "Go on—"
"You don't want this. It's all dry," Ron replied. "She hasn't got much time, you know, with five of us. Six, if you count Lucy."
Lucy smirked at him.
"Go on, have a pasty," Harry urged. "Do you want something, Lucy? A Cauldron Cake?"
Lucy shrugged before nodding enthusiastically. She smiled and thanked him as he passed the cake over to her.
The three of them started eating through Harry's candy, and Lucy and Ron took turns explaining to him what each of them were.
"What are these?" Harry asked, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?"
Lucy chuckled.
"No," Ron replied, "but see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."
"What?" Harry asked blankly, looking to Lucy for clarification.
"Chocolate Frogs have cards inside of the package to collect," Lucy described. "They have famous witches and wizards on them."
"I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy," Ron explained.
Harry hurried to unwrap the Chocolate Frog, and he pulled the card out. He examined it for a few seconds before announcing, "So this is Dumbledore!"
"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa—thanks," he added as Harry passed one over.
"Dumbledore's really famous in the Wizarding world," Lucy explained to Harry as he read the card he'd unwrapped. "One of the most powerful wizards ever, if not the most powerful. Even all the way in America we know of him."
Harry nodded and turned the card back over. "He's gone!" he gasped, holding up the front of the card for Lucy and Ron to see.
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron absently. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again, and I've got about six of her.… Do you want it? You can start collecting." He offered the card to Harry and then glanced longingly at the pile of still-wrapped Chocolate Frogs.
"Help yourself," Harry said. "But you know, in the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."
"Do they?" Ron asked. "What, they don't move at all? Weird!"
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him," she advised Harry. "Ron doesn't have that much experience in the Muggle world."
Harry shrugged and looked back at Dumbledore's card just in time to see the occupant reenter the picture.
The three kids began opening the frogs to see which cards they'd get, and Lucy noticed that Harry was extremely interested in all the cards he'd now collected. Finally, he turned away to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry.
Lucy giggled. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor," she explained to Harry.
"You know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate, peppermint, and marmalade," Ron continued, "but then you can get spinach, liver, and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavored one once."
"Ew," Lucy said under her breath.
Ron, meanwhile, picked up a green bean and bit into the corner of it carefully. "Bleaaargh—see? Sprouts."
The three looked at each other before diving for the beans. Soon they were daring each other to try ones the others didn't want to eat, which proved to be very funny when one of them bit into a bean that was not so nice.
~LJ:TH~
A short while later, there was a knock on the compartment door. A boy entered, his face screwed up as though he was trying not to cry.
"Sorry," he said shakily, "but you haven't seen a toad at all, have you?"
All three of them shook their heads.
"I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!" the boy wailed.
"He'll turn up," said Harry encouragingly, and Lucy nodded in agreement.
"Yes," the boy said, not sounding optimistic at all. "Well, if you see him…" He left the compartment, shutting the door behind him.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." He looked down at Scabbers, who was sleeping on his leg.
"Don't be so hard on him," Lucy said.
"Scabbers or the boy?" Ron shot back.
Lucy thought for a moment before replying, "Both."
Ron shook his head and looked back at the rat. "He might have died, and you wouldn't know the difference," he said. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work." Lucy snorted in laughter, and Ron glared at her before adding to Harry, "I'll show you, look…" He pulled out a very old looking wand. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway—" He raised his arm when the door opened once more.
A girl with bushy brown hair and already dressed in her Hogwarts robes came in, dragging the toadless boy with her. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She glanced around at the three of them.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," Ron replied, sounding annoyed.
"Ron!" Lucy said reproachfully. "He's right there." She turned to Neville and replied, "Sorry, we still haven't seen him."
Neville nodded, looking slightly embarrassed.
The girl, on the other hand, was staring at the wand in Ron's hand. "Oh, are you doing magic?" she asked, sounding intrigued. "Let's see it, then." She sat down next to Harry and watched Ron expectantly.
"Er—all right." He cleared his throat and pointed his wand at Scabbers. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He waved the wand, but nothing seemed to happen. Scabbers didn't even move.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl demanded. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice, and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all. It was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course. I just hope it will be enough—I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. Who are you?"
The boys both looked stunned, perhaps at the speed that Hermione had said her speech. Lucy giggled at their expressions.
"I'm Lucy Jones," she introduced herself, and Hermione smiled at her.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered—Lucy had a suspicion that he didn't like Hermione very much.
"Harry Potter," Harry said last.
"Are you really?" Hermione asked. "I know all about you, of course—I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Am I?" Harry asked faintly.
"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," Hermione replied. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor. It sounds by far the best; I heard Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad.… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You had better change, you know. I expect we'll be there soon."
With that, she stood and swept out of the compartment, and Neville followed her glumly.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not," said Ron darkly.
"Ron," Lucy said with warning in her tone. "You don't even know her."
Ron scowled and put his wand away. "Stupid spell—George gave it to me. Bet he knew it was a dud," he muttered.
Lucy shrugged and nodded. In fact, she knew it was a dud; George had told her so before telling Ron about it.
"Which house are your brothers in?" Harry asked curiously.
"Gryffindor," Ron replied. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."
"They won't put you in Slytherin," Lucy said encouragingly.
"That's the house Vol—I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked, almost saying the name out loud again.
"Yeah," Ron said. He leaned back in his seat, looking deflated.
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers's whiskers are a bit lighter," Harry said encouragingly.
Lucy shook her head, smirking.
"So, what do your older brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry asked.
"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles—someone tried to rob a high security vault."
"Really?" Harry asked, sounding surprised. "What's happened to them?"
"Nothing. That's why it's such big news," Ron explained. "They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get 'round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything. That's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."
There was silence for a moment while the three of them thought about the break in.
"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked Harry suddenly.
"Er—I don't know any," Harry admitted.
"What? Oh, you wait; it's the best game in the world!" Ron began before launching into an explanation of the game.
Lucy tuned the boys out, scratching Evie's ears and looking out the window over Ron's back. It was fairly dark out, and she guessed that they must be very close to the school now. Excitement bubbled in her stomach, and she grinned.
~LJ:TH~
Ron had been explaining Quidditch to Harry for quite a while before the compartment door rattled open again. Lucy turned to it with a sigh. Who now?
Three boys came in. One was small and pale-faced, and the other two were larger and glaring at the three of them still sitting in their seats. The smaller boy, who was being flanked by the two larger ones, was looking at Harry curiously.
"Is it true?" he asked in a drawling voice. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So, it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry confirmed.
Lucy noticed he was nervously eyeing the other boys.
"Oh, this is Crabbe, and this is Goyle," said the leader, waving a hand lazily behind him when he noticed Harry was looking at them. "And my name's Malfoy—Draco Malfoy."
Ron coughed, but it sounded as though he was covering a laugh.
Malfoy looked over at him and spat, "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Then Malfoy glanced over at Lucy, who glared right back at him. He gave her a calculating look before he finally turned back to Harry.
"You'll soon find out some Wizarding families are much better than others, Potter," he said. "You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to Harry, but Harry didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he replied coldly.
Lucy and Ron smirked at Malfoy, whose cheeks flushed pink.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
Harry and Ron stood up, and Lucy gasped out, "No, don't—!"
"Say that again," Ron said to Malfoy.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.
"Unless you get out now," Harry replied hotly.
Lucy shook her head at them, but they continued to ignore her.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys?" Malfoy said. "We've eaten all our food, and you still seem to have some."
Goyle nodded greedily, reaching for a Chocolate Frog. Ron moved to stop him, but before he could do anything, Goyle lurched backwards, yelling loudly. Scabbers was hanging off his finger, biting into Goyle's beefy hand. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away to the door. Goyle swung his hand around until Scabbers flew off and hit the window. The three boys high-tailed it out of the compartment, and Ron hurried to pick up Scabbers.
"What has been going on?" Hermione was back. She looked questioningly at all three of them.
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said, looking closely at his rat. "No—I don't believe it—he's gone back to sleep."
Lucy looked for herself, and sure enough, Scabbers was sleeping again.
"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked Harry.
Harry hurriedly explained how he had met Malfoy in Diagon Alley and what he'd said.
"I've heard of his family," Ron said. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared—said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark side." He looked over at Hermione and added, "Can we help you with something?"
"Ron!" Lucy snapped. She was getting annoyed at his attitude towards Hermione.
Hermione glanced at Lucy thankfully and then said, "You'd better hurry up and put your robes on. I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron replied, scowling deeply. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right—I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione, sounding slightly hurt. "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know?" She turned to leave with Ron glaring at her.
"Wait up, Hermione!" Lucy called, standing up. She put Evie in her carrier and closed it up. "I'll come with you; I just need to change into my robes." She shot Ron a glare back and said to the boys, "I'll see you two when we get off the train, yeah?"
Ron and Harry nodded, and Lucy grabbed her backpack and left with Hermione.
"I'm sorry about Ron," Lucy started. "I don't know what's crawled up his butt, but he's usually not like that."
"Oh, it's all right," Hermione replied. "Are you American? You have quite a funny accent, if you don't mind me saying."
Lucy chuckled. "Yeah, I'm American," she answered. "My parents are from England, but I was taken away from them for safety. They had some of You-Know-Who's followers after them, I guess. They were killed not very long after I left. I was sent to America, and I've lived there almost my whole life."
Hermione looked at her sympathetically, and Lucy shrugged. They continued down to bathroom at the end of the corridor. Lucy slipped inside to pull her robes on while Hermione waited.
"So, what do your parents do in the Muggle world, then?" Lucy asked as she rejoined Hermione back in the train corridor.
"They're dentists," she replied. "They take care of people's teeth."
She looked like she was going to say more when a voice echoed throughout the train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately."
Lucy glanced at Hermione, biting her lip to keep her squeal of excitement inside. They stood in the corridor together, watching out the window as the train finally began to slow down. Lucy bounced up and down on the balls of her feet; she was finally arriving at school!
~LJ:TH~
A/N: This is the first chapter where you can see what I mean by dialogue being lifted directly from the book. If you really don't like it, then I highly suggest that you stop reading this series. As for Lucy's lines, sometimes I take them away from other characters to give to her, but I tried hard to make sure that I didn't take away anything that was important to the character who originally said it, if that makes sense.
If you ready my original series, I think I had this chapter split into two. During the rewrite/editing, I ended up putting them together.