Chapter Nine: The Hogwarts Express
(This chapter is from the point of view of Harry Potter)
There are just some things that I was certain could not be forgiven, and not letting me go to the Quidditch world cup was one of them. "Don't be too mad at her. She's only trying to protect you," Sirius said, sitting down on my bed as I got Hedwig into her cage. I glared at him over my shoulder, and he shrugged and gave up defending her. "I know, I know. I was on your side, remember?" he said, holding her hands up in surrender.
"Yeah, I remember. You and Moony were never any match for mum," I replied with a grin, and he laughed his barking laugh. "Thanks for trying though. I'll go to the next one. She won't be able to stop me then." Neither of us mentioned the fact that she had been right, that there had been a Death Eater attack at the world cup this year. "I'm just ready to be back at Hogwarts." I missed Draco more ever summer, but I didn't feel like that was something I could say, even to Padfoot. And in turn, when I thought of Draco and it warmed his bracelet, it reminded him of me and mine warmed up. I didn't think they were ever completely cold, as if we were always at least in the back of each other's minds all the time.
"What is that?" Sirius asked then, nodding at the silver band I wore on my wrist. I realized that I had spaced out, my hand on the bracelet. "You're always wearing it."
"Oh, it nothing," I said, too quickly.
"It's enchanted," he drawled, and I rolled my eyes, giving up.
"It was what I got Draco for Christmas in our first year. It's a set of two, and his warms when I think of him and vice versa," I explained, and his eyebrows rose. I blushed angrily; I never spoke to anyone about Draco unless I was defending him to mum. I didn't know what to say now.
"Where did you find something like that?" he asked.
"Oh, I used the passage you told me about behind the hag statue that leads to Hogsmead and bought them in one of the shops," I told him. "Now aren't we going to miss the train if we stay here much longer?" I asked quickly, uncomfortable with the conversation. "Let's go." Sirius knew when I was done talking, and he nodded and shrunk my trunk with a quick spell and picked it up. "I bet all my robes are the wrong size when I get to school," I said with a grin.
"Shut up, kid," he laughed, and we left the house by floo to Sirius' house, where he kept his motorbike, which I wasn't supposed to go anywhere on. But how was mum ever going to find out that we didn't floo to the platform like we were supposed to? And I loved the motorbike. We were nearly late for the train, with only enough time to hug quickly and have my trunk returned to its original size.
I was barely on the train before it started rolling, and I waved quickly before I went to find my friends. I noticed as soon as I was in the compartment that Draco looked pale and drawn, like he always did at the beginning of the school year, as if he hadn't seen sunlight all summer. Quidditch would fix that, like it always did.
And then I remembered that we wouldn't be playing Quidditch this year and grinned. "You won't believe the news I have," I said as I fell into the seat beside Draco. He smiled, and I knew that it didn't have much to do with what I'd said; it made me feel light and warm.
"What is it?" Hermione asked with interest.
"We're going to have the Triwizard Tournament," I said dramatically. Draco and Hermione looked duly surprised, but Luna hummed and played with her hair. "Sirius heard it from Ludo Bagman himself, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. We won't have Quidditch this year because they're using the pitch for one of the challenges. It's going to be great. Students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are going to be coming and staying at the school and everything."
"Wow," Hermione said, frowning in thought. "But they stopped the Twiwizard Tournament back in the eighteenth century because it was too dangerous…kids were getting killed."
"Yeah, but they're changing some rules so that it's supposed to be safer. I think I could do it," I said, grinning. "But Sirius said they aren't letting anyone younger than seventeen enter, so I won't be able to this year. If nobody dies, we'll probably keep doing it, so I'll get my chance eventually."
"Something might happen. I have a feeling," Luna said quietly, a vague frown on her face as she turned and looked at me. "I don't like it." For a moment, her blue eyes were bright and sharp. A chill raised the hair on my arms and the back of my neck.
"Luna, stop it. I hate it when you do that," Hermione said shrilly, poking the other girl several times in the arm. Luna blinked, her expression becoming dreamy again, and she started humming and looked out of the window. I looked over at Draco and he was paler than usual, still staring at Luna.
"Mother wouldn't let me go to the Quidditch World Cup because she said it was too dangerous. Of course she was probably right, since there was a Death Eater attack and all, but I still would have really liked to go. Ireland's chasers smashed Bulgaria, but Victor Krum got the Snitch," I rambled, and Draco grinned.
"Like our first match. Against Slytherin," he recalled with a smile. "By the time anyone saw the Snitch, we were so far ahead that it didn't matter."
"Yeah," I laughed. "But Victor is a bloody good Seeker. He caught the Snitch with a broken nose and everything. He's still in school, and they almost never recruit that early. I think he goes to Durmstrang, come to think of it. So he might be at Hogwarts this year. I'll have to owl Sirius and ask him," I said.
It had begun to rain, and the storm continued to worsen as we drew closer to Hogwarts. We bought sweets from the lunch cart, and we shared them and talked about Quidditch and the Triwizard Tournament for much of the remainder of the ride. It was pitch black outside when the Hogwarts Express slowly came to a stop in the Hogsmead station. When the doors to the train opened, we made a run for the carriages, bundling gratefully inside. A few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages began its rumbling and splashing journey up to the castle.
(AN: okay, so their fourth year begins with a fairly boring chapter. I did like introducing Sirius, since he hadn't really come up yet. He didn't go to Azkaban in this universe of mine, but Peter Pettigrew did. It gets more interesting in the next chapter, I promise. ^_^ You know I like to save my favorite parts for Draco's point of view. Review and tell me how you think it's going!)
