"What are you thinking about Annette?" A fair-skinned blonde looked up from her book.
Annette had her head rested against the window of the train compartment and was staring outside with her mouth slightly open.
"Annette?" Still no answer.
"ANNETTE!" The blonde screamed at her.
Annette flinched and looked at Eliza Darcy. "Wha..."
"What's going on Net?" Eliza, her best friend, was the only one who called her Net. But it's not like anyone else would give Annette a nickname anyways.
"Nothing." She had a blank expression on her face.
"I know when it's nothing. And that wasn't nothing."
"What wasn't nothing?"
"That stare out the window."
"I always look out the window on the express, you know that."
"You look out the window. That was a stare."
Annette scrunched up her face with an 'and the difference is...' look.
"Something's bothering you." Was Eliza's answer.
"Like what?"
"I dont know. You still havent told me about your break."
Annette opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly the compartment door slid open. Behind the glass door appeared 3 tall figures. One boy Eliza and Annette recognized. Henry Silversmith, a sixth year hufflepuff on the quidditch team. The other two, they assumed, were his friends. The girl to the left of Henry turned her head back and said "we found one!" which meant that there were more of them.
Annette and Eliza gave each other an 'oh not this again' look. This seemed to happen to them a lot. Many times over the past 4 years have their compartments been taken over by people older (and a few times younger) than they were, and many times were they forced to find another compartment. In their third year, they were even forced to sit at the end of the hallway for half the ride to Hogwarts. Annette, however, was fine with that. She didn't like to get involved with too many people. She liked the fact that she led a fairly quiet existance, under the radar of the rest of the student body.
As the hufflepuffs started filling into the compartment (there were 7 of them), Annette looked at her watch.
"I've got to go." She said to Eliza. "Prefect meeting. I'll meet you later."
"Alright...bye..." Said Eliza who was straining her neck to wave goodbye since she had just been squished between the window and a particularly large hufflepuff.
As Annette slipped out of the compartment, she was pretty sure that none of the Hufflepuffs even noticed that a girl had just left. She walked down the asile and towards the last compartment, the prefect compartment. She slid open the compartment door to find none other than Jacob Weasley staring out the window. She walked in and sat down in the spot farthest away from him.
Jacob saw Annette's reflection through the glare in the window, and, not moving at all, said "I dont bite."
Annette obviously was not aware that he knew she was there. "Oh...no it's not that..."
"I honestly don't." He moved his head to look at her. "You don't have to be scared of me."
"I'm not." She said very quietly.
"Then why are you speaking so quietly?" Jacob enunciated and said each word very loudly.
"This is how I talk." A slight smile started to emerge from her lips.
Jacob gave her a nod. "You're early." He said.
"So are you." She said.
"Why are you early?" He asked
"Why are you early?" She asked back.
"I asked first."
"Well...I'd rather be early than late." She responded. "Your turn."
"I just felt like it." Was all he said, and he turned his head back to look out the window.
What a strange boy. Thought Annette. After a minute (which seemed more ike 15) no one else had come in yet. Even though Annette liked the silence, she couldnt help but feel that Jacob was actually looking at her reflection in the glare. She started to feel uncomfortable, and decided that she'd rather have him looking than the real her than the reflection.
"You remind me of someone." She said.
"Who?" He didnt turn to look at her. Instead he looked at her reflection, and Annette caught onto that.
"Well I can't really place him right now. But you definately remind me of someone I used to know."
All he did was nod again.
"You don't talk much do you?"
"You don't shut up do you?" He said very immediately, too immediately.
"Of course I do. I mean I'm usually quiet. But it's just that I imagined you to be more talkative than you are right now."
"You're not exactly the shy girl I thought you were either."
"No...no I am. But I just felt like the silence should be broken."
"I thought you liked silence."
"I do..." She started, but was getting annoyed that he wasnt talking AT her. "You know its kind of rude."
"What?"
"Not looking someone in the eye when they're talking to you."
At this, Jacob got up, took a seat right next to her, and put his head so close to hers that their noses were hardly a centimeter away, just as they were at the dinner party. He then looked her straight in the eyes and said"Better princess?"
She pulled her head back and got up to sit where he had orginally been sitting. She crossed her arms and started to look out the window.
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to talk?" He said with the least bit of sincerety.
She just muttered something quietly and kept looking out the window.
"It's rude not to look at someone in the eye when they're talking to you." He said triumphantly. She gave him a sour glare. "And by the way, I'm not sure which you were refering to just then when you thought I didn't hear you muttering,but I really don't see the resemblence between me and a donkey, or a rear end."
He then crossed his arms the same way she was, and grinned. Just then, the head girl walked in.
"We thought you two would be here. Sorry we gave you the wrong compartment number. Everyone's across the hall."
Annette walked hastily past Jacob and quickly into the compartment across the hall. She had a seat and then pick a spot on the floor which she focused on. As the meeting went on, she didn't move. She stared at the spot on the floor while the words from the head girl and boy's mouths flowed through her ears and up to her brain. Jacob, although intently listening also, would steal unnoticed glances at her once in a while, each time thinking: what a strange girl.
"Alright then!" Said Cara Clemmens, the head girl and Ravenclaw. "I think we've covered everything. You can all go back to your friends now. Oh and don't forget to escort the first years up to the dormitories later tonight. We won't need all of you, just the fifth year prefects will do. It'll be the first task as prefects for you fifth years." She beamed at them.
Annette waited for the rest of the prefects to leave, not wanting to be caught up in the traffic, and as the last boy left the compartment, he revealed behind him Jacob Weasley also waiting.
"Can I walk you back to your compartment?" He asked
"That...won't be necessary thanks." She answered, not ina particularly cold nor warm tone.
She started back towards her compartment, and Jacob followed her. "Do you not know what no means Weasley?"
"Whoa there little miss, Weasley? No need for formalities. Jacob will do. Or Jake as my friends call me."
She didnt stop walking, nor did she turn around, but she did smile a little. As she reached her compartment, she opened the door and counted 7 people chatting loquaciously.
At the puzzled look on her face, Jacob said "Whats the matter?"
"Eliza's gone." She counted again. 7. Just the 7 Hufflepuffs.
"Where do you think she could have gone?"
"I dont know. She could be in any of these compartments."
Jacob could tell that Annetteobviously did not want to be left alone with the Hufflepuffs. "Come to my compartment."
Annette couldn't believe her ears. "Excuse me?"
"Come to my compartment." Yes, he indeed said what Annette believed him to have said. "Where else are you going to go?" He made a good point.
"Alright then." She said.
Jacob led her down the hall to a compartment in which Annette never would have thought she'd enter. Sitting with the mauraders was every girl's dream and here she was, about to do so. Funny how the only person who doesnt fancy sharing a compartment with the Mauraders is the first person outside of their circle to do so. She thought.
Tristan, Dieter, Christian, Francesca, and Sally were all present in the compartment. When Annette walked through the doorway, she felt like they were not as quiet before she entered.
All eyes were on her. Annette felt like the queen at an underground fighting club, like she didn't belong.
Jacob jabbedDieter in the rib as a hint to break the awkward silence.
"Uh...so..." Dieter took the hint. "How was your summer Annette?"
"Fine." She said.
"Good...I'm...glad." SaidDieter awkwardly as he plastered a forced smile onto his face.
"So uh..." It was Francesca's turn. "Are you nervous for the OWLs this year?"
"Somewhat." Annette was trying to say as few words as possible.
"I'm quite nervous myself." Said Francesca in a very friendly tone. "I mean it's a lot of work and studying too of course."
"Well. I'm sure Annette has nothing to worry about." Tristan said. "After all she's had plenty of practice studying over the past 4 years. Lots of free time to practice eh?"
"Tristan!" Jacob was afraid that Tristan meant something offensive.
"Well I just mean that she's not exactly had a busy social calendar that's all!" He did mean something offensive then. And then in what he thought was a quiet tone to Jacob "Unless you count going to the library as dates with that ghost in the history section."
Dieter and Christian started laughing hysterically. Annette, had obviously heard, because she stood up right then and said. "I think I should go now." And left.
Jacob was about to go after her when Francesca said "She can't take a joke can she? With that attitude who in their right minds would ever fancy her?"
Certainly not me. Thought Jacob.
After the sorting and the feast, Annette and Jacob met outside the great hall and waited for the first years. Annette didn't exactly look joyful to be with him.
"Annette about what happened."
"Please Weasley..." She looked him in the eye. "Please just don't talk to me. Okay?"
He complied. It wasn't exactly a good idea to irritate her even more.
After leading the first years up to Gryffindor tower, Jacob slumped onto his four poster and yawned.
"How does it feel? Being a prefect." Tristan beamed at him as he came in with Dieter and Christian.
"You shouldnt have said anything to her today." Jacob said quietly.
"What? Shouldnt have said what to who?"
"Annette!" Jacob sounded irritated.
"It's only Annette Kensington." Tristan replied. "What do you care?"
"I care, alright?"
A grin creeped up on Tristan's face. "Ah...I see..."
"What?"
"You don't fancy her do you?" Tristan asked.
"Of course not don't be mad." Jacob replied.
Dieter laughed. "Tristan why would he? The Quidditch captain and the bookworm? Get real."
Christian laughed too. "Yeah Tris...think of what that would do to his reputation!"
The three boys laughed together, but Jacob didn't. He simply changed, climbed into bed, and pulled the curtains around his fourposter without even saying goodnight to his friends.