Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lia's compartment on the Hogwarts Express was empty, apart from the sleeping wizard with chestnut brown hair and old, scruffy robes. Lia could tell that he was relatively young for a professor, perhaps no older than the mid-thirties, however, the ill, grey tinge of his skin, and the dark bags beneath his eyes, caused him to appear aged.
"Professor R. J. Lupin," Lia said.
"How'd you know that?"
"I'm physic," she stopped at the look on Ron's face. "No. Not actually," she said sighing, shaking her head. "Ron be careful not to let your mind wander, it's a wee bit too small to be out there by itself."
"How did you know?" Harry asked.
"It's obvious isn't it?" said Hermione. "It's on his case." She pointed to the stamped, peeling name on the corner of Lupin's suitcase.
"I wonder what he teaches?" said Lia.
"Well, there's only one vacancy, isn't there?" Hermione said. "Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Isn't that job jinxed?" said Lia, looking at Lupin with doubt. "I'm not sure if he's up to it. He looks like one of my hexes could just finish him off, let alone a curse."
"Ah," said Ron, suddenly changing the topic. "I can't wait for this year. How nice will it be to get out of school for a bit and go explore Hogsmeade?"
Lia winced. That was a bit of a touchy subject for Harry.
"Spect it'll be very nice," her brother said, gloomily. "You'll have to tell me when you've found out."
"What do you mean?"
"He can't go," Lia explained. "The Dursleys wouldn't sign his permission form, and he tried to ask Fudge, but he said no as well."
"What about you, then?"
She smirked. "Dudley thinks that I saved his life from being eaten by a Crup once. So he felt that he owed me, and managed to persuade Petunia to sign the damn thing for me. Before Harry blew Marge up though, that is. Pretty decent of my cousin right?"
"Isn't a Crup one of those tiny dog things?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow.
Lia's smile widened. "Dudley didn't know that."
The sliding door of their compartment was pulled open with a bang. Malfoy strode in, with Crabbe and Goyle nipping at his heels.
"Well, look who it is," Malfoy said. "Potty and the Weasel."
"And what is this?" Lia retorted. "Wow. Cruella De Vil. And Horace and Jasper."
Harry and Hermione snickered, as Ron asked "Who?"
"Nice to see you, Agorios," Malfoy said. "You look … good." He was grimacing as he said the words.
Lia stared at him. There was a pregnant pause.
"How was St. Mungos?" she asked finally. "I gather you and your father both went there to treat your brain injuries?"
"I mean it. I like your … hair."
"No you don't," said Lia, snorting. "I haven't brushed it all morning. There's got to be about a thousand mats by now." She looked at him with suspicion. "Did someone dare you to say that to me? Cause, if they did, I'll pay you more money to fuck off."
"Look here," Malfoy said. "I'm trying to be … nice." He saw Harry, Ron and Hermione look at him with incredulity.
"Alright. Ago … Lia, can we talk … outside? In private?"
"No. I'm not really looking to get my eyebrows jinxed into oblivion, thanks."
"I'm not … just come." He swallowed, looking as if he was dreading something. "P-please." The way Malfoy said the word, made it sound as if he were choking.
She gawked at him again. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"I'll lend you my book of hexes, if you just give me five minutes."
Lia's eyes widened. Malfoy was in love with that book. He'd said it was a family heirloom, an antique. He'd screamed at a first-year when he'd splashed the teeniest tiniest bit of coffee onto it, and almost made the trembling little kid cry.
Lia did really, really want to learn some more spells. "Fine," she grumbled. "But if you hex me, I'm telling Lupin," she said pointing at the sleeping professor.
"Who's Lupin?"
"New teacher."
She shut the compartment door on her way out.
"So? What do you want to say that's made you so desperate, Mopefoy?"
"Lia," the words flew out of Malfoy's mouth. "Why do you hate me so much? What have I done to make you despise me? Why can't we be … friends?"
"Friends? What? Since when did you want to be friends? And for your information, you're the one that hated me first!"
"No I haven't!" said Malfoy. "I've never hated you. I don't hate you."
"Yes you do! … You're always insulting me."
"Me! Insult you?" he scoffed. "Ever time, you're the one that's being rude first. I can't do anything, but think up comebacks."
"How can you say that? You called Harry and Ron, 'Potter and the Weasel' just a minute ago? And they didn't do anything to you."
"Yes. But their names are Harry, and Ron, not Lia. You do realise that as close as you might be, you're still not the same person right?"
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, that I've always been alright to you, haven't I?"
"No."
"I have!"
"Never."
"Lia, Lia." He tsked. "Why do you always have to be so stubborn? Why can't we be civil? Why can't we be friends?"
"Malfoy, if I wanted someone like you for a friend, I'd just buy a dog. And we can't be civil because you hate my brother remember? And I'm pretty sure you hate me, whatever you might say."
"Do I have to keep repeating this forever? I don't hate you. I –"
Malfoy stopped, just as the train became stationary. With the sudden halt, Lia fell forward from inertia, pushing into Malfoy. They ended up sprawled on the floor, with Lia lying on top of him, her hand on his chest.
Malfoy smirked. "Oh, Lia. Always pinning me to the floor. Fiesty. I like it."
"Yes Malfoy. I need you … I want you … To get the hell out of my face."
"You're the one that pushed me. And besides, I can't get up until you do, you're bloody heavy."
"Calling me fat Malfoy?"
"No. Just heavy. Don't you say I'm touchy, when you act like this!"
Without any warning or explanation at all, the lights flickered, and went out, plunging the corridor into blackness.
"Ooh," said Malfoy. "Now we're both on the floor. In the dark." She could just tell that he was waggling his eyebrows at her. Lia punched him in the arm, preparing to stand up, when another figure tripped over her lag, and fell down sideways, landing on top of them.
"It's a real human pyramid now," said Malfoy, with sarcasm.
"Malfoy? And who's that? Lia?" it was Harry's voice. Lia groaned. "What the hell are you two doing on the floor?"
She opened her mouth to tell Harry that she had just tripped, when more footsteps came thumping towards them.
"Hello? Is anyone there? D'you know what's going on?" came Neville Longbottom's voice.
He didn't seem to spot that the three of them had fallen on the ground, for as he moved forward, his foot caught on Harry's arm, and he tumbled down as well, falling over all three of them.
"Ouch!" yelled Malfoy, who was being crushed at the bottom of the stack. "Get off me!"
"Calm down," Lia said. "Everyone get up. No, not now Harry!" He was struggling to push himself up, Neville was collapsed above him. "In order. Neville first, and then you."
Eventually they all got up, and Lia dusted the powder off her robes.
"What's happening?" Neville asked. "What do we do now?"
"Let's just all go and sit calmly down in the compartment," Lia suggested.
Malfoy mumbled, "I'm not sitting anywhere with them."
"Suit yourself. We'll just leave you here in the dark to get attacked by a werewolf." She turned around to leave. As she entered the compartment, she heard a snake, her snake, hiss in rage.
Rushing forward, she saw that Neville had attempted to sit down, almost squashing Cleo in the process. Now, she raised angry fangs open at Neville, looking like she craved to bite him.
"No Cleo," Lia chastised in Parseltongue. "Sit down, he didn't mean to do that. And remember, I told you not to bite anyone at Hogwarts, I don't want to get expelled."
The snake gave one final hiss at Neville, and slithered up, wrapping her body around the rails of the overhead luggage compartment.
"I'll never get used to that," said Ron. "Make sure it doesn't come near Scabbers, all right? I heard snakes can swallow rats in one go."
The door was pushed open again, as someone else slipped in, and there was a squeal of pain.
"Who's that?" Lia asked.
"Who's that?" The voice replied. It sounded suspiciously like …
"Ginny?"
"Lia! Lia, is that you?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for Ron and –"
"Well you found me," said Ron. "Come and sit down."
"Ow, not there!" said Harry. "I'm here."
"Ouch!" cried Neville.
"Why are you all yelling in pain?" Malfoy's drawl echoed from the doorway of the compartment. "Did someone die?"
"Go away, Malfoy," Lia said. "I thought you were too high and mighty to sit with us."
"Quiet!"
Lia swung her head, trying to see in the dark who it was. It appeared that the hoarse voice that she didn't recognise, belonged to Professor Lupin, who had finally awoken.
Something was moving in the corner. Malfoy gave a jolt of fear and scrambled into their compartment, sitting on Lia in his haste. She hurriedly pushed him off, so that he landed with his butt plopped on the floor.
She was about to yell at Malfoy, but she heard a faint, crackling noise in the corner. Lupin whispered a spell, and a light shone out of his wand, illuminating the room.
"Stay where you are."
The door was suddenly shoved open, and a cloaked figure glided into the compartment. Although there was no wind, its black cape billowed in some eerie breeze. It seemed to suck in a deep, perturbing breath.
Lia felt a cold grip her. A cold that froze her insides. A cold that drove deeper into her skin, burrowing itself in her heart. She felt herself slide down from her seat, her eyes rolling up into her skull, she loosely heard Malfoy's grunt of surprise as she fell onto his lap, but she couldn't move - the cold was glacial and immobilising.
She was looking at Quirrell again, he pointed his wand and she fell to the ground, screaming as he tortured her.
The scene shifted, into a memory taken from one of the persistent nightmares that had plagued her since the end of Second Year. She now stood before Voldemort himself, who smiled at her, and his face transformed, blurring and sharpening until it was her face that stared back at her, her face that wore those red eyes, her face that bore that evil smile. She screamed again, trying to run away from this dark version of herself, but her reflection raised its wand and then –
Cries echoed through an empty night street. A man was yelling in rage at a woman, "Give me the girl," he hissed, "Give me the girl." She realised that this was Voldemort, standing before her mother. The baby lying in the pram behind the woman, must have been her.
"No!" Alyssia cried defiantly, ripping out her wand. "Stupe –"
"Avada Kedavra."
"Lia! Hello? Lia! Harry! Are you two alright? What's wrong with them?"
A cold hand slapped her face.
She blinked, opening her eyes, grabbing onto the wrist. It was Draco Malfoy's. "Don't touch me," she said. "What happened?"
"I heard screaming," said Harry, who was sitting up as well, rubbing his head.
"No one screamed." Ron looked scared.
The train was moving again, the lights back on, lighting up the once dim room with brightness.
"What was that … thing?" Lia asked.
"A Dementor," Lupin asked. He handed chocolate around. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban. Here, eat the chocolate, it'll help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak to the driver…" He disappeared out of the compartment, into the corridor.
"Are you sure you're both alright?" Hermione was flicking her eyes between them, looking anxious.
"I don't get it … what happened?" Harry wiped at the sweat on his face.
"I thought you two were having a fit or something," said Ron. He still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching -"
"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the Dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the Dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away..."
"It was all a bit pathetic," Malfoy said, but he looked even paler than usual, and his voice quivered as he spoke.
"I've got this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, Malfoy," said Lia. "It's almost as if nobody asked for your opinion!"
Malfoy glared at her, though his eyes were still ill at ease, apparently he had been affected by the dementor.
He stalked out of the compartment.
An hour later, after the train had come to a stop, and Lia had an embarrassing talk with Madam Pomfrey in McGonagall's office, she was now seated at the Slytherin table, enjoying the feast.
"Malfoy," Lia hissed, when the others were distracted in their revelry. "If you breathe a word about what happened on the train, I'll –"
"You'll what?" he said. "Faint on me again?" He put a hand to his forehead. "Oh Draco, my darling, please catch me!"
"I thought you were playing nice," Lia snapped.
Malfoy frowned then. "I suppose you were sort of right on the train. Being nice is a lot harder than I expected."
"That might be because you're just naturally a dick."
He snorted. "Yes, Lia. Because you're always so bloody charming."
"And you're a delight, Malfoy. Tell me, did your parents ever ask you to run away from home?"
His eyes widened a bit, and he tensed. "My dad once. When I was nine," he said bitterly, blurting the words out before he could stop them.
Lia stared at him.
Malfoy looked shocked, and he immediately tried to rectify the damage. "I was obviously joking. Don't you always say that I'm the most spoiled brat alive? And don't look at me with that? What even is that expression, Agorios?"
It was surprise and the tiniest bit of compassion, but Lia glanced away.
"I was just wondering how you got here," she said, after a while. "Did someone leave your cage open?"
Malfoy looked relieved that she hadn't tried to pry. "Oh, piss off," he said.
Lia turned her attention back to shoving food into her mouth. She had never thought that Malfoy was a particularly complicated, three dimensional person, but she was discovering more and more that perhaps she would never solve the enigma that was Malfoy.