Beta: FlyingLovegood123


The small, dark platform was swarmed with students. Amidst the sea of people, Edward, Harry and Ron found themselves being pushed forward in a fast current. Swallowed by the crowd, the three could barely tell where they were going as their visions were almost completely obscured by the back of the head that belonged to the person in front of them. However, when they lifted their head just a bit higher, they could make out one towering figure that stood out vividly against the mass of students which two of the three boys recognized.

"First years! First years over here! First years…"

The loud shouting of Hagrid separated the youngest students from others who were heading in another way, and the gamekeeper's giant body served as a signpost for the first years to come over to his direction. Edward and Harry waved at him when they came close and as Hagrid spotted them he gave a huge grin and returned the wave.

"You two okay over there?" Hagrid yelled at them in greeting. The two tried to respond, but even if they screamed at the top of their lungs, their voice probably wouldn't be heard over the deafening chatter that surrounded them. They were led along a steep, narrow route and the moving line skidded to a halt as those in the front arrived at the bank of a large lake, where many wooden boats were waiting for their passengers. All heads were turned upward, though, and gasps could be heard, for as soon as the lake came into view, so did a vast castle with its many turrets and towers that perched on top of the high mountain on the other side. It was a pretty astonishing sight.

"That's yer school, Hogwarts. Impressive, isn't it?" Hagrid told the students before turning their attention back to the lake

"No more'n four ter a boat." The gamekeeper instructed as he helped students settled in the floating vessels, some of which rowed of on their own as soon as they were full, gliding silently over the lake surface, sending out little waves behind them as they went. "Come on now. Get moving."

A few feet away from Hagrid, Harry was in the middle of climbing into his own boat. As a matter of fact, he had actually put one foot onto the wooden board and was about to lift his other one when, out of the blue, a hand appeared and pushed him, hard. Had it come from behind, Harry might have at least achieved his objective of getting in the boat, albeit less graceful than he originally intended. As it was, though, the force connected with his side, thus throwing him off his balance, which was already unstable considering that he was standing on one leg, resulting in the inevitable fall to the muddy earth. As if that wasn't enough, the uneven ground added to the descend and Harry rolled like a log several times before stopping and when he did, the part up to his waist was submerged in the cold lake. Quickly running to his aid, Edward and Ron each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him out of the water. Getting to his feet, Harry looked down at himself to observe the damage. He groaned. The right side of his robes was splattered with mud and although he couldn't see it, he could feel that his hair and face was covered in the brown substance as well. On top of that, half of him was completely soaked, the weight of the water in the fabric pulled on the robe. While trying to get the wipe mud out of his eyes, Harry heard a loud snicker behind him and immediately whirled around to face the culprit. Sure enough, in front of him stood a pale blond boy, whose malicious sneer erased any doubt about the affair being deliberate.

"Why DID you DO that?" Harry shouted at his attacker, his voice heavily laced with anger. The strange boy wasn't the least bit fazed by Harry outburst. He just shrugged, the smirk never left his face.

"Don't blame me for your own foolishness." The boy said in a drawn voice that had a hint of smugness "Anyways, I'll be taking this one. Come on Crabbe, Goyle." He gestured to the boat that was supposed to carry Harry and motioned for two huge boys behind him to get on. The boat took off fast before Harry could say anything else, so all he could do was to glare. If look could kill, that boat would be transporting a dead body by the time it hit its destination. However, alas, it could not, so the vessel and its passengers simply went on in their course until they were out of sight. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Harry resigned himself to fixing the state of his robe, which seemed to be beyond normal means of salvation.

"I can't go in there looking like this." Harry gritted out between his teeth. Ron gave him a look of sympathy.

"That was Draco Malfoy. My dad knows his father, Lucius Malfoy. He never liked him. The Malfoy's are an unpleasant bunch."

Harry continued to his futile battle with the mud. The substance stuck to him like glue. It was Edward who was finally able to come to his rescue.

"Here. Let me help." Edward started to focus on Harry's robe and Harry immediately felt a gust of hot air enveloping him and the water that his clothes was drenched with started to evaporate. Edward was just doing this with half of his mind, however. The other was still on that Malfoy boy. Much like Harry, he was still seething with anger. It wasn't just the fury at seeing his friend so openly humiliated, although that too was a large part of the reason. No. It was his first encounter with Malfoy that most of his ire was being directed at. He had recognized that boy and his hostile attitude. He was the very one that Edward had chased after at the train platform. Looking back, the arrogant tone and the insult that Malfoy had thrown at him, though annoying, were nothing that worth being angry at. However, at that time, when Malfoy walked past him, something inside him that previously lay forgotten had sparked to life. Even though those intense emotions were brief, they were very much real, and moreover were only thing that he had felt so strongly that he was sure was somehow connected to his past up until now. Back then, he had gone after Malfoy because he was so sure that if he caught up, he would finally be able to find some sort of link that would lead him to his memories. Instead, when he had actually succeeded in his pursuit, he had found that frail connection cruelly severed. From the moment Malfoy opened his mouth, Edward knew: this boy was nothing but a total stranger, for there was no familiarity in his cold words. His last desperate attempt to retain the fleeting feelings had failed and Edward was left only with a large void that had just opened up inside him. A part of him is saying that he was being unreasonable, but he couldn't help but feel the rage welling up. How dare that boy, with just a few words, so nonchalantly crushed his hope like that then just walked away as if nothing had happened? How dare he?

Edward's shoulders were shaking and his fists were tightly clenched. Lost in his own dark musings, he didn't notice his voice being called. It had taken a shout in unison from Ron and Harry to pull his mind out of reverie.

"EDWARD!" There was a note of alarm in the call that finally made Edward look up. His vision abruptly switched from his mind eyes to his actual ones and it was then that he realized that wisps of smoke were rising from the edge of Harry's robe and there was a burnt smell in the air. He quickly turned away.

"I'm sorry!" he spluttered.

Harry waved his hand.

"No, it's okay. Just a bit singed. At least the thing's dry." He proceeded to remove the mud which can now be dust off, then turned to Edward with some concern in his face "What's wrong, anyways? You didn't answer us."

"Nothing. I'm just a bit…distracted, that's all." Edward said. Harry looked like he wasn't convinced, but before he could say anything more, a voice cut in from behind.

"What's the holdup 'ere?" Hagrid's question nearly made them jump. Distracted by the unexpected affair, they had failed to notice that they were separated from other students and had now become the only ones who hadn't gotten into a boat. Mumbling a quick apology, they quickly went on with their trip. It was a quick ride. Soon they had reached some kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto a rocky path and crowded in front of a huge, wooden oak door.