James Castle

Chapter 1: Hogwarts Express

"I told you, I don't have any food," the young man with messy black hair glared at the large cat sitting on his lap, purring loudly. He sighed and shook his head, leaning back in his seat, not willing to force the animal to move since it didn't know any better. He had claimed the last compartment on the Hogwarts Express an hour before the train was to depart, finding the cat in a carrying case and a trunk stashed in the overhead compartment being the only other occupants. When the train had started he let the mewing cat out, only to have it claim the spot on his lap that it had held for the last hour.

He noticed the door crack open a little several times during the trip, but no one had bothered to enter the compartment. Finally the door opened and a surprised girl entered the compartment, obviously not expecting to see anyone there. He examined her for a moment, taking note of her tied back brown hair, small black framed glasses, and Head Girl badge. "I assume this is yours," he gestured at the cat, nothing her jaw drop. He watcher her as she sat down opposite him, wishing she wasn't wearing school robes so he could get a better look.

"He doesn't like anyone, besides me and my best friend Ginny," he replied as the cat opened his eyes to look at her. "Come here Crookshanks," she patted the seat next to her. The cat growled as he was made to move, but made his way over to his master, settling on her lap, giving her a look before closing his eyes again. "I haven't seen you before, who are you?" she raised her eyebrow at him, taking in his appearance. He looked to be her age, short messy black hair, brilliant green eyes, and a black set of robes hiding the rest of him. She wished he didn't have the robes on so she could examine him better as well.

"James Castle, transferred here for my seventh year," he extended his hand across the compartment, his sleeve riding up, showing clear white skin on his forearm. He noticed her eyes checking out his arm as she extended her own, shaking his hand.

"Hermione Granger, Head Girl this year," she introduced herself. "Where did you transfer from? You don't sound like someone from Beauxbaton's or Durmstrang," she relaxed a bit, setting back into her seat.

"I was home schooled by tutors over in the States that my Uncle Frank hired," he shrugged. "Haven't had a proper education yet, we figured it would be best for me to get one year of schooling with people my own age," he smirked at her. "Now, that was pretty rude a minute ago, when you shook my hand, I'd expect more from a Head Girl," he smiled as she stared at him shocked.

"What do you mean?" she questioned him. "Eeep!" she squeaked as he stood and leaned across the compartment, putting one hand on the wall beside her head and grabbing her hand gently with the other.

"Checking my arm out for the Mark while not bothering to flash me yours," he whispered in her ear before pulling her sleeve up a bit and settling back into his seat after seeing the clear skin. "Your cat trusted me, animals usually have a pretty good nose on sniffing out dark wizards," he smirked as he noted her face growing red and angry.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as he chuckled, noting her anger. "What…that…" she stopped her stammering as he actually let a laugh loose from his lips. "You thought I might be a Death Eater?" she screamed at him, tears in her eyes.

He froze as he saw the tears swelling in her eyes, immediately looking away. "Sorry, you checked me out, so I figured…" he trailed off as she focused on her cat, stroking it, not really looking at him. "Who did you lose?" he asked her after a few minutes of silence and purring. She didn't look back up at him, instead focusing on the cat.

He grunted, getting up from his seat, settling next to her. She stiffened as he gently touched her hand. "You can talk to me, I understand," he said quietly, holding her hand, pulling it from the cat.

"How can you understand…" she whispered to herself. "I'm a muggleborn, they killed my parents during my sixth year, how can you possibly understand?" she glared at him before giving up and crying.

"It's okay," he comforted her, startled as she lurched to hug him, the cat yowling as it was sent to the floor unceremoniously. "They killed my family too, back before I could even remember, Uncle Frank raised me," he confided in her. "At least you got to know your parents," his voice caught for a second before it went silent. They sat there for a while before the door cracked open and a girl with pale blonde hair slipped in, across from them.

"Hello Hermione, your ride has been eventful I take it?" the girl smiled at Hermione who was wiping away the last of her tears.

"Yes Luna," she smiled back. "Let me introduce you to our new transfer student, James Castle," she gestured at James who had released her when Luna entered the room. "James, this is Luna Lovegood, she may seem a bit out of it, but she is brilliant and a bit of a seer," she explained, noticing James tighten up a bit at the seer part.

"Pleased to meet you, I was wondering when you would come to Hogwarts," Luna greeted the black haired boy, smiling knowingly.

He stared back at her, not blinking, just thinking to himself for a moment. "How did you know I was coming here?" he asked her.

"Oh, I've always known, the fates were very particular that I would know," she said dreamily. "They do not disapprove, you know," she added quietly. "I should get going, see me to the door Mr. Castle?" she stood, extending her arm for James to take.

He stood quickly, eager to get the blonde away from himself, not liking what she was saying. He opened the door for her, seeing a blonde boy his age, drawing a wand at them. "Relative of yours?" he asked quickly.

"No," Luna shook her head, smiling.

Hermione followed them to the door, gasping when she saw Draco Malfoy drawing his wand while James and Luna whispered. She fumbled to draw her wand to stop Draco, but it was too late, everything was moving too fast. She winced as she heard a body drop to the floor in pain, but was shocked as to what had occurred. James rubbed his knuckles, wiping a bit of blood off them as he escorted Luna from the room, over Draco's body. Her mouth hung open in shock, not knowing to laugh or penalize everyone. The choice was taken out of her hands when James entered the compartment again and locked it behind him.

"You hit him?" she looked at the green eyes staring into her own.

"Broke his nose, more likely," James replied with a smile. "He'll think twice before drawing his wand on unsuspecting people again," James glanced down where she was still unconsciously fumbling for her own wand. "You need to work on your draw," he sighed, placing her right hand on her wand.

"You hit him… He's the Head Boy, this is going to cause such trouble," Hermione grimaced.

"I doubt that, we have three witnesses that he pulled his wand on us, besides I didn't hurt him that bad," James snorted. "But like I said, you need to work on your draw, he would have easily caught you unaware today…" James stopped and took her free hand, holding it in his own. "And I don't mean your wand either," he whispered as he guided her hand between her robes down to her thigh where she felt him place her hand on the metal of the pistol. "If you have the guts to carry a weapons such as this, you should be prepared to use it," he said coldly, releasing her as the train slowed down. "Until we meet again, Hermione," he bowed before leaving the Head Girl alone in her compartment.