Chapter 2
I walked briskly through the crowds of Muggles, my trolley trailing behind me. Platform 7... Platform 8... Platform 9!
Standing at the entrance, a couple of teenagers were talking to each other. They all had trolleys, and most of them carried an owl. I could guess they were all wizards and witches. "Er, excuse me." They moved out of the way. I took a cautious glance around, and then I confidently walked through.
I boarded the already filling train. In every compartment I looked in, they were full. "Oops, sorry!"
"Get the bloody hell out!" I quickly closed the compartment door as I witnessed two teens snogging... Well, it looked more like they were trying to suck the other's face off.
I reached the last compartment and slowly opened the door. The only person present was a sleeping man. His face looked young, but his hair had strands of gray. He seemed to be littered with scars. His robes were old and patched. On the luggage rack above him, his small case read,"Professor R. J. Lupin".
Hm. He must be the new Defense Against Dark Arts professor.I sat back in my seat on the right side of the compartment. I put my things on the luggage rack above me and held my owl cage. I owned a Barred Owl by the name of Helia. I heard voices of three children coming. The door opened, and a boy with messy black hair entered. A girl with bushy brown hair followed, and a boy with red hair, obviously a Weasley, took the end.
"Oh, hello," I greeted cheerfully.
"Hello. Um, not to be rude, but who are you ? I'm Hermione Granger." the girl questioned.
"I'm Ce— Melaina Chang. I'm a transfer student from America, but I lived here until I moved there. I'm also Head Girl."
"But, why would you be Head Girl if you just got here?" the red head asked. "Oh, I'm Ron Weasley," he added.
"Well, I suppose he's heard of my reputation. It's nice to meet you, Ron."
"Do you know what house you're in?" the boy with the lightning scar and glasses asked. "I'm Harry Potter."
"Yes, I know. I'm in Gryffindor." I smiled proudly.
"Oh, we're in Gryffindor as well!" Hermione said.
I smiled again and checked my watch. "Oh, I need to go up front for the Prefect and Head meeting. I'll be back in a few."
I walked to the front of the train. There were already a few people there. There was a red haired teen with his chest stuck out, a shiny Head Boy badge on display.
He greeted me... Sort of. "Who are you?"
"I'm Melaina Chang, Head Girl."
"I've never seen you before. I'm Percy Weasley, Head Boy."
Ron's brother... Oh crap, don't remember me. "I'm new here."
"Prefects, here are your schedules. Follow them accordingly, please," Percy said. I handed out the timetables. Percy continued talking about the duties of a Prefect.
After Percy was done with his,"Duty Perfection" speech, I headed back to my compartment.
"Don't let that thing out! Get out of here!"
"Ron, don't!"
I opened the door, and everything went quiet. "Well, don't let me ruin the fun. As you were." I sat back in my seat. I looked a Professor Lupin. His mouth was slightly agape. He looks kind of cute like— Woah, wait, what? Did I just think that? Oh Merlin.
I just shook my head and joined in on the conversation. I was absentmindedly scratching Crookshank's ears. The plump witch with the cart full of food visited our compartment around one o' clock.
"D'you think we should wake him up?" Ron asked, looking at Professor Lupin.
"Er— Professor? Excuse me— Professor?" Hermione said.
I shook his arm lightly. Nothing.
"Don't worry, dears. If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver." The witch handed Harry a stack of Cauldron Cakes, and he passed them around to the rest of us.
As it started to rain during the afternoon, we were visited by three other Third years. The first was a sneering, pale boy. He had platinum blond hair and cold gray eyes. There were two goons behind him.
"Well, look who it is," the blond boy said. His drawl made me dislike him almost immediately. "Potty and the Weasel." The two goons behind him laughed. "I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley. Did your mother die of shock?" From his blazon, I could see he was a Slytherin.
Ron stood up abruptly, and I jumped up if he needed to be held back. "Who are you?" the Slytherin asked.
I smiled, quickly realizing my advantage. "I'm Melaina Chang, Head Girl."
Suddenly, Professor Lupin snorted, and all attention turned to him. "Who's that?"
"New teacher," Harry said, standing up. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"
He glared at all of us, and then he turned to his friends. "C'mon," he muttered.
We all returned to our seats as the Slytherins disappeared. "I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year. I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get a hold of his head and—" Ron punched the air repeatedly.
Hermione warned Ron about Professor Lupin, but he was still asleep, his mouth still slightly open.
Two more hours passed until the lanterns flickered on. I looked out the window, but all I could see were sheets of pouring rain.
"We must be nearly there," Ron said, trying to take a look out the window. My stomach growled at the thought of the feast. The train seemed to slow down. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast..."
"We can't be there yet," said Hermione. I agreed.
"So why're we stopping?" Okay, so he had a point. The train came to a halt, jolting me out of my seat. The lanterns were extinguished, and we were engulfed with darkness.
"What's going on?" Ron asked.
"What's happening?" I asked, simultaneously.
"Ouch! Ron, that was my foot!" Hermione said, pain in her voice.
"D'you think we've broken down?"
"Dunno."
"I don't think so," I said. "Highly unlikely. Maybe they stopped for something."
Ron wiped the window and looked outside. "I think people are coming aboard..."
The door suddenly opened. "Sorry— d'you know what's going on?— Ouch— Sorry—"
"Hullo, Neville," I heard Harry greet.
"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"
"No idea— sit down—"
I heard Crookshanks screech and a howl of pain. I could only guess that Neville tried to sit on him.
"Agh, no! Don't sit on me!" I said, pushing him to the spot next me.
Hermione said she'd go check with the driver. I then heard two squeals of pain when she opened the door.
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?"
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was looking for Ron—"
"Come in and sit down—"
"Not here!" Harry yelled. Ginny probably tried sitting on him. "I'm here!"
"Ouch!"
"No! Lumos!" I said, lighting up my wand.
"Quiet!" I turned my head towards Professor Lupin's corner, also where the sound came from.
I silently put out my wand as he held some crackling flames in his palm. "Stay where you are." His voice was very hoarse and tired.
The door opened right as he reached for it. A ghastly, dark robed... thing stood, a fearful cold swept into the room. I froze up, knowing exactly what it was.
A dementor! Of course, I knew that dementors were coming, but, seriously, they are creepy.
Suddenly, Harry went rigid. He fell off his seat and started twitching uncontrollably.
Think of something happy. Think of something happy... Percy? Stacey? Camp Half-Blood? Being an Auror? Aurora? Aurora. My sister had shunned me when she realized that I was a demigod. Or so I thought. She was just upset that she couldn't do anything. I would be in danger, in harm's way. And she couldn't do anything. We were very close before my 13th birthday. For three years, she was distant until my near-death experience shook her awake. We're closer than ever now. She went on as a Healer, and, as you know, I chose to be an Auror.
"None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go."
But, the dementor did not move. C'mon. Aurora hugging me after 3 years. Aurora hugging me after 3 years. Do it!
I stood up and yelled,"Expecto Patronum!" A silvery wolf shot out of my wand. The dementor glided away.
"Harry! Harry!" I slapped his face once. I was kneeling next to Hermione and Ron.
After Hermione started to slap him, he awoke. I handed his glasses back to him. To Professor Lupin, I said,"I'm going to go check with the driver. Unless you want to do that."
"I'll do it." I was about to give them all chocolate that I had in my pocket when he took some out himself. I stuffed it back in. He broke some pieces of chocolate and handed them to us.
"Thanks," I said. I decided to see if the other students were okay. After he left and made sure Harry was alright, I walked through the corridor, looking into the compartments. In Malfoy's compartment, I noticed he was shivering in a corner.
When he noticed me, he told me to "get the bloody hell out".
I rolled my eyes and continued to peer into the compartments. When I came back, Professor Lupin had also returned. The remainder of the trip was spent silent.
When we got to the platform at Hogsmeade, I saw Hagrid guiding the first years. I wonder if Hagrid still has Aragog... I shivered slightly at the thought of the gigantic spider. The rain was still pouring.
Harry's carriage with Ron and Hermione was full, so I went to the next one.
The only one inside of it was Professor Lupin. I sat down quietly, not knowing what to do when you're sitting next to a teacher you barely know. And it was oh-so awkward. Could this get anymore awkward?
My stomach growled audibly, and I wanted to bash my head against the carriage wall. Just did. I took my chocolate and broke off a piece. I threw it into my mouth and rewrapped the chocolate. I returned it to my pocket when he said,"When did you learn how to cast a Patronus?"
"My mom taught me," I lied. It was actually part of my Auror training. "She thought it would be a fun spell to teach me. It took me a month to get the hang of it."
He chuckled and said,"Well, it took me time to do it correctly as well."
"Really? Tut, tut, tut. You're the DADA Professor. I expected better." I tried to keep a straight face, but I burst out laughing at the same time.
As I stepped out of the carriage, I heard Malfoy's delighted voice. "You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually fainted?"
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron growled.
"Did you faint as well, Weasley? Did the scary old dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"
I scowled. I opened my mouth to say something when Professor Lupin said,"Is there a problem?"
Malfoy turned to Professor Lupin and said,"Oh, no— er—Professor," words dripping in sarcasm.
Slytherins like him are jackasses. Reminds me of my years. We entered the Great Hall, minus Hermione and Harry, because McGonagall called them. I walked to the Gryffindor table and saw the only opening was next to Fred and George Weasley. There was no way to avoid it. I remembered them from the time when they were first years. They were big troublemakers then, and I doubt they've changed their ways now. Please don't remember me. Please don't remember me. Please don't remember me.I slid in next to them and tried to not attract any attention.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and said,"Hmm?"
"Hey, Georgie, doesn't she remind you of someone?"
Shit."Who?" I asked innocently. "I've never been here before. First time. I was sorted earlier."
"Oh, a Seventh year during our first," George said.
"Really? Then why are you the Head Girl?" Fred asked.
"Dunno," I simply said.
"What's your name?"
"Melaina Chang." I nearly said Celestia again.
The Sorting went by with Harry and Hermione still not showing their faces. Only after the Sorting did they come out. They sat next to Ron.
Dumbledore said his speech, explaining the dementors, Sirius Black's escape, and the two new teachers. I clapped hard for Professor Lupin and Hagrid.
"Let the feast begin!"
Oh... Food! Fred and George chatted with me. They asked me to try some of their candy, but I politely declined... Sort of. Never eat their stuff. It will kill you. Okay, so maybe not kill you, but you'll become the laughingstock of the school, until the Weasley twins strike again.
"I will not eat your candy! I can just tell something's wrong with it!"
"Oh, come on. How do you know?" George asked.
"Fine. I'll eat it after you eat the same piece that you offered me."
Both of the twins looked at the piece and then looked at each other.
"Damn, you're good," they said, simultaneously.
"What's the effect anyway?"
"You were going to grow boils," Fred said.
"Classic," I replied.
They turned their heads as I basically told them that I was like them, too.
"Head Girl?" Fred started.
"Troublemaker?" George finished.
"Oh, please. I'm not Percy, but it doesn't mean I won't be taking my job seriously." Their mouths were still slightly open, so I picked up the candy. I tried to throw it into Fred's mouth, but I missed and hit his left cheek.
"Hey!"
"So close," I said, laughing.
The Head Boy and Head Girl quarters were familiar. They were the same as before. The large common room still had the large, comfy sofa. I tried to move the sofa, but it was stuck. I smiled. My charm was still on it. The last time I was Head Girl, the Head Boy liked to move the sofa around, which totally pissed me off. So, I had charmed it to stick to the floor.
The common room had two tables for studying. There was no use for more, really. It looked really homey with the fire flickering warmly. Percy was probably in his room, so I headed to mine.
"Head Girl" was written on a plaque nailed to the door. My room's walls were bare, but I had plenty of things to fill it up with. There was a small closet and some shelves for my things. A bed with red sheets was in the corner. Just like I remember it.
After I was content with my decorating, I changed into my pajamas. I flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, only thinking one thing:
This is going to be a long year.
A/N: Chapter 2 for you! Just to clear it up, Celestia Jang is her real name! Only Dumbledore knows she's undercover! R&R!