Chapter Two: Getting Noticed
The Hogwarts Express was crowded and noisy. The scarlet steam engine snaked its way through the English countryside, past hills and fens and over rivers and lakes. Lyra Malfoy was in a compartment with Draco and his friends playing exploding snap with Pansy Parkinson.
Today half of Lyra's white-blonde hair was twisted back from her face and into a bun, which was held in place with two star shaped slides. The rest of her hair had been left loose to trail down her back. She was wearing brown leather shoes and green woollen tights and a knee length navy blue dress with little white flowers embroidered onto it.
"I'm starving," Goyle said, for about the fifth time. His stomach gave a loud rumble. "I wish the trolley would hurry up."
"You owe me a Chocolate Frog," Crabbe reminded him, looking up from his comic.
"So, Blaise," Draco said pointedly, clearly bored of hearing this squabble. "How was your summer in Sicily?"
Lyra, who'd just been laying a card down on the growing deck, glanced over at Blaise. He was as handsome as ever and was wearing expensive clothes and even from here she could smell his deep, masculine cologne.
"Hot," Blaise said, with smirk. This made the boys laugh sycophantically.
Lyra and Pansy exchanged unimpressed looks and continued with their game, turning the cards quicker and quicker until,
"SNAP!" they exclaimed at once, diving to put their hands over the cards.
Lyra felt Pansy's hand slam on top of hers just a second too late. Lyra scooped up the cards with a smug smile on her face and mixed them with the thin deck in her hands. She was winning.
"Oh, look, it's Weasley!" Draco exclaimed viciously, sitting up and sticking his fingers up in a rude gesture as a gangling, red haired boy goggled into their compartment as he went by.
"Still alive, Weasley? I hear your family are so poor you have to grow your own vegetables just to eat," Draco called. "With all this bad weather I was hoping you'd have starved to death!"
Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy burst out laughing while Blaise and Lyra merely smiled patiently. Ron Weasley turned scarlet and angrily returned the hand gesture. The bushy haired girl beside him grabbed the front of his robes and dragged him off.
"What a loser," Blaise said disdainfully. "I think Dumbledore only made him a prefect out of pity."
That reminded Lyra, if the Gryffindor prefects were walking around then the meeting must be over. That meant that Astoria Greengrass, Lyra's best friend, was now free for the rest of the afternoon. Astoria was one of the Fifth Year Slytherin prefects, along with Boris Bole.
"They're such an embarrassment," Pansy was saying, with a big fake shudder. "If I had a choice between being a Weasley or being a Half-Blood, I think I'd pick the Half-Blood – and that's saying something!"
Lyra opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted because someone was knocking on the compartment door. She turned to see an awkward looking Second Year opening the door with a trembling hand. He was tightly clutching a scroll in the other.
"I've – I've got this for Blaise Zabini," said the runty looking Slytherin boy, holding out the scroll.
Blaise, who was sat by the door, snatched the parchment from the boy's hand. He opened it at once and read it with a dubious expression on his face. The Second Year hovered uncertainly where he was.
"What is it?" Lyra asked curiously.
"Professor Slughorn wants to see me," Blaise told them all importantly, rolling up the parchment. "He's invited me to have lunch with him in compartment C."
"Got any more of those invitations?" Lyra asked the messenger boy in a would-be casual voice.
The boy shook his head. "He only – only – gave me that one."
Lyra turned to Draco, who was sat next to her, and gave him an incredulous look. This couldn't be happening, she thought, angrily. There had to have been some kind of mistake. If Slughorn was on the train and he hadn't invited either her or Draco then he couldn't have known they were on the train.
"Did he now?" Lyra said, getting to her feet. "Well, we'll just have to see about that."
"Where are you going?" Draco asked, looking up at her in surprise.
"Oh, just for a walk," Lyra said airily. "I think I'll wander by compartment C and make myself known while I go and look for Astoria."
Draco gave her a keen smile. "Good idea."
"I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts," Lyra said, not expecting to come back once she'd teamed up with Astoria. "Thanks for letting me sit with you."
Lyra passed Pansy the half deck of cards she was holding in her hands.
"I'll walk with you," Blaise said quickly, getting to his feet and following Lyra out into the corridor.
Lyra and Blaise walked in silence for a moment, with her leading the way. She was aware that Blaise was very close behind her. She didn't really know what to say to him. He was one of those older boys that she only ever really saw from a distance or spoke to when they spoke first.
"Did you have a good holiday?" Blaise eventually asked. "As good as it could be, under the circumstances, I mean."
"It was pretty rotten," Lyra admitted. "But it's over with now."
There wasn't really anything else to add to that. It summed up the entire summer well enough.
Lyra pulled open the door that led to the next carriage along. The train was rattling through marsh land and the sun had come out. It was pale and weak, as if it was later in the year but Lyra was glad of the wave of warmth on her face.
"Lyra!" a voice called excitedly.
A tall, thin girl with a blonde bob was beaming at her from the other end of the landing. Astoria Greengrass was already in her Hogwarts robes with her shiny silver prefect badge pinned to the front of her robes. Lyra tried not to feel too jealous that she hadn't been the one to get the badge and gave a wave of greeting.
"Astoria!" she grinned, and walked briskly to give her best friend a big hug.
"It's so good to see you!" Astoria said warmly, "Oh my gosh, the prefects meeting was so boring! I'm going to need you and a whole bottle of pumpkin juice to wake me up again."
"See you later, little Malfoy," Blaise said from behind Lyra.
She turned around and saw that he'd opened one of the doors that led off the main corridor and was poised to go in.
"See you," Lyra said and watched him go to his special lunch with Slughorn.
"I wonder who else is in there," Lyra thought out loud and walked slyly towards the door. She took Astoria by the hand and led her down the corridor.
"What's going on? Who's in where?" she asked sounding faintly confused.
"Slughorn's back," Lyra explained quickly. "He's starting up his little club again and he's already testing out students. Blaise got an invitation but no one else we know did, so I want to know who Slughorn is trying to collect."
Before Lyra and Astoria drew level with the door Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom appeared. Harry opened the door and the two boys joined Blaise inside.
"Longbottom?" Astoria said doubtfully. "Why would anyone be interested in Longbottom? Snape's always going on about how useless he is."
Lyra didn't say anything, but she took it personally that Longbottom had been invited and she hadn't. Curiously she peered through the glass and scanned the table that was set for lunch with her bright, pale eyes.
"McLaggen – well, that's not unexpected. Belby? Weasley! What's she doing in there?" Lyra hissed.
"What?" Astoria gasped, and stood on her tip-toes so she could see over Lyra. "There's nothing special about Ginny! Except maybe how much of slut she is!"
"And the fact she almost got eaten by a Basilisk," Lyra added.
Astoria let out a snort of laughter.
Perhaps that did make Ginny worthy of Slughorn's attention, Lyra thought. Basilisk venom and skin was very expensive. Maybe Slughorn thought she'd tell him the way to get down to the Chamber of Secrets so he could go and inspect the remains if he let her join his fan club.
"Argh, busted!" Astoria whispered and leapt away from the door.
A second later Lyra realised that everyone in Slughorn's compartment was looking at her. She felt herself getting hot under the collar. Slughorn himself, a fat, walrus-like wizard was beckoning for her to come in, though there was a bewildered expression on his face.
Lyra, whose mouth had gone dry, tried not to look embarrassed as she opened the door.
"Can I help you, Miss….?"
"Malfoy, Sir," Lyra said confidently with a sweet smile.
She watched as Slughorn's smile faltered. He looked almost afraid of her but then hid it with a look of surprise.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said smoothly, "I was just so surprised to see you on the train. My grandfather always spoke very highly of you, Professor. Are you teaching again this year? Ooh, it would be so brilliant if you are!"
Blaise gave Lyra an amused look as she thought on her feet, hoping to suck up to Slughorn enough to let her stay.
"That's nice of you to say so, Miss Malfoy. Yes, I will be taking up my old post again this year," Slughorn told her.
"How wonderful," Lyra said with a big, forced smile.
There was a long pause as Lyra waited for Slughorn to ask her to sit down and replace one of the other lunch guests. He continued to look expectantly at her and she equally so at him.
"Well, Miss Malfoy, it's been a pleasure meeting you," Slughorn said politely, but finally.
"Yes," Lyra said hazily, her eyes widening as she realised that this was her cue to leave. "A pleasure meeting you, Sir," she added, backing out of the room, a sneering disbelieving smile on her face.
Once out of the compartment she felt a bewildering realisation that she'd just been slighted by Slughorn. Lyra marched away from the compartment, hands balled into fists. Nothing of the sort had ever happened to her before. She was a Malfoy. She was the very height of Wizarding status and breeding. She was used to everyone making accommodations and allowances for her.
"Merlin, he's lost his touch!" Lyra burst out the moment she'd stepped into the next carriage.
"Maybe he didn't know you and Draco were on the train," Astoria said, though she was trying to suppress her laughter with a hand clamped over her mouth. "I thought you were going to be in so much trouble for spying on them. The look on your face when you got caught!"
"Be quiet!" Lyra said, shooting Astoria a sideways look. "You screamed and jumped out of the way as if there was a Basilisk lurking around the corner!"
The two best friends looked at one another and their smiles began to widen. Astoria began to giggle and soon Lyra was grinning and feeling less foolish.
"Well, at least he knows I'm here," Lyra said optimistically. "Besides, I'd much rather have Chocolate Frogs for lunch and listen to you tell me all about your holiday," she said primly.
"Aww," Astoria uttered. "That's why you're my best friend."
Astoria linked arms with Lyra and the two blonde Slytherins walked down the train looking for some First Years to eject from a compartment.