LUPA

Platform 9 ¾ was, as per usual for half ten in the morning, busy as can be. Children could be seen saying goodbye to their parents, embarrassedly taking the kiss on the cheek from their mothers, and the prideful "Have fun" from their fathers. If they were lucky enough to have them. Neville Longbottom stood next to his grandmother, Lady Regent Longbottom, in awkward silence, regretting the day Bellatrix Lestrange had cursed his parents.

"Goodbye Gran."

In his normal (for him) nervous slouch, he boarded the train in silence. He idly wondered if Harry had the same trouble as him. Furthermore, how he was after running away this summer. Would he make it here in time? The train waited here for no man, nor woman. Neville leaned back in an empty compartment, reminiscing the time when Ron and Harry flew to school in an illegally-enchanted muggle car.

Hermione had just been dropped off at the Platform by her parents. They knew their daughter was sad about something, but couldn't find out what. She refused to tell them. They did notice a distinct lack of a snowy-white owl this summer, which would certainly explain some of her depression. But surely their daughter was smart enough to know that sometimes boys just forgot about common pleasantries, and lived a dual life?

Hermione stepped through the barrier, and made her way to the train, dragging her luggage behind her. Once it had been loaded onto the train, she went in search of a friendly face. If she was lucky enough, maybe Harry had regained his senses and come back. Even more hopefully, Ron wouldn't be a complete prig this year, and betray Harry. She hated the boy enough to let it show, but she loved Harry too much to let it come between them. Ron was Harry's first friend his own age, so she let it go. She really was too smart for the both of them, but, to make her own way in the world, she needed some form of socially upstanding person to back her. If Harry wouldn't, then Ron could. It didn't take money, just good blood.

Ginny waited for her three brothers to use the Floo, while she sat back on the comfy sofa. She checked things off her list. Trunk fully packed, Pigwidgeon was flying around his little cage, her sandwiches were in her bag, and the love potions that her mother had given her were safely at the bottom of the pond. Did she not understand? She didn't want to be with Harry anymore. He was too busy, too dangerous, and Hermione wouldn't let another girl near him, she was sure. She hoped he was OK, and would turn up for Hogwarts. She hated to think what the result would be if he turned up dead, giving You-Know-Who a clear run for supremacy.

Ginny held back her tears as her rampant imagination caught up with her. The twins caught sight of her teary eyes, and, knowing the reason, decided to quit screwing around and use the Floo.

In a grey stone tower not five miles from Ginny's teary eyes, a blonde Seer looked to the East. In her third Eye, she could clearly see Harry and a Veela she vaguely remembered from the Triwizard Tournament hugging, exchanging a kiss, and then apparating away. Both she and the Veela saw the small tear as it fell to the fresh earth below.

Luna Lovegood knew Harry was fine. He looked better than fine, truth be told. She reckoned it was about time Fate stuck her hand in- Harry'd been left to rot for the last fourteen years, but now it was time for him to kick arse. That, or eat fried chicken. It was often quite funny how probabilities worked with her Eye.

Platform 9 ¾ was, as per usual for half ten in the morning, busy as can be. Children could be seen saying goodbye to their parents, embarrassedly taking the kiss on the cheek from their mothers, and the prideful "Have fun" from their fathers. If they were lucky enough to have them. Harry Potter appeared behind a billboard advertising Honeyduke's chocolates for only three sickles, and he silently made his way onto the train. Finding the compartment he was looking for, he slid open the door.

"Excuse me, but would you mind if I sat here? Only, everywhere else is full." He knew he looked different. It was time to test his friends.

The ginger-haired boy within looked up from his chocolate frog card collection, to see a tall, tanned and toned boy of around his own age looking in. He was familiar, somehow, but he wasn't sure why. His strange muggle clothes revealed him as a muggle-born, however.

"Hell, no! This compartment's reserved for me, Harry and Hermione! Get out!" The lanky red-head got up to slam the sliding door shut, but before he could do so, the boy drew his wand across his fringe, revealing the lightning-bolt scar.

"Harry! Mate, where have you been? Me and Hermione have been so worried! That, and Dumbledore was bloody livid he couldn't find you!"

"Ron, why would you reserve this compartment for just three of us? You know Hermione wouldn't sit in the cabin alone with you, you hate each other. Plus, you didn't know if I was even alive. Oh, and thanks for the birthday wishes, by the way. I had a fantastic party with my new family."

"Wait- what? Dumbledore said we shouldn't send you any letters because it could lead You-Know-Who to you! We had no choice!"

"You had all the choice in the world, Ron. He's your Headmaster, not your father. He's in charge of the school, not you. Where's Hermione, then? She's normally here much earlier than you."

Ron looked slightly insulted by this. Harry wanted her company more than his? No, he probably just wanted the Golden Trio together.

"No idea. She walked straight past, earlier. Anyway, look. I'm sorry I was rude about the compartment. I just- I was worried, y'know? The Order thought that you'd been taken."

"The Order?"

"Oh. Uh, well, seeing as it's for your protection… The Order of the Phoenix. They were around last time to combat the Death Eaters, since the Ministry was useless. This time, they're here primarily for your protection- don't ask me why, I don't know- and to guard some weapon. That's all I know."

"I don't need protection. I dealt with Voldemort- oh, grow up, will you? I dealt with Voldemort on my own, and I've been practicing over the summer. Anyway, let's go find Hermione, and she may be able to keep her rant under control. Maybe."

It wasn't to be. As soon as she saw him walking towards her down the corridor, she started her rant. If he hadn't have had his Inheritance, he would never have caught the beginning.

"Harry James Potter! You dare to run away, and then leave me no way to contact you? What did you think you were doin-"

"Hermione. Shut up. My life is not yours to command. I left the Dursley's because they were abusive, vile, and mean. They starved me to the point of me needing medical attention this summer. Do you think that anyone should have to live with that, on the off-chance someone with a thirteen-year-old grudge comes knocking? No. I will live my life as I want. Now, I realise I didn't send you any mail after my birthday, but I couldn't send you any before due to lockdown. And then I thought you'd done the same thing as Ron, and just followed the Old Man's order of radio silence."

Ron looked perplexed for a second, before he understood the reference.

"I- I'm sorry Harry, I've just been so worried. Come here!"

Hermione gave Harry a swift hug. Not one of her stifling 'you-nearly-died!' hugs, but a real girl-to-boy hug. He appreciated the fact that she now saw him as a potential boyfriend, but it was far too late. He'd already committed himself to Fleur wholeheartedly. Releasing Harry, Hermione turned to the nearest compartment, which had a petite, dirty-blonde haired girl inside.

"Hi, is it OK if we sit in here? Only, everywhere else is full…" Hermione asked the girl.

"Oh, of course. If by 'full' you meant 'obnoxiously hating Harry Potter'?"

"Uh… yes?"

"Good, then come on in!"

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, evaluating the strange girl. She seemed harmless, but what if she was the type to randomly fly off the handle? Ah, well. Hermione was already inside the compartment, glaring at the boys. Some things never changed.

"My name's Luna. Luna Lovegood. I live on the other side of Ottery St. Catchpole to the Weasley's. How do you do?"

The small girl was too perky, perky enough to bring down Harry's mood. Some people were too happy, but he couldn't begrudge her that. However, the other person in the carriage, who had not immediately stood out due to her complete immobility, was a girl roughly the same height as Fleur, but curled up in the farthest corner of the compartment, partially hidden behind Lovegood. Ron had taken his customary seat by the window, doing his best to wake the girl up with his brutally inquisitive stare.

"Ron", barked Hermione, "Don't you dare wake her up, she's obviously exhausted! Let her sleep awhile."

Neville, ever the nervous wreck, knocked as quietly as possible, and waited to be invited in or shooed off. Harry grinned at his dorm mate, knowing he was going to have to fix that attitude of Neville's before the year was up.

Looking downcast, Ron turned his gaze to Harry, and noticed for the first time exactly how stacked his 'best mate' was.

"Uh… Harry, how was your summer, then?"

Harry sighed, it was going to be a long train journey.

As typical, Draco Malfoy came around once the train started moving. Him, and half of Slytherin, it seemed. Together, they tried- unsuccessfully, mind you- to bait Harry into doing something rash. Malfoy's new Prefect badge gleamed in the dying afternoon light, his Snapelly-greasy hair shining even more so. Ron, catching sight of the badge, immediately started having his 5-Star Tantrum of Unfairness. Harry, however, was still looking amused at the gathering that had showed up for nothing- no fights here today!

"I see you're as poor as ever, Weasleby! Are those actually last year's robes, or do they just smell like them?" Malfoy looked around him for laughs, and received them as he always did. He relied on sycophants and bullying for his kicks… Well, Harry'd change that soon enough…

Harry, long and lean as Achilles of legend, stood slowly, taking his time; he let everyone see the muscles underneath his British Rugby Union muscle shirt flex. Facing Malfoy, and coming up a full head-and-a-half taller, Harry grinned at the shorter boy.

"Have a good summer holiday, Draco? I heard that dear old Lucy got his balls handed to him, and his lip bloodied… He should have stayed away from his betters! Oh, wait, he didn't, did he? Well, he paid the price in the end…" Harry said.

"You! You- How do you know that?! I told no-one! How-"

"I know, boy, because I am well acquainted with the man who did the good deed! Indeed, you could say that he and I are incredibly alike! However, I would know what brings you to this compartment in particular, Draco, although I'm flattered, I'm sure for your attentions…"

Malfoy stood there in unutterable shock for nearly five seconds, before his mind caught up to his pride.

"I'm not gay, if that's what you mean! I'm here for the girl, to throw her from the train! She doesn't belong!"

Everyone in the compartment looked at Luna, saw her completely absorbed in her upside-down Quibbler magazine, and looked back flatly at the blonde-haired shitstreak. Hermione,ever the equalist, leapt to her defence.

"You will not throw anyone from the train, let alone Luna! OK, she's odd, but that's not a bad thing!"

"Oh shut up Mudblood! Nobody asked your opinion!" The sneer dripped venom, it was that fierce. Hermione huffed, but stood firm. "I'm not talking about Loony Lovegood- I'm talking about her…"

Everyone's eyes, including the captive audience of everyone outside the compartment, swivelled to the girl curled up on the seat near the window. Harry, only just paying her any real attention, looked at the trunk stuffed into the rack overhead. The tattered suitcase looked familiar… in faded gold letters, just over the handle, was L.L., but where the first L was, was a faint R crossed out before it.

That was Remus' suitcase.

This was the compartment they had first seen Remus in, in their Third Year.

This girl had some kind of connection to Remus Lupin.

"You're not taking her anywhere Malfoy, unless you want to get the same treatment as your father. Understand?" There was a fire in Harry's eyes that most had never seen. Malfoy had seen it in Mad Eye Moody's (although the man was actually Bartemius Crouch Jr. at the time). Some others had seen it in their families' eyes when they were talking about the War. Ron and Hermione had seen it almost every year.

"Werewolves are dark creatures, Potter, and she's a werewolf! She's Lupin's daughter!"

"So? That just means she'll be damn good at DADA this year, then. Get lost Malfoy, I have business to attend to."

With the most anti-climactic wave of his hand, the compartment door closed, and the blinds drew. All his friends were here (except Ginny, which was strange, probably with one of her boyfriends), and he needed to know what actually happened to Remus.

"Hello? Hi. My name's Harry. Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you. These are my friends, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna. And you are?" Harry held his hand out, but no hand stretched from within the girl's curled-up form.

"Lupa. Lupa Lupin."

The compartment stood in shock- Malfoy had been right! Remus had been bitten well before he'd been accepted to Hogwarts, so she must be a werewolf too! Only Ron and Neville seemed even the slightest bit put out by this, but they put it down to dogma.

"So, you're Remus' daughter? Or sister? With a face that pretty, I'm willing to bet daughter. Remus always was an ugly sumbitch," Harry mused. Lupa's eyes widened at Harry's casual banter on her father- no-one she knew would ever insult the Alpha Wolf like that, ever.

The girl had dark brown, doe-like eyes that caught the dying sunlight and held the eye of anyone even slightly aware of what true beauty looked like. Her small button nose didn't detract from it at all, indeed, her father's sharp lupine nozza would have looked ridiculous on this beauty. Her long dark brown hair was so dark, it was almost black, and her skin so tanned, she must have spent all of her time outside for years to get an even tan like that. Harry couldn't tell what the rest of her was like underneath the cloak she wore.

"D- daughter. I was living with my mother in the Warrens when we got the- [hic] the news."

"I was sorry- truly distraught- to hear that Remus had died. He was like an uncle to me, and maybe the best DADA professor we've ever had. I don't know if you know, but he was outed as a werewolf at the end of the year by Snape, so everyone will know you're one too. We don't care. You'll be our friend, right? And we'll be yours?"

The girl, where she looked scared moments before, now uncurled and stood proud and true. Her form was lithe, lither than even Harry, reminding him more of a fox or a cat than a wolf. Her nails were slightly longer than normal, perhaps a side-effect of being a werewolf, and her figure… perfect.

No-one was fast enough to catch Harry's once-over of her, except perhaps her own enhanced senses.

"I would be proud to accept your offer of friendship, my Lord."

She held her right hand over her heart then, hand clawed. A werewolf salute?

"Lord? Harry, you never told me you were emancipated!"

"Ron, I don't have to tell you anything after last year. I'll tell you whatever the fuck I want, understood?" The redhead quickly shut his mouth, looking sad that Harry still held his betrayal over him.

"Then tell us about yourself, Lupa, since we all are bursting to know about you, and the circumstances surrounding your father's death. I don't believe it was suicide. Not if he had such a wonderful daughter as you!"

Lupa blushed. She could tell she'd be safe at Hogwarts with Harry watching over her. She sensed… happiness… on the horizon.

The rest of the train journey went by as normal, with Ginny eventually growing bored of her friends' company, and joined them merely an hour before they arrived at Hogsmeade Station. Harry sat back, happy (for now) to be surrounded by his friends. The time would come soon to either force them to grow up, or get out of his way. He had business to attend to, and if they wouldn't help, well, no need for them, then.

Looking out of the window in a brief lapse of conversation, Harry spotted the towering walls of Hogwarts Castle up on the hills behind Hogsmeade Station. He was back, but now, Hogwarts wasn't home. His mind flitted back to Fleur, left at Delacour Mansion to head off to Gringotts a week after Harry had started school. He'd loved the time he'd spent with her, but now, it was time to live up to people's expectations…

Stepping out of the carriage even before the train stopped, Harry walked down the length of the train looking for the hulking form of Hagrid. Where was he? Harry couldn't even hear his voice, or smell his musty old coat. Looking back, he could see the curious eyes of Ron, Hermione and Ginny looking back. Ron whispered to Harry as he walked past, "Hagrid's on a mission for the Order. Giants. In France. Didn't catch much else, sorry."

Harry understood. Top-Secret.

The group, now including Neville, Luna and Lupa walked up the platform to the waiting horseless carriages. They all climbed in, except Lupa and Harry. Both stood, on opposite sides of the carriage, staring into each other's eyes. Except, for them, they were looking into the cold dark depths of a skeletal horse's cataract-ridden eyes. Harry could feel… something connecting him to it. The armour… the Deathly Hallows and Horcruxes… this was a creature of Death?

"Come on Lupa, let's get inside and on the way to Hogwarts."

With that, Harry resolved to test the armour out as soon as possible.