The Train Ride

"Don't you see? It was a ceremony. An initiation." Harry was saying, on the train ride back to Hogwarts. It had been bothering him all week, what we witnessed at Borgin and Burkes.

"Stop, Harry, I know where you're going with this." Said Hermione.

"It's happened, he's one of them."

"One of what?" Said Ron.

"Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater." Replied Hermione.

"You're barking. What would You-Know-Who want with a sod like Malfoy?"

"So, what was he doing in Borgin and Burkes, browsing for furniture?" Said Harry, sarcastically. He was starting to get annoyed with the other two disagreeing with him.

"It's a creepy shop, he's a creepy bloke."

"Look, you guys, it makes sense. We know his father's a Death Eater." I said, agreeing with Harry.

"See? And besides, Hermione saw it. With her own eyes." Harry said.

"I told you. I don't know what I saw." Said Hermione. By her voice, we could all tell that she was done discussing this for now. After a few moments of awkward quietness, Harry got up and snatched his invisibility cloak.

"I need some air." He said, not making eye contact, and left the compartment.

"Oh please. Did he really think that we just 'wouldn't notice' him grabbing his cloak?" I said.

"It's Harry we're talking about here, Tal." Said Ron.

"Right, right. Why do I even bother? I'm going to go get changed into my robes."

"Good idea. Why don't we all?" Said Hermione.

And then we left our compartment on the train, in search of places to get changed. As I was rushing toward a bathroom that I thought was empty, I was suddenly pulled into a compartment by none other than Blaise Zabini.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Blaise Zabini."

"Hello, Talia Jackson. What brings you here on this fine, crisp afternoon?" Said Blaise.

"Oh, you know. An arm randomly grabbing me and pulling me against my will. The usual." I said, casually.

"Oh please. You know that if you knew it was my arm, you would've come more than willingly."

"Wow, that's cocky."

"Well, that's the idea."

And, like always, we snogged. And boy, was it good. Blaise has always been the grabby type, so of course I had to slap his hands for moving too fast a couple times. Not that I didn't want it, I just liked to stay in control. When his mouth made its way down to my neck, I got excited and started to unbutton his shirt. One of the reasons I liked Blaise, along with being the only civilized, tolerable Slytherin, was that he was incredibly toned. I ran my hands over his muscly arms, his perfect chest, and his amazing abs. I sure did miss it. Boy, if any of my friends saw me just then… Well, let's just say I probably wouldn't survive that encounter. Not to mention if any of HIS friends saw us. I guess it was a good thing he pulled the curtains and locked the door after dragging me in.

"So, why aren't you with all your lovely friends, like Pug-Face Parkinson, and those two lazy assholes you call Slytherins?" I asked him after a while.

"Crabbe and Goyle are probably off sleeping, or harassing some newbies. Those guys are pathetic. And Pansy is SO not my friend. But she was with Malfoy, and he was being a whiny depressed wanker. So I left to come find you, because you are MUCH better company than the rest of them."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me one bit. But thank you anyway."

"Of course."

And then we resumed our fun, until my curious mouth couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"So, how was Malfoy being so annoying? The usual?"

"No, it was different this time. He seems to be all distant, like his life sucks and no one could POSSIBLY understand. What a baby."

"Tell me about it." A few seconds passed, "So… what kind of things did he say?"

"I SO do not want to talk about him right now. I'd rather we do this." And then he started to do things that I would NEVER tell anyone about. But that didn't mean I didn't like it.

….

After about a half an hour, we were getting close to the school and decided to get dressed. We put on our robes, and then he left, and I waited a few minutes before leaving so no one would see we were together. I met Ron and Hermione back in their compartment, and of course they started interrogating me.

"What took you so long? I know for a fact it doesn't take you that long to put on make-up and stuff, and it only takes five minutes to put our uniform and robes on." Said Ron.

"It took me forever to find a bathroom that wasn't occupied. Eventually I just decided to find an empty compartment, which took me a while too."

"Well, you should've come with me. I found a bathroom right away." Said Hermione.

"Aw man! Ok, next time I'm coming with you." And then the train started to come to a stop, so we gathered our things and left.

"Wait, you guys. Did Harry ever come back?" I asked.

"No. I figure he's already on the platform." Said Ron.

"But he left all his stuff!"

"Well, let's grab it for him, then." Said Hermione.

We never found Harry on the platform. We searched for a while, but the crowd was just too thick.

"Hey, Hagrid!" I shouted at the big, half-giant towering over the crowd.

"Talia! How was yer holiday?" He asked me.

"Oh, it was great. Hey, do you see Harry anywhere? We can't find him."

"No, I can't seem to spot 'im, either. If I see 'im, I'll let 'im know yer lookin' for 'im!"

"Thanks!"

"Well, that was a bloody bust." Said Ron. "Why don't we just go up to the great hall and wait for him there?"

"You would say that, Ron. What if he didn't make it off the train?" Asked Hermione, worriedly.

"I think Ron's right. Eventually, he'll make his way up to the castle, and we can give him a good smack for scaring the hell out of us."