The Train Ride Nobody Forgets
The platform buzzed with the chaos of families, trunks, and owls in cages. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, standing tall and composed, were a striking contrast to the noise. Narcissa smoothed Draco’s hair one last time, her expression unreadable.
“Behave yourself, Draco,” she said coolly, though her fingers lingered longer than they needed to on his shoulder. “Write to us if you need anything.”
Lucius nodded at them both, his voice crisp. “Remember who you are. Don’t let anyone forget it.”
But Ursa caught the flicker of something softer in their eyes before they turned away, disappearing back into the crowd. Cold and regal, as always.
On the train, Draco immediately claimed a compartment near the center, dragging Ursa in behind him. They hadn’t even settled into their seats before the door slid open, revealing a girl with long black hair and bright blue eyes.
“Hi! Mind if I sit here?” the girl asked, already hoisting her trunk into the rack.
Draco wrinkled his nose at her. “Do you always invite yourself into other people’s compartments?”
The girl didn’t seem fazed. “Do you always greet strangers by glaring at them? I’m Emmaleigha, by the way.”
Ursa half-raised her hand in greeting, but Draco wasn’t done.
“And what house do you think you’ll be in?” he asked, his tone suggesting the answer mattered.
“Hufflepuff, hopefully!” Emmaleigha said brightly.
Draco burst out laughing. “Hufflepuff? Why not just say you’d like to be a Muggle while you’re at it?”
The shoe came out of nowhere, hitting Draco squarely in the chest.
“Take that back!” Emmaleigha snapped, already reaching for the other shoe.
Ursa blinked at the scene, her mouth open in shock. She didn’t have long to process, though—Draco scrambled to his feet, muttering, “I’m not staying in here with some Hufflepuff-loving lunatic,” and bolted out the door.
Ursa glanced between the furious girl and the retreating figure of her twin. “Uh—good luck,” she mumbled before rushing after him.
She caught up to Draco halfway down the train. He was asking a group of older students, “Have you seen Harry Potter? I heard he’s on the train.”
“Draco!” Ursa hissed, grabbing his arm.
“What?” he asked, clearly annoyed.
Ursa scrambled for an excuse. “You can’t just… ambush him like that. You’re a Malfoy, remember? Dignity. Poise. All that.”
Draco smirked. “Dignity? You’re the one who just sat there while that girl threw a shoe at me.”
Ursa groaned. She’d have to try a different approach—and fast. If she didn’t stop him, she could already see the disaster coming.
---------
Ursa arrived just as Draco’s voice, dripping with mockery, rang out from the compartment door. “Honestly, I don’t know how they even let you on the train, Weasley. Is there some sort of charity for families who can’t afford proper robes?”
Ron’s face turned crimson. “Say that again, Malfoy.”
Before Draco could open his mouth, Ursa slipped past him, placing herself squarely between the two boys. “Draco, stop. Mother told us to behave and act better than this. Or did you forget already?”
Ron let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, look, it’s the other Malfoy. The crazy one everyone’s always talking about.”
Ursa’s stomach twisted, but she held her ground. Across from her, Draco stiffened. Original Draco would’ve huffed and muttered something sharp, but this Draco…
Ursa barely had time to register the shift in his posture before he shoved Ron to the floor. “You don’t get to say that!” he snapped.
Ron, who had wrestled with at least three older brothers that morning alone, didn’t even hesitate. He grabbed Draco by the front of his robes and dragged him down, the two of them grappling on the floor in a blur of limbs.
“Stop it!” Ursa yelled, but her voice was lost in the chaos. Panic bubbled up, and before she could think better of it, she grabbed the nearest object—a pumpkin pasty from Harry’s snack pile—and hurled it.
It hit Ron squarely in the shoulder. He froze, his grip loosening on Draco as he turned to glare at her.
Before anyone could react further, a pair of identical voices shouted from the doorway, “FOOD FIGHT!”
The Weasley twins had arrived.
The compartment exploded into chaos. Chocolate frogs leapt through the air, Bertie Bott’s beans scattered like confetti, and someone chucked a handful of Drooble’s gum that stuck to the ceiling. Harry tried to salvage his remaining snacks, only to end up dodging a jelly slug that nearly hit his glasses. Even Emmaleigha’s other shoe made a reappearance, sailing dangerously close to someone’s head.
Ursa ducked a flying cauldron cake, clutching her sides as she laughed—until a pumpkin pasty landed in her hair. “That’s it!” she shouted, grabbing a pumpkin tart in retaliation and lobbing it at whoever was nearest.
The pandemonium spread down the train, a ripple of laughter and shouts echoing through the corridors.
It wasn’t until the whistle of the train pulling into the station that anyone realized how much of a mess had been made. By then, the floors, walls, and most of the students were covered in sticky remnants of sweets and pastries.
Professor McGonagall stood waiting on the platform, her face a perfect mixture of horror and fury. “What,” she said, her voice cutting through the noise like a blade, “is the meaning of this? This is the fastest any group of students will ever earn detention, and mark my words, I will find out who started it!”
Ursa exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Draco, who had the decency to look sheepish.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” Ursa mutters.