Train Rides And Nighttime Thoughts
The scarlet steam engine pulled out of Kings Cross station. Most of their friend group was lounging about in one of the compartments. Pansy and Hermione were talking about werewolves again.
Seamus leaned back in his seat and tried to relax. It was going to be a long ride. Harriet was caught up in her book again. Typical. She barely even glanced up when there was a knock on the compartment door.
Dean Thomas popped his head inside. He paused for a moment. Damn, had Dean always been that tall? He looked like he'd gained a bit of muscle over the summer too. Seamus noticed he was staring. He blinked quickly.
"Hi Dean." He said lamely.
Draco rolled his eyes from across the compartment.
Dean looked at Seamus and grinned.
"Seamus," he said brightly, "How was your summer?"
"Great." Seamus answered, trying to ignore the way his heart fluttered. Was that normal for friends? Maybe best friends? "Yours? What did you do?"
"Well, we went on holiday to Ireland." Dean slid into the apartment and took the seat opposite Seamus.
"Tell me!" Seamus grinned at him.
Dean smiled at his enthusiasm and launched into his tale.
Neville was doing his best to keep a grip on his pet toad, Trevor, while listening. Seamus asked a surprising amount of questions about Ireland even though it was his home country. He was sure someone would notice but he didn't care. Dean had an amazing way of talking about anything, regardless of how boring it was, and making it sound like the world's most fascinating story. Anything he said was like the time Harriet enchanted her Walkman and anyone's who asked to work in Hogwarts so they could listen to other music than what was on the radio (Guns n' Roses for example), just a hundred times better.
Pansy studied Seamus and Dean for a minute, and then give Harriet a slightly pitying look. Harriet didn't notice. She was still buried in her book. Mabye she already knew.
Harriet turned a yellowed page.
Harriet had, in fact, noticed. Draco had needed to whack her arm with a hairbrush to get her to pay attention, but she had figured out a few things. She considered asking her boyfriend how Narnia was at this time of year, but decided against it. It didn't fit the moment.
The train continued to race through the countryside for several hours before pulling into Hogsmeade station.
The students flowed out of the compartments. Hagrid collected the first year students as usual. The rest took the carriages. The thestrals looked as terrifying and beautiful as always. Harriet smiled at them slightly and got into a carriage. She knew the others probably couldn't see them so she didn't mention it. She didn't want to seem crazy.
The sorting went by too slowly for Harriet's liking. She was so tired she almost didn't pay attention when the new defence against the dark arts teacher was introduced. An unpleasant, toad-like woman with a preference for anything pink. Dolores Umbridge had arrived at Hogwarts.
Draco Malfoy on the other hand was wide awake. He couldn't shake the bad feeling he had gotten when he saw Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang together. He was almost certain Diggory was under a love potion. He really needed to investigate that further, potentially with the help of Blaize Zabini who was snoring next to him. How he had put up with that all these years he still had no idea. Contrary to popular belief, Crabbe and Goyle were almost silent when they slept. You could mistake them for rocks.
Ron Weasley was staring out of the dorm window. Highly unusual for his standards. Normally he was snoring so loud the house elves that cleaned the rooms almost wished they had ear muffs. He had a lot to think about and he'd eaten something wrong at dinner.
Was Cho Chang still fighting for the cause? Didn't she know Dumbledore was wrong? He should have warned the others before the year began. He needed to investigate the case further first.
Perhaps he should involve Harriet. She seemed like she would appreciate knowing. Or at least appreciate being told. She seemed to know everything anyway.
He would tell her. He would tell her tomorrow. Sleep was beckoning and Ron Weasley was tired.
In a Ravenclaw boys dormitory, Theodore Nott was staring at the stars and begging them for good news. The constellations were full of bad omens lately and he was beginning to give up hope. He missed Cassie. He missed his friend group from first year. He missed himself, whoever that was.
All he wanted was a sign everything would be alright.