Down the Rabbit Hole | J. POTTER

0 | alternate ending

"We have to get her up somehow," Lily explained with a huff.

"How exactly do you propose we do that without knocking on the door and hoping it works?" James replied. He gestured to the compartment door, "She locked it."

Lily raised an eyebrow before holding up her wand. "Like this," she said before pointing her wand at the lock, "Alohomora."

"Oh, right," James shook his head slightly as he entered the compartment. He cocked his head to the side as he watched the sleeping girl. "Hey, she's in Gryffindor, right?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Her name is Valda Hufflepuff. You've had the same classes together since first year, how did you not know that?"

"I did know that," he countered, "I just forgot."

"Or you're a self centered pretentious toe-rag," Lily scoffed.

"I knew you loved me."

"Shove off, Potter," she suggested, "I'll take it from here."

"No, I don't think so," he shook his head.

"And why not?" she exclaimed.

The pair continued to bicker as Val's eyes fluttered open. She immediately sat up, pressing herself against the wall as she drew her wand. It took her a moment to focus on the intruders. It was Lily Evans and James Potter.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What are you doing in here?"

"We're at Hogwarts," James explained and her head shot in his direction. "You fell asleep so unless you wanted to head back home, someone had to wake you up."

Lily whacked James on the arm as Val narrowed her eyes. "Sorry," Val mumbled in apology as she rubbed her forehead. "Guess I had a good dream and didn't want to wake up."

An overly realistic dream is what it was. She looked down at the book in her hand and shook her head. That's the last time she fell asleep reading Alice in Wonderland.

"What book is that?" someone asked and she looked up to see that James had remained in the compartment and Lily had left.

Val held it up so he could see the cover, "Alice in Wonderland."

"I have no idea what that is," he admitted.

She smiled faintly, "That's because you know very little about the muggle world."

"That's not true," he countered, "I know some."

She glanced over to where Lily had walked out, "You know about Lily who happens to be a muggle. That's not the same thing."

A blush creeped up his neck, "I know more than that."

"Enlighten me," she suggested as she pulled down her robe to change quickly.

"I know about Queen."

"As in the band or the Queen, queen?"

"Er..." he trailed off for a moment. "The band," he concluded after a moment.

"And your favorite song is?"

"Bohemian Rhap?" he replied but it came out more as a question.

"It's Rhapsody," she finished for him as she adjusted her tie. She turned to face him.

He watched her for a moment in thought. "We should get off the train before it starts moving," he suggested and she nodded in agreement.

They were silent for the majority of the walk until he spoke up. "I'm taking Muggle Studies this year," he explained and she raised an eyebrow.

"To impress Lily with your newfound knowledge?" she inquired.

"Pfft, no," he replied, a blush gracing his face. She noted that he seemed to blush a lot. "To have a better understanding on how the muggle world works."

"Sure, whatever you have to tell yourself," she stifled a laugh as they both got off the train. "You could, I don't know, be a normal person around her?" she suggested. "As in try to be friends."

"Says the one who's been a loner since the first day of school."

She narrowed her eyes as they made their way to the Great Hall, "You don't know me."

"We've had classes together for the past six years, going on seven now," he reminded her.

"And yet this is the first time we're having a conversation."

"Then maybe we should change that," he informed her as he opened the door to the Hall.

Everyone turned to look at the pair who had arrived late but she hardly noticed. She watched him for a moment in thought, "Maybe."

He grinned as he slowly started to walk away, "Guess I'll be seeing you around, Hufflepuff." He turned around and joined his friends at the table, the three of them looking over at Val who remained rooted in place.

She eventually forced herself to move and she made her way to the table and pulled out her book. She looked down at the cover of Alice in Wonderland in thought. Maybe she was completely mad but she felt like this year might not be as bad as she originally thought.