Courage

-62-

Layla groaned in frustration when she saw that all of the compartments seem to be occupied. However, she sighed in relief when one of the compartments near the back of the train only occupied a single girl, who was staring out of the window. Layla slid the compartment door open.

"Hey, um... everywhere's full. I can't find a seat. Is it okay if I sit?"

The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. The girl gave oil an aura of distinct dottiness. Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of Butterbeer corks, or that she was reading a magazine upside-down.

She nodded.

"Thanks," said Layla, stowing all of her belongings in the luggage rack and sitting down. The girl watched them over her upside-down magazine, which was called The Quibbler. She did not seem to need to blink as much as normal humans. She stared and stared at Layla. "Oh, sorry. I'm Layla Lupin."

"I know who you are. I am sorry about Cedric Diggory. He was always very kind to me," the girl said with a soft, friendly smile. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Nice to meet you," said Layla quietly, a bit awkward by the way Luna just seemed to stare at her. "Um, did you have a good summer?"

"Yes," said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off Layla. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. And you?"

"Not as enjoyable," said Layla with a nonchalant shrug. "Um, what year are you in? I just don't think I've seen you around."

"I'm in the year below you, but in Ravenclaw," said Luna.

"Oh, so you might know my best friend, Ginny Weasley," said Layla in realization. Luna nodded. "Okay, well, do you like Ravenclaw?"

"Yes. Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," said Luna in a singsong voice.

She raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent.

The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously grey clouds. Layla reached into her bag and pulled out Cedric's notebook, beginning to read through the short stories and poems. Some were about his family, some were about his friends, some were about Hogwarts, some were about himself, some were even about Christmas. But most of them were about her...

Just as Layla and Luna finished getting into their robes, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get on.

"I'll carry that owl, if you like," said Luna, watching Layla struggle to collect all of her pet cages and her bag.

"Oh — thanks," said Layla, handing her Apollo's cage and hoisting both Peaches' and Willow's cages more securely into her arms.

They shuffled out of the compartment, feeling the first sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the crowd in the corridor. Slowly, they moved towards the doors. Layla could smell the pine trees that lined the path down to the lake. She stepped down on to the platform and looked around, listening for the familiar call of, "firs' years over 'ere... firs' years..."

But it did not come.

Instead, a quite different voice, a brisk female one, was calling out, "First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!"

It was Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.

Layla and Luna became separated as they moved off along the platform and out through the station. Layla looked around for Ron or Hermione, wanting to know what they thought about the reappearance of Professor Grubbly-Plank, but neither of them was anywhere near her, so she allowed himself to be shunted forwards on to the dark rain-washed road outside Hogsmeade Station.