[1] Gasoline ✗ Draco Malfoy

one

Surely not... Seohyun studied the boy's face and gasped. There was no mistaking the distinct lightning-shaped scar.

"Wait, you're Harry Potter?" Seohyun blurted. She clasped both hands over her mouth as the three stared at her. Harry's eyes, in particular, were solemn and a little bit uneasy. Guilt squirmed like worms in her stomach. She bet he heard that a lot - and she bet he was tired of it.

Stupid, not taking that into consideration, Seohyun!

"Yeah, I am," Harry said.

Seohyun smiled. "I've heard the stories, of course, and knew you lived in England, but I didn't think I'd get to meet you!"

The three exchanged puzzles glances. Seohyun thought back on her choice of words and smiled sheepishly. She hadn't been very clear.

"What year are you?" Harry asked. "I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I don't recall having seen you at Hogwarts before."

"I'll be starting sixth year. I just moved to England from South Korea."

Harry's eyes widened and he exchanged a quick look with the other boy. "South Korea? Blimey, that's quite a distance."

"Why did you move?" the blonde girl inquired, tilting her head to the side.

Seohyun sighed. "Because of You-Know-Who. The Ministry wants to try and prevent the spread of Death Eaters, involving working with other countries. My father was selected to come to England since he used to live here - he met my mother here, you see, and was even around when You-Know-Who was first active. They moved to Korea to escape the terror when my mother was pregnant with me."

The others were quiet as they digested her words. And then Luna piped up, "I expect England is quite different to Korea?"

Seohyun chuckled. "Quite." She thought with amusement of how different some of the simplist of things were, such a food, and the style of buildings. Seohyun still didn't think she'd fully gotten used to England yet, and she'd now lived here for a month.

"What's your name?" the second boy asked.

"Park Seo - I mean, Seohyun Park," Seohyun corrected hastily, upon realising her mistake. "How about you?"

The blonde introduced herself as Luna Lovegood, and the other boy as Neville Longbottom. Seohyun greeted them both and they all engaged in conversation, mostly questioning Seohyun's life in Korea and Seohyun learning as much as she could about Hogwarts. She'd already read Hogwarts: A History before arriving and had a vague idea, but knew it wouldn't be enough to explain the wonders of the castle. She had to admit, Hogwarts did sound a little more interesting than Areum Academy had.

Eventually Nevile and Harry's conversation evolved into Quidditch, and Seohyun instead focused on talking with Luna. During their time together, Seohyun thought they might have struck a friendship. She soon discovered there were aspects about Luna that were rather odd, but she was incredibly sweet and friendly that Seohyun found herself warming to the girl almost instantly. As the boys talked Seohyun showed her drawings to Luna and they discussed the different magical creatures in England and Korea.

A time Luna indicated to be about halfway through the journey, two more people joined the compartment, who introduced themselves as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Seohyun was happy to just greet them and keep conversing with Luna, until Ron made a comment that caught her interest. "Guess what?" he'd said to Harry. "Malfoy's not doing prefect duty. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed."

Harry sat up straight, interested. "What did he do when he saw you?"

"The usual," said Ron indifferently, demonstrating a rude hand gesture. "Not like him, though, is it? Well, that is" - he did the hand gesture again - "but why isn't he out there bullying first years?"

Shortly after, Neville and Harry left the compartment after receiving invitations for lunch. When they left and conversation ceased, Seohyun opened her mouth to ask who Draco Malfoy was, but then closed her mouth. It sounded like that the relationship between this Draco and the people in her compartment was strained, and she'd rather meet a person and form her own first impression and opinion on them instead of inheriting someone else's beliefs.

They were saved from another uncomfortable silence when Hermione turned to Seohyun. "You're from Korea, you said?" Seohyun barely had time to nod conformation when Hermione continued, "I've read about the classes over there- Areum Academy, it's particularly fascinating, considering the history behind it, isn't it?"

Seohyun laughed and indulged Hermione's curiosity, explaining the history and workings of Areum Academy. Hermione listened so intently Seohyun may as well have been giving a lesson, and Luna listened in as well.

When Seohyun stepped off the platform as night fell, she couldn't help but think she might have set the foundations for an eventual friendship with both Luna Lovegood and Hermione Granger.

Maybe, fitting in at Hogwarts might not be as bad as she first thought.

**********

meh. a bit of a boring chapter but it does establish seohyun and her friends a little bit, which will be needed for later chapters!

also, draco won't come into the story straight away. *spoiler* since he and seohyun won't be in the same house it'll be strange for them to suddenly start conversations out of nowhere. at first it will be small encounters during classes and run-ins in the corridors and such, but it will soon evolve into more! draco isn't the sort of person to warm to anyone instantly, anyway.

i'll try and get the next chapter up soon!