The Howler (Ron Weasley)

Chapter 1 - The Train

It was the first day of school and Delilah was lugging her trunks through corridor of the Hogwarts Express. This year she had chosen not to sit with her fellow housemates in the Slytherin carriage. She thought that perhaps she could get an isolated compartment in one of the shared carriages to herself. To her defeat almost all of the compartments were full. As she sighed and slumped in defeat she heard a voice come from one of the compartments.

"Are you looking for a compartment?" A girl's voice said. Delilah turned to see Hermione Granger's head peeking out of a door. Delilah was unsure how to react, if one of her housemates saw her interacting with the muggle-born girl she was sure there would be trouble. There seemed to be no other option but to respond, Hermione was looking at her waiting for a response.

"Erm...Yeah I am actually." Delilah responded awkwardly. Hermione and Delilah were frequently in the library at the same time but this was the first interaction they had ever had. Delilah heard two other voices coming from the compartment.

Hermione smiled, " You can come sit with us if you'd like." Delilah had to think carefully before she made a decision. Hanging out with the infamous trio could lead to problems with her fellow Slytherins, but there were no other open compartments in the train carriage.

Delilah looked at Hermione with a friendly smile and said very carefully, "I don't want to be a bother."

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "You're no bother to us, come in." Hermione stepped out of the doorway and Delilah walked into the compartment. She started to lift her trunks and put them in the overhead carrier, Harry Potter stood up and began to help.

"Thank you, but you don't have to do that." Delilah said watching him put the last trunk away.

He simply shook his head and shrugged in response. Delilah sat down next to Hermione and looked at the strange man who seemed to be sleeping.

"I'm Hermione Granger, that's Harry Potter and that's Ron Weasley." Hermione introduced the group with a friendly tone and held out her hand waiting for Delilah to shake it.

"Right, I'm Delilah Crockett." Delilah smiled and shook everyone's hand.

There was a few seconds of silence before Ron finally spoke up "Who do you reckon he is?"

"Professor R.J Lupin." Hermione responded quickly in a matter of fact tone. Ron looked at her like she was crazy.

"Do you know everything?" Ron said, exaggerating the last word.

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "It's on his trunk Ronald." She pointed above the man's head to a small trunk with a gold imprinted name on it. Ron cheeks flushed into a bright red colour that almost matched his hair which caused everyone to laugh a little. As the three talked Delilah sat quietly, unsure of what she could add into the conversation. She was already concerned how they would act if they found out she was a Slytherin. Delilah didn't dress as posh as the other Slytherins but she did dress posher than the group she was sharing a compartment with. She wore a black tennis skirt with a chunky white turtleneck and an oversized black denim jacket over that, she wore white trainers that had a green snake embroidered on the side and she had put her dark hair into a sleek low ponytail. She wondered to herself if they knew who she was and perhaps she was just overthinking it.

Delilah snapped back to reality when she heard a familiar voice in the hall that ran between compartments. The trolley lady had just walked passed the compartment and nobody had seemed to notice. Delilah began to rise from her seat and everyone looked at her.

"I'm just going to go get something from the trolley, does anyone else want something?" She spoke softly, she felt uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on her. Hermione shook her head no but the boys handed her a handful of sickles and began listing off what they wanted. It was mostly Ron listing what he wanted but Delilah didn't mind. It was going to take awhile to get everything and she needed some space from the group. As the boys finished listing what they wanted, Delilah left the compartment with a small smile on her face. She closed the compartment door and as she began to walk through the train to get to the trolley, she saw that someone had closed the window coverings on the compartment. Despite her confusion she continued to walk to the trolley. When she finally reached it, she got what the boys had asked for and two liquorice wands for herself.