Two Souls

Chapter Seven

The events of the Quidditch World Cup were quickly forgotten as the upcoming school year approached. Lucius and Narcissa had one of their many house elves go to Diagon Alley and get the required books that Draco and I needed for the year.

My relationship with the adult Malfoys and my own parents had improved slightly over the course of time. I could even hold a conversation with Lucius without being petrified and nervous. Draco, however, remained a mystery yet to be solve. In front of his parents, he was sociable and polite. Whenever we were alone, he'd ignore me or make a rude comment towards me.

Quickly enough, it was time to leave the Malfoy Manor and attend Hogwarts. As much as I hate to admit it, I had failed to send more letters to my two friends back at Ilvermorny. Their term started slightly earlier than Hogwarts, so I'm sure they were already crammed with school work.

"Goodbye, Amelia," My mother says, her arms linked with my father. While we have gotten slightly closer, she still refuses to embrace me. I tighten my grip around my trunks and listen to her.

"We might be seeing you sooner than expected, you know, with everything occurring this year," My father adds. I whip my head towards him.

"What?" I ask skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh look! The Hogwarts Express has arrived! Come Draco, Amelia!" Narcissa calls over to me. I follow Narcissa's voice and meet her, Lucius, and Draco to where they are standing.

"Remember what I've told you," Lucius says quietly to Draco, but I still hear him. Draco nods, his face clear of emotions. He grabs his trunks along with mine and carries them both towards the train, leaving me alone with the adults.

"I should follow Draco-" I trail off. The Malfoys and my parents aren't even paying attention to me, so I quickly stalk off to the direction Draco was going.

I find Draco quickly near the entrance of the train. He has just finished unloading our stuff. Just as I walk up to him, he heads down the train corridors, passing numerous compartments.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

He stops. "I'm going to sit with my friends in the Slytherin compartment. It's a shame your Ilvermorny friends aren't here," He says mockingly.

"So you're just going to ignore me now that your parents aren't here?" I ask angrily. "I don't know anyone!" I exclaim, my temper rising.

He shrugs. "You ought to find a compartment soon then, before you get stuck with the Hufflepuffs," He says, passing a judgmental look to a pair of twelve year olds laughing hysterically. Once they notice Draco's blaring gaze, they abruptly silence their giggles.

Huffing, I walk in the opposite direction of Malfoy and enter the first compartment I see. My cheeks turn red at the sight of three boys who look to be a few years older than me. Two of the boys are identical in physique— with long, ginger hair. The third boy has dark skin and eyes. They are all in conversation but there eyes immediately snap to me.

"Uh, are there any extra seats in here?" I ask, fidgeting awkwardly. The boys glance at each other and then nod. One of the ginger boys moves over, making some room for me to sit.

"Are you from America?" The dark haired boy asks me, his eyes wide. "I'm Lee by the way," He adds.

I bite my lip and nod. "Yeah, this is my first year at Hogwarts, is it that obvious?" I ask, laughing. "I'm Amelia, it's nice to meet you," I introduce myself.

"And what are we? Invisible?" The red haired boy next to me asks, a smirk on his face. "I'm George, and this is my brother Fred," He says.

Lee rolls his eyes. "The one you're sitting next to us Fred," He corrects. "That one is George."

I laugh. "So you two are twins?" I ask.

George (Fred?) nods happily. "Right you are. You don't look like a first year to me, how old are you?" He asks me curiously.

The other ginger laughs. "Now George, she still looks a little ickle to me. I say she's a fourth year," Fred says, his hazel eyes glistening.

"That was impressive," I muse, my lips forming a smile as well. These boys are much nicer than Draco. Perhaps I made the correct choice when I chose not to sit with him.

"Say, would you like a candy?" Lee asks me.

Fred's face instantly turns from a smile to neutral. "Don't do that to poor Amelia, we just got acquainted with her!" He exclaims. He turns to me, with an apologetic smile. "Amelia, these are our hair changing jellybeans. Whatever color you eat, your hair turns to that color. It's still in progress, though," He adds, his white teeth shining.

I cover my mouth with my hand trying to hide my laughter. "Sounds lovely," I add.

"We have a brother just about your age, if you would like to meet some people in your year," George says. "Ronniekins could use some more friends, he's always with the same two people," He tells me.

Although I'm slightly disappointed I can't spend more time with the hilarious trio, I do think it would be good to get acquainted with some students my age. "Sure, thank you. It was super nice meeting you three!" I tell them all kindly.

Fred stands up. "Georgey and I will show you to him. Lee, you don't mind watching the compartment? Can't have an ickle first years stealing our seats," Fred says, winking at me and causing a blush to form on my cheeks.

The twins lead me further down the corridor, heading in Malfoy's direction but not nearly as far, and opens up a compartment door. I can hear teenage voices but I can't see their faces over Fred and George's towering heights.

"Ronniekins, we have a friend for you!" George says teasingly. The two of them step to the side, introducing me. I nearly faint at the sight of the three people in front of me.

It's Harry, Ron, and Hermione from the Quidditch World Cup.