̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶
you're up to something.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒 moved the compartment door by the strength of its sound, they were on the Hogwarts Express once again. They had ditched their Hogwarts house uniforms and arrived in muggle attire. To their surprise, they had arrived in a compartment that looked the same as theirs but then again Hogwarts never changed one bit. Draco confusingly looked out the window processing the change of timeline unable to dismiss the similarity between their century.
Maisie fiddled in opening the compartment door, it struggled in opening at the slightest swift that she had to open it to a crack and pull the space open with her fingers leaving her a helpful splinter. She winced as the blood from her finger started to flow into a drop onto the carpet. Draco reframed his concentration from the window to his newly named sister, looking at her with questioning eyes. The compartment door had opened with a snap, she stood there applying pressure to manage the blood that was leaving her finger.
"How did you manage to get hurt one second after we arrived." He didn't question it but rather stated it as self-explanatory.
"As if I did it on purpose." She eyed him offensively attempting to suck on her finger to stop the blood.
He took a seat next to the compartment's view of the landscape taking one last look at her before scoffing and reaching into his pocket to hand her a handkerchief. She took the handkerchief giving him a thanking look and wrapped it around her finger before opening the compartment door to look outside to walkway where she looked in both directions before leaving the door to shut itself. She slid into her seat next to the compartment window thankfully letting a breath she didn't know she was holding. Both of them were sitting across from each other, they weren't comfortable with the idea of having to leave behind their tiny worlds, she knew Draco wept for his parents only that he didn't show it.
She sighed at the silence that filled the air only having the sound of the moving train tracks to their comfort instead of their condolences. She reached to look at the bag situated next to her figuring to have found nothing in it. The bag had several things in it when she had looked inside it, not having noticed anything that would interest her she shuffled around the bag out of curiosity. She found the book her brother had packed her and looked up as if she were looking at the skies silently thanking Dumbledore for not having left her to bore to death. Taking the book into her hands skimming through its' pages in making sure it was hers, she dragged her finger along the name that was written, "Property of Maisie Evans Potter."
Draco batted an eye to his companion from where he rested his head, noticing the book he fully turned around. "Where in the world did you manage to find that?" He now leaned forward to take a look at the book.
Maisie averted her eyes from the book and threw the bag at the Draco who figured it was the time to interrupt her reading. "See for yourself Malfoy."
He dodged the bag that had been seconds away from his face had caught it in front of his face. He annoying scrounged his face at her before placing his newly found attention at the bag deciding to strike up a conversation.
"Did you ever figure to have been my sibling Maisie?" He looked at her who annoyingly shut her book using her finger as a bookmark.
"Oh shut it, I would've dyed my hair red and joined the Weasleys." He scoffed at her words tossing the bag next to her.
The door in the train walkway had slammed itself open as it held way for a group of students, Maisie ignored Draco now standing up to take a peek through the window she was sitting next to. It was a group of boys huddled together in conversation, the first boy that stood out from her was platinum blonde hair, a Malfoy. who was nodding repetitively obviously annoyed. She looked away from the window and took a glimpse at Draco. They look too much alike. She thought before looking back to the boy who was talking to Malfoy's grandfather was someone who seemed to be the most outgoing from how the group held themselves, they walked knowing they held power while he seemed the most outspoken. He seemed polish, but so did the other boys.
Behind him was a dark blonde-haired boy who buried his face in a book. She could barely notice his eyes from how grey they seemed from afar, they reflected the color of the pages he had read. He paid no attention to the group, she noted he was the lone wolf.
In front of the group were two boys by their looks you'd have thought them to have been rivals, while from the sight of them it was quite the opposite as they were engaged well in conversation than the others. The boy on the right moved his hands while talking, he expressed himself convincingly attempting to prove something. He seemed burnt out by the beastly look in his eyes that he was an animal waiting to be tamed. She could notice he was slowly being driven insane.
The person who he was trying to prove something to looked abnormally average. He held both of his arms in front of him fiddling around with the ring he held on his finger, focused on whatever he was being told. Properly prepped in uniform, he held a perfect badge on his robe.
Striking her out of analyzing the boys came one of them who had rushed through the walkway door looking at the watch on his wrist frustrated. "We're never going to find a compartment in this bloodbath of a train. Everything's taken."
Maisie's eyes widen as they started to walk, she turned to Draco who was absentmindedly staring out the window watching the mountains pass them by stuck in his thoughts. "Draco, quick act like you're doing something." She threw one of her books at him for him to hold. He ended holding the book accidentally upside down, while she ravaged hastily through her bag attempting to find an object to seem distracted.
Not a second later came a knock on their compartment door, and it slid open to appearing the boy who she hadn't had time to evaluate before he came rushing to his group late. "Excuse me, may we join you? Everywhere's full." He flashed a convincing smile after his question as if he were pleading.
Maisie looked up from her bag and fixed her eyes on Draco who was falsely moving his eyes across the book which he held backward. She formed her mouth into a line to stop herself from laughing before turning it into a smile to face the boy who was talking to her. "Of course."
The boy looked behind him to his group who were wearily watching them and made a hand motion for them to come along. "Thank Merlin! we've asked around a whole lot of people, and they were too scared to let us in." The boy with beastly eyes kicked him before giving a hard laugh to cover up his honesty. He staggered in the seat in front of Maisie before giving her a look.
"I'm Hypnos by the way." He said blowing his pitch-black curls out of his face before holding his hand out. She went to shake his hand before it was pushed aside by the blonde boy reading a book bumped into him taking a seat in front of Draco next to the window where he curled himself into a ball reading his book.
"Yes, thank you very much for introducing yourself, Darius!" He snapped at the boy who rolled his eyes at him not taking his eyes off from his book. "That's Darius by the way, he doesn't talk much."
After he came the outspoken boy who took his seat next to Hypnos. The boy looked at Draco mistaking him for the other Malfoy when he looked at him confused than at the compartment door where the Malfoy boy came strutting forward sitting next to Draco. "We must be cousins. I'm Malfoy, Abraxas Malfoy. " He gave him a hearty laugh before shaking his hand. Then the outspoken boy next to Abraxas stretched his arm out to Draco before introducing himself. "Phineas Rosier, but please call me Finn. It's much better than my grandfather's name." Draco took it upon him to introduce himself in good courtesy, "Pleasure. Draco M- Fawley." He set the book he'd been wrongly holding and shook his hand.
Maisie had noted the other two boys that were left behind outside talking amongst themselves until they finally took their seats next to Maisie. "Edgar Lestrange darling, pleased to meet you." the boy with beastly eyes took her hand and placed a kiss upon it before taking his seat next to the Darius who was reading. She blankly stared into his eyes who were bluer than the other boy whose were grey.
Finally, the last boy took his seat directly next to her. He analyzed his surroundings until his eyes fell on her. He didn't bother shaking her hand as he didn't recognize her. "I've never seen you before, tell me are you new to Hogwarts?" She held the eyes of Edgar and the boy on her. He had not yet introduced himself.
She nodded in agreement, not taking too much as to look at him, but to focus on her hand that had been bleeding.
"Shy are we? No worries, I was as well." She looked at him who had noticed her hand holding his eyes furrowed in confusion before he changed it into a smile when he noticed she was looking at him.
Oh, I bet you were. She thought in her head, before noticing that she voiced it out loud. Her eyes widened when she felt their eyes on her, she made the move to put her hand over her mouth in shock, when she felt her hand was gripped in his.
"Fiesty, aren't you?" His smile went into a lopsided smirk, she froze at the comment she made. "If you won't take it upon yourself to introduce yourself, I will. I'm Tom Riddle." He shook her hand as it moved limply.
Maisie cleared her throat to clear up the dryness she had in it. "My apologies, nervous I am. The name's Maisie Fawley, over there is my brother Draco Fawley."
His eyes went up in thought when he looked to Hypnos who was in front of her. "A pureblood." Riddle acknowledged, they both made eye contact when Hypnos joined in. "It was thought for your family to have gone up in ruins."
Abraxas now joined them by stating the obvious. "Pureblood? Now we know we're probably distant cousins." He laughed looking at Draco almost declaring him best friends.
Maisie laughed at his comment hoping for the best of her lying expertise. "It is true, our family did go up in ruins. Our parents went up in flames." She looked falsely into her hand picking at the dried bruise of her splinter.
Hypnos raised an eyebrow at Tom, Edgar who had been eavesdropping regarded his apologies without questioning. Tom followed along with his lead and declared them orphans in his head. Maisie was an orphan indefinitely, however, Draco could say the same as he was losing his parents' sanity. As Tom was talking to Maisie, Hypnos understood Riddle's concerns, he took to himself to investigate Draco.
He looked at the sibling in absolute loss as Abraxas switched to converse with Finn. Draco stared out as the train raced across the land, they were closer to Hogwarts. Draco felt his ears ring, he moved his head shakingly attempting to ignore it. The ringing got to an immense banging in his head, he knew someone was trying to read him like a book. He shut his eyes in a swift attempt to closing his mind, the ringing went away after a failed attempt. He looked around him before going back to looking out the window. Curious, he thought.
Draco caught Maisie's eye as he stood up grabbing her bag for her. Holding out his hand for her to take, she took his hand to assist her in walking out. "It's been a pleasure, but we must change into our robes. Let's hope to see you around." On that note, they both walked out of the compartment without thinking back. Maisie thanked him before finding another compartment to wait until the train stopped. The train was scarcely empty.