Surprisingly, their departure to Hogwarts the following morning was smoother than usual. Vega, having dressed first, saw the Ministry cars glide up to the front of the Burrow and by the time the rest of the kids got themselves together, Vega had helped the elders with getting all the packed trunks, cages hosting Aquila, Hedwig, Pigwidgeon and Ginny's new purple Pygmy Puff, Arnold as well as Crookshanks with his travelling basket in the cars.
And for one last look around the house, Vega had dashed from room to room to that contained teenagers to make sure that they hadn't forgotten anything given that a majority of them were very unruly with their packing and were also the ones to pack up their stuff at the very last moment – and as expected, they had each forgotten something.
"Ginny, you almost missed your telescope," Vega said, handing it out to the redhead. "And Harry, you forgot your Quidditch gloves – Ron! Your textbook!"
"Thanks, Vega," Ginny replied, gratefully.
"Au revoir, 'Arry," Fleur said throatily, kissing him goodbye. "Au revoir, Vega!" She turned to give – fortunately – only a hug in front of others.
"Au revoir," Vega responded. "See you, take care,"
Ron hurried forward, looking hopeful, but Ginny stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in the dust at Fleur's feet. Furious, red-faced, and dirt-spattered, he hurried into the car without saying good-bye. Vega shook her head at their antics.
The journey to the King's Cross Station was fairly uneventful.
There was no cheerful Hagrid waiting for them at King's Cross Station. Instead, two grim-faced, bearded Aurors in dark Muggle suits moved forward the moment the cars stopped and, flanking the party, marched them into the station without speaking.
"Quick, quick, through the barrier," Mrs. Weasley said, who seemed a little flustered by this austere efficiency. "Vega and Harry had better go first, with –"
Mrs. Weasley looked inquiringly at one of the Aurors, who nodded briefly, seized Harry's upper arm, and attempted to steer him toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Vega, who had no desires to be touched, hurried forward without being prompted and was grateful when she missed the grasp of the second Auror from inches.
"I can walk, thanks," Harry said irritably, jerking his arm out of the Auror's grip as he hurried to join Vega in the front, away from the Auror.
Vega and Harry pushed their trolleys directly at the solid barrier, ignoring their silent companion, and found themselves, a second later, standing on platform nine and three-quarters, where the scarlet Hogwarts Express stood belching steam over the crowd.
"Finally..." Vega breathed, and she looked around the station, hoping to catch sight of Dora if she had been stationed here somewhere.
Hermione and the Weasleys joined the two of them within seconds. Without waiting to consult their grim-faced Auror, Harry motioned to Vega, Ron and Hermione to follow him up the platform, looking for an empty compartment.
"We can't, Harry, Vega," Hermione said, looking apologetic. "Ron and I've got to go to the prefects' carriage first and then patrol the corridors for a bit,"
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Harry said.
"You'd better get straight on the train, all of you, you've only got a few minutes to go," Mrs. Weasley said, consulting her watch. "Well, have a lovely term, Ron..."
"Mr. Weasley, can I have a quick word?" Harry asked.
"Of course," Mr. Weasley said, who looked slightly surprised, but followed Harry out of earshot of the others nevertheless.
Having a good idea what was going on, Vega moved to follow after them, and she could see Mrs. Weasley and the grim-faced Auror casting the trio of them suspicious looks as they moved away – it was, after all, strange to have such a last-minute talk.
"When we were in Diagon Alley," Harry began, but Mr. Weasley forestalled him with a grimace.
"Am I about to discover where you, Vega, Ron, and Hermione disappeared to while you were supposed to be in the back room of Fred and George's shop?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"How did you –?" Harry asked.
"Harry, please," Mr. Weasley said. "You're talking to the man who raised Fred and George,"
"Er..." Harry said, glancing toward Vega and her sharp gaze told him to just go through with it now. 2Yeah, all right, we weren't in the back room,"
"Very well, then, let's hear the worst," Mr. Weasley said.
"Well, we followed Draco Malfoy. We used my Invisibility Cloak," Harry said.
"Did you have any particular reason for doing so, or was it a mere whim?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Because I thought Malfoy was up to something," Harry said, disregarding Mr. Weasley's look of mingled exasperation and amusement. "He'd given his mother the slip and I wanted to know why,"
"Of course, you did," Mr. Weasley said, sounding resigned. "Well? Did you find out why?"
"He went into Borgin and Burkes," Harry said. "And started bullying the bloke in there, Borgin, to help him fix something. And he said he wanted Borgin to keep something else for him. He made it sound like it was the same kind of thing that needed fixing. Like they were a pair. And..." Harry took a deep breath. "There's something else. We saw Malfoy jump about a mile when Madam Malkin tried to touch his left arm. I think he's been branded with the Dark Mark. I think he's replaced his father as a Death Eater,"
Mr. Weasley looked taken aback, and after a moment he said, "Harry, I doubt whether You-Know-Who would allow a sixteen-year-old –"
"Does anyone really know what You-Know-Who would or wouldn't do?" Harry asked angrily. "Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry, but isn't it worth investigating? If Malfoy wants something fixing, and he needs to threaten Borgin to get it done, it's probably something Dark or dangerous, isn't it?"
"I doubt it, to be honest, Harry," Mr. Weasley said slowly. "You see, when Lucius Malfoy was arrested, we raided his house. We took away everything that might have been dangerous,"
"I think you missed something," Harry said stubbornly.
"Well, maybe," Mr. Weasley said, but it was very obvious that he was humouring Harry.
"It wouldn't be strange for Voldemort to get back at the Malfoys with Draco," Vega spoke up bracingly. "And... Sirius's brother Regulus was also the same age when he joined Voldemort – there must be countless others out there who are,"
There was a whistle behind them; nearly everyone had boarded the train and the doors were closing. Vega sighed, knowing her conversation wasn't over.
"You'd better hurry," Mr. Weasley said, as Mrs. Weasley cried, "Vega, Harry, quickly!"
It was too late for it to go on so Vega and Harry hurried forward, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley helped them load their trunks onto the train just in time.
"Now, dears, you're coming to us for Christmas, it's all fixed with Dumbledore and your families, so we'll see you quite soon," Mrs. Weasley said through the window, as Harry slammed the door shut behind him and Vega and the train began to move. "You two make sure you look after yourself and –"
The train was gathering speed.
"– be good and –" Mrs. Weasley continued, and by now, she was jogging to keep up with the train as it started to roll down the tracks. "– stay safe!"
"We will!" Vega promised, waving goodbye until the train had turned a corner and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were lost to view, then turned to see where the others had got to.
Of course, Ron and Hermione most likely were cloistered in the prefects' carriage, but Ginny was a little way along the corridor, chatting to some friends. Vega and Harry moved down to her direction, dragging their trunks, people stared quite shamelessly towards them. They even pressed their faces against the windows of their compartments to get a good look at them. It was so strange that Vega flinched in surprise before letting out an awkward sigh.
It was not a lie that Vega had expected an upswing in the amount of gaping and gawping that she and Harry would have to endure this term all the 'Chosen Ones' rumours that were filling the Daily Prophet almost every day. But Vega was not a fan of it.
The last thing that Vega wanted was this sort of attention – she knew that she had always been stared at for one reason or another but this one was a bit... expectant of something, and whether that was something good or bad, Vega had no idea of.
Harry, who was ahead of Vega, tapped Ginny on the shoulder and asked, "Fancy trying to find a compartment?"
"I can't, Harry, I said I'd meet Dean," Ginny replied brightly. "See you two later,"
"Right," Harry said, and Vega nodded as Ginny walked away, her long red hair dancing behind her. "Come on, Vega, let's find somewhere to sit,"
When Vega glanced around the pair of them, she found several mesmerized girls, all of whom were glaring at her and also staring at Harry with fascination.
"You know... we should get a compartment before I get murdered and you kidnapped," Vega muttered, grabbing at his arm to pull him along.
"Hi, Harry and Vega!" said a familiar voice from behind them, and Vega spun around to find a round-faced boy yet also very matured boy as he struggled his way toward them.
"Neville!" Vega responded. "It's so good to see you again – how are you?" Neville grinned as he reached the two of them. "Oh, Luna, you're here, too? How are you?"
"Hello, Vega and Harry," Luna said from right behind Neville. "I am very well, thank you," She was clutching a magazine to her chest; large letters on the front announced that there was a pair of free Spectrespecs inside.
"Quibbler still going strong, then?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, circulation's well up," Luna said happily.
"Let's find seats," Harry said, and the four of them set off along the train through hordes of silently staring students.
At last, they found an empty compartment, and Vega and Harry hurried inside gratefully.
"They're even staring at us!" Neville said, indicating himself and Luna. "Because we're with you two!" Vega and Harry pushed her trunk onto the luggage rack.
"They're staring at you because you were at the Ministry too," Harry said, as he hoisted his trunk into the luggage rack with Vega's aid. "Our little adventure there was all over the Daily Prophet, you must've seen it,"
"Yes, I thought Gran would be angry about all the publicity," Neville said. "But she was really pleased. Says I'm starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand, look!"
"It's because you were so brave," Vega told him, watching as Neville pulled out his wand and showed it to them. "That's a pretty wand – what is it?"
"Cherry and unicorn hair," Neville said proudly. "We think it was one of the last Ollivander ever sold, he vanished next day – oi, come back here, Trevor!"
And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids for freedom.
"Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Vega and Harry?" Luna asked, who was detaching a pair of psychedelic spectacles from the middle of The Quibbler.
"No point now we've got rid of Umbridge, is there?" Harry asked, sitting down.
Neville bumped his head against the seat as he emerged from under it. He looked the most disappointed, "I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you both, especially you, Vega!"
"I enjoyed the meetings too," Luna said serenely. "It was like having friends,"
"Hey, if there is a need, we can still continue with them," Vega told them. "Maybe we can even make it into a club – it might be a little difficult, however, since Ron and Hermione are Prefects, and Harry is a Captain... and I have extra lessons. However, you always come to me whenever you want – I'm always willing to help out with studies!"
Before any of them could continue from there, there was a disturbance outside their compartment door. Vega looked around to the door and saw a group of fourth-year girls whispering and giggling together on the other side of the glass.
"You ask him!"
"No, you!"
"I'll do it!"
And one of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door. Vega looked away from the girl to avoid getting caught in the crossfire and busied herself to find something in her bookbag to read. Just as expected, the girl was here to meet with Harry, not anyone else with him.
"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," She said loudly and confidently. "Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them," She added in a stage whisper.
When Vega glanced over, she saw that Vane was indicating Neville's bottom, which was sticking out from under the seat again as he groped around for Trevor, and Luna, who was now wearing her free Spectrespecs, which gave her the look of a demented, multi-coloured owl.
"They're friends of mine," Harry said coldly.
"Oh," Vane said looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay," And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her, and Vega shook her head.
"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," Luna said, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty.
"You are cool," Harry said shortly. "None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with us,"
"That's a very nice thing to say," Luna beamed, and then she pushed her Spectrespecs farther up her nose and settled down to read The Quibbler.
"We didn't face him, though," Neville said, emerging from under the seat with fluff and dust in his hair and a resigned-looking Trevor in his hand. "You two did. You should hear my gran talk about you both. 'Those two kids have got more backbone than the whole Ministry of Magic put together!' She'd give anything to have you as grandchildren..."
"Me... as well?" Vega asked tentatively, and Neville nodded.
Vega was quiet for a moment, and then turned the conversation around to the topic of O.W.Ls, and while Neville recited his grades and wondered aloud whether he would be allowed to take a Transfiguration N.E.W.T. with only an 'Acceptable,' Vega thought about the boy sitting across from her.
Neville's childhood had been blighted by Voldemort just as much as Vega's and Harry's had, but Neville had no idea how close he had come to having Harry's destiny. The prophecy could have referred to either of them, yet, for his own inscrutable reasons, Voldemort had chosen to believe that Harry was the one meant.
Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite her, bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy...? Vega didn't want to imagine that.
It was unfortunate, and Vega didn't want to imagine it too much, but she wondered how things would've turned out had she died that night and Rigel had lived – would he have found loving friends just as much as she did?
"You all right, Vega? Harry?" Neville asked. "You look funny,"
Both Vega and Harry jumped slightly, with neither of them having not realised the other wasn't listening either. Vega looked to Harry –
"Sorry – I –" Harry started.
"Wrackspurt got you?" Luna asked sympathetically, peering at him and Vega through her enormous coloured spectacles.
"I –?" Harry asked.
"A Wrackspurt... they're invisible," Luna informed them. "They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. I thought I felt one zooming around in here," She flapped her hands at thin air, as though beating off large invisible moths.
Vega, Harry and Neville caught each other's eyes and while the boys hastily began to talk of Quidditch, Vega still smiled wildly at Luna.
"You have to tell me more about these things," Vega told her.
The weather beyond the train windows was as patchy as it had been all summer; they passed through stretches of the chilling mist, then out into weak, clear sunlight. Vega had long followed Luna's example and busied herself with reading books.
It was during one of the clear spells, when the sun was visible almost directly overhead, that Ron and Hermione entered the compartment at last.
"Wish the lunch trolley would hurry up, I'm starving," Ron said longingly, slumping into the seat beside Harry and rubbing his stomach. "Hi, Neville. Hi, Luna. Guess what?" He added, turning to Vega and Harry. "Malfoy's not doing prefect duty. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed,"
While Harry sat up straight with interest, Vega closed her textbook, knowing that the crowd would not allow her to read for at least twenty minutes.
And of course, Vega knew what was swirling in Harry's head – it was not like Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his power as prefect, which he had happily abused all the previous year, in addition to the Inquisitorial Squad he had been part of.
"What did he do when he saw you?" Harry asked.
"The usual," Ron said 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?"
"Dunno," Harry said as Vega gave Ron a stern look to put that hand gesture away.
"Maybe he preferred the Inquisitorial Squad," Hermione said. "Maybe being a prefect seems a bit tame after that,"
"I don't think so," Harry said. "I think he's –"
But before he could expound on his theory, the compartment door slid open again and a breathless third-year girl stepped inside. Vega looked at the girl a bit wearily, but it seemed like this girl wasn't here to insult Neville or Luna.
"I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom, Vega-Nova Lestrange and Harry P-Potter," She faltered, as her eyes met Harry's and she turned scarlet. She was holding out three scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon.
Perplexed, Vega, Harry and Neville took the scroll addressed to each of them and the girl stumbled back out of the compartment.
"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Vega and Harry unrolled their respective scrolls.
"Give us a second, will you?" Vega asked wearily as she looked down at what she had received, sighing internally at the sight of the contents. "It's an invitation,"
Vega-Nova,
I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.
Sincerely,
Professor H. E. F. Slughorn
"Who's Professor Slughorn?" Neville asked, looking perplexedly at his own invitation. He had never been given such attention by any teacher before, and Vega looked over at him as she rolled her scroll back up and sighed softly.
"He's a new Professor," Vega answered, a bit frustrated with the use of her full name. "I didn't expect him to join the train ride over to Hogwarts... well, I suppose the three of us would have to go, won't we?" Harry nodded.
"But what does he want me for?" Neville asked nervously, as though he was expecting detention.
"No, no, I don't think it is anything bad," Vega assured him quickly. "But it's a bit bothersome... if I'm right about what it is," She stood up to her height. "Come on, let's get it over with,"
"Listen," Harry said suddenly, seized by a sudden brain wave. "Let's go under the Invisibility Cloak, then we might get a good look at Malfoy on the way, see what he's up to,"
Vega sighed.
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