Back to present time
Amelia Ringtroff thought it was just another day at King's Cross Gift Shop. She was polishing a metal shoe when there was a crash through her chimney. She wheeled around to face two twin boys with white blonde hair, their faces full of ash and soot. Instinctively, Lysander whipped out his wand.
"Obliviate."
Her face became blank for a quick second, then a smile reached her lips. "How can I help you boys?" Apparently it wasn't odd that they were carrying two extremely heavy wooden trunks.
"We're fine, thanks." Lorcan grabbed Lysander by the hand as they began to race through King's Cross. "That was lucky. Lucky that you weren't spotted by another Muggle, or even worse, a wizard!"
"Relax, Lorcan, O great Prefect." Lysander mocked his brother as he replied. "I knew I wouldn't get busted since there are other adult wizards here today. Underage magic users can use magic around supervision, right?" He finished, then ran straight through the wall at platforms 9 and 10.
"Fine," Lorcan grumbled, following his brother. He always enjoyed the blissful moments were Lysander acted irrationally, proving he was smarter. But no. They both had equal genius.
After Lorcan had had the odd experience of passing through the wall, he searched high and low for Lysander. Where is he- Oh, right there. His heart sank. There he was, talking to Matthew Stills. They had been best friends since first year, and always excluded Lorcan. Thankfully, he had his own group of friends.
"Lorcan!" He heard Beth Anne Walsh's booming voice fill the station. "Over here!" He spotted her on the stairs up to the train, hanging onto a railing. Lorcan smiled as he ran over to the train opening.
"Hello, Beth Anne," He said with the politeness he always began conversations, but he knew that vibe would soon disappear with his fast-talking Gryffindor friend. If his life was a single period, her life would be represented as three exclamation marks. "Is that Georgia I see behind you?"
"Making sure she doesn't fall off." She grinned from behind Beth Anne. Georgia Greens was half Asian, half English, so she had curly light brown hair and dark, dark brown eyes. She was also the shortest person in their year. "Elo and Wilma are waiting in the compartment."
Beth Anne pulled she and Lorcan up onto the step with exasperation. "You know how much I hate small talk, guys! Just shut it and let us walk to our compartment. In peace," She added after Georgia rolled her eyes at the Scamander.
Beth Anne slid open the door to the first compartment to the left. There was Eloise, reading a thick textbook, and Wilma, her Hufflepuff prefect badge gleaming, eating a Chocolate Frog. She nearly choked as she got up to hug Lorcan. Eloise simply waved and put the book away.
"Its great to see you, Lorcan." She said with a smile, but her eyes had the message of we need to talk. He nodded with understanding. The girls always ran to him with their problems, because he never told anyone any of their secrets, with the exception of Lysander. But he had never told him any of Eloise's business, since most of it involved him.
"So B.A., you going to thank us for our birthday presents?" Georgia said, leaning against Wilma's feet. Beth Anne replied with a, do you know me? look. Lorcan laughed, but to his surprise he was not alone like he had been all summer. He sure had missed his friends.
\~*~/
Lysander was thrilled to be with Matthew again. The two were almost the same person, but they had enough differences to have interesting conversations. Sure, he was in Gryffindor and Lysander was not, but that didn't make too much of an impact.
"You know, that jerk captain of the Quidditch team left." The two sat down in their compartment as Lysander flinched at the memories of Justin Harvard, a bully who said he was 'too weak' to play Keeper the past year. "You have a shot this year, Sander."
"I guess." He shrugged it off, but inside he was bubbling with excitement. "You and Beth Anne still Chasers?"
Matthew sighed as he moved a strand of his curly hair out of his eye. "I keep telling her she should be a Beater, the way she fouls the other players, but she's so stubborn she never listens." Lysander laughed. That was so Beth Anne. That was so Matthew complaining about her. That was so his school life, which he was happy to have back.
"So.. has summer changed you, or do you still like Quare?" Lysander lost all happy thoughts. This was something Matthew always pestered him about, but he would reply the same every time:
"I'll answer that when you admit you like B.A."
"I do not!" Matthew punched Lysander in the arm as he grinned.
"Do too."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do NOT!" Matthew started wrestling Lysander to the ground as he laughed. It was so easy to catch his best friend off guard, much easier than Lorcan, who always inquired about his love life. The two were so intensely fighting that they barely noticed the sound of the door sliding open.
"Do you two mind if I sit in here?" They whipped around to see Nory Douglas, a dark skinned girl in their year. She had on old-fashioned reading classes and multiple books under her arm. Even though she was a Slytherin, Lysander was pretty sure she was the smartest person in their year.
"Yeah sure." He said as Matthew replied hotly, "No way!" The boys stood up to out-tall each other, Lysander winning. He had shot up five inches in the past year, and was now three inches taller than his twin and a half inch taller than Matthew.
"I'm pretty sure Scamander wins that one." Nory said, sitting down on the bench. Matthew shot one more glare at the girl with her silver and green tie, then sat down opposite her. Lysander rolled his eyes. This was his best friend's biggest flaw: Gryffindor-Slytherin prejudice, even though Douglas was pretty nice if you got used to her.
"How was your summer?" He asked her, making conversation.
"Scheming up devilish plans for Gryffindors demise." Matthew muttered. Nory pretended not to hear and readied herself to answer Lysander's question, although he could see the hurt in her eyes. She was probably the most picked on girl in their year, and he tried to be nice even though Lorcan's friends held grudges.
"It was hard, since it was the first summer where I only saw Mom. I wasn't allowed to see Dad, even though he would've been happy to see me get my prefect badge." Lysander had a faint memory of Nory's parents getting divorced at the beginning of their fourth year.
"Probably because he doesn't want a disgusting sly prefect snake like you around." Matthew murmured, turning toward the window.
"Are you excited for career choices?" Lysander asked, trying to keep the calm. Nory was getting angry, as her eyes were narrowed at the Gryffindor.
"Yes, I'm thinking about Auror-" Finally, Matthew lost it. He jolted up from his seat, his curly hair flying all over the place. His eyes were full of fire.
"No one will ever want you, Noreen Douglas." Lysander winced and closed his eyes. There was the sound of a slap, then the compartment door shut with one last line:
"Well then, I'm about to prove you wrong."
\~*~/
Nory had expected more than that. But she knew she shouldn't of had such high hopes. All Gryffindors were the same, thinking she was an evil Slytherin. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs just did whatever they did. And the Slytherin didn't think she was enough of a Slytherin.
She had expected more from Lysander, who had always been nice to her. But no. All he did was be a bystander. No one had ever been her upstander. Oh, how she hated Matthew Stills..
But who to comfort her? Who to help her and say she was perfect the way she ways? The smart Slytherin girl?
She had nowhere to go.
No friends to share a compartment.
No reason to be at Hogwarts.
In her frustration, she slammed open the nearest compartment. To her horror, it belonged to Eloise Quare, Wilma Partridge, Georgia Greens, Lorcan Scamander, and their leader, Beth Anne Walsh. They were the group that hated her the second most at Hogwarts.
Their immediate reaction was screaming and throwing books at her. They were all Hufflepuff cowards, plus head-strong stubborn too independent Gryffindor and the Scamander who quietly sat and didn't say a word.
"QUIET!" Beth Anne screeched, as Wilma, Georgia, and Eloise stopped throwing objects. She stood up to face Nory. "You are not welcome here, Slytherin. We don't appreciate jerks." She pulled out her wand. "Expell-"
Nory was quicker, flicking out her wand. "Protego." Slowly, she began to back out of the compartment.
If no one was going to change, then she would have to start working harder than she had ever before.
Thanks for reading guys! What do you think of Nory? To be honest, she's my favorite. You may have noticed I haven't shared the twins' house yet, so what do you think it is? Love y'all, and don't forget to vote for Loony in the fanfiction awards!
1505 Words
Published 01/10/17