Chương 1: The Train Ride
-Your POV-
The train moved slowly out of King's Cross Station and gradually gained speed as it made its way through the city. The grey clouds of smoke that had formed around the carriers started to drift away into the rainy day, somewhat clearing the vision. But what was there to see anyway?
Y/N looked out of the small window in the door she had stepped through minutes prior, her hands nervously clutching the handles of the bags she had brought.
Today was a big day for her but something wasn't quite right. Something felt off. Yet the more she tried to pinpoint the origin of this emotion, the more it fled from her mind like the smoke fled from the Hogwarts Express.
"Okay, relax," she mumbled to herself, straightened her back and she shook the hair out of her face.
The longer she stood there, the stranger it would seem to whoever passed by. She needed to find a seat, quickly.
Y/N pushed open the door to the first carrier and a wave of voices and noises flushed through her ears. She looked around, only to see that all seats had already been taken.
Students, all quite a bit younger than her, were chatting and laughing and catching up so the girl kept walking.
At the end of the carrier, one seat appeared to be empty but the boy next to it was snoring and Y/N knew that she couldn't deal with that right now, given how she was already slightly on edge.
After the big cabin followed several compartments to her left. Nervously, Y/N threw a look into each, hoping that nobody would notice her.
Full.
Full.
Full.
Fu-
She stopped in front of one of the compartments in which three students were sitting. They must have been around her age. Two, a boy and a girl, seemed to be whispering while sitting next to each other, another boy just stared out of the window like she had done just a minute ago.
Y/N took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Immediately, all eyes landed on her.
She put on a shy smile.
"I was wondering if this seat is taken?"
The girl took the initiative. "It's not, feel free to join us."
Relieved, Y/N started stowing away her bags above the seats, closed the door and fell down into the cushion.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to collect her thoughts but felt somebody staring at her.
It was the girl. She curiously scanned over Y/N and then tucked a strand of dirty blonde hair behind her ear.
"You're new, aren't you?"
"What gave that away?" Y/N asked, half-jokingly.
"Well, first of all, your accent. It's not very common here to hear foreign accents. And second of all, you are not wearing a school uniform yet you're clearly not a First Year. Are you transferring? Which school did you go to previously?"
Y/N was impressed yet intimidated by the girl's sharp thinking and nervously started playing with the hem of her tshirt.
But before she could say anything, the boy next to the girl opened his mouth. His hair was distinctively red and he had bags under his eyes, probably from tiredness. Or maybe genes.
"Hermione, this is not an interview. Don't scare her away."
The blonde called Hermione opened her mouth as to say something to him, but then she turned to Y/N.
"I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for," she replied, growing more and more uncomfortable.
Y/N scolded herself for being such a wuss. This was the perfect opportunity to make friends! She needed to try harder.
"To answer your questions, yes. This is my first year at Hogwarts, I'm transferring from Ilvermorny and-"
"Ilvermorny!" Hermione's eyes lit up. "Which house?"
"Pukwudgie."
"Puk-what?" The ginger raised an eyebrow.
"Pukwudgie," the boy next to Y/N suddenly repeated, almost making her jump. She thought he was absent-minded.
"They are kind of like European goblins, they like to hunt."
That was all he said but the ginger looked at him surprised.
"Looks like our Harry read some books during vacation."
"Shut up, Ron," he mumbled and turned back to the window.
Harry? Like Harry Potter? Y/N quickly glanced at him. Maybe. She doesn't know too much about the guy but has heard the name before several times. It could be a different Harry though.
"So what is Ilvermorny like?"
Hermione looked at her curiously which made Y/N shift in her seat.
"It's..."
Great, what was she supposed to say now?
'I sort of lost my memory and pretty much forgot everything.'
Yeah, no. That would just raise even more questions that Y/N wasn't ready to face yet. She needed an excuse.
"I'm sorry but I'm feeling pretty tired. Let's talk about this another time, alright?"
"Of course. Get some rest."
Y/N closed her eyes, acting like she was trying to take a nap.
But really, her thoughts started circling.
*****
Many hours had passed and they were getting closer to Hogwarts. The compartment had grown more lively over time and even Harry had gotten out of his slump.
The friends were talking and joking and managed to pull Y/N into the conversation who started warming up to them.
She somehow shook her nerves off and was now a lot more comfortable. She already saw herself making friends with the trio.
"I wonder if you'll be sorted into your house together with the First Year's," Hermione pondered. "Which house would you like to get into?"
"Well, what houses are there?" Dammit, she really didn't know anything.
Ignoring the question, Harry mustered her. "You're probably a Gryffindor like us."
Gryffindor?
"Or maybe a Hufflepuff," Hermione suggested. "They are very friendly and loyal. I can see that in you."
"Thanks?" Y/N smiled at her, still not sure what was going on.
"Yeah, it must be one of those two," Ron said. "Though Gryffindor would be cool, you'd be in the same house as us."
"Yeah, that'd be cool," Y/N repeated.
And she meant it. It would be so helpful to actually know people so they could help her settle in. And these three really seemed like fun. They also appeared quite mature, a quality you didn't often find in teenagers.
Hermione looked out of the window. "We are almost there. Let's get ready."
Something in the girl's voice was so firm and authortitive that Y/N followed the instruction without second thought and got up.
She had to stand on her toes to reach the bags and pulled the smaller one down, trying to not knock over Harry who took his sweet time.
"Wait!"
Frozen, still with her arms in the air, Y/N looked at Hermione who stepped closer.
"Put it down."
Quietly, Y/N did so. Then Hermoine grabbed her left arm.
"What is this?"
Without asking for permission, she rolled up the sleeve that must have slipped back when Y/N grabbed her bag.
She felt blood rush into her face when Hermione stared at the writing on her inner upper arm.
Two, black words.
Draco Malfoy
The girls' eyes met.
"Why do you have Malfoy's name written on your arm?"
"What?" Harry jumped out of his seat and stared at the words as well. Ron joined them.
"I... uh..."
"Y/N, what is this?" Harry asked firmly. So firmly, that it almost scared her. "How do you know him?"
"Know who? I don't!" Y/N tried to defend herself and attempted to pull back the arm but Hermione didn't let go.
"Then what is his name doing on your body? Who put it there?"
Y/N's thoughts were racing but she couldn't come up with an excuse this time.
She had no choice but to be truthful.
Y/N took a deep breath.
"Okay, this might sound a bit crazy but you'll just have to believe me. I pretty much woke up one morning with this on my arm."
"When was that?" Harry asked.
"A few weeks ago? I didn't know how it got there but recognized my own handwriting. I kept tracing it when it started fading because...well I thought...it must mean something, right?"
The friends looked at each other and Y/N begged for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
"So you wrote the name of someone you don't know onto your arm but you don't remember why?" Ron asked, his face showing that he had a hard time believing the story.
"Yes. It was just...there. But you guys seem to know who this is?"
Hermione let out a dry laugh. "We do. Sadly. Draco Malfoy is a Slytherin and probably one of the most disgusting people I've ever met. He's just..." She had to stop herself from going on a rant.
Y/N's heart was beating faster. "So do you know what this could mean?"
The three thought for a bit.
Harry was the one to answer. "No but it is...strange. If you're saying the truth, we might need to figure it out."
At that moment, the train started slowing down.
"Get your bags and come with me," Hermione ordered.
Confused, excited and nervous, Y/N grabbed her second bag and put on the blue windbreaker. Then her and Hermione left the compartment.
The fierce girl quickly made her way through the train and Y/N had trouble keeping up. They passed a lot of students, some were looking at Hermione in awe.
When she suddenly stopped, Y/N almost ran into her. They had reached the other end of the train and were looking through the window of a door, leading to an open cabin.
"See the blonde guy? That's Draco."
Y/N's eyes wandered around until they stopped at a tall, slender figure, dressed in a black suit with a black turtleneck underneath. The hair was more white than blonde, the eyebrows darker and he was packing his things together, preparing to get off the train.
Her heart stopped for a second.
That's...Draco Malfoy?
He was too far away to make out distinct facial features but just the rough image of this person was already so incredibly enticing and beautiful.
"What do you think?" Hermione interrupted her thoughts and Y/N noticed that her mouth had dropped open. She quickly closed it.
"He is...cute."
"Cute?" Hermione stared at her in disbelief. "Cute? He is a prick and dangerous! If I were you, I'd stay as far away from him as possible."
As she said that, Draco Malfoy laughed about something one of his friends must have had said and this mute laugh that filled every corner of his face drowned out Hermione's words completely.
The train came to a halt and Hermione pulled the girl with her, away from Draco Malfoy and onto the platform. She kept talking about the boy but Y/N couldn't hear anything.
She felt like she had just seen an angel.
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