Fate and Fatality

Harry landed squarely on his feet by pure luck, but that didn't last long, for he had miscalculated where his trunk would land. Instead of landing next to him, it landed on top of his feet. Trying hard not to swear, Harry dragged the trunk off his toes, which felt very bruised. "Stupid trunk..." Harry muttered, for lack of anything better to say.

Harry straightened up, and stood speechless as the view that met his eyes. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn that he was standing in the middle of Platform 9 ¾.

Closing his wide-open mouth, he glanced in every direction, trying to take it all in at once. Loud music was coming from somewhere in a large group of students Harry didn't recognize. There was the regular bustle of noise and confusion he was used to, but many of the voices around him had American accents instead of English.

Familiar Hogwarts students kept passing him with a cheery "Hi Harry!" or "Nice summer, Harry?" Harry answered without paying much attention, his gaze sweeping the large area full of students. Finally, after a moment's search, he saw who he was looking for.

Ron Weasley stood talking animatedly with Dean and Seamus. They hadn't seen him yet. Dragging his trunk behind him, he made his way as quickly as possible over to them. Their faces lightened as soon as they saw him.

"Harry, you're finally here! Brilliant, this, don't you think?" was Seamus's way of greeting. Harry nodded. "Let's just get these trunks on the train, shall we?" he put in quickly.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Whe all their luggage was stored, there was still time to wander about. More students had arrived, and now Harry and Ron found many old friends. Including-

"Ron! Harry!" Hermione yelled as she ran towards them. She fairly jumped into Ron's arms, kissing him lightly. Harry turned away, afraid he might pull out his wand and hex them if he had to watch more. But as he turned, he came face to face with the last person he had wanted to see today.

"Well, well, Potter, Weasel, and his mudblood girlfriend." Draco Malfoy sneered quietly. "I would have at least hoped for time away from you three, but I daresay that luck was not with me."

Harry's face went dark as he said clearly, "And I suppose you think it was our choice to be stuck with you?"

Malfoy just chuckled annoyingly. "Potter, for your information, you might do well to be around me, even though I simply can't stand you. Might get rid of those stupid ideals about good and evil that you have, anyway." Malfoy looked at Ron and Hermione, who were apparently oblivious to the fact that he was standing two feet from them. "Oh, dear me, I have forgotten that Mudblood and Weasley were dating. Rather pathetic couple, if I..."

Harry could take it no more. Somehow his wand was out of his pocket and into his hand in the blink of an eye, no more than an inch away from Malfoy's pale face. Their eyes both narrowed, Harry's green eyes full of anger, and Draco's gray eyes colder than ice. Harry was just about to bring his wand up when Malfoy's fist came out of nowhere. He didn't duck swiftly enough, and Malfoy's fist caught his jaw. Enraged, Harry punched him in the stomach. Soon, he couldn't tell which way was up, and he only knew where Malfoy was, and kept swinging in that general direction.

Suddenly, a girl's voice yelled, "You two, knock it off! Now!" Harry didn't listen. Suddenly, two strong hands were on his shoulders, dragging him away. Malfoy was also being struggled away from Harry by a tall blond. The girl's voice came again from somewhere directly behind him. "You will stop, or I will be the one throwing punches, understood? Now stop struggling!"

Harry did as he was told, keeping his eyes on Malfoy, who was angrily pushing his silver-blond hair out of his eyes and straightening his robes. Harry turned for a brief glance to see the girl behind him. She had deep brown, almost black hair that fell smoothly, and large gray eyes that would have been pretty if they were not so exasperated and annoyed. However, Harry didn't have time to study her further. Turning away, Harry saw that a crowd had gathered around them. Ron and Hermione were to his left. Hermione, not surprisingly, was shaking her head at him.

The black-haired girl shook her hand impatiently at the crowd. "Get lost, you all. It's over, ok?" The crowd slowly dispersed, many of the boys muttering disappointedly. Malfoy shot Harry a cold glance before turning and walking away. Hermione rolled her eyes, then stood in front of Harry, her arms folded, looking for all the world like McGonagall when she was angry.

"Harry, what did you let him get to you for? You know you're not supposed to be fighting. Honestly, you and Ron will never learn. It's just as I've always said..."

The black-haired girl's eyes had warmed slightly, or at least, the chill and annoyance had left them. Now that Harry had a good chance to look at her, he judged her to be pretty. She wasn't showy like Parvati, who had come to flaunt her looks lately, but she had large gray eyes with long lashes, and her hair framed her face like a picture. She was smiling at the three of them, clearly amused by Hermione's antics. Shaking her head good-naturedly, she turned slightly.

"I see you have your own lecturer, so I'll be going, Mr...."

"His name's Potter. Harry Potter," Hermione said, disgruntled that her speech had been interrupted.

The annoyance that had disappeared from the girl's eyes was replaced quickly with a cold element Harry found chilling. However, she remained smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Morgan West. Now, I really must be going. Do me a favor, and don't get into any more fights, alright?"

Turning quickly, she linked arms with the blond who had pulled Malfoy away from Harry and joined a group not far off. Harry tried to not listen without having to pay attention to Hermione like he usually did when she lectured him, but he wasn't able to concentrate properly. Morgan's eyes kept wandering in his thoughts. Why had she looked at him like that. He only knew one other person that looked at him like that was Snape, his least favorite professor. But it was odd that Morgan, she didn't even know him. He was puzzled. Something else unnerved him. He would swear he had seen he before. She was so familiar...

"Harry, are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

"What? Oh, of course, Hermione." Harry smiled his biggest fake smile, knowing that, like always, she wasn't convinced.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Harry glanced in a compartment on the train, trying to find good seats. He saw that there were only two people there. On closer inspection, he judged them to be brother and sister, for they looked very much alike.

"Excuse me, are these seats taken?"

The girl looked up quickly. "No, come in, we've wanted company." She pointed to the boy. "This is my brother, Zeke. And I'm Cammy, short for Camille." Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat down. Zeke spared a glance from the book he was reading, making a slight motion with his hand that was meant as a greeting before getting lost in the story again. Cammy shook her head at him. "He loves to read. I never really liked it myself, but he could tune out the world for hours at a time. Oh, I'm sorry, listen to me, chatting away. What are your names?"

Hermione beat Harry and Ron to the punch. "I'm Hermione Granger, this is my boyfriend Ron Weasley, and our best friend Harry Potter." Harry couldn't help but notice the slight edge in her voice, as if she was trying to gain something. He didn't have time to ponder it though. Cammy's eyes went wide, and Zeke even looked up from his book. Simultaneously, they said quietly, "You're Harry Potter?" Cammy grinned, without saying a word. Zeke nodded his head.

"Awesome, bro. Hey, glad to meet you." Then, he went totally out of character and put his book down. "Hey, if you all have any questions about Donovan, just ask me or Cammy, and we'll fill you in."

Hermione opened her mouth to ask a question, probably about library hours, but this time it was Harry who was too quick for her. "Yeah, I have a question. Do you two know Morgan West?"