Fate and Fatality

Cammy and Zeke immediately went quiet, looking at each other with an odd expression plastered on both their faces. Cammy spoke first, but she didn't look at Harry. Instead, her eyes dropped to the floor.

"Of course I know who she is."

Zeke shook his head as if to clear his scrambled thoughts. "Yeah, we know her. So you met her. I'm not surprised. She knows everything that's going on around Donovan." He averted his eyes once more. "But hey, don't believe what you think you know. Appearances can be deceiving." How did he know what Harry was thinking so clearly?

Cammy slowly looked up and met Harry's eyes. "Morgan has a lot going for her. She's really popular in her own right, and I won't deny that she's pretty and all, but she has her secrets. Well, I mean, so does everyone else..."

Cammy looked annoyed with herself. Her cheeks went red, and she instantly looked out the window. Harry knew that Cammy wasn't telling him something, but he knew better than to ask. The sudden silence that enveloped them was deafening. But he had to find out more.

"I dunno, when she learned my name, she got this look in her eyes. It was like she hated me for something I had done."

"Harry, that's silly," Hermione cut in. "How could she hate you if she didn't know you. I mean, how many chances would she have had to even spot you. She's an American, Harry..."

Cammy interjected slowly. "No... she was born in England, didn't I tell you?"

Harry's jaw dropped slightly. Cammy continued a little nervously.

"She was born in London, or near there, at least. She didn't come here until the end of the year before we came to school for the first time."

"But... she had no accent, or... or anything to tell she was English..." Ron put in when he saw the look on Harry's face.

"I know, isn't it amazing? But when she gets either really mad or really happy, she'll break into an English accent." Cammy thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I remember now, the place she grew up in! She said she lived in a little place called Godric's Hollow!"

The car went silent, save the crackling sound of the pages turning in Zeke's book. He apparently, hadn't been paying attention for a while.

"Godric's Hollow? Are... are you sure?" Harry's voice faltered. He felt confused and shocked to learn that he could have known this girl as a baby. Cammy looked taken aback.

"Of course. Why?"

"Oh, no... no reason..." Harry tried to conceal his surprise. The car again fell silent. Even Zeke noticed the gap in conversation, and put his book down.

"Well, er... So where do you two live?" Hermione broke in, obviously trying to break the tension in the air. Simultaneously, the twins grinned and replied, "New York City." Hermione, of course, had already read all about it in some travel brochure. Soon, she and the others were deeply involved in a conversation about the similarities and differences in England and America. Harry, however, chose to gaze out the window at the landscape rushing swiftly by.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Harry... Harry, wake up. We're almost there..."

Someone shook him lightly. He groaned and opened his eyes slowly to see Hermione bending over him, her big brown eyes laughing at his sleepy state.

"Hurry up and change into your robes, Harry. Nearly there." Came Ron's voice from the other side of the compartment. Harry rubbed his eyes and stretched, then shook his hand, which had fallen asleep and now, with the movement, started to twinge. He flexed and unflexed his fingers, trying to get rid of the feeling.

"Hate it when that happens. Your foot falling asleep is even worse, though..." came Zeke's voice from behind his book. Harry wondered how he could even see anything. Then he forced back a laugh as he wondered if Zeke even put his book down. It was like that one book Ron had told him about a few years ago, the one you could never stop reading. He pulled out one of his usual black robes and tiredly pulled it on.

Glancing out the window once more, Harry saw a dark gray sky. At first he thought it was only because of the late hour, but then he realized that it was raining as well. Cammy noticed the face he made and laughed.

"What, did you think it rained less over here?"

"I dunno, I always got the idea of sunny beaches and lots of blue in the sky." Harry said, laughing as well at his own fancy.

"Only in Florida and California, places like that. Here in good old New York State, you can expect lots of snow, at least in the winter. It's kinda cold up here."

Ron groaned, which made Cammy laugh harder. Hermione giggled. Usually, she just smiled with an amused look. Harry was more awake now, and was content with the friendly feeling the car now had, as opposed to before, when there had been tense silence. But still, the familiarity of Morgan, and the bits of information he had learned about her swirled in his head in a jumbled fashion. Who was she? Before he could say another word, Cammy excitedly pointed out the window at something barely visible through the dusk.

"Look! It's Donovan!!!"