Fate and Fatality

At first, all Harry saw was hundreds, even thousands of lights twinkling and glimmering through the darkness. Then, slowly, a shape formed from the rainy darkness. At first, it looked like a castle, similar to Hogwarts, even though not nearly as big. Then he realized that it was more like a huge, elaborate cathedral, or perhaps an extremely nice university. The one difference he saw was that there were four tall towers, one on each corner of the school.

Through the corner of his eyes, he saw Hermione take Ron's hand, and anger boiled up in him again. He felt as if he might kick something, so he forced himself to look away.

The train came to a shuddering halt. Out in the corridor, he could hear people starting to move about. A loud voice suddenly boomed out.

"Leave all luggage on the train, it will be attended to..."

Zeke and Cammy were cramming the small things they had with them into their bags; Cammy's was a tiny crimson backpack, extremely shiny and as new as if it had never been used. Zeke's was a worn brown leather shoulder bag artfully covered in patches and a few pen scribbles. They managed it quickly. Cammy grabbed Hermione's hand and gave it a slight pull.

"Come on, you have to meet my friends..."

Laughing, they left the compartment. Zeke shouldered his bag.

"Come on, wouldn't leave my new friends hanging by themselves. Come meet the guys."

---------------------------------------------------

Harry found himself and Ron among a crowd of boys. They were all friendly enough. Zeke introduced them to his two best friends Robert and T.J. Harry took to Robert immediately. Robert was tall, but not quite as tall as Ron. He had dark blond hair that fell in his face. When introduced, he smiled and shook hands with Harry and Ron. Harry felt, somewhat jealously, that this was the kind of boy that girls would die for. He would have compared him to Malfoy, but Robert was too nice and, well, there was no other word for it- cool.

However, Harry felt less at ease with T.J., a short boy with the stature of Piers Polkiss, Dudley's best friend back home. His eyes were cold, even less than his only somewhat friendly smile. He wore all black robes with sliver designs all across the hems and neckline. Ron noticed his cold eyes too. Harry disliked T.J. even more as he began to speak.

"Hey, Zeke, who's the cute new chick standing next to your sister. She some 'Englander' too?"

Ron's face grew a touch angry. "That's my girlfriend, T.J." he said, perhaps a tiny bit too loudly.

T.J. put his hands up. "Hey, no offence meant, man." But Harry couldn't help but notice the many glances he threw at Hermione after that. Ron had narrowed his eyes, a sign that he noticed too. Finally, Ron opened his mouth to say something again, but before he could a loud voice called their attention away from T.J.

"Attention, students! Your attention please!"

The room went quiet after a moment if shuffling and muttering. All heads turned towards the platform at one end of the large room. A witch in bright crimson robes was standing there, her arms folded across her chest. She waited for a moment until it was absolutely silent.

"For those of you who don't know me, I am Proffesor Crimshai. Now, as you've noticed, it's a bit wet outside..."

A few of the students laughed hollowly. Most groaned.

"...so I want you all to make sure to stay as dry as you can. You won't be able to go to your towers for an hour or two yet. I'll leave you now, I trust the Hogwarts student won't be left behind..."

Her cheery laugh was cut off as she Dissaparated. The students began to file towards the large doors on the right. Harry and Ron were swept along by Zeke and Robert, and were soon joined by Dean and Seamus. Harry saw another familiar red head moving along with the crowd nearby. He called out,

"Ginny, over here..."

Ginny turned and smiled a small smile at him and pushed her way over. As she reached him, Harry saw that she had now grown and was his height. She looked as if she hadn't slept in a long time, and she was very thin. Harry's eyes grew concerned.

"Gin, are you alright? Have you been ill?"

Ginny just waved away his concerns, a bit impatiently.

"I'm absolutely fine..." she replied, her voice somewhat flat. "Trust me, Harry, you don't need to worry about me..."

She turned and moved away so quickly Harry had no chance to protest. He looked at Ron inquiringly. Ron just shrugged.

"Been a bit off lately. Too quiet. She's not annoying like usual. Hasn't eaten, doesn't sleep too well. Mum thinks it's nerves about coming here. I guess she's right..."

Ron didn't look too sure of his mother's diagnosis. Harry just shook his head without protest as they stepped out of the station and into the pouring rain. Within seconds they were soaked to the skin. Quickly, they jumped inside a carriage nearby, shaking themselves. Neville was already seated inside. As the horses began to pull the carriages up the hill, it was as if they were back at Hogwarts.

"Hello Neville. Good summer?" Harry asked brightly as he poured a stream of water out of his sneaker. Hermione squeezed out her hair sulkily. She was clearly upset to be soaked to the bone. Ron laughed at her face and shook his head, getting them all wetter.

"Ron!!!" Hermione, Harry, and Neville cried in unison, putting up their hands. Ron laughed harder, leaning his head back against the seat and putting his hand to his forehead.

"Oh, you lot, you're already soaked! Come off it, it's only water..."

Whstever he might have said next was cut off as he spluttered through a mouthful of water Hermione had collected in her cupped hands out the window and thrown at his face.