Lydia's Story

The whistle sounded, and Lydia watched as a few late students ran to catch the train. Standing up, she hoisted her trunk onto the luggage rack with some difficulty, nearly dropping it on her toes three times. She left Mithra on the seat next to her. She was grateful for the familiar face, even if it was covered in feathers.

As the train began to move, a boy with tousled black hair poked his head into her compartment. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, and his glasses hung slightly askew. He had apparently been running to catch the train, and seemed slightly out of breath.

"Hi, is anyone else in here?" he asked quietly, glancing around at the nearly empty compartment. "All the other compartments are full."

"Take a seat," Lydia said, gesturing to the empty seats. The boy gave a grateful smile and dragged in his trunk and owl cage. The cage held a beautiful snowy owl, which regarded Mithra suspiciously. The boy stowed the trunk and cage in the luggage rack before taking the seat across from her.

"I don't think I've seen you before," he said at last, straightening his glasses. Looking at his eyes, Lydia saw that they were a bright green. They were friendly, yet they bore the mark of someone who had suffered a great loss. "What House are you in?"

"I don't know," Lydia answered, feeling slightly awkward. "This is my first year at Hogwarts. I'm from Durmstrang."

There was a brief silence. Before the boy could answer, a girl with bushy brown hair appeared at the door. She was followed closely by two freckled redheads, apparently brother and sister. All three of them wore Prefect badges.

"There you are, Harry!" said the first girl, looking at the green-eyed boy. "We were looking everywhere for you!"

"I was just talking to..." Harry started to say. He faltered, looking at Lydia for an answer.

"Lydia, " she said shyly, smiling up at the trio.

"Well, I'm Hermione Granger," the girl replied, looking very tired, "and this is Ron and Ginny Weasley." The two Lydia had guessed to be siblings smiled at her, Ginny giving a small wave. "Do you mind if we sit down?"

Lydia waved to the vacant seats, and the three took a seat, Ginny sitting next to Lydia and Mithra while Ron and Hermione sat on either side of Harry. They all sat in silence for a few minutes; Ron, Ginny, and Hermione all looking very tired, while Harry seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. He gazed out the window, sometimes giving Lydia a fleeting glance. Once again, Lydia felt a deep sense of loss surround him, and wondered what he was thinking about.

They rode along in silence until they heard a clattering in the corridor. A plump witch peeked into their compartment. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

"Food!" Ron exclaimed happily, suddenly looking very awake. He emptied his pockets, and managed to find a few bronze Knuts scattered among the garbage. He hastily bought a couple of Chocolate Frogs, and settled happily back into his seat. Ginny and Hermoine both refused, neither of them remembering to bring any money with them. Harry and Lydia, not wanting to see their friends go without, both ordered several of everything, each pulling a handful of Galleons out of their pockets.

Piling their food on the seats, everyone chatted happily as they enjoyed their small feast, all other thoughts and tiredness forgotten.

"Shouldn't you three be patrolling the corridors?" Harry asked the three Prefects between bites of his pumpkin pasty.

Ron rolled his eyes, his mouth too full of chocolate to speak.

"We will be," Hermione answered for him, picking carefully through a box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. "Our shift comes after the Hufflepuff Prefects. They'll come get us when it's our turn. And we will take our turn!" she added, looking pointedly at Ron, her gaze steely.

"Ron had been planning to hide under Harry's Invisibility Cloak when our shift came," Ginny explained to Lydia, suppressing a giggle. "Hermione was not impressed when she found out!"

Lydia gave a muffled giggle, her mouth stuffed with a Cauldron Cake. She was feeling happy, her first hour on her way to Hogwarts had gone well, and some of her fears began to leave her.

*~*~*~*~*

The compartment was becoming muggy as the noontime sun beat down upon the train.

"Ginny, can you open the window?" Harry asked, wiping his sleeve across his brow. "It's getting really hot in here!"

Looking up, Lydia saw Harry push his hair off his forehead for the first time. A thin, lightening-shaped scar slashed across it, showing clearly in the bright sunlight.

"Er- are you okay?" Harry asked. Lydia had suddenly started choking on her piece of chocolate.

"You're - I mean, I didn't know - I mean... you're Harry Potter!" Lydia spluttered, her words interrupted by coughs.

"Oh, yeah," Harry mumbled, shifting his eyes away from Lydia's awestruck face. "Yeah, I am."

As Lydia's coughing fit subsided, she felt foolish for overreacting. "Sorry," she said quietly, as colour spread through her cheeks. "I - I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Don't worry, it happens a lot," Harry said with a reassuring smile. "I should've expected it."

At that moment, a round-faced boy stuck his head into their compartment.

"Hi, Neville," Ginny said, looking up from a pile of Chocolate Frog cards she was sorting. "Is everything okay?" she added, seeing a look of worry on his face.

Neville sighed miserably. "My whole morning was a disaster! I had forgotten my wand at Gran's, and almost missed the train. She was so mad!" he added with a slight shudder. Just then, a toad hopped out of Neville's pocket, landing on the seat next to the food.

"Trevor!" the boy cried, pouncing on the toad. Grabbing the toad, he accidentally knocked an open box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans to the floor, showering the floor in multicoloured beans.

"Sorry!" Neville said with a groan, shoving his toad safely into his pocket. "I told you my day was a disaster!"

"Don't worry about it!" Ginny said reassuringly as she and the others started picking up the beans.

As Lydia bent over to scoop up a handful, her pendant slid out from under her shirt, it's snake and crest clearly visible. Distracted, she didn't notice until she dumped a handful of candies back into the box.

"What's that?" Hermione asked curiously, glancing at the pendant as she poured her own handful of beans in with the others. Taking a closer look, her eyes widened. "Ron... Ron!" she called, her eyes fixed on the pendant.

Realizing her mistake, Lydia tried to push the pendant back under her shirt, but not before Ron spotted the name and engravings. He, like Hermione, was staring at her horror-stricken, all thoughts of cleaning long forgotten.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he shrieked, his face drained of colour. "You don't belong here!" Hermione was now standing protectively in front of Harry, her eyes cold. "Get out! OUT!" Ron hollered, his arm quivering as he pointed to the door.

Before anyone else could respond, Lydia gathered her things, her mind in a state of shock. She pulled her trunk and cage into the corridor, and heard Ron slam the door behind her.

She was alone.