The Sun, Moon & Stars

29. The Dementor Attack

The Hogwarts Express left at 11 o'clock on September the 1st. Ophelia and Remus had been in their compartment for around an hour by the time Harry, Ron and Hermione joined them. Ginger on the other hand, opted to stay home. Ophelia pleaded for her to reconsider, but she knew it was unfair to do so. Ginger liked their home. She liked the life she had there -- and they would see each other, soon enough.

Remus was sleeping when the others joined them. It had been the full moon the night before, unfortunately for him, so he took the long train ride as an opportunity for much needed sleep while she flipped through a book, snacking on some chocolate from his bag.

'Hey!' Ron said as they slid open the compartment door and shuffled in. They stopped in their tracks though when they saw Ophelia wasn't alone.

'This is my Dad, Remus Lupin.' She filled in, 'He's our new Defence teacher.'

Hermione squealed with excitement. 'Yes! I knew we'd get a good professor this year. God, if he's even a bit better than Lockhart he's already fabulous.'

Ophelia cracked a smile at that. He was much better than Lockhart.

They made their greetings, and then sat down in their usual seats. Harry and Hermione on one side, Ron and Ophelia on the other (except this time, with a sleeping Remus Lupin beside her).

They spoke of their summers. Ron had gone to Egypt, as they all knew already, though he took great delight in re-telling the entire story all over again. Hermione had gone to France with her muggle parents, so she described all the tourist attractions they saw. Ron looked utterly confused, but Harry (having grown up with muggles) understood, as did Ophelia; who knew her fair share about muggle places.

Ophelia on the other hand, didn't have much to tell. She told them about going to Luna's, and hanging out with Ginger; but other than that, she had to leave out what the entirety of her summer had really been like; gloomy. She had to act as if nothing had happened to them at all, and that was more difficult than she had anticipated.

'Erm, why is he sleeping?' Ron asked, after a while. It seemed as if he had been waiting to ask for a while, but just couldn't take it anymore.

'Oh, he's just tired. Long night packing and preparing!' Ophelia smiled, as best she could, despite the truth; which was he was a werewolf last night, not packing.

'Right...' Ron trailed off, looking confused.

While Harry got into discussing the incident with his Aunt Marge again, Ophelia took this time to get a good look at her friends. They all looked so different, though it had only been two months since they last saw each other. Harry's hair was longer, more messy and slightly curly; but still jet black. He had also grown quite a bit taller, he looked to now be about 5'4 when he had been 5'2 at most last year.

Ron looked pretty much the same, except he was much taller, his flaming red hair had a bit more volume; and if it was even possible, he may have gained more freckles. Hermione on the other hand, looked the most different. Her hair, which had previously been frizzy, was now curly and tame; telling Ophelia she had mastered the art of being able to control it over the summer.

Ophelia herself looked different too, even if she didn't notice it. Her curly black hair was longer, she was slightly taller and all of them had seemingly grown out of their 'little kid' bodies. They were all more slender, more curved and defined; and Hermione and Ophelia alone had gotten breasts over the summer.