Star-Crossed

Chapter Nine: Ron and Hermione

Later on, Harry and I made it onto the train. Our trunks and other luggage had been taken into the holding car somewhere along the way, I wasn't quite sure how yet.

The train was now travelling along swiftly through the countryside. Harry and I ended up alone in a compartment together. I was reading my book again as he was staring out the window at the rolling hills go by.

In a split second, both of us looked up to see the same vibrantly redheaded youngest boy that was standing with the kind woman outside of the platform standing in the doorway. The bang of the door sliding open caught us by surprise and we sat there for a moment, the three of us just staring at each other in awkward silence.

"Excuse me..." The boy, Ron, I remembered his mom introduced him, "do either of you mind? Everywhere else is full."

He seemed nice enough, I thought as Harry and I met eyes from across the compartment. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, echoing the same thought I had before. Both of us thought he was nice enough, so I turned and grinned widely at him, inviting him to sit down.

"Not at all," My brother noted.

"Welcome," I said, snapping my book shut to focus on attempting to make a new friend.

The redhead gave me a toothy grin back, "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."

Harry faced him as I turned and sat cross-legged on the seat, facing Ron next to me, "I'm Natalie Potter, and that is my brother Harry, Harry Potter."

Ron's face went slack when he realised who he was sitting with. His eyes rapidly flashed between the two of us in absolute shock.

"So-so it's true then!" He gasped, "I mean, do you two really have the...the..." He hesitated, his hand moving to his forehead and behind his ear.

"The what?" Harry and I chorused.

He leaned forward and whispered, "The scars..."

"Ohh..." We chorused again, sharing an amused, yet knowing look. It seemed like this would be a frequent question asked of us over the course of this year.

My brother wasted no time lifting the dark hair hanging over his forehead, revealing the lightning-bolt shaped scar resting above his left eyebrow. Ron's mouth seemed to open even further when he beheld it, his eyes then moving to me as I drew my own red locks back into a makeshift pony-tail to reveal my own jagged mark behind my ear.

"Wicked..." The Weasley breathed in awe.

The three of us shared a laugh until we were interrupted by a sweet-looking old woman crossing in front of our open compartment door. She had a trolley full of delicious looking sweets and drinks.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" She asked.

Ron's face fell slightly as he dug around in his pocket and pulled out a squashed sandwich wrapped in plastic, "No thanks, I'm all set." He pursed his lips.

Harry and I looked at each other, then at Ron and then at the Trolley full of sweets and I grinned knowingly as Harry flashed me a wink.

"We'll take the lot!" I smirked, holding up a fist full of galleons.

"Whoa!" Ron gasped.

Even the Trolley lady looked shocked.

_

A few minutes later, Harry, Ron and I were sitting together, chatting aimlessly as we munched on all of the treats we'd managed to get from the trolley. Ron's pet rat was sitting between the two of us, his head stuck in the empty box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans.