Bitter Rivals Sweet Love

The Journey From Platform 9&3/4 (2)

"Yes, please," Harry panted.
"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"
With the twins' help, Harry and Azalea's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner
of the compartment.
"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.
"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.
"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you?"
"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry and Azalea.
"What?" said Azzy.
"The Potter twins, "chorused the twins.
"Oh, them," said Azalea. "I mean, yes, we are."
The two boys gawked at them, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to their relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.
"Fred? George? Are you there?"
"Coming, Mom."
With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.
"What is this place?" Azzy muttered, awestruck
"No idea" Harry replied, equally dazed.
"I'm gonna take a look around, 'kay?" Azalea said, eager to explore more of this wonderful train
Harry just nodded absentmindedly. Azalea have him a small smile and moved out of the compartment.
Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the
red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.
"Ron, you've got something on your nose."
The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.
"Mom -- geroff" He wriggled free.
"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the
twins.
"Shut up," said Ron.
"Where's Percy?" said their mother.
"He's coming now."
The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his
billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge
on his chest with the letter P on it.
"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves --"
"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the
other twin. "Once --"
"Or twice --"
"A minute --"
"All summer --"
"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.
"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.
"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term -- send me an owl when you get there."
She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.
"Now, you two -- this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl
telling me you've -- you've blown up a toilet or --"
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."
"It's not funny. And look after Ron."
"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."
"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.
"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"
Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.
"You know that black-haired twins who were near us in the station? Know who they are?"
"Who?"
"The Potters!"
Harry heard the little girl's voice.
"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see them, Mom, oh please...."
"You've already seen them, Ginny, and the poor kids aren't something you goggle at in a zoo. Are they really, Fred? How do you know?"
"Asked them. Saw their scars. They're really there - like lightning."
"Poor dears - no wonder they were alone, I wondered. They were ever so polite when they asked how to get onto the platform."
"Never mind that, do you think they remember what You-Know-Who looks
like?"
Their mother suddenly became very stern.
"I forbid you to ask them, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though they need reminding of that on their first day at school."
"All right, keep your hair on."
A whistle sounded.
"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.
"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

--Meanwhile--

Azalea walked around the passage of the train, intrigued by the sights. People gawked as she passed, trying to look for the infamous scar on her forehead. She shifted her focus to the ceiling, which was a deep scarlet. Lost in thought, she didn't see where she was going. Suddenly, she bumped into someone, sending the person's books flying from his hand. She quickly apologized as she bent down to pick the books up.
"I'm sorry i didn't see where i was going" Azalea said frantically.
"Next time you should" the boy said coldly.
Azalea frowned at the boy's attitude and a scowl formed on her face.
"I already apologized, no need to make such a big deal of it" Azalea said, scowling.
"You still dirtied my books" the boy said without any expression on his face.
"They were on the floor for what, five seconds? And they got dirty?" Azalea scoffed.
"Learn to accept your mistakes" The boy said coolly
"I accepted my mistake! I apologized! you're the one who's making a big deal out of it!" Azalea's voice was rising, the frustration evident in her tone
"Can you not shout? It's irritating" the boy said coolly. It looked like his sole aim right now was to irritate Azalea as much as possible
"You're impossible!" Azalea said, rolling her eyes
"Ah, the classic eye-roll. Got nothing better to say eh?" the boy said without missing a beat
Azalea turned to go back the way she came from but was stopped by the boy
"I wanna know who has the audacity to dirty my books and then walk away. So, what's your name?" the boy said, his hands in his pockets
"Azalea. Azalea Potter" Azalea said rolling her eyes.
"Rolling your eyes twice in a row, Potter? Tch. What a waste of comebacks" the boy smirked
"What's your name, then huh?"
"Riddle. Mattheo Riddle" the boy said, a cocky smirk on his face.
"Now, if you don't mind, Riddle, I have better things to do" Azzy said turning away
"Do you, now? Well, don't let me stop you, Potter" Riddle said his smirk still in place.
Azalea walked away to find the compartment her brother was in. She finally located him and plopped down on the seat next to him.
The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.
"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite the twins.
"Everywhere else is full."
Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at the twins and then
looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.