[1] Gasoline ✗ Draco Malfoy

one

Chapter One;

quick note: seohyun is pronounced as soh-hyun

It was a good decision, Seohyun thought, to get to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters so early - even if if had meant getting up at some ungodly hour that morning.

When she and her mother arrived on the platform, there'd scarcely been anyone on the platform. She'd kissed her worried mother goodbye, assured that yes, she'd be fine, that she'd write as soon as she got to Hogwarts, and hopped on the scarlet steam engine.

She'd bagged an empty compartment at the end of the train, which would mean less people would come her way and she was less likely to have anyone ask to share a compartment. If they did, it would most likely be a small group. That, she could handle. Seohyun wasn't sure she was ready to face a big group just yet. She'd pulled out her sketchbook and array of pencils and began to draw to while away time.

As the time passed more and more people arrived until the station outside was packed. With each new arrival, Seohyun's anxiety increased. She wasn't sure if she was ready for Hogwarts - she wasn't sure if she knew enough about English customs, if her English was fluent enough, if she'd be able to fit in properly. Her mother, Elena, had spent the time between the news of their relocation and their separation at the Hogwarts express teaching her as much as she could remember about life in England and going over their previous lessons of English. Her mother had spent the first twenty years of her life in England, and Seohyun devoured as much as she could before this day.

At the time, she was confident. She had been learning English for the past three years, and she'd been attentive to her mother's lessons. But seeing so many people outside conversing so easily and laughing made Seohyun fear she didn't know enough and would be pushed to the side, an outsider. The fact that she'd arrived in sixth year when friendships had already been formed did not make her prospects look much brighter.

Seohyun started to avoid looking outside the window and instead focused on her sketching. Drawing had always calmed her. Her mother used to joke Seohyun had been born with a pencil in her hand. Drawing and reading were her two favourite pastimes.

She was so immersed in her drawing (the last memory of her old house in Korea) that she was violently shocked when the door slid open. Seohyun yelped, her pencil skidding wildly across her page and looked sharply up to see three people standing in the doorway - two boys, and a girl with a mass of long, dirty-blonde hair.

"Hello," the blonde said dreamily. She had a rather misty look about her, as though she'd walked into this compartment entirely by accident. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

Seohyun's mouth was suddenly dry. "Sure, I guess," she mumbled.

The girl beamed. "Thank you," she said, and the three stowed their luggage and took their seats. Seohyun acknowledged the others by giving them small smiles before she dipped her head and turned her focus to her sketch again.

It wasn't like she'd have to speak with them. She could easily continue drawing without participating in their conversations. They probably wouldn't want to talk to her, anyway, since she was a stranger.

Sure enough, the three talked while she remained silent in the corner. The more pressing matter to Seohyun was the line that slashed through her drawing. Fortunately it wasn't a hard line, and therefore would be erasable. With surgeon's precision, Seohyun carefully erased the line, her heart skipping a beat every time the train caused her hand to lurch.

When she finished, Seohyun wiped a hand across her brow and was amazed to find a few beads of sweat had formed there. With a rueful smile Seohyun looked up and stretched, and caught a few seconds of conversation amongst the others. Her eyes widened as she caught the words Ministry and You-Know-Who and Harry.