Twin Charmer

The Train Ride (Part One)

Fred

I awoke with a start when I heard the door creak and the sound of Ginny's voice. "Fred? George? Mum says if you don't get up now you'll miss breakfast."

"Mmmph," George moaned, sitting up. I slowly sat up with him, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I looked over at him.

"Ready, George?"

"Ready, Fred."

At lightning speed, we dressed in our identical muggle clothes. As we headed down to breakfast, I could hear Percy angrily complaining to Mum downstairs. Grinning at George, I opened Percy and Ron's door to find Ron packing his trunk and Harry looking slightly worried.

"Congratulations, Ron!"

"You've managed to infuriate Percy yet again!"

"Shut up!" Ron said, the tips of his ears going red.

"You better hurry, Ron."

"We're leaving soon-"

"-and it would be so sad if we had to leave Ickle Ronnykins behind," George said, winking at Harry. I grinned at Ron before we exited, hurrying down the stairs of the Leaky Cauldron for breakfast.

There were posters on nearly every wall warning people about Sirius Black, a murderer who had somehow escaped Azkaban. The sight of him screaming on the wanted posters sent shivers down my spine, so I tried to find a seat at the table facing away from a poster.

"Morning, boys," Mum said from across the table, barely glancing up at us as she conversed with Hermione and Ginny. They were all giggling rather loudly at something.

Dad ruffled our hair as he passed us, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet. He sipped his coffee and began reading the front page as Ron and Harry came down the stairs.

After a quick breakfast, we piled into some Ministry cars that Dad had managed to get us, as we were escorting Harry to King's Cross.

"Be safe, boys. And do try not to get into too much trouble this year," Mum said, hugging George and I.

"Oh, Mum!"

"We never get in trouble! You know us," I winked. Mum sighed and kissed my cheek.

"That what's I was afraid of. Don't forget to owl!" She said. I could see her eyes getting wet as we boarded the train. George and I turned to wave at Mum and Dad before going to find Lee. We found him sitting in a compartment with Angelina and Katie, deep in conversation. They looked up as they entered.

"Fred! George!" Angelina yelped, running forward and pulling me in for a tight hug unexpectedly. George winked at me as Katie embraced him before we sat down next to Lee.

"Just the two troublemakers I was talking about!" Lee exclaimed, draping an arm over each of our shoulders and starting a new conversation.

《》

The train stopped suddenly, sending me flying into the seat between Angelina and Katie.

"Oi! Watch it, Fred!" Katie yelped as I sat back.

"Sorry," I grinned, brushing myself off as I got comfortable again.

"We can't be there already!" Angelina said, worry laced into her voice.

"I wonder why we've stopped?" Katie said, standing up. As she reached the compartment door, the lights flickered and went out. Angelina gasped, grabbing Katie's arm and pulling her back down next to her with wide eyes.

I could feel Lee shivering next to me. It had gone very cold. I glanced at George, who was watching the window intently. Looking harder, I realized that the window was frosting over.

Someone entered our compartment, causing me to look away from the window. Standing at the entrance was Malfoy. He was shaking visibly and he looked about ready to wet himself.

"O-oh, how silly of me. I was looking for my c-compartment but it appears that I ended up in the wrong one. Oh well, I suppose I'll be staying in here with you lot until the l-lights come back on," Draco said, sitting down right next to me with a frightened expression.

Glancing at George, we began to hold back our laughter at Malfoy's attempt to make an excuse to stay in our compartment. The feeling of glee that I had just felt suddenly vanished, making me shiver. A strange sadness had just washed over the compartment.

An agonizingly slow click came from the door, making Malfoy yelp and dart towards the back. I quickly grabbed my wand from the pocket of my robes and pointed it at the door, noting that George and Lee had done the same while Angelina and Katie were huddled near the window with Malfoy desperately clinging to Katie's arm.

I shuddered as a dark creature entered the compartment. It looked around at the six of us before gliding forward.

"S-Sirius Black isn't here. L-l-leave," Lee said, stepping forward shakily. He was pointing his wand bravely at the creature.

"Leave!" He said again with more confidence. The dark creature backed out slowly, leaving the door wide open. George rushed forward and closed it.

"What was that?" Malfoy said, his voice trembling.

"Dementors, from Azkaban. P-probably looking for Sirius Black," Lee answered.

We all huddled near the window, flinching at any small noises and pointing our wands constantly at the door. After what seemed like an eternity, the lights flickered back on and the train lurched forward.

"W-well, that was horrible. I have some, er, rather important buisness to attend to," Malfoy said awkwardly before standing and exiting our compartment quickly. George and I settled back into our seats, and everyone stayed silent.

After sitting in silence for about 15 minutes, there was a small knock on the glass compartment door and a girl opened it. Katie and Angelina squeaked, rushing forward and hugging the girl tightly. She smiled before stepping back, placing her hands on Katie's shoulders.

"Are all of you alright? A few people got really scared when the Dementors came and some people even got sick. They're moving all of them to Compartment One and the trolley lady is helping them out."

This girl was incredibly beautiful. She had dark, wavy hair that hit her waist and deep, twinkling grey eyes. Freckles were scattered like stars across her nose and her cheeks were dusted like a rose. Something about her seemed to calm the atmosphere of the room entirely.

"Yeah, we're all fine," George said, pulling me out of my trance.

"You might want to go looking for Malfoy, though," I added. "He came running in here as if You-Know-Who was outside and left as soon as the lights came back on."

She giggled, making something in my chest jump.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Are you sure that you're all okay?" The girl asked again, looking around at everyone one last time. Part of me wanted to tell her to stay, but I found myself saying, "Yes, we're all alright, thank you."

She smiled. "You're welcome. Have a good rest of your trip. Goodbye Katie, Angelina." The girl waved softly before stepping out and closing the door.

This pretty girl occupied my thoughs for the rest of the train ride. I was only half interested in what my friends were saying, occasionally adding to their conversation. For the most part, however, I gazed out the window, fantasies of the girl replaying in my head.