Lumos (Book One)

Chapter Two ~ The Dementor

I sat with my brother and his friends on the train to school. The new teacher was sleeping under a coat in the corner, so we spoke at low volumes to be respectful. Something about him felt familiar, like I'd met him before, but I couldn't quite place it.

Cara, my kitten, and I had fun conversations with Hermione's cat Crookshanks. I must have been flaunting my ability because Hermione became very suspicious.

"You can talk to animals, Avery?" she finally asked.

"Wait you guys can't?" They all shook their heads. "Oh. Is that bad?"

"Not at all! It might actually be quite useful." Hermione grinned at me. "Are you an Animagus?"

"What's that?"

"An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can become an animal," Harry explained. I flushed.

"Y-Yeah, actually. I can turn into a wolf..." I muttered. Hermione smiled even wider.

"That's so cool! One of the girls in Gryffindor is an Animagus. Her name's Laura. She becomes an Irish Wolfhound. And one of the teachers is a cat." She was being extremely nice to me for some reason.

It was kinda creepy.

The door to our compartment opened and in the doorway stood three boys. By the way Harry and the other acted when they appeared, I assumed they weren't friendly.

"Well, look who it is," Blondie drawled, "Potty and the Weasel." The two brunets with him chuckled trollishly. "I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley. Did your mother die of shock?"

Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks' basket to the floor. Professor Lupin gave a snort.

"Who's that?" said Blondie, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Lupin.

"New teacher," said Harry, who got to his feet, too, in case he needed to hold Ron back. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. He seemed to notice that I was here. "Who are you? Another Weasley? Or are you Potter's girlfriend with a matching scar?"

I grimaced. "I'm his sister, you dolt."

"Then why're you ginger?"

"Because our mum was? Are you a total idiot?"

"Why do you sound Irish?"

"Because I grew up in Ireland, obviously."

Malfoy smirked at my comebacks. Did no one talk back to him like this? "I like you. I'm Draco Malfoy. Why don't we be friends?" He held out his hand for me to shake. I raised an eyebrow.

"You just insulted my brother and my friends, and you're asking me to be friends with you?"

"Yeah."

I rolled my eyes. "You should probably leave before the teacher wakes. Or maybe we can all have a nice chat about how you were harassing us?" I smirked evilly. Malfoy glared and summoned his friends while he walked away.

Harry and Ron sat down again, Ron massaging his knuckles. "I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he said angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and --" Ron made a violent gesture in midair.

"Ron," hissed Hermione, pointing at Professor Lupin, "be careful..."

But Professor Lupin was still fast asleep. The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks.