Moonlight » Harry Potter

One

The Hogwarts Express was just pulling away from the station, and I wrapped my arms around myself and looked out the window. It was raining; as we left the platform and picked up speed, raindrops pelted the window, obscuring my view of the outside. My eyes focused on one raindrop and watched it scurry up the window in the wind.

I remembered being a little kid, seeing these on the car window. "Look, Ev, they're racing!" My mom would exclaim, her hazel eyes dancing with delight. And I'd giggle, a high-pitched, little-kid giggle, and she would point to one droplet and say, "watch it go!" And we would. We would watch it race the other droplets up the window.

Curled up beside me, my Siamese cat, Opal, snored in her sleep. I reached over with one hand and stroked her grey fur.

I sighed, letting my head fall against the window, my warm breath fogging up the glass. My stomach growled; it had been a while since I'd eaten. Yesterday morning, I think? Breakfast at 6:30? 7? Something like that. A bowl of cornflakes with skim milk, just on the verge of expiring.

"Excuse me, but could I sit in here?"

My head jerked to the sliding door of my train compartment, which was now open. I couldn't remember hearing it open, but then I wasn't paying attention. I tilted my head, for the boy that stood in the doorway was none other than the famous Harry Potter.

"Er..." I looked around, craning my head to see the narrow corridor outside the compartment. "I think you've, um, I think you've got the wrong compartment."

Harry Potter looked confused for a second. "Oh. No, I don't, sorry. I just—I usually have a compartment with my friends, only they're prefects this year, and so they can't sit with me. So could I sit here?"

"Er..." I looked around anxiously. I wasn't used to having company when I rode the train; it was like my break from people. Every year since I had started at Hogwarts, I had sat in this very compartment, all by myself, which sounds really sad, but is actually quite peaceful. And now, for the first time ever, someone wanted to sit with me.

And I had no idea how I felt about that.

"Please?"

I stared into his pleading eyes, bright green ones, the ones I had always heard about but never actually seen up close before. The lightning scar above his head was just barely visible through the tangle of dark locks hanging in front of his forehead.

"Er...yeah, I guess."

"Thank you," Harry Potter said as he entered the compartment and slid the door shut. His still-wet shoes squelched against the floor, and the seat squeaked as he sat in it.

He smiled at me, a close-lipped smile that looked forced, but when I looked into his eyes (as I so often found myself doing with new people) I could tell it wasn't. They smiled too, behind his all too famous raindrop-covered glasses.

"I'm Harry. Potter. Harry Potter."

I know. "Everest Blanchard."

"It's nice to meet you, Everest Blanchard," he said.

"You as well," I replied, giving him a welcoming smile.

There was half a minute of awkward silence, so awkward that even my silence-loving self felt the need to fill it. But I didn't, of course. Of course I didn't.

Harry did, though. "What year are you?"

"Fifth," I answered.

"House?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but he cut me off.

"No, wait. Let me guess. Ravenclaw."

"Gryffindor," I corrected. "I am most certainly not in Ravenclaw."

"Me neither," Harry chuckled. "I've never seen you in Gryffindor. Or in Ravenclaw, at that," he added when I raised my eyebrows. "I don't know."

I shrugged.

"Who do you hang out with?" He asked.

I motioned to the compartment, which held just the two of us.

"Oh." Another awkward pause, this one lasting longer than the last. Wow, I so much preferred sitting alone to all this social interaction.

"What's your cat's name?" Harry asked, breaking the silence after what may have been an eternity.

"Opal," I told him, putting a comforting hand on her back. "She's a Siamese."

"She's cute. My friend Hermione has a cat."

"Cool."

"I'm not sure what kind of cat hers is though. His name is Crookshanks."

I nodded. "Nice."

We didn't talk anymore, and I pulled my hands into the sleeves of my sweater, and suddenly became extremely conscious of how nerdy I must look; a tan turtleneck sweater; baggy boyfriend jeans; torn apart black Chuck Taylors that were barely clinging to life. Messy bun, because I overslept and didn't have time to actually run a brush through my thick brown tangles. At least I had good eyesight and didn't need to wear glasses. Then I'd look like a real nerd. No wonder Harry thought I was in Ravenclaw.

My head dropped against the window again, and I listened to the sound of the falling raindrops, closing my eyes and imagining I was alone right now. It's not that I didn't like Harry; I just treasured my alone time immensely. His presence was making the silence awkward, and I did despise that, because I loved silence when it wasn't awkward. This was just making my stomach churn with anxiety. Or maybe that was the hunger. I wasn't even sure anymore.

I must I've fallen asleep, because when I woke up, Harry was sitting next to me, hand on my shoulder, so close I could smell the scent of pumpkin radiating off him. He must've eaten while I was out. I suddenly became jealous as my stomach gave me a pang. But it wouldn't have mattered if I was awake when he bought something off the trolley. It's not like I had any money that I could've paid with.

"Hey, wake up." His breath smelled of pumpkin too. When he saw I was up, he smiled, eyes and everything. "We're here."