metanoia

Chapter Two

The old train hums with bemused laughter and excited conversation. Each of the compartments filled with new and old friends waiting for the journey ahead of them with anticipation. Alexandra Worth glances to her right into a compartment full of first years, their eyes shining with varied levels of fear and hope. Six years ago, she and Letti sat in a similar compartment with the Prewett Twins talking excitedly about this new, magical world they'd been introduced to and which house she'd be sorted into.

Little did she know how much would change after the start of their journey.

Lisette followed her best mate's gaze, remembering their first time on the Hogwarts Express as though it was just yesterday. Two sets of heavy, calloused hands found their places on the two girls' small shoulders, scaring them out of their fond memory. Alex instinctually throws back her elbow, connecting with the person's abdomen. She quickly whips her blonde hair around to see her friends, the Prewett Twins, "Oh, I'm so sorry Gid. You just scared me is all. You know how I am."

Lisette and Fabian were laughing so hard at the injured twin, they found themselves clutching their sides. Gideon held his stomach, groaning at his friend's painful shot to the abdomen, giving her a thumbs up to indicate that he was okay, "It's alright, Lex. You were staring rather intently at those first years, you into younger guys now?"

Snorting at his joke, she nods her head at him, grabbing him by the chin with her index finger and thumb, "Oh, I thought you already knew? That's why I like you so much."

Laughing at her flirtatious rebuttal, the quartet continues down the hall to find an empty room for the four of them. Fabian sits across from his blonde friend, watching her happily remove the pencil from behind her ear and melt into her creative realm as she continues one of her detailed sketches. Gideon curls up in a ball beside her, quickly falling asleep against the wall of the compartment. Letti laid out across the seat, laying her head in Fabian's lap as he, himself, pulled out a muggle comic book that she'd given him for his birthday.

"Really, Fab? Issue number 125? Again?" she melodically laughs at the sight of the book. Growing up, she loved everything to do with comic books, specifically Spider-Man, and thought that the idea of a life with superpowers would be so cool. Then, on her eleventh birthday her wish came true tenfold.

Before her boyfriend of years could answer, the compartment door slides open and joining them instead of their friend, Charlie, was the Slytherin kids; Bellatrix Black and her younger sister, Narcissa, as well as their cousin, Regulus Black, Lucius Malfoy, and Severus Snape. The five Slytherin meet Alexandra's eyes, and a majority of their expressions turn nasty. The wild haired one scowled at the blonde, "Well if it isn't ickle Worth, her sidekick Lightwood and her two pet gingers."

Alex typically avoided confrontation but when it came to these Slytherin bullies in particular, or any bully in general, she did not and would not hold her tongue. She didn't necessarily have a problem with Narcissa Black but because of her association with her family and Malfoy, they definitely weren't friends. "Well if it isn't a pack of wild bitches and their King, Satan. Oh wait no, you make Satan seem like he belongs back in Heaven," she spits at Bellatrix dryly, returning her glance back to her sketchbook not caring to look at them any longer.

Insulted by Alex's snide quip, Bellatrix draws her wand on Alex, who's just as fast in drawing her own, resulting in both of them pointing their wands at the other's throat. Fabian and Lisette quickly stood up from their relaxed positions, facing Bellatrix's companions and ready to fight if need be. Bellatrix snarls at the blonde, slowly bringing the end of her wand closer to the sufficiently shorter Gryffindor's trachea, "Listen here, you filthy little Mudblood, you really must learn to respect your superiors."