Chapter Text
The rain was absolutely hammering against the windows of the Hogwarts Express turning the sky outside into a moody dramatic blur of grey and black. Harry dragged his heavy trunk down the narrow corridor feeling thoroughly exhausted down to his bones. Behind him Ron and Hermione were bickering endlessly about something petty but Harry completely tuned them out. All he wanted to do was find an empty seat collapse into it and sleep for hours.
"Everywhere else is full," Hermione announced sliding open the wooden door to the very last compartment on the carriage.
The layout inside was dead quiet. In the far right corner by the window a man was fast asleep pressed flat against the glass under a tattered faded wizard’s cloak that looked like it had seen better decades. Directly opposite the sleeping stranger sitting quietly by the other window was a girl a year younger than them. She wore a strange striking necklace crafted out of blue butterbeer corks and held a copy of The Quibbler completely upside down.
Hermione walked into the space first. The exact moment her eyes landed on the eccentric girl she visibly stiffened walked right past her with her chin up and took a seat on the completely opposite side of the carriage as far away from her as possible. Ron shuffled in right behind her and did the exact same thing sliding into the empty seat next to Hermione without a word.
Harry walked in last thoroughly confused by why his two best friends were acting so incredibly weird. Shaking his head at their bizarre behavior Harry just walked over to the window side and sat down right next to the quiet girl.
"Who do you think he is?" Ron whispered leaning forward and nodding toward the motionless sleeping man.
"It's on his suitcase Ronald, Professor R. J. Lupin," Hermione replied instantly her tone sharp. Then her gaze drifted across the small compartment landing squarely on the girl sitting next to Harry. "And that’s... that’s Loony Lovegood."
The cruel nickname slipped out of her mouth before Hermione could stop herself. She instantly froze realizing exactly what she had just said and snapped her mouth shut tightly.
Harry’s head snapped up. The heavy exhaustion that had been weighing down his shoulders vanished in an instant replaced by a sudden horrifying shock that burned through him. Having spent his entire childhood being the unwanted outcast locked away in a dark cupboard under the stairs being called a freak and whispered about by the school as if he were something inherently evil he absolutely loathed bullying in any form. He never ever expected to hear that kind of nasty casual language come out of Hermione’s mouth.
"Why did you call her that?" Harry asked his voice dropping into a sharp dangerous edge that cut through the quiet room.
"Everyone does," Ron piped up from next to Hermione shrugging his shoulders carelessly. "You know... she's just weird."
Harry glared fiercely at his best friend. "That's not nice."
"It's quite all right Harry," a serene airy voice murmured beside him.
Harry looked back turning his attention completely away from Hermione and Ron to look properly at the girl sitting next to him. "No it's not," he said firmly his posture shifting instinctively to shield her from across the aisle. He softened his tone considerably as he looked at her his green eyes catching the strange mismatched jewelry she wore. "That's... that's a really nice necklace."
Luna tilted her head a faint dreamy smile touching her pale lips. "Thank you. It keeps away the Nargles."
Harry blinked his protective focus turning into pure curiosity. "What's a Nargle?"
"Mischievous little creatures," Luna explained with absolute seriousness turning a page of her upside down magazine. "They live in mistletoe and love to steal things. They’re terribly real you know. Everyone else pretends they aren't but they're the exact reason people lose their left socks."
Hermione immediately crossed her arms tightly over her chest her brow furrowing in irritation. "Luna Nargles are absolutely not a real thing. They aren't mentioned in any standard Ministry guide or library book—"
"Actually," Harry interrupted cutting Hermione off completely as he looked back at Luna with absolute earnestness. "That actually makes total sense. I completely believe you. I've been fighting a losing war against my own socks for a year now. I literally lost four mismatched ones in a single week last term."
Hermione looked like her logical brain was about to completely short circuit at Harry taking Luna's side over hers but before she could utter another word to argue the train suddenly screeched to a violent groaning halt on the tracks.
The overhead lights flickered once twice and died completely plunging the entire compartment into total chilly darkness.