“Have a good term, dears,” Narcissa Malfoy said as she kissed both Rachel and Draco on the cheek.
Rachel turned away and hoisted her trunk up onto the train. She dragged it down the aisle as quickly as possible, searching for an open compartment. At last, she found one, a good distance away from where Draco was standing and chatting with his two friends Crabbe and Goyle.
This was her chance to escape Draco, if only for a few hours.
She quickly slid the compartment doors open and stepped inside, setting her trunk down on the floor beside the seat. Then, checking that the coast was clear, she slid the compartment doors shut.
Rachel settled down into the seat and sighed. How wonderful this was. She would have a few hours to herself, to study her textbooks for the coming year, to memorize new spells, and, perhaps, to do a little experimenting. She smiled to herself.
Suddenly, the compartment doors slid open once more and a familiar face poked through. Rachel found herself once more face-to-face with Harry Potter.
“Er-excuse me-sorry,” he said awkwardly. His face reddened considerably. He was obviously remembering their previous encounter and how it had turned out.
“What do you want?” Rachel asked sharply. She was still remembering how he had recoiled at her after discovering who she was and who her parents were. It made her insides jump with anger to think of how he hated those who judged others simply based on their family backgrounds, and yet he did exactly the same thing.
“I’m sorry,” Harry said, lowering his gaze. “It’s just that-well-there are no more open compartments, and we were wondering if maybe you would-er-let us sit with you?” He gestured behind him to two of his friends, who Rachel couldn’t quite make out.
Rachel was caught off-guard. She certainly hadn’t been expecting this. Maybe the comeback he had finally thought up for their encounter the day before, or perhaps even an apology for the way he had judged her so thoughtlessly, but never this. “Er-“ She squinted behind Harry, trying to identify the two people standing with him, but they were lost in shadow.
She glanced at Harry again. Maybe he isn’t all that bad, she thought, especially if he was willing to share a compartment with her. Maybe he had thought on it and decided that maybe she wasn’t at all like her parents.
“All right,” she conceded with a sigh. She made space for Harry and his friends to sit.
“Thanks,” Harry said, after a pause, then stepped carefully into the compartment. His two friends followed suit, the second friend pulling the compartment doors shut.
Rachel felt recognition dawn on her as she peered more closely at Harry’s friends. Ginny Weasley, her flaming red hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail, stood at Harry’s right, looking simply furious at the idea of having to share a compartment with a Slytherin. And gawky, slightly pudgy Neville Longbottom stood to Harry’s left, holding his toad carefully in his hands.
Rachel felt a tightening sensation in her chest as she looked at Neville. Their eyes locked-and Neville’s eyes instantly darkened.
Harry, however, paid Neville no mind. He set his trunk down and climbed wearily into the seat opposite Rachel, where he stretched his legs out to make himself more comfortable.
Ginny warily settled down into the seat next to Harry, refusing to meet Rachel’s eyes. Neville, however, didn’t move a muscle. He stood in place as if frozen, staring at Rachel.
Harry glanced at Neville’s angry face, then took a second look as if not quite believing what he saw. “Er-Neville? What’s the matter? Are you all right?”
Rachel’s heart sank. She knew exactly what was wrong.
It had been Rachel’s parents who had tortured Neville’s into insanity, leaving them as good as dead with nowhere to go but St. Mungo’s for the rest of their lives.
Neville took a deep, shuddering breath. “We can’t share a compartment with-with her.”
Harry’s eyebrows knotted together in confusion for a moment, but then smoothed out into a look of understanding. “Neville-come on-it’s all right,” he said gently.
Ginny, however, apparently didn’t know what Rachel’s parents had done to Neville’s. “What’s wrong, Neville?” she asked. “I know she’s a Slytherin, but she seems to be of the nicer variety.”
Rachel immediately tensed up at her words. “Excuse me?” she demanded. “She is sitting right here.”
“Sorry,” Ginny said, not looking sorry at all. “It’s just that-well-no offense or anything-but Slytherins and Gryffindors don’t really mix.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe the only reason they don’t mix is because of the stupid stereotype you Gryffindors put on all of us Slytherins-you automatically assume that we all hate Muggle-borns. Well, how would you like it if I assumed that you were the stereotypical Gryffindor-brave, but perhaps not the smartest. Although, from what I’ve seen, you seem to fit that stereotype quite well.”
Ginny rose up in her seat. “Excuse me?”
Neville suddenly broke in and pointed an accusing finger at Rachel. “That’s beside the point. Do you know what her parents did to my parents?” His voice rose to a shout. “DO YOU?!”
Everyone in the compartment looked very taken aback at Neville’s sudden outburst. “No-what?” Ginny asked, looking utterly confused.
Neville was trembling all over. “They took them, and they put them under the Cruciatus curse. Over and over and over, until it drove them mad. They can’t even talk anymore-they can’t take care of themselves-they have to stay in a bloody hospital for the rest of their lives. And the worst part is-they don’t even know my name,” he finished in a choked whisper.
“I’m so sorry, Neville,” Ginny whispered, after a very lengthy pause. Ginny and Harry both sat frozen in horror. Their eyes flickered to Rachel, who so often had something to say in her defense, who always had some sort of catty comment to make. But now, Rachel had slid down in her seat, looking as if she were trying to make herself as small as possible.
“I’m sorry, Neville,” Rachel said quietly. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“There is no way that I am going to share a compartment with somebody like her,” Neville finished, rather nastily. He turned around, shoved the compartment doors open, and stalked out of the compartment into the corridor, letting the doors shut behind him with a bang.
Ginny, looking rather shocked, hurried out of the compartment after Neville. Harry jumped to his feet and was about to rush after Neville, too, when he stopped to glance at Rachel. “I’m sorry,” he said, somewhat lamely, then dashed out of the compartment. The doors banged shut once again.
A horrible, empty silence was left behind. Rachel felt the familiar tears threatening to overwhelm her. Why, oh, why did everyone seem to hate her? They all assumed that she was just like her parents. She usually stood up to most of them. But Neville-how in the world could she stand up to Neville? How could she, when his parents had been driven insane at the hands of her own parents? She knew that it must have haunted him all his life. And today, of all days, to run into the daughter of the very people who had made his life so miserable-who wouldn’t have exploded with anger like he did? She didn’t blame him one bit.
She vaguely wondered why they hadn’t had an encounter before, but, of course, it could very well be because she usually sat quietly in the backs of classrooms, keeping to herself and her books, doing well on exams and such but never raising her hand. She always held her own quite valiantly when spoken to, but she never actively sought out a conversation. The truth was that she simply couldn’t stand the hateful looks she got when she told people her name. The entire Wizarding world knew her by her parents, it seemed, and, no matter how much she argued her case, there was nothing she could do to change that.
The tears at last spilled over, running down her cheeks like hot wax.
Today, the day she would finally get to return to Hogwarts, the day she had been looking forward to all summer, had turned into an awful nightmare.
Falling for an Eternity by slytherin_princess_9
Chapter Notes: Once again, Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Thank you for reading!