November Snow

e l e v e n

It didn't take long for Harry to wake up again, thanks to Hermione's constant calls of his name. Meanwhile, Ron just sat next to Hermione, I exchanged few words with Professor Lupin about matters that weren't very important considering I had agreed to help Sirius Black, much to his gladness. We still hadn't had an exact plan yet, but they had help which was a work in progress.

"Thanks." Harry said as Ron gave him back his glasses.

The boy sat up and looked around, noticing that the lights were on and the train was moving again. He slipped on his round glasses.

"Chocolate. Eat. It'll help." Lupin said as he handed the triangular piece of chocolate he broke from the slab in his hand and handed to Harry.

"What was that-- that thing?" Harry stuttered.

"A Dementor. One of the guards of Azkaban." Lupin said "It's gone now."

Harry frowned. I could see cold sweats on his forehead. Poor him, he must have been terrified.

"It was searching the train, Harry." Hermione said "For Sirius Black."

"I need to speak with the driver." Lupin said stepping out of the compartment, but before he left he didn't forget to remind Harry about the chocolate "Eat. It'll help."

I sat down on the opposite side of Harry, silently watching the other two fusing around him. They talked quietly, Harry looked like anything could scare the bloody hell out of him at that moment. I looked out the window. It was very dark outside. Silently counting in my head, I could see that the Hogwarts Express was already an hour late to the school.

"Did you see anything, Harry?" I asked him out of nowhere "Or hear anything?"

"What do you mean see or hear anything?" Ron asked.

"What happened to him was a Dementor kiss." I explained "It sucks out all the happiness in you, leaving only depression, grieve, pain."

"I heard someone screaming." Harry said "A woman, I think."

"That means the scream belongs to someone in your past." I said "Only in your mind, cause I'm sure no one was screaming on this train."

"How do you know?" He asked.

"I have been checking around, haven't I?" I said.

"I mean how do you know about the scream?" He asked again.

"Oh that, that's a Dementor, that's what it does." I explained "Reminding you of the most painful memory."

•••••

"On the carriage, you go!"

A Professor stood at the gate on the different path from the first-years' way to the boats, urging us to get onto the horseless carriages lining up on the pathway. I walked calmly behind the trio with Fred and George as they went on about their Filibuster fireworks experiment with a salamander. Not that I noticed, but Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini were strolling behind us.

Harry, Hermione and Ron got on an empty carriage, followed by Fred and George, then Ginny. I was about to follow them on when I noticed that the seats were all taken.

"No, not that carriage." The Professor said and pointed to the one behind us "That one, you go."

And mind me if I groaned or something, which I was sure I made quite an inhuman noise at the sight of the other carriage she suggested. You would do the same, wouldn't you, when the ones who sat in that one were your enemies?

"Is there any other carriage?" I asked her, hoping for a yes.

"If you haven't noticed, miss Avery, these are the only two left." She said "So hurry up, we are nearly late for the feast, I must remind you."

Groaning, I bade goodbye to the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione before heading towards the carriage full of foul people. Honestly, I love my Slytherin people, but not these people. On that carriage sat Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. You should see the look on my face.

They noticed me walking towards their carriage as my friends left on another. Parkinson and Greengrass threw me a look of disgust, Crabbe and Goyle kept nudging each other's ribs with their meaty elbows while their eyes were fixed on me, and how could I not notice that smug smirk on Malfoy's face. I stepped onto the carriage, my head high, my eyes cold. And we started moving towards the castle.

"Look who it is, young Avery, abandoned by her little group of blood traitorous friends." Parkinson started her taunting session.

"We must teach her a lesson sometimes." Greengrass chimed in "Blood is everything."

"Keep your mouths to yourselves, Parkinson, Greengrass." I said slowly, mentally noted that I sounded somehow like Snape. It must be because of those holidays spending at his house "You are one year older than me, but that doesn't make you any smarter."

"Oh actually, we are." Parkinson sneered "Since we are third-years, and you are a mere second-year."

"You see, if brain is gold then you two adding up are still poorer than Longbottom." I smirked.

"At least we still have breathing mothers." Greengrass said.

It was way out of line.

My hands balled into a fist, clutching my wand, my eyes fixed on them. Inside my head, I said the incantation of a spell I made when I was young. I never told anyone I made a spell, for it was too dangerous. And thankfully, I knew how to make non-verbal spells.

Parkinson and Greengrass were laughing at the angry me when they felt a sharp pain shot through their bodies and went straight to their brains. Their laughters were cut short and replaced by horrid shrieks of pain. Their hands shot up and clutched their heads as if that could soften their hurting brain. Crabbe and Goyle were terrified. They, too, started screaming. Only Malfoy was making no noise, but his eyes filled with shock and amusement.

I relaxed myself as I had successfully punished them for their chatty and bully nature. Smiling slyly, I leaned back to the back of my seat, observing their angry faces mixed with fear at the corner of my eyes. But none of them dare to speak a word until we reached the castle.

I found Juliette in the Great Hall, sitting with Blaise Zabini. Turned out they sat with each other on a carriage earlier and had got on with each other perfectly. Zabini was a nice guy, after all.

That evening, after all the Sorting Ceremony and such, we began the feast. I wasn't much of a food lover, but I managed to finish two pieces of blueberry pie, chocolate pudding and a tiny bit of turkey. I had a wonderful first night out of the Knight Bus, but there was one thing I could never get out of my head.

Draco Malfoy's satisfied smile after I did the spell on Parkinson and Greengrass on that horseless carriage trip.