Double Deception

The One Were They Meet

"I'm sitting here.'

A red-headed first year girl said as she dumped herself unceremoniously across the seats of a train cabin. Her long flaming hair reached down to her lower back and was tied into two long braids that had obviously been done the night before, with small hairs falling out already. She was average height for an eleven year old though her presence was stronger then that of someone twice her age, making her seem taller then she actually was. Her hazel eyes were flecked with hints of gold and green, they seemed to tinkle with humour as though she was constantly amused by her own thoughts.

The blond girl she had spoken to looked up from her book just long enough to nod before disappearing back into the pages. She was shorter then the other and would probably be at risk of being trampled in the Hogwarts corridors. Her hair was also considerably shorter, falling just below her shoulder bones in a dirty blonde sheet, it framed her face and brought out her sea blue eyes. Those eyes were trained hard on the words in front of her, shining with curiosity and knowledge.

It took approximately 2.35 minutes of staring out the window and tapping out a repetitive tune with her hands on the plush seats for the red-head to get bored.

"What's your name?" She asked, breaking the silence of the room.

"Percy." Came the short reply, she answered as if on automatic, mind lost in a different place. Despite this, the other first year persisted in her questioning.

"Are you a first year too?" Yet another nod followed then once again silence filled the cabin. Another few minutes passed then, with a huff of annoyance, the red-head reached across and yanked the book from Percy's hands.

"Look, this is going to be a bloody long journey if you're not going to talk to me!" That certainly got the blonds attention as she looked helplessly between the newly made paper cuts on her fingers to the other girl staring at her. "I'm Kayla Corlett, you said your name was Percy, that gotta be short for something so what is it?"

Percy glanced over at the book, placed carefully out of her reach by Kayla, and sighed. Resigning herself to the idea that she may actually have to be sociable.

"Persephone, but I'm pretty sure my parents named me that just to spite me for being a girl. My brothers couldn't say it when we were little, so I'm Percy." She shrugged as if she couldn't care less though her words held more meaning then she let on.

"Persephone? Oh you poor girl." Kayla didn't bother to hide her mirth, she had never had much tact. "So you got a boys name to blend in with your brothers. I want a boys name too! Hmm.." She stared into space, lost in thought deciding what name would fit her.

"Kyle" Percy's voice broke her out of her trance. "It suits you and links to your name- can I have my book back now?"

"Kyle." Kayla repeated, trying out the name then grinned and nodded "I like it." She completely ignored the question and moved to sit next to Percy, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"I just want my book back..."

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As it turned out the girls found a lot to talk about and the train journey raced by in a blur of stories, awful puns and sweets from the trolley.

By the time they got to Hogwarts Percy was sure she knew just about everything there was to know about Kyle (who has taken strongly to her new name), the girl was an open book. Plus, she could talk for England.

The only time she had been silenced was when they got their first glimpse of the castle from the boats, it shone out against the Scottish countryside and its towering reflection was shimmering in the lake. At that moment she was quiet save for a small whisper of "It looks just like I imagined." That earned an awestruck nod from the curly-haired girl sat in front of them.