TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Fourteen

There was a lot of screaming and shouting on Platform 9 and ¾ just like every year. Still, Tom was surprised by it as he passed through the barrier. It was such a stark shift from the grey, tedious and monotonous Muggle World to the bright and vibrant Wizarding World. Tom looked down the platform. There were hundreds of parents and children all bustling around, steam blowing everywhere. Tom noticed that he could see higher above them then he could before. Reasonably higher above them. He had grown quite considerably over the holiday. Giving one last look down to the seemingly infinite number of families all saying their goodbyes on the platform, Tom got onto the Hogwarts Express. He walked down the carriage until he found an empty compartment. He slid the door to it open and entered. He sat in silence for a short while, waiting until the train would begin to depart from the station. These journeys were always tortuous in length. After an eternity of waiting (that in reality was around 15 minutes) the scarlet steam train began to chug away from the station. From the neighbouring compartments Tom could hear yells and goodbyes from people calling out of their windows. Tom, not having anyone to say goodbye to, simply focused his eyes forward on the seat in front of him. Eventually the yells from the rest of the carriage died down and the train raced further and further away from the station. Not having anything to do, Tom found his sight slowly began to fade as a wave of fatigue enveloped him.

A timid knock echoed around the compartment. Tom's eyes shot open but the rest of his body remained still. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a silhouette standing behind the door.

'Maybe it's those Gryffindor's again,' Tom thought back to last year and how they had 'greeted' him on the train. He sighed heavily, expecting the worst but all that he heard was another knock. He turned fully to look at the door but still did not stand up. The silhouette was unfamiliar. Definitely didn't look like anyone Tom had seen before.

"Hello?" called out an uncertain voice. It didn't sound like any of the Gryffindors. It sounded feminine. The door opened steadily. Then someone poked their head around it, looking curiously into the compartment.

"So it is empty," they said, more to themselves and opened the door fully, "Mind if I sit in here? Everywhere else is full."

Tom inspected the person with a blank frown. As he had thought, he'd never seen them before in his life. 'Them' was a girl around the same height as Tom with long, curly brown hair. She wore a Slytherin uniform. On her face were a set of glasses that made her eyes look bigger than they did in actuality. While her eyes were big, her face was small making her abundance of hair stand out even more. She walked into the compartment and sat opposite Tom. For a short and awkward while there was silence.

"Hey," she said lamely, unsure of how to act. Tom's face wasn't exactly welcoming. Tom remained silent. He exhaled slowly, resigning to the fact that this person would be here now. He shut his eyes again.

"Hey!" the girl repeated louder, trying to get his attention. Tom didn't react in the slightest. The girl groaned and tried again.

"My name's Alannah, nice to meet you," she said, holding her hand out for him to shake, "What's your name?"

Tom still didn't react. Alannah's hand returned back to her side and her face soured.

"O-kay," she said slowly, "How was your holiday?"

Tom finally stirred. He opened his eyes and looked at Alannah.

"You talk too much."

Alannah's patience was running thin, "Huh? I try to be nice and introduce myself and that's all you can say?!"

Tom shut his eyes again. Alannah groaned again.

"I'm pretty sure I know you anyway..." she said before her eyes widened and she slammed her fist down on her open palm, "Yeah I do! You're the freak!"