Chapter 10
The compartment had somehow become crowded.
Harry wasn’t entirely sure how.
One minute it had been him and Ivy.
Then Ron had arrived.
Then Hermione.
Then sweets.
Then arguments.
And now Harry desperately needed a moment of silence.
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
Nobody looked up.
Ron was busy explaining Quidditch.
Hermione was correcting him.
Ivy was somehow doing both at the same time.
Harry slipped out before he could get dragged into whatever was happening.
The corridor felt quieter.
Not quiet.
Just quieter.
Harry followed the signs until he found the toilets.
And stopped.
There was a line.
Of course there was.
Harry sighed and joined the back of it.
The train rocked gently beneath his feet.
Students chatted around him.
Someone further down the corridor was laughing.
Harry leaned against the wall and waited.
A few minutes passed.
The line moved.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Then the train jolted unexpectedly.
Hard.
Harry stumbled forward.
Straight into someone.
“Oh—”
He caught himself before he completely fell.
The other boy did not look impressed.
Harry immediately stepped back.
“Sorry.”
The boy turned around.
And Harry forgot what he was about to say.
For exactly one second.
The boy had almost white hair.
Not old-person white.
Bright white.
Like moonlight.
Like snow.
Harry had never seen hair that colour before.
The boy blinked.
Grey eyes.
Sharp features.
A look of mild annoyance.
Definitely not an angel.
Though for a split second, before he’d actually turned around, Harry had thought he might be.
The boy raised an eyebrow.
“Done staring?”
Harry’s face immediately heated.
Right.
Definitely not an angel.
“Sorry.”
Again.
Brilliant.
The boy looked amused now.
Which somehow felt worse.
“You’ve apologised twice.”
Harry frowned.
“Well, I bumped into you.”
“You were pushed.”
“The train moved.”
“Exactly.”
Harry stared.
The boy stared back.
Then, unexpectedly—
His mouth twitched.
Not quite a smile.
Close.
Harry wasn’t sure what to make of that.
The line shuffled forward.
The boy stepped ahead with it.
Harry noticed he was roughly the same height as him.
Maybe a little taller.
Not much.
“You a first year?” Harry asked.
Immediately regretting it.
Why had he asked that?
Of course he was a first year.
He looked eleven.
The boy glanced over his shoulder.
“Obviously.”
Harry sighed.
“Right.”
There was a brief silence.
Then—
“Are you?”
Harry looked up.
“What?”
“A first year.”
“Oh.”
Harry felt stupid.
“Yeah.”
The boy nodded once.
Like that confirmed something.
Before Harry could ask what, the bathroom door opened.
The line moved again.
The boy stepped forward.
Then paused.
Just slightly.
“See you around.”
Harry blinked.
Before he could answer, the boy disappeared into the bathroom.
The door clicked shut.
Harry stared after him.
Weird.
Very weird.
The door to the compartment slid open when Harry returned.
Ivy looked up immediately.
“There you are.”
Harry sat down.
Ron barely glanced away from his story.
“Took you long enough.”
“There was a line.”
Hermione nodded sympathetically.
“That makes sense.”
Ivy narrowed her eyes.
Harry recognised that look.
It was the look she got when she thought she’d missed something.
Unfortunately, she was usually right.
“What?”
Harry frowned.
“What what?”
“You look thoughtful.”
“I do not.”
“You do.”
“I don’t.”
“You absolutely do.”
Harry grabbed a Chocolate Frog.
“I’m eating this conversation.”
Ivy gasped.
“Conversation avoidance.”
“Correct.”
She pointed dramatically.
“Suspicious.”
Harry threw a Chocolate Frog at her.
The argument lasted the rest of the journey.