Hey!" Heri protested, coming close to a whine. "You could at least tell me if I've gotten prettier first!" Mind, she didn't usually care, but she had put in some effort today and she wanted her due appreciation, dammit! Lucian laughed a touch hysterically and hoisted her up like she was a toddler. He then tucked her into his chest and sat her down on his lap. "You're very pretty, Heri," he said placatingly, still wild-eyed, clutching her to him like cuddle-toy. "You don't need to show us your — your — your assets," he uttered in a horrified whisper. "You've always been pretty! Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot!" Heri head-butted Lucian's chin to make him loosen up his grip and squinted up at him suspiciously. "The lady at the shop said I'm cute as a snidget chick, but I'll be a sight to see when my curves grow in," she said. "I asked her what about curves would make me pretty since they seem rather useless unless I wanted to bang them against things by accident or something, and then she said that having a bigger bum and baps meant a girl was becoming a woman and thus acceptable for blokes to think pretty, and that only sick freaks thought little girls were pretty. And, well — I want Marcus to think I'm pretty, but I don't want him to be a sick freak, so I figured if you knew I have those stupid curves now then he can think I'm pretty freely without running the risk of being a sick freak. "And I already know that Marcus likes curves anyway, so I figured he'd like mine too," she concluded at length. "Heri . . ." Lucian groaned helplessly, not reacting to the way the others had calmed down a bit and were now sneaking peeks about to what was going on. "There are things . . . there are things you don't do in public or otherwise no matter how sound you think your reasoning is! And presenting your-your feminine attributes is something you don't do!" "That's not fair!" she protested, banging on his chest with her fists. "The older girls do it all the time! An' some of them cheat with padding and stuff 'cause they don't have much more than I do! Why can they do it but not me?" "Potter, you're a third-year and Flint's already of-age," another boy chimed in, Adrian Pucey, one of the Chasers on the reserve and a fourth-year. He was peering out from between his fingers warily, still flushed. "You really want to make him a paedophile?" Marcus growled angrily at Pucey as Heri crossed her arms petulantly. "Seventeen's hardly grown, Pucey! He can't be a paedophile if he's only four years older than me, an' you can already see I'm no little kid anymore!" "He's more than a foot taller than you," Graham pointed out, grinning to himself. "I can't help being short! Don't tell me your size-ist!" Heri turned to Marcus and put on her cutest puppy-eyes. "You don't care if I'm short, do you? I'm growing as fast as I can!" Marcus groaned painfully, dropping his face back into his hands. "Come off it, Titch. I told you from the beginning you're too young for me." Heri made a disgruntled noise and squirmed her way out of Lucian's hold. Ignoring his sighing, she attached herself to Marcus' arm and curled up around it with closed-eye delight. "I won't be too young forever," she said contentedly, undeterred. "You just watch — I'll grow up taller an' super pretty an' then you'll definitely stop saying I'm too little! You'll see! You just wait! Um . . ." — A thought occurred to Heri and she looked up hesitantly — "You will wait . . . won't you?" Marcus made another one of his painful-looking faces, a cross between a grimace and a scowl. "Marcus?" she prompted after a moment, a trickle of uncertainty finally seeping in. Maybe he heard it — Marcus immediately put his hand on her head and fluffed her curls affectionately. A wry smirk turned up the corners of his mouth. "Sure thing, runt. Just don't take forever, yeah?" Heri was roused from a light doze by the feeling of the train slowing. All within the compartment looked up from what they were doing to check the window. It had been drizzling outside and it looked to be getting heavier. Lucian frowned and checked his watch. "We can't be there yet. It's nowhere near the right time." "So why're we stopping?" said Curtis Urquhart, one of the Chasers. The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows. Heri, who had already gotten to her feet again, went to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, other heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments too. The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness. "What's going on?" Peregrine Derrick — one of the Beaters — asked in alarm. Heri closed the door again but didn't move to sit down. "Doesn't look like anyone knows. D'you think we've broken down?" "Dunno . . ." There was a squeaking sound, and Heri saw the dim black outline of Lucian, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out. "There's something moving out there," Lucian said. "It looks people are coming aboard . . ." "What?" said Heri incredulously. "Doesn't the Hogwarts Express only pick up at King's Cro—?" The compartment door suddenly opened and someone ran straight into Heri, pitching them both to the floor. "Sorry — d'you know what's going on? — Ouch — sorry —" "Hullo, Neville," said Heri, feeling around in the dark and pulling the boy up with her as she got to her feet again.
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