"It's all part of a super cunning Slytherin plan."
"What plan?" asked Pansy.
"Wouldn't be very Slytherin if I went around telling everyone, would it?" And with that closing comment, he swept to the door and flashed Pansy a single, twinkly eyed smirk.
Behind the closing door he heard a single "Humpf."
.....
Only a few compartments down, Harry heard female crying from within his target bathroom.
He knocked softly. "Hello?"
The crying continued. "Are you okay in there? Do you need me to go get someone?"
"No." Returned a wet voice in between sobs.
He sighed. Always a block in the floo. He sat down with his back to the door. It wasn't as though he was in a huge rush. "So, why don't you tell me about it? I know that always helps me when I'm like this."
The sobbing dissolved into a sniffling. "I'm useless. I was supposed to do something, but I didn't and now it's too late and my Dad is going to be so angry with me."
"What were you supposed to do? Maybe it's not too late?"
Another round of sobbing erupted. "No. It's too late."
He let the crying continue for a while. Eventually he asked again.
"What did you have to do?"
The girl sniffed. "Meet with the people in the first compartment. But I got distracted and now I just can't."
.....
"Are you Lisa Turpin?"
The sobbing ebbed. "H-how do you know that?"
"I was just in the first compartment. I can help you Lisa."
The train click clacked. The floor vibrated under him.
"Lisa? If you come out, I promise I'll be able to help you. All will be okay and you'll be able to report good news to your father. I promise."
The voice from the other side trembled. "How?"
"Just trust me, okay? It will all be alright."
He waited. Then, after a couple of minutes, there was a flush, the door opened, and a tear stained face with blood shot eyes and long, burnt-brown hair stepped out. The eyes widened. "J-John P-Potter?"
He took the girl's hands, still holding several tissues. "Harry Potter actually, I'm his unknown twin brother. Let's get you cleaned up a bit, then we can go to the compartment together. I'll introduce you and give them a good reason why you weren't there for so long."
Lisa shook. "What good reason?"
"How about you being ill? That would work wouldn't it? And with your current state that won't be difficult to pull off."
She trembled, still looking very unsure.
He pulled her into him and hugged the girl. "Ah, c'mon. It will be okay. I promise." Eventually Lisa returned the hug and sunk into him.
Arms still around the girl, he flicked his wrist to bring his wand to hand. He stepped back, arms still on her shoulders. "It will be okay."
The girl nodded and blew her nose.
"I'm going to cast a spell on you to clean up your face so you look fresh, then I'm going to cast a spell on you to make you look like you've been ill, okay?"
Her eyes widened again, this time in awe. "Y-you can do that?"
"Yes."
He angled his holly and phoenix feather wand towards the girl and cast two spells in quick succession. Immediately the tear stains and blood shot eyes were replaced with yellowing complexion and droopy eyes.
"There we go. We can say you were being taken care of by some friends."
Lisa nodded, he took her hand, and together they made their way back to the front of the train. They reached the first compartment and she started to breathe harder. "H-Harry, I'm not sure I can do this."
He reached his magic into the temporary ward he'd set up.
"It's just too much." Lisa started to struggle in his grip. He held on.
"I… I must go!"
He switched the ward off.
Lisa stopped struggling. He enveloped her in another hug. "Its okay, Lisa. You can do this."
Lisa shook again. She blinked. "Yes. Yes, I can." She looked into his eyes. "Thank you, Harry."
He opened the door and poked his head around the door. "Heirs, heiresses, witches, and wizards - I've found our wayward guest."
.....
Five minutes later, Harry closed the compartment to the Dark behind him and sauntered off down the corridor. Okay, so he'd lost his spot, but he'd got everything he wanted to accomplish done, and Lisa couldn't stop making doe eyes at him, which was definitely a result.
Maybe now he'd walk up the train and accidentally run into Hermione. She might still be tracking down muggleborns and it would be good to see how that was progressing.
But first…
He slipped into the now empty bathroom, pulled out his shrunk trunk, and started changing into the bog-standard Hogwarts robes.
.....
John watched the door of his compartment slide open to reveal a much calmer Susan. "How did it go?"
Susan flopped down next to him. "Greengrass said she'd accept the apology on the condition that you apologise in person."
He groaned.
"None of that . I think she's quite right. You were rude so you should apologise."
"Okay, okay. I'll go." He stood, trudged to the door, slid it open and started making his way down the train, towards the middle, and towards the Gray. He reached the open seating carriage just a few compartments from the middle of the train and reached for the door handle.
.....
Harry waved off yet another confused Boy-Who-Lived worshipper. Damn, he'd forgotten just how extreme his peer's reactions had been on the train. The first time around, he'd been confused but hopeful. Everyone had seemed so friendly and curious. Puzzled, yes, but they'd taken the news that he was a mistaken squib twin of the Boy-Who-Lived with interest and cheer. That good will had lasted until the sorting, after which, everything went to hell.
He passed the middle compartment, which he knew held Daphne, and continued on. He arrived at the door to one of the Hogwarts Express's few open seating areas, reached for the door handle, turned it, entered the space beyond, full of relaxing and joking witches and wizards, glanced towards the carriage's far exit, and froze.
His nostrils flared, his eyes hardened, and his lip curled, a cacophony of hatred flashed across his face in a heartbeat, and left just as quickly.
An annoyingly familiar back closed the far side door and started to turn towards him.
His face relaxed, his eyes warmed, and his mouth melted into a smile of summer, log fires, and good cheer. "Brother!"
All talk halted. Every student's head turned.
Deep in his stomach, unaffected by even the strongest occlumency, bile rose.
....
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