Harry’s POV The train ride is, as predicted, a rather tedious affair. I have Ron sitting beside me while Hermione has taken up the bench in front of me and, between them, they’re bickering in a way that a) reminds me of an old married couple and b) is really starting to get on my nerves. I stare out the window, the green Scottish countryside passing in a blur of greens, reds and blues. Ron’s starting to get mad, I can see, from his reflection in the window, the vein on his forehead is bulging in annoyance as Hermione belittled him regarding him thinking Quidditch was more important than his studies . That’s never a good sign. “Oh would you both cut it out!” I hear myself snap, looking at them with a fatigued glance over the top of my glasses, “You’re supposed to be best friends! Hermione, do you hear me and Ron picking fights every 3.2 seconds?!” It was true and, judging by the look on Hermione’s face, she knew it was as well, Ron and I very rarely argued. All was silent. That was good, I liked that. Silence is nice. The only problem was, the silence only lasted approximately 3 minutes before she’d started bitching at Ron again. Grumbling, I rolled off the seat, landing on my feet as stalked to the door, “Harry!? Where are you going?” my girl-friend asked, obviously at a loss that I was leaving, “Away from you!” I snapped, slamming the compartment door shut causing the glass to shatter. But I didn’t care. Groaning, I rubbed my aching temples, my scruffy trainers scuffing along the carpeted train as I wandered down it. I wondered where I could go so that I wouldn’t have to listen to the continuous bickering of my friends. Peering through the glass of a compartment door, I spotted Seamus and Dean. I turned to walk in when I paused, an eyebrow raised. Cocking my head to the side I almost fell flat on my face. They were kissing! Stepping back, I shook my head, clearing my thoughts before continuing my walk to compartments. They were full of people kissing and playing games. I didn’t really want to sit with Ginny, she kept trying to molest me, and I didn’t particularly have any desire to sit with Cho who was on her own. That left one, I knew exactly who was in there and, as predicted, he was alone. So I slipped in, shutting the door and sitting down. MY eyes glanced from him to out the window, my hands clasping on my lap. He looked so different to me. His cargo pants were hanging off his hips, the white t-shirt he wore was short so a strip of pale skin could be seen across the tops of his trousers. Gone was the rich, ‘pureblood’ Slytherin, replaced only with a blonde twink. He pretended not to notice me for a while but eventually I looked up. “Can’t ignore me forever big brother…” Justin’s POV A heavy, theatrical sigh escapes my lips. Why, oh why, does he feel the need to talk to me? I suppose it’s inevitable though. I mean, we’ve been sharing a compartment together for about ten minutes, and it’s a wonder he’s managed to resist the temptation of starting a conversation for this long. “Just because we’re related, it doesn’t mean you have to talk to me, you know,” I reply curtly. Wow, that was spiteful. Even for me. “Look, Harry,” I begin, feeling the sudden need to apologise. “No, it’s fine. I won’t bother you for the rest of the journey,” he says dejectedly, turning to stare out of the window. “Oh, stop being such a fucking drama princess,” I scold, although the tone of my voice is playful not harsh. “I wanted to ask you something anyway.” Eventually, he turns to face me, brows furrowed, partially distorting his infamous scar, and completely sceptical of what I’m about to request of him. “When we get to Kings Cross,” I continue, leaning forward slightly to engage his attention, “I want you to come with me, instead of with the Dursley’s.” “What?” he laughs disbelievingly, and it’s obvious that he’s assumed I’m playing some sort of cruel trick on him. “I know you hate staying at that shit hole, so I’m giving you the chance to actually enjoy the holidays for once,” I explain, trying to convey my absolute sincerity. “Oh, and where would we be going?” Harry asks incredulously, although there’s a betraying glint of interest in his eyes. “Pittsburgh,” I state, folding my arms across my chest and leaning back in my seat to appear nonchalant. “I don’t even know where that is!” he exclaims, throwing his own arms up in desperation. “You don’t have to know where it is, you just have to come with me,” I smirk, revelling in Harry’s perplexity. “Bu-” he begins, but shuts up when I shoot him a firm ‘this is not up for discussion’ look. It’s rather amusing. He still doesn’t know whether I’m serious or not. “Yes or no, Potter?” I ask, trying to speed his lengthy decision making process up. I mean, honestly! What’s there to decide? An adventure to America with me, or several weeks spent locked in a room at the Dursley’s? There’s absolutely no contest! “Fine then, yes!” he finally announces with a great sigh. He’s so unenthusiastic that you’d think I asked him if he wanted to have his wand shoved up his arse. Hmmm… that reminds me of this one time that Blaise and I were kinda messing around, and we ended up- “Didn’t you hear me?” Harry declares, interrupting my train of thought. “I said yes. I’ll come with you.” “I heard you,” I reply, using the window to check my reflection. I smooth down a few stray blond hairs from my fringe, and turn back to face my younger brother. Well, he is only three minutes or so younger than me, but it never hurts to be specific. “So?” he asks, staring expectantly at me when I remain silent. “So, what? Can‘t you see that I’m ecstatic that you’re coming with me?” I intone, an evil smirk spreading across my face. Oh, this is going to be so much fun.