Mannequins: Heroes and Prodigies

About 5 minutes into the actual train ride, I had put down my book and was writing. Now, this wasn't just ordinary writing a letter, it was a story that I'd been working on since I was 11 and just starting schooling. You can imagine by now that it is plenty long, but I just keep going. It's like, I'm writing a life, because it never seems to have a concluding point. And it's not my life that I'm writing, because that would be much to easy. It's about a girl living in the muggle world, unaware of magic and completely unattached to it. But that's besides the point.
I don't know how long we were into the journey to Hogwarts by now, I simply got lost in my writing; sucked into the life I wrote that was Amelia James. When the compartment door slid open, I jumped with a start and my eyes went wide. Quickly, I slid my notebook into my trunk and threw the pen in after it. It was a lovely muggle device that would hold the ink much longer than a quill would.
Sighing, I turned to see who my intruders were, and recognized Hermione, Harry and Ron. Raising an eyebrow, I questioned them, "And to what do I owe this lovely interuption?" I stayed standing, not having a single clue as to why they'd be here.
Ron spoke up, "We wouldn't be here if we didn't have to be, but most every other compartment is full." he explained begrudgingly as he stuffed his trunk up, onto the shelf. At this I raised both eyebrows and looked at him inquisitively with my arms crossed across my chest.
Hermione sighed, "Please excuse Ronald's behavior. Would you mind if we joined you on the ride?" She asked, waiting for my approval to put away her own luggage.
Pondering it for only a second, I nodded and gestured to the open seats around me, before taking my own seat. I heard Harry and Hermione sigh quietly in relief and put away their trunks, and taking seats. Hermione sat down parallel to me, and beside Ron, while Harry sat beside me, and across from Ron.
For a long while it was much more than silent. All you could hear was the breath of four teenagers, the trains wheels rolling across the track, every few seconds, and sometimes a few other students walking down the isle along the compartments, and sometimes their conversation.
Letting out a small, very minuscule sigh I looked up and caught Ron's stare dead in the eye. "Ron," I started, making sure I had his attention, "why do you give off the feeling that you hate me? I haven't done anything particularly cruel to you or done something to you. What makes you act like you do around me?" I asked, truly curious. Glancing sideways at both Harry and Hermione, I saw that I had caught their attention also.
Ron's mouth opened and closed, resembling that of an excited fish. His eyes were slightly wider than they usually were, and I saw something to the tone of panic written across his face. His pale skin seemed just a shade lighter, and this made me all the more curious.
"Tell me Ron, does it have to do with my being related to the Black family? That did seem to upset you quite a lot when we were at the World Cup. Or is it that I'm getting close to both of your best friends, the best friends that you have, and the only ones you know for sure will always be there for you, and you think I'm going to take them away from you? Possibly cunfund them into believing multiple lies that would put your relationship with them at stake? I that it, Ron?" I asked him, in the back of my mind, enjoying making him squirm like this. It entertained me slightly, to know that I could do this without using an ounce of magic, and only a few simple words.
To my enjoyment, he paled only a little more, before he reddened completely and his eyes narrowed on me. He pursed his lips and you could tell that he was angry. I'd hit a nerve, perfect. That was all I needed to do, to get the truth.
He then spat out loudly and full of malice, "Yes, of course I don't like you getting all close to my friends! I don't trust you one bit. I don't especially like you getting close with my sister either, for that matter! And No, I don't feel that my friendships have been jeopardized, I just think that they were much to quick to trust you!" he said, now standing up to get leverage on me, as if it gave him more power. I could see the start of spit forming at the sides of his lips, and occasionally the odd, small drop fly off in some random direction. "You have no right to be here with me and with them! You don't deserve to be with us, to have our friendship!" he finished taking a slight breath, and that's where I jumped in. I knew he wasn't done ranting, but I couldn't take his whole take on these events.
Staying seated, and looking up at him, his face still red and his hair seeming like if it were shorter it might actually stand on end, his eyes having the beginnings of being bloodshot, and the spit gathered at the corners of his mouth all told me he was less than impressed. At the moment though, I didn't much care whether or not he was exactly happy, because the way I was being treated was much less than I deserved. "Okay, Your Highness, now why don't you get down off that high horse of yours and treat me like I'm a human being, and not just some table scrap that's to be fed to the dogs." I suggested keeping my straight, emotionless face that I had held onto for the entire time. I wouldn't let him take my dignity. I wouldn't let him take my pride. I wouldn't let him win this battle.
Rising to my feet, I looked him in the eye, dead on, and stared, as though I could see past the blueish color and down into the depths of his soul, and the corners of his heart. "Now, Ron, why don't you stop spewing off lies." I said in an even tone. "We both know the truth here, Hermione and Harry might not see it, but I can read you like a book. Your jealous, not really of me, but the relationship I have with your friends. You think that if I can do that with them, what's going to stop me from taking away every other friend you have in Hogwarts. What's going to stop me from taking everything from you Ron? What's going to stop me, is the fact that I'm really not taking anything away from you, and that, contrary to your ideas, I'm not out to get you, or to ruin you. Now sit down, calm down, and do something constructive." I said to him and took my own seat after turning around and grabbing my book from atop my trunk. Going back to reading, most of the rest of the ride passed like the first bit did, silently.