The Scars to Prove It

Farren and Lee managed to walk side by down the train car, but only just. Their arms brushed casually with each step, but neither of them seemed to notice. They were talking animatedly, so animatedly that they nearly walked by the compartment. Lee only noticed when two red haired boys stuck their heads out of the door.

“Oi! Lee! Back here!” They yelled simultaneously.

Lee chuckled and turned around. “Sorry, mates. I was a little distracted. I’ve found pranking gold.”

One of the twins quirked an eyebrow, while the other tilted his head, interested. “Her?” They asked, again in concert.

Lee grinned. “She’s a metamorphmagus. A brilliant joker too.”

“You’re really a metamorphmagus?” asked one of the twins.

Farren nodded her assent, not at all uncomfortable under their scrutiny. There was a calculating eye to it, as if they were already planning a way to use her gift. Surprisingly, Farren wasn’t the least bit offended. If anything, she was pleased.

“Prove it,” said the other twin.

This time, Farren quirked an eyebrow.

“Please,” he amended.

Farren grinned, the relaxed and let her features shift.

A moment later, Farren was Lee’s counterpart. She watched as the twins gaped and Lee grinned like an idiot.

Deciding to show off a bit more, Farren melted back into her preferred appearance and began to change her facial features. Her brown eyes became green, then blue, and then grey, and finally purple. Her hair began to lengthen and went from light blue to blond with multi-colored streaks.

There was a moment of awed silence, and then both of the twins began to talk at once, this time each saying different things. The boys seemed to be spouting questions like a faucet that had no intention of stopping, until they were interrupted.

“George? Fred?” asked a small voice from the compartment. “Who on Earth are you talking with?”

The twins ignored the owner of the voice, but spoke to Farren instead.

“I’m Fred,” announced the twin on the left.

“And I’m George,” related the other.

“Farren Zabell, at your service,” she replied smiling.

“Now that we’re all mates, why don’t we go into the compartment?” supplied Lee. “You’ll have to introduce us to whomever you have captive back there.”

The twins grinned at each other, the looked back at Farren and Lee.

“We made a new friend,”

“Captured her, more like.”

“She looked lonely,”

“So we stepped in.”

“She’s a little shy, but a right laugh once you get her going.”

“Yeah, once she starts talking, she never stops.”

George and Fred supplied in surround sound. They spoke so fast and so comfortably together, that Farren had trouble separating their voices. She would have thought it was one person had she not seen it herself.

The twins walked into the car, followed by Lee. Farren followed close behind, eyes closed, trying to commit to memory the difference between Fred and George. . . Or was it George and Fred.

“Carina, this is Farren,” started George.

“Farren, this is Carina,” finished Fred.

Both the girls heads snapped up at the same time, and their jaws hit the floor simultaneously.

Lee glanced at both of them, and began to look very confused.

Farren was the first to recover. “You!” she shrieked, stepping closer to Carina.

Carina flinched and drew her legs up in front of her, but made no attempt to speak.

Farren plowed on, her hair again flashing, this time to pure red. “What are you doing here?!”
She made another move towards the girl, but Fred and George stepped in front of her.

“Ri is here because we want her here,” asserted George coldly.

Fred was about to speak, but Lee interrupted.

“Farren, is this the girl you told me about?” He inquired, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded stiffly, trying in vain to rein in her temper.

“Lee,” began Fred, “Farren humiliated Rina in front of a ton of people, all because she was too shy to apologize to her.”

Lee shook his head, his dreadlocks swaying. “No, mates, the girl you’re standing in front of is the daughter of a Death Eater. Her father almost killed Farren’s.”
“What?” blustered the twins. They turned to Carina.

“Is that true?” asked George skeptically.

Carina just sat, as if struck dumb by what she had just heard.

Eventually, she regained use of her vocal chords.

“M-maybe,” she stuttered. “What’s a Death Eater?” she asked in a confused manner.
After a few beats of silence, George spoke. “Well, this all seems to have been one giant misunderstanding. . .” He trailed off after a scowl from Farren who had flopped onto the seat behind her in a huff and was now maintaining a stony silence.

There was a strained lull that seemed to fill the train car. Fred, George, and Lee had moved to the side of the car and were whispering to each other. Farren sat, arms crossed, and looked out of the window. She took deep breaths; after a few moments, her hair had returned to its previous color.

Choking down her pride, she cleared her throat and looked at Carina

“Look Carina-” the girl looked up fearfully. “I’m sorry I embarrassed you in front of those people. My temper got away from me. I looked at you and just saw your last name. And I’m sorry,” finished Farren lamely.

Carina seemed to study Farren, and then gave a tentative smile.

“And I’m sorry I bumped into you.”