"Hey, Teddy!" Charlotte bumped her shoulder into Teddy's, both of them now changed into their Hogwarts robes. They were alone in the Prefect cabin except for Polly, who was immersed in her sketchbook.

"Lotte, could you help me?" Teddy said with a smile. His yellow and black Hufflepuff tie was hanging loose around his neck, in contrast to Charlotte's perfectly knotted one.

"I don't understand how you still don't know how to tie your tie," Charlotte laughed. "You were supposed to have been doing this since First Year."

"I prefer to rock the loose tie look," Teddy swept his hair back with his hand, biting his lip. He looked at Charlotte and waggled his eyebrows, prompting more laughter to spew out of the girl. "And you can't say that I don't rock it."

"You do rock it." Charlotte agreed through her laughter. The sound was clear and bright, not unlike the noise made by delicate bells. "But you have to know how to tie it."

"I didn't know that being Head Boy meant being proper when I signed up for this!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes, pulled Teddy closer to her by his tie and began to knot it around. She left it slightly loose so that the style would still feel Teddy, but it was no longer all over the place. The boy was slightly taller than Charlotte, so he was looking down at the top of her head. Teddy put his hands on her head and rested his chin on his hands.

"Teddy!" Charlotte playfully hit his hand and moved away from the turquoise-haired boy. Her cheeks were shining with a rosy hue. "My hair!" Charlotte played with her brunette curls and adjusted them in the window of the cabin until they reached a level that was satisfactory.

"Did you know that McGonagall personally sent me a note telling me that I had to learn how to tie my tie if I was going to be Head Boy? It was attached to my Hogwarts letter." Teddy was now stretched out horizontally on one of the seats. He looked proper now, with his tie tied by Charlotte, but the girl knew that she would find an old rock band t-shirt under his robes if she cared to look. Charlotte totally didn't think about what was under the shirt. Not at all.

"That sounds like her." Charlotte's posture was relaxed and the corners of her mouth lifted up in a half-smile.

"Who's McGonagall?" Polly asked the older students as she was unsure of who they were talking about. Polly wanted to know everything that she could about Hogwarts before she arrived.

"She's the Headmistress of Hogwarts," Charlotte said, sitting beside Polly. "When my parents and Teddy's parents were in school, she was the Transfiguration teacher and the Head of Gryffindor."

"What's Gryffindor? Is it a type of club?" Polly bounced up and down on her seat, eager to learn more. Her legs weren't quite long enough to reach the floor, causing them to hit against the bottom of her seat with every bounce.

"You could say that." Charlotte laughed again. She could never keep a frown on her face when she was with Teddy. "At Hogwarts, students are sorted into four different houses at the beginning of their first year. The houses are kind of like your family, a group of people who you take class with and eat dinner with. At breakfast and lunch, you are allowed to eat at any table. One of the houses is Gryffindor."

"The other three are Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. Don't let Lotte corrupt you, Hufflepuff is obviously the best house," Teddy interjected, swaying in his seat with the movement of the train.

"How do people get sorted?" Polly was like a sponge, she absorbed knowledge like it was water.

Teddy and Charlotte exchanged a knowing look before turning back to Polly. "We can't tell you that," Charlotte finally said, her voice bursting with excitement. "It's a secret to all the first years!"

"Yeah, even James doesn't know how it happens. He kept begging me, but I wouldn't tell him." Teddy let out a loud, long, belly-aching laugh that rocked his whole body.

As if summoned by his name, a head full of dark curls popped into the doorway. "What do I not know about? I want to know!" James asked, energy punctuating and flowing through every word. He was a ball of energy, something that Charlotte knew would serve him well on the Quidditch pitch.

"How you get sorted," Teddy replied. His ever-present smile was on his face, something that Charlotte loved about him. Teddy could always cheer her up after a bad day, no matter what caused it. Even if they had a fight, Teddy could be found a few days later with chocolate and a book. Charlotte would have chocolate as well, but she would add an old Muggle record that she found in an antique shop in Hogsmeade instead of a book. The pair could never stay mad at each other long, the bond between them was too strong for a petty fight to break.

James' face instantly transformed into a pout. "Yeah," he whined. "You won't tell me." James has inherited both of his namesake's flair for dramatics that Teddy had heard so much about from his father.

Polly looked up from her drawing with curiosity filled eyes. "Who is this?" she said.

James turned to Teddy, amazement evident on his face. "Merlin's pants! She doesn't know who I am." James sat stunned next to Polly, who wrinkled her nose.

"Is he always like this?" Polly asked. She hid her sketchbook away in her bag and pulled the bag into her lap, her small hands holding onto it primly. Polly's fingernails were coated in a shiny black polish, with speckles of paint accents.

"Yeah, give him a minute." Teddy ruffled James' hair with a smile. "Once he gets over himself and the shock, he'll introduce himself to you. He's just a drama queen."

"Says you!" Charlotte said.

"But I'm an older drama queen, so therefore I am superior." Teddy threw a wink at Charlotte, causing the brunette to giggle.

James seemed to have recovered from his shock enough to speak and stood up in front of Polly. "My name is James Sirius Potter. What's yours?" He stuck his hand out to Polly, who took the tip of his finger and gingerly shook it. This prompted both Teddy and Charlotte to erupt with laughter.

"Sorry," Teddy gasped. "We aren't laughing at you, Polly. Keep talking."

"It's certainly... nice to meet you, James Sirius Potter," Polly said. "My name is Polly Parsons."

"James is a First-Year just like you, Polly." Teddy jumped into their conversation to speed things along, as the train had almost reached Hogsmeade Station. "Who knows, you two may be in the same house!"

Polly wrinkled her nose once again and said, "I hope not."

Teddy and Charlotte stifled their laughter as the train came to a slow and gentle stop. It latched onto the metal suspension system in place, moving forward and then back. "Alright, Polly, you can leave all of your stuff here unless you want something for the Feast." Polly nodded and grabbed her backpack, which Charlotte knew contained her art supplies. She pulled the pink straps over her small shoulders and stood up tall. Charlotte picked up The Bag and went to stand by Teddy.

"Ah, The Bag returns for another year," he whispered in her ear, a grin reminiscent of his mother growing on his face.

"Oh, be quiet!" Charlotte blushed, her cheeks quickly turning red. She hit Teddy's arm, and her hand may have lingered for just slightly longer than it needed to. Teddy did have quite nice arms, muscular and toned from playing Quidditch. Polly coughed, and Charlotte ripped her gaze away from Teddy to the younger girl. "Polly and James, you can follow me. I'll show you where the First Years go. Teddy, can you go grab us two seats on one of the carriages?" When Teddy nodded, Charlotte led Polly and James off of the train and onto the platform.

"Firs' Years over here! Firs' Years over here!" Charlotte could hear Hagrid calling out and directed her young charges over to him. James climbed onto a boat immediately, but Polly showed more hesitation. Charlotte knelt down to look Polly in the eyes. "What's wrong, Polly? Are you okay?"

Polly's lower lip trembled and tears threatened to spill out of her green eyes. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"There's no need to be scared." Charlotte gently wiped away a dripping tear from Polly's face. "You'll be fine! I'll see you in the Great Hall, okay?"

Polly scrubbed at her eyes in an attempt to make the salty water coming from them stop flowing. "Okay." She walked over to the boat that James was in, immediately striking up a conversation with another girl in the boat and ignoring James. James pouted, and Charlotte laughed quietly to herself.

"It's yer last year kiddo," Hagrid said, the half-giant filling the vacant space beside Charlotte that Polly had left.

Charlotte sighed, looking out into the dark water. "I know. It's hard to believe isn't it?"

"When I firs' met ya, you were this tall." Hagrid gestured to a place by his knees, a height that Charlotte knew that she had not been at eleven.

"I was never that short, Hagrid," Charlotte said with a smile. "I'll see you at the Feast," Charlotte repeated what she had said to Polly, waving goodbye to both the young girl and the half-giant as she walked towards the carriages.

"Lotte!" Teddy poked his head out of one of the carriages to signal to Charlotte, who climbed up.

They stood at the door, watching the First Year boats depart. Polly was still actively ignoring James, who was still dramatically pouting. "That girl is going to do great things one day." Charlotte chuckled.

"Just like you," Teddy mumbled to himself, quietly enough that Charlotte wasn't able to hear him, before pulling her down to sit next to him. The pair sat side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, as they watched Hogsmeade Station speed away.

Author's Note:

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Polly is confused™. Thank you for reading!

- Nicole