"Come on come on come on!"

Aaria was practically dragging Severus through Kings Cross station, but she couldn't help it. She was going to Hogwarts!

"Aaria! Slow down!" Severus cried as they swerved around a rather large woman pushing a cart full of trunks and cages. She had ginger hair much like Aaria's.

Behind the woman stood four children, all with the same hair and facial features.

"So sorry, Molly!" Severus panted as Aaria finally came to a stop. Molly, the woman, looked up in surprise.

"Severus!" She gasped. Aaria bounced on her feet as the two adults talked. Severus' face, however, was hardened into his usual frown as he spoke. They were gonna be late!

One of the kids, a girl about Aaria's age, walked over.

"I'm Ginny," she said. The two shook hands. "Aaria. Will you be at Hogwarts?" Ginny nodded and Aaria smiled. At least she'll have a friend.

The boy behind her was the same one who had been with Harry Potter that day in Diagon Ally. He nodded to her, but otherwise said nothing.

The two twins standing next to them walked over. Aaria wasn't sure if they were identical, or if there was something wrong with her vision and she was seeing double.

Both twins took a hand and shook it.

"Fred," said the first one.

"George," said the second.

"Twins," they said together. Ginny rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

"You guys look familiar," Aaria noticed. She could have sworn she had seen them before. "Have you ever been to Glendök?"

"We passed through on vacation."

The other boy had walked over. He glared down at Aaria. "Ron."

Ignoring Ron's attitude, Aaria stuck her hand out. "Aaria Wendleson!" But Ron didn't take it. Instead he walked away to the cart.

"What's his problem?" Aaria asked Ginny. "Probably because you're with Snape. Oh, and he saw you talking with Malfoy in Diagon Ally. They're his two least favorite people," Ginny explained.

"But-"

"Aaria, let's go. We're going to miss the train."

Aaria looked back to see that Severus had finished talking with Molly, and was standing behind her. She forgot all about Ron as she waved goodbye to Ginny, picked up her trunk, and ran through the wall as Severus had told her to do at the Leaky Cauldron.

Instantly she was hit with a faceful of steam. When she batted it away, what she saw left her speechless.

In front of them stood a large gleaming scarlet locomotive, puffing smoke. Kids were boarding, and sticking their head out the windows to wave to their parents. On the front of the train hung a large crest. On the side, in big black letters, it read Hogwarts Express.

Aaria turned to say something, but Severus wasn't there.

"Severus? Severus!" She cried, starting to panic.

"Relax. The git's probably on the train."

Aaria turned to see Harry Potter walking towards her. She narrowed her eyes.

"He's not a git," she growled. Next to Harry stood Ron and another girl with bushy dirty blonde hair, holding the scrabbling cat she had seen in the window of the pet shop in Diagon Ally.

"Harry, don't be too hard on her. Just because you don't like Snape doesn't mean everyone else has to," the girl said, shifting the cat.

"Hermione-"

But Harry was interrupted as Draco Malfoy, the boy she was talking with before Ollivanders, was walking over.

"Well well well, Potter. Granger." Draco sneered at Ron. "Weasel."

"Malfoy," snarled Harry. Aaria looked back and forth between the four, confused. They must already know each other. But before any of them could say more, a voice called "All aboard the Hogwarts Express!"

Kids crowded around, scrambling to get on the train and say their last goodbyes to their parents. Aaria got lost in the crowd, and nearly fell if it weren't for a hand grabbing her scarf.

The person pulled her up, and she turned to face dark ocean blue eyes. Feeling her face flush, she pulled her scarf away. The boy grabbed the strap of her bag and dragged her through the crowd and aboard the train. He led her into a compartment near the front, and they went inside.

"Seamus Finnigan," the boy said, holding out his hand. His voice held the strongest Irish accent she's ever heard. Aaria shook his hand, and looked around.

Only two other people occupied the compartment. A dark skinned, tall boy and a small round faced boy with blondish hair.

"Aaria Wendleson," she said, introducing herself for the fourth time that day. The two boys shook her hand, but Seamus just stared at her. His eyes gaze nothing away. Finally, he turned away.

"Aaria, this is Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom," he said. Dean waved a hello, but Neville was fighting with a large toad. And loosing.

The sight of the toad reminded her, and she dug in her small satchel, and brought out Hickory. The small tawny rat hopped onto her lap and curled up.

Neville sighed. "How do you get your pet to behave?" He asked, finally letting his toad hop away. Aaria laughed. She shrugged and looked out the window.