The first day of September rolled around a lot quicker than expected for everyone. Oliver had packed the majority of his things the night before. His parents didn't even come upstairs to help him. It didn't really matter, anyway, because Oliver didn't want or need their help. He was able to do everything on his own, like he had been doing ever since he began attending Hogwarts.

Oliver finished packing up his trunk and was heading downstairs when he heard the doorbell ring. He rushed down to go answer the door and smiled when he saw Eliza standing there. "Ready to go?" she asked him.

"You know it," he replied, smiling back at her as he grabbed his trunk. He left for King's Cross with Eliza and her parents in their car, something that Eliza knew how to drive. Oliver never really tried to learn how to drive a car, feeling like he didn't need to know. But it wasn't like his parents would teach him, anyway, like Eliza's parents did. She was exceptionally good at it, which didn't surprise Oliver one bit, because Eliza was good at everything.

Oliver and Eliza bid her parents goodbye and grabbed their things, loading them onto carts and heading inside King's Cross Station. The two spotted Andrew with Sarah as they were heading towards the platform. Sarah took her cart and ran through the wall, disappearing before everyone's eyes. Andrew followed her and was gone as well.

"I'll see you on the other side," Eliza said to Oliver, making a running start towards the wall.

Oliver followed her and saw the Hogwarts Express right before his eyes. Nothing ever changed about the train. Even if something was different about the train, Oliver would still be happy to see it still running. He caught up with Eliza and loaded his stuff on the train. Once that was done, they two waited for Andrew to help out Sarah. He let her go on the train and approached Oliver and Eliza.

"I've been ready to go back," he said, a smile on his face.

"Ditto," Oliver added.

"You better wait for us!" Jacob shouted, pushing his cart while Violet was sitting on his trunk, letting Jacob push her around.

"Well, Vi, you certainly made an entrance," Andrew stated.

Violet jumped off Jacob's cart and smiled. "Did you expect anything less from me?"

"No, not really," Andrew replied.

Jacob loaded his things onto the train and let Violet and Eliza get on board first, followed by Andrew, then Oliver. While the other four were talking and laughing while looking for a compartment, Oliver spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione heading their way. Oliver swallowed hard and wanted to go up and talk to Hermione, but something was holding him back.

It's not that hard to go up and talk to the girl that you fancy, he thought.

"Ollie, you're drooling again," Jacob stated.

Oliver shook his head. "You can't steal Vi's line, Jake," he said, sliding a door to an empty compartment and walking inside, sitting by the door.

"Yeah, you can't steal my line, Jake," Violet added, hitting him on the back of the head, taking a seat across from Oliver, followed by Eliza, who sat next to her.

Jake groaned and rubbed the back of his head as he sat down by the window. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"She should've hit you harder," Andrew said, sitting across from him.

"Shut up, Andrew," Jacob retorted.

Before they knew it, Hermione was standing in front of their compartment. Oliver opened the door and all he could do was stare at her.

"Hi," she said. "I was wondering if any of you had an extra copy of the Daily Prophet? I seemed to misplace mine."

The group shook their heads, followed by Oliver clearing his throat. "Sorry, Hermione, we don't. None of us are really into it, to be honest."

She nodded her head. "That's okay. Thanks, anyway," she said, getting ready to shut the door.

"Hermione?" Oliver shot up from his seat before she could close the door.

"Yeah, Oliver?" she replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Um..." Come on, Oliver! Just say something! "Um...you're..."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

Nice going, Oliver! "Nothing," he quickly said.

She eyed Oliver in a confused way, then slowly nodded her head. "Okay, well...I'll see you guys at school, then." With that, she hurriedly went on her way, making Oliver feel like an idiot.

The first one to laugh was Eliza, followed by the others joining in. "Really?" Eliza inquired, still smiling.

"Oh, shut up," Oliver said, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.

"And now she'll think you're an idiot," Jake said.

"He's already an idiot," Andrew added.

"Well, now he's an even bigger idiot," Violet commented. "Seriously, Hermione Granger is not that intimidating. Next time you see her, just go up to her and just have a casual conversation with her."

"Ah, young love. How adorable." Right before everyone's eyes, Blaise Zabini was standing in front of them. "It's also pathetic, especially for two Mudbloods like Granger and you, Campbell. You must be feeling lonely, Pearce. But don't worry. You'll find your own Mudblood to screw with soon."

"Watch your mouth, Zabini," Oliver shot up from his seat, glaring at Blaise.

"Why? What are you gonna do if I don't?" he retorted, raising his eyebrows.

"Do you really want to find out?" Oliver snapped.

"Okay, that's enough, Blaise," Draco Malfoy approached the two and grabbed Blaise's shoulder. "Honestly, they're not even worth it. We won't have to worry about them soon."

"What's that supposed to mean, Malfoy?" Andrew spoke up, rising from his seat.

"It means that you lot should watch your backs," Pansy Parkinson intervened.

"I think you lot should watch your backs," Eliza snapped.

Pansy laughed. "What can a Mudblood like you do to someone like me?"

"You don't want to find out," Violet said, shooting daggers at Pansy.

"Guys, this is ridiculous," Mary appeared behind Draco, making Pansy move so that everyone saw her. "I don't really know why you guys all hate each other, but we're all at the age where we just need to be mature and move on. The past is in the past, so just let it go and get on with your lives."

Everyone was speechless, especially Oliver and his friends. It was the girl they saw at Diagon Alley with Draco the other day. Oliver stared at her, observing her more since she was up close and not so far away like before. She had pale skin as well, with a few freckles on her face.

"Come on, Draco, let's go," Mary said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, Malfoy, just leave," Jacob added.

Draco and his friends shot everyone glares before leaving Oliver and his friends. The rest of the Slytherins followed him. Mary looked at Oliver and his friends before treading behind Pansy. Oliver slid the door shut and sighed, sitting back down.

"That was the girl we saw the other day in Diagon Alley, wasn't it?" Jacob asked.

Oliver nodded his head. "Yeah, that was her."

"So, she'll be attending Hogwarts after all," Violet commented. "No doubt the Sorting Hat will put her in Slytherin."

"Well, she's just asking for trouble by hanging around with Malfoy and his friends," Andrew said.

While the others continued talking, Oliver sat just there in silence, ready to arrive at Hogwarts.

*******

"You shouldn't have opened your mouth," Draco told Mary as they were heading for the carriage that only Slytherins sat at for the train ride.

"I was getting tired of everyone bickering back and forth at each other," Mary replied. "It was just irritating to hear."

Pansy stopped in her tracks and spun around. "Every Hogwarts House has their differences with other Houses. It's always been like that."

"Well, it sure as hell wasn't like that at Ilvermorny," she said.

It was now Blaise's turn to stop and turn around to face Mary. "Does this look like Ilvermorny to you?" he snapped. "You're a Hogwarts student now, so you're going to have to get used to how we run things around here."

While Blaise and Pansy went back to walking, Draco stayed behind and sighed. "He's right, you know. It won't be easy, but you're going to have to get used to how Hogwarts works."

Mary huffed a sigh and continued walking. "You know that I'm right, too, about moving on. There's no point in hanging onto the past."

Draco ignored her and kept strolling. Mary continued to follow him, knowing that Draco was already stressed out enough as it was. She knew that she was only stressing him out more by saying stuff that annoyed him.

You know what you're here for, Mary, she thought. Mom, Dad, and Tobias want you to be on your best behavior.

So she decided to keep quiet, following Draco to the carriage for the Slytherins.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Heeeey.

I know that I'm lacking updates and I'm sorry for that. This summer has been pretty busy for me and no one is giving me time to let me take a break and that leaves me no time to sit down and write.

Anyway, what do you think of everyone so far? Any characters that you like in particular? Song above is Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses.

Comment, vote, thanks for being so patient with me.