*takes a deep breath* Ah, it's so nice to be back! To all you old fans, welcome back- to everyone who's just now discovering my Salinger Year series, welcome! You should probably go check out Fifth Year if you haven't already, it's both the prequel and the sequel to this story.

You're probably all wondering why in the name of Hogwarts I decided to post today. Well, today's a very special day. IT'S ALY SALINGER'S BIRTHDAY! *throws confetti into the air* You can thank the girl who inspired Lanie for deciding today was Aly's birthday.

Okay, enough rambling. And now... *draws back curtains* Muggles and squibs, witches and wizards, I present to you... Fourth Year!

I burst through the brick barrier onto Platform 9¾, my parents right behind me. Almost immediately I heard my name, and I turned to see Brooklyn- my best friend.

"Brooklyn!" I laughed, and we hugged. I'd seen her over the summer holidays, but it had still been a few weeks.

Brooklyn was followed by her soon-to-be-second-year sister, Libby, and her parents. Our mothers hugged, and I was struck (not for the first time) by how different they looked, even though they were identical twins. Brooklyn's mother- Cassiopeia, or Cassie- wore her hair long and straight when she hadn't braided it like she had that day. My mother- Hesper- wore her hair long too, only it was wavy and she typically wore it up in a chignon at the nape of her neck. They were both descendants of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and although Brooklyn's mum married pureblood Karan Vawdrey, my mum married blood traitor Benjamin Salinger. Still, the House of Black wasn't as pure as it had been fifty years ago and my mum hadn't been disowned like she would have then.

"Ben," Brooklyn's father greeted my father, slapping him on the back.

"Karan," my father greeted him, shaking his hand. "Nice to see you again." He smiled. My father was quick to laugh and good at jokes, and he always had a mischievous, happy glint in his green eyes.

"The same to you," Brooklyn's father replied, and they started chatting about the latest type of broomstick while our mothers talked about the death of a distant cousin from the Longbottom family.

Brooklyn grinned at me. "So, are you excited?"

"Very," I declared. "Ready for more Ancient Runes?"

Brooklyn raised an eyebrow and did a very good imitation of our Ancient Runes professor, Professor Ross-Campbell. "Oh, my lesson plans! Wherever have they gone?"

I giggled, covering my mouth. "You shouldn't speak about her like that! What if someone heard you?"

Libby tugged at Brooklyn's arm. "Brooklyn, we've got to go. I see Shellie, and it's time to board the train anyways."

Shellie was Libby's best friend, and the petite blonde was indeed waving at Libby from where she stood with her other friends ten feet away. Brooklyn sighed, wrenching her wrist from her redheaded sister's grip. "Fine, fine. Let's say goodbye to Mum and Dad first."

I took her advice even though it wasn't meant for me, hugging my father and kissing my mum on the cheek. "We're going to go find our friends."

My mother seized me and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Don't forget to eat well-rounded meals, and be nice to your professors, and I heard there's a new Headmaster so don't be too hard on him as it's his first year and-"

"Mum, it's Professor Damien," I said, wriggling out of her grip. He was the nicest of the professors except for the Potions teacher, Professor Fourier, and he was the only one who let us call him by his first name. "He likes us and he's an excellent teacher. I'm sure he'll be fine as Headmaster."

"-well, be nice to him anyways," my mum sighed. "Also, don't skip classes and make sure to keep your grades up and get enough sleep-"

"Hesper," my dad said, "this is Aly you're talking to. She'll be fine. Has she ever skipped or failed a class?"

"...no," Mum conceded. "Let me speak, Benjamin." She pulled me close. "Just be careful, dear. I have a bad feeling about this year."

"You've said that every year since her second year," Father murmured.

"And I've been right every time!" Mum retorted, and I used her distractedness to peck her and my father on the cheeks and then grabbed my trunk and owl. Brooklyn was waiting for me, and we disappeared together into the crowd.

We waved hello to friends as we struggled through the crowd. Brooklyn made eye contact with my first-year crush, Conor Mathieson, and blushed- actually blushed. I spotted the parents of Ella Nguyen, a shy choir girl with a sheet of black hair, but not Ella herself; she must have already found her best friend Alexandra Zobrist and boarded the train. Brooklyn almost got sidetracked by a group of her fourth-year Slytherin roommates, including Katy Beaurepaire and Maile Quentin (two pretty blondes who were absolute best friends) and led by Alejandra "Leja" Rice- a girl with sharp features, long wavy light brown hair, and a love for dancing. Luckily, I was able to pull Brooklyn away, assuring her that she'd see them after the feast.

We found our other best friend, Rossalene Chung, quite by accident. We were fighting through the horde of parents and students and siblings, trying to get to the scarlet Hogwarts Express, when we stumbled right into Rossalene and her family. Ross had a little brother, second-year Joshua who was in Gryffindor like Libby, but he was nowhere to be seen; instead, it was just Rossalene and her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Chung were both Asian, but Mr. Chung was a half-blood where Mrs. Chung was Muggle-born. They were talking to each other in rapid Chinese while Rossalene looked impatiently around, trunk in her hand.

"Brooklyn! Aly!" she cried when she saw us, pushing her long, shiny black hair out of her face with her free hand. "I was wondering where you were!" She hugged us both more tightly than anyone else hugged us (Rossalene was a hugger). "Mum, Da, look- it's Aly and Brooklyn!"

Mr. and Mrs. Chung stopped chattering to each other and smiled at us.

"Aline! Brooklyn!" Mr. Chung said in accented English. He had always mispronounced my name, and I'd stopped correcting him after my second year. "How nice to see you."

Mrs. Chung was small and dainty but she had a loud voice. "Aly, Brooklyn," she nearly boomed. "Long time no see!" She gathered us up in hugs nearly as fierce as her daughter's. "How have you been, girls?"

"Fine," Brooklyn mumbled at the same time that I said, "Good!"

"Let's go," Rossalene said, yanking at our sleeves. She hugged both of her parents ("Oof!" her father puffed) and pulled us towards the train.

We found an empty compartment and heaved our trunks onto the racks above the seats. I let Peltie, my slender tawny owl, out of her cage. Brooklyn freed her huge, formidable black owl Maycott from his birdcage. Rossalene cooed and reached toward them both- she loved animals of all kinds, even toads, which I thought were too slimy and gross. Maycott turned away and flapped up to perch beside Brooklyn's trunk- he was moody and occasionally uncooperative, and Brooklyn loved him for just that- but Peltie hooted gently and landed on her shoulder. I handed Rossalene an owl treat to feed to my beautiful pet, which she promptly did.

The train whistled and started to move. Rossalene abandoned playing with Peltie for a moment to join Brooklyn and I at the window, where we sought out our families and waved to them. I saw some of my other friends' families- the tall mother and even taller father of Lanie Kelling, last year's Quidditch Seeker on the Ravenclaw team and whose father worked at the Daily Prophet with my mother; the bald dad and petite blonde mum of Polly Lider, a girl who Brooklyn positively hated due to her betrayal in our second year; and the pretty mum and lanky father of Nathan Price, my ex-boyfriend from last year. I waved to my dad with his curly brown hair and my mother with her sleek, elegant chignon, who were waving wildly back, until we rounded the corner and they disappeared from my view.

All right! Hope you guys liked it. And once again, happy birthday to Aly!