The summer had passed far too slowly. I couldn't wait to get back to school.

Luckily, today was the first day of September, and by tonight, I would be back in the familiar castle. As I looked around my pale blue bedroom, I made note of a few more things that needed to be thrown in my trunk before getting ready to go into London. A glance to my watch told me I had about two hours left before I would depart.

My boyfriend, Adam, would come to get me. He was a year older than me, and could Apparate, so I wouldn't need to Floo or use Muggle transportation. I had suffered through enough subway rides this summer to last a life time and was so grateful he would come get me.

I heard the sounds of someone running up the stairs next to my bedroom, and my door opened. My thirteen year old step-sister stood there. "Mum says if you want to eat anything before you leave, you'd better get it now," she said. She was only half dressed for school, her pajama pants definitely did not belong to the strict uniform that her school enforced. Luckily, neither she nor her sister Madeline would be following me to Scotland today. They were both Muggles.

My Dad had left for his job at the Ministry of Magic hours ago, the noise he had made leaving had woken me up at a ridiculously early time today. He hadn't come to say goodbye, but I expected he had left me a note downstairs.

"Thank you," I told Cecelia, and got up off of my bed.

I trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, where my stepmother, Vera, was sitting. Although she had been my stepmother practically my whole life, I wasn't close to her at all. I thought she was rude and superficial. She did not like me or my older brother, Robert, very much. I suspected it was because we, like our father and mother, were magical and a reminder that our mother existed before her.

"Breakfast's on the stove," she said, without looking up from her magazine. I looked to the stove, and found a muffin sitting there.

I picked it up, but knew better than to eat it without sitting down at the table. I grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat at my spot at the table. A letter from Dad was waiting for me, and I picked it up.

I saw that he had sealed it with a wax stamp, which made me smile. Whenever I got a letter that was sealed with wax, I knew it was from my father. Breaking the seal, I opened it.

Dear Katherine,

I am sorry you were not awake when I left, but the Minister called an urgent meeting this morning so I could not wait around. However, I do want to wish you a very successful Year Six at Hogwarts. I know that you will do brilliantly as always. You are just like your mother was in that regard, dedicated and talented with your studies. I am sure you will take this year as a break from the heavy testing of last year and enjoy it.

I have left your Hogsmeade Permission Slip, signed, along with hopefully enough money to tie you over until the Christmas Holidays, on the desk in my office. Also there, you will find a gift from your brother.

I hope you will write when you get settled and let me know how your year is going. Enjoy your year and I will see you during the Christmas Holidays.

Love,

Dad

I slipped it back into the envelope in made a mental note to make sure I got my things out of his office.

"What did your father have to say?" Vera asked. She was a very nosy woman, which was probably my biggest pet peeve.

"Just wishing me well for the year," I told her. She didn't need to know the specifics from me.

She stood up, and her shoes made a clicking noise as she walked across the kitchen. "Well, I've got to get the girls to school and get to the cafe. Goodbye, Katherine," she said. There was no warmth in her voice. I was so happy that I only had one more summer living here, because it was awful. I couldn't wait to move out next year. I would probably move in with Adam, as he was planning on getting a flat in the city.

Once she was gone, I felt much happier. I turned on the radio and put the volume on as high as it would go so that I could hear the music wherever I was in our large house. Dad made a lot of money at his job for the Ministry, and Vera owned a very successful cafe in the city. They lived a pretty luxurious lifestyle.

In Dad's office, I found my things. The signed Hogsmeade Permission Slip, a few hundred Galleons of spending money, for anything I might need in the next few months, and a gift from my brother. I opened up the cloth bag, and found that he had given me a good amount of candy and other treats from Honeydukes. That was where his current girlfriend worked, and it was a definite bonus. I took one chocolate frog from the bag and ate it on my way back up to my bedroom.

I finished up packing my trunk, dragged it downstairs, and waited for Adam. He was always running a few minutes late, so I just sat on the couch. I was so happy to be returning to Hogwarts. I was pretty sure that Hogwarts was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I loved all of my classes. It gave me the perfect distraction when I needed it. I didn't have a ton of friends, but I had enough. And it was where Adam was, which made it so much better.

Finally, about fifteen minutes after he was supposed to get there, there was a knock on the door. I knew it was him, because no one else was supposed to come today. I reacted to the fact that he was waiting for me outside with a sense of giddiness. I could not wait to see him. I hadn't seen him in almost a month because we had both been so busy. My family had taken a vacation to Spain for two weeks, he had been away visiting family, and we both had summer jobs. But now we could be together every day, which made me very happy.

I opened the door and grinned when I saw him standing there. He was a lot more tan and his hair was longer than it had been last time I saw him, but he looked great. He immediately pulled me close to him so he could kiss me.

"I missed you, Kat," he told me as he hugged me tightly.

"It's so great to see you," I told him, burying my face in the crook of his neck. "How are you?"

"Great," he told me. "And as much as I love to be here with you... we really need to get going. I'm sorry I was late."

I had gotten so used to it by now that it didn't matter to me when he was late. I knew it was not that I was not his priority, it was just how his Hufflepuff brain worked. "No worries," I told him. Nothing could wipe the grin off of my face right now.

He Side-Along Apparated me with my trunk to the train station. It was exciting to be here because I completely associated Kings Cross Station with going back to school. We carried our stuff to Platform Nine, and disappeared discreetly into the hidden platform.

All around us were families who were sad to see their children going. I could always tell who the first years were because they always looked so small and worried. After making our way through a crowd of anxious mums and lots of trunks, we boarded the train. Neither of us had family here. His parents were divorced and it was really messy. He spent most of his time living at his grandparents' house. But it was nice to have each other. We had been dating since about the beginning of the second term last year, and I trusted him more than anyone else.

"I can't believe it's your last first day of school," I told him, holding his hand even tighter as he led me further into the train as we searched for the perfect compartment.

He just shrugged. "I'm trying not to dwell on it," he said. I knew this was because he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. The last I had actually been able to get him to talk about his future, he was hoping to get recruited into Quidditch. He was the star seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and I was so proud of him. He was really the only thing we had going for us. His grades weren't fantastic, so he couldn't really have a backup plan of being an Auror or a Healer. At best, he could hope for some entry level Ministry position. It wasn't so bad. That was how my father started, and now he ran a whole department.

Finally, we came to a compartment that he approved of. He stowed our trunks and we settled in. I knew his best friend, Geoff, was likely to join us at some point, and Adam would have to leave for his Prefect duties in a few, but for now I took advantage of us being alone by curling up in his lap.

"I missed you," he told me, leaning in to kiss me.

But the door slid open and his friend Geoff came in. Geoff was a loud and, to me, obnoxious seventh year. I didn't like him very much, but he was Adam's best friend so I had to put up with him.

I slid into my own seat as they caught up. I watched out the window as crying mothers got waved to their children. A quick glance at my watch confirmed that we were leaving in another minute, which meant that Adam would soon leave me alone with Geoff. I dreaded this happening. I knew that I was being clingy, but felt that after not seeing Adam for a few weeks, I was justified.

"I should go do my Prefect duties," he told me. I could see reluctance in his eyes, and knowing that he felt the same about leaving me made me feel better. I was sure there was something I could do to fill the time while he was gone.

At first, Geoff tried to talk to me. I made polite small talk, but had no desire to discuss exactly how many girls he had shagged this summer while visiting his brother in Romania. It just wasn't something that interested me really.

I pulled out a book I had been reading just do ease myself back into the mindset of school. It was on Potion theory, which was one of my favorite topics. I found it so interesting that I could throw the right ratios of certain ingredients into a cauldron, let it simmer over heat for a few hours, and have a useful product in the end. Seeing my book made Geoff pretty much shut up, and eventually he went off in search of some food off the Trolley.

The compartment door slid open, which caused me to sit up and see who could possibly want anything. The train had been moving for a while now, so it wasn't someone looking for a seat. And it was too soon for either Adam or Geoff to be back.

I didn't know her name, but I remembered she was in her second or third year at Hogwarts. If I recalled correctly, she was a Gryffindor.

"Hello?" I asked, confused as to why she was here.

"Katherine Hammond?" she asked.

"Kat," I corrected her. Katherine was a lovely name that had far too many syllables to be practical. "Yes?"

"I'm supposed to give you this," she told me. She handed me a piece of parchment tied with a purple string. This piqued my interest. I was about to ask her what it was, but before I could, she was gone.

Using my nail, I loosened the ribbon and unrolled it. It read

Miss Hammond,

I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite to eat in Compartment C. Your reputation of being skilled with Potions precedes you, and I would love to get acquainted.

Sincerely,

Professor Horace Slughorn

Professor of Potions

This certainly intrigued me. I had no idea we were even getting a new Potions professor, but I could not deny the idea excited me. Snape tolerated me, based solely on the fact I was at the top of my class. I was excited by this new professor's warm first impression. No thought was required; I knew I would go join him.

I decided first to get changed into my school uniform, however. I didn't know how long I would be with Professor Slughorn and wanted to make sure I was in my uniform when we arrived at Hogwarts. We were already an hour into our journey north.

As I got changed, I wondered how many other people had received an invitation from Professor Slughorn. I tried to think about who was in my Potions class. Based on the O I had received on my O.W.L.S. In Potions, I was in an advanced class. I knew Hermione Granger would be in the class, as she was the smartest girl in our year, though Potions was not her strongest point. Snape definitely played favorites, so there were many Slytherins in our class. I decidedBlaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, and Theodore Nott probably had gotten invitations as well. I wasn't friends with any of them, especially not the Slytherins, but I did not want to reject such a nice invitation.

After adjusting my knee socks and brushing me hair, I was ready to set off. Seeing as I had sat down in Compartment Q, I figured it might take me awhile to get back up to C. As I walked, I looked out the window and admired the countryside.

This year seemed to be off to a very good start. I was so glad to be back.

Author's Note: Here's chapter one of my new story! Let me know what you think. Thanks to my beta, potter-reading-coastie, for all the help with this story so far. Thanks everyone!