Chapter 1: The Train Ride In

I searched frantically through the mass of people. The platform was crowded with so many people it was difficult to breathe. The scarlet steam engine was the only thing I recognized, and it was a glorious sight. I couldn't wait to get back to school. I grinned when I reached the front of the crowd and pulled my trunk up to the door of the train. I pulled my trunk onto the train behind me. I made my way down to my usual compartment just as the train whistle blew and then lurched to a start. I opened the door to the compartment and was met with an onslaught of voices.

"Damn Riley I thought you were going to miss the train again this year." My best friend Eliza said moodily as I walked in.

"Nice to see you too sweetheart." I replied sarcastically.

"Aw don't be bitter I can't help it if you're notorious for being late every year." She said beginning to file her nails, propping her feet up on the seat across from her. She must have seen her reflection in the window because she stopped for a moment to fluff her sandy blond hair and check her make up.

"Don't be mean Eliza you know why she's late to the train." Hettie said shuffling through her bag. Looking for Merlin knows what.

"Yeah, still having daddy issues, Lee?" Eliza asked still paying all her attention to her reflection.

"You know it." I said trying to hoist my trunk up into the overhead compartment. "Where's Katie?" Kaite Ray, the fourth and final member of our little group, was nowhere to be seen.

"She's having a heated discussion with Aiden Wood. Ya know because he made captain and she feels she deserved it more. I'll never understand why she likes playing that horrid sport." Hettie put in taking out her edition of the Quibbler from her bag.

"HORRID SPORT?! Are you mad? Quidditch is the best sport known to man!" Eliza shouted finally putting down her nail file and looking away from the window. "It's a gift from the gods. It's pure art. The way the players manipulate the brooms flying at high velocities and dodging bludgers, it's a masterpiece."

"Lord Liza I'll never understand how you can be such a priss and a sports nut at the same time." I laughed.

"Hey you like Quidditch too." She said back with a pout, flopping back in her seat and crossing her arms.

"Yeah but I don't think it's a gift from the gods as you so eloquently put it." I sat next to her and stretched my feet out onto the seat across from me mirroring her earlier position. We glared at each other until Hettie decided to interrupt.

"So how was your summer?" Hettie asked. I looked back at her and shrugged.

"Same old, same old," I responded. "You?"

"Oh well Hettie has been owling a certain someone all summer and is going to meet up with him later today once he gets settled in." Eliza said waggling her eyebrows.

"You're one to talk, where's your F with B? Huh? Gonna go snog in the loo again?" Hettie spat back her face turning red.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did I miss? You guys both have significant others and I'm stuck on single street?" I asked

"Pfft. I don't have significants you know that. Besides you already know about him." Eliza said.

"I do?"

"God you're stupid. Yeah Tommy, Thomas Landry. Don't tell me you already forgot, I owled you over the summer talking about it."

"Oh yeah, Tommy."

"You don't really remember do you?" I shrugged sheepishly at her and turned back to Hettie.

"So who's caught your eye?" She blushed and smiled looking at her feet.

"Chris Bane." She grinned and bit her lip.

"Ugh you intellectuals are so boring. Just go do it or something in a broom cupboard when we get to school."

"What are you talking about Liza? You're a virgin too."

"Don't say that too loudly Riles you might ruin her reputation." All three of us looked up to see Katie standing in the doorway with a smirk on her face. "What up biyotches?"

"Katie must you be so vulgar all the time?" Hettie asked, an annoyed scowl marring her face. Katie seemed to think about this for a while before replying.

"Yeah I think I do." She plopped down next to Hettie and pulled out a bag of Berttie Botts Every Flavored Beans. "Hey Riles I bet you three sickles that I get a worse flavor than you."

"You're on." We both closed our eyes and grabbed a bean popping them in our mouths. My face screwed up in pain. "I think I got shit." The other three laughed maniacally as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

"Well that's shitty." She laughed harder. "I got strawberry. Real bummer I owe you three sickles but I think you deserve it for the shit you just had to eat." She continued to laugh more the whole time she spoke.

"I think I'm going to hurl."

"Awe come on it can't be that bad. I don't think they really offer shit flavored beans." I scraped my tongue trying to get the flavor off.

"When they say every flavor they mean every flavor. That shit was awful. I don't care if it was for 10 galleons I am never doing that again." They laughed at me. "So Katie how was your little powwow with Aiden?" She gave an exasperated sigh.

"He is completely stubborn and does not understand that the only way we can win the cup this year is by following my perfectly orchestrated schematics. When is he going to get that I'm a better strategist and that I should be Captain? Never that's when. Because he is a pig headed arrogant arse consumed with his supposed prowess on the quidditch field."

"Well if it makes you feel any better Al Potter is captain of the Slytherin team this year. And everyone knows how quiet he is so Slytherin probably won't get a decent practice in all year." Hettie said diplomatically.

"That little bitch better learn how to be a good captain I'm not letting my house be the laughing stock of the school." Eliza said.

"They won't be the laughing stock that's reserved for the Puffers." Katie said with a wink in my direction.

"Wow you people are so nice to me and my house. But guess what Honey Badger just don't give a shit." I said waving my arms out.

"Whoa watch where you aim those things, Honey Badger. You could have broken my nose." Eliza said with her hand over her face.

"I wouldn't dream of it." There was a knock on the door and it slid open revealing a pale Chris Bane.

"H-hey Hettie." He stammered with a small wave. She blushed and stood up.

"Hi Chris." She offered a feeble wave and then turned to us. "Uh guys I'm going to uh go talk to Chris for a little bit." We all grinned at her and she got a worried look.

"Oh don't hurry, we wouldn't want you to rush things." I said waggling my eyebrows.

"Yeah take all the time you need, don't make this one a quickie on account of us." Eliza said trying not to laugh.

"Yeah we'll find ways of passing the time. Maybe we'll do the hanky panky-oops I moon hokey pokey." Katie said smirking. Hettie walked to the door glaring at us.

"You guys suck."

"Oh working on your divination skills? Shame you're so bad at it, and can't see that the sucking is about you." Eliza said. We all looked at her.

"Liza, that was too wordy and confusing to be a proper burn." I said. She huffed rolling her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Bye guys." Hettie said waving and walking out the door.

"Bye." We said unanimously. We all sat back once the door shut going back to our business. Eliza with her nail file, Katie got out Quidditch Through The Ages and began to read and I got out my magically altered IPod and turned it on. Though it wasn't too long before Aiden Wood came in and demanded that Katie get her 'damn bird' away from him. Apparently Katie told Gwenog Jones to mercilessly peck at Aiden until he took her quidditch plays and looked at them. And yes she did name her owl after the old captain for the Holyhead Harpies. So she eventually left to torment Aiden in other ways. Then Eliza got up saying she needed to use the loo, and common knowledge was that Eliza never used toilets on the train because apparently they were too filthy for her pristine white ass. She was going to go snog Thomas before the train got to Hogsmeade Station. This left me, as always, sitting alone guarding the compartment. Or so I thought.

"God I thought your friends would never leave." Garrett Fredrickson, the only Puffer I could stand, plopped himself down in the seat next to me.

"Hey Gar, how are you?" I asked.

"Bloody miserable, do you know how long I had to stalk the corridor outside your compartment before Redding left? Let me tell you it was a long damn time."

"Hey Eliza is a wonderful person." I said indignantly.

"Maybe to you and the rest of your mismatched little girl group, but to everyone else she's a scary little bitch." I rolled my eyes at him. "So how was your summer sweetheart?"

"Really Gar? You're back on the pet name kick again?" He just stared at me. And I sighed. "He's mad at me again." I said playing with my hands. He threw his arm around me and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"What's he blaming you for this time?" he asked putting his chin on my head.

"Money." I said simply. He sighed.

"Well there's nothing we can do about it now so how about a raucous game of exploding snap?"

"Since when do you spit out those 50 point words?" He rolled his eyes at me and began to deal the cards.

We were almost through with our third game when the compartment door slammed open once again. Garrett and I turned to look, and there in all his splendor was a pissed off Scorpius Malfoy.

"Come and get Redding off of my friend." He said through gritted teeth.

"Why? What did she do this time?" I asked standing up. Garrett followed my lead and stood behind me.

"She is verbally attacking Al about Quidditch. Honestly is she an idiot? He wouldn't have made Captain if he couldn't do it." Scorpius scoffed.

"Lead the way." Scorpius stormed down the hallway toward the back of the train. At the last compartment he pushed his way inside and I followed.

"Listen Potter, buck up and be a man. You for some unknown reason were given Captain status, and I haven't heard you speak in three years. How the fuck did you get it? I'm a better candidate than you. I can give speeches. Oh yes I can give speeches. And here's one for you. Don't screw this up! This is our last fucking year and it's the only year we have without competing against your brother this is our only shot you got that? Our only shot. And if you muck this up so help me merlin I will take your head and shove it so far up your ass-"

"Whoa getting a bit violent don't you think?" I said standing behind Eliza. She jumped and whirled around to face me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She turned slightly pink.

"Well I was going to have a chat with Tommy but then I saw Potter and I felt I had to say something." It was then I noticed Thomas Landry attempting to hide his face in a corner of the compartment he was red from embarrassment.

"So you left me to go snog Landry and then you blow up at Albus because you think you can do a better job as Captain. Merlin you and Katie should start a club." She shrugged her shoulders at me. Then finally it seemed she recognized Garrett.

"What are you doing here Fredrickson?"

"Oh just curious as to why you were trying to snog Landry when it's obvious you bat for the other team." I rolled my eyes I didn't want to deal with this before we even got to Hogwarts.

"As if. You're the one who's hiding in the closet. If anything you're just jealous that I get to snog Landry and you don't."

"Oh that's rich, coming from you." I sat down and decided to zone out their conversation. Albus looked over at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey at least she's not bitching at you anymore." I said leaning back in the seat. Scorpius sat down on my other side. After a moment of staring at the two bickering he turned to look at me.

"How do you put up with those two drama queens?" he asked.

"I try to keep them far apart. As you can see it doesn't really work. Ever." Scorpius nodded. "So how have you been?" I asked.

"Decent, I guess. Rose is confusing the fuck out of me though." He leaned his head back against the seat and stared at the ceiling. Rose and Scorpius are The Hogwarts Couple. Yes they have a title and everything. They started dating last year much to the astonishment of the wizarding community. I mean come on a Weasley and a Malfoy who would have thought. It's like Romeo and Juliet but without the teenage suicide.

"What is she doing?"

"She's started to get kind of bitchy."

"Maybe she's on her period?" I offered. His head snapped to the right to look at me he gave me a disgusted face.

"Ew don't say shit like that Hamilton."

"What? It happens. And red heads are feisty on a normal day just imagine what it's like-"

"Ew Stop! Shut up! I don't want to hear about this." Scorpius said covering his ears. I laughed slightly.

"UGH YOU ARE SO IRRITATING!" Garrett shouted. All of our heads turned in his direction.

"Well you're no walk in the park either sunshine."

"Maybe you would be if you removed that stick from your ass."

"Okay I think it's time we go our separate ways. Don't ya think?" I said standing up in between the two.

"He started it." Eliza said with a huff.

"Uh huh sure he did. Now let's go and leave the nice little Slytherin boys to do whatever it is that they do."

"But I still didn't get to spend time with Tom-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you have all year to do that now out." I said pushing her and Garrett out the door.

"Yeah Redding you have all year to be a slut."

"Hey don't call her a slut Garrett." I said giving him an extra shove.

"Yeah Garrett don't call me a slut." And here they go again. I waved goodbye to the Slytherins and proceeded to push my friends down the train to our compartment. This was going to be a long ride.