As I stepped on to the train to Hogwarts, for the last trip there, I wondered why I was going. I didn't particularly like the place, I didn't have that many friends, even after 6 years, and most importantly, I didn't like using magic. It felt like cheating. Plus, I wasn't that good at it. Well, Snape's potions class. I did well in that. But that wasn't so much magic as mixing things.

I guess it's because of my parents. They had both been big, important students there, as well as their parents. Here I was, barely passing. Oh, well. Free room and board, at least for one more year.

I went to my seat on the train. Maybe this year would be different. Maybe I could actually do something new this year. Leave a mark.

As I sat down, a girl came into the room. She was around my age. Quite attractive. I had probably seen her before, her lack of marvel giving away the fact that she couldn't be a first-year. She came over to me.

"Gareth? Is that you?" She asked. That was my name. She knows me, somehow.

"Do I know you, miss?" I asked.

"It's me, Gareth. Anne Emery. We went to last year's big dance together." Shit. That's right. I can't believe I forgot that.

"I'm sorry, Anne. I have terrible memory. I didn't mean any offense."

"I must have really left an impression." She said, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, mind if I sit here?"

"Of course not. Please do." I replied. She sat down right across from me, and pulled out a notebook. There were cutesy little drawings all over it. She opened it, and started drawing in it.

"You draw much?" I asked.

"Yes." She replied, without even looking up.

"Mind if I have a look?" I asked.

She looked up this time.

"Of course not. Please do." She said, handing me the notebook. I flipped through it. Her drawings were pretty good. Lots of birds.

"These are pretty good." I told her. She smiled.

"Thank you." she said. She had really pretty eyes. Blue. She was already wearing her school uniform, her Gryffindor patch blazing proudly. Same house as me.

That reminded me. I hadn't changed yet. I was still wearing my casual clothes. McGonagal would have my head if I showed up without my uniform again. She had already lectured me three years in a row about "Setting an example for the younger ones".

"Excuse me, Anne. Would you mind stepping out while I change into my uniform?" I asked.

"Sure thing, Gareth." She replied, cheerily.

After I changed, I let her back in.

"You look different from last year, Gareth. Taller, more in-shape. Have you been working out much?" she asked.

"A little." I replied. I neglected to tell her that it was because my parents had forced me to do so.

"You look good." She said.

"Thanks. You look good, too." I replied.

"Thank you." She said, blushing a little. Just barely.

We both sat down again. It was quiet for a while.

"So, last year." She said. "I'm going to miss Hogwarts."

"Yeah... You got any plans for life after school?" I asked.

"Well, I'm planning to become a teacher. Not at Hogwarts, though. Just a regular teacher." She replied. "You?"

"No plans." I said.

"None at all? You have no idea what you want to do?" she asked, confused.

"I kind of want to write." I replied.

She smiled at that.

"Well, that's pretty interesting. Do you have much experience writing?" She asked.

"Not a lot. I just write little stories and things like that." I replied.

The train went through a tunnel. The lights in the room flickered to life.

As the train exited the tunnel, the lights died again. I looked out the window. The countryside was verdant and beautiful, as it had been last year. And the year before that. It hadn't changed a bit, and it never would, hopefully. The noise the train was making was comfortingly consistant, almost lulling. My eyes were getting heavy. I needed a nap. I hadn't slept well last night.

"We'll be there soon." Anne said.