"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

-Albus Dumbledore

Chapter One

The cold, smoggy haze of London had begun to give way to the green, sprawling English countryside when I was forcefully awoken. The aching tension of starting Hogwarts had managed to leave me stricken with insomnia and it had taken me over an hour to find Platform nine and three quarters, so I don't think anyone would have blamed me when I passed out damn near immediately after finding my seat. But my blissful sleep had sadly been ruined by the arrival of a certain candy trolley wheeling woman.

"'Ello dear, can I get you anything?" She asks in a voice so raspy and harsh I can practically taste all the cigarettes she's been smoking. I ask for a couple of Chocolate Frogs and a Cauldron Cake, I've never been able to get back to sleep after being woken so I might as well get some sugar in my body. I give her a few Sickles, she hands over the various sweets and then she's on her way, most likely to make other first-year students vaguely uncomfortable. I settle into the cracked, vaguely piss-brown vinyl seating and tear into my Cauldron Cake, the last few days had been so hectic that I had been barely eating. After finishing up my Cake and setting aside the Chocolate Frogs for later I begin to go through my luggage for what must be the millionth time, I've never particularly cared about keeping my stuff in order but apparently Hogwarts has turned me into a perfectionist. It turns out that constantly tweaking my luggage has surprise surprise, put my stuff in general order. Satisfied, I zip up my bags and lean back, but just as I'm about to attempt some form of sleep (can't blame me for trying) I hear a staccato triplet of knocks on the outside of the door.

I look up and see a cat and a tiny first-year boy with brownish-red hair, thick eyeliner and a pleated skirt. And hey, I was friends with some pretty weird people in my time across the pond and as someone who goes both ways I'm not gonna judge what someone wears. But seriously, this dude was so tiny and effeminate that he looked like he was just asking to get the crap beaten out of him. And combined with the look he was giving even I was almost compelled to beat the crap out of him, and I like to think i'm a pretty nice girl.

Halfway through my incredibly harsh breakdown of this most likely really nice person I'm interrupted by said person. "Hey, a bunch of assholes kicked me out of my booth; do you mind if I sit here with you?" He gives me the same kind of look that a dying, disease-ridden puppy would. This kid looks like a gigantic jackass but something in his eyes compels me to give him a shot. I scoot over and pat the seat next to me. He takes my begrudging acceptance with a swaggering alpha-male confidence that exceeds his age and size. He slouches over next to me and grabs one of my Chocolate Frogs. "You gonna eat this?" Before I can answer he's ripped it open and devoured it whole. He takes one look at the card and effortlessly flips it into the trash can a few feet away. "It was Dumbledore," He says with the flippancy of a C-list comedian "I've already got like, ten of them."

The remainder of the trip passed in awkward silence, with him asking obnoxious questions and me providing brusque, one-word answers. I think he had begun to realize that I wasn't a big fan of his persona when the train stuttered to a stop and the rest of the students rushed out in a horde of prepubescent confusion. Startled by the sudden stop I looked out the window and took in the perched, cobblestone majesty of Hogwarts Castle, I awkwardly got up, instinctively brushed myself off and was about to leave my cabin when he grabbed my shoulder. "I don't think you ever got my name," he said, grabbing my hand and shaking it roughly, desperately trying to get back in my (relative) good graces. "My full name is Finnian Faustus, but you can call me Finn." He looks at me expectantly, hoping that I'll take him up on his social cue and introduce myself. "I'm Noelle Hudson." I pull my hand away from his and head for the exit, "But you can just call me Noelle." As I keep walking some giant, behemoth of a person bumps into me, looks at my hair, and chokes down a poorly hidden laugh. I guess I should talk about my hair, it's pink. That's pretty much it, I don't understand why everyone thinks it's so weird. I give her the death glare that I've managed to perfect over the years and she hurries on. With that encounter weighing on my mind, I step out of the train with all of the other kids and get my first, unfiltered, unobscured look at The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This is gonna fucking blow.

...

The train to Hogwarts was decently large, considering the fact that I'd been on multiple trains in my time. Both my parents were purebloods, so I had an advantage to finding Platform Nine and Three Quarters, though it did feel rather strange carrying a cat around the station.

The cat was the devil in its purest form. I dropped the thing onto the damp, stone flooring and cursed at it, stepping onto the train and glancing at my foreign surroundings.

It was a narrow little hallway with people dressed in black robes pressing up against the sides to let others pass. Of course I didn't want to socialize at the moment, so I slipped into the first empty carriage I found and shut the door. I kicked my luggage under a cushioned seat and threw myself into it, staring out the window at the parents who were waving their kids goodbye with teary eyes. I grimaced. My parents didn't show, since they were either on business or locked in their bedroom.

I heard the door open and close, and multiple pairs of dress shoes clicking on the carpeting. I didn't particularly feel like looking up, so I continued to stare out the window. Someone grabbed the back of my robes and pulled me up out of my seat, turning me to face them.

It was a boy, a first year like myself by the looks of it, with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Someone else was standing behind him, but honestly, I couldn't tell if they were a guy or a girl. I narrowed my eyes. "What do you want?"

"Your name, kid," the blue-eyed boy said, shaking my shoulders. "C'mon, I don't bite. I'm Loki. Just tell me yours."

"It's Finnian," I grinded my teeth together, trying to shake away from his surprisingly iron grip. "Let me go, Loki. I don't feel like doing this."

He dropped me and I glared up at him, grabbing my luggage from under the seat and walking back out of the carriage with the cat close at my heels. Assholes. I hoped I wouldn't see them for at least the rest of the school year.

I peeked into another carriage with a pink-haired girl sitting on one of the seats. I knocked on the door, which really had no point, since I opened it without waiting for a reply and walked in, standing in front of the doorway until she looked up at me. "Hey, a bunch of assholes kicked me out of my booth, do you mind if I sit here with you?"

She scoots more towards the window and pats the freshly vacated seat next to her, which I took as an act of letting me sit there. I slouched down into the seat as the cat jumped up onto the one across from me. I arched my eyebrows at the tiny packages of Chocolate Frogs lying in her lap and snatched one of them up. "You gonna eat this?" I said, rather rhetorically, since I had already ripped it open and shoved it into my mouth.

The card under the Frog was useless, so I flicked it halfheartedly into the waste basket sitting a few feet away from myself. I cast a sideways glance at the girl, who was eyeing me. "It was Dumbledore," I explained. "I've already got like ten of them."

She shrugs nonchalantly and turns to stare out the window, and some time passed with me asking my run-on questions until I figured she probably didn't want to talk, so I folded my arms across my chest and stared at the cat, who was batting a bug against the seat.

The train shuddered to a loud and abrupt stop, and the rest of the people on board rushed out the doors. I leaned forwards to get a view out of the window and surveyed the massive castle that was Hogwarts. The girl next to me stood up and brushed herself off.

She was about to leave the carriage when I grabbed her shoulder. "I don't think you ever got my name," I said, trying desperately to spark something of a conversation. "My full name is Finnian Faustus, but you can call me Finn."

She looks at me for a long while until finally replying. "I'm Noelle Hudson." she says and shakes my hand off of herself, walking again towards the door. "But you can just call me Noelle."

I watched her leave, then stood up myself and grabbed my bags from under the seat. The hallways were nearly impossible to get through at the moment, so I waited until more people had passed before getting off the train. The cat had leapt down off the seat and followed close at my heels, meowing loudly to try and get my attention.

I ignored it with all my willpower and jumped off the train, landing on the damp sidewalk leading up towards the school of Hogwarts.

...

"Jesus d- dude, think you could've been more off-putting?" I said, pinching the bridge of my nose, with one of my two mice napping in my lap. Of course with my wonderful luck I acquainted the most socially inept human to walk this damned train, in fact I barely had a choice in the matter. I got to 9 ¾ relatively early, but this dude by the name of Loki swaggered over and made me leave my booth to follow him. I ran my hands up sharpied arms, I knew the fact I drew fake tattoos made me the lamest human on earth, but hey, I liked it. He quirked an eyebrow, and leaned into his seat a bit more.

"I got us a booth." He simply stated, he ruffled his mane of maroon hair. "It's bit farther in the back than I'd like, but eh." I buried my face into gloved hands and sighed. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, and handed me a box of Every Flavor Beans in way of assumed reconciliation. I traced the box's pattern with my clothed thumb, one thing I'll probably never get used to is the odd candies sold from the wizarding world. "I hope you get a vomit one." I heard him mumble. I snorted with an eyeroll.

"Love ya too, buddy." I said with the hidden bite I had oh too well mastered. "Where'd you get this? Didn't we miss the trolley lady?"

"Stole it." He stated, Shrugging at the short answer, I popped one into my mouth. He stared with extreme anticipation on whether I was going to be unlucky. With up turning lips, I pumped a fist in the air. "Butterscotch MOTHER FUCKER!" I realized my mistake when I saw the kids from the cabin across from me stare in confusion, I sank into the booth with embarrassment flushing my face. The high spirits were instantly crushed by a migraine threatening my temple. "God, I could kill for some coffee." Everything had gone quite wrong this morning, I was supposed to improve my life this year, not ruin it more. In fact everything in the fabric of our supposed existence right now I absolutely hated. I hated that I probably made more enemies than friends, I hated the lack of caffeine they sold on this cursed train, I hated that the only somewhat friend I had made on this train was a total asshat with a stupid superhero complex.

"Really? I have a few people I'd like gone." Loki said without missing a beat. I sighed and attempted to keep my 'Loud yet chilled attitude.' Quite honestly though I wanted to wring his neck in front of the already confused kids seated across from us. I saw him shift for a moment, and rest his chin in the palm of his hand. "What's your gender?" I immediately wanted to leave this conversation the moment the words left his mouth. My head was now pounding with pain, trying to conceive an understandable response.

"I'm sorry man, but I really need some sleep right now…" I said with a convincible fake smile, but I think he could read I was just avoiding the subject. We sat in awkward silence for a while, as I stroked the mouse's soft fur. I wasn't going to trust this kid yet with all my weird dark secrets. Secrets even I wasn't ready to face.

I drifted to sleep periodically before we finally arrived at the castle. I practically jumped up, despite my extreme tiredness. As I was getting my stuff to leave, Loki asked "Can you at least tell me your name?" I groaned, realizing how stupid I was to forget mentioning my name to the guy I knew for like 4 hours.

"I- it's Parker, Parker Polla." I said in a rush, before I left the cabin. The line out was torturous, so I pushed through as many people I could, not hard since I was freakishly tall for my age. I accidentally bumped this one chick into the wall of the train, so I stopped to apologize, but I was caught off guard by her crazy looking pink hair. I understand my hypocrisy considering my hair is almost as weird, despite this I let out a choked laugh, which was an obvious mistake. I had seen many glares in my life, literally two hours ago with that one kid Loki annoyed, but the glare this tiny human produced made me fear for something more than my life. I coughed awkwardly and shuffled away with her eyes following me in obvious a 'I hate you in every way.' Finally I made it out of the train with a few other, my feet land on the semi muddy grass, pushing the hair out of my face I see it, Hogwarts.

...

"Wait, please stop!" As the train slowly picks up speed I desperately try to catch up, jumping and swerving over crying family members and haggled security guards. And almost as it seems that I've lost hope, I manage to grab onto the railing and swing myself on; busting my arms and legs in the process. I fall face first onto the floor of the train, gasping and wheezing. I had always thought physical activity was a waste of time, and it had come back to bite me in the arse. Bruised but still functioning, I get up and start looking for somewhere to sit. My errant stumbling attracts a lot of attention as I painfully meander through the hallway leading to the compartments. I see a shrimp of a child (first year probably, like me) walking by with her purse, and decide that today really couldn't get any worse so I might as well steal something. I strategically bump into her, sending her and her handbag flying. As I'm helping her up I subtly pick her pockets, I was originally going to go for the obviously more valuable purse, but the girl had automatically grabbed onto it when she had fallen and had quickly attached a death grip to it. I put her on her way and casually resumed walking; examining the reward of my labor: one sickle and a small box of those damned every-flavor beans. While walking by I see a person of undefinable gender sitting alone in one of the compartments. I decide to take a chance and I go in, cautiously lay myself on the booth and introduce myself. "Uh, hey my name's Loki, can I like, sit here?" My unexpected proposition sends her (him? I don't know I'm gonna go with that.) jumping in his seat. He falls out of his seat and tumbles to the floor in an awkward pile. I barely hold back a laugh as I reach my hand out to him. "You need some help?" He gives me one of the most half-assed angry looks I've ever seen and gets up by himself. He sits down on the booth and brushes himself off, still glaring at me. I sit down next to him and almost on instinct he scoots away, leaning back in his cushioned seat and folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, you're talkative," I smirked and stood back up. "C'mon. I don't like this car. And I need someone else to talk to if you don't." I stretched out my arms and slipped out of the door, vaguely aware that he had followed me hesitantly.

I opened the door to another car and arched my eyebrows at the boy sitting in one of the seats, a red cat meowing loudly at him from the opposite seat. I walked up behind him, which he tensed up at, and grabbed the black hood of his robes, yanking him up out of the seat and turning him to face me.

The kid had bright green eyes and a death glare like a wolf. "What do you want?" he hissed through clenched teeth, noticeably irritated.

"Your name, kid," I replied simply, lightly shaking his shoulders a bit, looking over his whole figure. "C'mon, I don't bite. I'm Loki. Just tell me yours."

"It's Finnian," he ground his teeth together and tried to squirm away from my grip. "Let me go, Loki. I don't feel like doing this."

I dropped him, since he had asked so nicely, and he glared up at me defiantly. He grabbed his luggage from under a seat and walked out of the car as the cat leapt off his own seat and followed him out. I shrugged and slouched into his freshly vacated seat.

"Jesus d- dude, think you could've been more off-putting?" the boy/girl who had followed me into the car said finally, and I looked up in surprise.

...

To be blatantly honest with myself, I had no idea what to expect from Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Maybe something a bit more lavish, much more befitting to me, but it was a simple train parked on the tracks of a damp, stone station.

At least the seats were cushioned. I sat down on one, dropping my bag onto the ground and looking up towards the glass door of the carriage to watch passersby find their seats. One of them in particular, a small boy with russet colored hair, caught my attention. I reminded myself to look for him when I got to the school and leaned back in the seat, folding my arms across my chest and staring down disdainfully at the sooty owl my father had gotten me.

The thing just sat perched in his cage, staring at me with glassy blackened eyes. I narrowed mine. "What are you looking at? I'm not letting you out."

The owl didn't flinch. I reached my leg out and kicked the seat it was on. "Do something at least, I don't want those eyes of yours watching my every move. It's unsettling."

My father had an interesting taste in owls, it seemed. The owl kept staring at me, blinking once very slowly. I made a low growling noise from the back of my throat and turned my head away, facing the crowd of parents and children hugging one another on the pavement. I spotted my father, a handsome man with caramel colored hair, yelling into his phone and gesturing furiously with his free hand. Midas Maverick had a temper like a wild boar.

I raked my fingers through my own hair, which was noticeably lighter than his, not really expecting a wave goodbye. When Midas was on the phone, it usually meant that he didn't want to be bothered with trivial things.

An old woman with short, grey hair stopped in front of my carriage, poking her head inside. "Wouldja like anything from the trolley, boy?"

I looked up at her, then surveyed the cart with disinterest. "Fine. Just get me one of those Chocolate Frogs you have," I waved my hand dismissively, pulling out a few shining coins in the pocket of my dress pants and handing them to her.

I accepted the Frogs and stared down at them with an arched eyebrow, deciding that it probably wouldn't do any harm if I opened the packaging. The Frog immediately jumped out of the wrapping as soon as I flicked off the tape and hopped into my lap. I scowled at it.

"Where do you think you're going?" I hissed between my clenched teeth, grabbing one of the Frog's chocolate legs and lifting it up off of myself. "I didn't tell you that you could leave." I shook the Frog nonchalantly, making it squeak in protest.

"Aw, don't fight," I leaned forward and set my elbow on my knee, resting my chin in my hand boredly, the Frog dangling helplessly in between my fingers. "I'm just getting started."

The Frog squeaked even louder, and I glanced around to see if anyone had heard the unholy noise. I narrowed my eyes at the thing and shook it harder. "What do you want? You're chocolate. You're nothing other than someone's snack."

I ripped the leg off and dropped the limp Frog onto the ground. It made me angry. Something that was created to be destroyed didn't deserve to breathe. I tossed the leg onto the ground as well and crossed my arms, leaning back in my seat and turning to look out the window again with a huff, the sooty owl still staring at me with glossy black eyes.