'One for sorrow, two for joy,

Three for a girl, four for a boy,

Five for silver, six for gold,

Seven for a secret that will never be told'

A lone magpie stood on the grass, not five feet away from where Noa lay, a forgotten book on her stomach as she peacefully dozed. All was quiet; next door a little girl was softly singing to herself in Italian. Suddenly an ear-splitting scream filled the air, and Noa sat up, alert. The magpie flew off, croaking angrily. The noise stopped as swiftly as it had begun, and it was silent again. Noa sprung to her feet and hurried inside.

'Dad? Dad, are you okay?! Da-'

It was then that she saw the body.

Noa woke with a start, tangled in her sheets with her forehead damp with perspiration. It wasn't the first time this had happened; ever since her father had died a month earlier she hadn't had a good night's sleep, the memory replaying in her mind every time she closed her eyes. She looked around her room, concentrating on slowing her breath down. Her gaze passed over the black and white framed photos that adorned her walls, down to her thick white carpet covered in old magazines, random articles of clothing, her huge trunk, makeup- wait, a trunk? Noa's eyes flashed over to her calendar, and she groaned. Today's date was circled in red marker; it was the 1st September, the day she boarded the Hogwart's express and started her new school.

Noa buried her head under her pillow, and tried to clear her mind of all the thoughts now sprinting around it. However, before she could fall back asleep, a ginger haired whirlwind entered her room.

'Good, you're awake. Time to get up, we don't want you being late on your first day. I've got to go and make sure Fabian and Gideon aren't trying to sneak anything illegal into school

again. Come down to breakfast as soon as you're dressed.'

'Thanks Molly.' Noa smiled up at Molly with genuine gratitude in her eyes. Molly had been so good to her ever since her father's death: giving her a place to stay, organising the funeral and giving her the space she knew Noa needed.

Noa rolled out of bed, and went over to her mirror. Ugh, she looked a mess, lack of sleep hadn't been doing her any favours. Sighing, she took her concealer, and started to get ready.

Platform 9 ³/₄ was packed with people; there were the first years crying as they said goodbye to their parents, friends rushing over to greet each other and tell each other all the juicy secrets from the summer, and a countless array of animals making a huge racket. Two dark haired boys suddenly appeared through the entrance, both with identical grins on their faces. One of them caught sight of a third boy, and waved excitedly, almost hitting the first in the face. This resulted in a quick wrestling match, as the third boy quickly made his way over.

'Padfoot, Prongs! How are you both?'

The two boys leapt up, and engulfed the third in a huge hug.

'Oh Moony, it's been too long!'

'Yes my dearest Remus, my heart has been breaking from the separation!'

Remus laughed at them both, and shoved them off him.

'James, Sirius, I saw you both last weekend when I came over with Peter!'

The taller of the two dark haired boys, James, looked around him puzzled. 'Hey, speaking of him, has anyone seen Wormtail?'

The other boy, Sirius, suddenly jumped. 'Ahah! There he is! Oi, Wormtail, over here!'

A short boy scurried over, a smile lighting up his face as he saw the other three. Before he could reach them however, James nudged Sirius and let out a low whistle.

'Damn Padfoot, look it's your twin!'

The boys all simultaneously looked over at where James eyes were focused. At first all they could see were the Prewett twins, probably up to no good like themselves, but when Gideon moved slightly they saw her. She was gorgeous; she had thick, long, burgundy-red hair tied up in a ponytail that was slightly curled at the end and huge, almond shaped, dark brown eyes. Her skin had an even, bronze tan and she looked slightly foreign. She was wearing short white denim cut-offs that showed off her long legs, a tight black tank top, a leather jacket that was slightly too big for her and matching biker boots. Sirius looked down at his own leather jacket and biker boots and let out a bark like laugh.

'Wow mate, she's hot! I haven't seen her around, and she looks too old to be a first year- who do you think she is?'

'Only one way to find out,' James said, and winked at the others.

Noa sighed - she seemed to be doing that a lot today - and looked around. Fabian and Gideon had sprinted off together as soon as they had reached the platform, saying that they had 'an important matter to attend to'. God knows what that meant! Molly, once giving her a quick peck on the cheek and wishing her good luck, had left too soon after. As to the other students, none of the girls had even said hello to her - they were too busy whispering about her- and the boys, even though they weren't whispering as much, hadn't bothered to come over either. Great, she hated being the new girl already, and she hadn't even reached school. Noa bit the inside of her lip, and shook herself out of her funk - you know what - she thought - fuck them, who are they to judge me? She flicked her wand at her trunk, making it levitate a couple of centimeters about the ground, and strode confidently onto the train.

Noa strolled along through the compartments, trying to find one filled with people her age. If no one was going to talk to her, she would have to go over to them. At her old school she had been pretty popular, especially with guys, and she didn't plan on being a loner any time soon. As she was beginning to reach the end of the train, she entered a compartment full of boys who looked like they would be starting the 5th year, like her. They all looked up as she paused by them, their slightly annoyed expressions morphing into smiles as they took in her appearance.

'Hi there, I was wondering if this seat was free', Noa said, her American accent making her seem even more exotic to the boys, as she gestured to an empty seat next to one of them.

'Of course.' The boy replied, moving his belongings from it. 'I'm Evan Rosier, pureblood.'

Noa thought this was rather an odd thing to say to someone you had just met, but shook her head, thinking it was probably nothing. She concentrated on what Evan was saying, as he finished listing the other boys in the carriage, by surname - this too was slightly odd, surely you would refer to your friends by their first names, but again she dismissed it.

'... Mulciber and Avery. Now, who are you?'

The conversation flowed easily for the next ten minutes, Noa making sure it stayed light - she didn't really want people she had known for less than half an hour knowing all of her secrets.

The train was on the outskirts of London, when the door opened again, and this time all the boys in the compartment had very different reactions. They all leapt up and had their wands drawn before Noa was even able to see anything more about the people at the door, apart from the fact that they were boys. One of them grabbed her by the arm, and shoved her out into the corridor, slamming the door closed behind him. Suddenly spells were flying everywhere inside the compartment, including one which had produced a lot of smoke, and Noa couldn't see what was going on. She let out a huff of frustration - what was she meant to do now - her trunk was in there! Just then the train jolted, and she fell on the floor. That made up her mind, she was just going to have to find a different compartment, and come back for her trunk at the end of the journey.

She finally found an empty compartment towards the back of the train, she didn't really want company any more. She sat down at a window seat, and put her legs on the one next to it, leaning her head back against the window. Just as she was starting to get comfortable however, the door opened again, and noise filled the compartment, as the boys who had stormed into the other compartment entered.

The first to enter was a tall boy with messy brown hair and glasses that were slightly lopsided at the moment. He smiled at Noa as he sat down opposite her. He then stuck out his hand.

'James Potter, pleased to meet you.'

Before she had a chance to reply a second boy entered the carriage. He was slightly shorter, and looked aristocratic with long black hair and a devilishly handsome grin. He pushed her legs off the aisle seat, before sitting down extremely closely to her, and casually putting an arm around her shoulder.

'Hey there love, nice to see you again - I was the lucky man to save you back there. I'm Sirius Black, here if ever need anything.' He then winked at Noa, causing hundreds of dirty images to cross her mind.

Whilst she had been watching Sirius, the last two boys had entered. The first one, who looked slightly ill and had multiple cuts on his face, took the seat next to James and simply smiled at Noa. The second one, a lot shorter than the others and slightly plump, took the seat across the aisle from the first, his eyes averted down towards the floor when Noa looked over at him questioningly.

'Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew', James said in way of an explanation, waving his hand first towards the boy sitting next to him, and then to the one across the aisle.

An idea entered Noa's head, and she secretly smiled to herself. She turned back towards Sirius, and leaned in.

'When you said anything, did you really mean it?' Noa leaned in even further until her face was less than an inch away from his, as she whispered these words.

Sirius breathed in, god she smelt amazing! 'Anything for you gorgeous!'

Noa kicked him under the table, and returned to her original position.

'Then why don't you get lost until you have the decency firstly to apologise and tell me what the hell happened back there and secondly to ask before you just sit down!'

James and Peter burst out laughing from across the table, and even Remus let a little grin out. As for Sirius, he looked like a five year old boy who had just been told off, as he rubbed his leg.

'Ooh Pads - looks like she's a feisty one!'

Noa snorted. 'You can bet she is!'

Meanwhile Sirius' mind was whirling. There was something about her that intrigued him. Sure, she was smoking, but she could hold her own - he liked that, it made her different from all those girls he'd been with in the past. She was definitely a challenge, but he liked that, and it made him even more determined to win her over.

He gave her another smoking smile.

'Sorry gorgeous. It's just, those people, you don't wanna be friends with them. Pure blood fanatics who all turn out to be dark wizards; they probably only looked at your smokin' body when they let you sit with them. I mean, you gotta look at it from our perspective, we saw a beautiful girl in trouble - we couldn't let that happen, could we Prongs?'

James, who had zoned out and was trying to distract Remus from the book he was reading, jumped slightly at the sound of his name and turned back to face Sirius and Noa. 'Quite right mate. What kind of men would we be otherwise?'

'Less annoying ones', Noa said under her breath. However, she thought over her current situation; there had been something not right about the boys she had been sitting with earlier, and these boys were just as good to talk to if they stopped being so bloody arrogant.

'Fine you can stay if you can prove to me that you are worth my time more than they were, but you gotta stop calling me stupid names - my actual name is Noa Prewett.'

All the boys were determined to be deemed interesting by her, and grabbed at this piece of information - the first this new girl had shared with them.

'Prewett - as in Fabian and Gideon?' James asked, intrigued.

'Yes, they're my cousins, along with Molly.'

So your Dad is their uncle?'

'No, I'm related to them through my Mom. I took her maiden name.'

'Where are you from? Why did you transfer here?'

Noa sighed at all their questions, but decided she might as well answer them, they seemed genuinely interested and would all find out soon enough.

'My Mum, as I've told you, was a Prewett, and my Dad was part of the old Italian pureblood family Maurino. I have an American accent because I lived in America when I was younger, as my Mom was half American. My Mom died when I was nine along with my Aunt and Uncle - Molly, Fabian and Gideon's parents - in an top secret mission in England for the ministry that went wrong, even now I still don't really know what happened. Fabian and Gideon went to live with Molly, who had just turned eighteen, but I moved with my Dad in Italy. I went to Beauxbatons when I turned eleven, as it was just across the border; I'm here now because during the summer holidays that just past, my Dad was murdered - they never caught who did it. Molly kindly invited me into her home, and Dumbledore let me transfer here.'

The compartment was silent for a while, none of the boys had expected her to say anything like that. Finally Remus spoke.

'I'm sorry for your loss.'

Noa shrugged, still caught up in her own past. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to tell these boys her whole life story, but it was better that people knew the truth than some ridiculous made up story and, despite their faults, these boys seemed genuinely nice. She had known them for all of half an hour, but she felt a connection with them, especially with James and Sirius, that she'd never felt with anyone else. Yes, she'd been one of the most popular girls in Beauxbatons, but she had never had any really close friends. She couldn't really trust any of them with her secrets, as she knew most of them would use anything they could against her to get her off the top spot, and themselves on it.

Luckily the food trolley chose that moment to pass through their compartment and, in the excitement of choosing what to get, the sombre mood of a minute ago was forgotten. As the boys started to trade chocolate frog cards and dare each other to eat weirdly coloured Bertie Bott beans, Noa smiled and relaxed completely for the first time in ages.

Noa pursed her blood red lips as she looked around the Great Hall for the first time, taking in the amazing magical ceiling, the ghosts floating around, the teachers sitting at a table at the end, and four massive tables filled with students - who all seemed to be staring at her. Noa had changed her clothes and applied new make up when she pulled her robes on to give the biggest impact she could - first impressions were very important. She had long, dark lashes to match her crimson lips, and the studs in her ears had been replaced with large gold hoops. Her robes were pushed back on her shoulders, revealing high waisted black leather leggings paired with a light green cropped top, showing off an inch of her stomach. On her feet were black heeled pumps with studded toes, and her hair had been redone in the same ponytail. Yes, it was a bit much, but she wanted these people to know she wasn't to be messed with.

Noa was currently standing in line with a lot of first years. In front of them was an old hat, currently singing a song about the four houses, but Noa had zoned out and was still looking around at her surroundings. Over at a table covered in red and gold - Gryffindor she thought - she caught Sirius' eye and he mouthed good luck to her. she smiled, remembering the trip that she had just had. The Maurauders - as they called themselves - were hilarious, and had stayed with her throughout the whole journey, even kicking Peter out of their carriage going up to the castle so that she could join them. She was going to miss them if she ended up in a different house.

Suddenly the hat stopped singing and shouted out her name for everyone to hear. Professor McGonagall, a strict woman who had met her when she left her carriage, motioned for her to go over to the hat, frowning slightly when she took in Noa's attire. Noa walked over confidently to the hat, and placed it on her head, sitting on the stool she had just taken it from. Inside however, she was anything but confident, wondering what on earth was going to happen to her.

'Hmm... how interesting'

Who's there, Noa thought, startled by the voice.

Hush now.' The voice spoke again, an Noa realized it came from the hat on her head. 'Keep quite while I decide which house to place you in. You have aspects of all the houses. You have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, and the intelligence of a Ravenclaw - but no, you wouldn't fit in either of those houses. What about Slytherin? You are cunning and ambitious, yes you'll be...' Suddenly memories of the train journey floated into Noa's mind; the boys at the beginning, the interruption, and the rest of the journey with the Marauders. 'Well, that changes things completely, looks like you'll be going to the house of the brave, daring and chivalrous instead... GRYFFINDOR!'

Noa looked around, and it was obvious that the hat had shouted the last word out loud, as the Gryffindor table started whooping and cheering. Noa smirked as she walked over to the table, where the Marauders were frantically waving for her to sit with them. She sat down in between James and Sirius, who both started congratulating her.

'I told you she'd be put in Gryffindor!' Sirius crowed to no one in particular.

Noa laughed and put an arm around each of them.

'So, when's the food coming, I'm starving!'

'It doesn't come until after all the first years have been sorted, which should be soon', Remus said from across the table.

Just then the whole hall went silent, and everyone turned towards the end table, when Dumbledore stood up. Noa had never seen him in person before, Molly had gone to speak to him about her transferring, but she knew it was him from chocolate frog cards.

'Before we start, I would like to say a couple of words. Tuck in!'

Suddenly the table was groaning from the weight of all the food; there was roast beef, roast chicken, lamb chops, steak, over ten different variety of potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, peas, carrots, gravy and - weirdly enough - mint humbugs.

Noa started loading her plate until it was almost overflowing, and then did indeed tuck in.

Noa was one of the last to leave the Great Hall, time had passed so quickly while she was talking to the Marauders. A wave of tiredness came over her as she walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. She said goodbye to them as soon as she stepped through the painting of a fat lady and, too tired to take in the common room, walked up the girls staircase. She stopped when she reached the door with '5th years' written on it, and went in. Inside were four four-poster beds facing each other, a window in between two of them. She could see another door that she assumed led into the bathroom. Three of the beds had their hangings closed and slow breathing emitted from within. The fourth bed, on the left of the window, had her trunk on it. Noa kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the bed, too tired to do anything else. As she lay there, happy memories from the day flashed through her mind. She let her whole body relax as smiled as she remembered a joke James had told earlier. As sleep took over Noa, her last thought was that maybe, just maybe, this year wasn't going to be too bad.