Alessandra Giuseppa De Luca woke up in her bedroom on the top floor of their new house. She was Italian and had just moved to Britain this summer. Alessandra had long, brown hair that reached about her elbows. Naturally it was curly, but not frizzy. They were soft curls, more on the wavy side of curly. She had bangs that fell into her warm but bold eyes. They were blue, but green around the pupil. She was extremely shy and was always blushing for some reason or another. She was pretty short, only five feet and two inches. Her sister Lorena towered over her at five foot six. Alessandra weighed about one hundred and five pounds and was skinny, but definitely had curves. Lorena was not just skinny but bony. She was only ninety pounds. Alessandra often envied her for her model figure, unknowing that Lorena wished she had her body. Today was the day both girls were going to be starting Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Alessandra was going to be starting her fifth year, Lorena her third. She groaned and looked at her clock; it was time to get up. But she didn't want to, in fact she was dreading going to school more than a murder suspect dreads owning up to what he did. Her shyness made it almost impossible to make new friends; she was too scared to talk to anyone new. She stepped out of her warm covers and grumbled again. She headed over to her closet and pulled out a pink and white striped tank top, blue jean mini skirt, brown suede boots, and white cropped short sleeved jacket. She walked into her bathroom and pulled her hair up into a messy bun. For make up she wore light pink lip gloss, pink and white eye shadow, and brown eyeliner. She cast a skeptical glance over her attire in the mirror and sighed. She never thought she looked good even though she was extremely beautiful.

She walked downstairs and sat down at the table across from her dad and next to Lorena. Lorena looked good, she had on khaki cargo capris, a brown peasant shirt that brought out her brown eyes, and her straight brown hair was up in a ponytail. Her make up was dark red lip stick, no eye shadow, black eyeliner, and mascara. Her father had Lorena's build, tall and skinny. He had Alessandra's small nose that turned up at the end, Lorena had gotten their mom's long nose. He had dark green eyes and his hair was very dark brown like Lorena's but was now flecked with gray. He was sipping at his steaming coffee over his newspaper and when Alessandra sat down he winked at her and smiled. She gave him a wary smile.

"Aren't you excited about starting school today?!" Lorena squealed excitedly to Alessandra as their mother walked over and smiled at them.

"Not really…" Alessandra mumbled as she gave her mother a beseeching look. Her mother had Alessandra's body, still skinny but rounded. She had a long nose, dark brown eyes, and lighter brown hair. All of them had olive tinted skin that always tanned nicely.

"Oh come on, Alessandra. It's not going to be that bad. You'll see, you're going to like it. What could be worse than having to stay here and study with me?" Their mother said as she smiled reassuringly. When they had lived in Italy their mother had home schooled them. Alessandra closed her eyes and beat her head on the table.

"Cheer up, Al. It'll be fine, I promise." Her father said.

"How do you know?"

"I know these things."

"Yea, sure."

"Believe me or not, but you're going to have so many friends you're going to look back on this is and say, 'Why did I ever doubt myself?' Then it'll be my turn to say one of my favorite lines of all time." Alessandra laughed.

"I told you so." She said as she smiled at him. He always knew how to cheer her up.

"There's that award winning smile I love. Now, go get your bags and we'll head out." Alessandra moaned and went up stairs. She grabbed her heavy trunk and lugged it downstairs. Soon they had reached the train station. The girls got out and waved to their parents. They went in between Platforms 9 and 10 and stared at the wall they were going to have to charge.

"I'll go first." Lorena offered. Alessandra nodded and watched her sister disappear into the wall. She took a deep breath and followed suit, finding herself standing next to Lorena in Platform 9 ¾.

"I'm going to go on the train, see you at Hogwarts!" Lorena called out to her as she moved away.

"Lorena! Come back!" Alessandra yelled as her sister waved and disappeared into the crowd of people. "Don't leave me all alone…" She whispered to herself as she clutched onto the trunk she was wheeling in front of her. She started to walk towards the train when something hit her on the side of the head. It was hard, and it hurt, so she grabbed the side of her head and tried to see what it was that hit her. It was a book. She picked it up and glared at it.

"Hey! Hey, you there! Yes, you, holding the book!" She heard someone call out to her. She turned and looked at them, still rubbing her head. Soon the boy who was addressing her reached her. He had black hair that seemed to fall into his eyes perfectly and gray eyes.

"Thanks for catching it."

"Oh, uh, yea, no problem…" She mumbled as she looked anywhere but the cute boy's face. She was still rubbing the side of her head when he realized,

"Oh my God, did I hit you with it?!"

"Well, um, yes…"

"Are you okay?! I am so, so, so sorry!"

"It's okay, really."

"No it's not; I am a complete and total idiot! I am really sorry!"

"It's fine."

"What'd you do this time, Padfoot?" A boy with messy, brown hair and hazel eyes said to him as he walked up.

"I just hit her with a book!"

"Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed then turning to her he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, really."

"What were you doing throwing books around?" He yelled this time at the boy called 'Padfoot.'

"I was playing a sort of keep away with Snivelly."

"Padfoot…"

"Um, who's Snivelly?" Alessandra ventured to ask. Both boys turned to look at her and she blushed. "Sorry, I'm new here." She muttered.

"Oh, well, Snivelly is the most annoying creature on the Earth." The black haired boy answered.

"Creature…?"

"Don't mind Sirius, he's a little biased," said a new boy with sandy blonde hair. "I'm Remus Lupin; it's nice to meet you." He said to her with a smile.

"Alessandra De Luca," she responded.

"You're Italian?"

"Yes."

"Oh cool! I'm Sirius Black by the way."

"James Potter."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet all of you." She said to them. They all smiled at her. "Well, uh, here's your, or, um, the Snivelly's book." She handed the book to Sirius. "I'd better get on the train…" She murmured to them.

"Ok, bye Alessandra!" Sirius called to her as she turned her back to them and boarded the train.

"Great going, Padfoot. Your first day back and you've already hit the probably most beautiful girl in the station with a book. Well, the prettiest next to Lily." James said. Sirius glared at him.

"The way I see it," he replied, "that was fate's way of telling me she's going to be my new girlfriend."

"Sirius…" Remus began.

"Don't break that poor girl's heart." James finished.

"Who said I was going to?!"

"Think about it, every single girl you've ever dated has only lasted about a week."

"Well…"

"Just leave her alone, she seemed really nice." Sirius glared at his two friends and walked towards the train himself.

"We'll let her decide on that one." Remus and James exchanged a glance then followed their friend onto the train.

OoOoOoOoO

Alessandra walked down the narrow hall between the train compartments. She finally decided to open one and slid open the door to her left. Inside was a girl with bright red hair. She was reading a book.

"Um, hi." Alessandra said nervously. The girl looked up from her book and smiled at her.

"Hi!"

"Can I sit here?"

"Of course, take a seat." Alessandra smiled back at the girl as she put away her book.

"I'm Lily Evans."

"Alessandra De Luca, it's nice to meet you."

"Are you new here?"

"Yea, we just moved to England this summer."

"Where did you live before?"

"Italy."

"Neat! What year are you in?"

"Fifth."

"Me too! Maybe you'll be in some of my classes. Do you know what house you're in?"

"No, the headmaster said in his letter that we'd be 'sorted' when we get there."

"Oh, cool." Soon the two girls were chatting away like best friends. After about ten minutes they heard a knock on the door.

"Huh, I wonder who that could be." Lily said. "Come in!" She called out as she cast a questioning glace at the door. In stepped Sirius, Remus, James, and another boy with ratty blonde hair and watery blue eyes. Lily cursed and rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Potter?"

"Only to sit with you and Alessandra."

"You know him?!" Lily exclaimed as she whipped around to face Alessandra.

"Yea, we just met outside."

"Oh."

"Yes, in fact I hit her in the head with a book." Sirius said as he slipped into the seat next to Alessandra.

"Smooth, Sirius." Lily said as she raised an eyebrow at him. Sirius grinned at her then turned back to face Alessandra who was now blushing furiously and was finding the floor very interesting all of a sudden. James sat down next Lily who crossed her arms and refused to look at him, the new boy sat down on Lily's other side, and Remus sat next to Alessandra and took out a book which he proceeded to read.

"So," Sirius said, now gazing intently at Alessandra, "you're new here."

"Yea."

"What year are you in?"

"Fifth."

"Oh good, I am too."

"Oh."

"You're very beautiful, you know."

"Thanks."

"And I was wondering if you'd like to be my girlfriend?" Alessandra looked up into his stormy gray eyes that were now twinkling.

"Please don't take this the wrong way," she replied with a smile, "but I think I'd rather date a hairless monkey than you." His smile soon faded and everyone in the compartment burst into hysterical laughter. Lily high fived Alessandra who was grinning and chuckling softly. Sirius moved away from Alessandra and crossed his arms, looking very dejected.

"I'm sorry Sirius, but I just don't think of you that way."

"Uh huh." He grunted in response and began wondering what she didn't like about him. He had never been rejected by a girl before. He had turned down girls before, but never before had he been turned down. This was a new thing for him and he did not like it one bit.

The train ride continued on amiably, Alessandra learned that the rat like boy's name was Peter and that each one of them had nicknames. James was Prongs, Remus was Moony, Sirius was Padfoot, and Peter was Wormtail. Soon they arrived at the castle and they all filed outside. This was certainly going to be better than she thought.