A.N. So this is my new fanfic! I'll still be continuing with my other one though, don't worry. Enjoy! And please remember to leave feedback!

Any dialogue, storyline or characters you may recognise belongs to J.K. Rowling.

I watched as mum, dad and Hugo disappeared from view, yet for some reason I was still waving. I pulled myself back inside the carriage and shut the window, stopping the chilly autumn air from entering. I felt like I should cry, but I know exactly what dad would say: "Stop crying, Rosie. It's okay." So, I decided that I was too old and needed to start being more independent; like mum would say. I suddenly felt a wave of excitement wash over me, after all - I'm going to Hogwarts! I've been waiting for ages. The compartment door slid open, and Albus was standing there. He looked so much like my Uncle Harry: his untidy black hair and his green eyes - you wouldn't be able to tell them apart if they were the same age. I've always liked Al; we get on so well. He pulled me out of my thoughts when he spoke. "Hey, Rose, mind if I join you?" his voice was quiet, almost drowned out by the rumble of the train on the tracks.

"Not at all!" I gestured to the seat opposite me. "Where's James?" I asked him suddenly. Surely he'd want to hang out with his popular older brother in 3rd Year, it was much cooler than being with your girl cousin.

"Oh, he's off with his own friends." Albus smiled weakly as he sat down opposite me. He fidgeted around in his seat, and I noticed he was paler than usual.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling Hogwarts: A History out of my bag.

"Fine, just nervous." He was staring out of the window at the city rolling past us.

"You'll be fine," I offered him a friendly smile, which he returned. "It's the sorting that's worrying you, isn't it?" I knew from what mum had told me. ("You have to look after Albus, Rosie. Uncle Harry said he's really nervous about the sorting. Please? For me?"). He nodded, but didn't look at me. "It doesn't matter if you're in Slytherin, you know?" I reminded him.

"Yeah, I know, Dad said." He replied quietly. I opened my book; this conversation clearly wasn't going anywhere.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, I heard the compartment door slide open again. A fairly tall, slim girl was standing in the doorway. Her hair was white-blonde, and curled down to her waist. She was reasonably pale, but her brown eyes compensated for it. Her features were softly carved, giving her a gentle face. "Hi," she said, shyly. She pulled the sleeves of her blue jumper down over her hands. "Do you mind if I join you? Everywhere else is full." she spoke quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

"No, it's fine." I smiled, trying to be as friendly as possible. Mum had told me to try and make friends rather than just hanging out with my cousins. I moved my purple bag from the seat next to me and she sat down. It wasn't until then that I realised how familiar she looked. Maybe I'd recognise her name. "I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Weasley. This is Albus Potter," I pointed to where Albus was gazing out of the window.

"I can introduce myself, Rose." Albus snarled. I couldn't help but wonder what's gotten into him. He leant forward and held out his hand for the girl to shake. "Albus Potter." he smiled.

"Oh, hi," she smiled faintly. "I'm Elizabeth." She didn't give a surname.

"Surname?" Albus asked.

"Albus!" I snapped. He was being pretty rude, after all.

Elizabeth kept quiet for a few moments, before changing the subject.

"Weasley and Potter, eh?" She suddenly seemed a lot more confident. "I've heard a lot about you guys!"

Was she being rude? I couldn't even tell. I nodded anyway.

"You have?" Albus raised his eyebrow, I glared at him.

"Are you Harry Potter's son?" She asked Albus excitedly.

He nodded.

"Cool!" she responded.

Of course, no one cared that I was a Weasley. We're just the Weasleys, after all, nowhere near as important as the Potters. I rolled my eyes and started to read my book again. It appeared I was wrong.

"Oh, and you're a Weasley! Is Ron Weasley your dad? And Hermione you mum?" she was talking incredibly fast. I only replied with a smile and a nod. "What're you reading?" she asked me suddenly, leaning over to look at my page. Does she ever stop talking?

"Hogwarts: A History." I replied.

"Oh, I love that book! I must have read it at least twice."

You know what? Despite how enthusiastic and annoying Elizabeth is, I think I kind of like her.

While we had been talking, the train had carried us out of London. We now sped past fields of cows and sheep. At around half-past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a small and stout, but smiling, woman slid back the door to the compartment and said, "Anything from the trolley dears?" Dad had told me about this woman. He'd told me all the stories, including the one where he first met my Uncle Harry and he bought everything she had! I noticed Elizabeth was buying a Pumpkin Pasty, but Albus was still staring absent-mindedly out of the window. I stood up and bought two Pumpkin Pasties; two chocolate frogs and a box of Berty-Botts Every Flavour Beans. I smiled and handed the woman the money, before walking over to Albus and giving him a Pumpkin Pasty and a Chocolate Frog. "You need to eat something," I reminded him, dropping them on his lap.

"I'm not five, Rose," he handed the food back to me. "Plus, I'm not hungry."

I sighed. Why was he being so stubborn? "Al..." I started.

"Just drop it, Rose." he continued to watch the fields roll past us as I ate my Pumpkin Pasty.

"So who's your team?" Elizabeth chimed in as if nothing was happening.

It took me a while to realise what she meant. She stared at me intently.

"Oh-" I stared, swallowing the rather large bite that I'd just taken. "Well, it's difficult," I laughed. "Dad has always supported Chudley Canons but my auntie used to be in the Holyhead Harpies. So I support both." I finished, before remembering the manners mum had taught me. "How about you?"

"Harpies," Elizabeth smiled. "I suppose you'll be in Gryffindor?" she asked politely.

"Yep," I laughed. "It's sort of a family thing, isn't it? What about you?"

"Oh, uh..." she hesitated. "Sly-" she began, but she seemed to change her mind half way through the word. "I don't know." she said, taking such a large bite out of her Pumpkin Pasty that it barely fit in her mouth.

I pretended not to notice.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked, scrunching up the paper wrappings of my Pumpkin Pasty and brushing the crumbs from my lap.

"Well, it's complicated," she repeated my action of brushing the crumbs. "I do - one brother - but my family and I... we don't exactly get along."

"How so?" I asked. Mum had told me not to get too personal at first but it felt as though almost everything she'd told me had wandered from my mind.

"Let's just say we have different opinions," she smiled. "It's not so bad with my parents, actually. My grandparents are a lot worse. My dad doesn't speak to his parents much that more but he still agrees with them to an extent."

Something was odd about this Elizabeth girl, but I couldn't quite suss it out. "I'm going to change into my robes - I expect we'll be arriving soon."

The train came to halt. I watched all of the other students clamber out onto a dark platform, and Elizabeth, Albus and I followed behind them closely. The air had a definite chill to it; the sky had turned a deep-purple behind the mountains. Shivering, I looked around a saw a lamp bobbing over the heads of other students. I heard a familiar voice: Hagrid.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

I grabbed Albus's arm and followed Hagrid's voice. I heard Elizabeth walking to my left. She was so close that I could almost feel her shaking with nerves. I looked up and saw Hagrid's big hairy face beaming over the sea of heads.

"Alright there Rose? Albus?" he must have noticed us, so I smiled up at him. "C'mon, follow me - any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!" We followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path. It was so dark that I had to guess where to put my feet. I'm pretty sure Albus stepped on my toes a few times, too. Everyone was silent with anticipation.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sigh o'Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

I could just about see his lantern bobbing up and down in front of the crowd. I was right at the back so when everyone else came to a halt I walked straight into them. Black robes blend in pretty well. I looked up and saw a high cliff on the other side of the great black lake that we were now standing by. The windows glowed and blended in with the starry night sky, the turrets and towers standing high above everything else. Everyone was pulled back to reality when Hagrid called, "No more'n four to a boat!" He pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Me, Albus and Elizabeth watched as everyone in front of us clambered into their boats cautiously. We were last, and so the three of us got a boat to ourselves.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then - FORWARD!"

The fleet of boats began to glide forwards across the water. It was as smooth as glass so the boat didn't rock at all. We were all completely silent, gaping up at the castle towering over us.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats neared the cliff. We all bent our heads and the boats took us through a curtain of ivy which covered a vast opening in the cliff face. I recognised this from mum and dad's stories. We floated through a dark tunnel which, from what I had heard, led us right under the castle. We reached a sort of underground harbour, where we clambered out onto the rocks. I was first out of the boat, and helped Albus and Elizabeth follow. I brushed the sweat from my hands onto my robes as we walked up a passageway in the rock, following Hagrid's lamp. We appeared on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. My heart was hammering in my chest, I could feel it as I became more and more nervous. I could still feel Elizabeth's thin arms shaking to my left, and I could now feel Albus breathing heavily onto my neck. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, partially to comfort him - partially to comfort myself. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. I couldn't bear to look. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and listened as Hagrid knocked three times on the castle door.

This was it.

I'm at Hogwarts.