Nat snuggled under the plush duvet covering her cherry-wood bed and opened up the leather-bound purple notebook she used as an address book. Her heart beat fast looking at all her friends' pictures, names, and information. She read each page:

Natalie "Nat" Phyllis Black

Blue eyes, brown hair

Born June 2nd

Online username: natblack40

House: Gryffindor

James Sirius Potter

Brown eyes, black hair

Born May 13th

Online username: jspotter0513

House: Gryffindor

Rebecca "Becca" Olivia Lawrence

Brown eyes, black hair

Born August 4th

Online username: HAVE YOU NOT FORGOTTEN I DUNNO WHAT A COMPUTER IS?!?

House: Ravenclaw

Rose "Rosie" Leanne Weasley

Brown eyes, auburn hair

Born September 5th

Online username: rosieweasley704

House: Gryffindor

Scorpius "Scorp" Hyperion Malfoy

Blue-green eyes, blond hair

Born June 6th

Online username: Um, daddy doesn't know what the bloody hell a computer IS…It's lucky you taught me about the tellyphone….

House: Slytherin

Nat closed the book and replaced the coordinating lock. She stuffed the key into a special pocket in her suitcase and dragged her luggage downstairs. "Mom! Mom! Can you help me carry my luggage?" she yelled. "Why don't you get Aaron to help you with it?" her mother replied. "Aaron!" Nat screamed and ended up with a sharp "NO!" from her older brother. And so her mother helped her.

"Natalie Black, how many suitcases do you need?" Mom scolded. "Well, the purple one and the orange one are for my clothing, the pink one is for all my decorating stuff, and I have my matching paisley duffle bag for all my schoolbooks!" she replied. "But why do you have your backpack?" "I needed something to put my hair supplies in!" "Minimize the luggage, dear," "Fine!"

So Nat climbed up the stairs in her bright blue pumps and navy cashmere cardigan and began to repack. She thought it over very carefully. She most certainly would need her undergarments, and she couldn't live without her charm bracelet collection, and then the calf-length boots were a must….the list went on and on until finally, she managed a backpack for school books, her duffle bag for shoes, and her purple suitcase for everything else. She carried her luggage back downstairs.

"Happy now, mum?" she asked. "Yes, you've done much better. What is with this calling me 'mum' all of a sudden?" her mother replied. "It's a British thing. Everyone at school does it!" "Oh, yes, you're magic school. Very well then, you can do what you like for an hour and then we have to take off for King's Cross." "Fine mother," she said and climbed the stairs once again.

Natalie's family was very rich, so they had moved to London from Washington D.C. so they could be closer to her father's family, since they had already built up millions of dollars. So, her room was very posh – it was silver and blue with accents of cherry-wood. She had a plush navy duvet and sheets in a shiny gray on a bed made of cherry-wood. An alarm clock sat on a cherry-wood side table and the walls were each painted a different shade of blue. A silver floor lamp resided on the other end of her bed and her cat Scooter's bed almost directly underneath that. A signed poster of her American Idol favorite from this year, Casey James, hung on the wall, framed in cherry-wood.

The only thing better than the Blacks' English manor were the way they got to dress. Nat was always dressed impeccably in shades that complemented her skin and eyes. Today, she was dressed in her favorite traveling outfit for the long ride on the Hogwarts express – a black silk tank top with a rhinestone-encrusted hem and navy blue cashmere sweater. A jean miniskirt lengthened her legs and her bright blue pumps increased her height 2 ½ inches. Her shiny brown hair was straightened and pulled back in a braid.

A beeping sound came from the computer and a window popped up.

Rosieweasley704 and jspotter0513 have joined

Jspotter0513: so happy its almost time 4 skool 2 start again

Rosieweasley704: totes cant wait 2 c u

Jspotter0513: same here wheres nat?

Natalie seated herself on the cherry-wood stool in front of the lit screen and began to type rapidly.

Natblack40: right here u dummy

Jspotter0513: look whos talking

Rosieweasley704: nice 2 c nothings changed

Natblack40: U WANNA GO JAMES?

Jspotter0513: BRING IT PORTER!

Natblack40: UR ON POTTER BOY!

Rosieweasley704: plz plz plz don't kill e/o b4 term even starts

Jspotter0513: anything 4 u queen rosie

Natblack40: shut up potter…wat r u peeps doin?

Jspotter0513: listening 2 my s2pid uncle talk abt the damn war again

Rosieweasley704: my effin dad is such a braggr

Natblack40: poor u guys wish I was there

Rosieweasley704: ya same wish I was ur manor

Jspotter0513: sure beats listening 2 uncle ron

Natblack40: I know wat u mean

Jspotter0513: btw we got u a prez over brake

Rosieweasley704: wrong 4m o/ break james

Jspotter0513: ur such a nerd rose

Rosieweasley704: shut up

Natblack40: u guys r the best!!! Got u something 2

Rosieweasley704: I bet I kno wat james' prez is

Jspotter0513: wat??!?!

Rosieweasley704: A KISS!!

Natblack40: ew no hes like my bff

Jspotter0513: then wat did u get me?!

Natblack40: u will both have 2 wait and c

Jspotter0513: :(

Rosieweasley704: :(

"NAT! TIME TO GO!" Aaron yelled.

Natblack40: I g2g 4 the train

Rosieweasley704: same here hopefully dad wont talk abt the damn war nemore

Natblack40: ill pray 4 u!!

Jspotter0513: lol!

Rosieweasley704: lol!

Natblack40: c u soon

Rosieweasley704: buh bye

Jspotter0513: ttfn

Natblack40: bye!!

Rosieweasley704: save me a seat on the train

Jspotter0513: me 2

Natblack40: k ttfn!

"NAT, MOVE YOUR ASS AND LET'S GO!!" Aaron cried. "GOSH, I AM COMING!!" Nat yelled back. Aaron was in the year above her at Hogwarts and had her mother's dirty blond hair and her father's stormy gray eyes. He was about 3 inches taller than Natalie was, making him 5'11", since she was only 5'8".

Just as she was making her way down the stairs, her silver-cased cell phone vibrated in her back pocket. She set down Scooter's cage at the foot of the stairs and answered the call. "Hello?" she answered. "Nat!" a voice cried. It was Scorpius Malfoy, one of her other friends that hung out in their quintet. Rose had a huge crush on him, even though he was a Slytherin. "Scorp! Sorry, I can't really talk now, I'm kind of in a rush to get to the Platform," she said. "That's alright, can you save me a seat on the train?" "Sure. See you soon!" "Bye!" She hung up and received glares from both her mother and father, as well as Aaron.

"If we're in a rush, why aren't we moving?" Natalie asked. Her father gave an eye roll identical to her own and seized the car keys off the intricate wire hook that hung next to the light switch in the hall. They marched out the door and climbed into the Porsche right next to the Limo. They preferred not to attract so much attention when they went out on their own.

The luggage had already been tucked away in the trunk and Scooter was out of his cage and in the special cat car-seat her brother had helped her make for him. They harnessed him in and then put on their own seatbelts instantaneously. Her father was a maniac of a driver.

Nat's cell phone vibrated again. "Ugh, not Scorp again," she muttered. "Why does he always pester me on the very last day of summer?" But it wasn't Scorpius, it was the one other member of the quintet: Rebecca Lawrence.

Rebecca was rich and a half-blood, like Natalie. Rebecca's mother was a famous American actress who had transferred to London for the same reasons as the Blacks. Her father was a wizard who fought in the last Wizarding War. He had been a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, and alas, Rebecca was put in the same house.

Nat answered the phone with a quick flick of her hand. "Hello Becca, nice to hear from you," she said blandly. On the other end, Rebecca was squawking away about her new sneakers and about how they lifted the ban on Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, except for the Skiving Snackboxes. But since when had it ever stopped them? "Yes, Rebecca, I can't wait to see you either. I'm at the station now. G'bye," she said, hanging up.

Natalie gracefully slid out of the car and undid Scooter's harness. She hooked up his jingling green bedazzled collar to the leash she had bought for him last month and the trotted gracefully through the station. Aaron, however, was forced to push both trolleys.

Nat was sixteen and the most popular sixth-year among most people, except for a couple Slytherins who didn't approve of her because she was a Gryffindor. She had all O's on her O.W.L.s and couldn't wait to start studying at N.E.W.T. level. Natalie was also the prettiest girl and all the boys could never take their eyes off her.

Today was a sunny day in London with clear skies and a temperature of at least 80 degrees. It was a great way to begin the school year, in Natalie's opinion. Once Aaron and her got through the barrier, they parted with their parents and set off to find their friends.

After Aaron was gone, she was forced to carry her own luggage, which she found to be quite annoying seeing as she had over-packed. Or at least most people would call it over-packing; Nat considered it perfectly normal. As she was struggling with her last suitcase, a shadow appeared over her. "Do you need some help?" he asked.

She looked up to discover it was James, but boy, had he changed over the summer! His voice was somewhat deeper and he had finally grown to be at least 4 or 5 inches taller than her. Nat had to admit that he'd gotten pretty good looking. "Thanks, James," she said, relieved.

James let out an approving whistle when she stood up straight again, which resulted in a blow to the back of his head. "Can't you ever act somewhat mature?" she asked. "Since when do we act mature?" he replied. This made Natalie laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right. Where's Rose?" she asked him. Rose and James were cousins.

"Rosie is right over there with Scorp." James said Scorpius' nickname with the slightest tone of disgust. He still didn't really approve of allowing a Slytherin to hang out with them seeing as most of the quintet was made up of Gryffindors. "Go figure, right?" she said. "I guess…."

James nervously rubbed the back of his head. He knew about Rosie's crush on Scorpius, seeing as the two sixteen-year-olds had spent most of the summer together, but it was still an uncomfortable topic. Especially to talk about with Nat, of all people.

"Have we done all the pranks in your Purple Book of Wonder yet?" James asked, quickly changing the topic to something more lighthearted. "Not yet, but that's what this year is for, right?" "Yeah," he replied.

"I can't believe they're doing the dumb TriWizard tournament again!" Rosie stormed over to them yelling. Scorpius followed closely behind like a little puppy. "Where'd you hear that?!" James exclaimed. "Ben Ryder just told me! My dad told me Uncle Harry was in it and someone died! I can't believe they'd do that again after that!" "Rose. Chill. Ben Ryder is the biggest liar here," Nat told her. "Oh, well I'd never talked to him before, so I didn't really know that," she defended. "Honestly, Rosie, you can be so gullible!" James said and he glanced right at Natalie and winked.

Nat nearly died that minute. She wanted to faint. She wanted to scream. She wanted to die, but she didn't. Instead, she memorized that James winked with his left eye and then moved on with her day. She didn't even notice that a tiny part of her was crazy about him.

James thought exactly the same thing when Nat tossed her hair and began an avid conversation with Scorp about keeping his future girlfriend out of trouble like that. Naturally, this made Rosie blush. Scorpius somehow kept his cool even though Natalie was making fun of him. But James actually did notice. James Sirius Potter was in love with his best friend. "Come on guys," Nat said. "Let's go find a compartment."