Out of breath, Sage Kim collapsed into an empty compartment, dripping wet from the pouring rain outside. The hands on her watch read 10:58am, letting her know just how close she had been from missing the Hogwarts Express. Sage laid on the comfortable seat for a few minutes to get her breath back, wondering where Kianna Yi was and if she was nearby. As the train started its slow chug out of King's Cross, Sage stuck her head out of the compartment door and looked down the hall. When she saw that her friend was nowhere to be seen, she continued her search in another car.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later when Sage found her best friend standing in front of a packed compartment talking with Padma Patil. She hung back, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Instead, she let her gaze wander from the scenery flashing by to open compartments to the group of people making their way towards her.

"Alright, Harry?" she asked, recognizing a boy with unruly hair.

"Hey, Sage," he replied rather distractedly. "Had a good summer?"

"Could've been better," she shrugged. "Yours?"

He rolled his eyes. "Had its ups and downs, that's for sure."

Sage raised an eyebrow. "Were you at the World Cup?"

"Yeah," Harry shrugged. "Got caught up in all of that Death Eater madness. Did you manage to get out of there before it all went down?"

"No, my friends and I were all sleeping so we had no warning before we woke up to the screams," Sage shuddered. It wasn't a night she liked to think about.

"Awful," Harry said, shaking his head. He turned when Ron and Hermione called out to him. "Well, I'll be seeing you, Sage. Take care."

"You too," she smiled.

She turned and kept her gaze wandering until Kianna finally said goodbye to Padma.

"Ki!" Sage called.

"Sage!" Kianna exclaimed, throwing her arms around her best friend. "I've missed you so much."

"Missed you more," Sage smiled, putting as much strength into the hug as she could. "Come on, I found us a compartment a little ways down."

"Awesome, thanks babe! I was on my way to find you anyways. But then I bumped into Padma and we got talking."

The pair made their way through hallways crowded with friends that hadn't seen each other all summer. Once they reached their compartment, Sage flopped back onto the seat.

"Hey, did you and your parents end up going to the Cup?" Sage asked, all sprawled out.

"Yeah," Kianna said. "We did."

"And…?" Sage prompted. "Doesn't seem like you had that much fun."

"Well the match was great and I lost some money by betting on the losing team but it was mostly my parents meeting up with their friends. They just talked and ignored me but wouldn't let me leave their sight."

A shiver ran down Sage's spine. She sat up and asked, "Who were the people they met with? Were they actually friends or…?"

"No, they're not Death Eaters," Kianna sighed. "Just normal friends, I'm pretty sure."

"Well good," Sage breathed. "Did… were they… after the Cup…"

Kianna shrugged. "I'm pretty sure they didn't attack anyone that night."

"Pretty sure?" Sage pressed. "I'm sorry, I know that you hate talking about your parents, but I just—I don't know. If they're going around actively terrorizing others, then I need to know so that I can find a way to get you out of their control. I still have those "emergency plans" we came up with our second year, you know."

Kianna smiled. "Love those plans. They're completely stupid and will never work, but I still love them."

Sage laughed. "How are other things at home?"

"The usual. Mostly just my parents talking about some things and then shutting up as soon as I walk past."

"Damn," Sage mumbled. "At least we've got a few more years until we can move in together. Just hang in there, Ki. You can do this. But if things get bad, you need to tell me and you'll be out of there in no time."

Kianna wiped away the tears that had fallen and smiled at her best friend. "You're the best."

"Love you too," Sage grinned.

"So how about we go find some of the other girls and catch up with them?" Kianna asked. "I haven't really talked to anyone over the summer."

"Yeah, sounds good! I think I passed by Lav, Hannah, and Susan's compartment while I was looking for you."

"Great! Let's go see them, then!"

The two friends left their compartment and went down to another car, where they found Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, Hannah Abbott, and the Patil twins. After the greetings and the hugs, the girls all squished together on the seats and got as comfortable as they could. They spent an hour going over small talk and joked and laughed with each other. It was pure bliss for Kianna. After a comfortable silence, Hannah, with her legs draped over Lavender's lap, said, "Were you guys at the World Cup?"

"I'm glad I wasn't," Susan grimaced. "What happened after the Cup was so… vile."

"I still can't believe it," Parvati said, shuddering. "The fact that the Death Eaters are back and doing things like this… it's crazy."

Kianna fidgeted.

"And very illegal," Lavender said. "I can't believe the Ministry didn't catch them."

"You can't blame them though, honestly," Susan said. "It was a night of celebration and half the camp was sleeping. No one was prepared for what those Death Eaters did."

Sage glanced at Kianna and said, "Let's not focus on that stuff, okay? What did you guys think of the match? The players? Krum the hunky Bulgarian?"

The girls laughed and the atmosphere in the compartment changed. Just then, a familiar voice came from outside: "Anything from the lunch trolley?"

The girls grinned at each other and dug in their bags for their coins. Sage grabbed her coin pouch and flung open the door, her stomach rumbling loudly. Her mouth watered at the thought of diving in to a pile of chocolate frogs, saltwater taffies, and cauldron cakes, so when she rushed out the door, she barely had time to register that there were people outside of the compartment before she ran into two of them.

Sage tumbled to the ground, coins scattering everywhere. She heard Kianna guffawing and the other girls doing their best to stifle their laughter. Two pairs of hands picked up the coins and poured them into her pouch. She brushed herself off and looked up to see Fred and George Weasley grinning down at her, offering her their hands.

"You alright, love?" George asked.

Sage ignored his outstretched hand and pushed herself off the floor. "Just fine, thanks!"

"Well good," Fred said heartily. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to go take care of some business elsewhere."

The twins hurried off, their pockets bulging with snacks. Sage ignored the laughter coming from her friends and smiled at the trolley lady as she purchased a handful of her favorite treats. She turned back to the compartment only to find her friends still sniggering.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go die in embarrassment in my own compartment, thanks," Sage said with a forced smile on her face. Kianna said a quick goodbye to the others and followed her as they made their way back to their compartment. Once back inside, Sage flopped onto the seat and let out a muffled scream.

"That was pretty embarrassing," Sage said once she sat up. "But I'm good now. I feel better."

"Glad to hear it," Kianna smiled.

Sage let out a breath and then heard something funny coming from within the compartment. "Do you hear that, Ki?"

Kianna strained her ears and heard a faint clicking noise. "What is that?"

The two girls looked everywhere to find the source of the noise, but didn't find anything. Frowning, Sage put her hand into her coin pouch, withdrew a handful of coins, and shrieked. The money had sprouted legs and were now scuttling around the compartment like spiders, making Sage shrink into a corner, rather hysterical.

Kianna calmly picked one up and inspected it, ignoring its flailing legs.

"'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes'," she read aloud. "'Test product.'" She pressed its center and its legs were pulled into its body, returning it back to its motionless state. Kianna collected the rest of the animated coins and put them in a little pile on the seat next to her.

Sage let out a breath and glared at the spider coins.

"Damn twins," she muttered. After a brief moment, she got up and flung the compartment door open. Kianna followed, a frown creasing her forehead.

"Sage," she said in a warning voice. "What are you thinking?"

All she heard was a distinct muttering as they made their way through crowded hallways. Sage seemed to be looking for the twins, still fuming. A few minutes later, they had to duck back into a compartment full of first years when they saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan coming out of a compartment ahead of them. Kianna smiled at the confused eleven-year-olds and waited as Sage peeked out into the hallway.

Finally, Sage motioned to Kianna and the two left the compartment and entered the twins'. After a few seconds of scanning the storage racks above them, Sage found the twins' wands and pocketed them with a devilish grin on her face.

"They'll definitely miss these," she laughed. "Let's go visit the girl again. I'm in a much better mood."