Chapter 1

Chilli stepped into King's Cross Station, nervous. She looked around at the calm but distant faces of the Muggles going about their business about the station. She looked at her mother beside her.

"You okay, Lily dear?" she asked sweetly, placing a reassuring hand on Chilli's arm. Chilli nodded, licking her lips. They continued walking through the busy station which, Chilli thought despite herself, could do with a bit more cleaning. Although, she considered, she was only used to the spotless floors and polished decorations that were placed throughout her own house. So this might be considered normal for Muggles, Chilli concluded, still observing her surroundings with slight interest.

They soon reached platforms Nine and Ten. Chilli looked at her mum enquiringly.

"You see the ticket barrier, darling? Platform Nine and Three Quarters is just on the other side, and then there's the train to Hogwarts!"

Chilli felt a stirring of anger at the patronizing way her mother was treating her, but didn't bother mentioning it. She eyed the barrier cautiously, and strolled towards it, her mother behind her pushing her trolley. Chilli squinted her eyes shut as she was about to seemingly make contact with the ticket barrier; she didn't doubt that the magic would work; it was just the instinctual reaction to what her eyes her telling her. When she opened them again, the scenery had changed completely.

The only thing in common was that it was a train station, and that there was a train pulled up, but this was an old-fashioned, maroon-and-black train, belching smoke into the open air. A sign hung from the wall, telling whatever idiot who didn't know that this was Platform Nine and Three Quarters, and that this train was the Hogwarts Express. A train conductor walked up and down the length of the train, warning everyone that the train was leaving in five minutes. And finally, the platform was swarming not with Muggles, but with assorted witches and wizards farewelling their children, and watching them onto the train.

Chilli heard her mother appear behind her, and together they made their way to one of the doors that led into the carriages. "Bye then, sweetie," her mother said, bending down to pull her daughter into a hug. Chilli patted her mother's back vaguely in return. Her mum pulled away and handed Chilli her trunk – almost to big for her to carry – and cage – containing a single perch near the top from which a flying fox hung, gave one last wave, asked Chilli to write often, and then left.

Chilli lumbered into the carriage, her process made awkward by the trunk and cage. She was one of the few left that hadn't already found a seat. The train lurched forward almost as soon as Chilli had gotten onto the train. The effect of this was Chilli almost falling onto her face. She kept a tight grip on her trunk to anchor her down until the train moved into a steady pace, then continued bumbling down the carriages.

To her great annoyance, there was not a single empty compartment. That meant she would have to share it with someone, which she hated doing.

It wasn't that she didn't like having people around, it was just that she wasn't very good at socialising, and didn't like the awkward air that conjured itself when there was no conversation when one was expected. So it was better off to just to be alone.

It took her about another five minutes to find the emptiest carriage. It contained two other people, already deep in conversation. Chilli bit her lip, nervous once more, and then she knocked on the compartment door to get their attention, and slipped inside.

Seamus was in heated discussion with Dean Thomas, whom he had met on the platform earlier, about whether football or Quidditch was the better sport, when there was a small knock on the door of their compartment. A cute girl with dark-red hair that fell to her waist, shiny black eyes and sparse freckles along her face, and wearing a nervous smile entered the compartment, eyes flicking between Dean and himself. Seamus smiled back; the girl seemed quite anxious for some reason, and it was his way of offering reassurance. It seemed to work; she seemed to grow more confident, at least a little bit. "Hi," she said simply. Her voice was quiet and smooth. "Umm . . . do you mind if I sit here? There's nowhere else to go . . ."

"Course; plenty of room here, ent there, Dean?" Seamus said happily, turning to his friend, who hadn't seemed to be following what was happening.

"Yeah, sure . . . "

The girl's smile widened and grew more cheery in gratitude, and took the seat opposite Seamus. "I'm Lily," she said. "But everyone 'cept my mum calls me Chilli, because it rhymes, and my hair, you know . . ." and because chilli is really hot . . . Chilli thought to herself, though of course she wouldn't voice this to two boys she had just met. "Yeah, I'd guess," Seamus replied, flashing a wide, friendly smile. Chilli's eyes flicked to her lap, where her hands were involuntarily twisting themselves into knots.

Chilli felt anxious, and that annoying, awkward air was pressing down on her, urging her to speak, but she didn't know what to say.

I'm Seamus Finnigan," said the boy. He had an Irish accent. Chilli noted this as she looked up to the boy's smiling round face. She smiled back, trying to make herself be friendly. She turned to the other boy, the black one with short, frizzy hair.

"And you were Dean, right?" she enquired.

"Yep."

"So, uh, you excited? About Hogwarts?" she added.

"Yeah!" This seemed a subject Dean was keen to talk about. "I couldn't believe it when I got my letter; I think I'm Muggleborn, but I don't know my father, so it was really cool when me and my mum found out about magic and stuff!"

Chilli smiled politely, and, trying not to sound as patronising as her mother was; "I guess it is pretty cool . . . I'm a Pureblood though, so I kinda grew up with magic; can't imagine life without it, really . . ."

"Hey, that's a cool pet you've got," Seamus said suddenly. Chilli's eyes flicked to the cage she'd placed at her feet. "Oh, yeah . . . he's really awesome; fell in love with him the moment I met him. I like all kinds of cool animals like bats and wolves and birds of prey and stuff. But I can't have a pet wolf, of course."

Dean and Seamus laughed in reply, and Chilli's heart felt lightened by this. Maybe she could get the hang of this socialising thing after all . . .

"I haven't got a name for him yet though," she continued. "I didn't get him until that long ago, and I want to think of the perfect name for him."

"Call him Vampire," said Seamus immediately.

"Or Buffy," added Dean.

"What?" Seamus and Chilli chorused.

"Never mind," Dean said with a smile.

"Isn't Buffy a girl's name?" Chilli asked.

"Yeah, so never mind," Dean insisted, waving his hands in a discouraging motion.

"I still like Vampire," Seamus persisted, leaning forward slightly.

"I don't," Chilli refused. "My bat is a nice bat, and vampires are fierce and mean and evil people."

"How do you know he's a nice bat?" Seamus argued. "You said yourself you haven't had him for very long. He could like biting people, for all you know. Vampire."

"What about Dracula?" Dean suggested.

"What's that?"

"It's a name," Dean said, raising an eyebrow as though this were obvious. "I made it up just then."

"Hmm . . ." Chilli considered. "'Drac' like dragon, and 'ula' like a girly name? -" Dean gave a sudden snort of laughter for some reason "- I don't think so . . . "

"Well, you need to think of something," Seamus said. "You can't leave it as No Name or anything . . ."

"If you want a cutesy name," Dean interjected. "You can call it Fluffy."

Chilli laughed. "God, no. Way to cliché if it wasn't a stupid name anyway."

"Call it George."

"Ha ha, no."

"Bob."

"No."

"Quentin."

"No!"

Frustrated and amused at the same time, Chilli laughed. "Human names are for humans."

"So you want a bat name then?" Dean asked.

"It wouldn't hurt!" Chilli was still laughing. For the first time ever, talking had put her in a good mood.

"How about Colmillo? That's Fang in Spanish," said Dean unexpectedly.

"How do you know Spanish?" Chilli asked.

"I learnt it in my old school," Dean answered. Raising an eyebrow, Chilli decided not to answer this. She hadn't been to school before. She'd been taught the basics, reading, writing and arithmetic, by her mum – or at least, she taught her until she couldn't be bothered any more, and just hired a tutor.

"Why don't you call it Bat?" Seamus offered.

Chilli sighed hopelessly and, feeling that she'd had enough talking for now, drew a book from her trunk and settled down to read . . .