Note: No Plagiarizing. I do not in any way own the Harry Potter series. Certain characters are made up by me, and some are from the series itself (i.e. Luna Lovegood, Cedric Diggory)

ONE

Luna Lovegood looked nervously over her shoulder as her nanny dropped her off at the platform 9 and three quarters.

"Are you sure this is where to go, mum?" She whispered, looking around nervously. She ran her fingers through her white-blonde hair and sighed. "I'm quite nervous, you see."

"Well, now." Her nanny, Syphora reasoned. "I'd be nervous too. But you'll do well, my love. You've always excelled at Divination."

"I know, I know." She mumbled. She looked up brightly. "Maybe, come holiday, we might go for a little vacation in the Muggle areas?"

Syphora smiled. "Maybe, my dear, maybe. For now, focus on your studies."

Luna nodded, giving her one last kiss before skipping onto the train. "Oh, it's so stuffy in here!" She remarked to no one in particular, as she found an empty compartment by herself.

She twisted a few locks of her hair around her fingers thoughtfully, before pulling out a copy of her father's newspaper, The Quibbler. She pulled her feet up to her knees and grunted. All alone in a train's compartment? Were the other students alone?

"I'll probably be alone for the whole ride," Luna said softly, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"And that would simply be horrible, wouldn't it?" She heard a familiar voice say. Luna looked up suddenly, and then grimaced. It was of course, her cousin, Draco Malfoy. He shared the same shade of blonde hair as she, but had a permanent smirk on his alabaster face. "Luna, dear cousin, I never knew you were planning to attend Hogwarts!"

"I've never told anyone, really." She replied, raising The Quibbler so that it covered her face.

"You ought to give us some warning before coming to places like these, you know." Malfoy berated her.

"You're not my father." She snapped.

"No," Malfoy grinned. "But I am your cousin."

Luna turned away from Malfoy angrily. "I hate you, and you know it."

"Hate?" Malfoy gasped. "Such a strong word!"

"Come off it, Malfoy," Pansy Parkinson cut in. "Leave her alone." She went over to Luna and sat down. "This girl deserves a chance with us." She patted Luna's hand. "If you want friends, come to us." She said softly.

"Um," Luna gulped. "Alright, thanks then." She stood up, grabbed her one trunk, and wheeled it out of the compartment, praying that Malfoy and his cronies didn't follow.

She found an empty compartment a little ways down, and settled onto the seat with her newspaper. "Oh!" She exclaimed, as the door slid open. This time, instead of her conniving cousin, Malfoy, there was a tall boy with dark cropped hair and grey eyes. "Have I taken your compartment?" She asked bashfully.

"Oh, no. Not at all." The boy answered, sitting across from her. He smiled. "I'm Cedric Diggory." He extended his hand.

Luna took it. "Luna Lovegood." She answered. "Are you in your first year?"

"Oh, no!" He laughed. "I'm in my third." He sat back, amusement dancing in his eyes. "You're new, aren't you?"

Luna lowered her head. "Yeah…Very new. And scared." She looked at him suddenly. "I'm all alone, unless you count my cousin, Malfoy."

Cedric shook his head. "I've heard of him. I presume you're as rich and pompous as he?" Luna made a face and Cedric laughed. "Just kidding."

"Good, then." Luna said.

"What're you reading?" Cedric leaned forward, and Luna could smell him. He smelled faintly like pine trees and strawberries.

"The Quibbler." Luna clarified.

"That's that tabloid, isn't it?" Cedric mused.

"Yes," Luna replied. "My father is the publisher." She said proudly.

"Oh my," Cedric smiled. "That's a big job."

"Yes," She breathed. "Indeed it is. Daddy handles it well, though." She flipped through the pages until she found the right one. "And, here we have the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

Cedric leaned even closer to see the page, and looked impressed. Luna smiled. "They're exotic, no?"

"Are these real?" Cedric asked, squinting at the page.

"Why, of course they're real!" Luna answered, practically shouting. "Daddy wouldn't lie."

"But," Cedric said softly. "If I am correct, you said that your father was the publisher of The Quibbler, not necessarily the writer of the articles?"

"Yes…"

"Then, whether or not these creatures do indeed exist doesn't matter because your father didn't write the article."

Luna shrugged, stuffing the tabloid into her knitted bag. "I suppose so."

There was a rap on the door of the compartment as a girl opened the door, blatantly ignoring Luna's presence and sitting down next to Cedric.

"Cedric, dear, we missed you." The girl said. She had strawberry blonde hair that went down to her chin, secured with a butterfly clip. "Why aren't you in our compartment?"

"It's nice to meet new people." Cedric answered, smiling at Luna. She blushed.

"But Cedric…"

"Not now, Remora, not now." Cedric cut her off. "Luna, this is Remora Heaves."

"Hello, Remora." Luna said politely, shifting in her seat.

"Hello," Remora answered coolly. "What year are you?"

"First," Luna's throat was suddenly dry.

"A first year, Cedric? Really?" Remora said in disgust. She pulled him up by his sleeve and led him out the door.

Luna lowered her head sadly. Would she ever make friends?