The Hogwarts Express slowly left King's Cross as scheduled on September 1st, 1977. The narrow hallway was filled with students reuniting after spending their summer back in their homes, and the first years were merrily chatting away with new acquaintances. It was a long ride all the way to Hogwarts, and many were impatient to know what House they would be sorted in.

In one of the compartments sat a Seventh year Slytherin with greyish-brown hair tied up in a messy bun, staring out the window at the scenery rolling by. As she overheard the new students talking outside, she began to reminisce about her first year as well. When she first came to the school six years ago, it was surreal seeing it's grandeur. The sorting ceremony began immediately after everyone who already had a house had been seated, and the first years lined up for their turn. She had read up on the infamous Hogwarts Houses before arriving, and she was positive she would be sorted into either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Sure of it.

"Turner, Eris!" called out the old woman, who was later known to her as Professor McGonagall.

Eris held the sides of her robe with anticipation, a small smile of nervousness tugging at the corners of her lips. McGonagall gave the girl a reassuring smile and she sat down, awaiting for the hat to be placed on top of her head.

She flinched a little as she heard a little voice beside her ear, "Oh my, my, my, what a rare case indeed."

She didn't like the sound of that.

"Ambitious and hard working, quite the observer and open-minded… Such wonderful potential at that. You best be careful with your nature, SLYTHERIN!"

The table under the green serpentine banners erupted in cheers, but Eris remained in a daze and her surroundings were muffled. McGonagall nudged her off of the stool, and with an overwhelmed heart she took her seat at the Slytherin table.

Confused, she began to go back on what she had read about the houses. None of who she was corresponded to Slytherin. Had she missed something? Maybe the hat made a mistake? Had he mistaken her for another Eris Turner that fitted the picture unlike her?

She found out soon enough what the hat had meant by her nature. She wasn't aware that muggle-borns were of a rarity in Slytherin, and not very welcomed among pure bloods of that house. She thought it would be best to keep her lineage a secret.

Even after six years Eris continued to have her doubts on the hat's decision. Not once had she felt in place with the Slytherins, and had more friends among Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws than anyone else in her House, probably because she so desperately wanted to be one of them.

The door to her compartment opened, and Eris immediately turned around to see Marion, a fellow Slytherin she had befriended on her first day at school.

"Bloody hell, been lookin' all over for you!"

Eris gave a small chuckle. "Good morning to you too."

Marion walked over and hugged the other's head tightly against her chest, moving from side to side. A usual Marion greeting. Eris playfully gasped for air and the two laughed, Marion finally taking her seat across her best friend.

"Where's Diana and Claire?" Eris asked. Marion shrugged.

"Probably lookin' for you the same way I was," she said. "We all know you're always the first one to find an empty compartment before any one else can."

Eris liked to rejoice in the small victories. She knew everyone that boarded the train would make haste to grab the nearest compartment, but she was the one to run at full speed towards the last few wagons. And every year, she succeeded.

The door slid open again, and two girls were panting so hard Eris thought they were having a simultaneous asthma attack. Claire with the blonde pixie cut had her Hufflepuff scarf thrown over her head from running throughout the train, while dark skinned Diana with her beautiful long black hair looked fine in her Ravenclaw attire except she had her wand tangled in between her locks. The girls sitting down had to stifle laughs, and waited for the explanation after they sat down.

"I can't stand people," Claire hissed. "So. Many. People."

"Claire shot down the hallway like a bullet and I barely caught up," Diana laughed.

The girls mainly spoke about their summers and who they went out with. Eris was extremely careful to omit any relations to muggles, as even her closest friends didn't even know about her status. She thought to reveal it at graduation later that year as to spare any possible unpleasantness from other students.

"Did you guys hear?" Marion started. "There's a transfer student comin' in from Durmstrang."

The girls let out small gasps, and Claire immediately clutched Eris' robes. "Is he hotter than Sirius Black?"

"We'll have to see for ourselves, I only overheard it while lookin' for Eris. We'll just have to keep our eyes out."

"What year?" Diana asked.

"Same as ours I believe." Marion nodded to herself pensively. "Or maybe a year younger, who knows. I'm hopin' he's our age though."

Diana elbowed Marion in the side, giving her a sly grin, and everyone began to giggle.

"Shall we bet which House he'll be in?" Eris suggested, and the others nodded fervently. But before they could pick their choices, the door opened ever so gently, and a familiar face peeked in.

"Sorry ladies, I'm looking for Potter, have you seen him?"

The girls' heads snapped towards Eris, who had gone bright red at the sight of Remus Lupin. Since the other girls didn't seem willing to respond, his gaze found hers, and he smiled.

"He's under- No he's over- Over at the, uhm"- she began to wave her hand behind her head, trying to find her words- "You know the-"

"The snack station?" he said. Eris nodded, her face flushing a darker color. "Wonderful, thanks. Sorry to have disturbed you. I'll see you around."

The door closed.

"I'll see you around," Marion imitated his calm and deep tone. The rest of the girls squealed as Eris fanned herself, trying to regain her composure. "He likes you and you like him!"

"We've never spoken!" Eris cried out. "I think we had like, 3 classes together over the years."

"Mhmm." Claire rolled her eyes. "And you wouldn't shut up about any little thing he did for you."

"Like when you dropped your pen during Divination and he picked it up for you," Diana said.

"Or when you lent him your Potions book and he ran all the way to Slytherin Tower to give it back to you," Claire added.

"Or-"

Eris let out a shout, cursing at the girls as her cheeks wouldn't clear. The girls laughed and teased her for a while before they deemed they had tortured her enough, and soon they moved onto another subject.

Eris quietly walked out of their compartment. The girls had all fallen asleep, and she was too rattled to even close her eyes. She was tempted to go find Remus again and ask him how he spent his summer, but she was too shy to talk to him while his friends were around. She had seen the cruel things they did to a kid named Severus Snape in particular, and wasn't too keen on getting a taste of that.

The Slytherin girl had noticed the train had gone quiet, and no one was seen outside in the hallway. Only the sound of the train rolling over the tracks could be heard, and Eris was alone with her thoughts again. She leaned on the window and stared out to the rolling green hills, which soon disappeared to a large lake with a setting sun. She was almost at Hogwarts for her final year.

She thought up of a plan to finally confront the sorting hat. Since she knew of the transfer students having their private ceremony, she would ask Dumbledore for a moment with the object. She wasn't guaranteed an audience, but she thought she had nothing to lose. She didn't want to change Houses, rather, she just wanted a peace of mind that she belonged somewhere else all this time and the hat was wrong with it's decision.

And she thought of Quidditch. Eris had tried to make the Slytherin team for the past six years and never once succeeded. She thought it might've been because she felt out of place in her house, but it didn't really matter when Quidditch was involved. She adored that sport with all of her heart when she first discovered it after Marion asked her to watch a game with her. The thrill of it, the sense of pride swelled her heart and she could never get rid of the large smile she had when spoken to about Quidditch. Alas, she failed try-outs royally, but was determined to make it as a Chaser for her final year. After all, she wanted to go out with a bang.

A compartment door closing made Eris look to the side, noticing a very tall student just a few meters away from her. He looked to have a very lean build with short dark brown hair, and was certainly one of the tallest students she had seen. He looked around, and suddenly his eyes fell on her. Eris quickly turned back to looking outside, trying hard not to sneak another peek at him. She didn't recognize him nor did he bear any house apparel, and wondered if he was one of the transfer students and maybe even the Durmstrang one. From the corner of her eye she noticed him approaching her, and she didn't know what to do. Should she acknowledge him and say hi? Or should she be like a Slytherin and just sneer and go back to her seat?

She turned to look at him, but he seemed lost in thought. Maybe he was just stretching his legs out after the long ride. He didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence as he only stared sleepily ahead of him.

She was about to retire to her compartment when she saw James behind him at the end of the hallway. Only, he wasn't standing. He was kneeling on top of the sweets cart, charging right at them while roaring with laughter. He was picking up speed but didn't seem to care much that there were people in his way. And the House-less student taking a stroll didn't even pay attention.

Before James could yell out for the stranger to move over, there was already a few inches in between them. Eris acted fast and grabbed the tall boy by his robes, jerking him against her body as she hit the window with her back. As the cart passed by, Sirius was seen on the bottom, casting a spell that was propelling them to the other side of the train.

Eris was panting, still gripping at the other's robes. The boy quickly looked down at the girl significantly shorter than him. She felt him staring at her, and she lifted her face up to look at him. She first noticed his dark angular eyes, followed by his prominent cheekbones. His sharp jaw and pointed chin formed a diamond face shape that Eris had only seen on models in magazines. Her eyes fell onto his full set of lips last, and her breath fell short.

"Are you alright?"

She watched his lips move but she hadn't processed his words until a moment passed. She stuttered and only ended up nodding. She let go of his robes and took a step to the side to free herself from him. He stared at her curiously, then frowned to himself, followed by a roll of his eyes. Seeing as she was a little mortified to be in his presence, she entered the compartment as quickly as she could.

But she emerged into the hallway a few seconds later, her face beet red. "Wrong one," she muttered to herself, entering the next compartment where her friends were still soundly asleep despite James and Sirius' trolley adventure.

Marion's eyes suddenly opened, and she stretched herself. Smacking her lips, she noticed Eris pressed against the door. "You look like you just saw a hot ghost."

Eris shook her head and took her seat back, but soon found that useless as she saw Hogsmeade coming into view. She breathed a sigh of relief.

They had finally arrived.