Will boarded the hogwarts express for the first time with a nervous feeling inside him. Hogwarts had opened up to exchange students just that year, and sixteen year old Will was one of them. Will had been excited when he had gotten his acceptance letter. See, only three students from America would be accepted. At the time, Will was honored, but now he was seriously rethinking his decision.

Will walked down the corridor, trunk rolling behind him, only to find that all of the compartments were full. Well most. There was one that Will found that only housed on person.

A black haired boy in all black muggle clothes sat by himself, head hung. He looked to be around Will's age. His olive tone indicated an exchange student. Will took a deep breath and knocked on the compartment door before sliding it open. The boy's head snapped up. Dark eyes met Will's blue ones.

Will spoke, "Mind of I join? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure," the boy's response was so quiet that Will hardly heard. Another thing he noticed was the boy's accent. It was heavy Italian and quite frankly, beautiful.

Will pushed his trunk up on the shelf and sat across from the boy.

"I'm Will," Will said holding out his hand. "I'm an exchange student."

The boy took WIll's hand lightly and WIll tried hard not to cringe from the icy feel of the other's hand. "Nico," the boy said.

Nico. Will liked that.

Suddenly Will spotted two green eyes staring at him from under Nico's bench.

"Its that your cat?" Will asks.

Nico nodded his head.

"What's his name?" Will wondered aloud.

"Shadow" Nico answered, his voice barely above a whisper.

As if answering to his name, Shadow came out and crawled onto Nico's lap. Nico pet his head and Shadow began to purr. A barely noticeable smile appeared on Nico's face.

That's when Will noticed Nico's earing. A skull earing in his right ear. Just his right ear. Did Nico know that that symbolised being gay? Probably. Not that Will minded, he was bi himself, but it suddenly made him want to flirt because Nico was totally hot. Will managed to push the urge down. He didn't want so scare Nico off.

Will then decided that the best way to become friends with Nico would be small talk. Better than nothing right?

"How old are you?" Will asked ignoring the urge to puke because of his horrible small talk skills.

"Just turned sixteen," Nico's voice was slightly more audible than his last words.

"I'll be seventeen next month." Will said. Almost a year's difference between them, yet they would still be in the same year. At least they wouldn't have O.W.L.'s. Will had heard of those. He was glad to skip them.

Nico was looking up at Will now. Good, Will thought, progress.

"So, what do you like to do?" Will asked.

"Umm…" Nico began, "Reading I guess."

"Me to." Will said. Similarities were good. That meant he could bond with Nico. " What fandoms are you in?"

"Divergent and Hunger Games mostly. I like John Green as well." Nico answered. "You?"

"I'm in the Divergent fandom too." WIll began. "I never got through the first Hunger Games book, though. I stopped reading when Rue died. Couldn't continue. I'm also in the Lunar Chronicles fandom. And I'm more of a Nicholas Sparks fan than John Green."

"I think we'll get along just fine," Nico said. Will mentally patted himself on the back. Good job, he told himself.

Will and Nico, along with all the other transfer students, stood in a line behind the first years, waiting to get sorted.

Once the first years had all been sorted, the transfers started getting called up.

"Albedo, Luara," the headmaster called. The girl looked to be about thirteen. After a short while the hat called out, "Slytherin!" The Slytherin table erupted in cheers as Luara walked over and took a seat.

Soon Nico was called up. Nico's sorting took longer than the previous few. "Hufflepuff!" the hat called without warning. That Will was not expecting.

Names continued to be called: Calypso Jeren, Ravenclaw. Frank Zhang, Gryffindor. Octavian Rucker, Slytherin. Etc.

Will was a little disappointed when the hat called out "Hufflepuff'' after barely touching his head, but only a little. Nonetheless Will plastered a smile on his face and trotted down to sit by Nico.

"Hi," a girl across from Will said once the food had appeared. She looked to be about twelve. She had blonde, curly hair and a bright smile. "I'm Lucy Weasley."

"Will Solace." Will replied.

"You're American then?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Will answered. "Guess the accent gave me away, hugh?"

"Only a little," Lucy laughed.

Later, after dinner, Will walked into his new dorm room to find his things at the foot of his bed. Will's smile grew larger when Nico walked into the room behind him. What would the odds be that they would be in the same dorm?

The dorm was cozy and gave off a warm sunshiny feeling. The four beds were made with patched up quilts and smooth, black pillows and had rounded headboards. All the wooden furniture was made with a honey colored wood. Every bed had a nightstand and a wardrobe built into the wall beside it. There was also a door in the back of the room, which Will guessed lead to a bathroom. All in all, Will really liked his dorm room.

Nico on the other hand was a different story. The look on his face showed disgust. A scowl settled onto his face as he took a seat in the bed near his things. Shadow settled into his lap.

WIll, to tired to deal with a grumpy Nico, kicked off his shoes and crawled into his bed, with thoughts of the next day filling his head.