The steam from the train wafts up above the crowds, families waving to all their children as they depart for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I stick my head out the door as the train slowly begins to make its way out the exit, waving to my parents.

My dad's a short, balding man, so he doesn't really stand out in a crowd. That's funny, see, my mom's the complete opposite. She's tall and tan, and has wavy brown hair that other women would kill for. Well, I think to myself, Opposites attract.

I force myself to keep waving until we round the corner, then I sigh with relief. Goodbyes are always messy with my family.

My friend Katherine tugs on my sleeve, smirking up at me. I inherited my mother's height, so I tower above most people. "Come on," she says to me, "Let's go find everyone else before all the seats are taken."

I roll my eyes and follow her. Katherine's in Ravenclaw with me, and we're both starting our sixth year. We met at Platform 9 ¾ our first year of Hogwarts. It makes me smile when I think about it; we were so awkward around each other then. Now, we're practically sisters.

Katherine pulls open the compartment door when she spots the rest of our friends in Ravenclaw. I raise an eyebrow with annoyance when I see that the compartment is completely full.

"Thanks for saving us a seat guys," I call over Matt and Danny's bickering about a chocolate frog. Pretending to be pissed, I add, "It's nice to know I have such great friends."

Katherine sticks her tongue out at Cho, who giggles, "Sorryyy, not our fault you took forever to get here."

I open my mouth to hurl back some sort of insult, but I stop myself. No one could be mean to Cho Chang. Not after what had happened two years ago.

Instead, I scoff at Danny, who keeps telling me I can come sit on his lap. Katherine shuts the door, harder than usual, after which we hear muffled laughter.

I roll my eyes again and turn to Katherine, saying, "Great. Where-"

"Is everything alright, Miss. Jackson?"

I cross my arms upon realizing it's Professor McGonagall. She appears not to have noticed Katherine, and looks only at me through her spectacles.

"We don't have anywhere to sit. Everywhere else is full," I explain to her, glancing at Katherine and trying not to laugh at her expression. She's pissed McGonagall's oblivious to her presence.

"Well, I highly doubt that," she replies briskly. "Follow me, if you would."

Not wanting to be rude by telling her we could find our own damn seats, Katherine and I reluctantly followed the professor.

It's a long walk before we find any sort of space. McGonagall opens the compartment door and says with a sigh, "I suppose there's only room for one of you here. The other will have to go to the Slytherin end of the train.

It takes awhile for this to register. By the time I realize that I'd rather be crammed in with a butt load of Hufflepuffs than sit at a table surrounded by Slytherins, it's too late. Katherine's dashed forward and slipped through the doorway, plopping herself down next to a second year.

"Holy- ugh, Katherine!" I yell, wanting to say so much worse. But with McGonagall's reproachful stare at my back, I don't dare.

Katherine gives me a sad smile, and I know she feels at least a little guilty. I'm too furious to accept her silent apology.

McGonagall shuts the door with a small flick of her ebony wand, and points down the aisle. "The Slytherins are that way. Would you like me to accompany you there?"

My stomach lurches at the thought of walking over to all those Slytherins, but being with a teacher would just make it twenty times worse. "Um, no I'm good," I reply hastily.

"Very well," the professor says, and adds with a small smile, "Enjoy your trip."

She's gone before I can blurt out something that would probably get me a month's worth of detentions. That bitch! It was almost like she'd planned for this to happen.

I briefly considered running back to the compartment with all my friends and forcing myself to fit, but I dismiss the idea. I'm not a chicken; I can do this.

But I bite my lip with nervousness as I walk past rows of compartments, hoping that someone friendly would open one of the doors and invite me to sit with them. Naturally, that doesn't happen.

I come to the end of the hallway and slowly pull open the divider.

Somehow, I expected all heads to turn and stare at me as I made my way into the Slytherin area. But only a few look up and glare at me like I was shit underneath their shoe. I take a deep breath and force my legs forward. I can do this.

Much to my frustration, there's not a lot of room here either. I was frantically trying to spot an empty table when the air suddenly turned black.

Shouts of anger rose up around me, but I forced myself to calm down. I knew what this was, and it would pass soon.

It was Peruvian Instant Darkness powder. Danny and Matt used to use it on me all the time, when they'd come to visit over the summer.

As I was thinking that this darkness should have started to fade by now, someone bumps into me from behind and I fall forward.

I land on something soft and…warm. The darkness has started to disappear, and I look up. Oh..fuck.