Raindrops clinked against the side of the Hogwarts Express as Meg dragged her heavy trunk up the steps. She glanced around at the other students, happy to be returning to Hogwarts. Unlike them, she was not so eager. Meg's first two years at Hogwarts had been riddled with drama between friends and long, boring classes. She already knew, like most of the people on Platform 9 ¾ that the legendary Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts this year. However, she knew this could not be all good. Hogwarts would be shoved into the eye of the press more than ever, making her school life more difficult. The only thing Meg could be happy about at all was seeing her friends again. All of them had taken off with their families on magical summer vacations, while she rotted in her room watching the sun move through the sky.

Well, Meg thought, that's the past. I might as well make the best of this year.

"Meg! Hey, Meg! Over here!" a voice shouted. She looked around, but could see no one through the dense fog that now coated the platform. "Up here!" She gazed up at the nearest window and saw a head sticking out of the small window.

"Viv!" It was none other than her best friend Vivian, back from her summer long vacation in the States.

"Come to my compartment," she called.

"I'll be right there," Meg answered. Slowly she resumed lugging her trunk up the steep steps. When she finally got up into the train, she had no idea which compartment Viv had been in. So, she decided, she'd just open doors until she found her.

Unfortunately, this didn't go over well with the people in the compartments.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Um, could you knock?"

"Who are you?"

"What do you want?"

By the 12th door, Meg had almost given up. She reached for the handle but saw it was already open. Peeking around the corner, she saw two tall, red-haired boys who she knew to be Fred and George Weasley standing over a boy she couldn't quite see with black hair.

"Oh . . . sorry," Meg apologized and walked across the aisle to the next compartment. Thankfully, it was her's and she sat down next to Viv.

Several hours later, the gentle rain had stopped and Viv was leaning on Meg's shoulder, snoring loudly. Meg pulled out one of her school books and began skimming through.

"Boring, boring, boring . . .," she muttered to herself, flipping the pages lightly. Not being able to stand the boredom of the train ride, she leaned her head back and closed your eyes.

"H-hello?" came a boy's voice. Meg had been so focused on her boredom that she didn't notice the compartment door sliding open.

"What?" she snapped.

"Yeah, never mind," he said sharply. She opened one eye to take look at the figure exiting through the compartment door and noticed it was Fred Weasley. Or maybe George. Was there really a way to tell? Seeing as she was without anything to do, her mind began to wander and wonder. What did he want? Was I too rude? Was it Fred or George? Was he looking for me? These thoughts circulated through Meg's head until the train reached a bumpy stop in Hogsmede.

"Wussat?" Viv groaned.

"We're here, Viv," Meg explained.

"What? We're where?" Viv rubbed her eyes.

"Hogwarts, Viv. Jeez, what's wrong with you?" Viv did not reply, she only mumbled something that sounded like "stupid train". They both stood, shivering, on the platform watching the little first years scuttling toward the monstrous silhouette of Hagird.

"Did I sleep the whole train ride?" she asked sleepily.

"Sure did. Thanks a lot, by the way."

"Sorry," she muttered. "Ugh I'm starving," she added after her stomach growled loudly.

"Yeah, c'mon, we should be heading up to the castle now anyway." Together they made their way up to the castle looming in the distance.