Albus sighed as he followed James through the barrier. It was his third year, and still, James insisted on treating him like a baby. His mother was already on the other side with Lily. Al dragged his trunk sullenly behind him. "AL!" yelled a very familiar voice. He turned just in time to be practically run over Rose Weasley. Her brilliant red hair was flying everywhere, and her blue eyes were sparkling. "Hey Rose. You act like you didn't just see me last week." Rose stepped back. "Oh yeah…I forgot about that. Well come on, we need to get a compartment!" Rose dragged him onto the train, down the carriages, and into an empty compartment at the back. Her trunk was already there, and she quickly shoved Al's next to it. She was about to run out the door again when she ran into a tall boy with blond hair. "Watch where you're going, would you, Weasley?" smirked the boy. "Oh, you watch it, Malfoy!" Albus made eye contact with Scorpius Malfoy and tried to hide his laughter. Scor shot him a death glare, which only made him smile more. Rose brushed past Scorpius, arguing all the way, while Scorpius followed slightly behind her, taunting her. Al sighed. He knew he should go back outside to say goodbye to his family, but he wouldn't just yet. He settled down against the seat, watching his mother fuss over Lily and his father reprimand James. Al was always the odd one out, the one who was different. James was practically a living copy of his namesake, and Lily seemed to channel her grandmother's spirit. But Al didn't. He had no real connection to his family, only to mysterious strangers who had died long ago.

He was lost in his thoughts and didn't hear the door open, or the girl walk in. He only realized he was no longer alone when a soft voice spoke up. "Hello? Are you sitting alone? May I sit with you?" Al turned to face a girl with the darkest eyes he had ever seen. They were blue, and green, and also almost black. They were vortexes in the middle of an otherwise pale face. She smiled slightly, and tilted her head, so her shoulder length, white-blond curls delicately spilled over her shoulders. "Hi," gulped Al. "My name is Albus Potter."

"Oh, you're a Potter. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. I think."

The girl giggled. She perched on the seat closest to the door. "What's your name?" Al asked, "And why have I never seen you before?"

The girl looked at him. "You can call me Ellie. You've never met me before because I've just moved here from Bulgaria with my brother."

"I have a brother too, how old is yours?"

"He's twenty three."

"Oh, mine's fifteen."

She smiled again, then looked out the window. Al worked up the courage to ask, "How old are you?"

"Thirteen." She replied. He smiled at her. "Me too." The girl tilted her head curiously. "We can be friends, then. I've never really had a friend before." Al was startled by this girl, by Ellie's open admission that she had never had a friend before.

"Didn't you have friends in Bulgaria?"

She sighed, looking out the window. "Only my brother," she replied, "and him only when he came home. I was home schooled, you see. But my brother wished for me to go to Hogwarts after my- I mean, when I turned thirteen. It's just me and him."

Al was about to respond when the door crashed open and a very irritable Rose Weasley stalked in. "I am going to strangle Scorpius Malfoy with my bare hands. That little- Oh. Sorry. Who are you?"

Ellie looked up at the flame-haired girl. "Call me Ellie." Rose opened her mouth to respond when Scorpius entered the compartment again, saying in a sing-song voice, "Rosie-Posie, pudding and pie, she glared and made the flowers die." Rose turned around so fast she nearly fell over. "SCORPIUS MALFOY!" she screamed, glaring, "FLOWERS ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS MY GLARES KILL!" Ellie shrank a little in her seat, as Scorpius and Al laughed, and Rose fumed. Al glanced at Ellie, and seeing her obvious discomfort, introduced her to Scorpius. "Hey, Scor, this is Ellie. She just moved here from Bulgaria." Scorpius turned to face the blond, saying, "Hey there. Scorpius Malfoy." Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I got that from the girl screaming at the top of her lungs." She replied. Scorpius laughed as Rose turned bright red. "I think I'm going to like this girl, Al."

When they got to school, Ellie quickly realized her luck. It was obvious that by befriending Rose, Al, and Scor, she had automatically been included in the coolest of cliques, dominated by the Potters and the Weasleys. They seemed to know everyone, and everyone either loved or hated them. She met James and Lorlei, and Fred, and Dominique, and countless other Weasley cousins that turned into a blur of grinning faces and flaming hair. She was whisked up to the castle in a carriage with the others. She gasped at the sheer size of Hogwarts, voicing her admiring opinions of the beautiful castle.

Upon entering the Great Hall, she was stopped by a formidable woman in emerald green. "Hello. I'm Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts. You, being a third year, will be Sorted after the first years. You may wait in here." She lead Ellie to a small room off to the side of the Entrance Hall. She waved a half hearted goodbye to Al, and followed McGonagall into the waiting room.

It had been nearly half an hour, listening to the names of first years being called and Sorted. When the final name was called, McGonagall said, "We have some extenuating circumstances today. We have a new student who has just moved hear from Bulgaria. She will be a third year." McGonagall beckoned Ellie. Hands trembling, Ellie walked from the back of the room, past the four House tables, to the stool where the Sorting Hat sat. She saw Al wave to her, and Rose smile, from the Gryffindor table. She tentatively sat on the small stool. Professor McGonagall announced:

"This, students, is Elora Riddle."

*GASP!* A Riddle?