A/n: Love War and Pumpkin Juice has been completely re-vamped! After looking back at previous chapters and seeing how, for lack of a better term, crappy they were, I sat down and did some editing with this as the result! Hope you enjoy ;)

Chapter 1

"Platform 9 and three quarters… wait, what?" I looked nervously at my parents. "What's that supposed to mean?" It was pointless asking, of course. My parents were Muggles, as new to the magical world as I was. They shrugged in unison and looked confused, like they still couldn't believe I'd even been accepted into Hogwarts. I tightly clutched the handle of the trolley that carried my two trunks and owl cage. My stupid brother was probably off chatting up some girl; if I missed the train entirely I was going to blame him.

Suddenly, I spotted a boy who looked about my age wheeling a cart that contained several articles of luggage and…. an owl. Hopefully he's a wizard, I thought, or he'll think I'm just a total nutcase. "Um, excuse me," I said as I approached him, my voice sounding high-pitched and strange. "Can you tell me how to get to platform 9 and ¾?" He turned towards me and seemed to look me over with warm brown eyes.

"You're not a first year, are you?" I blushed; I had known that this question was coming.

"Um, well I'm thirteen, but I didn't get my letter until this year. I'm Muggle-born, see, and my brother got into another Wizarding school, Windward, four years ago," I said, looking down. "We thought I wasn't magic enough or something, but then I just randomly got my letter this year. He decided to transfer here so that we could be at the same school. I don't know where he is right now, though."

"Oh," said the boy, looking surprised and a little sympathetic. "So what year will you be?"

"Third year, I think. I've been working really hard over the summer to catch up."

The boy grinned. "Nice," he said. "I'm James, by the way. Fourth year. Come on, I'll show you how to get to the platform."

I followed him quickly, and as I passed I whispered, "Bye Mum, bye Dad. I'll send you an owl as soon as I can!" James and I walked until we reached the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.

"Okay," said James. "Now, just do what I do. But be careful, 'cause you don't want to scare the Muggles." He then proceeded to walk straight at the barrier. I was about to stop him from running into it, but then he simply melted into the wall. Okay, I thought. Just walk through the wall. I backed up, trying not to upset my trolley, and started towards the barrier, every nerve in my body screaming at me to NOT run straight at a brick wall. Next thing I knew, I was on the other side and a bright scarlet train labeled Hogwarts Express was sitting in front of me. James, however, was nowhere to be found. After several minutes of meticulous searching and awkward stares, I decided that he must have met up with some of his friends or something. So I picked up my trunks and my cage and followed the crowd onto the train.

Finding a compartment, however, was much harder. In the first few cars, they were all full of friends laughing and talking, making me feel even more distinctly out of place. I didn't come across one with any free seats until the fourth car.

A girl with shiny, startlingly red curls sat across from a younger boy and girl. Both had red hair as well, but where the boy's features mirrored the older girl's enough for me to think them siblings, the younger girl's face resembled neither of the others'. She was nibbling on what appeared to be jelly beans. I pulled the door open.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit here? All the other compartments are full."

"Sure," said the older girl, smiling and patting the seat next to her. "I'm Rose, this is my brother, Hugo, and that's our cousin Lily. What's your name?"

I finished putting my trunks in the overhead storage and said, "I'm Allie."

"Nice to meet you, Allie," said Rose. "What year are you?"

"Third. What about you?"

"I'm a third year too; Lily and Hugo are first years." Lily looked up and smiled. "What house are you in anyway? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Well, I don't really know," I said uncomfortably. I then repeated what I had said to James.

"Huh," said Hugo. "I've never heard of a letter coming late before." Rose elbowed him. "Ow! But, you know, I'm sure it's, er, happened before. I really want to be Gryffindor," he said, obviously trying to change the subject. "You know all the houses, right?"

"Yeah," I said, glad that I had read Hogwarts, a History over the summer. "Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. What houses are you all in?"

Before anyone could respond, the train started moving with a jerk and I stumbled. Rose caught my elbow and patted the seat next to her. I sat, shooting her a grateful smile. Looking around, I saw that the compartment was cramped but cozy; two benches opposite each other were covered by faded, plump red cushions. The window was large, giving a great view of the scenery outside as it began to pick up speed.

Just then a familiar face poked through the compartment door and said, "Hey Sis, how's your ride been?"

"James? You're Rose's brother?" James looked towards me, noticing me for the first time.

"Oh, hey! Nah, I'm not Rose's brother, thank goodness. Ow!" Here Rose had slapped his arm. "I mean, unfortunately…" Lily glared at him. "No, I don't mean… ugh! I'm Lily's sister- I mean brother!" By this point all four of us were laughing. James rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I never got your name," he said, looking at me.

"Allie Lancaster."

"Sorry I ditched you back there, Allie. Hedwig got loose and I had to go catch her." Seeing my confused expression, he clarified, "My owl."

"He named it after his dad's old one," added Rose, smirking. "James is such a softie underneath." It was his turn to glare at her. She simply smiled wider.

"Oh," I said, deciding to try to circumvent another argument. "I haven't named mine yet. Do any of you have any ideas?"

"Is it a he or a she?" asked Hugo.

"He's a boy."

"What about Quicksilver?" said Lily. It was the first time I'd heard her speak, and she had a sweet but intelligent voice.

"What?" said James.

"Quicksilver," repeated Lily. "I learned about it in Muggle school; it's a type of metal that's liquid at room temperature and it's really poisonous. But it's also very pretty. Muggles use it to tell the temperature."

"Merlin, Lily, why would Allie want to name her owl after a poisonous metal that tells temperature?" asked James, looking at his sister like she was crazy.

"Well, it's pretty," said Lily defensively, crossing her arms.

"I like it," I said, smiling encouragingly at her. "Lovely but dangerous. Congratulations, little owl. You have just been christened Quicksilver." My owl, who had been asleep in his cage, opened one eye and looked at the roomful of people suspiciously. Then he ruffled his feathers and went right back to sleep.

"Oh yes," said Hugo, grinning broadly. "He's dangerous, all right."

"Don't make fun of my owl!" I said indignantly. Hugo just stuck out his tongue.

"Right, well, I'll just leave you lot here," said James. "I have to go find Louis and Fred; I promised them we'd play a- er, meet up on the train. I'll see you at the feast."

The rest of the afternoon passed in amicable chatter, with Hugo, Rose, and Lily filling me in on basic wizard culture. However, it wasn't until at least halfway through the ride that I realized that my new friends were famous.

"What do you mean your dad's Harry Potter?" I screeched when Lily mentioned something about some crazy reporter stalking him.

"Er, yeah," she said, blushing. "Did I not mention that?"

"No, not really!" I said, stunned.

"C'mon, Allie. Just breathe," teased Rose, demonstrating. "In and out."

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "You can't expect me to just not react when I realize I've been sitting with the daughter of the most famous person in the Wizarding world!"

Rose laughed. "Well you're doing better than some people. You haven't begged for an autograph yet."

"People do that?"

"Yeah, all the time! Me and Lily and my mum went shopping one time at a Muggle mall, and there was a magical family there and the little boy asked Lily and Mum for their autographs…"

I cut her off. "Wait. Who's your mum?"

"Erm, Hermione Granger," she said quickly.

I goggled. "And your dad's Ronald Weasley?" She nodded again, giggling a little at my expression.

"Did I mention my dad's teaching Defense against the Dark Arts this year?" Lily added.

"No, you didn't!" I squeaked. "I thought he was an Auror?"

"Yeah, he is," said Hugo, joining the conversation. "But McGonagall couldn't find anyone to fill in for Defense while the old professor was on… er… what's it called again?"

"Sabbatical," said Rose patiently.

"Yeah, that. So she was so desperate she called Uncle Harry, and of course he wouldn't decline."

"Oh," I said weakly.

"No more big news, or she'll faint," said Rose, grinning.

Before I could retort, there was a loud scream in the corridor, the compartment door flew open, and James ran in, chased by another boy who had similar jet-black hair.

"Stop! It was just a trick, Al!" said James, panting.

The boy glared at James. "You just exploded a bloody sandwich in Emily's face! You could've blinded her or hurt her really badly!

"But I didn't!" said James. The boy just looked annoyed. "Whatever, Al. We'll talk about it later." Al did not look like he wanted to talk about it; more like he wanted to pummel James. "Hey, are you lot going to go get changed or are you riding the Hogwarts Express home?" He chuckled a little at his own joke.

We all rolled our eyes but grabbed our robes and went to the bathroom to change. When we came back, James and the boy were eating Lily's candy.

"HEY!" yelled Lily, snatching her candy away.

"Sorry," said James, not sounding sorry at all with his mouth full of those odd jelly beans. "Oh, Allie, I forgot. This is my brother Albus. He's a third year too. Al, this is Allie. Oh Merlin, we're gonna have a hard time telling you two apart…"

"Guys!" interrupted Rose. "We're here. You can figure the name thing out later." We all followed her out of the compartment and up to the front of the train. As I stepped off, I gasped in awe. An enormous castle complete with turrets and battlements loomed before me, majestic and stately with little squares of warm yellow light where the windows were. Even in the dark, Hogwarts was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.