Note: This story is like this. I write chapter one, Rochie writes chapter two. Me three, her four. Etc.

Chapter One

As fields and flowers passed a window in a rush, a little white rat's whiskers twitched. It climbed first up her sleeve, then onto her shoulder. This rat was a very peculiar one, for it was a guardian rat.

Guardian Rat? you ask. Perhaps it sounds a bit crazy to you, but this rat was different from your sewer rat, or even a trained pet rat. It was a magical rat.

"Anastasia, you're tickling me," Cassie giggled.

Rochelle shook her head. "You're definitely an odd one."

"And you're one to talk? Bakabakashii."

Cassie and Rochelle were best friends. They were witches, and they happened to be on the train to their seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I'm sleeping. Don't you dare wake me, or you'll feel my wrath, and make your rat mind his distance-"

"Her."

"Sure." Rochie rested her head, and as Cassie played with Anna, a girl with neon green and pink hair casually walked in.

"Good, Skanky McSkankSank's asleep." Emily boredly played with her hair, poofing it up in the back.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "When are you two going to stop rowing with each other?"

"If she leaves me alone, I'll leave her alone. She lies a lot anyways-"

"Maybe to you," Cassie replied coldly. "Lets stop talking about people, alright?"

Emily pushed Cassie aside slightly, sat on the seat across from where she was, and rested her feet.

"Make yourself comfortable," said Cassie sarcastically.

Emily pulled out some sort of muggle device. It was called a Gameboy and allowed her to play Pokemon, which rarely any muggles in Britian knew about, and no witches or wizards knew anything about.

"I'm gonna catch 'em all."

"What? STD's?" said Rochelle without opening her eyes.

"You'd know a good deal about that, wouldn't you?"

In response, Rochelle let out a snore to assure she was never really awake. She talked in her sleep sometimes.

Luckily for Cassie, Rochelle slept most of the way, and by the time she awoke, Emily had wandered off to hit on Slytherin boys. All three of them happened to be Ravenclaws, but Emily's best friend Sarah was a Slytherin, along with all the "Emo" boys, as Americans called them. Emily, Cassie, and Rochelle were the only students from America. Rochelle and Cassie grew up together in Ohio. They met Emily in their first year.

People had been asking Emily about America, and specifically California, which is where she was from. She amazed them with tales of how many homosexuals there were, and that they weren't really bad.

Cassie then confided in Emily that she was a lesbian. In their second year, Cassie had hell to deal with when she came out, but by fourth year, people stopped caring.

In their fifth year, Rochelle and Emily began their separate ways. Rochelle saw Emily as an "emo" conceited girl, and Emily thought Rochelle was a snobby liar. It was true they had both changed a lot through the years, but Cassie could still see they were the same people as always.

The train came to a stop, and as always, it was first years first, then everybody else.

The rain was now much more than the drizzle it was at Platform 9 ¾ and students threw their robes over their heads and ran into the gates of Hogwarts. Cassie and Rochelle ran through mud puddles, and Rochie muttered cursed under her breath. With all the blurred figures dashing through the rain, something stuck out to Cassie.

There was a girl. What was she doing? Cassie thought. She felt a moment of mesmorization, before Rochelle yanked her arm and yelled "Damnit, Cassandra, hurry up."

Reaching the inside, people began to towel off their faces on their shirts or whatever. Rochelle muttered a spell. Her hair turned a copper colour. "Damn, that was supposed to make it dry." She pulled out her mirror. "Hm, but I must say I do like the colour." From across the room, Emily screwed up her eyes and her face was perfect again. No smeared makeup, no wet hair, and entirely in place. Sarah attempted to re-drench Emily.

The Great Hall was illuminated by candle flames of every color. It was indeed beautiful, but something felt like it was missing.

Rochelle and Cassie sat by one another, and Emily sat on Cassie's other side.

"Emily! You must have been dying without my sex," said a messy brown-haired boy.

"Riiight," replied Emily.

Rochelle paid no attention as everyone began to annoy Emily. Instead, she looked across from her. "Have a nice summer, Chang?"

Cho's eyes filled with tears.

"Why won't you leave us alone, goth?" asked Marietta Edgecombe. Rochelle looked down at her pink and white striped shirt, as if checking for the "goth" in it.

Cassie, however, took an interest in watching the little first years be sorted.

"Wilson, Trevor," called McGonnagal. A little boy wearing a wearing a black wristband tripped as he ran to the three-legged stool. Cassie looked over to the Slytherin table. A dark-haired girl with her hair half up wore a black tank-top with fishnets and plain bluejeans. Cassie wondered if the boy would be sorted into Slytherin too. After all, he was the girl's brother.

"Hufflepuff." The boy trotted over to his older brother Benjamin at the Hufflepuff table. Cassie's eyes shot back to the girl. She wore a light smile, and seemed relieved that neither of her brothers had to be in her house.

"Forget about her," Rochelle said, waving her hand in front of Cassie.

"Huh?"

"I saw where you were looking."

"Oh, no, see her brother just got-"

"AHH, STOP! RAPE!" screamed Emily, stupefying a boy from Hufflepuff with glasses, a mousy look, and a strong scent of body oder.

"Stalker's back," laughed a Ravenclaw boy.

"I was hoping he would stay put in that cardboard box he lives in," said Emily.

"I know better stalkers," came a mysterious voice.

"Lukas!" said Rochelle, surprised. "Nice you here, I mean, Nice seeing. ." she coughed. "How was your summer?"

"The teenage angst," he said. Lukas Lovegood turned and departed, leaving everyone but Cassie, Rochelle, and Emily looking confused, for Emily simply didn't care, Cassie was used to Lukas's weird responses, and Rochelle knew it meant something other than what it was supposed to.

Lukas and Rochelle were in an awkward position at this point in time. Their sixth year had ended with a row that never really did get resolved, not that either of them showed a care. Only someone who really noticed, like Cassie, could see the way their eyes would meet, and the way their presences affected one another.

"Lets make this a good year," Cassie said.

Rochelle's stare was still dazed, but she replied, "It may not be good, but I do sense an interesting year coming."