This is a story that my best friend, Brittany (tumbleB), and I wrote a while back. We found it and decided to continue it, since we never finished it.

Oh and italics are Harry's thoughts, bold are random interjections by the authors and underlined is just for emphasis. Translations for the French will be in parenthesis after the sentence.

Disclaimer: Alas, Harry Potter and all his friends, enemies, and frenemies do not belong to Brittany or me. However, anything you don't recognize from the series is our own creation.

Harry's POV

"Come on, Harry! We're gonna be late!" my best friend, Ron, calls from the hallway. Gathering my bags, I step into the hall and close the door to my room at The Leaky Cauldron behind me. I sigh and begin to drag my things down to the ground floor of the pub. Yes, it's that time again (and not his period, mind you!). Time to go to Hogwarts. I walk slowly down the hall behind my red-haired friend.

"Ron! Harry!" I hear a girl's voice up ahead.

"Hey Hermione!" Ron yells. The two had begun dating over the summer, and although they tried to include me the best they could, it just isn't the same. I watch as they hug, and my thoughts accidentally flicker to Ginny. We tried going out this summer, but I ended it because we have too many differences. At least, that's what I tell everyone. Actually, I had caught Ginny cheating on me with Dean. Just fucking wonderful, I think to myself. I try to throw the thoughts of Ginny away, but fail miserably. She's stuck in my head like gum on the bottom of a shoe. Nearing the end of the hall, I see Ron and Hermione snogging. Just what I need.

"Hey guys," I say trying to distract my best friends from each other's faces to no avail. They take no notice to my presence. Perfect, I think bitterly. Continuing on, I exit the Leaky Cauldron with my stuff and spot a car pulled up next to the curb. A man I recognize as Kinsley Shaklebolt approaches me.

"Hello Harry. Ready to go back to Hogwarts?" he asks as he helps me load my trunk into the magically expanded boot of the car. I know the type of answer he wants, so I force myself to smile.

"Yeah, can't wait." I lie through my fake smile, and avoiding more conversation, I quickly get in the car. Ron and Hermione apparently broke away from each other's lips long enough to bring their things out to the car. Soon, we're all in the backseat and the car is winding through London's busy streets. I stare out the window, not really noticing the scenery flying past my glazed-over eyes. We arrive at King's Cross and I let out a discontented sigh. Another year of being alone, I think dramatically. I unload my things onto a trolley and push it absentmindedly towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Not bothering to wait for the others, I run through the barrier and the Hogwart's Express appears before me. I slowly continue up the platform, while my best friends catch up to me. I put my trunk and Hedwig's cage in their designated places and dispose of the trolley.

Strolling towards the passenger cars, I climb into the nearest one and try to find an empty compartment. I soon find one and wait for Hermione and Ron to find me. Listening to the sounds of the platform outside, I hear the compartment door open. Expecting to see the lovebirds, I'm confused when I see two girls instead. I'd reckon they were about my year. One had midnight blue, almost black, hair with streaks of varying shades of blue. She looks to be about 5 foot 6, a good 4 inches shorter than myself. The thing that stands out the most to me, though, is her bright blue eyes, which seem to hint that she has a very mischievous streak.

The other finally speaks, "Do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full." I nod and study her as well. She has dark brown hair, cut in very choppy layers, with the bottom dyed a deep blood red. Her purple-grey eyes stand out against her pale skin. I find my gaze drift back towards the other girl.

"I'm Harry," I state and shake her hand.

I can feel a dumb smile starting to cross my face as she replies, "I'm Ryan. You can call me Ry, though. Practically everyone does."

"Hi," I say, still smiling like an idiot. I suddenly remember her friend is there. "And what's your name?"

"Noelle," she says simply. I nod in acknowledgement.

"Um, go ahead and sit down," I say remembering their query.

"Thanks," Ry smiles at me. She has a really pretty smile. Wait! What am I saying? I don't even know her! As they sit, Hermione and Ron appear at the door.

"Hey Harry, you'll never guess what happened to Malf-"Ron stops after noticing Ry and Noelle. "Who are you?" he blurts out.

"Now now, Ron. Don't be so rude," Hermione chastises from beside him. "Hi, I'm Hermione." She smiles and offers her hand to Noelle. She just looks at it and doesn't reply.

"Oh, sorry. Elle's not really a touchy-feely person with people she doesn't know well." Ry interjects.

"I'm Noelle," her friend states as Hermione withdraws her hand from Noelle and offers it to Ryan.

"I'm Ryan," she says to the couple as she shakes Hermione's hand.

"Now that everyone's introduced… Guess what happened to Malfoy?!" Ron exclaims.

"What?"

"He ran into Mad-Eye on the platform!" We all burst out laughing at this. Well, all of us except Ry and Noelle. They exchanged confused looks.

"We'll explain later," Hermione promises, still laughing.

"Are you new here, or something?" I ask them. Immediately, I regret asking. I sound so stupid.

Noelle nods, "Yeah, we just transferred here."

"I see," I pause. "What house do you want to be in?"

"House?" Noelle asks hesitantly.

"You know, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin?" Hermione says sounding a tad condescending. Of course, she expects every Hogwarts student to have read Hogwarts: a History.

"We didn't have houses at our old school. It was pretty much randomly assigned dorms." Ry responds.

"So you don't have things like the House Cup?" Ron asks.

"The what?" Noelle asks.

I reply, "It's a competition between the houses for points. I'm sure everything will be explained when we get to school."

"The train is finally going to leave," Noelle says quietly from the seat across from me. Ry is next to her, and Ron and Hermione were seated next to me. Silence overtakes the compartment for a few minutes.

"Je suis trés fatiguée de ce train déjà."(I'm tired of this train already) Ry's voice breaks the silence as she speaks to Noelle.

She laughs and replies, "Moi aussi. C'est trés ennuyeux. Je regrette que nous pourrions pas voler à Hogwarts." (Me too. This is so annoying. I wish that we could fly to Hogwarts.) I try to figure out what exactly they're saying, to no avail.

"Sérieusement! Harry est mignon, non?" (Seriously! Harry is cute, no?) Ry smiles at Noelle.

Noelle looks at me and then smirks, "Si tu penses ainsi, Ry." (If you think so, Ry.) Noelle laughs quietly.

"Huh?" Ron interjects with a confused look on his face.

"They're speaking French, Ronald. Honestly, I thought you would know that with how much time you spent around the Beauxbatons girls." She gives him an incredulous look.

He grins nervously, "Oh yeah…"

"At-elle seulement dire Beauxbatons? Mon dieu, je déteste cet école!" (Did she just say Beauxbatons? My god, I hate that school.) Elle asks Ry.

"Oui, elle a vraiment dit. Je ne sais pas comment elle sais Beauxbatons," (Yes, she really did. I don't know how she knows Beauxbatons.) Ry replies. Their conversation is well over my head.

"What are you talking about?!" Ron demands, still confused. I decide not to voice my confusion as I figure it probably isn't any of my business if they're talking about it in French. Ron then sighs defeatedly as Ry answers him.

"It's not important, Ron." She smiles and I see Noelle bite back a smirk.

"You don't understand French?"

"Umm…. No," Ron looks like a grumpy little kid.

Ry laughs a melodious laugh. Melodious? Where in the bloody hell did that come from Potter? You sound like a freaking love-sick poet. "Not my problem, Ronald." She mirrors Noelle's smirk and looks at her friend, while Ron sends her a glare.

"Il est trés bête, non?" (He is very dumb, no?) Noelle looks to Ry to respond.

"Il est trés trés bête." (He is very very dumb.) They laugh at this and Ron continues to look upset. Hermione lets a smirk slip and it doesn't take Ron long to notice it.

"What are you smirking about?" he looks at her with an eyebrow raised, awaiting her answer.

"I know French, Ronald."

"Why haven't you been telling me what they're saying?" he whines.

Noelle looks at Hermione skeptically, "Parles-tu français?" (Do you speak French?) She asks.

"Oui, un petit peu," (Yes, a little bit.) Hermione replies with a faint blush.

"Did you understand everything we were saying?" Noelle questions curiously.

"Well, no. Only a little bit here and there. Did you go to Beauxbatons or something?" Ry looks at Noelle at this.

"Another story for another time," the brunette replies. Is there a more cryptic kind of answer than that? I think to myself.

Well, there you have it, folks. Chapter one. I'd say it was fairly successful, wouldn't you?

Love, love.