A girl about eleven years of age stood impatiently with her mother. The girl tugged on the woman's skirt.
"Mother, it is sweltering out here, and I demand that you listen to me at this moment." Minerva said. Her mother sighed and looked down at her daughter.
"Yes?"
"The train will be here any second and I cannot find Diana anywhere." the girl said.
"Well did you look in her cage?" her mother asked smartly.
"Yes, Mother. I also looked in the sky and on the pipes. She's not there."
"Maybe she's hunting."
"How could she have gotten out of her cage?"
"Don't talk to me in that manner, Minerva Katherine McGonagall. Look, here's your father."
Sure enough, Minerva's father was hurrying towards them. On his arm was...
"Diana!" Minerva exclaimed as her father drew nearer. "Where was she?"
A few feet away, a bespectacled boy with unruly black hair was talking to a friend of his.
"Sirius, you did remember the dung bombs, right?" he asked a slightly lighter-haired boy.
"Of course, James, how could I forget? If we want to make a big appearance..."
Already in a compartment in the scarlet train, a mousy-haired boy who looked somewhat sickly was watching the crowd of students outside his window. If only I was a normal wizard... he thought sadly, watching a tall, lanky boy talk to a pretty, red-haired girl.
The lanky boy and the red-haired girl were laughing and talking in a compartment all to themselves. Minerva slid open their door and poked her head in.
"Mind if I join you? All the others are taken." she said politely. The red head shook her head and gestured her in.
"Thanks." She had Diana's cage on her lap, and the beautiful snowy owl looked around at the children.
"What's her name?" the red head asked, pointing to Diana.
"Diana." Minerva said. "My name is Minerva. Minerva McGonagall. My friends call me Mina."
"I'm Lily Evans, this is Severus Snape." Lily said. Severus nodded at Minerva. Their eyes met, then both looked away.
"So, what House do you want to be in?" Minerva asked, to break the silence.
"I don't know. I'm Muggle born, you see. I've asked around, everyone seems to like Gryffindor, Ravenclaw might not be too bad..." Lily trailed off. "Anyway, what about you?"
"My whole family's been in Gryffindor for centuries."Minerva said. "Though, Mum seriously thinks I could be in Slytherin." she added with a sly grin. All of them laughed.
"What about , you, Severus?' Minerva asked.
"You don't want to know,"he said.
"Awww, come on. It can't be that bad." Minerva said.
"Slytherin." Severus whispered.
"It's not the worst. I swear if I get into Hufflepuff, I'll throw myself onto the train tracks." Minerva said. Just then, the bespectacled boy and the brown-haired boy made an appearance, sliding open the door.
"Any chance we could sit with you? Every where's full" the brown-haired boy said. The trio shook their heads and the boys sat down.
"I'm Sirius, this is James." the bespectacled boy grinned.
"My name's Lily. This is Severus and Minerva." Lily said.
"You all can call me Mina." Minerva said.
"Wait." James said. They waited. "What's your last name?" he asked Minerva.
"McGonagall.."
"No way..." Sirius said. Lily looked very confused.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Mina's father..." started James.
"Is the Minister of Magic!" finished Sirius.
"Who's that?" Lily asked. Severus looked somewhat uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Lily, I should have told you...the Wizarding world is run by the Ministry, and the head of the Ministry is-"
"The Minister." Lily concluded. "It's fine. Not everyone can remember everything." Meanwhile, James and Sirius were still staring at Minerva.
"You must be rich!" James said.
"I don't want to talk about this now, okay?" Minerva said. The boys looked rather taken back, but recovered.
Over the long train ride, the children became very good friends, and they even succeeded in making Severus laugh. When they got off of the train, it seemed as though the had know each other for a very long time.