Obviously many things have changed in this world, so I ask you go in with an open mind!

"Excuse me, may I sit with you?"

Iris Potter was many things. From famous and rich, to talented and powerful she had everything she could ask for, and if she didn't it would only take but a snap of her fingers and it would be handled. She had taken after her father when it came to her hair, long, raven black hair. But her face and eyes were that of her mother's, slightly rounded face, with high cheekbones and a short, narrow nose, as well as deep emerald eyes. Her body was lithe, another thing she got from her mother, but she had slightly broader shoulders, which she got from her father.

She had just boarded the scarlet Hogwarts Express, and her many 'friends' had almost torn her in two, wanting her to sit with them while giving reasons why she shouldn't sit with that person. She had quickly had enough and had made her way down the train. She had kept on walking until she had made it to the very last cart, and opened up the left compartment. Sitting there had been a boy about her age, with messy, deep red hair and eyes of rich hazels, his cheeks looking sunken in, and dark circles under his eyes, making him look exhausted.

But he hadn't jumped from his seat to greet her, nor did he scoff and decline her, he simply gave her a warily nod before he went back to the book in his lap, which read 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1'. Giving him a thankful smile that she knew he wouldn't notice she walked in and closed the compartment door behind her, then turned to slip her trunk into the trunk racks, her polished, golden trimmed one going next to a ratty looking case. Once done she took a seat across from the boy, dusting off her black robes.

The silence that accompanied the two was strange to the Girl-Who-Lived, being used to loud voices, clicking of cameras and bombardments of questions from everyone she met, and here she was, sitting in silence, across from someone who didn't seem to know who she even was. She kept on glancing up at the boy, lightly gulping each time she looked up. 'This is a really uncomfortable silence.' She thought to herself, before finally deciding to try and strike a conversation with the boy, and she knew just the thing to say to get a wizard talking.

"So...what do you think of the new player for the Holyhead Harpies?" She asked, said player having captured many young men's hearts on the all-female Quidditch team. "I think she is pretty darn good, they may even have a chance at the Quidditch World Cup!" The boy looked up as she spoke, and raised an eyebrow while his eyes focused in on her own.

"What's Quidditch?" He asked, his head slightly tilted to the side. Iris's eyes went wide while her jaw dropped in shock. 'A boy who didn't know what Quidditch was!?' She screeched in her mind, right before she quickly shook her head, a small blush growing on her cheeks while she coughed lightly into her fist.

"Uh... yeah, it's a sport played on brooms." She told him but didn't go into detail. She may have been the daughter of James Potter, but a Quidditch player, she was not. "Well... what house do you think you will be in?" She asked, wanting to change the subject as quick as possible. This caused him to grow a thoughtful look, his eyes staring at the floor for a moment, and then he looked up with a small smile.

"I like to think I would do well in Slytherin, I can be rather ambitious... though I am unsure about the cunning part." He answered. "Of course, most of what I read about the houses in Hogwarts: A History just goes on and on about how evil the house is." Iris gave a small nod, a smile on her lips.

"Yeah, my mum always said Slytherins were not as bad as they seemed," Iris said, remembering all the stories her mother had told her about her best friend when she was going to Hogwarts. "I wouldn't mind going to Ravenclaw like my mum, but I might be heading to Gryffindor, people say I take after my dad more than my mum." A small sigh left her lips while she leaned back in her seat.

"Say, what's your name?" She asked realizing she had neglected to ask the rather crucial question, though he didn't seem to mind too much about her late question.

"Harry." He answered. "Yourself?"

With a smile, she held out a hand. "Iris, nice to meet you!" She said happily, and with a small smile he reached out and gave her hand a small shake.

"Likewise."

The two quickly hit it off as friends, Iris able to pull Harry out of his shell little by little, and found the quiet boy had tons of things in his mind, and most of the train ride was filled with Harry and Iris shooting questions at one another about the wizarding world and the muggle world.

"So...your mother is a muggle-born, but never taught you anything about them?" Harry asked with a tilt of his head, confusion in deep brown eyes.

"Mhm! I would get confused between muggle and wizarding culture she says." Iris said with a roll of her eyes, currently lounging in her seat, arms behind her head. "I mean, she introduced me to some muggle stuff, pens, notebooks, that kind of stuff. And we have some muggle equipment in our house also, like a computer, though I and dad are not allowed near it."

"I'd guess because your magic would mess with it, electronics don't act well around magic, I found that out when I was six." He said with a chuckle, though it didn't sound very right to her, too...cynical.

"Huh, think so?" She said while slowly getting into a sitting position, glancing out the window to see the rolling Scotland hills, Harry doing the same thing.

A few minutes of silence descended over the train compartment, though it wasn't as awkward, to Iris, as it had been when she first entered.

So it was a perfect time for the door to suddenly slide open, and a pair of redheads took a step in, their every movement synchronized and smirked down at a startled Iris.

"Iris! There you are!" The one on the left gasped, hand on his chest, and the other did the same a second later while speaking.

"I must say, I feel rather insulted!"

"As do I, brother of mine!"

"We were promised a compartment with the famous..."

"...and rich..."

"...and beautiful..."

"...and generous..."

"...and talented..."

"...Iris Potter!"

Harry and Iris both stared at the twins with wide eyes, Harry from the sudden entrance and noise of the two, and Iris from the noise and announcement of where she was.

"Fred! George! Are you trying to get me mobbed!?" Iris hissed, eyes narrowed on the two brothers, though they looked far from scared, only snickering with one another.

"My dear Iris, how could you forget who I am!? I'm..."

"...George and he's..."

"...Fred!"

The two laughed as Iris's face slowly got red from pure annoyance, and her hand twitched towards the pocket of her robes.

"Oh my, brother of mine, the almighty witch of Britain is about to..."

"...lay a deadly curse on us! What..."

"...ever shall we do!"

With a growl, Iris reached into her pocket, and hurled a handful of small pellets at the laughing twins, which caused tiny pops and sparks on impact with the freckled cheeks, cause the one named George to yelp and jump back, Fred doing the same a moment later.

After two seconds, small flowers started to bloom from each freckle, because the two twin's eyes to widen in shock, while Iris started to laugh at the sight of the shocked and flowery twins.

"Brother! If I am not mistaken, are those not pellets from our carnation catapult!"

"I believe they are, brother of mine! And it seems wee Potter has gotten her hands on them!"

"My my! A sneaky witch indeed!"

Iris rolled her eyes, smirking as the twins pulled out their wands and pointed them at each other's flower-covered faces, and with a swish of their wands and a mumble of words, the flowers vanished in a burst of pollen, causing the redheads to let out a sneeze.

"Are you done now?" Iris asked, arms crossed and smirk on her lips.

"I do believe we are, oh powerful one." Fred said while brushing pollen off of his robes.

"Once more we have been bested by the daughter of the Marauder." George added while shaking his head, getting pollen out of his hair.

Iris just laughed, before glancing over at her friend, realizing he had been awfully quiet, only to see he had scooted closer to the window, his eyes never leaving the glass.

"And who might this be?" Fred asked, following Iris's line of sight to the quiet first year.

"My dear brother, I do believe that is a firsty, not a very rare thing!"

"Very true, but he is a lot quieter than most firsties!"

"Hmm, indeed, brother of mine! Perhaps he is a shy firsty?"

"Mayhap, but with that hair, he could also be a Weasley!"

"That he could, brother!"

Being addressed seemed to make Harry tense up a bit, and for some reason, that caused Iris to tense up as well.

"But, as fun as it would be to chat with him, we must be off!"

"Indeed! Lee Jordan says he has a rather large spider, and I have to see it!"

"As do I! Until..."

"...next time!"

And with that, the twins locked arms, turned, and marched out of the compartment, the door closing behind them, leaving the two teens alone, one of them exasperated, the other confused.

"Uh...sorry about that Harry." Iris finally said, shaking her head. "That was Fred and George Weasley. They can be a handful at times, but they're good people!" She said with a smile.

"I'm...sure they are, I'm just not a fan of noise." He said with a small shrug, though he kept his eyes out the window, watching the rolling hills, a light drizzle falling from the light gray sky.

"I can understand that, have to value silence whenever you can get it."

A moment passed before Harry spoke again, and it was in a hesitant and awkward tone of voice.

"So...what did they mean by...'famous'?"

A small groan left her lips before she shook her head. "Ignore them, it's just something I did when I was a child, and even then no one knows what happened."

"What...what happened?" He asked, curiosity clearly peaked.

"Well...there was this really bad wizard, and I mean really bad, so bad they don't even say his name, they just call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or You-Know-Who for short..."

A large chunk of the train ride was filled with Iris telling the tale of You-Know-Who and his followers, the Death Eaters. From the reason behind the terrorist group to what she heard from the grapevine. And when she told Harry about how a lot of Death Eaters had gotten away, his eyes went wide.

"What!? Really!? But...how!?" He exclaimed in shock, and Iris understood how he felt, she had been the same way when she found out about that little nugget of information.

"They claimed Imperious, an Unforgivable curse that takes your will and makes it the caster's own. But the thing is, the curse can only work when the caster has aim of the victim, even through buildings and wards. But if the tip of their wand waivers from the victim, they can easily break free."

A full shiver passed over Harry, and Iris couldn't blame him, that curse always gave her the creeps, and tried her best to not think too much about it.

"But you have to be a master at mind magic, and there are very few of those around, so it's impossible for all of those Death Eaters to be imperius'ed." Iris continued, and Harry slowly nodded his head in understanding. She would give him this; he learned fast, it took her awhile just to wrap her mind around a spell that controlled people.

"That's...unsettling." Harry said after a moment, and Iris nodded in agreement before she returned to her storytelling and about the attack on her family on Halloween.

"...and they found me in my crib, crying in pain, and a real bad scar on my side, which I got from some falling rubble after the blast." She said, and lightly rubbed her left side for a moment at the mention of it.

"What happened to your mum and dad?" Harry asked, tilting his head, fully engrossed in the story.

"Mum and Dad are okay, though they got pretty hurt while I was being attacked, they had gotten jumped while shopping for a costume for me. High Skilled Death Eaters to. Dad had his arm cut off by a nasty Severing Curse, and mum was burned real badly by Fiendfyre an insane Death Eater had conjured."

Harry let out a hiss of pain at the thought of such injuries, and Iris nodded in agreement.

"They're okay though, dad's an Auror and Transfiguring master, so was able to make himself a pretty good fake arm. Mum got some pretty bad scarring but most of it was on her torso and arms, so easy to cover up." She said, and the hazel eyed boy relaxed just a bit.

"Your parents must be pretty strong to survive something like that." He said with a smile, while his mind went elsewhere.

"Totally, they both took Auror training, though mum was an unbeatable witch, she even took down dad, and he was training for years to be an Auror."

"Are they both still Aurors?" He asked while glancing out the window, noticing the small drizzle had turned to a full downpour.

"Dad is, it was his dream job when he was little. But mum never wanted to fight, and is the Potion Mistress at Hogwarts." Iris explained, smile on her lips. She was glad her mum would be there, even if she didn't want to admit it, she was nervous, going away from home for so long.

"What about your parents?" She asked Harry, and regretted it as soon as she saw the sudden tensing of his body and thinning of his lips.

"Um…dad works with drills I think, that's all he talks about. But mom is a banker and really good with money."

Iris wasn't sure how or why, but she could almost see the lies in his words, and the sorrow hidden behind them. But she wouldn't push, she had no right to, but she would file this away for later inspection.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to start the conversation back up as their door rattled from a knock, followed by a cheery voice calling out, "Snack trolley!"

"Hey! Want to get something from the snack cart?" Iris asked Harry with a smile, and the mention of food instantly had his attention, followed by a nod of his head, and his hand went to his robe pockets, but Iris was quick to shake her head, holding a hand out to stop him.

"Nope! Not happening! I'll pay for both of us!" She said, causing his eyes to widen.

"But-"

"No buts! You are the best company I have had in a while, so the least I can do is get us something to eat!" She said stubbornly, and after a moment, Harry let out a sigh and held his hands up in defeat, which made the raven haired girl grin.

Opening the door, she walked out into the hall and to the snack trolley, tapping the young woman running it on the arm.

"Excuse me! Can I get some chocolate frogs and...four cauldron cakes please?" She asked, and the young lady smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course! That'll be eight sickles dear." She said while getting the treats put into a small bag for Iris.

She handed off the eight pieces of silver and got her bag, turning to head back to her compartment, only to find herself face to face with lots of freckles, messy red hair, and a dirty nose.

'Oh no.'

"Iris! Where have you been!? I've been looking all over for you!" Ronald Weasley exclaimed, face flushed with red annoyance. "Honestly, we agreed on a compartment and everythi- Hey! Chocolate frogs!"

Before Iris could even react, Ron's hand was in the bag, and he pulled out one of the wrapped frogs, and was working on tearing it apart to get at the chocolate it kept secured.

"Hey! Give me that back!" Iris snapped, tearing the frog from the red head's hands, and dropping it back into the bag, a crossed look on her face. "Don't just try and take stuff from me!"

Ron blinked, before frowning and crossing his arms over his chest. "But I wanted one! And besides, you don't even like Chocolate frogs!"

"That doesn't mean you get to just take them from me! And besides, these are for a friend of mine." She huffed, rather annoyed at being held up for so long, and walked around the thick headed boy, who quickly rushed to her side, matching her pace,

"Are you saying I'm not your friend?" He said with shock, temper once more flaring.

"No, Ron, I'm saying you are not my ONLY friend." She said with a sigh and a shake of her head.

"Then why can't I have a chocolate frog?" He asked, confusion written all over his face, which was rather normal for him.

"Because they are for my friend, not you." She said slowly, right before she turned and opened the door to her compartment, and both she and Ron froze at the sight inside.

Harry was sitting in the same spot Iris had left him, but there were two others, sitting across from him. Twins, only these twins were not red heads, but instead, dark brunettes, with sharp features, and deep, murky blue eyes.

It was Hestia and Flora Carrow, grade A dark Family material.

Now Iris had nothing wrong with Slytherins, and these two were diffidently Slytherins, but dark families were a whole other story, because they got that title for a reason, for being horrible people. From blood purists to greedy monsters, they were families that just bred evil, and the Carrows were one of them.

Their family were known for being one of the poorer dark families, but they somehow got by. And their parents were the worst. They were a cruel couple, blood purists, and greedier then sin. They were still in Azkaban for the murder of countless muggles and serving You-Know-Who, but no one knew what happened to their children, until news got out about the twins living in a muggle orphanage.

"Oh, hey Iris." Harry said with a small smile, breaking Iris out of her shock, and she found a set of blue eyes locked on her, the one named Flora raising an eyebrow at her, while Hestia kept looking out the window, looking rather tired. It was easy to tell them apart, unlike most twins. Flora had a nasty scar on the right side of her neck, and Hestia was taller than Flora, and usually looked more relaxed then her sister.

"Oh, hello Potter." Flora said lazily, before her blue eyes went back to her lap, where a book rested.

"What are you two doing here?" An acidic voice growled, and Iris glanced towards a red faced and angry Ron.

"...sitting, Weasley. I believe that is what one usually does in a train compartment." Flora said without looking away from her book, Harry looking at Ron with a small frown.

"Well this isn't your compartment, Carrow! It's mine and Iris's!" He exclaimed, Iris crossing her arms and glaring down at the two girls.

"Harry and I had the compartment first, Carrow, so please leave so Ron can join us." She said with steel in her words, her attempt at some form of politeness failing almost instantly.

"And my sister and I cannot sit here as well?"

"Yes!" Ron answered immediately.

"I invited them in!"

Iris's eyes shot towards an annoyed Harry, eyes narrowed at the two standing in the door. "They passed the compartment twice, clearly looking for somewhere to sit, s-so I invited them in, s-since six people could fit in here, a-and I didn't think it would such a big deal!"

A moment of silence passed, with Flora lightly smirking, and Hestia's eyes glancing over at the shy red head.

"Who even are you?" Ron said with a small frown.

"I'm Harry, and last I checked, this was my compartment, so I can invite whoever I want in here." He said, staring directly at the other red head.

"No, this is Iris's!" Ron shot back, while Iris stood there, looking more than a little embarrassed.

"Uh...Ron..."

"Look, Carrows, just leave already so me and Iris can sit down!" Ron said with a sneer, eyes narrowed at the twins.

"There is plenty of room for all of us." Flora said with a shrug, showing no sign of irritation, unlike the red faced Weasley.

"Yeah, but..." Iris was conflicted now. On one hand, she was with Ron, and didn't want to sit anywhere near the Carrows. But on the other, he was being a prat, and Harry wasn't looking very happy either.

"Flora, let's go, I'm getting a headache again." Hestia finally spoke up, her voice a lot smother then her sister's drawl.

"Hm...I suppose it would be rather annoying to argue the whole ride to Hogwarts." Flora said with a shrug before getting to her feet, smoothing out her robes while her sister stretched, then stood up with her. The two then turned, and walked out of the compartment, pushing past Ron, who glared at their backs at they walked, before walking in and flopping into the seat opposite of Harry.

A moment of silence later, Iris slowly walked in as well, and after a second of thought, sat on the same seat as Ron, who had gotten into her bag once more, and was chewing on a chocolate frog, looking over the card that came with it.

Harry simply stared out the window, a look of annoyance still on his face, and Iris let out a small sigh.

"Uh...Ron, this is my friend Harry. Harry, this is Ron." Iris said with a small voice, the two boy glancing at one another, before going back to what they found more important.

Iris's sighed and rubbed her forehead in agitation. Maybe she should have slowed Ron down, she had just wanted the Carrows gone and away from her and Harry, but that little scene had clearly soured Harry's mood, and that, in turn, soured her own.

She just hoped she could patch things up with her new friend.