I would just like to say that for the most part, characters are from the Harry Potter set, but my main character, Carrie, was someone I made up. She's not the "perfect" character, but I thought I would let people know so they're not all confused.

Also: I do not own the rights of these characters, but I hope to be allowed to use them without hassle from the real owner or J.K. Rowling's people.

Chapter 1: it's way too late

Carrie leaned her head against the cool glass of the window as the English countryside sped past her. It was all a blur of green and none of which she had much interest in. Her mind was boggled and her chest felt heavy, along with which her hands felt clammy due to anxiety. She fumbled in her handbag for a cigarette and matches; she only felt the urge to smoke when she felt the anxiety, which nowadays was often. Smoking was the only memory Carrie had of her dearly departed mother…

Her anxiety started due to the looming event of her sixth year at Hogwarts, which was inevitably the first of the two years she would face without Oliver Wood, her boyfriend of three years and best friend since she was three and he was four. "God, why are you spastic, Carrie?" she asked herself out loud.

She stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray on her armrest and pulled her chestnut, long wavy brown hair off her neck. She began to feel really hot and cramped inside the small compartment. Just as she felt she were going to lose it, a muggle train worker walked by and she opened the compartment door.

"Excuse me?" she summoned the worker sweetly. It was always her nature to try her best to charm someone so that they smile sweetly back and feel like they must hang on her every word. Even with her magic ability, she still felt that when she was in the muggle world, the best way to get things done was to smile and bat your eyelashes. It also helped that he possibly couldn't have been more than nineteen years old.

Her green eyes sparkled brilliantly at him. "I was wondering when we would be reaching Ottery St. Catchpole? I have grown awfully bored and I just don't know what I will do." She flashed her most charming smile.

He smiled shyly and ran a hand through his light brown hair.

"Well, uh, we should be there any minute. Ah, yes, I feel the train slowing down quite a bit," he said quite unsure of himself or his hands.

"Alright, then –" she paused and peered at his name tag "-Simon. Thank you so much." She closed compartment door loudly to snap him out of his daze. The dull expression on his face wasn't attractive at all. He shook his head as if to clear it of some fog and walked confusedly away.

The town slowly began to materialize as the train rode beside it. The town wasn't big, but it had the bare necessities such as a food market and clothing store, one hospital with a veterinary clinic attached, and, of course, the train station.

Though she knew better than to hope, she wished that the Weasley Twins would walk all the way from the burrow to pick her up. As the train stopped, she signed and knew she shouldn't even hold her breath. She wished that she hadn't been away in Spain during the World Cup. It would've been great to have seen Oliver and hung out with the twins, but nevertheless, she had to visit her ailing aunt Melina, who wasn't ailing at all, but suffered from hypochondria.

The train whistled and she struggled to pull the trunk from the above storage and managed it with a loud thunk. Having sat for hours on that train in that hot compartment, she felt gritty and gross. She shoved her long hair out of her eyes and shuffled herself and her trunk down the corridor to be let off the train. She could feel the fresh air hitting her face and finally, she hopped off the train and she instantly felt a flush creep up her face and the hairs on her neck stood.

She looked around and saw only one familiar freckled face and that was of Fred. Suddenly, her mouth went cotton dry and words died on her lips. Her stomach did a flip flop and it flitted in her mind, that thought that she had buried back there for the longest. She knew he was the one she wanted there; the way her body reacted proved it, but in her mind, she screamed, "NO!" as a movie-slow grin played across his lips.