Lily stepped on the train, trying to swallow the silly tears. She would see her parents at Christmas, she knew, but something about saying goodbye always made her cry. Her mother, who shared her red hair and freckles, was warning Albus not to cause any trouble, while her father grinned at something James had just told him. Suddenly, she was grabbed by her friend, Madeline Jordan. "C'mon,"

She led her to their compartment, where Beth, another of Lily's friends, sat waiting and already reading.

"Lily!" she sprang up to hug her friend. Lily sat down next to Beth, who quickly returned to her book. She turned to talk to Madeline.

Madeline had a huge crush on James, now in his seventh year, and had the annoying habit of pestering her with questions about him. By the time the snack trolley had come around, Lily was thoroughly sick of discussing her brother's likes and dislikes, habits and interests. Finally, she left with the excuse that she had to go meet with the prefects, which, really, was the truth. Upon entering the prefects' compartment, she saw that Hugo was already there. She slumped down next to him, "Hey."

"I've been waiting for you, where've you been,"

"With Beth and Madeline," she rolled her eyes and looked through Hugo's recently purchased snacks.

"Well you're late."

"Sorry," Lily grinned, but Hugo didn't return it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Hugo said edgily, staring out the window. Lily knew that Hugo was already in a bad mood; he had found out that Anna had gotten a boyfriend over the summer. It was quiet.

"Oh…" Lily said. "Well, I really am sorry for making you wait-thanks, for waiting."

At this, Hugo turned and begrudgingly offered her a pumpkin pasty. He seemed to realize it wasn't Lily's fault Anna had gotten a boyfriend. "So, what've I missed?" She asked through a mouthful.

"Kaitlin Frye and Johnathan McMillan are Hufflepuff, "Dylan Zorbinach and Heidi...I forgot her last name, they're Slytherins' and Ravenclaw is Gabrielle Chang and Andrew Spicket."

"Heidi Gordon- I haven't seen Rose yet."

"She's with her boyfriend," Hugo muttered darkly.

"Oh, how is Harold?" Harold Bassinger had been Rose's boyfriend of three years, and they had reunited a little too enthusiastically at King's Cross earlier, causing her Uncle Ron to splutter and fume uselessly as Hermione held him back.

"I'm actually going to go and find Rose," Hugo stood up and started toward the head's compartment. "See you."

"Bye, "

Lily walked out of the compartment and headed happily down the hallway, almost running into Scorpius Malfoy. "Oh, um, sorry," she murmured stupidly, not daring to look at him for she felt herself blush. She pushed past him and hurried down the corridor, not looking back.

She had spent her holiday trying to convince herself that Scorpius Malfoy was not worth thinking about, being her brother's sworn enemy, but he had always been cordial toward her and she couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. She sunk down into her seat, mortified at what had just happened. Just then, Albus popped his head in, followed by the rest of his body and then his friend, Robert Sparrow.

"Hello ladies," Albus grinned. He caught Madeline's eye and she blushed; both of the Potter boys were exceptionally handsome. Beth hid behind her book. Lily rolled her eyes, "what do you want, Al?"

"Nothing, just a small favor, you know, if you could not tell mum about that thing..."

Lily stared at him blankly, knowing full well he was referring to, "What thing?"

"Lils…I already told you I was sorry."

"Just go away Albus,"

Albus stood there, looking extremely pissed off, took a breath and said exasperatedly, "Christ Lily, please?"

"Fine, leave then. Nice to see you Robert."

Robert's tan face broke into a handsome smile, "you too, Lils." and then they were gone.

"Sorry," Lily smiled at her friends.

"He likes you."

"Who, Robert? Well, he was over half the summer and he never even talked to me."

"Maybe he's shy."

"I don't think so, besides, he'd never do anything, Al's his best friend."

"I suppose."

"...So, what'd you do this summer?"

Madeline launched into a long and rather boring story about her holiday, and Lily let her mind wander. She wondered what Scorpius thought of her and if he had a girlfriend and what her brothers would say and if they would tell her mother and, oh god, her father. Not only was he in Slytherin; he was two years older and he was a Malfoy.

Ginny walked back through the barrier with Harry and they apperated back to their house, alone.

"I don't like the way Robert Sparrow was looking at Lily," Harry said.

Ginny smiled, "Robert's a good kid, and Lily knows what she's doing."

"What does that mean, did she tell you something?"

"No, relax Harry, she doesn't seem all that interested to be honest."

"Oh..."

"Albus forgot his sneakscope," she sighed as she picked it up off an armchair. "Are you going to work today?"

"No, I thought I'd take off," he said, stepping closer to her,

"and why is that?"

"Because I'm really sorry I let Albus use the car." He leaned his head against hers and grabbed her hips. She had been mad at him for just over a week and he missed her.

"I'm not going to sleep with you, Harry." She slipped out of his grip. Harry's face broke into a grin, making him look seventeen instead of 37, and flopped down on the couch, "why not?"

"The only reason you even apologized is because you're…lonely."

"Lonely, am I?" He hopped back up from the couch.

"Well, it's a euphemism," Ginny said, trying not to smile. Harry was walking towards her and she backed away slowly. She hit the wall and stopped.

"I really am sorry," he whispered into her neck as he pinned her.

"Uh huh," Ginny ran her hands through his tousled hair and he propped her up on a high table, knocking over a picture frame of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Harry?"

"Mmm?"

"Maybe we should go upstairs." she whispered.

"Oh…alright." Harry pulled himself away rather reluctantly.

James Potter entered his usual compartment, he lay down across the seat and placed his head in Caroline Stevens' lap. He and Caroline had been together for as long as he could remember. He had met her first year, she was muggle-born and therefore completely terrified, and they had bonded instantly. She had long blonde hair, her skin was tan from the summer and she looked more grown up; she was beautiful. She was also extremely bubbly and smart, a natural leader.

She played with his hair absentmindedly, staring out the window. James closed his eyes, it felt lovely. However much he was ready to be rid of her last spring, he had missed her over the summer. Maybe this year would be better, maybe they would get along, maybe she would even put out for him…

He stared at his best friend, William, who smirked knowingly at James before returning to his book, next to him was Angela, who was biting her nails. Angela was terribly thin, had long dark hair, a pretty enough face and sat quietly. She was Caroline's best friend. On her other side was Arthur Perkins, handsome and quiet. There wasn't a lot to Arthur, but he was Will's friend and James liked him well enough.

Just then, Summer Roberts walked by, and to his surprise, James felt his neck redden and his heart leap as she glanced into their compartment and then quickly away. Summer and him had never talked before and James suddenly felt the urge to say something to her. He hopped up and walked out of the compartment, muttering about the snack trolley and followed her down the hallway. He didn't know what he was going to say…but he knew he had to say something. His path was suddenly blocked and James found himself face to face with Scorpius Malfoy.

"Shove off, Malfoy."

"I'll go where I please, Potter,"

"Just get out of my way," James pushed past him.

"Lily looks rather…enjoyable this year," he sneered. James felt a shiver of disgust run through him and froze in his tracks. He turned to face Malfoy, "I swear, if you touch her Malfoy, I'll kill you."

"Hmm, does it matter where I touch her, because-"

But James had drawn his wand and Malfoy was cut off, blocking the curse James had just shot at him. Caroline had come after him and cast a shield charm between them. "Stop it! James! James, please, just walk away.."

"Yeah, James just walk away," Malfoy mocked, and James did just that, fuming, Caroline pushing him along. Summer was gone.

Albus hummed quietly as he watched the scenery flow by out his window, he had always been a fan of muggle music, which he listened to now, blasting through his headphones. Robert, his best friend, seemed to be explaining the rules of wizard's chess to Anna, who they had met their fourth year. Anna was smart and pretty and could always tell what Albus was thinking. Next to Anna was Hugo, Albus's cousin and a fifth year who had tagged along with them when they were younger and was now one of his best friends. He was also madly in love with Anna. Hogwarts this year would definitely be interesting…The sky was growing dark; they were almost there.

They entered the Great Hall slightly wet and shivering, it was raining outside.

"Rose, I missed you!" Caroline squealed and flung her arms around Rose, who smiled and gave James a look of extreme annoyance over Caroline's shoulder. The girls had never really got on that well, but not for Caroline's lack of trying.

"James," Rose greeted, smirking.

"I need to talk to you about something." James said ominously. Rose stared at him.

"Well…"

"I'll tell you later." James said, frowning at Caroline, who was now talking to Olivia Brown, a fifth year. Rose looked puzzled. James planned to ask her about Summer, who she was close friends with. Just then, Scorpius walked past them, grinning maliciously at James.

"Watch out for Lily this year, will you?" James muttered.

His cousin rolled her eyes, "leave her alone, James."

Suddenly, Harold grabbed Rose's hips and she jumped, surprised, and turned around to kiss him. "See you," James said, and headed toward the Gryffindor tower.