On the morning of September first, Peyton Denning could only stare in awe as the scarlet steam engine blew its whistle.
"Um…" a voice broke Peyton from her trance, and she turned to see a girl with dark hair that fell in loose curls to the middle of her back. "You may want to get on the train. The train's gonna leave soon." She grabbed an end of Peyton's trunk. "C'mon, I'll help you with this." Peyton grabbed the other end of the trunk, and the two girls boarded the Hogwarts Express, just as it began to move.
"Thanks," Peyton said, after the trunk had been securely stowed in the nearest compartment and the girls had sat down.
"No problem," the girl said. "My name's Taylor by the way."
"I'm Peyton. Is this your first year too?"
"No," Taylor answered. "I'm a second year, but my friends are having a 'boys only meeting.'" She sighed. "I think they're up to something… and Lily's with Snape, but she'll probably join us soon."
"Anything off the trolley dears?" asked a plump witch, as she pushed a cart full of sweets past the compartment. Taylor nodded eagerly.
"A pumpkin pasty, three chocolate frogs and two licorice wands, please," she said handing over the coins in exchange for the candy.
"Anything for you?" the witch asked, turning to Peyton.
"Um…" she hesitated. "A chocolate frog?"
"That's one knut," the witch said, and Peyton fished some coins out of her pocket and handed it over.
"So you're muggle born then?" questioned Taylor as the witch with the trolley walked away.
"Huh?" Peyton asked.
"I mean your parents—are they magic?"
"Oh. No," Peyton spoke hesitantly. "Is that bad?"
"Nope," Taylor answered. "I mean, some people might have a problem with it, but most don't care. There aren't many witches and wizards left anymore that aren't half blood or less."
Peyton sighed with relief. "So are you um… what was the word? Muggle? Are you muggle born as well?"
Taylor's expression darkened slightly. "No, my whole family has always been magic actually, but like I said, it doesn't matter." Peyton was fascinated by the idea of being raised in the magical world and began questioning Taylor about her life growing up.
"So do magical people play sports?" Peyton asked. Taylor nodded eagerly.
"Quidditch is the best! And the most popular. It's wayyy better than any muggle sport you've ever played, trust me! We play on broomsticks!" Peyton's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to reply when there was a knock on the door.
"Can I sit with you?" Asked a small girl, with straight, light brown hair and light freckles.
"Of course!" Replied Taylor. "I'm Taylor Rosier."
"Oh…" The girl said suddenly looking uncomfortable, and Taylor's face fell. "I'm Alice Prewett." Peyton glanced in nervous confusion between her companions, sensing the tension between the two.
"Look," Taylor said finally, breaking the tense silence that had fallen. "I'm sure you've heard all kinds of bad things about my family, but I swear I'm not like them. One of my best friends is muggle born and I don't have a problem with it! She's muggle born—" Taylor gestured towards Peyton, "and I'm talking to her!" Alice looked nervous for a moment longer, before she smiled and sat down. Taylor grinned back, while Peyton continued looking confused.
"My family is kind of infamous for turning out dark wizards," Taylor explained to Peyton. "They're the type that care about purity of blood." She rolled her eyes. "They practically disowned me when I was sorted into Ravenclaw and became best friends with Lily Evans."
"Ravenclaw is a house at Hogwarts," explained a pretty girl with red hair and dazzling green eyes, who had appeared without anyone noticing. "I'm Lily."
"Peyton."
"Alice." Lily sat down beside Taylor, and the four girls passed the rest of the train ride quite quickly, telling one another various stories from their vastly different lives. When they arrived at Hogwarts, Peyton and Alice split from the two older girls, to take the boats to the castle.
Peyton was nervous as she walked between the rows of tables in the Great Hall, however her nerves were quickly forgotten as she observed the enchanted ceiling, floating candles, and other magical elements throughout the hall. Before she knew it, Professor McGonnagal was calling her forward to place the sorting hat on her head. After a short while, the hat yelled "RAVENCLAW!" and Peyton rushed over to sit beside Taylor. The food at Hogwarts, Peyton was pleased to discover, was wonderful, especially by comparison to the cafeteria food at her old school.
About half way through dessert, Peyton noticed a commotion at the next table over. The desserts at that table had exploded, and the occupants of the table were covered in bits of food. The hall exploded in laughter, and even some of the teachers had difficulty concealing their smirks. At the Gryffindor table, Peyton saw four boys giving one another high fives. The Headmaster stood up chuckling and clapping.
"Amusing boys, but I'm afraid this means you'll be spending tomorrow evening in detention," the headmaster said, though he still grinned. Three of the boys pretended to look innocent, while the fourth, with messy jet black hair stood up proudly and bowed.
"It was well worth it professor!" He called. "Hopefully this will convince Snivillus that its time for a shower!" The boy covered his noise and made a repulsed face. Most of the hall laughed, but Peyton say Lily, sitting a few seats down from the four boys roll her eyes and glare.
"Well," continued Dumbledore, "welcome to all our new students, and to the old, welcome back. Now that we've all gotten both dinner and a show, and most of us have gotten dessert—" he added with a wink, "I think it's about time for bed. Sleep tight!"
"C'mon," Taylor said to Peyton, "I'll show you where our house is."
"Hey Taylor," called one of the high-fiving boys. "Did you enjoy the show?" Taylor rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"Was it really necessary Black? Seriously you boys can't stay out of trouble for even the first night back?"
"See Rosier, this is why we didn't let you join us on the train," the boy with messy black hair joked, messing up her hair. "You ruin all our fun!!"
"Oh shush James," said a boy with sandy hair. "You know you wouldn't have even thought of that prank if Taylor hadn't made your birthday cake explode on you last summer." The boy turned to Taylor and gestured to Peyton. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Peyton," Taylor said, then she pointed to the boys in turn. "And that's James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius."
"Nice to meet you," Peyton called, as Taylor grabbed her arm and pulled her down a corridor different from the one the boys were headed down.
"You too!" Peyton heard them call back. "G'Night!"
A/N: so I've really hit a block with my other story, and this story's been going around in my head for awhile now, so I decided to write it and hopefully get over my block. Hope youu enjoy!!
Please review!! I'm very motivated by them. The more I get the faster I write! Thanks!!