Hi everyone! This is my first Harry Potter fic, and I'm quite proud of it. Please review and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter- JK Rowling does.

Note: I kind of dropped Stan's accent. Hee hee. Don't hate me for it.

I looked out the window of the Knight Bus with a horrible dread rising in my stomach. Where would I go? I saw Stan Shunpike, the small excuse of a conductor, eyeing me with suspicion. He seemed older than the last time I had seen him, then again it had been a few years. Eventually he would come over and ask me where I was headed. And at the moment, he had about as good an idea as me. I had come on the bus in hysterics, sobbing up a storm, and any man knew that was his cue to stay far away. I started nervously running my hands through my auburn hair as the only other occupant of the bus got off the all to familiar automobile. The bus stayed in the same place, not shuddering its usual jerk as it pulled away to its next destination.

"Brooke." Stan said, turning around from his seat, "Where are you-"

"Just take me wherever," I said, rolling the words of my tongue and immediately regretted it. Waiting for another stop wasn't going to suddenly give me a place to stay that night.

"That will be another 16 sickles," He said awkwardly. I handed my money to him and slumped down again. It was silent as the bus jerked forward.

"So…" Stan started trying to break the silence.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said. Why did men always have to fill silence with talking? Talking that did no good, ending up with things you wish you could take back. I looked into the window, not at the terrain, passing so quickly beside me, but at my face instead. Was it because I wasn't pretty enough? I pulled my freckled cheeks back, making my face take on a sunken look. I let them go and slumped down again. The bus shuddered to a stop; my chair slid to the side and I almost fell over. A middle-aged woman and a young girl came on to the bus, their eyes were as puffy and blotched as mine. In the mother's hand, a small suitcase and the girl carried a rather worn looking doll. I looked at the mother's face, tears still in her eyes, framed mostly by her salt and pepper hair, obviously not wanting to be seen. She took a seat near the back. I smiled at the young blonde girl as she passed. She looked at me in awe and hurried after her mother. The Knight Bus shuddered off again as the mother yelled up an address at Stan. The girl stayed by her mother for a few seconds, looking concerned, until she hopped up suddenly and walked towards me. I blinked away from the window and turned to the girl now sitting next to me with a huge smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Emily. I'm 5. That's my mom. She's 37." She said brightly. I chuckled a bit as her mother called to her in shock.

"Emily!" Her mother screamed in horror.

"What? It's the truth!" She yelled back. She turned back to me. "Where are you going? We're going to my grandma's. She makes good pancakes." She smiled again. She was small for her age, but the bright smile that light across her face made her seem at least 6 or 7. I smiled again at her naïveté and simplicity.

"I do like pancakes. But waffles are my favorite. There is this one muggle restaurant called Waffle House and they make the best waffles." I said, trying to change the subject knowing that Stan was listening. I was so stupid to pick a seat in the closest section to the front. The bus came to a jerk as a few men filed in. The little girl seemed unfazed but the sudden stop sent me falling to the floor. The expensive black dress I had bought for the occasion that night, went over my head. I knew that the new passengers had just seen my fancy knickers. I blushed a bright red and could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I moved quickly and pulled my dress down again. I hopped on to my seat again, ignoring the looks from the 3 other men. I heard a chuckle from the front of the bus, obviously coming from the driver's seat. I quickly took my shoe off, my left foot, ignoring the blisters. I aimed at the back of Stan's head and threw with all my might. He ducked from the shoe and it hit the windshield, the stiletto clattering to the floor. Stan got up from his seat, a stupid grin on his face, and handed it to me. I felt anger burn up inside of me. How dare he laugh at me! If he only knew what kind of day I was having!

"I think this is yours…" He whispered, giving me a devious grin. I snatched the shoe out of his hand. He kept grinning as he headed back to the driver's seat.

"Who the heck was stupid enough to promote you? Ernie was a way better driver than you, no doubt. AND he got along with me." I yelled at him, practically spitting the words as the bus took off again. I remembered the summers when I was constantly in the bus. But back then I knew where I was going. Now I had no idea. Stan kept his eyes on the "road".

" He died. They got him, right after…" He let his voice travel off. I looked away and felt my mouth going dry. I couldn't help but wonder if he had seen it. Did he even remember what happened all those months when the Imperius Curse was put over him? I turned my attention back to Emily, who was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Is he your husband?" She asked, her voice light with awe. I turned red, both with anger and embarrassment.

"What?" I asked. I heard Stan laugh again. The bus jerked again and I kept my hands firmly on my skirt, making sure it didn't fly up again.

"Go ahead, darling," Stan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I saw the men get off giving me longing looks. I sneered at them and then at Stan. "Tell her all about our courtship and eventual marriage." He smiled again and then something hit me.

"Where did your accent go?" I asked in shock. He pronounced everything correctly. He seemed unfazed.

"I took lessons from a regular on the bus. Taught me how to talk without my accent. Surprised? I quite like this new way of talking though." He smiled a genuine smile. He turned back to the wheel and started off. I looked at Emily again. Her expression went from dumbstruck to confused.

"No, we are not married. I just knew him when we were kids." I told her. She nodded her head.

"We still are kids," Stan retorted and I shook my head at him, a smile spreading on my face.

"I know how you feel. Bobby was in denial about our relationship until finally I just kissed him on the mouth." She smiled up at me. Her mother stormed up to us, finally hearing enough, I suppose.

"We are going to have a nice long talk when we get to Grandma's, missy. You aren't going to be able to even talk to another boy as long as you live." She said sternly. The bus stopped and I had to grab onto my chair to keep it from sliding and crashing into the mother, now gripping her daughter, who seemed unfazed by the stop.

"This is your stop, ma'am." Stan said. I scoffed at the word "ma'am". That little kiss up. "16 sickles." He said. The woman gave him her money quickly and left with little Emily waved weakly. I glanced at my clock and saw it was nearing midnight. I stood up from my chair knowing a bed could quickly replace it at any moment. They did just that, as if on cue, when I got up. The mismatched chairs turned themselves into long skinny beds, when I looked at almost longingly. Where was I going to sleep tonight? My stomach clenched at the thought of having to sleep outside. Stan cleared his throat and I noticed we were still outside of Emily's stop.

"If you really don't have anywhere to go-" Stan started, turning in his seat.

"I have somewhere to go!" I snapped and immediately regretted it. What if he would drive me to that one hotel in Diagon Alley? Or maybe he would even put me up for the night? Stan stayed silent, and I could feel my face turning red again. He knew I had nowhere to go. What if he kicked me out? I thought frantically. But before I had time to beg for mercy, he had already started up the bus and I was thrown onto my bed.

"W- where are we going?" I asked him. I stared a hole in the back of his messy brown hair. He shrugged half-heartedly. I hated when he did that. I suddenly remembered in the summer before my 5th year at Hogwarts, I had been waiting outside at some park, an unimportant one, the usual angry tears in my eyes. The bus had just appeared and as usual, Ernie welcomed me with a smile and a welcome back, and to his right, I saw a young man standing awkwardly by the door. He looked about the same age as me, maybe a year older.

"This is Stanley Shunpike, he's going to apprentice me from now on. Be nice to her, Stan, she's a regular." Ernie laughed. I chuckled to myself and was grateful for Ernie's friendliness.

" 'Ello, Miss. I 'ope we will get along together." He said shyly.

I was pulled back to reality as the bus screeched to a stop. I looked at Stan, who had stood up, turning off the bus. I looked at him. "Where are we?" I asked, suddenly unsure. Maybe after all these years Stan turned bad, maybe he was going to sell my body for money or worse… Stan could see the fears in my eyes. I quickly regained my composure and put on my poker face. Stan, although, broke into a big grin. I remembered back in that summer before 5th year, just a few weeks after we had first met, when the Knight Bus stopped yet again in front of me, how I had first seen that almost adorable grin.

"Brooke, you've never met my mum, 'ave you?" He grinned.