Emberly Lenae stared at her mother in shock. "Y-You can't be serious," she stammered, shock alighting her caramel-coloured eyes as she continued to gawk at the taller, slimmer woman standing in front of her.

"I'm this serious," she said with a sly smile as she held in front of Emberly a train ticket - one train ticket. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her mother was planning to send her away to her grandmother's house at the beginning of September. She knew that her mother hadn't been the same since Father died, but she knew that sending her away to Grandmother's to some school…

"What school am I even going to be attending?" Emberly fumed. It was almost August and her mother hadn't bothered to tell her until now.

"St. Martha's," replied her mother with a wide smile. She pulled Emberly into a tight hug, stroking her light brown hair. "Oh Em… you're going to love it there, I know it. It's an all-girl's Catholic school but I'm sure you're going to make friends. You'll be very happy, I know it."

As her mother continued to soothingly smooth down her hair, Emberly felt a pang of nostalgia course through her. "But doesn't that cost money?" she asked, pulling away. St. Martha's did sound like it was expensive, and she didn't want her mother wasting all of her money on her.

She merely shrugged. "Of course it does. But it's your tuition. Did I mention it goes through primary school to college? Basically your whole education is provided in that one academy!" When her mother finally noticed the perturbed look on Emberly's face she sighed. "Your grandmother is very excited to see you as well, sweetheart. She's pitching in some money, too."

Emberly sighed. She knew that there was no escaping from this - after all, her mother seemed quite excited that she had gotten accepted into such a prestigious sounding academy. She looked over her shoulder at the wooden staircase. "I guess I'll start packing now-"

"Oh wait, before you do that." Emberly's mother stopped her by touching her shoulder gently. She turned quickly to pick something up from the dining table, setting down the train ticket. In her hand now was a letter. "About five of these have arrived in the mail… I think they're all a hoax. Don't tell me you signed up for something by accident? You haven't given your address out to anyone?"

Emberly shook her head, frowning. She took the letter from her mother's hand. Before she had a chance to read through it, her mother snatched it back. "No need to look at it, dear. I'll inspect it for you."

She could still tell her mother was still eccentric from Emberly accepting to go to St. Martha's and staying with her grandmother, however, she was curious as to see what was inside the letter. Her mother turned away from her, tearing open the letter with a butter knife. Emberly craned her neck to attempt to get a glance at the worn-out parchment in her hands. She could barely make out the black letters:

Dear Emberly Lenae,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted-

Emberly jerked back in alarm as her mother quickly ripped the letter in half. She turned on her heel, facing Emberly, her expression unreadable. Finally it returned to her smiling appearance as she quickly tossed the letter in the waste bin. "Just a con school, Em. Nothing to worry about. I'll help you pack!"

Emberly watched her mother race up the staircase. She was about to follow after her, then hesitated. She looked over her shoulder at the waste bin where the letter was sitting in. She was tempted to just walk forward and snatch the parchment out and read it, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to decipher the words; her mother had ripped it up into four pieces.

"Emberly!" she heard her call from upstairs. Biting her lip as she glanced back at the waste bin, she finally moved her legs forward, racing up the stairs.

September 1st came quickly with brisk weather. At ten o'clock in the morning, Emberly's mother rushed the morning. Emberly barely had time to swallow the first spoonful of oatmeal before her mother was shoving a hat over her head and dragging her out the front door. She followed in pursuit, taking the passenger's seat in the car as they quickly buckled up, driving to King's Cross Station.

"All right sweetie," her mother said as she pulled the car into a parking spot. She grabbed Emberly's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Do you have everything? I gave you an extra few pounds just in case you need to buy any supper."

Emberly shook her head. "Mum, you shouldn't have-"

"I wanted to." She interrupted with a smile.

Emberly sighed as her mother pulled her into a hug. She knew she was going to miss her. She clambered out of the car after the tearful goodbye, luggage in hand as she entered the station. It was as crowded as ever, and Emberly was surprised she wasn't suffocated by all the different people shoving past her, attempting to get to their right train. Emberly glanced down at her ticket - her mother had told her before they left that she was to get to Platform 10 by 11:30. She looked up, scanning the Platforms: Platform 6, Platform 7, Platform 8…

Her thoughts trailed off when she heard two boys laughing about something. She looked around, then finally spotted the cause of the all the commotion - two redheaded boys, twins she assumed, were running around. She had neared the brick wall of Platform 9 until they rammed into her by accident, sending her flying against the wall. Emberly shrieked, waiting for impact, only it never came.

When she opened her eyes she was laying on her butt, but not crashed against the brick wall like she imagined. She stood up, only to see a magnificent train standing before her. Panicking, she looked around to see many different people - different from the ones in the station - and finally her gaze rested on the plaque above her.

It read 'Platform 9 3/4'.

Immediately she heard the rush of wind behind her and the two boys who had rammed into her had returned, but this time, they had two younger boys Emberly's age behind her. The first twin stepped forward, holding out his hand.

"Sorry about that, miss," he said. He glanced back at his twin before adding, "Georgie and I got excited since we just met Harry Potter."

Emberly frowned. "Harry Potter?" she echoed.

The other twin - George she assumed - stepped forward. "Yeah. Do you not know him?" He exchanged a look with Fred. "Must be a muggle-born."

Emberly narrowed her eyes. Should she be offended? Before she had a chance to ask them what being 'muggle-born' meant, Fred spoke up again. "What's your name? I'm Fred. This is my brother, George."

"I'm Fred, you're George." The other one retorted.

Emberly stared. After a few moments of them bickering, the one she assumed was Fred returned his attention to her. "What's your name?" he asked again.

"E-Emberly. Emberly Lenae."

George nodded. "Nice to meet you Emberly Lenae." He held out his hand, which Emberly hesitantly shook. She looked past the two brothers at the two boys standing behind them that were her age. One had the same ginger hair and freckles that George and Fred were sporting, however, the other one was skinny with messy black hair. His green eyes were vivid underneath his glasses that were taped together.

A fourth boy, older than the two twins and two boys standing in front of me made his way over, followed by a plump woman who Emberly assumed was the mother and a girl no younger than Emberly who she assumed was the youngest sister. And the only girl in the family, nonetheless. The woman made her way forward, grabbing the red-headed boy's face and scrubbing at his nose. He instantly protested, attempting to push away his mother.

"Mum, gerroff!" he grunted.

His mother ignored him, continuing to pester around at what Emberly saw was a smudge of dirt. The twins noticed her watching as Fred said, "aw, does ickle Ronnykins have something on his wittle face?"

Ron, the boy Emberly's age, scowled. Emberly glanced towards the black-haired kid wearing glasses but he was nowhere to be seen. Probably already on the train…

Speaking of the train, Emberly glanced down at her watch. The train she was supposed to be on was leaving in a minute. As the large black train next to her whistled, she came to realize that it was going to as well. Hesitantly, Emberly looked at the brick wall that was standing in front of her. The redheaded family had left, aside from the mother and the younger sister, however they weren't paying attention to Emberly.

Looking over her shoulder, Emberly finally hauled all of her stuff after the others onto the train. The thing that struck Emberly the most was that there were no adults aboard the train, aside from older teenagers. She frowned, biting the inside of her mouth as she followed in pursuit the twins from before. In different compartments, many different kids were talking. Emberly strained, attempting to listen in on some of the conversations, but most of the words she heard were 'Hogwarts' and 'Houses'.

She thought it was a bit odd that they would be talking about houses, seeing as the children were no older than her, but she didn't stop to ask them as she continued to walk down the aisle of the train, looking into different compartments. There was no empty compartment, aside from one that contained a bushy-haired girl and awkward looking boy. Noticing she had no other options, Emberly slid the door open.

The girl had her nose stuck in a book so she didn't look up as Emberly took the seat next to her. The boy, however, noticed her arrival. His dark hair was matted to his head, while his clothes looked slightly tattered. What Emberly noticed the most was the toad he was holding in his hands…

"Oh, this is Trevor," he said nervously, noticing Emberly had been staring. Emberly shook her head, attempting to give him a smile.

"I-I see…" She glanced at the girl next to her, who had finally put down the book. She made eye contact, then stuck her hand out.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced. Her tone sounded quite defiant, as if she were making a point. Emberly nodded, shaking her outstretched hand.

"Emberly Lenae."

Hermione nodded. "Pleasure." She turned her attention to the boy who was attempting to keep his toad close to him. As of now, the darkly speckled creature was attempting to wiggle its way out of the boy's grip. "And you are?" Hermione asked.

"N-Neville," he stammered as the toad was nearly out of his hands, if it weren't for his pointer fingers and thumbs which were currently slipping off the toad's body. "Neville Longbotto- oh shoot! Trevor!"

The toad had finally broke free and was now jumping out of the compartment door; the one that Emberly had left open. Immediately guilt washed over her in waves. She should have closed the door when she entered the compartment, but then again, Emberly has never ridden on a train before. She exchanged a look with Hermione as the boy sat down, looking defeated.

"Don't worry Neville," Hermione started, standing up and heading for the door. "We'll help you find your toad."

Neville's expression brightened immediately. "Really?"

Hermione nodded, casting a look at Emberly. Immediately, the girl stood up, following Hermione in pursuit. "Y-Yeah."

"That's great… Grandmother would hang me by my feet if she found out I lost him…"

"We'll find him before we reach Hogwarts." Hermione turned swiftly on her heel, exiting the compartment and entering the train aisle. Emberly followed her at a slower pace, questions forming in her head.

Hogwarts? I thought I was on a train for Cambridge so I can attend St. Martha's…

"So what House do you think you'll be sorted in?" Hermione suddenly asked, breaking Emberly out of her thoughts. Emberly shook her head, frowning.

"Pardon?"

Hermione sighed, looking over her shoulder. "To make a biased opinion, I'd love to be in Gryffindor. But then again, Ravenclaw doesn't sound all that bad."

Emberly frowned, her eyebrow creasing. "Excuse me?"

Hermione stopped, turning around to face Emberly completely. "What? Don't tell me you want to be a Slytherin."

Emberly continued to stare blankly at the bushy-haired girl standing before her. Hermione's brown eyes widened in realization as she brought her hand to her mouth, a short gasp escaping her.

Worry continued to pulse through Emberly as she asked hurriedly, "Hermione where is this train going?"

"You're a muggle, aren't you." It came out more as a statement than a question as Hermione continued to gawk at Emberly.

"A mugg- a what?" Emberly stammered, getting worried. Was this whole train filled with lunatics? She cleared her throat, repeating her question with more force, "Hermione… where is this train going?"

"To Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Hermione shook her head, bringing her hand up to her face to rub her temples. "This is bad… How could you have even gotten on the train? It clearly states in all the books that I've read that muggles can't get on the train… let alone pass through the wall at Platform 9 ¾!"

Emberly continued to stare at Hermione. "Platform 9 ¾? But there's no such thing!"

Hermione bit her lip, looking around. "I don't think there are any adults on this train…" She sighed after a few moments before adding, "well, you can help me find Neville's toad. After that, we're going to talk to the conductor up front. We still have a few more minutes before we reach Hogwarts."

And with that, Hermione once again turned swiftly on her heel, continuing on their journey to find Neville's toad.

/

and that was a real bad ending to a chapter, but i have a real bad case of writer's block at the moment and i've literally spent about three days straight on writing this story so… yeah.