I don't own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter related characters and events. Anything else you regognize, I don't own either =D

Maria Edwards was an average witch who had been living with her father her whole life, and today was her first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was going to be a new student.

"Bye, Daddy!" she called to her shabby looking father.

"Bye, Maria! Don't forget to write!"

And that was it. The trained turned the corner and her father was no longer in sight. Maria walked down the trains narrow hallway slowly to look for a compartment to stay in. She kept looking in them, but they all seemed to be full. She finally reached the end and peered her head in. "Room for one more?" she asked.

There were three people in it. Two boys, one with black hair, the other with red, and a brunette. The brunette spoke, "there is," she said. "My name is Hermione. What's yours?"

"I'm Maria," she said, sitting down next to Hermione. "And this is my cat, Johnny."

"I'm Harry," said the boy with black hair.

"And I'm Ron. It's nice to meet you Maria." He offered his hand. Maria took it and gave it a little shake. She did that with the rest of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"You must be new. You excited about school?" asked Harry.

"Oh yeah! I was so happy when I finally got my letter," Maria said while stroking Johnny. Johnny was a mysterious looking cat with jet black fur and flashing golden eyes. "So, uh, are you guys going to the same year as me?"

"If you are going to year six, then yes, we will be," said Ron while smiling.

"Great! What house are you all in?"

"Gryffindor," said Hermione. Maria gave a small gasp as Johnny leaped off her lap to join a ginger cat that was sitting next to Hermione. "Oh," she said. "That's Crookshanks." Johnny gave Crookshanks a quick sniff then looked into the ginger cat's eyes. The two cats began to meow as if they were having a conversation, and it sure as well seemed like they were.

"What a neat cat! Where did you get him?" asked Harry while watching the two creatures. He looked at Johnny, who looked at him back.

"At a pet store in America."

"He's really cool one, he is. Oh! Look! We are almost there!" exclaimed Hermione while jumping to her feet. "I guess I'll go change. Maria, you can go after me."

"Okay."

Hermione left the compartment, leaving Harry, Ron, and her alone. As Maria watched Johnny and Crookshanks chasing each other's tail, there was a long silence between everyone. Harry looked at Maria. She was a pretty girl with long locks of browns, golds, and reds. She had brown eyes that filled her thin face with wisdom and knowledge. Her pale lips, giving her the life she needed. She had almost a hollow figure that had an unknown joy shining from her. It was amazing how the silence could bring out her ravishing beauty. Then, there was a disturbance. She blinked.

Hermione had opened the door. "Your turn."

Maria got her robes together and stepped out. Right when she got out, she began walking, when suddenly, she walked right into someone! "I-I-," she stuttered. She looked into her victim's eyes. They were pale blue, like an ocean covered in a light frost. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. It's just-...." He cut her off by putting his hand over her lips.

"It's okay. My name is Draco. Draco Malfoy." He was quite the handsome man with his light blond hair, and his eyes, there was something about them that made her shiver. It was a shiver of cold, a cold she longed to feel, and longed to have.

"I'm...Maria. Maria Edwards."

He gave her a seductive glare. "Nice meeting you Maria."

"Nice meeting you too...." she said while running to the bathroom. She opened the door and slammed it behind her. "Ugh! I acted so stupid back there. Geez. I need to hurry up...." She got dressed as fast as she could and sped out the door. She ran back into her compartment to see that the boys had already changed. "How did you-?"

"Magic," said Harry with a slight laugh. "That was fast."

"Oh. Sorry. I just...well..." They could tell she was uncomfortable, so Ron spoke up.

"Well, no matter. We are almost there. No wait, we ARE there."

It was magnificent. They way the moonlight shone off the lake, and the way the castle ahead blended with the sky above. "Wow. This is amazing," said Maria, gazing into the starry heavens above.

"Yeah, well, let's go grab a carriage before they are all taken," said Harry, while guiding her hand into the closest carriage.

"Where are the horses that pull them? Or are these bewitched as well?"

"Well, the aren't bewitched, but there aren't horses. They are these things called thestrals, and they can only be seen after one has seen death."

"Um, how can--?" she began to ask until she thought about what she was going to say. She thought it was best to keep quiet.

Hermione changed the topic quickly. "So Maria. Where did you say you where from?"

Maria was caught off guard. "Oh! Uh, I'm from America. I lived on the East Coast."

"The States, huh? That's cool. Do you think you're going to miss it?" asked Hermione.

"Well, kinda. I mean, I'm definitely going to miss the Red Sox," she sighed.

"The Red Sox? Who are they?" This time, Ron asked. "Are they a Quidditch team?"

"...A what?!"

"Wow. Harry, does she remind you of anyone? Anyone at all?" Ron asked, recalling the day he first met Harry on the Express.

Harry laughed. "You do, Maria. When I first came here, I had no clue what anything was. Umm, on the matter, who do you live with? Back home...?"

Maria looked at Harry, who was looking at her. She gazed into his green eyes and lost herself. She felt like she had been emptied of all her emotions and thoughts and was an empty cloud; weightless and all. She blinked, and everything poured back in. She shook her head and blushed slightly. "Oh...." She gave a slight chuckle. "I live with my father."

"Right on. Oh look! Here we are!"

They all stepped out of the carriage and walked into the castle.... I'm working on chappy 2 right now!