Okay, this is my first fanfic, a Harry Potter one 'cos I just re-read the series and I'm into them now. (I'm usually into any books I've read recently.) It's from the point of view of a character I made up.

Incidentally I'm writing from Australia where term starts in February, and Christmas is in summer.

I stood on platform 9 ¾ with my parents, looking around.

"Lozza!" squealed my best friend, Pansy Parkinson, and ran up to me. I hadn't seen her all summer, and I hugged her back enthusiastically, but I was still searching over her shoulder.

"He's over there," pointed Pansy, guessing what I was looking for. I followed her finger and saw them: all tall and blond, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy — and their son, my boyfriend, Draco.

He caught sight of me too, and came over. I threw myself at him and he laughed. I'd seen him not long ago, when his parents took us both to the Quidditch World Cup.

"Hello, Lauren," said Narcissa, and inclined her head to my parents. I knew she and Lucius didn't approve of me much, nor my muggle parents, but they were always nice to me and polite to them.

"Shall we go find a compartment?" suggested Draco.

I smiled, said goodbye to my parents, promised to write whenever I didn't have too much homework, and boarded the train with Draco and Pansy to start my fourth year at Hogwarts.

I smiled at and greeted a few friends I saw, including Blaise Zabini, Hannah Abbott, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas and his best friend Seamus Finnigan.

"Gryffindors," sniffed Draco. "How can you be friends with them, Loz?"

"Same way I can be friends with anybody."

Draco didn't talk about my inter-house friendships for the rest of the day.

"So how was the cup?" asked Pansy, and Blaise nodded eagerly.

"Ah, Ireland won 160-150," said Draco.

"Krum lost?"

"He did get clobbered," I said.

Draco stared at me. "Please say you did not just use the word 'clobbered'."

"I did not just use the word 'clobbered'," I repeated obediently.

Blaise suspiciously nibbled the end off a black every-flavour bean, then pulled a face and chucked it out the window.

"What is it?" asked Pansy.

"Ink."

"Ewww," Pansy and I said.

He took a brown one, then immediately spat it out and gulped down a chocolate frog.

"What was that one?"

"Shit."

"EWWW!"

"Want one?" Blaise offered me the box.

"No!"

He shrugged and helped himself to another one.

"You're a sucker for punishment," Draco shook his head. "What do you think of the event at Hogwarts this year?"

We blinked. "Event? What event?"

He leaned forward. "The Yule ball — and the Triwizard Tournament."

I blinked again, but the others' eyes widened. "Wow," said Blaise. "That's what we needed dresses for!" said Pansy, and pulled hers out of her trunk to show us. "What do you think?" she asked, mainly to me.

"Great," I said. They were pink and very frilly.

"Let's see yours," she said.

I sighed, opened my trunk and hunted around for my dress. Eventually I located it and held it up for her to see. It was dark blue satin, with a crossover front and satin straps that twisted at the back.

"Oh wow," breathed Pansy, "You are going to look fucking amazing."

I smiled, folded up the dress and put it back. "So, Draco, what's the Triwizard Tournament?"

He launched into an explanation. "Well, it's a tournament between three magic schools — Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion is selected from each school to compete and they have to get through tasks.

"It's very dangerous, and fucking advanced, of course, but the winner gets the cup and a thousand galleons prize money. Not to mention their name goes down in history forever. It's not very common, see, ever since the death toll went up… you entering, Blaise?"

"Think I might," said Blaise lazily, leaning back in his seat.

"I think I will, too," said Draco.

"I thought you said there was death toll?" I asked him.

Draco shrugged off my worries. "That was years ago."

I nibbled on a pasty. "Who's the DADA teacher this year?"

"I'm not sure," said Draco, frowning. "Father didn't say."

"Didn't know, more like," giggled a bitchy voice from the doorway. We didn't have to look up to know exactly who it was: Lavender Brown.

"Hello. Goodbye." We chanted at the same time.

"Parkinson, what is that?" she demanded, staring in disgust at Pansy's dress which she was still holding in her lap.

"You can talk," retorted Pansy, eyeing Lavender's bright yellow top and tights with equal disgust.

"Fuck off, Lavender."

"I don't think so," said Lavender, and the group of girls around her giggled stupidly. "What did you bring, Walker?" she asked me. "Are you going to wear a puffer fish dress too?"

Pansy glared at her, tears filling her eyes.

"Okay, it's official. You've won bitchiest banana," I told her. "Now get out."

Laughing like demented hyenas, Lavender's pack moved off.

Draco lay down across the seat with his head in my lap. I stroked his head and he closed his eyes.

"Reckon we'll get the Quidditch cup this year?" asked Zabini.

"Oh, sure, if I can help it," said Draco. "I am not losing to Potter again."

I stopped paying attention as Blaise and Draco started to talk about Quidditch. As much as I enjoyed playing and watching the game, I found Quidditch conversations incredibly boring — and I knew the boys would be a while.

"Hi, Lauren!"

"Hey, Loz! How were your holidays?"

I turned. Dean and Harry were waving at me, with Ron and Seamus.

"Yeah, good, yours?" I replied, giving Dean a hug.

"Yeah, it was okay," he replied. "Hey, where's my hug?" demanded Harry. I rolled my eyes and gave him a hug too. "Happy now?"

"Sort of."

"Lauren!"

"Hermione!"

"C'mon, Loz, let's go," said Draco, glaring at the Gryffindors coldly. I rolled my eyes at them so he couldn't see and winked. "See you later."

We went to the great hall in the carriages — it was raining heavily, despite being summer, and we sprinted to the carriages.

When we got to the castle we hurried into the great hall: there was an enchantment around the door that dried you off as you walked in.

We walked to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Draco's Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint.

We cheered as Graham Pritchard and Malcolm Baddock became Slytherins.

After we'd eaten, the Headmaster got up to make his usual speeches. I only half-paid attention to most of it.

"…it is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year—"

All of the Hogwarts Quidditch players — and quite a lot of others — howled in protest.

"What!?" said Draco.

"He can't do that!" agreed Flint.

"—because of an event at the school beginning in March and continuing for most of the school year — the Triwizard Tournament."

There was a lot of gasping and exclaiming all over the hall. Dumbledore started to explain about the tournament, and having heard it already from Draco, I didn't pay much attention. I wasn't the only one; throughout the hall a lot of people were whispering excitedly.

Then he announced the age restriction, and the howls of protest started up again. Draco and Blaise looked furious, but Dumbledore continued, placidly ignoring the sudden change in everyone's expressions.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in March, and I trust you to extend every courtesy to our foreign guests during their stay."

He sounded just like my mother whenever we had guests over.

"And I would like to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."

Draco leaned over and whispered, "He's a retired Auror at the Ministry. Father says he's gone prematurely senile."

"He sure looks mental," I muttered back, staring at the scarred and deformed man who was meant to teach us how to protect ourselves.

There was a sudden scraping of chairs and the hall exploded into noise and I realized that the headmaster must have dismissed the students.

I went with the rest of the Slytherins to our common room, said a quick goodnight to Draco and Blaise, and went up to my dormitory.

I quickly got changed, fell into bed and was asleep in minutes.

Seamus:

Ron and Harry met Dean and I on the train.

"Hey guys. Good holidays?"

"Pretty good, yours?"

"Yeah, okay. I spent the last few weeks with Ron," replied Harry. "We went to the world cup."

"Dude we saw you there."

"Oh. Yeah. Duh." I rolled my eyes at him. "Hey, look, there's Loz," said Dean. "Let's go say— oh. Never mind." My head had snapped around when he said "Loz". I watched her throw herself at Draco Malfoy, that fucking asshole. "Yeah," I muttered. "Never mind."

The smile on her face over his shoulder kept flashing into my mind all throughout the journey.

"Hi, Lauren!" called Harry.

"Hey, Loz! How were your holidays?" added Dean.

She turned, pulling her hand out of Malfoy's. "Yeah, good, yours?" she asked, ignoring me completely and giving Dean a hug so tight her boobs smushed against his chest. Malfoy glared at him coldly.

"Yeah, it was okay," he replied.

"Hey, where's my hug?" she rolled her eyes and hugged him too. What about me? I thought. "Happy now?" she laughed.

"Sort of."

"Lauren!"

"Hermione!" they didn't get any further:

"C'mon, Loz, let's go," her stupid boyfriend. He gave us a foul — but for him, perfectly normal — look. She rolled her eyes at us, but slid her hand back into his. "See you later." She winked at me.

Actually, I think she was winking at Dean. But I can pretend.

Please review! I know it's my first fanfic but it will seriously do my ego a lot of good