Chapter 2

Just as James was turning away from the window and wishing he had just got off the train at the station, the door to his compartment was opened by a plump, pale boy with white-blonde hair who looked extremely excited. James looked up at him and muttered, "There's room in here," but the bky simply stood about nervously. James rolled his eyes, and just as he was about to suggest to the boy that it might happen, the train gave a jolt, and the blonde boy was thrown sprawling into the opposite chair. This seemed to suit him, though, since he started to chatter away to James at light speed.

"Oh my god, was that Harry Potter right there? That is so amazing. The boy who lived? He's my rolet model. I have about a gazillion chocolatet frog cards of him. How do you know him, anyway?" James rolled his eyes at the boy, as he always did when someone ignored him for his father. But his fellow passenger didn't seem to notice, and whenJames mumbled "I don't know, he's just my dad," the boy squealed and carried on gabbling, words tumbling out of his mouth. He reminded James of his sister, Lily, who fangirled over every book she read, sorting out her perfected life plan to suit her favourite book character's. He didn't mind much with Lily, and he teased her along with his brother Albus, but it made James sick to hear a stranger fanboy over his dad. He also thought it was unfortunate that this boy was the first person he would meet here, since, according to his mum, word spread quickly at Hogwarts, so he was sure that everyone his age knew about this annoying boy, and so would avoid his compartment, which wouldn't do his shyness any favours.

But he was wrong, because as he was just about to drift off to sleep to the boy's chatter, two figures slipped into his carriage and sat on either side of the boy. They were a boy and a girl, both who had brown hair and green eyes. They grinned at James and simultaneously rolled their eyes at the boy, who had apparently lost all interest in the world around him as he kept talking (not even real words any more, just noises as he got worked up). The boy leaned forward to James and smiled, and whispered, "Who on earth is he? A bit... boring, isn't he?" James nodded gratefully and replied, "I have no idea who he is, he just came in," and before he could stop himself he continued, "he's freaking out about my dad being Harry Potter." No! He could have kicked himself. Now the twins might start hyperventilating too, completely forgetting about him!

But the boy just laughed and said "Cool. I'm Joe, and this is my sister Zoë." The girl looked up and smiled and waved.

"I'm James."

"Great. So, what house do you want to be in? I want to be in Gryffindor, but Zoë wants to be in Ravenclaw, goodness knows why. I've heard they have to answer a riddle to get into the common room, which sounds much too hard for me, but you know," Joe told him.

"But Hufflepuff would be good, because their dorms are next to the kitchens!"

"Really? You learn something new every day!" said Joe. Then James realized.

"Oh, are you and your twin muggle-"

"Not twins!" Zoë spoke for the first time, interrupting James. "We actually have different fathers. But we both seem to take after our mum."

"Yes, I can see that. Well, how have you got different fathers if you're in the same school year?" James asked.

"Well, I was born on the 14th of September, and Joe was born on the 1st of August."

"Yes," scowled Joe, "She always makes a point of reminding me that she's older."

Zoë and James laughed.

Then, they noticed the blonde boy again, who was now lying back in his seat, worn out. Joe raised his eyebrows at him, and said in a raised voice, "Hey! Hey you, Potter worshiper!" he snapped his fingers in front of the boy's face a few times, before the boy snapped to his senses.

"What?" he gasped.

"We just wanted to aska you your name," James said in a cool tone, since no one his age who like Harry more than him was first on his friend list.

"Well," the boy said, "It's Jacques."

James nodded as the compartment eased back into silence, before it was broken by Zoë getting out a copy of The Hunger Games and opening it on a bookmarked page.

Soon, the train rolled up outside Hogwarts. The children tried to get a look at it out the window, but it was filled with mist, so when they got out the train, they were taken aback in awe of the magnificent castle towering above them. The two tall towers, which James knew to be the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor towers, and the stretch of building between them. Joe started to sprint towards the school, whilst Jacques jogged after him, leaving Zoë alone with James. He didn't like being alone with a girl, but he tried to maake the best of it.

"Hi," he said, and he already knew how bad this conversation was going to go, and cringed.

Zoë rolled her eyes very subtly with a grin. "You're very socially awkward aren't you?"

"Kind of," James said, blushing. Zoë laughed, and then shook her head.

"Sorry. I shouldn't laugh. I was too, but I swore I'd turn over a new leaf coming here," she told him.

"Me too, but it's not really working," James admitted.

"Hey, it's only the first evening, and I won't tell anyone about a minor setback. You'll be fine." Zoë smiled at him, before the converstaion got too awkward for them both, and she ran ahead to join her brother.

It hadn't been the most successful conversation, but James grinned to himself. He had just talked to a girl!

He followed the other students towards the horseless carriages, when he was taken by surprised to feel him being pulled in the other direction. He looked around to find Zoë at his side again.

"Wrong way," she said.

"Oh, right," James replied sheepishly, and then he agreed she could laugh at him.