Alice followed Lily down the train a little ways before Lily entered one of the compartments. Alice walked in. There were two people already in the compartment, and this time Alice was determined to not be so timid. She put her stuff down across from Lily, sat down, and right away faced them and introduced herself. "Hey, I'm Alice Lupin."

"Frank Longbottom."

"Alice Prewett. What's your cat's name?"

"Diana."

"Nice name."

"Thank you."

"So, you're related to Remus." Asked Frank

"Yep, two years difference, though naturally since I'm a first year and he's a third year."

"Any idea of what house you want to be in?" Alice leaned forward. Lily closed the compartment door and sat down.

"Well I don't know. I don't know too much about all of them. Gryffindor sounds nice, but Remus is in Gryffindor, though it's not like I don't want to be in it just because he is, I just want to do what fits best. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sound nice too, but they just don't stand out to me, though Ravenclaw would be good too I suppose."

Lily said, "What about Slytherin?" Alice's eyes got wider and two boys opened the compartment door. Alice and Frank looked up and Lily smiled at the two boys, got up and hugged them.

"Sev, Reg, where were you? I couldn't find you on the platform."

"We were sorting out some matters but they're fine now." Regulus said and sat down between Alice and Frank, and Severus sat down between Lily and Alice. Severus, Regulus, Alice, and Frank exchanged greetings.

"On the subject of sorting, what are your thoughts on the House of Slytherin?" Severus asked

Alice turned to face him. "Well I just don't think I'd fit in."

"Why not? It's a terrific place, honestly. You'll meet some of the greatest people you'll ever meet in your life in Slytherin." said Regulus.

"Well, I don't know. Besides in a way it isn't even up to me, it's up to the sorting hat really."

Severus' head turned, "Who you are indicates to the hat which house you are to be placed in. Therefore the answer lies in your head as to which house, you belong to."

"Or in your heart of course." added Alice.

"Clearly" Severus finished

"Oh stop picking on Alice, Sev." Lily smiled. "Don't worry though, in some ways what House you're in really doesn't matter. There are good people in all of the Houses. Even Hufflepuff." She joked and winked.

"Watch it Evans, I almost got sorted into Hufflepuff." Alice Prewett said.

"Lily?"

"Yes Frank?"

"What time is it?"

"2:26"

"Damn. We have to go, Prefect duties." Said Frank who motioned to Alice (who made a face), and they left the compartment.

"I'll see you at the feast guys." Lily shouted after them.

Severus once again set his eyes on Alice, who stared plainly back at him. He smiled. "What is the name of your cat?"

"Diana"

"Roman mythology or named after someone else?"

Alice smiled. "Roman mythology."

"Makes sense, with your brother's name." Lily added.

"May I?" asked Regulus gesturing towards the cat.

"Sure." Said Alice, and then Regulus picked up the cat and started to scratch the cat's ear. The cat immediately began to purr. Alice smiled. "Nice, she's never really warmed up to people like that."

"Well, not everyone can be like me."

"So it seems." Said Alice, and she smiled more warmly at him.

"So, tell us, why we have not heard about you before now if your brother goes to Hogwarts."

"Well Remus was kind of busy and he gets sick really often so he doesn't exactly have time to go on and on about his sister right?"

Severus glowered at her, "Your older brother is Remus Lupin."

"Well, yeah. Oh, and I'm Alice by the way, Alice Lupin."

Severus' mouth formed a thin line and it seemed his eyes took on a colder glint to them. Regulus looked carefully at Alice. "Well then it would seem that your brother and my brother are mates."

"Who's your brother?" asked Alice, though she knew almost instantly with the resemblance between the two.

"Sirius, and I'm Regulus Black, that's Severus Snape."Her and Severus acknowledged each other though it seemed almost as if they had already decided they didn't like each other. "Don't mind Severus, sometimes he just gets a little stiff."

Severus glared at Regulus but Regulus just shrugged and started to pet the cat. Lily reached down to her bag and then dug deeper. She frowned and dug a little deeper and then looked around. "What is it Lily?" asked Severus.

"I can't find where I put my quills."

"That's rather unfortunate." Said Regulus.

"Do you want us to help you look." Asked Alice

"No, they're just quills. But still." She shuffled deeper through her bag.

"I'll help you Lily, maybe they fell out in the hallway." Said Severus

"Fine, but I could swear I didn't feel anything drop." She shrugged and they left to look for the missing quills.

Alice turned towards Regulus and her face was slightly red. "Um, Regulus?"

"Yes."

"Um, I mean, I was just wondering if there was anything going on between Lily and Severus. Well they seemed an awful lot closer than anyone else and she kind of stood up for him, and she was the only person he talked to and-" Regulus smiled and shook his head. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that you're more perceptive than most." She blushed further and looked down at her dangling feet. He smiled and looked straight ahead. "Do you really hate Slytherin?"

Her head shot up. "No! Not at all, I don't hate any house or think less of any house. I just," she averted her gaze from his eye. "I'm just not ambitious or," she struggled on how to say it. "forward enough to be a Slytherin. I'm not that brave either, but I do have some moments where I'm not completely hopeless." She smiled sadly at him.

He stared straight back at her. "You're not hopeless. And you can be as ambitious as you want to be. It doesn't matter your actions on the outside, it's more of what is in your heart."

"Or in your head?" They both smiled

"Clearly." They broke out in laughter.