Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, any of JK Rowling's characters, nor her plot lines, catchphrases, or ideas. I own only my computer, my imagination, and my made up characters (Alex, Mitchell, Elizabeth, Justin, etc.). I do not own any of JK Rowling's spell names, or descriptions, either; however I have made up some, for lack of knowledge or time to look things up.

Chapter One

'Oh, come on mum! You're driving like an old ninny!'

'It's not my fault,' the woman protested. 'It's this damn car. It won't go over sixty.'

'Well, make it. I'm going to miss the train. And you remember what happened to dearest Tim when he missed the train.'

'Of course, dear. They boxed his ears.'

The girl rolled her eyes, but grinned out the window. Alex Weasley, formally Alexandria Molly Weasley, and her mother Ginny always got along. They rarely fought about anything, and when they did fight, it was usually comical, or they made up quickly. Alex liked that about her mother; she was easy to get along with, and was more like her best friend than her mother.

Alex suspected this was mostly because they didn't spend a whole lot of time together; Alex was away at school most of the year, and only saw her mother at summer holidays, and occasionally Christmas break. This allowed the summers to be carefree and two months full of catching up and talking like they hadn't talked in nearly a year.

'Okay,' Ginny announced loudly as they pulled into a parking spot. 'We're here. Two minutes to go! We've gotta hurry!' Ginny, who's red hair was the same color it had been all her life, aside from dying out the grey bits, looked younger than her 40 years, and it amused Alex how much attention her mother got. She was wearing a grey business suit, as after she dropped Alex off she was off to work.

Alex shared much of the same features of her mother; she had her mother's curious hazel eyes and her intriguing smile. Her naturally mousy brown hair was dyed plum color, which suited her face surprisingly well. She was wearing a mismatched assortment of muggle clothes, all of which Ginny assumed Alex was wearing in order to shock and surprise her fellow students on the train.

She was wearing a pair of high leather boots with random buckles and straps, the books Alex called her 'Biker boots'. Never mind the fact that she had never even ridden on a motorbike. She wore a short jean skirt with a large black belt. She wore a bright tie-dyed tank top, and several necklaces around her neck.

Most of the time, Alex wore normal clothes; jeans and a t-shirt. But today was different. Today was the day she had to make an impression on her fellow students, younger and the ones she went to school with every year. And the parents. It was all good and fun to her.

For Alex attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Where if one dressed like a muggle, they didn't ever dream of dressing the way Alex was dressed. They wore simple plain clothing, and Alex was sure most of the parents would turn their children away from her.

Ginny hauled a giant black trunk from the suitcase of their car, and Alex pulled out a guitar case and a smaller backpack. She had always been musical; she had taken her first piano lessons at age six, and had continued them for nearly five years. After that, when she was thirteen, she had taught herself how to play guitar, and was now considered an accomplished player among her friends.

'Come on,' Ginny urged, and Alex chuckled.

'I'm coming, I'm coming.'

The two rushed towards the platform, tickets in hand. They seemed to be rushing past platform nine, and towards number ten. But instead of going towards the train on platform ten, they ran straight into a brick wall.

And emerged on the other side at Hogwarts Express Platform 9¾. The hustle bustle of the train station was a welcome sight to Alex. She loved Hogwarts dearly, and missed her friends. Ginny led Alex towards the train, and gave her truck to an attendant, with thanks.

'Alright dear, write me lots of letters. I shall see you at Christmas. You'd better get on the train, or they'll leave without you.'

Alex gave her mother a tight hug, and squeezed past a few young students to get on the train. With one last wave to her mother, and her uncle Ron, who had appeared at Ginny's side, she disappeared into the train.

A few younger students, looked like first years, eyed her cautiously, as if not sure whether she would bite or not. She smiled sweetly at them, and they scattered out of her way. She grinned. Too bad they hadn't arrived with time to kill; she loved wandering around the station scaring the parents.

She headed down the train, peering in the windows of the compartments. At last she found the one she was looking for, and slid the door open. 'Hii!' she cried, much louder than necessary. Two of the occupants of the compartment jumped at the sound of her voice, and the third just looked up with a grin.

'Alex!' a blonde girl cried, jumping out of her seat. The girls hugged enthusiastically, immediately starting to chatter about their summers.

'How was your summer? You didn't send me nearly enough letters!' The blonde girl shoved Alex into a chair across from her, and grinned.

Elizabeth Longbottom was one of Alex's best friends at Hogwarts, her true companion in mischief. Elizabeth, the daughter of Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, had light blue eyes and wavy light blonde hair. Alex had always been jealous of Elizabeth's looks, but it never got between them.

Elizabeth had spent the summer in Russia with her parents, while her father was working on some project of his. She never really cared what her father's projects were, but she was glad that she got to travel. She saw all of the Russian sights, and spent a wonderful summer flirting with the young men of the tiny town they were staying in.

'Oh, it was boring as usual. I slept too much, spent a lot of time by the pool, read an entire library, and ate so much I nearly exploded. And how was your summer? Mikhail? That his name?'

Elizabeth just grinned widely, casting a glace over at the other two occupants of the compartment, signalling to Alex that she would share all the juicy details later, when they were alone.

Alex turned to look at the two boys sitting by the window. One was grinning at her, and she winked back. Mitchell Peters was known throughout Hogwarts as an extremely good looking, yet somewhat egotistical and proud boy. True enough, he was very good looking. He was tall, and thin, but not lanky. His curly black hair was kept fairly short, and his blue eyes shone with mischief. He was proud, too. He could get any girl he wanted, and he knew it.

'Lookin' good, Lex,' he grinned, giving her an up and down look.

She grinned, and stood up, turning in a circle, pouting, pretending she was a model. She threw her hair around a bit, and laughing, sat back down with a plop.

'Don't you know it.'

The whole school also knew that while Alex and Mitchell constantly flirted and joked as if they were more than just friends, they weren't. Underneath of the playing and teasing, Alex seriously didn't approve of the way Mitchell dated around, and the girls he dated. She was, although appearing somewhat rebellious, quite a romantic, and didn't approve of girls who threw themselves at men. Girls who wore less clothing to get attention, the girls who lived their whole lives to be noticed and accepted.

'And how is my Justin?' Alex turned to the boy beside her, who had been watching her prance around, a small smile resting on his lips.

'Alright.'

He wasn't very talkative, and outside of the groups of friends, he hardly spoke to anyone. At first glance, he seemed very shy, but his friends knew he simply didn't want to talk to anyone else. He was a smart kid, always getting the top grades. He was a horrible public speaker, though, and wasn't very social. He stuck to his friends, and rarely participated in events without at least one of them.

He was loyal, and although appearing clingy, he just preferred his friend's company to anyone else. Alex knew that if he didn't like them in the least, he wouldn't be hanging out with them. He'd be off being gloomy in someone else's group.

Justin was shorter than Mitchell, and a little bit taller than Alex. And everyone was taller than Elizabeth. His shaggy brown hair was quite long, and his brown eyes were soft. He was a poet, a writer, the creative one. He was always writing something, and no matter how many times Alex had tried to pry his book of poems away from him, he had never let any one read much of his work.

'You know,' Mitchell stated as the train lurched into motion. 'This is going to be a good year. I can feel it.'

'Feel it? Uh oh,' Elizabeth joked. 'Are you taking after Professor Platon after all?'

Mitchell groaned, and shuddered. Professor Platon, the Divinations teacher, was a kooky lady who would sink her fingers into a student from her class every year, and tell the entire school that they were special, and that they would have a future in Divination. The previous year, Mitchell had been that student.

Platon had tried to get Mitchell to agree to private lessons numerous times, and was always picking him first for demonstrations.

'I wonder if she ever realised I made everything up?'

'Probably not. That whole system's a bunch of bull.' Justin chuckled, and Mitchell glared at him.

'S'not funny.'

'Oh, indeed it is.'

Alex rolled her eyes at the boys, and turned to Elizabeth again.

'Soooo. Tell me. O.W.L.s? How did they go?'

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but proceeded to list off the subjects she had taken the previous year, and her grades on the O.W.L.S. 'Astronomy, Satisfactory. Charms, satisfactory. DADA, exceeds expectations. Herbology, satisfactory. History of Magic, satisfactory. Potions, exceeds. Transfiguration, outstanding. Ancient Runes, satisfactory. Care of Magical Creatures, outstanding. And Arithmancy – Poor.' She grinned. 'Guess I won't be taking that dumb class next year.'

'I dare say you hardly tried on the exam.'

'Meh. Whatever, I wasn't the one who was convinced I was going to do excellent in it. Dad persuaded me to take it.'

'Well, you'll be proud. I failed Arithimancy as well.'

The two girls laughed. They had suffered through the horrible, in their minds, class the entire year, wishing they could get out of it early. But they couldn't drop it in the middle of the year, so they had toughed it out, barely paying attention. They conned one of the boys from Hufflepuff to let them copy the homework, so they rarely did anything, and when they got to the exam, neither recognized half the terms or equations they were supposed to know by heart.

'And? What else did you get?' Elizabeth wasn't really a very determined student; all she needed to do was pass her courses, and she was happy. She was much more concerned in the latest gossip, and her reading. She was a bookworm, but hardly enjoyed reading anything that was in the least bit factual.

Alex on the other hand enjoyed school for the most part, and excelled in most of her classes.

'Let me see… An S in Astronomy, an E in Charms. O in DADA, E in Herbology, S in History, E in Potions, an O in Transfiguration. An E in Acient Runes, and an O in Muggle Studies.' She grinned. 'I love Muggle Studies. It's so interesting to learn what wizards think about the world I lived in for most of my childhood.'

'That's not the only reason you like that class, though, eh?' She was obviously referring to the friendship Alex had struck up with Bobby, a Ravenclaw student in her class. 'But seriously, those are good marks. You got more Es than I did.'

'We got the same amount of Os, though. You're just better in different areas.'

Elizabeth shrugged. She did good in the classes she was truly interested in, like transfiguration. 'And what about you, Justin? How many Outstandings did you get? Nine, no doubt?'

'Hardly. Only five.'

The rest of the group laughed, but they knew he was entirely serious. Justin was in no way egotistical about his smarts; he just knew a lot.

'And?'

He proceeded to list off his marks; five Os, two Es, and two Ss (in Care of Magical Creatures, and Astronomy, neither of which he was terribly interested in).

'Which class are you dropping this year? Three options are too many, right? With our course load?'

'I'll probably drop Care of Magical Creatures. It won't do me much good in the future.'

'But I'll miss you! You can't leave me!' Elizabeth suddenly wailed.

'You'll have Mitch, won't you?'

'Nope.' Mitchell shook his head. 'Flunked right out of it.' He then listed off his marks. He was the least school oriented of the bunch, and although he only failed one class, he only received one O and one E, the rest being Ss.

'Silly, silly Mitchell,' Alex chanted. It had been a long standing disagreement between the two; Alex was convinced that Mitchell was a whole heck of a lot smarter than he appeared, and it was only a matter of trying.

'I do hope that Professor Juit returns this year. He was so handsome!' Elizabeth sighed, recalling their Transfiguration teacher from the previous year. 'Sandy said she heard he was.'

'Oh, I know, I heard that too!' The girls chattered about school – their teachers and courses – while the boys argued about Quidditch, until the snack lady came by with her trolley.

They all ordered enough junk to keep them happy for the next couple hours, and dug into the Bertie's Beans, chocolate frogs, and Alex's favourite, the whistling peppermints.

A while later, Alex leaned back in her seat, and groaned. 'Oh, I ate too much!'

She reached under her seat and shoved the remaining bag of chocolates and peppermints into her backpack. Then she grinned at Elizabeth, and pulled out her guitar. 'Wanna show the boys the song we've been practicing?'

Liz just nodded, and the boys looked at each other, looking worried.

'But-'

'Nuh uh,' Elizabeth protested. 'No buts.'

Alex began to strum at the guitar, playing a few random chords before leaping into song. About thirty seconds later, the two girls began to sing.

'Hold on tight, you know she's a little bit dangerous!' they crooned. Mitchell looked amused, but Justin burst into laughter.

'Ooh, just a little bit dangerous!' they continued.

Mitchell looked over at the near hysteric Justin, and looked confused. 'What's so funny?'

'This is a horrible song!' Mitchell just cocked an eyebrow, and Justin tried to stop laughing. 'It's a Roxette song. Horrible American band from the 1980s. True classic, yet horrible at the same time.'

'Dude, you're singing forty year old songs?'

Alex stopped the music, and a few seconds later Elizabeth stopped singing.

'What? You don't like our choice in music?'

'The '80s were horrible, horrible years. The '90s, too.' Justin nodded, and Alex pouted.

'Well, fine then. We'll sing something not from the 80s. This is from the 70s.' Alex grinned, and nodded at Elizabeth. She started to play, and Elizabeth clapped her hands.

'Ooooh, Freddy my love, I miss you more than words can say!'

The boys both looked confused, as if trying to figure out who had sung the song.

'Freddy my love, please keep in touch when you're away.' Elizabeth and Alex both crooned quite loudly, Elizabeth quite out of tune. 'Your spelling's kinda crummy, but honey, so is mine!'

'Spelling?'

'And I will be wearing your lacy lingerie. Thinking about it my heart's pounding already!'

Alex grinned at the blush that was creeping up Justin's neck, and Mitchell started to laugh.

They finished the song with a loud flourish, and began to clap for themselves. Mitchell and Justin both clapped along.

Grinning, Alex nodded at Mitchell. 'See? We're bound to be famous someday, we're so good.'

This brought up an argument between Elizabeth and Mitchell, and Alex listened half-heartedly, beginning to play a soft rock song that none of the other friends knew the tune of.

'Ooh, guys-' Elizabeth interrupted a while later. 'We're almost there. Better change into our robes.'

Minutes later, both Mitchell and Justin had slipped their robes over their heads, leaving their muggle clothing of pants and t-shirts on. Elizabeth had followed suit, only having a short skirt under her robes instead of a pair of pants.

Alex cleared her throat, and gestured for Mitchell and Justin to close their eyes. 'Turn around, or something. I'm actually changing here.' They complied, and she changed her brightly covered tank to a simple black long sleeved shirt, and then changed from her obnoxiously short skirt to a pair of black capri pants. She then took off her big boots, and slipped on a pair of comfortable Converse shoes. Finally she slipped her Hogwarts robes over her head, and announced that she was decent.

'Do you suppose anything dramatic will happen at the feast this year?' Elizabeth asked curiously, obviously referring to the antics at the Ravenclaw table the previous year. Amanda Tyson and her boyfriend Henry Lobe had a terrible row, and yelled and screamed at each other for a good five minutes before the main feast had even arrived at the tables. However, before desert they were back in each other's arms, snogging like the world was going to end the next morning before tea.

Alex snorted, and shrugged. 'I hope so. It's always more interesting that way.'

Alex used a quick spell to make her boots and folded clothes much smaller, and shoved them into her backpack, which was already mostly full. She then closed her guitar case, and sat up on the bench again, cross legged.

She was excited about going back for her sixth year. Her classes were going to be exciting, and she was looking forward to seeing the other students she hadn't seen since last semester. And as Elizabeth had suggested, especially Bobby, the cute Ravenclaw in her Muggle Studies class.

The Hogwarts Castle was now in sight, and Elizabeth wrapped her scarlet and gold scarf around her neck. All four friends were in Gryffindor, and had shared the house colors for the past six years.

Alex turned from the window to look at Justin, who was wearing an odd hat on his head. She peered closer, as if trying to figure out what it was.

'What in bloody hell is that?' she asked incredulously, screwing up her face. The thing looked like a pile of loose knitted cloth sitting on his head. It was bright green and blue, and covered his ears.

'Shut up.' Justin glared at her, and held his chin a bit higher.

After a few moments and Elizabeth and Alex tearfully laughing, Alex asked through her tears of mirth, 'No, honestly. What is it?'

'It's a hat. My grandmother knitted it for me. It keeps my ears warm.'

This caused gales of laughter, and a snort from Mitchell.

Justin just turned to glare out the window.

After a moment, Alex let out a hoot. 'Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Forgive me?' After a cruel look from Justin, Alex's face turned serious. 'Come on, you know you love me.'

'Don't even mention the hat.'

Alex nodded, trying hard to keep her face serious. After a moment, she lost it again, and burst into laughter. Justin looked exasperated, and after a few minutes, Alex finally settled down.

'Oooooh,' Alex groaned, and Elizabeth wiped tears from her eyes. 'Hey, Justin? Pass me that bag under your chair?'

He shook his head, still acting like he was angry.

'Oh come on. I'll sing for you, if you give it to me.' She pouted, and Justin finally gave in, and passed her the bag.

'Okay,' she continued. 'Get ready for a song, just for you.'

Justin started to protest, saying that he didn't want a song, but she was already starting to sing a slow and rather melancholic sounding song.

'Love me tender,' she crooned as the train rolled to a stop. 'Love me sweet, never let me go. You have made my life complete, and I love you so! Love me tender…'

The four friends all stood, and gathered their bags. Justin was pointedly ignoring Alex, and he pushed his way out of the compartment first, into a throng of their fellow students.

'Love me tender, love me long!' Alex crooned after him, once again bursting into laughter.

'Oh, he is a riot, that one,' Elizabeth chuckled into Alex's ear as they pushed themselves out of the train.