Disclaimer: I do not own anything. This all belongs to my favourite author: the genius J. K. Rowling.

1st September 1938

Smoke was escaping from the mouth of the bright red engine of the Hogwarts Express at regular intervals, like an old man puffing gently on a thick, black pipe, as Alina Rosier pushed out of the mundane, brown brick wall of King's Cross and found herself stumbling awkwardly onto the bright and magical platform. Older children were chattering happily, sharing their experiences from the summer and exchanging hugs and sweets. Despite the excited hubbub of the students' conversations and the chirpy replies from the engine, Alina felt strangely on edge, her panic jarring with the casual and comfortable speech of those around her. To her, the Hogwarts Express was mocking her, hissing out snide remarks and suffocating her with its white smog, which lingered ominously around the carriages. She was sure she could feel it entering her lungs, corrupting her blood and dizzying her brain with every breath. Alarmed, she attempted to break the barrier immediately and get onto the safety of the platform, away from this poisonous vapour. She waved a quick goodbye to her mother over her shoulder and lugged her huge trunk into the entrance of one of the carriages.

Starting a new school was possibly the most terrifying experience of Alina's life. She could not even begin to imagine what it must have been like for the wide-eyed muggle born children who had been told, just a few months before, that everything they had believed was a lie. She, however, had been brought up to anticipate this moment. Both her brother Regis and her sister Lanette had walked the halls for years, and were currently studying for some wizard exam or other. She knew this was exactly where she belonged. Still, sitting in an empty compartment of the Hogwarts Express, she could not help but feel her heart thrashing wildly in her throat, threatening to make her sick as she remembered the words of her stern mother. Don't let us down. How could she not? She was nothing like her athletic sister or her intelligent brother. She was nothing. Just a surname.

For her whole life, she had experienced the muggle education system, her mother stating that it was to "build character". Alina did not believe this. She knew it was because she simply was too uninterested in her children to bother teaching them to read and write. No. She had had a proud, esteemed job in the Wizengamot, dolling out other wizards' sentences. What kind of character was this she was developing? It certainly did not feel like a good thing. No. Her mother was simply providing Alina with yet another of her sentences. This was not the sign of caring, making her feel odd and displaced within the Wizarding World. Let her go back to muggle school and just be a normal girl. Let her have normal friends and a normal family. She would give anything to just sit and read and read and to imagine that magic was real. To not know.

Pressing her head against the cool glass of the window, Alina tried to cool her breathing. To relax. Of course, she knew she was overreacting. There was nowhere else in this world where she was expected to be except Hogwarts. She watched the condensation ebb and flow from her mouth, like a dragon puffing out a sea of smoke. Her pale skin squashed against this icy surface until she was so cold, she felt the dragon's scales form on her arms. Even the glass here felt magical. Somehow it was colder than all the glass in the muggle world. It crept up on her, grabbing and tickling mercilessly. Somehow it felt alive.

Interrupting her thoughts was a boy, as pale as her but many times better looking. His hair and his eyes were as dark as that expression he wore, knitting his eyebrows together and staring through her as though he knew all her worst secrets. He approached a seat opposite her and sat, giving no indication that he realised she was there. Instead, he continued to stare unblinkingly, ignoring her presence and chewing on his lip gently. It seemed like she had already met one person who wanted nothing to do with her for reasons she could not explain. The way he looked at her, passive and emotionless, made her feel vulnerable. She hugged her legs, squeezing them to her chest defensively and pretending that she was alone.

The train kicked into motion, heaving under the weight of many students and many trunks. The smoke billowed out enthusiastically and Alina felt a lurch in her stomach. Now they were off. There was no going back to her muggle world with her muggle friends. She would have to make new friends, and she had already gotten off to a poor start. The other children spoke of the wonders of Hogwarts: of the spells and the portraits and the food. There was nothing else on Alina's mind but her friends. Her old, dear friends who would soon forget about her. She would not forget about them. She did not think of her mother, who had punished her by sending her to this place, or her siblings, who had been banished here too, or even the possibilities in front of her.

On the platform, a slender, proud looking mother shed a single tear, silently wishing her daughter good luck and thinking all the gentle, tender things she could never say.

What do you think? I bet you can guess who the boy is. I hope you liked this chapter! There is much more to come. I would appreciate any reviews!

Shannii x