A scarlet train with the words "Hogwarts Express" greeted me with a toot! as I wheeled my trunk through the crowds of chattering schoolchildren, some in street clothes, others in black robes that came down to their ankles. My robes were safely packed in my trunk, and I hadn't planned to put them on until the train started moving.

All of them were speaking of one thing or another, some about Quiddich matches, others about the spells they forgot over the summer break. One boy was even sending spells at another boy, provoking the victim to send a flash of red light at the attacker. I shook my head in disgust as I wheeled the cart in the direction of the train door.

All of a sudden, as I passed a bunch of chattering blondes, my cart hit something and stopped, sending the contents of my book bag spilling all over the ground. Quills and rolls of parchment rolled this way and that as I quickly reached down to gather them all up.

Another person began to help me pick up my supplies. I looked up at the person as they grabbed the last quill. It was a boy of about my age. He had short brown hair and grey eyes like mine, and he was already changed into his robes. He stuck out his hand to help me up as he spoke.

"Hey. You alright?" he asked as I took his hand. It was somewhat rough in places, but very smooth in others – almost like he had been scarred. He pulled me up and I stumbled to my feet.

"I'm fine" I replied, brushing the dust off of my pants. "Sorry for hitting your cart." I added as I saw his cart and mine touching. He reached out a hand to help me up as he spoke.

"Don't worry about it. I'm Remus. Remus Lupin. First Year."

"Keirana Brennan. Call me Ana. First year as well" I said as I took his hand once more. He smiled and looked up at the clock located above our heads.

"We better get a seat soon. We only have a few minutes left. Why don't we sit together?" He said. I too, looked at the clock. We had 5 minutes to spare, so I followed Remus as he boarded the train and found an empty compartment. We chatted for a while as we unloaded our things into the overhead bin and sat down. As soon as we had taken a seat, the compartment door opened, revealing a black-haired boy. He was my age as well and had glasses that he pushed up every once in a while.

"Why hullo James! It's been too long!" Remus said joyfully as he approached what I assumed to be an acquaintance of his. They exchanged hugs and handshakes before sitting down across from me. I introduced myself and found the boy's name to be James Potter. He was also in his robes, but they already were a bit scruffier than Remus'. There was an awkward silence before James spoke up.

"There's another boy coming that'll probably join us. I met him on the platform. The name of…Sirius Black, I believe. Seemed nice, but had a bit of an anger management problem with that grease-haired boy out there…" he said, his voice fading away as the compartment door slid open again, this time to present a boy with longish black hair, almost exactly like mine, except a lot straighter. He looked about at the occupants of the compartment with a smile on his face, his blue eyes landing on me.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked, smiling.

"Oh, no…sorry." I said as I looked away, I had been staring at him for a few moments. He had fascinated me for those few brief moments. His hair fell along his face in exactly the right place and his eyes twinkled brightly, like a kid in a candy store. The boy introduced himself as the Sirius Black that James had met on the platform.

The train lurched forward as Sirius sat down next to me, his hands behind his head. The boys exchanged bits of conversation about their bloodlines (they were all pureblood), childhoods, and the Muggle schools they went to. I chimed in every once in a while, but for the better part of an hour, I kept my eyes on the scenery outside. I finally tore my eyes away from the window for the last time as a girl outside yelled at the top of her lungs.

The voice sounded familiar, but I thought nothing of it, as I didn't know anyone on this train until today. I did stand up however, to see what the commotion was about. I stepped up to the compartment door and stuck my head out as a boy screamed at another person. I could feel the boys behind me doing the same.

A boy and a girl were going at it in the middle of the aisle way, and it seemed the girl was winning. She was kicking some serious butt. I couldn't see the girls face, as her chin-length brown hair covered it, but the boy's face was distracting enough. He had sallow skin, a bloody nose, and his greasy hair was messed up from the fighting. He was obviously not a good fighter, so it surprised me that he had held up until now.

Making the final blow, a kick to the back of the boy's knee, the girl sent the defeated boy to the ground. Only when she turned around did I get to see her face. It took me half a second to recognize my best friend.

"JAY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. She didn't realize who had called her, so she looked around at the group of students that was starting to form. Then she glanced my way and a look of surprise passed over her face.

"Ana? Ana? Is that you? But…but…I thought you were at a boarding school." Jay said looking me straight in the eye. She walked toward me, her brown and yellow eyes sparkling with delight.

"I am! I got the same letter you did. We are both going to Hogwarts!" I replied. We embraced and reentered the compartment I had been in moments ago. Jay sat next to Remus and across from me. We talked about our families and how they reacted when we each got our letters. This time it was the boys who were silent for quite a while. Once in a while, Remus or James would reply to a question about the wizarding world, but Sirius was quiet the rest of the train ride.

Finally, the scarlet express train pulled into the Hogwarts/Hogsmeade station. Eager to begin the new school year, dozens of students were cramming the hallways. Everyone wanted to be off the train and out into the open air. In the crowds, I lost track of my group. I couldn't see the school from here, but I expected we'd get a chance soon enough. I was reunited with Sirius, James, Remus and Jay when we all followed the voice of a man calling "First Years, First Years this way!

As a group, all of the first years followed the tremendous man who I supposed to be the groundskeeper. He seemed to be taller than the surrounding trees and his voice was deep even though is mouth was covered with a monster of a beard. He introduced himself as Hagrid and he lead us down a winding trail through a dense forest of evergreen trees. Our first view of the school came when we followed the man around a bend in the trail he was leading us down. On the other side of a huge lake stood a castle so big that one could only assume it to be the school.

Hagrid led all of the first years down to a fleet of boats at the edge of the lake. He told us to get in and to not touch the water or the lanterns that hung from a pole sticking up at the front of the boats. Soon enough we were crossing the lake toward the huge castle. I pinched myself to make sure that this wasn't a dream, and then looked over at Jay who seemed to be doing the exact same thing. The boats drifted across the gigantic lake and into an inlet that seemed to be directly underneath the castle. Hagrid was the first out of the boats, directing us onto the shore and helping the sallow skinned boy who had fallen into the lake moments before. Sirius, James and I were laughing, while Remus tutted behind our backs. Once everyone was safe and dry, the groundskeeper knocked on a giant wooden door in the rock wall.

The door was opened by a strict looking woman in emerald green robes. Hagrid spoke to the woman and then ushered all of the first-years through the door and into the hallway behind it. We were then led up to another gigantic set of doors by the professor who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher. By the time she was finished giving us a rather long speech about "houses" and "house points", the entire first year group was so nervous about getting sorted, that one rather frail looking girl looked about ready to pass out.

Soon enough, we were ushered through the doors and into a gigantic hall full of the students we had seen on the train, and others that looked unfamiliar. The ceiling of this great hall was dark and starry, and I wasn't alone in being in awe of the décor in the hall.

I hadn't realized the group had stopped until I ran into Sirius who had been standing in front of me. He looked back to see who had bumped him, and gave me a smile as I backed up, blushing.

Professor McGonagall went into another speech about how we were to be sorted, and then began calling names. Sirius was the third to sit on the stool and be sorted with a tattered old hat. He was put into Gryffindor, along with a kid I didn't know. Then it was my turn. McGonagall called out "Brennan, Keirana" and I squeezed through the few students in front of me to sit on the stool. The hat was placed on my head, and I waited for it to yell out my house. I heard some noises as if the hat was making up its mind. I began to worry that I would be sorted into the wrong house and I wouldn't be with Jay after all. In the middle of this thought, the hat caught me by surprise and called out "GRYFFINDOR!" I handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall and practically skipped to the table that was cheering the loudest. I sat down in an empty seat between Sirius and a prefect, and waited for James and Jay to be sorted. They, too, were placed in Gryffindor, and we all celebrated by giving each other high-fives. Sirius looked the happiest of all of us that he had been put into Gryffindor. I smiled at him and he grinned back as Headmaster Dumbledore began to speak. Neither of us were listening.

--

I really don't know what's with these short chapters.

So here's my debate. I have about 22 pages on word of this story so far, spread out between 1st and 6th year. Should I do one big long story (like, 50+ chapters) or should I break it up by year? Maybe 1st and 2nd together? Etc? Dunno. Leave comments and tell me what you think.

Oh, and by the way, the reason this looks so much like "The True Maraders" by Jayden M. Perth is because it's the exact same story but better. I am Jayden, but I hated that penname because it was a name in the story, so this is much better. The story works better anyway, because I save the romantic parts for sixth year.

Want a teaser?

"As the tenth bell rang its note, the presence of the man behind me lifted, and as I turned to face the man I had started to like, the emptiness surrounding me made me realize I was most certainly alone. Instead, where the masked stranger had stood, a flower spun slowly on the spot, floating mid-air at my eye level.

A single, thorn less, crimson rose."

Whee!!