Okay, here's chapter three! I really hope y'all enjoy it and guess what? In the next chapter, we'll be seeing some more familiar characters!

Also, thank you so much to rainbowstarz for the review!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own anything related to Harry Potter… but oh, how I wish I did…

First Times

Four weeks passed since my mother had given her permission for me to attend Hogwarts and I'd sent off a letter response with the brown owl accepting their invitation. They promptly replied within a couple of weeks with a list of supplies and informed me I would be flying to London and then a professor from the school named Rubeus Hagrid would pick me up from the airport and accompany on my trip to get supplies since my parents were unable to. The letter also told me the school would be paying for my stay at the Leaky Cauldron the night before the beginning of term. That next morning, the same professor would take me to King's Cross so I could board the Hogwarts Express.

I packed the last minute items such as my toothbrush, retainer, and deodorant into a large trunk my mother had pulled out of my grandmother's room and proceeded to somehow get it down the stairs. Wordlessly, my father put it into the car and along with my mother, we all piled in to the van. It was a quiet drive – my dad was not happy in the least that I was going and my mother just seemed content about it all, although she didn't say much as to avoid my father's wrath.

We reached the airport and after getting my ticket, checking the oversized trunk, and going through security, we found my terminal. I hugged my father and he left to to go wait in the car. My mother, however, stayed with me until they called for my flight to begin boarding.

I turned to hug my mom and saw tears in her eyes. "Mom…" I began, but I had no clue what to say to her.

She pulled me into a hug, "You grandmother would be so proud… I'm so proud of you," she said as she began to cry. I pulled back a little but kept my arms around her. "I love you," my mom added.

"I love you, too," I replied as my eyes got watery. I found myself not wanting to let go of her; I didn't realize it would be this hard.

"You better get going," she said, releasing her arms from around me and wiping tears from her cheek, "and you behave there."

"I will," I said, tears building up in my eyes. I turned and began to walk towards the woman taking tickets. When I turned around tears were already streaming down my face. I waved goodbye to my mother and for the first time realized how she was always there for me, how she was always looking out for me. For the first time, I realized how much I actually needed her and how hard this situation might be for her.

My first plane ride was not fun at all, not to mention that it was extremely long and bumpy and I got stuck next to some old geezer who sneezed on me… twice. After locating my luggage, I had no clue how to find Professor Rubeus Hagrid. How was I supposed to tell the difference between him and the hundreds of other people here?

I began scanning the crowd when I heard a voice. "Taylor Randall," came from behind, "where are yeh?" I turned around a saw a large and extremely tall man calling my name. They didn't mention that he was a giant.

I gulped and realized people were staring at him. "Professor Hagrid?" I asked nervously as I approached him. His wardrobe differed greatly from those around us.

"Ay, there yeh are, bin looking for yeh for ages," he said as he took my trunk from me, "come on."

The second we walked outside I became nostalgic for home and its hot weather, because London was fairly cooler. The landscape was also much different, as well as the way people dressed. I grew a little self-conscious in my leggings and t-shirt.

As we walked from the airport, I wondered how he would fit into a car, but after passing several, I realized we weren't going to stop at a car. Instead, we kept walking. I asked him about Hogwarts and he jumped into a long speech - one that was almost impossible to understand because of his accent - about how great the school was. He told me about the classes, the professors, the students and more. To my surprise, he was very nice; I had thought he would be mean or stern from his appearance.

"So, yeh're from America?" he asked after his ramblings on Hogwarts.

I nodded, "Texas."

He took this in with a look of surprise. "Yeh must be mighty talented, Hogwarts usually only accepts English students," he informed me. The shocked me, I actually wasn't that great.

The rest of the walk was mostly silent but occasionally filled with small banter. We entered Diagon Alley and first went to the Leaky Cauldron, which was a pub/hotel, and got a room for me. We then made a trip to the wizarding bank to turn my American muggle money into wizarding money and began shopping for my supplies.

"Alright," Hagrid pulled out the list of supplies, "it says yeh need three sets of plain, black work robes, one plain pointed hat, one winter cloak with black silver fastenings, all with name tags. Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk, Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard, Intermediate Potion-Making by Libatius Borage, Muggles Who Notice…" He continued the list but most of it was a blur to me. Instead, I was fascinated by my surroundings. Children were running about the narrow street that was lined with magical-looking stores.

"Wow," I said under my breath.

"Yeh, these lists can get pretty long," Hagrid said.

I looked up at him, confused; I started to say 'huh?' but then realized he thought I was in awe of the list. "Uh, yeah," I said looking back at the street.

"So," he said, "we can start off with robes and then get yer books." Hagrid began walking down the street and I tried to keep pace with him, but this was nearly impossible. "Alright, I'll just wait outside for yeh," he said as he came to a stop in front of a shop that said Madam Malkins.

Afterwards, Hagrid accompanied me while I purchased the rest of my school things and then he escorted me back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Well," he said, "I'll come get yeh in the morning."

I smiled up at him. "Thanks, Professor, it was really nice meeting you," I told him honestly.

"Yeh too," he said, returning the smile, "G'night."

I woke up the next morning and was momentarily shocked by my surroundings. By now I had gotten used to my black walls, so the dark gray walls of my current room were not out of the ordinary, but the old, run-down, antique-looking furniture was. I stood as a large yawn escaped me. In my head I tried to calculate how many hours I had lost coming from Texas to London… I knew the time difference was six hours, but I wasn't exactly sure how to count the length of the flight into that. Maybe it was six hours lost?

I pulled the top of my trunk open and moved all of the new books I had thrown on the top last night. I found where I put my clothes and pulled out a pair of blue jean shorts, my Converse and a black concert t-shirt from one of my favorite pop punk bands and laid them on the bed. What was I supposed to wear to board the Express? I reached back into the trunk and pulled out a pair of long blue jeans, those would probably give a better first impression before I changed into my robes for the first time. I threw the shorts back into the trunk, changed, and then put my PJs into the trunk.

Just as I was about to start pulling the trunk out of the room, I heard a knock on the door. Professor Hagrid must be here to get me. I gulped and got nervous about starting a new school for the first time.