Fog set in by the time they reached King's Cross and it seemed even worse on platform nine-and-three-quarters. Brooke looked around anxiously, her nerves still twisting her stomach in knots. She hoped that it would at least settle down some once she was with Albus. August and Amelia had already left to find their friends, leaving Brooke with her parents. Brooke stood still, wrapping a strand of her long hair around her hand as she squinted through the fog for any sign of the Potters.

Ron suddenly said that he thought he saw the others and started leading the group off through the fog.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin!" James's voice drifted through the fog from nearby, "Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!"

Brooke reached the group just in time to see Fí jump on James's back, her arms around his shoulders and resting her face next to his.

"You're just jealous because no one in their right mind'll ever snog you," she said.

James quickly pushed Fí away and the girl just laughed.

"Sorry we're late," Bryt said, "August and Amelia have already headed off to their friends."

"Henry has, too," Uncle Julio said, looking towards the train.

"It's nearly eleven," Uncle Harry said, checking his watch, "You were cutting it close."

Brooke looked over at Albus, grinning weakly and Albus grinned back, coming over to them.

"Watch out for thestrals, you two!" James called as he and Fí disappeared onto the train. Brooke exchanged a frightened look with her cousin next to her.

"Mum!" Brooke said loudly, turning to Bryt. To Brooke's surprise, her mother was grinning.

"Don't worry, thestrals are perfectly harmless," she said, "Hurry up, get on the train."

Brooke wasn't all that reassured on the whole thestral thing. Though she hugged both her parents tightly, each one lasting longer than usual, and finally squatted down to hug Benny, kissing the dog on the head before gathering up her skirt and getting on the train, letting her father help with her trunk and her mother hand up Tina's owl cage.

"We'll see you at Christmas, Brooke," Ron said, waving as Brooke leaned out of the window. Brooke swallowed back the lump in her throat at the thought. This was becoming real. She was standing on the train now. She wasn't going to see her parents for months...Brooke didn't want to look away, but from the corner of her eye she noticed Albus was still talking with Uncle Harry.

"Albus, come on!" Brooke called. Albus looked over at her, then back to Uncle Harry, who grinned and whispered something before helping Albus onto the train with his trunk and owl. Albus was soon leaning out the window beside Brooke.

"Be good, Brooke!" Bryt was saying, pulling Brooke's attention back to her own family, "Tell Neville, Drew, and Hagrid we said hello!"

"We will!" Brooke called, waving back as the train started to move. With that small jolt, Brooke felt her heart jump in her throat. It was happening. It was really happening. The train was starting off...

Lily began running along the platform, chasing the train as she waved while Benny bounced along at her feet. Brooke remembered how she had done the same thing four years before when August went to his first year at Hogwarts. Brooke couldn't help but wonder if, two years from now, Lily would be feeling as nauseous and nervous as Brooke did now...

Slowly, the train went around a corner, and platform nine-and-three-quarters disappeared into the fog. Brooke felt that same pang of loss and homesickness. There was no turning back now. She was on her way to Hogwarts.

"C'mon, let's find a compartment," Albus said, pulling away from the window. Brooke sighed and pulled away from the window, turning to follow her cousin.

Every compartment they passed seemed to be crowded already, or either had students much older than eleven, so neither wanted to risk asking to sit with them. Brooke noticed that August was in a compartment, only with his friend Bethany Williams. Brooke would have asked to join them, but the two were sitting quite close and talking quietly with each other—Brooke swore the two fancied each other and it would be only a matter of time before they were dating. She wasn't about to get in between that. She liked Bethany.

Brooke's sister was in a compartment with her friends, the siblings Ashton and Willow Wood. Brooke knew better than to ask to sit with them—or to sit with James and Fí in another compartment. Brooke's cousin Dominique was with her usual group of girls—none of whom Brooke really knew—and Brooke didn't see either Lucy or Tyler. Brooke wouldn't have minded much sitting with either of them. Tyler was exactly like Uncle Drew, always willing to help and give a friendly smile, and Lucy was incredibly sweet and nice—especially for being Uncle Percy's daughter.

They finally found a compartment with only one person in it—a girl who seemed about their age, with her dark curly hair pulled into a thick, bushy ponytail. She jumped slightly when the compartment door opened and stared at the cousins and the gray tabby in the girl's lap lifted its head, watching the newcomers cautiously with dark brown eyes.

"Um...Mind if we join you?" Brooke asked.

The girl looked them over, then gave a slow nod, looking quickly out the window again. Brooke exchanged a look with Albus before heading in, lugging their trunks into the overhead rack and putting their owls up there as well before sitting down.

"I'm Brooke. Brooke Weasley," Brooke introduced herself quickly, "And this is my cousin, Albus Potter."

The girl's eyes widened as she stared at Brooke and her cousin, and Brooke felt the heat rise to her face, sinking back in her chair a bit. She knew their parents were famous. They never really talked about it, but it was hard not to notice the stares they got when out shopping or at Quidditch games, or the stories from her family who've already started Hogwarts. But now actually seeing this reaction up close, seeing the way this girl was watching them, studying them...Brooke hated it. She felt like she was being thought of as 'the war heroes daughter'. She always hated feeling compared to others.

An awkward silence fell over the group for several moments before Albus finally cleared his throat.

"What's your name?" he asked, and the girl jumped slightly again.

"Paige Blackwood," she said quietly, looking quickly down to her cat.

"Your tabby's very pretty," Brooke said.

"Thanks," Paige muttered, "His name is Stripes."

Albus snorted, and Paige tensed, looking embarrassed. Brooke elbowed her cousin hard in the side.

"Stripes is a nice name," Brooke said, "So, what House are you in?"

"I don't know, I'm a first year," Paige said.

"We're first years, too," Albus said, then looking more confident than Brooke had seen him earlier, "Brooke and I are going to be in Gryffindor."

"You don't know that," Brooke said, though she hoped he would be right as she turned back to Paige, "We're hoping to be in Gryffindor. You?"

"I don't know," Paige said, shaking her head, "My mother was in Ravenclaw..."

"What about your father?" Albus asked. Paige shook her head.

"He's Muggle," Paige said, "He didn't go to Hogwarts."

"My Grandpa Greg is Muggle," Brooke said with a grin, "My Mum's dad. She grew up Muggleborn. Mum's always told me a lot of stories."

Paige looked embarrassed again and she gave a little nod before turning her attention back to her cat. She seemed unwilling to talk more, so the carriage fell into an uneasy silence again as Brooke looked out the window, her nerves taking over again. She wished she had Albus's confidence about what House they'd be in...

Brooke looked at her cousin at that. Where had his sudden confidence come from? Up to that morning, he'd been just as nervous as she had about the Sorting...Now he seemed to know for a fact they'd both be in Gryffindor...How could he know?

When the trolley came by, Brooke only got a couple of liquorice wands, still not wanting to eat much for fear of getting sick again. She watched as Albus went through his Chocolate Frog cards, tossing aside the ones he already had. Paige had only gotten a few cauldron cakes for herself. Again, the carriage ride was incredibly quiet. Brooke hated the quiet. It meant she didn't have any distraction from her nerves and the longer the train ride went, the more antsy she got. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything to say. Or the few times she did, Paige will give a short reply, then silence would fall again. Not even Albus trying to get something started, offering to trade Chocolate Frog cards with Paige, did anything to help.

As the sky grew darker outside, a light rain began to fall, which soon became an outright downpour. It didn't seem willing to let up. In fact, as the train pulling into Hogsmeade station and Brooke, Albus, and Paige had pulled on their robes, it only seemed to be raining harder. Brooke groaned loudly. Just her luck.

"I'm not looking forward to going across the lake in this..." Brooke said, instinctively wrapping her robes closer around her. Her mother had told her first years entered the castle by crossing the lake in boats, getting their first view of Hogwarts from the water.

"Hopefully it'll be warm in the castle," Paige said softly, staring out at the dark rain.

Knowing they couldn't put it off, the three left their things on the train—as they were told someone would get them to the castle—and followed the crowd onto the platform, each pulling up the hood of their robes for better protection from the rain, huddling together.

"First years! First years over here, please! This way!"

Brooke exchanged a look with Albus, and Paige, then started making their way towards the voice—a tall woman in bright green robes that stood out in the darkness of the rain and fog like an eerily glowing ghost. A crowd of students that seemed around the same age as Brooke was already starting to crowd around her. Brooke couldn't tell what any of them looked like because they, like Brooke, Albus, and Paige, had their robes tight around them and their hoods over their heads.

Brooke and the others stood among the crowd, already soaked-through and shivering, staying as close as they could for warmth as they waited for the last of the first years to make their way over to the woman calling them forward.

"Everyone here?" the woman asked, looking around the group, as if counting heads, "All right, follow me, everyone."

The first years stayed quiet, moving in a tight huddle, and occasionally tripping over each other as they splashed through the muddy trail, following the tall woman ahead of them. Following the green beacon through the rain, a guiding glow among the gloominess.

"I don't know how well you'll see it through the rain, but Hogwarts will come into sight just around the corner up ahead," the woman was saying, "When we get to the lake we'll be crossing."

As they came around the corner, Brooke squinted through the rain, still shivering. She could see lights in the distance and the faint outline of a castle, but not much else through the thick rain. Just Brooke's luck. She wasn't even going to get the magnificent view so many talked about seeing on their first day at Hogwarts.

"The boats are along the shore here," the woman said, "Pick one and hop in, only four to a boat, though."

Brooke got into the nearest boat with Albus and Paige and they were joined by a hooded first year that Brooke had no idea what they looked like, or even if they was a he or she. The four of them huddling together as close as they dared for warmth. Brooke was still freezing, her shaking and nerves making her very nauseous again. She just wanted to get into the castle and get the Sorting over with.

The boat ride across the lake was wet and miserable. Brooke was very relieved when they got into the shelter of the docks and everyone climbed out onto the slippery surface at the base of the stairs. When it came their turn, Albus Paige, and the third student got out of the boat easy enough, but Brooke had more trouble. Right as Brooke stood up, starting to step onto the dock, she felt something catch her ankle just as she stepped over the edge of the boat, causing her to lose balance. The boat moved away from the docks and Brooke screamed, falling into the water.