Disclaimer: I will own Harry Potter the day that snails run and cheetahs crawl.


Chapter 1

The Hogwarts Express

Harry POV

It was a busy day at Platform 9 3/4. After all, today was the first day of term and nobody wanted to miss the Hogwarts Express. I was standing next to the train tracks with my mum and sister. Dad, Uncle Sirius, and Uncle Remus had mysteriously disappeared as soon as we got to the platform and were currently nowhere to be seen. Mum was continuously pestering us about one thing or another, not that I was really listening. I was absently nodding my head while I searched for familiar faces.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as Callista elbowed me, drawing me out of my thoughts. "What was that for?"

"Mum asked if you have your wand." She said giving me an odd look.

My wand. I had forgotten all about the small piece of wood I had tucked away in the pocket of my jeans. Holly wood with a phoenix feather core and 11 inches, it was a powerful wand. At least, that's what Mr. Ollivander told me. He'd also told me that Callie and I have the brother wands to Voldemort's wand, but I was trying to forget that small detail.

"I have my wand." I told my mum.

"Good. Now what about your owls?" she asked.

"You mean Hedwig?" I asked holding up my white snowy owl. " And Nightwing?" Callie finished holding up her regal black eagle owl.

"Great. And your books?" mum asked.

"Merlin Lils! If you keep this up, the kids might actually be happy to leave us!" a new voice interrupted.

I looked up to see Dad, Uncle Siri, and Uncle Remus walking towards us.

"And where were you three?" mum asked, a faint blush on her cheeks at Dad's words.

" We were catching up with some old friends." Uncle Sirius replied with a cheeky grin. "Specifically some Slytherins." Dad said enthusiastically, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"James!" Mum chided, although she didn't seem too upset.

"Kidding!" Dad said. "Mostly."

Mum swatted Dad's arm just as the train pulled into the station.

"It's here!" Callie whispered in excitement.

"Well, this is it." Dad said as he stepped forward for a hug. "We're going to miss you so much!"

"Bye Prongslette and Prongslet!" Uncle Sirius whispered as he gathered my sister and I into a huge, bone-crushing, bear hug.

"Have fun and get good grades." Uncle Remus said as he embraced the two of us in a warm hug.

"We love you and stay out of trouble." Mum said as she kissed our foreheads, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "Merlin knows we don't need another group of mini-Marauders traipsing through the castle."

Mum laughed at the wounded looks the Marauders sent her and stepped back. The four of them waved as Callie and I boarded the Hogwarts Express.

It took a while to find an empty compartment, but eventually we found one in the back of the train. Callie settled in next to the door and I stared out the window at all the families waving as their children walked onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Do you think people will make a big deal about us?" Callie asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

Callie sighed and rested her head on my shoulder before closing her eyes.

The peace and quiet lasted for about another minute until the door burst open as a tall, lanky figure with a shock of red hair stood in the hall.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." the boy said.

Callie and I nodded and moved over to make space for the red-haired boy.

"Hi! I'm Ron Weasley." the boy said.

"Harry Potter, nice to meet you."

"And I'm Callista Potter, but you can call me Callie." Callie said smiling up at the boy as his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Do you actually have the, you know?" Ron asked.

"The scars?" I asked as Ron nodded. "Yeah." Callie replied.

We both pulled the dark hair away from our foreheads to show Ron the lightning shaped scar. At the sight of the infamous scars, his jaw dropped and his eyes bulged wide open.

"So the story is true?" Ron asked. "You really defeated You-Know-Who?"

Callie and I just nodded.

It's not like we weren't used to the questions, because we were. The two of us get asked things all the time and we answered a majority of them. But that doesn't mean that we enjoyed the questions.

Thankfully, Callie and I were saved from more questions because just then, the door slid open with a slight squeak. In the doorway stood a girl with long, bushy brown hair.

"Have you seen a toad come by this compartment." the girl asked rather bossily.

"No. Why?" Ron responded.

"Neville lost his and I'm trying to help him find it." the girl said.

"I'm sorry, we haven't seen a toad in here." Callie said.

As if to contradict our statement, a small croak sounded from outside the door. On the ground, was a small, fat toad with a scattering of slimy warts all over it.

"There he is!" the girl said. "I'll be right back."

With that she left the compartment, shutting the door behind her with a slam.

"Good riddance." Ron said to her retreating figure.

"Ron!" Callie scolded.

"What? She was annoying!" Ron defended.

Callie rolled her hazel eyes and I stifled my laughter.

"Anyway, you seem to know us pretty well, but we don't know you. " I said.

"There's not much to know." Ron said. "I have four older brothers and a younger sister who's starting Hogwarts next year. My life is pretty ordinary compared to yours." he finished.

"Trust me. Your life is way better than you think it is."Callie said. "Imagine the entire world knowing everything about you. Everything you say, do, even eat. It gets pretty tiresome after a while."

I nodded in agreement.

"Blimey! I never thought of it that way." Ron admitted.

"Yeah. It's pretty awful." I said.

Ron opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask another question, but the girl from before walked back into our compartment.

"Hi! I'm Hermione Granger!" the girl said enthusiastically.

"Callista Potter. Please call me Callie though." Callie said.

"Harry Potter." I replied.

"Ron Weasley." Ron answered reluctantly.

"So you're the ones everyone's talking about?" Hermione asked turning back towards Callie and I.

Callie groaned. "What are they saying?"

"Not much. Just that there are two heroes sitting on the train right now." Hermione said.

"Seriously?" Callie asked.

Hermione nodded, but she must have noticed our distress because she was quick to console us.

"It's not that bad. It's only a few first and second years." Hermione told us quickly.

That didn't make it much better, but I managed a smile anyway.

"I'm sorry." Hermione apologized. "I can get them to stop if you'd like."

"It's okay. This wasn't your fault. They'll still talk anyway." I said.

Hermione nodded and sat down quietly next to Callie.

The four of us sat there in an awkward silence until the door burst open and a figure darted in breathing heavily. The figure closed the door just as quickly as he'd opened it. The figure turned around and inside our compartment stood a boy around our age with the palest blond hair I'd ever seen.

"Hide me!" the boy breathed out.

"And you are?" I asked.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." the boy said, seeming to remember his manners as he held out his hand.

"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron said shaking the offered hand.

"Hi! I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione shook the outstretched hand.

"Callista Potter, but call me Callie." Callie grasped Draco's hand.

"And I'm Harry Potter." I shook his hand.

"Now that we're all acquainted with each other, why don't you tell us what you're hiding from." Hermione suggested.

"Pansy Parkinson." Draco said with a slight shudder. "The girl's a bloody demon. She was attached to me like a barnacle talking about how we were going to get married and have three kids, so I ran away before I murdered her or worse."

"She sounds horrible!" Ron sympathized.

"The worst." Draco agreed. "Enough about her though. It's going to give me nightmares if we talk about her anymore."

"All right." Callie agreed. "What house do you want to be put in?"

"Gryffindor!" Ron answered immediately. "My entire family's been in Gryffindor."

"I agree." Callie agreed. "My family's okay with anything, but Dad swore to disown us if we get put into Slytherin."

"Gryffindor, definitely." I said.

"I don't know. Ravenclaw sounds good too." Hermione countered. "It's a house full of smart people. That doesn't sound too bad."

"Ravenclaws are a bunch of prats." Draco said. "I want to be in Gryffindor."

We fell silent and stared at him in shock.

"Isn't your family one of the biggest pure-blood families in the wizarding world?" I asked.

"So?" Draco asked.

"What would your parents say?" Ron asked.

"Just because I'm a pure-blood doesn't mean that I believe in their ridiculous ideas." Draco said offended. "Besides, you lot are a lot more fun to hang out around. I mean I've only know you for a few minutes and you've already beat any of my pure-blood friends."

"Welcome to the group then!" Callie spread her arms wide open.

"We have a group?" Hermione asked.

"Of course! You, Ron, Harry, Draco, and I." Callie said. "We need to come up with a cool name later. Something better than the Marauders."

"What about Ron and his friends?" Ron suggested playfully.

"No way, it should be something book related!" Hermione argued and just like that, the compartment exploded into chaos.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station just as the five of us managed to calm down. Inside the train, the compartment doors started opening as students streamed out of the train to get to the carriages that would take them to the Hogwarts castle. Draco darted out of the compartment and returned a minute later with his trunk in hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

Ron, Hermione, Callie, and I nodded as we picked up our trunks and headed out the train door.

"First years with Hagrid!" a voice yelled through the fray of people on the platform.

The five of us headed towards Hagrid and followed him down an old trail that looked like it had been stepped on by every witch or wizard to ever attend Hogwarts. We walked in silence as the pebbles crunched under our feet. At the end of the trail stood the famous Black Lake. On the shore of the lake was a massive cluster of boats, each one big enough to hold five people.

"All righ'. Firs'-years into the boats. In you go!" Hagrid ordered.

One by one, Ron, Draco, Hermione, Callie, and I filed into a boat. As soon as the five of us were settled in, the small boat raced across the Black Lake towards the Hogwarts Castle just as the rain began to fall from the dark sky.


Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. I know I said I would update every week, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone so I published this chapter as a freebie. The next chapter will be posted on Saturday, so be on the lookout for that. I know that the boats can only hold four people, but I couldn't separate the new friends, so I changed the limit a bit. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review because I am open to ideas. Bye for now!~ Empress Snowflake