Snowwolf: Merry Christmas! Chapter 4 is now out. There's only a few followers/favorites right now but thank you so much for the support and your patients. This is a pretty old fan-base isn't it... No matter! We will trudge on!

Emeraldgirl: Hey, guys. Sorry for the delay on the fic because of someone's (Snow's) hatred for revision (Love you Snow.) Anyways, We finally get to introduce some actual cannon characters! I hope we did them justice.

Snowwolf: Do you think anyone would notice if Emerald disappeared? I can think of a few places to hide the bod- I mean Oh look! The chapter!

We don't own Harry Potter~

Chapter 4: Outside Looking In by Jordan Pruitt

From the corner of her eye, Serena saw a family of redheads. The mother hugged her two young boys, kissing them on the head as she spoke. Her tender kiss was wiped off by the boys in disgust. Their father looked proud and patted them both on the backs before they ran off with their luggage, straight through a wall. Serena felt a pang at the loving scene, remembering how her own parents had told her they would not be accompanying her.

"Sweetie, your father and I are going to Hawaii today," her mother had spoken as she put on diamond earrings, looking at her daughter's reflection in the mirror.

Serena frowned. "But I'm going to Hogwarts today."

"Oh! Really? I completely forgot!" her mother exclaimed before relaxing back as she put on the matching necklace. "Well, I'm sure you can find your way around just fine. You've always been very mature." She gave her daughter a shrug before heading off to find Serena's father so they could leave.

Her father had said nothing, not even a good luck, before they left.

A sigh escaped Serena's lips as she eyed the platform signs, brushing off her new melancholy. Muggles passed by her at a frenzied pace, causing her to wonder how Hogwarts students could remain undetected as they ran through the wall to reach platform 9 ¾. A spell perhaps? Serena shrugged; perhaps she would question a professor if she remembered.

Holding her breath, she ran into the wall, and passed through to the other side. Her eyes widened a fraction at the sight of the crowded station. Not wanting to get run over by the next person coming in, she moved along as she observed the magical humans. A long red train stood on the tracks, waiting for students to board before it could leave for Hogwarts at 11 am exactly.

Her thoughts preoccupied with the wonder of finally starting Wizarding school, Serena did not notice anyone approaching until an arm fell over her shoulders. She looked at the two familiar boys beside her. Ah, the redhead family. Serena glared up at the red-headed boy, looking pointedly at the arm resting on her shoulders. He took the hint and quickly pulled away, giving a charming smile.

"I'm George, and this is Fred." George pointed his thumb at the boy beside him, their resemblance uncanny. Twins. "And you are?"

The last name Weasley came to mind and Serena suppressed a sneer, remembering all the times her parents and the Malfoys would talk about the muggle-loving Weasleys. In an effort to not judge too quickly, Serena gave them a blank stare. Without answering, she turned away and left them behind. Curious of the sudden silence behind her, she briefly glanced behind her, witnessing the twins sharing a look. After a moment, they seemed to nod in agreement.

"Slytherin," they said in unison.

"That one was quite obvious," one of them, Fred perhaps, said as Serena searched for an empty cabin. Serena smiled at the comment she had heard; perhaps her father would be happy if she was Slytherin? Finally finding her refuge, she hurried along into the empty compartment, closing the door behind her.

Never in her wildest dreams had Ashley ever imagined that her first train ride would lead to Hogwarts. Keeping a small smile on her face, she had a bounce in her step as she slipped past other students in the train corridor.

A wall of red and gold blocked Ashley's path, causing her to skid to a stop. Glancing up, she expected a look of annoyance on the person's face. Instead, she saw a ginger male student peering down at her, a playful smile on his face. She stared at the boy, wondering why he seemed so familiar to her. A realization overcame her; he had to be one of the Weasley twins. Looking down at the ground, she tried to control the blush that threatened to rise on her face.

"I'm sorry, please excuse me," she said, attempting to skirt around him but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"It's all right, after all, I was the one that stepped in front of you. But what's the rush? Let's chat for a bit." His eyes glinted with mischief.

"You're not going to let me say no, are you?" Ashley asked slowly.

"Nope! I have a bet to win." He grinned, and nodded over to his twin. "I'm Fred, and that clone over there is George. We're betting on the sorting of first years." The sorting of the first years? Oh, like the sorting hat.

"I'm Ashley… um, Ashley Summerfield. How are you going to remember all the people you've talked to?" She waved her hand at the crowded train. "It's a lot of people."

Tapping his head, he smirked. "Just a good memory." A pale arm slung around Fred's shoulders as he spoke, and Ashley moved her gaze from one Weasley twin to the other.

"Or, we may have a copy of the first-year students' records, and are taking notes on it," George stated, causing Fred to give him a wary look.

"Why don't you give all our secrets away, George?" Fred asked sarcastically, giving his brother a hard time.

Shaking her head, she laughed at the twins. "How diligent of you. Never realized that the Weasley jokesters were so thorough."

"Ah, well- wait, have we met before? I don't believe that I said our last names," Fred said curiously. George watched her inquisitively.

"Well, who else could you be? I don't believe I recall any other twins even being mentioned…" Trailing off, Ashley realized what she just said. "I mean, the stories. Um, I've just heard stories about you guys." Fred and George glanced at each other and grinned.

"We're getting to be well-known! Imagine that," George said proudly.

"I'm sure our mother doesn't appreciate it, though," Fred stated, giving Ashley a wink. A natural pause in conversation occurred, and Ashley saw this as her escape.

"Well, if that's all, I'm going to find a seat. You guys wouldn't happen to know which ones aren't full, would you? Considering you've been here a while, interrogating students." It had always been a dream of Ashley's to joke with the Weasley twins. Maybe I should work on my jokes...

"Try the second to last one on your left, I'm sure that one is empty except for one person," George stated, glancing behind her at the hallway of the train.

Fred gave the cabin a wary look. "I would choose a different compartment, though. I doubt it'd be a pleasant ride if you choose that seatmate."

"Oh yeah," George muttered. "That nasty Slytherin. Completely forgot."

With a shrug, Ashley moved past the twins. Reaching the compartment's sliding door, she glanced back at the twins. Calling over to them, she tried to ease the worried look off of their faces. "Hey, come on. No one's that bad."

With a final wave, she opened the door, and closed the door quietly behind her.

Serena had just settled down, ignoring the excited chatter from outside her door as she made herself comfortable, when the glass door slid open. The chatter intensified in volume making it almost impossible to hear the soft voice mumble, "Hi, do you mind if I sit here?" The click of the door closing behind the intruder was followed by complete silence. Sweet sweet silence.

Serena opened her mouth to answer that she didn't care but her words froze as she turned her head to look at the passenger.

It was the girl! Again? The girl that had fallen on top of her and then run off. The very girl from the wand shop. Was this girl stalking her or something?

"The wingless griffin. Why are you here?"

When the girl looked up, her body went rigid and her eyes grew wide, much like a deer caught in headlights.

Oh, it's that one girl. Somehow, I feel as though all of this is one big cosmic joke, Ashley thought. "S-Sorry. I'll just-" she turned around, ready to leave.

"A wingless griffin with no courage. How strange," Serena mumbled to herself, opening a book she had taken with her.

Ashley paused, the door half open. "What?" she asked in confusion. Why was the girl calling her a wingless griffin? Now that I'm thinking about it, she called me that in the wand shop as well.

"If you plan to stand there, at least close the door," Serena informed her indifferently.

Nodding, Ashley closed the door and took a seat. She stared at the girl, waiting for her to look up.

She never did.

With a sigh, Ashley glanced out the window of the train as the scenery flew by. When had the train started to move? Maybe I should have listened to the twins. But, come on, I'm sure she's not that bad. It's not like they really know her either.

"I was warned not to sit in this cabin. That you would be…" Ashley looked back at Serena, who was silently reading. "Unpleasant. But I did anyways. I'm not a coward." Still, Ashley could not prompt a response out of the blonde haired girl that she seemed to keep running into.

Ashley scooted forward in her seat, leaning towards the girl. "You know, we keep running into one another. It's as if we were brought together by fate. Destiny, perhaps?" Serena glanced up at the brown haired girl, raising an eyebrow before returning her gaze back to the pages.

Sighing, Ashley sat back in her seat and returned to watching the scenery. "My name is Ashley, by the way," she quietly added, almost as if she was talking to herself. "So, you can stop calling me the wingless griffin."

"Serena."

Ashley's eyes lit up with excitement as she quickly turned to Serena. "Well, nice to finally meet you properly, Serena." There was no response.

The trolley filled with sweets could be heard rolling by just outside the cabin. Ashley dug into her bag, producing a few coins.

"Hey, do you want anything? It's on me." After a pause of silence, Ashley shrugged and left the cabin. Silence flooded the room, now feeling out of place to Serena, who had become accustomed to the sound of Ashley's rambling.

The slide of the door opening announced Ashley's presence. "Hey, you didn't seem like a sweets eater, so I got some sour stuff." She put a bag of candy on the seat next to Serena.

Ashley plopped down on the seat across, and tore into her own pack of candy. Glancing up, she watched as Serena put the book to the side and studied the package. She picked it up daintily with two fingers and let it dangle as she eyed it wearily.

"Was… that all right?" Ashley asked. Maybe I got it wrong, I should really stop trying so hard. "I mean, you don't have to eat it. I'm sorry, I just don't usually get to make friends, or buy someone candy, so I wanted to try it. I didn't mean to be pushy."

"It's fine, thank you." Serena's response stopped Ashley from rambling. Serena wasn't cold, but she was mechanical. Polite. Serena quietly returned the package to its previous place on the seat beside her, and reopened her book.

"Are you nervous about the school year?" Ashley asked, trying desperately to keep a conversation going. She eyed the unopened pack of candy disheartedly.

"No," Serena replied absentmindedly, leafing through her book to find her place.

"Oh." Ashley sighed, wishing she could get more than a single word out of the girl. "I guess I'm really lucky to be admitted into Hogwarts, since I'm not from a magical family. My brother would have loved to see the castle." Her tone was wistful. She gazed out the window, and found that darkness concealed the landscape. It was surprising to her. The trip went by far too quickly.

The cabin door slid open, and Fred glanced into the room. He made eye contact with Ashley. "The conductor said we should be about ten minutes away from Hogwarts." He glanced at Serena, who gave a small nod in acknowledgement without even a glance up.

"If we are close, we must get changed into our uniforms," Serena stated, her words sounding way too formal to Ashley.

Ashley gasped. "That's right!" she dug through her bags, pulling out a package of neatly folded clothes. "I'll be right back, okay?" There was no response from Serena as Ashley hurried out of the compartment, brushing past Fred. Fred gave Serena one last glance, before shutting their door and moving on to the next one.

Serena sighed as she dropped the book on top of her suitcase. Her eyes drifted to the pack of candy still lying beside her.

The door to the cabin opened, revealing Ashley in her uniform robes. She blinked in surprise. "Wow, you changed fast!" she told Serena, who had already changed and was nearing the end of her book. Like before, her question was ignored.

As she sat down, Ashley noticed the candy she had given Serena was gone. "Where's the candy?" she asked, unable to hold her curiosity.

"I disposed of it," Serena stated bluntly, flipping a page.

Ashley's heart sank. Disposed? As in threw it away? Did she not like it? She opened her mouth to ask when the train suddenly came to a stop.

Serena stood, grabbing her things and exiting the cabin without a word, leaving Ashley to blink in confusion.

A moment later, she began to hear the muffled commotion of students spilling out of the train cabins and into the hallway. Are we already here? She jumped up, gathering her things. As she was about to head out the door, she glanced at the trashcan on a whim. A large smile split across her face as she exited the cabin, a new skip in her step.

The candy bag in the trash was empty.

Extra

"Sir. The girl has entered Hogwarts territory," a gruff voice spoke. Dark eyes looked unnoticed into the window of a mostly empty train cabin. Two young girls sat there, one reading, the other talking. They didn't even look up when the train began to leave the station.

"Leave her," came a silky voice from a hand held mirror. "If we step too close now, Dumbledore will catch on. We will have other chances."

"Yes sir."

"Keep a watch on her," the voice from the mirror commanded before the spell cut off. The man holding the mirror nodded silently.