Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. But I think we all know that.

Much thanks goes to ireallyamtellingthetruth for the review on my last chapter. :D

On September 1st, 9:45 AM, Amanda gripped Joanne's cage handle tightly and squeezed her own blue eyes tight. Trusting that the barrier would open, she ran forward towards the brick wall. Suddenly, the noises around her changed—the low rumble of tired voices and shrieky train whistles transformed into a cheerful din of excited chatter and cheers. Amanda opened her eyes and realized that she was there—Platform 9 ¾.

The first thing she saw, of course, was the train. Its sleek, red body gleamed in the bright sunlight that shone in through the skylights far above the small crowd on the platform. Puffs of grey smoke came out of the enormous black smokestack on the front of the train, right above a shiny black plaque that read THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS in gleaming gold letters. People stood around the train, some students boarding or hanging out of the windows, still saying good-bye and receiving last-minute reminders from their parents.

Beaming, Amanda looked around and saw that her parents had just emerged onto the platform as well, her mother wearing a red, form-fitting cloak, and her father (who was carrying the rest of Amanda's luggage) dressed casually in a pair of Muggle pants and a green long-sleeved shirt. They smiled and approached her.

"Ready?" her father asked, placing the large trunk down next to his daughter. Amanda nodded her head vigorously.

She stepped forward, setting Joanne's cage on top of her trunk, and she and her father embraced each other, Amanda's head barely reaching his chest. He bent down and kissed the top of her head, ruffling her short, brown hair as their long hug ended. Kneeling down so he was face-to-face with his daughter, Mr. Higgs grinned.

"Write to us," he said.

"Of course, Daddy," she replied. She backed away and grabbed her trunk and Joanne, and looked at her mother, who was looking at Amanda expectantly.

Amanda smiled half-heartedly and hugged Mrs. Higgs with one arm. "Bye, Mum," she said.

"Good-bye, darling," she said, a weird look appearing briefly on her face.

Amanda left her parents standing there, heading for the train. She wheeled her trunk to the door and was beginning to wonder how in Merlin's name she was going to lift it onto the train when a tall figure towered over her. She looked up to see an older, sandy-haired boy wearing a green-and-silver striped tie and a badge that read Head Boy. He puffed out his chest and smiled at her, looking a bit intimidating.

"Need help with that?" he said in a deep voice. He didn't wait for an answer; instead, he bent over and lifted Amanda's trunk easily, pulling it up the steps and loading it onto the train.

"Thanks," Amanda muttered, clutching Joanne's cage tightly to her chest.

He gestured for her to get onto the train; she stepped past him quickly and set off down the narrow aisle lining the long row of compartments.

Most compartments were still empty, or at least had only a few people in them, but Amanda didn't want to sit by herself, and she didn't think most of the older students would like very much to sit with a first-year. Besides, she wanted to find a seat with someone she knew, maybe even a certain blonde wizard…

However, she walked down to the very end of the corridor and didn't see him—er, anyone she knew. The rest of the compartments were starting to fill up, though, so she hurried back down about halfway and found a cubicle with only one girl sitting there, who was seated next to the window, staring out. The door was half-open; she poked her head in.

"Er, mind if I sit here?" she asked.

The girl turned her head, slightly startled, to look at Amanda with her brown eyes. Amanda suddenly recognized her as the girl's long, black braids whipped around.

"Sure," the girl said. Amanda couldn't remember her name.

Amanda grinned and pushed open the door the rest of the way. She stepped inside the compartment and placed Joanne's cage on the rack above the benches, and then sat in the window seat opposite the other girl.

"Er… have we met?" Amanda asked.

"Yes," she replied shyly. "In Diagon Alley… you're Amanda."

Amanda grinned. "Yep." She was impressed that she'd remembered her name… and slightly embarrassed that she couldn't remember her name in turn. "And you're…"

"Clarissa," she said.

"Right."

There was an awkward silence then, and Amanda looked out the window. She spotted her parents, still standing on the platform, towards the back, separated from the crowd. She stood up and pulled down the window. Mr. Higgs spotted her and pointed; his wife looked up, too, and the both of them waved. Amanda grinned and waved for the last time as they walked away; she didn't stop until she saw that they were gone, back through the barrier.

She pushed the window back up and sat down in her seat. She looked at Clarissa. "Aren't your parents here?" she asked.

Clarissa shook her head. "They were, but they left already. Mum has to work…"

"Where does she work?"

"St. Mungo's; she's a Healer."

"Cool," Amanda said. "My mum doesn't even work."

"Oh," Clarissa said, playing absentmindedly with her left braid.

Amanda sighed as they fell into another silence. It was mercifully broken after a few minutes when two older students appeared in the doorway. They had apparently thought the compartment was empty, because one of them—a beautiful, strawberry-blonde-haired girl—said, "Oops," and tugged the hand of the other—a boy with bright blue hair. "Come on, Ted, let's find our own compartment." The boy blushed slightly and grinned as he followed the girl, their fingers interlocked, down the aisle.

Amanda stood and reached up after another minute of quiet and grabbed Joanne's cage. She peered in through the small door and saw the bright, yellow eyes of the kitten, wide and nervous-looking. Amanda giggled and opened the cage, reached in, and scooped up the small, black cat. Joanne scrambled to get out of her owner's grip as she was pulled out of the safe confines of her box. But she quickly relaxed after a few strokes on the nape of her neck, and she cuddled into Amanda's chest. Clarissa giggled from the other side of the compartment, almost involuntarily.

Amanda looked over at her. "Want to hold her?" she asked. Clarissa shrugged, but she nodded 'yes'. Amanda held Joanne out to her, and she gingerly took the kitten in her dark hands, grinning.

"She's so soft," she said, patting the cat's tiny black head.

"Mmhm," Amanda said, glad they were talking again.

They talked about Joanne for a while, Amanda telling funny stories about the messes she'd make at home and Clarissa laughing along, saying how cute the kitten was.

Then, suddenly, they heard the loud shriek of a train whistle. The two girls looked at each other excitedly. The Express would be leaving soon, and then they would be on their way to—

"Come on, Scorpius, the train's about to leave!" said a high-pitched, giggly voice just outside of the compartment. Amanda's head snapped sideways, looking towards the door immediately at the sound of that voice and the name which it spoke. She saw a head of curly blonde hair and a pink skirt and… Diana Stebbins. Her hand was wrapped around Scorpius Malfoy's forearm as she pulled him down the aisle.

Amanda's jaw dropped slightly before she caught herself and shut her mouth, settling for silent shock—her shock at seeing Diana Stebbins, and her shock at seeing her with Scorpius Malfoy.

Then Scorpius turned suddenly and looked into their compartment. "Let's just sit in here, Diana," he said, gesturing towards Amanda and Clarissa. "D'you mind?" he asked, looking at them. Amanda grinned and shook her head.

"Okay," said Diana Stebbins, and she released Scorpius's arm as the two of them entered through the opened doorway. She sat next to Clarissa, leaving plenty of room for Scorpius on her other side, but the blonde wizard passed her and sat down on the other bench, right next to Amanda. Amanda's heart skipped a beat and she suppressed a smile.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem," she sighed. He doesn't remember me, of course… It has been years, after all…

The train whistled again. Diana Stebbins jumped up from her seat and ran to the window. She pulled it down and cried out, "'Bye, mum! 'Bye, dad!" She kept waving as the train started to move. Amanda spotted Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy standing out on the platform as well, and she saw Scorpius out of the corner of her eye, waving a pale hand at his parents.

The train crept forward, slowly at first, but steadily gaining speed. Diana Stebbins soon had to lean halfway out of the window to wave at her parents. Amanda watched the people go by, faster and faster, until the train finally left the platform completely, and the view outside changed to long, green yards of grass and trees and the occasional herd of cattle.

Diana pulled herself back down from the window and returned to her seat, smiling politely. "Oh, how rude of me," she said in her sickly sweet voice. "I'm Diana Stebbins." She extended her hand to Clarissa, who was sitting silently beside her, still holding Joanne.

"I'm Clarissa Thomas," Clarissa replied softly, smiling a bit and shifting Joanne to one arm so she could shake Diana's hand.

Diana looked at the kitten. "She's adorable," she said, reaching out to pat her head. Clarissa nodded. "She's not mine, though," she said, facing forward to look at Amanda. Diana followed suit, looking at Amanda through bright blue eyes.

"She's mine. I'm Amanda Higgs," Amanda told her. Scorpius doesn't remember, so I doubt she does either, she thought as she shook Diana's hand.

"Amanda Higgs?" Amanda turned, slightly surprised by Scorpius's voice. She tried not to blush as she looked at the wizard who had said her name. "Er… have we met?" he said, a faint hint of recognition in his grey eyes.

"Um, yes," Amanda said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly. "A long time ago."

His face brightened, slowly but surely. "That's right! Your dad's Terence Higgs, right? He used to play Quidditch for English National. And…"

"You had a go on his broomstick," she finished for him.

"Right! The Cirrus. Wow, that was brilliant. Best broom ever. I can't believe I didn't remember that."

Amanda grinned.

"Diana, don't you remember? You were there, too, right?" Scorpius said excitedly, as if all of this was coming together now, like a mystery that was being solved.

"Er, no, I don't remember," Diana said.

"Amanda Higgs," Scorpius said, grinning at her and not seeming to have heard Diana. "It's been so long."

:::

The rest of the train ride was spent excitedly chatting about what their year at school would be like. Scorpius, of course, spoke non-stop about Quidditch—he would make the team second year and someday become Quidditch Captain, he claimed.

"Who knows?" he said. "Maybe I'll even get in first year! My dad said someone did when he was at school… He wouldn't say who, though."

"What position?" Amanda asked.

"Seeker," Scorpius replied.

"Cool!" Diana interjected. "Er… which one is that, again?" she added. Amanda smirked.

They finally got Clarissa talking, too, after a while.

"I don't know much about Quidditch, myself," she said. "I can't wait for the classes, though. Especially Care of Magical Creatures; it sounds so interesting." Amanda was reminded of the dragon book Clarissa had been looking at Flourish and Blotts, the one that she had bought and was in her trunk right now.

Diana gave a pointed look to Scorpius, as if she shared an inside joke with him about something Clarissa had said. Scorpius either didn't notice or just ignored her.

Later, their discussion was interrupted by a faint voice coming from the corridor outside their compartment: "Anything from the trolley?" An old woman was standing there, pushing a silver cart choc-full of candy. Scorpius grinned and stood, fishing out a few coins from her pocket. He approached the trolley and came back moments later, his arms full of Licorice Wands and Chocolate Frogs. Amanda stood to buy her own, but Scorpius stopped her.

"There's plenty for all of us," he said, and gestured to the small mountain of sweets he had dumped onto the bench between them.

Amanda helped herself to a Chocolate Frog. She popped open the decorative box and took a bite of the frog while she examined the card.

"I got Ronald Weasley," she said.

"Gwenog Jones," Scorpius said. "Wanna trade? I love giving those to my dad—I dunno why, but he always gets this weird look when he sees Ronald Weasley's card." He laughed as they exchanged their cards.

As if she felt like Scorpius wasn't paying enough attention to her, Diana spoke up and said, "Maybe we should get changed into our robes." She stood and pulled out a black cloak from her bag, which was hanging on a hook behind her seat.

Not wanting to leave Scorpius (or to give Diana a chance to get her away from him), but also not wanting to leave Clarissa alone with Diana Stebbins, Amanda got up as well, grabbing her own robes from on top of Joanne's cage. Clarissa replaced Joanne to her cage and the three girls walked out of the compartment. They followed Diana down to the end of the train, where the restrooms were. They waited in line in the girls' room.

"So how do you know Scorpius?" Diana asked casually, looking at her reflection in a mirror on the wall.

"Er, we met a long time ago…" Amanda replied. We already had this discussion, she thought.

"Oh, yes, that party that you mentioned," she said, fluffing her blonde hair.

"Mhmm."

"Well, I met him a long time ago, too, but we spent so much time together this summer," she said after it was clear that Amanda wasn't going to ask about her acquaintance with Scorpius. "And when we met up at King's Cross, it was like fate or something!"

Amanda just nodded and gave a quick smile, not caring to ask what exactly she meant by "fate".

Author's Note: Hellooooooo there! Sorry, once again, for the late update. I've been so busy with finals and such... But here we are. Now that I'm on break, though, I'll have much more time to write, so look out for more updates soon!

As always, thanks so much for reading and PLEASE review! Hugs and butterfly kisses! :)