A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've had a bunch of tests, and three essays for history, and my grandparents came for a few weeks, and then I cracked my kneecap in soccer, and today my mom dragged me around the mall for hours looking at house decorations. So I've been really bored…enjoy…
James woke up on September 1st feeling very tired indeed. He rolled over and threw his alarm clock across the room. It hit the wall, shattered, and magically repaired itself, the alarm still blaring. James groaned and rolled out of bed, stretching. He crossed the room and turned the clock off. He heard the door open and turned to face Jessi. She looked just as tired as James felt. A scream from downstairs caused the both of them to wake up slightly.
"James! Jessi! You two better get down here NOW!" Mrs. Potter shrieked. Jessi raised her eyebrows at James.
"What time is it?" She asked, yawning widely.
James looked down at the clock. "Ten." He stated dully.
"So what's the rush? We've got an hour!" Jessi moaned.
"Jess…" James said, suddenly understanding his mother's hurried tone. "It takes forty-five minutes to get to King's Cross."
Jessi gulped. "I guess we better start packing, then."
The two shared nervous grins, and rushed around the house, collecting their clothes and school supplies. Ten minutes later, their trunks were nearly stuffed to explosion, and they had thrown on some mismatched, wrinkled clothes. They sprinted downstairs and collapsed in a heap in front of their mum.
Wendy Potter glanced at her children hurriedly. She sighed and waved her wand. Their clothes straightened, and their hair now looked brushed.
"Hurry along, then!" She said, ushering her children outside to the car. "We mustn't be late!"
"9 and ¾… 9 and ¾…where the bloody hell is platform 9 and ¾?" Rupert Evans muttered.
"I told you daddy! It doesn't exist! This is all some stupid, idiotic prank to make us all look like idiots! I bet it's a T.V. show!" Petunia ranted.
Lily shook her head. "Tunia, there's no way they could do all those special effects. The bricks actually MOVED!"
Lily pushed her cart around the station for the third time, wondering why Mr. Prewett hadn't told them how to get to the platform. The security guard had laughed in their faces when they asked how to get onto the platform, and, according to the schedule, no trains were scheduled to depart at 11:00. As Lily became more and more weary, the clock hands ticked to 10:58.
Just as Lily was about to give up, she spotted the two kids she had seen in Diagon Alley. What were there names? James and Jessica? She pushed her cart closer, and watched them disappear through the wall between platforms nine and ten. She glanced at her parents, who shrugged. Lily took a deep breath and ran towards the barrier. Instead of running face-first into the wall as she had half expected, she found that she actually went through the wall. A long, scarlet train sat before her, and dozens of children hurried onto it. She blinked, shook her head slowly, and stepped onto the train.
"Thank Merlin we made it!" Jessi gasped, fanning her red face.
She and James slumped across the seats of an otherwise empty compartment. They were both breathing hard, having run all the way from the parking lot to the train without stopping.
"Well, don't you two look all bright and cheerful today?" Sirius said sarcastically, entering the compartment.
James gave Sirius a rather dirty look.
"Sirius, shut up." He gasped.
Remus pushed his trunk down the crowded aisles. He searched the train for an empty compartment, but all were filled. When he had just about given up hope, he bumped into someone familiar.
"Hi!" he greeted brightly. "Peter, right?"
The boy nodded. "Yup. And you're…Remus?"
Remus nodded, also. "So," he said. "Found anywhere to sit yet?"
Peter shrugged. "Those other three kids from the ice-cream store are in there, shall we sit with them?"
Remus glanced towards the compartment. "Might as well," he said, opening the door.
Lily walked all the way to the end of the train before finding a compartment. She set her trunk on the rack, and sat down by the window.
Not even a minute later, two girls walked in. One had long, stick-straight black hair with faint red highlights. Her eyes were a dull green with gold and brown flecks, and she wore a faded pair of blue jeans with an orange tank top. She was taller than Lily, about five foot, and she wore a strange gold ring. The ring was shaped like two hands holding a heart, with a crown on top of the heart. Lily thought she looked like the type of person that could talk for hours.
The other girl was taller than Lily, but shorter than the black-haired girl. She had long, shiny blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. She was very skinny, and looked extremely shy. She wore a white tank top, denim jacket, and white and blue striped skirt. On her feet were a very worn pair of ballet flats, and she had a gold charm bracelet on her thin wrist.
"Hi." The first girl said. "I'm Danica, and this is Sabrine."
The second girl smiled shyly. "Is it o.k. if we sit with you?" she asked.
Lily nodded. "Of course. I'm Lily, by the way."
The two girls sat. Just as Lily had thought, Danica was the first to speak.
"I can't believe how crowded this train is!" she said. "This was like, the only compartment that wasn't full."
"Not that we don't mind sitting with you, of course." Sabrine added softly.
"Oh, no! That's not what I meant! I usually don't think before I talk, I'm sorry!" Danica said worriedly.
Lily smiled. "That's alright. I do that sometimes, also. So, how do you two know each other?"
Of course, Danica answered. "Our parents our friends. Lot's of people think it's weird, because Sabrine is so quiet and I'm so loud. But we're best friends. Though," she said smiling. "Sabrine here does get really upset when anybody calls her Sabrina."
Sabrine smiled. "My name's Danish," she said. "I was born in Denmark. We moved to England when I was five."
"So are you two first years?" Lily asked.
Danica nodded. "Yup! I was so excited when I got my letter. I'm a half-blood; my mom's a witch. Sabrine's a full blood, though."
For the rest of the train ride, Lily, Sabrine, and Danica chatted about everything under the sun. Lily hoped they would be friends at Hogwarts, as they seemed to really click. She smiled as Danica told stories about all the places she had traveled to. Right then, Lily lost any thought of not fitting in at Hogwarts. She admired Danica's gold ring, and finally asked where she had gotten it.
Danica held her hand out and looked at the ring sadly for a moment.
"It was my grandmother's." she said quietly. "She gave it to me right before she died."
Lily instantly regretted asking.
"I'm so sorry!" She said. "I didn't mean-"
"It's alright." Danica cut her off. "Lots of people like it. It means something like, 'with love, I give you my heart, and crown it with loyalty'. I can't remember exactly, but my grandmother say's its like an old Irish ring. In Ireland, it's used for a bunch of different things. It can be a wedding ring, friendship ring, whatever."
Lily nodded. "It's beautiful." She said.
"Yeah." Danica muttered. "Anyways, what's your family like?"
James, Jessi, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were having a grand time in their compartment. The snack cart lady had just visited, and James had bought have the food she had. He shared with all, and Remus thought it must be wonderful to be that rich.
The five talked about everything, from their families to the pranks James, Jessi, and Sirius had pulled. Finally, Remus glanced at his watch.
"We should be getting there soon," he said. "We've been riding for hours."
They all pulled their robes on just in time. The train pulled up to the Hogwarts grounds, and the kids climbed off.
"Firs' years over here!" A tall, hairy man yelled. "Firs' years!"
They trotted up to the man. He was tall, more than three times taller than the kids.
"Names' Rubeus Hagrid." He grunted. "Firs' years, in the boats! No more than four to each!"
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter climbed into one, and Jessi skipped over to Lily, Danica, and Sabrine.
"Hi!" she said brightly. "I saw you in Diagon Alley! I'm Jessica Potter, but you can call me Jessi!"
Lily, Danica, and Sabrine introduced themselves, and they all climbed into the boat.
A/N: Sorry for the kinda abrupt ending, but I wanted to post today, and my mom's telling me to get off the computer. BTW, I'm kinda basing Danica off of myself, and Sabrine is totally my best friend. And yes, I do have that ring.