See? I promised I'd be fast didn't I? I am officially free *does happy dance* All of my activities are done, and all I have left to do is finish school! The updates should be faster now, cuz I actually have a life now…a life that will be wasted on fanfiction, sigh. O well, it's fun ^.^

As of right now, I have a tie in the poll, and I need to know what direction to go in with this story! Do you guys want a romance, with some action, and a different action based story in addition to this, or do you want this one to just be the action story, and me not write another HP story for a little bit? I leave it in your capable hands!

I don't own Harry Potter, or Twilight, or any of the various other stories I take my ideas from.

Chapter 11: Saying Hello

Al walked down the train corridor with Rose talking about the Cannons' shot at the play offs this year (it didn't look so good) while looking for an empty compartment. All of a sudden a blur of brown and lime green crashed into them followed by a flash of white and black. Soon, all four people were on the floor in a tangle of limbs and possessions.

"There you are Piglet!" a girl with wild brown curls said as she grabbed a fluffy orange and white cat. "Who's my Princess?" She cuddled with the cat until she heard a groan of pain being uttered. The girl looked up to survey the damage she had caused. "Oops, my bad! Is everyone ok?"

A boy with icy blonde hair and a pinched face sat up rubbing his head. "Maybe if you could control your bear of a cat the entire train wouldn't turn into a bloody circus!"

"Don't complain! You were the one who let him out of his cage! Plus you were the one who knocked into everything in the hallway!"

Al and Rose watched the playful exchange like it was a tennis match. When it got to the point where the girl was about to beat the boy with her cat, Rose decided to speak up.

"Hi! I'm Rose, and this is my cousin Al. We're first years. Who are you?" Al looked at Rose like she was crazy. Why on Earth would she want to be friends with these crazies?

The girl gave Rose a blank stare, blinked a few times, and then smiled. "I guess I haven't introduced myself, hehe. I'm Jess, and this charming fellow here is Blondie Bear."

The two cousins looked at the blond as one of his veins started to twitch above his eyebrow as he glared at Jess. She wasn't fazed though and kept smiling a smile that was slightly oblivious, slightly evil.

"My name is not Blondie Bear!" the boy shuddered. "It's Scorpius. I don't know what's wrong with this girl. I just met her and she already created a ridiculous nickname!"

"I know the feeling, mate," Al said thinking about Cani and her obsession with mythology. "What do you say we find a compartment?" Scorpius, Scorpius, the name rang a bell, but Al couldn't put a finger on where he had heard it before.

"Okey-dokey Smallville and Claire-bear." Jess grabbed her cat and Rose's owl and started bouncing down the hallway. Scorpius sighed in resignation, grabbed his bags and followed her with the look of a man being dragged to hell. Al and Rose shot each other looks that clearly said 'how did we get pulled into this?' What they didn't know is that by giving them nicknames, even though they were unoriginal, Jess was christening them as her own.

Al and Rose grabbed their stuff and walked down the hallway behind them. Scorpius grabbed Jess's collar to stop her when they were in front of a door. "This one's pretty empty. I guess It'll have to do." He ignored Jess's complaints about not getting enough oxygen and walked into the room dragging the poor girl with him. Al and Rose were not far behind.

There were two people already in the room. The first was a rather large, brown man with shaggy black hair. He was sitting down with a young girl in his arms. She was curled into a ball facing the wall, so all that was visible was her mass of bronze curls piled on the man's lap as she napped. The man looked up as the four new friends walked in.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" Rose asked. "Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all, in fact, that'd make me pretty happy." The man smiled showing perfect teeth. "This girl here sleeps like a rock and some company would be great. I'm Jacob Black, the new caretaker. This here is Nessie. We're basically family and I'm going to be looking out for her while she's at Hogwarts as a favor to her folks." 'And for me', he added silently. Jake decided to try out the cover story, and thankfully the kids bought it.

"Hey, Gabriel, I'm Jess and this is Blondie Bear, Smallville, and Claire-bear." Jess had a big smile on her face as she started putting her stuff away and totally ignored the exasperated looks she was receiving from everyone in the room.

"My name's Jake, not Gabriel," Jake said, not understanding how the girl could screw his name up already.

"It's both." Jess replied in a surprisingly serious voice, pausing in her packing long enough to show that she meant what she said.

"Don't mind her. She does that to everyone." Scorpius sighed and started putting his own stuff out of the way. "I'm Scorpius by the way, Scorp Malfoy, and this is Al and Rose…Umm, what's your last names?

When Al and Rose heard the name Malfoy, everything clicked in their heads. They both stood there like deer in the headlights. How could this nice boy be a Malfoy? Scorp caught their hesitation, but before he could say anything, Al spoke first.

"Potter. I'm Albus Potter, and this is Rose Weasley." Understanding dawned on Scorpius, understanding and hurt. Confusion clouded Jess's and Jake's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jess asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm a Bertona! What does that change?'

A light bulb went off in Jake's head. "It's a family thing, isn't it?" All three nodded. "Well, I've been there, and I've gotten past it. My family and my wife's family have been enemies for hundreds of years, but we were able to see past that a build a relationship. Her mother and uncle are two of my best friends now. You have to overlook the past, and the sins of the father, and work towards the future."

When Jake finished his speak, everyone was silent for almost ten minutes. Then, Scorp got a steely look in his eyes and looked Rose and Al straight in the eye. "I'm not my father or my grandfather. The only thing tying me to them is genetics. I'm not a bigot, and I'm not a supporter of what Voldemort did. Give me a chance and I'll prove it."

Al and Rose didn't have to think it over for long. They could tell what type of person Scorp was from the beginning, why else would they have bonded so fast? Rose was the one who gave Scorp his answer.

"Okay. We're not out parents, so we won't judge you by your family" Rose got up and offered Scorp her hand. "What do you say we give this a shot?" Scorp gave up one of his rare smiles and grabbed her hand.

"Yay! Now we're all friends again!" Jess hugged the both of hem causing them to fall into one another.

"Good," Jake said gently lifting the small head of his lap and getting up. "That means I have nothing to worry about when I go to the bathroom. I shouldn't be too long."

He left and Jess bounced down into his vacated seat and turned on the other three. "Now what's so horrible about being a Malfoy, Potter, or Weasley?"

"You're a muggle-born aren't you?" Scorp asked after scrutinizing her for a few minutes.

"Yea, so what?" Jess asked, crossing her arms.

"So that mean you are nothing more than trash," a cold voice sneered as the door opened and a handsome black boy opened the door flanked by two ogres of boys.

"There you are, Scorpius," the boy said as his eyes lit on the blond when his scan of the room was complete. "Come on. Let's leave these pigs to wallow in their filth. I've already gather the rest of The Pure."

Scorp sighed and looked at the others with sorrowful eyes: it was clear what he was going to do, and how he felt about it.

"No," Rose said, grabbing Scorp's shoulder before he could get up. "Scorp's not leaving. It's obvious he doesn't want to go with you, so he's going to stay here with us 'pigs' as we 'wallow in our filth' and have fun doing it! So why don't you just back to the rest of your so called 'Pure" and leave us the hell alone!" By the end of her tirade, Rose was screaming in the boy's face and poking him in the chest, something that did not go over well.

"Why you –" The boy's eyed flashed with anger and his two henchmen started moving forward. All three were stopped when they felt a large, warm presence behind the,.

"Is there a problem here boys?" Jake asked, towering over them and staring them down. The boys sized him up and didn't like their chances.

"No, none at all, sir." the leader said. "We were just leaving. Scorpius, I'll remember this, and be sure that I'll mention it to my father!" With that, the three left and Jake moved back to his seat that Jess had jumped out of when Rose started screaming. "Damn, one trip to the bathroom and I miss all the fun! What the hell was that?"

"Yes, Scorp, what was that all about?" Al asked. He was starting to wonder if he had made the right choice regarding their friendship.

"Well, as you know, my family is pureblood – no muddle blood and they think they're better than everyone else." Scorp added when he saw Jake's and Jess's twin looks of confusion. "Well, a few years ago, my father and Blaise Zabini founded The Pure Society, a pureblood group made of influential wizards that would try to enact anti-muggle legislation and try to keep the bloodlines clean. Basically, it's just a new name for the Deatheaters. My father and Zabini expected me and Harun Zabini to form a junior chapter at Hogwarts this year. The only problem is: I don't want anything to do with it! I hate the stupid club! I hate Slytherin! I hate my family! Why can't they just leave me alone?" Scorp put his head in his hands and started to cry silently. Jess put her arm around him and Rose did the same.

"It's ok Scorp," Jess smiled." You don't need them. You've got us. We accept you for who you are, and we'll never try to change you." Scorp looked up and saw everyone in the room nodding their encouragement to him.

"Thanks guys," Scorp smiled. "I guess I have a new family now, huh?"

The conversation moved on to less emotional subjects, but Jake kept thinking of the poor boy. He was only eleven, and yet he was already being torn from his family. It reminded Jake of himself when he went against the pack for Nessie. But at least he had been an adult! This kid was still a child. He should not know the pain of being forced between his family, and his values.

Jake let this train of thought drop as he was drawn into the conversation. The train ride passed by quickly with talk of Quidditch and Houses complete with explanations for those new to the Wizarding World.

When Cani, James, and Fred walked in, Jess bounded out of chair immediately. She glomped James and screamed "Strawberry!" When Fred got over his initial shock and started laughing, Jess attacked him too with cries of "Pineapple!" Cani was soon dubbed "Midget." None of them were very happy at first, but they all found the humor in it and refused to be called their given names. Only Jess's names of Cani's names for them were acceptable.

The Immortals soon started talking to Jake about all the different ways to prank without being caught, and about some of the best pranks they had ever pulled. At first, everyone was unsure why they had decided to tell the new caretaker all of their tricks, but it was soon found out that Jake was an accomplished trickster himself. It was obvious that Jake would help the trio with their pranks in the future.

Finally, the ride was almost over and everyone began to change into their school robes. Cani, Fred, and James left to clean up their mess of a compartment. Jake moved back to his original seat and began to wake Nessie. She sat up, still facing the wall, and stretched sleepily. She turned around, her big, brown eyes still clouded with sleep.

Almost as if drawn by an unknown force, Al also turned around and faced the girl who had slept through the entire day. His view of the girl who had stolen his heart was cut short by a mountain of curls as Jess hurtled herself towards Ness.

When Jess had a decent hold on the other girl, she smiled and said, "Good morning…Mystique."

Okay, as some of you may have guessed, ALL of the nicknames Jess gave her friends are stolen, ahem, borrowed from some other source. Shout outs to anyone who can guess the most, some are pretty obvious. Jess is slightly prophetic and can see people's true natures. She gives them a nickname that fits with who they are on the deepest level.

Here they all are again:

Scorpius: Blondie Bear (TV show)

Al: Smallville (TV Show)

Rose: Claire-bear (Book. It is not from Heroes)

Jake: Gabriel (This comes from two sources, one book, and one movie)

James, Fred, and Cani: Strawberry, Pineapple, and Midget (They all come from the same source, a manga/anime)

Nessie: Mystique (Comic/TV Show/Movie)

These are all nicknames for the characters they are ripped off from, not one is the character's actual name.

Please review! I didn't get that many last chapter and that made me sad :(

Also, please vote on my poll! I need to know what to do!

Until Next Time…

~BeccaBaby