Disclaimer: I own my OCs and nothing else. Original storyline and characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Warnings: Slight divergence from original plot, and slight cussing

Flashback = Bold

Thoughts = Italic

Act I: The Sorcerer's Stone

Scene I: On The Hogwarts Express

Nicole's Point of View

Nicole Collins was eleven years old when she met her soulmate.

Not a romantic soulmate, mind you, but a platonic one!

She could remember the scene like it was yesterday: the buzzing of a million voices hovering in the air, her mother's tearful face as she waved good-bye, the loud bellow of the train's horn as it started down the track into the unknown. She had been standing in the hall between compartments, feeling unsure and gripping her trunk handle tightly. It took a harsh shove at her shoulder from a passing upper year to get her moving.

The compartments she passed always had three of four other students occupying it. Some wore robes bearing their house colors while others were black. Compartments could hold a maximum of seven students, but seeing as many of the students were sitting close and talking like old friends, Nicole decided not to bother with asking for a seat. It would only make her feel like an outsider in the end.

It was at the very back of the first car that she found a compartment with only one other person inside. It was a girl staring out the window in silence.

She slid the door open and knocking lightly on the glass.

The girl inside turned.

"Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is full." Nicole says with a polite smile.

The unknown girl blinked and then waved a hand carelessly at the seat in front of her. "Go on ahead."

"Thank you." Nicole sighed in relief. She rolled her trunk inside and slowly made progress with heaving it onto the upper rack.

The other girl watched in silence for a minute, before losing interest and staring back out the window. When Nicole had finished, she plopped down into her seat with a heavy breath. She leaned her head against the window plane and relaxed. Her eyes roaming over that of the girl sitting across from her.

The girl looked to be her age, with light brown skin and straight dark brown hair that was cut short. Her chin was strong and her nose rather flat. Her lips was full and turned down in a frown. She wore muggle clothing; a red shirt, faded jeans with the cuffs rolled up, and shoes. Around her wrist was a golden chain with a small crescent moon charm attached.

A muggle-born or half-blood, Nicole realized. She couldn't think of any pureblood that would wear such clothes.

Neither of the girls spoke for a long time. The only sound was the low rumble of the train wheels and occasionally a bang or two from the compartment next to theirs.

Just silence...

Nicole hated silence.

Silence leaves you with unsolved thoughts that constantly drift into something completely irrelevant to the subject at hand. It leaves you with no answers to the dozen of questions swarming in your head. It has you pondering and pondering over mysteries you could solve if you only opened your mouth to say them.

So, Nicole speaks to the girl. "Hi!"

"..." the girl says nothing and only gives her a moment's glance before looking back out the window.

Nicole wasn't feeling down about this. She could already tell from the waves of tension coming off of the girl, that she wasn't up for a conversation. But Collins weren't anything if not persistent.

"It's my first year at Hogwarts, you know. I got my letter at breakfast while me and daddy were playing 'I had a thought'. Mummy always leaves the window open because she likes to feel the weather before getting ready for work. Course daddy has to work too, mind you, but he was off the day since he wasn't feeling quite that well. We were eating pancakes and syrup and daddy had just finished off his thought on why cats were mini griffins, and I was about to tell him how puppies were like cursed werewolves in disguise; when suddenly, just when I opened my mouth, I heard a screech and an owl flew right in front of me. Didn't hurt me of course, but it dropped my letter right in my pumpkin juice. Luckily, it wasn't that injured and I gave the poor owl a bit of bacon before sending it off. Daddy had already looked the letter over to see who it was from, and when he handed it to me, I couldn't believe-"

"Did I ask you to tell me your entire life bloody story?"

The girl across from her pinned Nicole with a dark glare. She looked annoyed and Nicole blinked innocently. The glare darkened even more.

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked.

"Shut. Up." Was all she got in reply.

Again, Nicole persisted. "What's your name?"

"None of your business."

"Is this your first year at Hogwarts too?"

"Are you deaf?"

"Are you a muggle-born or half-blood?"

"Must be if you're still talking."

"What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Be. Quiet."

"Gryffindor doesn't seem that promising. Daddy always says I had the thirst for adventure like them, but I just can't see myself in that house. The lions just look so bold and hard-headed that they always take to actions before knowledge. I don't wanna die just because it's the 'noble way out'.

"You really like the sound of your voice don't 'cha."

"And people say that Slytherin has a habit of taking in dark wizards. But I don't think that's true. Merlin was a Slytherin, you know, and look at him now! He's one of the most famous sorcerers in all of the wizarding world! But one silly graduate decides to perform world domination, and suddenly everyone in his house must be incarnations of evil!"

The girl sends Nicole a look that seemed a cross between curiosity and exasperation. Nicole took that as to her agreeing with the previous statement.

"I know right! It's so prejudiced and unbelievable! Sirius Black was a Gryffindor and he killed thirteen people with one curse! But one kid goes psycho and all of a sudden everyone whose has ambition and diligence must be dark."

"What. The. Bloody. Hell. Are. You. Talking. About?" The words were said slowly, as if one were talking to a baby who couldn't understand them.

Nicole took in a deep breathe to speak again, but the opening of the compartment door stopped her words.

A girl was standing in the doorway. She was wore black robes, meaning that she was also a first year. She had brown eyes, bushy brown hair, and a large pair of front teeth. She spoke in a bossy sort of tone.

"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost his and I can't seem to find a perfect anywhere."

"No, sorry." Apologized Nicole.

"No." Barked the other girl.

The girl in the doorway looked offended by the harsh tone. She tilted her chin up and asked in a rude way, "And you are?"

The girl across from Nicole gave her a false smile. "Elizabeth Myers. And I'm the person who doesn't care about a bossy princess who has her knickers in a knot. So if you'll please" she made a shooing motion with her hands, "Get out of my sight."

The girl's cheeks flushed an ugly red and she huffed before turning and pushing the door closed with enough force to make it slam.

"Drama Queen." The girl, no, Elizabeth sneered.

Nicole watched the door for a moment before turning and holding out a hand to the girl in front of her. "Nicole Collins."

Elizabeth eyes her hand for a tense moment, and just when Nicole was about to put her limb down, she reached over and clasped it to give a short shake. "Elizabeth Myers."

A simple answer to a non-important question started a friendship that would last for years to come. And in that compartment, aboard the Hogwarts Express, Nicole and Elizabeth shook hands.