"Hayden, wait up!"

After I had received my wand, I went straight to Flourish and Blotts where I got a stack of books that I would be needing for my classes. I had never been to school before despite being told I could. There was a muggle primary school that one of my passed home's offered to let me go to, but I had my mind so set on wizarding school, mainly Hogwarts, that I had no interest in going to a muggle school. What reason was there to start going to a school just to leave at the age of eleven and not come back?

The trip to Diagon Alley seemed so long ago as the month of August rolled back painfully slowly. My whole mind and body was filled with anticipation and fear of going to Hogwarts for the first time. Because of this, I barely slept a wink. I was sure Hayden and Mariah were getting fed up with my constant talk of Hogwarts and the anxieties and excitement I felt, so I would say this month has gone by just as slowly for them as well.

Currently, I was struggling to push my trolley at a pace that could keep up with Hayden. Both Mariah and I were multiple paces behind him and doing our best to catch up. We both knew he was excited to see his friends again, but the least he could do was slow down a bit for us slow people. By the time we reached the wall that stood between platform nine and ten, Hayden was already running through the wall to the other side. I was almost certain he did look to see if any muggles saw him before he did it.

Mariah and I walked up to the wall and although I faltered a bit, I quickly followed in after Hayden. It was actually my first time going to Platform 9 ¾ since each time Hayden went off to school, I stayed back at home. That being said, I was quite thankful I didn't slam into the wall and instead morphed through it without any issues. With Mariah right behind me, we set foot onto the platform.

A large smile crossed my face as I spotted the Hogwarts Express. So many students were saying their goodbyes to their families before hopping onto the train. Everyone was excited to be there, that was for sure. Besides the parents who were sad to see their kids go, I didn't see a single saddened face in the crowd. This was exactly where I wanted to be.

"Come on now, I see Hayden up there." Mariah spoke as she pointed towards where Hayden stood. He was handing off his trolley to one of the train workers and not a moment later, the contents of the trolley disappeared, likely being put in a storage compartment.

I hauled my trolley over to the same worker who performed the same spell for my own items, the trolley quickly emptying. I shot Hayden a glare. "Don't run off like that. I really don't want to be alone on the train."

He rolled his eyes with a lopsided grin. "I'm sure there are plenty of first years who feel the same as you right now. Don't even worry about it." He turned to Mariah, giving her a tight hug. "I'll send weekly letters, promise. Don't go crazy in your new empty house."

Mariah chuckled lightly, returning his hug. "I'm sure I'll be just fine. Peace and quiet is nice sometimes. You'll be back for the holidays anyways. Though, I do love you dearly." She spoke, almost as if she were going to cry, but she did her best to keep a calm facade as she pulled away from their hug. "Now get on the train before I change my mind."

Hayden grinned, turning and hoping up onto the train, only to have me speak up. "J-Just wait a minute okay?" He groaned, but nodded nonetheless, keeping his hand gripped on the bar. I turned back to Mariah. "I just want to say.. Thank you for all the help you've given me over the last couple of years. I.. I know I'm not your daughter or anything, but I will miss you."

With a slight shake of her head, Mariah placed a hand against my cheek. "I know you're hoping to find something about your birth parents, but I hope you know that you'll always have a home with me. I don't know what you'll find.. But I'll be here with you no matter what."

My relationship with Mariah was never one that I would claim to be close. She certainly wasn't a bad person, but it wasn't like I would even begin to call her my mom. I'm not even sure I would call her a friend much either, although, I wasn't quite sure what to call her at all. The only reason I could say I felt closer to Hayden was simply because he could relate to my experiences with the foster care system. Over the last few years, neither of them showed any sign of dislike towards me, but I still felt a wall put up between each of them, especially Mariah. It was likely because I wanted to find out who my real parents were before I even began to think of any one else in that position.

I gave her a small smile. "I appreciate that. I'll… write to you." I stated, part of me shocked that I'd have anyone to write to at all. "I'll see you over the holiday." After I finished my statement, Hayden began to whine about how slow I was. It was time to go. I gave Mariah one last hug before turning and grabbing onto the handrail on the train, hoisting myself inside.

"Come on," Hayden spoke, gesturing for me to follow him. We shoved passed other students and found that at moments, the corridor was quite tight. It barely had enough room for one person to walk down, let alone two side by side. If it weren't for Hayden in front of me, I would most likely become overwhelmed quickly.

Despite the fact that the small space was so packed, it still got me even more excited to see what Hogwarts was going to be like. Some of these people would be in my house, whatever house that may be. Some may even be in my same classes. The anticipation was ready to drive me up a wall.

"Ah, here we are." Hayden came to a stop at a compartment door, opening it up. "Ay, boys, make room. I've got a plus one this time." The two of us stepped inside, finding three other boys inside. Two of the boys were clearly twins, pale and with red hair, while the third had darker skin and dark haired tied back into a large ponytail. Hayden plopped down next to the dark haired boy with a heavy sigh. He patted the seat next to him and I sat down beside him, my posture slightly stiff around the new people. "Boys," he slapped my shoulder. "This is Penny, she lives in the same home as me. In case you haven't noticed, she's a bit nervous, so be nice to her, alright?"

The twins snickered across from us. "We'll be sure to treat her just like every other first year." The one on the left spoke first.

"Wouldn't want her to feel excluded." The other finished, the both of them smirking in my direction.

"Now tell me, is that what you would call nice?" Hayden questioned, raising an eyebrow. "She's off limits to your crazy antics, understand me, Weasleys?"

"Of course, of course," the two spoke in a chorus. "None of our crazy antics." They looked back to me, each of them holding out a hand.

"The name's Fred." The one on the right spoke first.

"Mine is George, I'm the better looking one." The other smirked as the two forcibly took my hands in theirs, giving them a shake.

"A pleasure to meet you, Penny!"

Their handshakes were firm, confident, completely the opposite of my own. If it weren't for them holding my hands so tightly, they would have certainly gone limp in my lap. Part of me wished it were just Hayden and I in the compartment just so he could help calm my nerves, but the other part of me was very happy he was exposing me to others right out of the gate. I was sure that he knew that as much as I was excited for classes and learning more about myself and my family, meeting new people wasn't on my list of desires for my Hogwarts experience. A few friends would be nice, but I wasn't expecting to meet people this quickly.

"A..Ah, nice to meet you two as well." The two thankfully let go of my hands and my attention went to the other boy that sat beside Hayden. "It's nice to meet you too, uhm.."

"Lee Jordan!" He grinned, his smile lighting up the room. "Resident Quidditch announcer and Gryffindor hype man." He brought his hands behind his head and leaned back.

Each of the four boys that were in the compartment with me had far more confidence than anyone I had ever met. It was a bit intimidating, but it was nice to have a few people to be around that weren't shaking in their boots the same as I was. As much as it would be nice to meet a few other first years, I probably would've had far more anxiety with a group of people who shared the same fears at this moment.

Outside, the world began to move at a quick pace as the train moved out of the station. The boys had their faces almost pressed up against the glass as they waved goodbye to their families. I stayed seated, not wishing to see Mariah, knowing full well her eyes would be full of tears. When she returned from dropping Hayden off the last few years, she had been an absolute mess. It was always awkward for me, I had never done well with handling crying fits.

With their final goodbyes done and our introductions out of the way, Hayden sat back down and began to speak. "Did you lot hear? Harry Potter is supposed to be coming to Hogwarts this year."

The twins grinned. "You know it. Just met him actually." George spoke up first.

"Little Ronnekins may not have noticed, but we helped the poor guy get through the barrier." Fred continued. "Should've seen his face. It was like he had never seen anything magical before."

"Doubt he has." Hayden sighed, plopping his chin into the palm of his hand. "Apparently Dumbledore wanted to keep him safe so they made it seem like magic wasn't real for the first part of his life. Quite sad if you ask me."

"Little Penny over here is going to have to feed us all the juicy gossip." Lee smirked over at me. "You first years are going to get a front row seat to who Harry Potter really is. I expect to have a full report by Friday."

My face flushed a bit. "Doesn't that seem like an invasion of privacy? I'm already nervous enough myself, I can only imagine how terrified he is right now."

Hayden rolled his eyes. "Oh get over it. It really isn't that bad. The classes were rough at first but there's no reason to be nervous about it."

Across from us, the twins began to snicker. Fred leaned forward towards me and spoke in a whisper that was clearly loud enough for Hayden to hear. "Don't let him fool you. Poor guy cried every night for three weeks in his first year."

"Oi! Don't tell her that!" Hayden smacked Fred away from me. "She's supposed to keep a high image of me so I look like a badass."

"Oh trust me bud, you never look like a badass." Lee laughed, patting the blond on the back.

Before Hayden could retort, the door to our compartment opened up to reveal an older woman pushing a trolley full of different candies. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

I glanced over at Hayden, giving him a pleading look. Despite the fact that I had brought money of my own, he had taken my pouch away not long before we arrived in London. He didn't exactly tell me why, simply stating that he wanted to make sure nothing bad happened. I wasn't sure what he was worried about. It wasn't like I had ever been irresponsible with my pocket change. "I just want a pumpkin pasty, I'd like my money back for that."

As Hayden handed over my little coin pouch, George spoke. "Why do you have her money?"

"That's a bit odd even for you." Fred chuckled as I handed a couple of sickles to the woman and she handed me the sweet treat.

Hayden leaned forward, trying to talk quietly, but failing miserably since any sound that came from that compartment only bounced off the walls. "I didn't want her to have any of that candy of yours. I don't care what you say, I know the second my back is turned you'll sell her whatever new thing you made over the summer."

The twins gasped. "How dare you accuse us of something so.. So.."

"Ghastly!"

I munched on the pumpkin pasty, glancing back and forth. "That's why you took my money? You could've just told me not to buy anything from them. Would've been less embarrassing.."

"Sometimes I don't trust those twins as far as I can throw them.." Hayden muttered, leaning back and crossing his arms. "They're quite ruthless."

"We're right here you know." The twins spoke in a chorus, leaving Lee to snicker in delight.

"He's just trying to be a protective big brother, something you two probably wouldn't understand."

I blinked. Big brother? I glanced towards Hayden only to find his gaze was on me as well. Both of us quickly looked away from each other, not quite sure what to say to Lee's comment. Of course the two of us were close, but neither of us had acknowledged the fact that we were in a sibling relationship. The situation we were in certainly called for it, but it went deeper than that. We each had our own reasons for not experiencing the emotional family connection to another person. I couldn't speak for him, but I wasn't close to being ready to call him my brother.

The atmosphere in the room was quite awkward for a few minutes after that. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, I got to my feet. "I'm going to go and change into my robes. I'll be back in a few minutes." Before any of them could respond, I quickly scooted out of the compartment and into the hall. I took in a sharp breath as I began to head farther down train. All I needed was a few minutes to myself and I was sure to feel better after that.

By the time the train came into station, it was already night time. I was desperate to get inside the castle so I could get sorted then head to bed. Something about long trips just made me feel so exhausted. Even with my future looming in the distance, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed.

I hopped off the train with Hayden, the twins and Lee by my side. I had planned to cling to them so I knew where to go, but that plan went out the window when a loud voice called out over top of us. "First years! First years join me ov'r here!"

Before I could see who was calling, Hayden took hold of my arm. "Hey, I'll see you inside okay? Hagrid's pretty cool so don't worry. He's really just a big teddy bear."

I sent him a small smile. "Worry? That doesn't sound like me at all."

He rolled his eyes, giving me a nudge. "Just get out of here. See you at the Sorting Ceremony." He flashed me a smile before heading off with his friends.

I then turned my attention towards where the other first years were heading, only to find I knew the person who was gathering all of us. I found the large man who I had met in Diagon Alley was standing near the front of the train, lantern in hand as he rounded all of the first years into a group. As I attempted to hide myself within the crowd, the man had caught me in his sights. "Ah! Penny! So good to see ya!"

"Y-You as well." I stuttered in response, not feeling quite comfortable in front of a man that was as large as him.

"'Arry, look 'ere, it's your friend Penny." The man, Hagrid, spoke, smacking a young boy beside him on the back that I saw Harry, the boy I had met at Diagon Alley. "Stick close," Hagrid stated, smiling at me. "Don't want to lose any of ya."

Harry and I made eye contact and we both sent each other an awkward smile. All we knew of each other was our names, so I would hardly say we were friends. I didn't know about him, but my only concern at the moment was getting inside of Hogwarts.

"Alright first years! Follow me to the water. Top of three to a boat." Each first year followed Hagrid to where multiple boats were resting on the shore of the foggy lake. I glanced around, watching as people paired up and gathered in their boats. Before I could try and figure out who to be in a boat with, a blonde girl walked up to me, a bright smile on her face.

"Do you want to ride together?" The positive energy that radiated off of this girl was insane. It made my heart pound just looking at her. Just standing next to her made me want to smile along with her.

"Sure, I'd love to." The two of us quickly made our way to one of the boats, that were much smaller than I would've hoped, and got in. It wasn't long after we got comfortable that each of the boats began to move forward on their own.

Beside me, the blonde girl looked around in astonishment. "They move on their own? Thank goodness, I was worried we'd have to paddle them all the way to Hogwarts."

I let out a small chuckle. "I'd be concerned if we had to do that. Something at school that isn't done by magic? Doesn't seem quite right."

"Oh! I suppose that makes a lot more sense." The girl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly before holding out her hand to me. "I'm Sophie. My parents are both muggles so this is actually all really new to me."

Reaching over, I took her hand in mine, giving it a nice shake. "I'm Penny. It must be interesting being a muggleborn. Getting your acceptance letter must have been a shock."

"It really was." She spoke as we retracted our hands. "Although, my family always knew there was something off about me. They always said when I was really little I would be able to get things off high shelves or things would just go missing without a trace. I always thought I was just an adventurous kid, but I guess it was more than that." Before I could respond, she looked forward, her eyes going wide. "Look!"

When I turned to see what she was looking at, I saw Hogwarts castle appearing through the fog. My eyes went wide at the sight. It was so beautiful, full of magic. The lights gleamed through the windows, giving us a better look at the little details of the building. With how large it was, I was certain to get myself lost, but I really didn't care. I was ecstatic to go and explore every little corner that it had to offer.

Within a few minutes, each of our boats landed up on shore and not even a second later, Sophie was out of the boat. "Come on!" She exclaimed, pulling on my arm as Hagrid led us into the castle's entrance hall. Waiting for us was an older, slender woman.

"I would like to formally welcome all of you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Head of the Gryffindor House. I'm sure you're all quite nervous so we'd best be on our way. I'm going to go make sure they're ready for us, then we'll begin the Sorting Ceremony." McGonagall gave each of us a look over before turning on her heel and walking into the Great Hall, closing the door behind her.

Beside me, Sophie shook my arm. "I'm so excited I could burst. What house do you think you'll be in? Goodness I don't know what house I'd rather be in. Do you know?" She spoke quickly, her nerves beginning to show now that we were so close to being sorted.

"I'm not quite sure. My.." I paused for a moment, considering my next words. "Friend was sorted into Gryffindor so part of me wants to be in his house. Then again, they seem a little too.. Chaotic for me."

"Hm.." Sophie hummed, letting go of my arm as the door to the Great Hall opened up.

"Alright children, follow me inside." Mcgonagall spoke from the doorway, only causing my heart to pound. I was finally going to be Sorted. I was finally going to get to start my journey at Hogwarts.

We all followed her inside and the room was far larger than I could have ever imagined. Four long tables filled the room, talkative students sitting at each of them. When I looked up, I saw floating candles in the air, lighting the room as well as banners for each of the four houses. The magic in the air caused a lot of my nerves to float away, it almost felt.. Calming now.

As I looked around the room, a set of male voices caught my ear. When I looked over, I saw Hayden standing on top of the benches with Fred, George and Lee beside him. "Go Penny! Go for the red and gold!" They all shouted only causing my cheeks to flush red. As the group walked past them McGonagall snapped at them to sit back down. Although they did, they still continued to cheer, but at a much quieter tone.

"Do you know them?" Sophie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah.. Sadly yes. I live with that blond boy." I stated as I casually pointed towards Hayden who was giving me a thumbs up.

She blinked. "You live with him? Are you family?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "That's..A bit of a long story. I'll tell you another time."

Sophie still seemed curious, but we had other matters to attend to. We had reached the front of the Great Hall where the Sorting Hat sat on a small stool in front of us. It was quite intimidating, but only for a short while. Once the hat began to sing, any power it held over us went away.

Oh you may not think I'm pretty

But don't judge on what you see

I'll eat myself if you can find

A hat smarter than me

I blinked in confusion. "It.. sings.."

"It's a very funny hat." Sophie chuckled and the two of us shared an awkward laugh, unsure of how to respond to how a powerful hat such as this, sang songs like that.

"The Sorting Ceremony will now commence," McGonagall spoke, unrolling a piece of parchment. "Hannah Abbott!"

Everyone went silent as the girl, Hannah, walked up to the stool, sitting down upon it. She was clearly nervous, but McGonagall sent her a soft smile before she placed the hat upon her head. It didn't take more than a second for the hat to shout. "Hufflepuff!" At the shout, the table to our right began to cheer for the young girl as she hopped over to the end of the table. That certainly didn't look so bad.

As more names got called, I began to anticipate my turn more and more. I wanted nothing more than to be placed in a house that would lead me to more answers as to who my parents were. If I were placed in a house that neither of them were in, it would be a roadblock that I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with.

"Sophie Knight!" When Sohpie's name was called, she practically skipped up to the front, plopping herself down on the stool with a bright smile. When McGonagall sat the hat upon her head, the hat flinched.

"This one is tricky.. Very tricky indeed." The hat muttered, it's face scrunching in confusion. "You'd do well in Hufflepuff, but the mind goes deeper than that. Better be.. Ravenclaw!" Sophie's gaze met mine and she gave me a thumbs up before hopping off the stool and heading towards the Ravenclaw table who were cheering her on, certainly not at the same volume that the Gryffindor members had for their new members.

"Neville Longbottom!" This young boy was clearly more terrified than the rest of us. He tripped on his way up, nearly knocking over the stool, but when the Sorting Hat was placed upon his head, it knew right away. "Gryffindor!" The relief the boy felt was immense. He clearly hadn't expected to be sorted into that house, but it didn't look like he was upset with it either.

Deep down, I knew what name was next, but when it was called, it still made my heart skip a beat. "Penelope Lupin!"

The only thing that carried me forward was adrenaline. I made my way through the crowd of first years to the front of the room. My feet carried me up to the stool where I sat before I could stop myself. When the Sorting Hat was placed on my head, it let out a yelp. "Lupin? How peculiar. I could very well place you in Gryffindor, but you wouldn't do as well as you could. Ah.. I've got it.. Ravenclaw!"

It was at that moment, I finally let out a breath. Despite the fact I hadn't gotten into Gryffindor, I could still hear Hayden and his friend cheering as if I had. Their cheering rang over top of the Ravenclaws causing me to let out a laugh as I hopped off the stool and headed towards my table. I sat myself down next to Sophie who shook my arm, nearly shrieking in my ear. "We're in the same house! This is so cool!"

"Heh, yeah, so cool." As happy as I was to be in a house with a familiar face, it wasn't like she was that familiar. She had simply latched onto me the second she saw me and hasn't let go since. I'd be lying though if I said I didn't love her positive energy.

I glanced across the table to see the three other first years that had already been sorted into Ravenclaw so far besides Sophie and I, Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstien. "It's nice to meet all of you."

The first person to respond to me was Anthony. "Good to meet you as well! That hat is bloody terrifying, isn't it? I'm glad we never have to wear it ever again." He reached up and pulled out a small piece of dust out of his blond hair. "You'd think they'd clean it every now and again.."

"That hat is ancient and needs to be respected," Mandy spoke up with a huff. "I for one am very happy to have had the opportunity to wear it even just once."

Michael groaned, putting his chin in the palm of his hand. "Give it a rest already. All I want is for this whole thing to be over so we can get something to eat. That trolley didn't have anything of real value on it."

"Ravenclaw!" While we had been chatting, another young red headed girl, Clara Mellot, had been sorted into Ravenclaw, causing Sophie to jump up and cheer. When Clara came running over to our table, Sophie was already pulling her down into the seat next to her own.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw! Oh I'm so glad we get to have such a big group of first years." Sophie smiled, squeezing Clara's arm tightly before reaching over and wrapping her free arm around my shoulders. "We are all just going to be the best of friends."

Without even being able to say hello before being pulled into Sophie's excitement, Clara was for a loss of what to say. "Ah.. yeah! I mean.. I hope we can be good friends."

I leaned forward to look past Sophie to meet Clara's gaze. "I think we'll be okay. Just have to get through the first day jitters. We'll all be able to calm down in a day or two."

Clara seemed relieved at my words. "I hope so. I'm excited and all, but this does seem like a bit much."

"Harry Potter!"

At this statement, we all went silent. Not just those I sat with, but each and every person in the Great Hall. So it really was true. Harry Potter had come to Hogwarts. When the young boy stepped up to the stool, my eyes widened. It was the same boy I had met before. How had I not put it together? Of course I had met Harry Potter without even noticing. How daft could I get?

Sophie's grip around my shoulders tightened and I tried to squirm away, only to have her hold me closer so I wouldn't. The Sorting Hat spoke of how Slytherin would lead Potter to greatness, but it was clear he wanted nothing to do with it. In the end, the hat decided on…

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table went absolutely mad with cheers and excitement. Hayden and his friends got to their feet, cheering the loudest out of any of them. "We got Potter! We got Potter!" As Harry came over to sit down, each of the four boys came over to smack him on the back and congratulate him. I was sure it would be something that they all would be bragging about for quite some time.

Over top the cheering, another boy was being sorted. I barely had a chance to catch his name, Finnley Rayburn I believe McGonagall said. The young black haired boy had been placed into Ravenclaw, but no one seemed to notice over the hype of Harry Potter being sorted just before him. When the poor boy walked over to the table, he plopped down beside Anthony with a huff. "Of course, I'm the one who gets shown up by the celebrity. Each kid gets their moment and mine went right out the window."

I chuckled a bit. "Sorry 'bout that. It's not everyday the Boy who Lived comes to Hogwarts."

"Let's hope the hype dies down," Finnley began as he met my gaze. "Or else this is going to be a long seven years."