Regina and Katherine made their way down the aisle of the train, looking for an empty cabin. But after walking the length of the train and not having found one they decided upon a cabin that was only partially full with two other young girls sitting in it. Katherine slid open the door and popped her head in, "Is it ok if my friend Regina and I join you?"

The two girls exchanged a look before the brunette finally answered, "Yeah that's fine."

"Thank you," Katherine said as she made her way into the trolley with Regina trailing close behind. "I'm Katherine Nolan," she said as she extended her hand, "and this, is Regina Mills."

The brunette sitting across from Katherine reached out to politely shake hands as she said, "I'm Ruby Lucas, and this, is Emma Swan," she motioned to the little blonde girl beside her.

"Are you two first years as well then?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah we are. We were trying to guess which house we'd be sorted into," Ruby answered.

"What's the difference?"

Emma gave Regina a pointed glare and looked the other girl up and down before she finally relented and said, "What's the difference? What do you mean what's the difference? The houses decide who you are as a person. Each house is known for something different. Didn't your parents tell you this before you left?"

Regina flinched at the mention of her parents but she tried not to let any emotion show, she refused to let this strange girl have any effect on her. "No they didn't," she said quietly.

"What are you? Muggle born or something?" Emma snarled.

Tears sprung up in Regina's eyes and she looked down at her boots to avoid making eye contact. So much for making friends, she thought to herself. She was quiet for a minute more, trying to regain her composure when Katherine spoke up beside her, "So what if she is? You don't have a problem with that do you?"

Regina had never been more thankful in her life to have someone stand up for her than she did in this moment. "It's ok," she whispered to Katherine, "you don't have to defend me." She locked eyes with emerald green ones staring back at her, sat up a bit straighter in her seat and said, "Yes, I am. And if you have a problem then I'll just go find somewhere else to sit."

Ruby reached down and smacked Emma's leg; the two shared a look before Emma finally relented and said, "No it's not a problem."

"Ok then," Regina stated, putting an end to the conversation.

After each girl had guessed which house they'd be in, Emma and Ruby both in Gryffindor, Katherine in Ravenclaw, and Regina undecided they rode the rest of the way in silence. Regina used this time to think about what Emma had said; she didn't really believe the other girl was ok with her being muggle born but she wasn't going to argue about it either. And so what did it matter if she was? She was still Regina Mills. She was still smart, friendly, albeit a little shy, and she was a good person. Her birth status didn't matter to her and she decided right then and there if anybody had a problem with it then she definitely didn't want that person in her life.

Before long the prefects came by to tell them that they were quickly approaching Hogwarts and now was the time to put on their robes. Regina took a deep breath, smiled at Katherine and nodded her head. She was going to be ok, and with any luck, she'd have Katherine by her side for the remainder of it all.

Regina stared in awe as she entered the Great Hall. Never had she seen so many kids her age all crowded into one place or candles that floated on the ceiling. She didn't know where to look first. Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and when she turned there was a ghost floating next to her. "Don't be nervous dear, all the first years go through this," he said before drifting away to go talk to some other kids.

The line of kids in front of her was quickly dwindling, only a few more people before she would be called. Thankfully Katherine was right in front of her and she quickly turned around and whispered to Regina, "No matter what house we end up in, I'm still your friend from here on out." She gave her a quick smile to reassure her and was then called up to the stool where the Sorting Hat waited.

Regina stood in silent shock as those words ran through her mind. Not only had she already made a friend but she had made a nice friend, one who had her back. The feeling was new to her and she didn't quite know what to make of it but it no longer mattered as the Sorting Hat yelled out, "RAVENCLAW!" Katherine gave her a thumbs up and a large smile before walking away to sit with her new house.

"You're next dearie," Professor McGonagall said sweetly down to Regina.

Regina took a few deep breaths before slowly making her way to the stool. As soon as she sat down Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head and it dropped below her eyes to rest on the bridge of her nose. "Very nice, very nice," she heard in her hear. She gasped in surprise not realizing the hat would talk to her but she tried to sit as still as possible as she listened to what it had to say. "You have the potential for greatness, but I see other things in your future as well. Self-preservation yes. Smart and cunning of course. Oh you're clever too girl… better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat was removed from her head and the first thing she saw was Emma Swan sneering at her. She ignored the girl however and made her way over to her house table where she was greeted with warm smiles and high fives.

She glanced over to where Emma was now seated on the stool and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as the hat called out "SLYTHERIN!" for Emma as well. Emma looked around in horror like she was going to be sick but there was nothing she could do. She dragged her feet over to the Slytherin table and avoided looking at Regina completely. "So much for Gryffindor," Regina whispered to her as she sat down. Emma's face paled at the comment but she said nothing in response.

Ruby Lucas was the last student to be placed and she smiled a toothy grin as she was placed in Gryffindor. Her eyes met Emma's across the hall and she gave her an apologetic shrug but Emma plastered a smile on her face anyway, at least one of them got to be where they wanted.


After the feast all the houses were sent to their common rooms where Regina and Emma were lead to their room. They both looked around in horror at the four beds that were arranged in the room as the prefect told the girls they would be right next to each other.

"Great," Emma mumbled under her breath.

"Fantastic," Regina remarked.

"Get a good night's sleep, classes start bright and early in the morning," their prefect quipped happily before leaving the room.

The girls started unpacking and each of them stole quick glances across the room as more and more belongings came out of their trunks. "What's that?" Regina quietly asked about a figurine Emma set on the table next to her bed.

"That is an old golden snitch. I found it one day in London and I kept it."

"What's a golden snitch?"

"Gods do you know anything?!" Emma exclaimed in frustration.

"Forget I asked," Regina said under her breath before crawling into bed and closing the curtains. Tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them fall so she quickly swiped her hand across her face before laying down. A few moments later Regina heard footsteps next to her bed but she didn't move, not even to open the curtains as a quiet whisper of "I'm sorry," drifted through the fabric.

She awoke a few hours later to a hand shaking her shoulder and someone quietly saying, "It's ok, it's just a nightmare," next to her ear. Her eyes snapped open to find Emma Swan squatting next to her bed.

"W-what are you doing?" Regina asked shakily.

"You were having a nightmare. You kept yelling out 'no please' and I felt bad so I wanted to wake you up. Pretty intense dream huh?"

Regina searched her mind as the nightmare came back to her slowly, her mother standing over her with the belt she kept next to the door of her study. She didn't say anything though as she slowly nodded her head. One nice gesture wasn't enough for her to want to spill her guts to the girl gently staring at her.

"It's ok, I get them sometimes too," Emma offered through a sheepish grin. "I just try and think of happier things before going back to sleep. Sometimes that helps." She stood up and went back to her bed, but she didn't close the curtains or try and go back to sleep until she heard the soft even breathing from the bed across from hers. Only then did she lay down and drift back into dreamland where a scared brunette girl was the star.