August went way too slow for Rose. She'd started crossing off the days on her calendar, getting more and more excited as the X's got closer and closer to the end of the month.

She'd been carrying her wand in her pocket since the day she'd gotten it. She'd tried to leave it in her room at first but she felt odd when she had. Like the wand was part of her now and she couldn't be without it. She supposed that was all part of joining the magical world.

She'd kept in touch with her new friend, Hermione, using Phantom to send her letters, although she only let the owl out at night, lest the neighbors get suspicious. She always kept in mind what Professor McGonagall had told her about secrecy.

Finally the day came. September First!

Rose was up at sunrise, checking and rechecking her trunk and making sure Phantom was securely shut in his cage. She got dressed and trotted down the stairs before mum and dad were even awake and paced the sitting room until they got up. As excited as she was, she was also nervous. What if she didn't fit in well? What if she got homesick? She'd never been away from home for more than a few days after all, and this was a boarding school.

After what felt like forever mum and dad were awake. They both looked just about as nervous as Rose did.

Mum cooked her a huge farewell breakfast and fussed over her hair.

Soon her dad had loaded her trunk into the car, Rose and Phantom were in the back seat and they were off to Kings Cross Station. Once there, they loaded Rose's trunk and Phantom's cage onto a trolley and she wheeled it confidently into the station, trying to act braver than she felt. Remembering the instructions from the packet Professor McGonagall had left for her, she led the way to platforms nine and ten. The station seemed crowded, but thankfully nobody seemed to notice the girl with the owl.

Rose stopped, staring at the platforms. She knew mum and dad wouldn't be able to follow. She turned and hugged them tightly.

"Bye," she murmured.

"Bye, little one," Mum replied, sounding close to tears.

"We'll see you at Christmas, pup. You'll do fine," Dad told her. "Chin up."

Rose nodded and turned towards the barrier again. After a quick glance to make sure nobody was around she strode towards the barrier between the platforms and broke into a run as she got close to it. She closed her eyes and braced herself but no crash ever came. She slowed to a stop and opened her eyes again, she was on another platform with a huge scarlet steam engine. A sign told her she was on platform nine and three quarters. She'd done it! Excellent.

She found someone to help her load her things onto the train's luggage compartment and then decided to go look for Hermione since she had a bit of time before the train left. She was so focused on looking for her friend that she ran right into someone.

"Ouch. Oh, sorry," Rose mumbled, looking to see who it was.

It was a boy. He looked to be about her age with blonde hair and grey eyes. He was wearing what looked like rather expensive clothes. He narrowed his eyes and brushed himself off.

"Do watch where you're going," he sneered at her.

"I said I was sorry," Rose huffed back. What an attitude to have over a little accident.

"So what, you still did it, didn't you? Who are you anyway?" the boy replied. He was still scowling but his voice had gotten just a touch friendlier.

"The name's Roselynn. Roselynn Rivers. You?"

"Draco Malfoy," the boy replied.

"Cool. Look I really am sorry, I was just looking for my friend and I got distracted."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Where are your parents anyway?"

"Oh, they couldn't come with me. They're-"

"Muggles?" Draco suddenly sounded disdainful. Rose tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah..and?"

"So you're one of them," Draco sneered, his voice still disdainful and full of venom.

"One of what?" Rose asked, still totally confused. She thought they'd been getting someplace once she'd apologized again but now it suddenly seemed like he wanted nothing to do with her.

"A mudblood," Draco replied. That one word seemed filled with hate.

A what?

A girl who was passing by froze when she heard what he'd said.

"Hey! You watch your mouth!" She hissed, walking over and glaring at Draco with great dislike. Rose didn't understand what was going on. Draco just gave the other girl a cold look before he stalked off to find a seat.

"Don't let him call you that," the girl said, gesturing for Rose to follow her towards the train "I'm Susan by the way, Susan Bones."

"Roselynn Rivers," Rose replied "What's the big deal? What's a mudblood?"

Susan sighed as the two of them clambered onto the train "It's not a word most witches and wizards use anymore. Means dirty blood. Basically some wizarding families think they're better than others because they don't have any muggle blood in their families." Susan rolled her eyes and led the way along the train into an empty compartment and sat down. "It's really rude so don't put up with it."

Rose tossed herself into the seat beside Susan, considering everything she'd just heard. She felt kind of angry. Maybe she wouldn't fit in at Hogwarts after all.

"That's stupid," she finally said, folding her arms across her chest.

"It really is," Susan replied "But forget it. Most of us don't think that way anymore."

Rose nodded, that made her feel a tad bit better. Suddenly the compartment door opened.

"Can I join-Rose!" It was Hermione, looking excited at the sight of her friend.

"Hermione! Hey!" Rose yipped back, jumping up to hug her. "Come on in."

Once they were seated again and Rose had introduced Hermione, the three girls settled into a quick conversation.

"Hey, did you guys hear the news?" Susan asked the others suddenly.

"What news?" Rose asked.

"Apparently Harry Potter is supposed to be starting Hogwarts this year and he's on this very train!" said Susan in an excited voice.

"Really?" Said Hermione, sounding just as excited.

"Who?" Rose asked.

"Oh, of course. You wouldn't know," Susan said quickly "Harry Potter's really famous you know. He defeated...You-Know-Who..when he was just a baby!"

"No...I don't know who," said Rose with a sideways look at Hermione who had a dark look on her face.

"Nobody says his real name," Susan said darkly. "He was a really dark wizard who gained a lot of followers and killed a whole lot of people."

Rose felt a prickle of fear. Was her new world really that dangerous?

"And then what happened?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Well...the story goes that on Halloween about eleven years ago You-Know-Who killed Harry Potter's parents with the killing curse and then tried to kill Harry too. But it didn't work and You-Know-Who vanished," Hermione said. "I read about it in a few of those extra books I got when we were in Diagon Alley."

"Exactly," said Susan in a serious tone. "Nobody knows how Harry survived but he's been famous ever since."

Rose let out a low whistle. "Wow. What a story."

The rest of the ride passed on happier topics. They bought candy from a witch who came by pushing a cart and Rose was awed by the chocolate frogs. They actually moved? She almost refused to eat one but was glad that she did once she tried it. It was delicious. Susan told Rose and Hermione all about the four Hogwarts houses and the sorting, she also pulled a trick on Rose by getting her to eat something called an 'Every Flavor Bean' apparently they really meant every flavor because the one Rose got tasted like literal dirt.

"Gotcha," Susan giggled, watching Rose sputter and take a swig of pumpkin juice to get the taste out of her mouth. After a moment Rose laughed as well.

"Good one," she admitted after trying and failing to look angry.

Hermione left the compartment a few times and came back telling the other two that she'd actually met Harry Potter. Rose and Susan were both amazed. The three girls then changed into their new school robes.

The train ride lasted into the night but finally the engine slowed to a stop and an announcement was made to leave their luggage on the train. Rose followed Susan and Hermione off the train with a feeling of trepidation.

Here goes nothing.