"So you weren't lying?" Grace stood next to a bench; several suitcases filled with clothes from Gladrags were occupying the bench. "What reason would I have to lie?" Thalia said. Her appearance today was less un- nerving. Her mother had obviously made her dress appropriately. She was wearing a simple gray skirt that stopped at her ankles and a white dress shirt. Her hair was in a simple French braid and she wore gray loafers. Grace smiled at her. "Better." Thalia scowled. "You look better too." Grace had bribed her mom to let her change. Thalia grinned. "Where'd you get that sweatsuit? It's awesome." The light blue velour sweatsuit from Earl Jeans was one of her favorites. Grace normally had medium brown curls but she had straightened her hair so that it hung down her back. She didn't look as pretty as she had in the party dress but she was still excessively pleasing to the eyes. "So do you know anybody here?" Grace asked, trying to fill the conversation. "Yup." Thalia answered. "Hey Meredith!" she called across the room. Meredith was a dumpy girl in a gleaming silver wheelchair. She had extremely pale blonde hair that she wore cut at her shoulders. She had piercing blue eyes and was dressed in the same fashion as Thalia.

Thalia grinned at Meredith. "Meredith Lucia Nate, meet Grace Aglaia Freedman." Grace extended her hand. "Quite pleased to meet you." Meredith, as it turned out had a Cockney accent and it was very hard to understand. "Nice ta meetcha too." Grace grinned micheviously. Mother would die if she knew I was hanging out with this motley crew. Just then, the train began boarding and they all sat in the same car. Three other girls and five other boys were sitting in the car. Two of the girls chattered on. One was white, Irish maybe and the other was black like Grace but had much darker skin. "Katie Bell. Nice to meet you." The red head said in a high voice. The dark skinned girl also smiled friendly- like. "I'm Angelina Johnson. I'm quite pleased to meet you. We're seventh years. What year are you in." Meredith gruffly whispered, "Fifth, thank ya." The other girl was Native American. She had excessive amounts of silky, black hair and had very light brown eyes that seemed to be filled with water. Grace smiled hopefully at the girl. "What's your name?" she asked. The girl continued to look out the window. "Kristin Matzi. I have been going to Hogwarts since the first year. Nobody really knows me." Thalia, Meredith, Grace, Angelina, and Katie were clearly surprised that she offered so much information about herself right away. The boys in the car were silent, watching the girls interact with one another. One of these boys was Draco Malfoy. Being the suave, oh-so confident young man that he was, he sat next to Kristin. Kristin was obviously disgusted and scooted away. He scowled at her, then turned his attention to Thalia and Grace. Meredith was animatedly discussing the latest Quidditch game with one of her several cousins at Hogwarts, Seamus Finnigan. "What's your name?" he suavely asked Grace. "Grace Aglaia Freedman. And yours?" Draco was surprised, yet pleased with her assertiveness. "Well, fair damsel. Why don't you come back to my car." This time, Grace wasn't as happy with his boldness. Trying to get him from being so rude, she relented and sat next to him. Thalia was disgusted with Grace's boy-craziness and began a conversation with Kristin. Grace was soon resting her head on his chest as he played with her hair. Sure enough, Pansy Parkinson arrived with her cronies. "Are you Grace?" she said. Grace pecked Draco on the cheek and sat up. "Yes." She said. "There's been some trouble. Can I please speak to you?"