It was quite cold outside King's Cross Station, despite it being the first of September, something that was beginning to become uncharacteristic for England. Padmé, her older sister Sola, and their parents were making their way down Platform 9 and three quarters for the ninth consecutive year. At first, it had only been Sola going, but once Padmé turned 11 she had accompanied her as well. Sola had graduated two years ago, and was currently working in the department of mystery. Her fiancé, Darred, was not accompanying them, as he was out of the country due to work. It would probably be the last time it was just the four of them on this very platform. Darred would probably accompany them next year, and then Padmé would graduate and not be here until her future nephews and nieces. It was a strange feeling, a mix of sadness at the realization and a feeling of longing for simpler times. But Padmé was also more than ready to get on with life, and she was very excited about this new school year.

"You are going to write to us, right?" her mother asked, her voice shaking a bit. They had just gotten onto the platform, and the Hogwarts train was finally visible.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Padmé assured her with a bright smile.

"Your sister started doing weekly letters instead of letters three times a week around Halloween in her sixth year, and we just miss you so terribly whenever you are at school." Her mother let out a sniffle.

"Mom, I was busy," Sola added in an attempt to explain her actions. Judging from the look on their mother's face, she didn't buy that excuse.

"If I remember correctly, she was preoccupied with a certain boy during her sixth year," Padmé said and winked at her sister. Sola stuck her tongue out in response.

"Mum. I promise to be the better daughter once again." Padmé grinned.

Her mother took her in for a tight hug, ignoring her latest comment.

Padmé then moved over to her father. "Be good, and give the professors my best regard." Her father said, a melancholy smile making its way across his face. He was blinking away the tear that was forming in the corner of his eye. Rather than sending him a teasing comment, Padmé chose to ignore it. Her father always tried to maintain a very professional image to the public. He was always so concerned about public image that his wife often teased him about their wedding being the only time he had ever kissed her in public. The Naberrie family was one of the oldest wizarding families, and they had always been quite influential in the magical society. But they had grown a little unpopular due to their open friendliness with muggleborns in recent times. Some of the other pureblood families had begun to whisper behind their backs, and although Padmé and Sola had always been able to ignore it, their father's attempt hadn't been as successful. He was quite bothered by it, and therefore he tried to maintain a good image to the outside world.

Padmé flung herself into his arms. "I always am. And I will." She muffled into his shoulder, before pulling away and moving on to her sister.

They had already had their heartfelt goodbye the night prior, so they could avoid a big emotional scene in front of all of Padmé's peers. They had sat up all night with a bowl of ice cream and talked about everything from their respective partners to their individual upcoming year. It would for sure be one of the memories that Padmé would cherish for a long time. But as they stood in front of each other, they both failed to keep their emotions in check.

"We promised ourselves that we wouldn't cry." Sola laughed and tried to wipe away the stream of tears.

"Yeah, and look at us now." Padmé started laughing as well.

"I'm going to miss you." The older sister confessed.

"I'm going to miss you more." The younger replied.

"Want to make it a bet?"

"And how would we determine the winner?"

"You can be such a 'Padmé' at times. You know that, right?" The older sister smirked and wiped the final tears away. Padmé laughed in response.

After hugging her family goodbye one final time for good measure, Padmé went over and found her best friends; Dormé, Sabé, and Cordé. The four of them had grown close during their first year, and although Sabé and Cordé were Slytherins, and Padmé and Dormé were Gryffindors they were still super close. They had a variety of classes together, but that also meant that the thorn in Padmé's side would be in those classes. Anakin Skywalker. In Padmé's eyes, he was arrogant, self-centered, smug, a show-off, and did she mention arrogant? She had no idea how he was so popular with the girls. She supposed he was reasonably attractive, objectively of course. And according to the housemates who were invested in the sport, he was quite talented at Quidditch. But he was a douche, and surely the others would realize that soon enough, right?

"Padmé!" Dormé cried and engulfed her in a tight hug, Cordé and Sabé joined the hug soon after. When they pulled away, they all started to giggle like madmen. They had seen each other just three weeks ago, but it still felt like an eternity. Padmé had written with them all during their vacation, but on separate matters.

She and Sabé had spent a lot of time discussing the upcoming school year, study guides, and whatever they needed to ensure they got the best grades possible. She had been going back and forth with Cordé on ministry matters and the best way to solve the current crisis between the muggle world and the ministry world, as they both aspired to get ministry jobs after Hogwarts. And with Dormé she had discussed relationships. Just prior to their summer break, Dormé's boyfriend had broken up with her. Padmé had tried to console her as much as possible, but ultimately time was the best healer. They had also discussed Padmé's current relationship quite a lot. She was going out with Rush Clovis, and had been doing so since just before Christmas. On paper, they were a good match, and she should be happy. His father was from one of the oldest wizarding families (her paternal grandmother had almost fainted from happiness upon hearing it. She had never shared her late husband's openness towards muggleborns, which were the same values now carried by Padmé's father). Rush was the starting seeker for Gryffindor and had been so since last year, he was above average in school, and he was in love with her. But, she wasn't really happy. She found him attractive, and that was what led to her kissing him, and then going on a date with him to Hogsmeade.

But ever since their relationship became public knowledge, she had felt like something wasn't right. Despite her not truly returning his feelings, she didn't want to break it off and deal with the mess that it would cause. His friend group was large, so she was sure everyone would hate her if she did it, and some girls had previously gotten a reputation for going through guys too quickly. And although this was her first real relationship, she really wanted to avoid getting such a reputation. He had also been rather insistent on taking their relationship to the next level, saying that everyone else was doing more than just kissing and so on. But she had refused all advances so far. She had voiced all of these worries to Dormé over the summer, and her answer had been to dump him if she didn't feel happy. Which, according to Dormé, everyone was doing right now. But, she wouldn't be the one having to face grandmother Ryoo this Christmas. Furthermore, Padmé loved her friend dearly. But Dormé hadn't been in the best headspace over the summer. The breakup had still been fresh on her mind.

"Let's go find a compartment," Sabé said, as they entered the train. Last year they had to share with some second years, and although they had been nice, the situation hadn't been ideal.

The train ride was relatively uneventful compared to the normal chaos that ensued. The only notable highlight was two third-years trying to duel in the hallway. They ended up knocking themselves out and causing significant damage to the train. Both of them got detention; a seventh-year from Hufflepuff said it was the fastest detention in two centuries.

After the train arrived at its final destination, they chose a wagon and rode to school for the second-to-last time ever. It was quite surreal to Padmé. Only two years left. She was very excited at the prospect of conquering the real world, making the world a better place, and starting a new chapter of her life. But it equally frightened her. She loved how comfortable Hogwarts was, how homey it felt, and most of all, the people there. She would definitely miss all of her friends, all the teachers whom she had grown close to over the years. Even the annoying ghosts, like Jar-Jar Binks, a wizard who had lived some 500 years ago. Even though he couldn't materialize himself, he somehow managed to break countless items each week. Some claimed he was an evil mastermind and was the person behind the increasing number of evil wizards in recent years. Others claimed he was just a clumsy and stupid ghost. Padmé wasn't sure what to believe.

"It always feels so magical to arrive at this school," Cordé said as they stepped out of the carriage. The three other girls groaned at her bad pun.

They then made their way to the great hall, where the traditional feast would be held. The house elves had outdone themselves once again. Padmé didn't even manage to taste it all, despite her best efforts. Of course, nobody expected her to, with such a petite frame.

The first day of September at Hogwarts was always a special and joyous occasion. It was a lot of catching up with friends without the burden of homework hanging over the students' heads. As much as Padmé loved schoolwork, it was nice to have a relaxing evening for once, even if she had just had an entire vacation to do so. There was something different about a night of fun at Hogwarts. Everyone was in a great mood, and it made the transition from vacation back to school incredibly smooth. Even the always grumpy ghost, Watto, was in a relatively happy mood.

Padmé, Dormé, and the rest of the Gryffindor girls in their year sat up and talked until well past midnight. It was something they knew would doom them come morning, but they had so much to catch up on. During their first three years, they had been very divided. There was Padmé and Dormé on one side and Aayla, Luminara, and Shaak Ti on the other side. But during their fourth year, they all came together. Once the topic started revolving more around boys, they realized that they were not so different after all, and they started gossiping at night. Before they knew it, they were thick as butter.

When Padmé awoke the next morning, she immediately regretted not going to bed earlier. How she ever managed to wake up at 6 AM the past five years was a mystery to her. Judging from the unusual lack of conversation and banter in their dormitory that morning, the other girls had similar thoughts. Once they had gotten their breakfast and tea, they slowly started to make small talk, but it wasn't before they were making their way to muggle studies that the conversation evolved to something more. Even so, to say that they were productive or even interesting conversations would be an overstatement.

Their muggle studies professor, Satine Kryze, was a rather strange witch. She was so against the use of harmful spells that she quit her promising career in the ministry to teach Muggle studies, in the hopes that she could inspire students to get jobs that were more like Muggles, or as she described them, "Less violent and not barbaric." She and Padmé got along really well, as they shared many of the same ideals. But right now all Padmé could think about was her bed, her pillow, and the thought of sleep in general.

"Good morning students." The witch greeted the class after everyone had found a seat. Padmé and Dormé were seated in the front of the class, and the rest of the Gryffindor girls were seated just behind them. They almost always sat like this, no matter which subject it was. It allowed them to whisper jokes to each other, whilst still being able to make a good effort and participate actively in the lesson. The only exception was Defense Against the Dark Arts when Dormé and Padmé sat with Sabé and Cordé, Aayla sat with her cousin who was a girl from Slytherin, and Shaak and Luminara sat together.

"Welcome back from your holiday. I trust you had a good one. Since it is your first lesson back, and I remember my teenage years, unlike some of the other professors-" She stopped for a brief moment, allowing the students to share a small laugh with the person sitting next to them. Before continuing, "This lesson will be more practical and less theoretical. Today we will learn how to play football. In the next class, we will go through the necessary theory and dive into why it is so popular, looking at how big of a role it plays in the English muggle society. Of course, some of you are muggle-born and may have played it before, so go easy on us," She finished with a bright smile.

The lesson had an almost magical effect on Padmé. When she walked out of the classroom, she was once again fit and ready to learn. The exercise had boosted her energy level considerably. Her housemates, not so much. The rest of the day was relatively uneventful compared to what the first school day at Hogwarts normally was. Some years, it seemed like there was a competition to make the worst first impression on the teachers. Like when some Slytherin boys from her year had decided to transfigure their glass cups into different types of animals instead of filling them with wine, just for fun. Or the following year when the same boys had unsuccessfully tried to disarm their DADA teacher whilst he was showing a spell. Both incidents landed them in a weekend of detention for intentionally trying to ruin the lesson. Padmé hoped that they would be free of such interruptions this year. Even if she had found it entertaining at the time.