This my first attempt at HP fic in over a year. I wanted to do something a bit original, so bear with me. I hope you enjoy it!

Special thanks to my good friend doth, who convinced me the idea was good enough to expand on. =)

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"Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles!"

"It doesn't sound too bad. I'll try and stay awake."

- kid and grandpa, The Princess Bride

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"Mum- MUM -it's time to go, the train's almost ready-"

"Hold on a moment, dear, you've got something on your nose..."

"Mum, geroff, I have to go!"

Marina Cole pushed her mother's hand away, gave her nose a bit of a rub with her sleeve, and picked her shoulder bag off the ground. She turned and began to walk away, calling over her shoulder,

"All right, I'm leaving, I'll see you over Christmas..."

"Don't I get a hug first?"

Marina sighed and turned around to face her mother, who stood plainly before her in a soft blue cardigan and grey trousers. Elle Detrick's large blue eyes stared unblinking at her daughter, who sighed again.

"Oh, fine, if you'll be so deprived otherwise." Setting down her bag once again and rolling her eyes, Marina allowed herself to be pulled into her mother's warm embrace for a brief moment. Detaching herself, Marina looked hard at Elle. "Now, you promise me you'll take care of Gram."

Elle nodded. "Promise."

"And swear you won't touch anything in my room."

"I swear."

"And-"

"Marina, dear, the train's ready to go."

The thirteen year-old looked over her shoulder for a moment at the large red train before replying, "I'll be going, then." She kissed her mother quickly on the cheek, picked up her bag, and nodded curtly. "Goodbye, Mum." Marina boarded the train, and as she did, a window opened and the blonde, messy head of a teenaged boy poked out.

"Oy, Mrs. Cole!" He waved at Marina's mother, who smiled and waved back.

"Have a good term, dear!" she called, as the Hogwarts Express began to exit Kings Cross. "Take care of my daughter!"

"Will do, marm!" The boy grinned and saluted before retreating back into the train. Cold September winds were beginning to whip through the air, and the warmth of the cabin was a nice change from the crispness outside.

From inside the cabin, Marina peered through the now-closed window at the quickly disappearing form of her mother. From behind her, Fenton Knox chuckled.

"Isn't like you to look back at the station, Mar. Somethin' up?"

"Hmm?" Marina turned and sat across from the tall, gangly blonde before her. "Oh, I'm just worried about Mum, is all. She's got two jobs, now, and I can tell she's getting stressed out. I just don't like leaving her and Gram all by themselves." She looked out the window, lost in thought, before shaking her head and smiling. "So, Knox, how've you been? I missed you over the summer."

Knox smiled, his green eyes crinkling at the corners. "Missed you, too, Mar. And I'm well, I guess. Summer was boring, but I've luckily been staying with Nero the past two weeks."

"Sounds...interesting," Marina grinned. "Speak of the devil- where's Nero, anyway? And Thalia? Didn't see either of them on the platform."

Knox shrugged. "Dunno. Haven't seen Thalia at all, and soon as we got here, Nero bolted. I betcha he's hanging with some Gryffies in another compartment."

"Ah, well. Nothing much we can do about that."

"Yeah."

For a few minutes, the two sat in silence, watching the lush green countryside roll by. The familiar chug of the train's engine was comforting to Marina, who leaned her head against the window.

Knox leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands folded under his chin, as if he were in thought. "Mar, you know somethin'?"

"Hmm?"

"I have a feelin'. Like...like somethin' is gonna happen this year. And I can't really explain it, but...it's in the pit of me stomach. Something's gonna happen. I don't know what...but...I feel it."

Before Marina could reply, the compartment door opened quickly. A short, stocky redhead stuck his head in, gasping.

"Good lord, Knox, you won't believe who I just saw!" Catching sight of Marina, he grinned. "Hey, Mar."

Marina smiled back. "Hi, Fred."

"Who?" Knox asked, sitting up a bit. "Who'd you see?"

The redhead shook his head in disbelief. "You won't believe this...I just saw Harry Potter!"

Knox's jaw dropped as Marina's brow furrowed.

"Who's Harry Potter?" she asked, puzzled.

Both looked at her with rather odd expressions on their faces.

"Really, Marina," Fred said, one eyebrow up, "you may have been raised by Muggles, but honestly, you must've heard some stories of Harry Potter."

She shook her head. "Sorry, no."

Knox and Fred both sighed.

"He's the Boy Who Lived, Marina, you know, the one who defeated You-Know-Who?"

Marina blinked, then grinned. "Oooh! That Harry Potter!"

Fred rolled his eyes and continued, "He's a first year this year, and he's hanging around with my little brother. Bet you ten knuts he's a Gryffindor."

"Twenty he's a Ravenclaw!" Knox challenged. They shook hands, and Fred nodded to both of them.

"Knox, Marina, have a pleasant train ride. I'm off to spread the word." And with that, he closed the compartment door. Marina could hear him running down the corridor, indeed spreading the word. She looked at Knox.

"Suppose this is what your feeling's about?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. I'd no idea Harry Potter, the Harry Potter, was coming to Hogwarts this year...I always figured he'd go someplace nicer, I guess. Seeing as he is the Boy Who Lived and all."

"Well, he was raised by Muggles, right?"

"Lord, Mar, I don't know. And for someone who didn't know who he was three minutes ago, how would you?"

It was her turn to shrug. "Dunno. A feeling, I guess."

There was another lapse of comfortable silence, which was cut off by the compartment door opening once more.

"Hey guys!" said the short, petite redhead who burst in, plopping herself down beside Knox. Unabashedly, she threw one arm around his shoulders and planted a big kiss on his cheek. "Knox! Lovely to see you!"

"Please, not another year of this, Thalia," Knox muttered, but from the slight smile that played on his lips Marina figured he didn't mind the affection all that much.

"And Marina!" Thalia jumped up and sat down again, this time beside Marina, and enveloped her in a hug, which Marina returned happily. "Great to see you! How was your summer?"

"Fine, thanks, and yours?"

"Uneventful, sadly. Was stuck at Uncle Milty's for a week...wasn't a happy one, let me tell you."

"Have you seen Nero around?" Knox asked.

She nodded. "Yessir, he was wandering around with George Weasley and, oh, whatshisface, Lee Jordan, I think. Something." Her eyes lit up, and suddenly her voice turned to an excited whisper. "Did you hear? Harry Potter is on this train!"

"We already heard." Marina answered plainly.

"Isn't this just amazing?" continued Thalia. "I mean, to think, the actual Boy Who Lived is going to be at Hoggys the same time we are! For all we know, he'll be sorted into Ravenclaw!"

"We already have a wager going on that one." Knox smirked.

"Well, I don't see why everyone keeps going on about him," Marina said, rolling her eyes. "He's probably just a regular kid."

"He defeated You-Know-Who, Marina." Knox said slowly, as if he were speaking to a small child. "Single-handedly. When he was a year old."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

Thalia looked back and forth at the both of them before exclaiming, "Who's for a rollicking game of Exploding Snap?"

With that, the conversation was stripped clean of any mention of the aforementioned Boy Who Lived. The trio engaged themselves in two full games with the enchanted cards before a tiny witch pushing a food cart stopped in their compartment. Marina hungrily downed two Chocolate Frogs and a glass of iced pumpkin juice before reminding herself dinner wasn't all that far off.

The sky outside had slowly grown dark, and now, as the Hogwarts Express began to reach the final stretches of its journey, Marina, Thalia, and Knox began to don their Hogwarts robes. As the train slowly pulled to a stop in Hogsmeade station, the three joined the throng of children making their way to the numerous horseless carriages lined on the platform. Marina could hear Hagrid, the gamekeeper, yelling for the first years, and she watched as the prefects ran around, trying to take charge.

She, Thalia and Knox climbed into an empty carriage, and were immediately joined by a tall, dark-haired boy with steely grey eyes.

"Nero!"

"Hey, all!" He replied, sitting down beside Thalia. "Did you hear? Harry Potter's coming to Hogwarts!"

"We heard." Marina said tartly. All this Harry Potter nonsense was starting to wear thin. Thalia obviously noticed Marina's look of annoyance, for she laughed nervously.

"Yeah, so let's talk about something new, okay?" Thalia chirped. "How about Quidditch?"

Knox nodded feverishly. "I heard Roger Davies will be looking for a new Chaser and Seeker for the house team this year, since Linn Wertrett and whatshisface graduated. I'm trying out. I practiced all summer with me dad. You guys trying out?"

"Are you kidding?" Marina snorted. "I fall off broomsticks in my sleep- I don't think I'll be trying out any time soon."

Thalia shook her head. "I would, but I prefer Quidditch as a relaxation sport. None of this competitive nonsense." She looked at Nero, who was twirling his wand in his hand, looking somewhat jumpy. "How bout you, Mr. Parsequor? Feeling the Quidditch vibes calling you this year?"

"Yeah," he said, voice fairly resolute. "I'm gonna be the new Seeker."

Thalia grinned. "Someone's got confidence."

"Confidence?" Nero replied. "No. I just know that there's no one brave enough to try out for it, 'cept me."

The four sat in silence as the carriage rolled to a stop.

Thalia looked around at her three friends. "Well, lady and gentlemen, another year at the good school of Hoggys awaits us. Are we ready?"

One by one, they nodded, and slowly got out of the carriage.