The young boy brushed his wheat-colored hair out of his face as he read. Quietly he sat there in the compartment waiting for his companions to arrive. Within minutes he began to hear voices, one of which, clearly, was his close friend James.

"Well…this is it!" the boy heard him say. He looked up as the sliding door opened. He was about to greet his friend when instead he found himself staring back at a pretty girl around sixteen, same as himself, with medium length brown curly hair and kind blue eyes. Both immediately blushed.

"Uh…hello…" he said, quickly burying himself into his reading.

"Hi there." The girl smiled as she pushed her luggage onto the racks above them. Not more than a minute later did two more girls enter followed by James. The other two girls also looked his age. One was tall with long blonde tresses and dark shades that made her eyes unidentifiable. The other was only about an inch or two shorter than the second. Her shoulder length hair was brown with almost an auburn tint to it, while her laughing eyes looked green from where he was sitting.

"Ah, Remus!" James said, "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Remus looked up from his book once more, his solemn, amber colored eyes lit up at the sight of his friend, "Why yes, James. A little over a week" he informed him sarcastically.

James laughed, "Of course! But you know…It always seems like forever!" This time Remus laughed.

"Right then…" Emily scoffed, making her presence known. Katherine took the liberty of arranging her (and Emily's) luggage on the racks next to Julia's. Julia, on the other hand, was quietly sitting on the opposite side of all the commotion.

"Oh!" James suddenly remembered his new acquaintances. "Yeah… Remus, these are the new American transfers!" Remus nodded in response.

"Okay…" James continued, "This is Julia…Pace." He pointed to the girl sitting by the window, and she waved at the sound of her name.

"Uh…this…is…Katherine Snowden!" James motioned towards the auburn-haired girl standing by the door.

"Nice to meet you!" She smiled kindly and bowed her head in a polite manner.

"And this lovely beauty, "James wrapped his arm around a now scowling blonde, "is Emily Starling!" Emily muttered 'hey' as she furthered her self from James by sitting next to Julia. James seemed to ignore her reaction to his comment.

"Ladies, this is my dear friend: Remus Lupin!" he kind of 'plopped' down beside his friend and threw his arm over Remus' thin shoulder.

"Hello, and welcome to England!" Remus smiled almost sheepishly at all the female company within the small space.

The five young students continued to get aquatinted with one another while waiting for the train to leave. Julia remained in her seat near the window, Emily sat opposite her, Katherine took her seat closest to the door, and the two boys sat next to each other in the center of the compartment. After around ten or so minutes they began to get restless.

"Hey! When the hell is this train leavin'!" Emily complained loudly.

Katherine and Julia shrugged.

"Well…Technically it should have left about seven minutes ago. It's never been late…" Remus tapped his wristwatch to make sure it was still in working order. Julia checked her watch as well. "Well my watch says 4:34…so I don't think that'll help you much…I forgot to set it to this time zone…"

"Well, I set mine and it says it's exactly---" Katherine couldn't finish her sentence because at that exact moment the train whistle blew for the final time before departure and jerked slightly before starting its journey.

"Must be 11:30…" Remus stated, resetting his watch to the correct time.

James looked around curiously. "Wait a bit…Where's Sirius?"

"Sirius?" Emily asked, lowering her shades slightly, revealing seemingly unimpressed blue eyes.

"Yeah… he's a friend of ours…he's usually here by now…" James stared at the door, puzzled.

"He'll be here." Remus seemed unfazed by this 'Sirius'' absence.

Katherine propped her feet up on the cushioned seat across from her. "Well… he better hurry up if he wants a seat!" she joked.

As if on que the door burst open and in marched a tall ebony haired boy. In one quick movement he tripped over Katherine's legs and fell face first into the floor in front of him, making for quite a laugh from the other passengers. Katherine, however, just stared at the body lying on the ground, unable to figure out whether or not to laugh.

"Well, well, well!" James snorted, "You always have to make an entrance, don't you, Sirius!"

Sirius picked himself up and laughed right along with the rest of the group. "Yeah…you know me!" James got up and welcomed Sirius with what was supposed to be a pat on the back. "Come now, James! That's no way to greet an old friend!" Sirius threw his arms around an unsuspecting James and consumed him in a giant bear-hug. He laughed heartily as he returned the friendly embrace. Julia and Emily raised their eyebrows to each other in utter confusion. Katherine, highly embarrassed, was now curled up in a ball on her seat trying not to be in the way any more…

"Why Sirius! It certainly has been a while!" Remus now stood next to his two friends. His tawny eyes truly sparkling now. Sirius embraced Remus just as he had done James. "I'm sorry, Mooney, 'ole buddy! I would've been there if I could… You know how my family is…" Sirius looked as if he had broken an important promise or something of the sort. Everyone seemed to dismiss it easily though.

"Hey, Kat!" Emily snickered at the sight of Katherine's position. "You tryin' to disappear or somethin'?" This unfortunately brought all attention to Katherine in her little corner. James, Remus, and Julia all commented on Katherine's sudden 'quietness'.

Sirius noticed for the first time (even after tripping over Katherine) that there were females in their cart.