"That's five points from Ravenclaw, Miss Lane!"

Maya sighed. Not again…

"I will not stand for your sarcasm. See me after class."

Dammit. This was the third class.

"You know," Meredith commented, "You should really just not talk during classes. You'd probably keep our House's points if you just shut your mouth."

"Shut up, Mere."

Meredith Brooks didn't enjoy Professor Snape's classes either, but she didn't know what she would do if Maya wasn't in her class. She sighed and glanced over at Roger Davies.Little did she know that Maya was also staring over in Roger's direction. When Maya had first met Roger in her House, she had found herself looking his way quite often.

When the class was over, Meredith and Maya left the classroom together and headed for the Quidditch fields.

"I have practice now. Meet me in the Dining Hall?" Maya asked Meredith. She nodded.

"Don't you have a game with Gryffindor next week?"

Maya replied, "Yeah. Our Seeker has a new broom, so we might have a chance against the Wonder Boy, Potter." They both laughed.

"What is Liz playing again?"

"Beater. She's not as nearly as good as the Weasley twins, but I'm not complaining," Maya sighed, "Bloody hell, I forgot my broom. I'll see you later."

"See you."

Meredith watched Maya hurry back to the castle to retrieve her broom for practice, then turned to head for the Lake. She loved just to lie down and relax.

"Hey, Mere!"

Then there was hanging out with her friends. She never gave up a chance to hang out with Tina, Liz and…

"Where's Adam?"

"He went back to the common room," Tina shrugged, "he told us he was studying. He said he would meet us in the Dining Hall at dinner."

Liz and Tina sat down near Meredith and Tina pulled out a bottle cap seal.

"Are you still making those?" Liz rolled her eyes.

"I'm obsessed!" Tina exclaimed, "It keeps me busy."

"I'm happy with anything that keeps her out of trouble," Meredith laughed, "You've been making those things since we met on the Hogwarts Express first year."

Liz watched Tina tear the blue bottle-cap seal and stretch it into a bracelet. The day they all met wasn't as clear as though it was yesterday, but she remembered most of the high points…

Liz and Tina were at the station together, with their carts and luggage. People were passing them but they couldn't find Platform 9 ¾.

"Is this some practical joke?" Liz looked around, "Didn't your parents tell you how to get on the friggin' platform?"

"No," Tina admitted, "Let's ask some hot guy for directions. Oh, look there's one now! Oooh, he is CUTE!" Tina stared as a boy with blonde hair with a trunk identical to theirs walked by. They began to follow him and Tina called out, "Excuse me can you…"

CRASH!

"Oh my god! I am so sorry! I didn't see you there!" Tina looked at a skinny tan girl with straight brown hair and brown eyes. Tina and Liz started helping her pick up all of the girl's fallen things.

"Hogwarts?" the girl asked carelessly.

"Yes!" Tina sighed with relief. "Do you have any idea where the platform is? We were trying to follow some guy, but we crashed into you."

"By the way I'm Liz and this is Tina," Liz introduced.

"I'm Meredith, just call me Mere. And you just run through the barriers in between Platform 9 and 10."

"You what." Liz asked incredulously.

"Just run through, " Mere repeated.

Liz and Tina looked at the wall nervously. She couldn't be serious….

"Here, watch me," Mere suggested. She backed a few feet away from the wall and started running towards the barrier.

Then she was gone.

"Where did she go?"

"Through the barrier," Tina answered Liz, who was still gaping at where Meredith had just been.

"You want to go first?" she asked as Liz shook her head, "Didn't think so. I guess I will go first then."

Tina looked at the barrier and gulped. Here goes nothing she thought as she ran towards the barrier. She closed her eyes when she thought she was going to crash. But nothing came. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at a train.

"To think we came all the way on a crappy plane only to sit on another stupid train," Liz complained appearing behind Tina. "That plane ride was miserable never again are we flying on that stupid plane."

"Hey, guys. You made it through. I thought I was going to have to go back through and force you to come." Tina and Liz turned to see Meredith walking towards them. "Well don't just stand there let's go find ourselves a compartment before they're all taken." Meredith starts walking towards the train.

"Where do we put our stuff?" Tina asked looking around for a clue to where it should go.

"Oh just put it over there. The people working the train will put it on for you," said a voice behind Tina. All three girls turned to look at a tall lanky boy with sandy brown hair. "By the way I'm Evan, you all must be from the States."

All three of them nod their heads.

"I'm Liz and this is Tina we're from New York."

"Yeah I'm Meredith and I'm from Florida."
"You're the only people here that don't have British accents. Oi, Jeff! Come over here I found some newcomers." Evan shouted as a boy with brown hair and glasses saunters over. "This is Liz, Tina, Meredith and they're from the States," Evan said pointing to all of the girls as he introduced each.

Jeff nodded his head at each introduction, "You guys wanna sit with us? The train ride I hear can be dead boring. We might as well sit with each other. It doesn't look like you know too many people yet."

Tina looked over at Liz as if asking her if they should.

"Sure," Liz shrugged and started walking with Evan and Jeff towards the back of the train. Meredith and Tina followed behind her giggling.

Tina, Meredith, and Evan sat on one side and Liz and Jeff sat on the other. Just then they hear loud music as a boy and girl walk by. The girl was listening to her iPod with the music blaring through the earphones while the boy was shouting at her to shut it off.

"Is that Jimi Hendrix?" Jeff asked casually at the girl with loud music. The girl made a face.

"Yeah. So?"

"Just wondering," he replied, "You might as well listen to it while you can – you can't use muggle technology at Hogwarts."

The girl's face fell, "I won't be able to listen to my iPod?"

"There's too much magic there, it won't work," Jeff informed her, "I'm Jeff, by the way."

"I'm Maya and this is Adam," Maya introduced them, "I knew Hogwarts was magical but, bloody hell, I can't believe my iPod won't work there…"

"I heard Harry Potter is coming this year," Adam said. Jeff and Tina gawked at him in disbelief.

"Harry Potter?"

Liz, Meredith and Evan gave them blank looks.

"Who?"

"Harry Potter! You know! He defeated You Know Who!" Jeff explained. Liz raised her eyebrows.

"No, I don't believe I know 'You Know Who'. "

"Ugh. Bloody Yankees," Maya rolled her eyes, "Adam and I will explain later. Can we sit here?"

"Sure," Tina responded, when Meredith shouted while staring out the window at the students who were arriving with their luggage.

"Holy crap, look at them!" Meredith spoke, "They have at least twenty kids!"

"There's only six, Mere," Tina pointed out. Liz peered over Tina's shoulder, "The dark haired boy doesn't look like he's part of that family."

"That's him!"

"Who? Where?" The others in the compartment struggled to see out the window.

"That's him! It's Potter! The one among the redheads!" Maya said. Among the redheaded family, there was one young boy with dark, messy hair. He was standing with the redheaded family with his cart and he had a snowy white owl.

"Look! He even has the scar!" Jeff observed.

"Scar? What scar? I don't see a scar…" Evan complained. Maya told them, "It's on his forehead!"

"I can't see it, it's covered by his hair," Liz said as she slumped back in her seat.

"Should we go meet him?" Adam asked.

But when they all looked out the window again, he was gone.

"We'll probably see him once we get there," Liz reasoned. Evan looked over at Tina, "What're you doing?"

"I'm making a bracelet," Tina replied, while ripping and stretching a bottle cap seal.

"Out of that?"

"Yes. Why?"

Evan didn't reply, but Jeff asked, "Any of you hungry?"

Adam nodded. The four girls shook their heads.

"We're good."

"Okay," Jeff said, "Evan, Adam and I will go get the cart lady to get some food."

"Righto," Maya answered. Liz snorted.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just that," Liz snorted again, "Do you really say 'right-o' like that all the time?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, it sounds funny. Not many Americans do that."

"To hell with Americans."

"Can you make me one?" Meredith asked Tina. Tina dug through her shallow jean pockets and pulled out about seven bottle cap seals.

"She freaking collects them," Liz commented, "She's addicted to them."

"Do you want one?" Tina asked Maya. The girl nodded, "Sure." Then her brow furrowed, "They're not very pretty."

"They're not supposed to be pretty. They symbolize."

"What are they for?" Mere asked as she squeezed her bracelet on her wrist.

"They stand for friendship. Every time you make a new friend you add on a bracelet."

"But your sister told us that they stand for vir -"

"We're ten, Liz! We're not going to use them for that!"

Liz rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"'Whatever'," Maya commented, "You Yanks say that often."

Mere, Tina, and Liz stared at Maya.

"Whatever," Mere said.

The train started to move.

"Well, it's probably going to be a long ride," Tina said as she dug through her messenger bag to bring out a deck of cards, "Anyone up for a game of Spit?"

"Bloody Hell?" Maya asked with raised eyebrows, "Spit? You bloody Yanks are barking mad."