AN: I apologize for any mis-spellings and grammar errors before hand. Enjoy and I own nothing except Miya and Orion.

Chapter Four: The Trouble With Train Rides

Lily looked nervously around the train station for her platform. It wasn't until now that she had really looked at her ticket and was starting to wonder what exactly it meant by Platform 9 and three-quarters. 'If I ask anyone about it they'll just think I'm crazy,' she thought. Her parents had dropped her off at 10:15 that morning after many sorrowful farewells, well except from Petunia who just sat in the car and scowled. Her parents told her they expected her back for Christmas break and wished her a happy school year then had driven off.

Lily regretted them not being here now; maybe they could have been of some help. Lily looked at the ticket one more time then up at the numbers labeling the platforms. She looked at her watch and frowned, 'It's 10:30 if I don't figure this out soon the train will leave without me…I hope Miya will realize that I'm not on the train.' She thought as she paced between platforms nine and ten. Lily sighed and leaned against one of the pillars and watched as people bustled about, hoping to spy a wizard or witch, though of course she knew they'd be in Muggle clothing even if they were out. Orion hooted impatiently from the cart she was pushing and Lily sighed again, "I know Orion…I'm getting impatient too."

She was about to start pacing again when a boy and his father caught her eye, they were standing a few pillars down. She didn't know why they caught her attention at first, until she noticed that the boy was pushing a trolley similar to hers and had an owl at the top of it. She watched them as they casually leaned against the pillar then suddenly vanished. Lily's eyes widened and she rubbed them, 'Either I'm seeing things…or I think I just figured out the secret behind this platform. To check, Lily counted the number of pillars between platforms nine and ten then found that the pillar the boy and his father had disappeared in had been three-quarters between them. Lily shook her head, 'How could I have been so stupid,' she thought. She walked up to the pillar, 'I better be careful no one sees me.' Lily leaned casually against it and then suddenly she was on the other side and a wondrous scarlet steam engine greeted her eyes. She looked up and noticed a sigh that read Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

The noise from the platform was near deafening as it is at most train stations; children shouting, parents crying teary goodbyes, and then hooting owls, screeching cats, and a mass of other magical sounds. 'Alright…so it isn't like most train station,' Lily thought as she headed for the train. She boarded it easily enough and now the hard part came; finding a compartment, 'I'll just look for Miya I guess.'

Lily headed off down the train, finding each compartment filled with students of various ages and styles. Just as she was passing one of the last compartments the door burst open and a familiar boy hurtled out of the room, running right into Lily and both went down with a crash. "Smooth move Jamie," a boy from inside the compartment said.

Lily opened her eyes to find she was peering into the round brown eyes of the boy she had seen slip through the pillar. He stood up and ran a hand through his already messy black hair and, adjusting his glasses, turned back to the boy in the compartment he had just burst from, "Shut it Circe," he then turned back to Lily, leaning casually against the door to the compartment, "So…my name is James Potter…who are you?"

Lily stood up, "I'm…Lily…Lily Evans."

The boy, James, opened his mouth to say something but was stopped as the boy from the compartment jumped up, peering over James. Lily realized she recognized him too, though she couldn't remember where, before she could ask the boy spoke, "Hey Jamie…who's the eye candy?"

Lily's eyebrow twitched, 'Did he just say…'

"She's not eye candy…her name's Lily…she's a flower nitwit," James countered with a smug look.

The new boy looked Lily up and down then whistled, "I remember you…you're the muggle from the robe shop," he smirked, "No offense but you were looking much better that day, get much sleep last night?"

Lily growled, literally, and took a step forward to confront the boy when Miya suddenly appeared, "Lily! There you are I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Lily turned to face her friend, thankful she had interrupted the two boys. She came up to them and cast James and the other boy a look, she then smirked, "Well…well…Sirius Black. Long time no see?"

"You…know him," Lily asked, appalled.

Miya smirked, "Sort of…everyone has heard of the Noble House of Black," she said bitterly.

This time it was Sirius's turn to get angry, "Don't bring that up around me!"

Miya rolled her eyes, "Whatever…come on Lily…these guys are no doubt a bad influence." Miya grabbed Lily by the wrist and led her to a cabin just down the hall. She pulled open the door to reveal a nearly empty compartment except for two people. One was a small, scrawny looking boy of her own age with pale skin and light hair. He was deeply immersed in a book and didn't seem to notice the two girls at all, she realized he looked vaguely familiar and then remembered her trip to the wand shop, 'That's the boy who Miya has a crush on.'

The other boy was reading a book too. He had greasy pitch black hair and a hooked nose. His brow was furrowed as his eyes darted across the page. He took no notice of the girls either and Miya ignored him, instead taking a seat near the boy. She tapped his shoulder and he looked up with a little gasp, "I…I'm sorry I'll move," he stuttered, standing up.

Miya raised an eyebrow, "Why would you do that…there's plenty of room here."

"I didn't think anyone would want to sit with a…with me," he finished nervously, looking from Miya to Lily.

Lily cast a glance at Miya but Miya just shrugged, "What are you reading?"

Remus held up the book, "A book about muggle mythology."

Miya and Lily both grinned, "What's your name," Lily asked.

"Re…Remus Lupin."

"I'm Lily Evans and this is Miyako Yoshida."

"But please, call me Miya," Miya interrupted. Lily rolled her eyes and laughed. Miya ignored her and continued questioning the boy, "So I'm guessing you're a first year. Want to be friends?"

Remus's eyes widened as if the notion surprised him, he glanced down at his book, and then shrugged, "Sure."

The whistle of the train blew, and the train jerked forward. Lily's smile broadened, they were on their way. For the next hour or so the three chatted about everything from mythology to Quidditch. Remus was from a half-blood family so knew a little about the sport and was shocked when he found out that Miya's dad was a famous Quidditch star. A woman with a cart stacked with goods came about that time and asked if they wanted anything. Remus shook his head and Miya bought a variety of wizard candies, since Lily knew absolutely nothing about anything on the trolley. After the woman was gone, Miya tossed Lily a licorice wand and a pumpkin pastry, "It's probably the safest candy to start with…wouldn't want you getting the wrong impression of a Chocolate Frog or of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans."

Remus nodded in agreement, "I got one that tasted like chalk once."

Miya laughed, "That's nothing…I've had one that tasted like boogers."

"How do you know what boogers taste like," Lily asked innocently. Remus chuckled at the joke and Miya scowled and blushed at the same time.

"Well, well, there you girls are," a voice said from behind them. They turned to find James and Sirius standing in the doorway joined with another boy. He was short and on the plump side, with rosy red cheeks and blonde hair. He hid behind the two boys with a big grin, like they were his big brothers or something.

Miya glared at Sirius, "What do you want Black?"

Sirius chuckled, "Just to chat," He noticed the other passenger in the car, "Hey! You, reading the book…mind clearing out so we can chat in private?"

The boy reading the book didn't bother glancing up but continued to read. Sirius scowled and then looked to James, "James…I do believe he's ignoring us."

"Hmm…I do believe you're right," James said, he strutted over to the boy and slammed the book shut on his nose that was nearly touching the pages. The boy howled in pain and James, Sirius, and their new lackey burst into fits of laughter.

Lily jumped out of her seat, "Leave him alone! He didn't do anything to you!"

The boy whom James had picked on, stood up furiously, and pulled out a long stick, at first Lily thought it was a pretty stupid move until she remember that she was with a bunch of wizards and that the 'stick' was actually a wand. James, however, did not falter, "Please…like you know any spells. What should we do with the fairy princess Sirius?"

Sirius chuckled, "We could dress him up."

James pulled out his own wand and Lily jumped between him and the boy, "STOP!"

James blinked and the boy hissed, "Move out of the way mudblood!"

The cabin fell deadly silent at that remark, even Sirius stopped laughing. They all stared at the boy who looked smug. James growled, "What did you say?"

"You heard me idiot…I said mud blood," he said, letting the last words slip off his tongue like drops of acid.

Suddenly he was on the ground as someone had tackled him. Strangely enough it hadn't been James or Sirius but Miya. "TAKE THAT BACK YOU BASTARD!"

Lily, not knowing what to do, ran over and pulled her friend off of the boy, "Miya…Miya stop!" Lily was finally able to pull Miya off the boy. The boy scrambled to his feet, grabbed his book, and hurried out of the cabin. Miya was glaring at the ground, fuming. Lily helped her friend up, "What's wrong Miya…why'd you do that?"

Miya pulled away from Lily but couldn't face her, she stared out the window as she spoke, "Mudblood…it's a very negative, derogatory, insult in the wizarding world. It means 'dirty blood' and is used to refer to witches or wizards from non-wizarding families or muggles."

The compartment was silent for a bit and then Remus coughed, looking at his watch, "We better get dressed…we should be at the school soon."

The boys, including Remus, exited the car, leaving the girls to change there. Lily stared out the window, 'I haven't even gotten to the castle and already I have someone who hates me,' she thought. Lily sighed and pulled out her school robes, 'Oh well…we're almost to Hogwarts."

AN: So how is everyone? Sorting Hat appears tomorrow with a sorting hat poem I wrote myself! Oh yeah, and I don't know if any of you remember, but I promised the first five reviewers cameos in the next chapter. So far its Hazel Hiss, Crimson Ninja, Koriat, and Ceringosnowflake…thus one position is still open. You four, unless you want me to parody your user name get me a pseudo-name to use…or I guess I'll look at your profiles. So if you want a cameo…REVIEW! There is ONE more spot! Anyway…REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE DRAMA!