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Chaos flooded the Burrow the morning Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were set to leave for Hogwarts. Ron was running through the house in search of his owl, Pig. Ginny was frantically trying to shove all of her belongings into her old and tattered trunk while Hermione checked and rechecked all her homework. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing about her babies being all grown up and trying to help everybody to get their things together without suffering an emotional meltdown.

Meanwhile, Harry sat quietly on the porch. His trunk was next to him and Hedwig's cage rested on top. Loud crashes and thuds could be heard echoing through the home. This some how comforted Harry and he soon found himself dozing off to the sound of shrieks and sobs.

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"Harry! It's your turn, darling," Mrs. Weasley shouted above the roar of Kings' Cross Station. "Hurry now, we haven't got much time," she added, checking the clock for the hundredth time.

Harry nodded to her and quickly made sure his things were securely on his cart. Upon seeing a break in the crowd, Harry made a dash toward the entrance to platform 9 ¾. He burst onto the other side and moved out of the way for Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, who were still waiting on the other side. Harry spotted Ron and Hermione near the train, already unloading their belongings off their carts, and rushed over to join them.

"Here, let me help you with that," Harry said as he and Ron lifted Hermione's trunk onto the train.

"Thanks," Hermione smiled gratefully, dragging her trunk into the train. "I'll go find us a compartment. You two stay and help Ginny with her things as well, alright?"

"Alright," both boys agreed. Hermione disappeared around the corner just as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley appeared. Harry and Ron got everybody's things onto the train and bid a teary-eyed Mrs. Weasley goodbye.

"Owl me as soon as you get to the school, alright?" She said while dabbing tears from her eyes with a white handkerchief. Ron, Ginny and Harry all promised to do so. "And no getting into trouble this year! Especially you two!" Mrs. Weasley pointed an accusing finger at Harry and Ron.

"Can't promise you that mum," Ron said with a grin. Mrs. Weasley's reply was drowned out by the screeching of the train's whistle. The sleek, red Hogwarts Express began to roll out of station as Mrs. Weasley frantically waved goodbye from the crowd. The three on the train waved in return before turning to find Hermione in the train.

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Though the train had left the station only about ten or fifteen minutes ago, Harry and Ron sat contently in the compartment, steadily consuming a large pile of sweets including chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's every flavor beans. They talked about Quidditch and came up with elaborate plots to publicly humiliate Malfoy in front of the entire school. They laughed heartily as the ideas grew more and more outrageous. Hermione ignored them as she engrossed herself in a book while Ginny sketched idly on a loose piece of parchment.

"Well, crap!" Someone exclaimed from the hallway, following a loud thud. The four in the compartment paused for a moment to look towards the door in curiosity. Harry pushed the door open a bit and peered out. He instantly recognized the girl he'd met in the alley a couple of days earlier. She appeared to be having a few difficulties with her trunk.

"Riley?" Harry said.

"What?" Riley jumped back, startled a bit. She relaxed when she saw Harry. "Hi Harry!"

"Having problems?" He asked with an amused smile.

"No, I'm perfectly fine, thank you," Riley said stubbornly. Harry smirked at her. "Okay, yeah. This stupid trunk weighs like a billion pounds and all the compartments are full and I have no idea where I'm going and I would really just like to sit down now," she stopped her rant and took a deep breath as Harry suppressed the urge to laugh.

"A billion, huh?" Harry said playfully.

"Shut up," Riley snapped, trying to hide her amusement but failing to cover a small smile on her face.

"Well there's room in our compartment if you'd like to join us," Harry offered, reaching to help her move her trunk out of the aisle.

"If you think you could endure such a long ride with my vulgar American manners, then I would love to." Riley and Harry shoved the trunk into their compartment and slid it beneath the seats with the rest.

"You remember Ron and Hermione?" Harry said.

"Of course," she said happily. "How could I ever forget nearly having my arm ripped off?" Riley smiled jokingly at Ron.

"Sorry," Ron mumbled, the tips of his ears turning red. The others laughed at Ron's obvious discomfort.

"And this," Harry motioned toward Ginny, "is Ron's little sister, Ginny."

"You'll have to excuse my brother's manners, it's not his fault, he was just born a savage brute," Ginny said as she shook Riley's hand.

"Hey!" Ron shouted. "I am not a savage brute!"

"Of course you're not," Ginny said in a mocking baby voice and reached over to pinch Ron's cheek.

"Go away," Ron said, pushing her hand away and turning to stare out the window and mumble about how much he loathed his younger sister.

"Oh honestly, Ron," Hermione sighed after a minute or so of his sulking. "If you are going to sit there being moody, do you think you could manage to be quiet so the rest of us could study?"

"The rest of us?" Ron looked at her like she was mad. "Who else in this room is studying? The invisible man by the door? Just because you can't go two minutes without learning something doesn't mean we all have to."

"Stop exaggerating everything," Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not exaggerating!" Ron shot back defensively. "You always have to 'read' and 'take notes' and 'pay attention.'" Ron said dramatically. "And every time me and Harry-"

"Harry and I," Hermione corrected.

"See!" Ron shouted and pointed a finger at her. Ginny, Riley and Harry could no longer contain themselves and all three burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked with a puzzled look on her face. The laughter just grew louder.

"Oh bloody hell, stop laughing and tell me what's so funny!" Ron hollered, clearly annoyed.

"You two fight like an old married couple," Riley managed to choke out.

"We do not!" Ron and Hermione said together, causing the others to laugh even harder.

"Ow!" Riley cried, clutching her sides. She wiped a tear from her eye and the three struggled to regain their composure.

"Well I'm glad you all had a nice laugh," Ron said bitterly.

"Sorry," Harry said, still trying not to laugh.

"So," the redhead said, looking at Riley. "Why exactly are you here?" Hermione sent Ron a piercing glare and he quickly added, "not to be rude or anything."

Riley laughed, "Well I guess its because I needed somewhere to go to school."

"What year are you then?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Seventh"

"It's your last year, why bother moving now?" Ron asked through a chocolate frog.

"Fair question," Riley agreed. "Well, basically my parents just got fed up with my old school and we, um, left."

"What was wrong with your old school?" Harry asked.

"It was stupid," Riley shrugged.

"Well I suppose that is a good reason to leave," Harry said.

"Yeah, I though so too," Riley agreed.

The rest of the train ride passed quickly. The four of them talked endlessly as the Hogwarts Express zoomed through the countryside. As the train drew nearer to the castle, everybody changed into their robes. Riley's were plain black, as she had yet to be sorted. She was to learn what her house would be before joining the others in the great hall.

The train came to a halt and students hurried to get their luggage and themselves off the train. Luckily, the weather was nice and the skies were clear. Riley looked up at the castle in awe.

"You ready?" Harry asked her.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Riley answered.

They all grabbed their trunks and together the group of five headed toward the castle to embark upon yet another and, for all but Ginny, the last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Come on everyone, we need to find a carriage." Hermione said.

"Yeah, ok." Harry told her as he and everyone else followed her down the dirt road out of the Hogsmeade station.

There were about a hundred or so carriages that would take the students up to the castle. Harry glanced between the carriage shafts to see the fleshless, black creatures, which were pulling the carriages. Thestrals, he could remember the first time he had seen them, thinking he had been seeing things. He turned and saw Riley coming toward the carriage. He watched her hand Crookshanks to Hermione and he wondered if she could see the Thestrals too.

"Coming Harry?" She called as she walked over to him.

"Yeah."

"What's up with those… things!" Riley said with a disgusted look on her face, just noticing the Thestrals

"You-you can see them?" Hermione stuttered.

"Well yeah, can't you? Why wouldn't I be able to see them?" Riley asked confused.

"Well… you only see them if you've seen, you know," he had a lump in his throat, "someone die." Harry barely managed to get out.

Riley was silent as she stared at the creatures. Harry opened his mouth to say something but decided against it.

"Do you see them Harry?" Riley asked quickly, trying to avoid being questioned.

"Um, yeah," Harry said quietly, nervously fidgeting with his hands.

"Oh, okay then," Riley said perkily, dropping the obviously uncomfortable subject. "Look! This one's free!" Riley gestured for everyone to follow her into a nearby carriage. Hermione grabbed Crookshanks and pulled Ginny toward the carriage.

"Oh! Ron, Harry get our trunks please," Hermione called over her shoulder as the girls climbed in behind Riley.

"Okay, since I'm your maid and everything!" Ron called back with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Thank you!" Hermione sent him a sickly sweet smile from the window.

"Bloody women," Ron mumbled as he and Harry bent down to move the first trunk. "This is gonna be one hell of a year."


A/N: Hope you liked it. Review s'il vous plait. :D