CHAPTER ONE
On the first day of September, Jane and her parents made their way to Kings Cross Station, with a ticket for a platform that Jane's father insisted could not exist. After Jane had gotten over the shock of walking through a brick wall, she decided that she needed to actually board the train before it left without her.
She was really nervous that she wouldn't know anything and that she'd look really stupid in class; she was smart in her own right, but she hadn't been the most astute student in her public school, though that was mostly because she would stare out the window and daydream rather than listen to the teacher go on about maths. Jane didn't have witches and wizards for parents like she assumed a lot of these other kids did. Sure, she had read a lot of the material in her eagerness to learn more about this enticing world that she was being thrown into, but she didn't really know anything outside of the books.
Jane desperately tried to look for a compartment that was empty because her experience with children her age was severely lacking if one took Sarah out of the equation, but the compartments all seemed full. She finally settled for a compartment with only two other girls that looked about her age. They were already in their school robes, and Jane vaguely wondered when she should change into hers or if she should have already done so.
Jane stared out of the window as the train started to move. The other two were having a conversation, but she didn't pay much attention until one of the girls snapped her fingers in front of Jane's face, which Jane thought was insanely rude. Apparently, they had been trying to get her attention.
"Did you hear me?" the finger snapper asked.
"Wha—? Oh, no. I'm sorry," Jane said in a small voice.
"She asked if you knew what house you'd be in," the other girl said.
Jane didn't know much about Hogwarts, but from what she read in the books, there were four houses. Unfortunately, all she could remember was Ravenpuff, or something, and that didn't seem quite right.
"No," Jane answered truthfully, "but they all seem really good."
The snappy girl scoffed.
"I hope you're not including Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in that statement."
The other girl turned to Jane and eyed her suspiciously as though Jane had said something telling.
"What's your name?"
Jane swallowed. She didn't like the look this girl was giving her or the way the question sounded like an accusation of sorts.
"Hensworth. Jane Hensworth," she said quietly.
The snappy girl furrowed her brow.
"What house were your parents in?"
"Oh, um, they didn't go; they're nor—" Jane wanted to say 'normal,' but she didn't want to offend anyone. "They aren't magical."
"They're both Muggles?"
Jane didn't know quite what that word meant.
"What?"
"So, you're a Mudblood then," said one of the girls almost accusingly.
"I–I don't know—" Jane stammered.
"Mud. Blood," said one of the girls as though she were talking to an especially stupid dog. "It means you have dirty blood. You're not like us. Our families have gone to Hogwarts for centuries."
"Yeah," said the other girl. "You shouldn't even be allowed to go there."
Tears began to sting Jane's eyes, and she wasn't quite sure why they were being so mean to her. The taunting continued until she was able to pull her luggage out of the compartment. She hadn't known that having non-magical parents was something to be ashamed of. Surely there were other people like her. All Jane knew was that she hadn't even gotten to her new school yet, and she was already having a tough time. She missed Sarah.
Jane walked down the train corridor, wiping her eyes a little. Suddenly, she heard a compartment door slam open. She jumped at the sound, turning to see a red-haired girl stalking out of the compartment with a greasy haired boy in tow. She heard laughter coming from the open compartment and decided from how the girl had stormed out, that she didn't want to venture in there. She had already had one bad experience and wasn't keen on having another if she could help it. However, before she turned to keep walking, a boy with glasses poked his head out of the compartment (most likely to see where the boy and girl had gone), and he spotted Jane instead.
"Hey, what're you doing out here?" he asked.
"I, um, I couldn't—"
"Have you been crying?"
Jane swallowed hard.
"No," she said defensively.
"Come sit with us," he said, disappearing back into the compartment.
Jane hesitated briefly before deciding that nobody else was about to offer her a seat with them. She dragged her suitcase into the compartment and sat near the widow.
"I'm James Potter," said the boy with the glasses. "That's Sirius Black," he said, pointing to the handsome boy with dark hair.
"Jane Hensworth," she said shyly.
"It's your first year too, right?" James asked. Jane nodded.
"Cool. So, what house do you wanna be in?"
Jane's heart sank a little at his question. She figured she might as well get it over with.
"I'm don't know," she said. "I'm a Mudblood," she mumbled. Both boys stared at her in shock as though she had cursed at them.
"Don't say that word," James exclaimed. "Especially about yourself."
"Well, that's what I am, isn't it?" Jane didn't really understand the meaning behind the word. "My parents aren't magic."
"Your parents are Muggles," James explained, "and you're a Muggle-born."
"Yeah, where'd you even hear that word from?" Sirius asked. Jane looked down and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
"Some girls called me that," Jane said quietly. James looked almost offended at her admission as though this were a personal insult to him.
"Well, Sirius and I will teach you how to hex people so they won't mess with you," James said.
Jane's eyes got a little big. She didn't want to hex anybody. At the same time, however, she was happy that James and Sirius weren't taking the mickey out of her for being what they called 'Muggle-born.'
"So, I shouldn't be ashamed that my parents are-are Muggles?" Jane asked, trying to use their terms, the word feeling weird in her mouth.
Sirius shook his head.
"Nah. There are loads of students at Hogwarts that are Muggle-born, and they do just fine. And they probably work harder than the ones that aren't, so they probably get good marks."
Jane let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. I was worried that I might not be good at magic," she said.
"You'll do fine," James said. "There are just some people that think that just because their parents are wizards means that they're above everyone else. I mean, I'm a pure-blood, and you don't see me bragging about it all the time."
"Yeah, my mum's like that," Sirius admitted. "It's repulsive."
Jane smiled a little.
"Well, then what would she say if she saw you talking to me?"
Sirius smirked.
"Fall over dead, I expect."
"So, what house should I want to be in?" Jane asked James, and he smiled at her.
"Well, it really depends on how you are. Like, if you're really smart, you'll probably be in Ravenclaw. I, personally, want to be in Gryffindor. That's where my dad was. It's for the brave."
"Yeah, and if you're pompous and big-headed, like all of my family have been, you'll probably be in Slytherin," Sirius said sullenly.
"Will your mum be mad if you're not in Slytherin?" Jane asked.
Sirius chuckled.
"Are you kidding? She might send me to Durmstrang."
James laughed with Sirius, and Jane smiled even though she had no clue what or where a Durmstrang was.
"But like I said earlier, I might be the only one in the Black family to not be in Slytherin. That's what I'm hoping for at least," Sirius said.
The trio talked on for hours. Mostly it was just James and Sirius explaining to Jane about school houses and Quidditch, but they all seemed to enjoy each other's company. They changed into their robes and arrived at the school when it was dark outside. They all three climbed into a boat with a boy, named Remus, who looked rather sickly, but he was really nice.
Jane stared at the castle in awe as they crossed the inky lake. It sparkled and glittered in the reflection of the water which made the scene twice as beautiful. Breath-taking even.
"It's beautiful," she said, more to herself than to the boys, but they all agreed anyway.
After that, there was a lot of pushing and trying to keep up with James and Sirius in the crowd of other first years. James finally grabbed onto Jane's wrist so that she wouldn't get lost in the miniature sea of people.
Once they were in the Great Hall, with all the other students staring them down, James, Sirius, Remus, and Jane managed to push their way to the front of the crowd. Jane looked up at the old hat that sat on a stool in front of them. Then, the roll began to be called.
Even though she had read about the Sorting ceremony in her books, Jane was still really excited about seeing a talking hat. Of course, she tried not to look too eager; she tried to be cool about it. She watched as a few people were sorted into different houses. Then, it was Sirius' turn.
"Good luck," Jane said before he walked forward.
Jane hoped, from what James and Sirius had said, that he wouldn't be put into Slytherin. The whole house seemed awful. Luckily, the Hat shouted out "Gryffindor!"
"Phew," Jane heard James tell Remus, "I thought I was going to have to be friends with a Slytherin there for a while."
Jane got worried for a second.
"You don't think I'll be put in Slytherin, do you?" she asked James.
He chuckled.
"Nah, you're too nice."
Jane relaxed a little. Finally, she saw the red-haired girl from the train (her name was Lily). She was also sorted into Gryffindor. The two girls that had made fun of her were put into Slytherin. She told this to James, and he said that it wasn't a coincidence. Then, it was her turn.
"Hensworth, Jane," the witch in emerald called.
James nudged Jane forward a bit when he realised that she wasn't moving. When she sat on the stool, she caught a glimpse of Sirius giving her the thumbs up. She smiled a bit and felt a little more confident before the hat fell over her eyes.
It felt like the Hat was on her head for an eternity, though it was probably only closer to a minute and a half. Luckily, she couldn't see anything but the inside of the Hat. Finally, it shouted out "Gryffindor!" and she joined Sirius and the red-haired girl at the Gryffindor table. The girl seemed to be ignoring Sirius, so Jane sat between them.
"You looked so nervous," Sirius teased. "I could see you shaking from all the way down here."
"Shut up," Jane said, pushing him playfully as she blushed; she had been shaking quite a bit.
"I'm glad we're in the same house," Sirius said.
Jane looked at him and smiled, finally feeling that she had found a friend in Sirius, and James as well.
"Me too."
They watched as Remus was sorted into Gryffindor along with a mousey boy named Peter, who seemed okay. Then, James was sorted there too. After that, Jane stopped paying close attention. But she was paying enough attention to know that the boy Lily had been with on the train was sorted into Slytherin. Jane didn't really know what that meant, but she kind of felt bad for Lily.
After the Feast was over, and Jane had made friends with Remus and Peter, they all headed up to the Gryffindor common room.
"So, are we going to have classes together?" Jane asked the boys.
"Yeah," Remus said, "you always have class with your house until we get to pick electives and things, but you don't have to worry about that until third year."
"Oh, okay good," she said. "Well, I better go write Sarah; she'll be dying to hear from me. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," they all said simultaneously.
And with that, Jane rushed up the stairs and into the room labelled, First Year Girls. She quickly found her things and flopped down on the bed that they were beside. She let out a squeal of excitement.
"Are you okay?" asked a girl with black hair.
"Yeah," Jane said, "I'm just excited is all. I'm a Muggle-born, and everything is just so different now."
"You're a Muggle-born?"
Jane looked around to see Lily and nodded.
"Me too," Lily said, looking relieved to have found someone else like her.
Jane got to know her roommates; she had four in all. First, there was Lily, who was Muggle-born like her. She was really nice and reminded Jane a bit of Sarah. Next, there was Alice. She was a pure-blood, but she didn't mind that Jane and Lily were Muggle-born; in fact, she seemed to find it fascinating. Then, there was Marlene and Mary, who were both half-bloods. They seemed really nice as well. Marlene even told Jane how to send her letters by owl and said that she'd help her send her letter to her friend.
Jane pulled out some ink, a quill, and some parchment and began on her letters. The first was to her parents, telling them that she'd gotten there safely and everything parents tended to want to hear. Then, she wrote one to Sarah:
Dear Sarah,
I miss you so much already. I wish you could be here with me. I can't wait till Christmas. My classes start tomorrow, and I'm so nervous. Oh, and two girls made fun of me today. Can you believe that? Classes haven't even started, and I'm already getting picked on! But on the bright side, I met some really nice people too. And my dorm mates (I have four. FOUR!) are really nice too. You'd really like this one girl. Her name's Lily. She reminds me of you, but don't worry. You're still my best friend, and it'll always be that way!
Your bestest friend,
Jane
After that, Marlene sent the letters out with her owl, Chauncey, and they all decided to get some rest before their first day of class.
A/N: If you would like more of the story as you read, I have created a Tumblr page for this fic (the link is on my profile). There, you can explore things like Jane's letters to her friends, her class schedules and much, much more. However, beware of spoiler alerts if you choose to explore this fic's Tumblr.