It was a good thing Jade didn't waste the time doing her hair this morning because as they crossed onto the platform of 9 ¾ rain began to shower down on them. It only took a matter of minutes before Jade was completely soaked and shivering.

"This works against us, doesn't it?" Her mother muttered angrily towards the sky. "I won't keep you long." She looked down at Jade and pulled her in for a hug, "Be good. Have fun at school." Jade allowed her mother a few seconds before she pulled away.

"Be safe." Her father told her, "Keep an eye out when you're around Harry Potter." Jade furrowed her eyebrows,

"He's not dangerous." Her father chuckled as he wiped his glasses clean with his shirt.

"I don't think he is, dear."

"But, then why did you-" Jade was drowned out by the loud howling of the train's warning whistle.

"Come on, I'll help you with your things." Her father grabbed her trunk and Jade picked up Ezekiel's cage as she waved goodbye to her mother. Her father sighed as they stood just outside of the train doors and frowned down at her, "You're growing too much. I can't keep up."

"Maybe you're just shrinking." Jade smiled as she took a look around and saw a few familiar faces passing her to get on the train. He laughed at this and kissed her quickly on the forehead.

"Go, write to us tomorrow." He told her and she reached out and squeezed his hand before stepping into the train corridor. Jade was expecting the corridor to be packed full of students trying to find somewhere to sit but it wasn't as filled as she feared, she struggled down the corridor, looking for her friends. Most of them were filled already but after walking past two other compartments she found Theo sitting with Blaise and Pansy. Theo noticed her right away and stood to open the compartment door,

"Hey!" He smiled, "Need help?" Jade nodded and he grabbed her trunk and slid it under his seat.

"Thank you." She sighed as she sat across from him and set Ezekiel down gently.

"Did you get your form signed?" Pansy asked quickly and Jade nodded, "Good! We're going to have so much fun this year!"

"I read that Hogsmeade is the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain," Blaise said as he closed the book he was currently reading.

"Interesting." Theo raised his eyebrows as he looked out the window, his mind clearly on something else.

"I want to visit Honeydukes," Jade told Pansy excitedly, her mouth began to fill with saliva at the thought of it.

"Your sweet tooth is going to make you sick," Pansy warned her but Jade went on,

"Licorice snaps, pepper imps, chocolate frogs, I even heard they have quills made of sugar."

"Have you heard about the Shrieking Shack?" Blaise interrupted,

"The what?"

"The Shrieking Shack," Draco spoke as he slid open the compartment's door. "is supposedly the most haunted place in Britain." Just as they had all shot up in height so had he, him more than the others. He looked different from how she remembered him just a few months ago, too much change, she almost thought her eyes were deceiving her for a second.

"Draco," Jade spoke quietly, she'd only heard from Draco twice over the break, and both times that she did he didn't really go into detail about how his summer was going. The last letter she sent he didn't even respond to. She thought he might've been upset with her for some reason but he walked towards her now with his usual smirk before sinking down noisily next to her, setting Hunter down next to Ezekiel, and throwing an arm over her shoulders. Jade threw his arm off, annoyed with him.

"What?" He smirked but Jade crossed her arms under her chest and ignored him.

"That'd be something fun to see." Pansy continued cautiously, trying to get everyone out of the awkward silence. "What we're trying to say is Hogsmeade will be a blast." She grinned wickedly at Jade and even though she wasn't in a good mood, Pansy was able to pull a similar smile from her.

Around one, the rain had turned to dark storm clouds and it only took a few minutes before they were riding through a loud storm. A banging on their door caught Jade's attention as Pansy was going on about a rumor she heard about an older Slytherin girl. Jade welcomed the distraction, she didn't really care to hear how many boys the girl was planning to go through this year. Crabbe and Goyle were looking in and Draco stood up and made his way to them,

"Where are you going?" Jade asked,

"Speaking to me now, are you?" Draco asked, quirking his eyebrow before shutting the compartment door and going off with the two boys.

"Who shat in his cereal this morning?" Pansy mumbled and Jade sighed, moving to get up and go after him but Theo held out his hand.

"He doesn't need a babysitter." Jade glared at him but leaned back in her seat,

"I'm not his babysitter." She argued and he shrugged,

"You know what I'm excited to try at Honeydukes?" Theo asked her, trying to turn her mood around. "Blood-flavored pops." They all groaned and he smiled, "Oh yeah, heard they're tasty."

"Gross, Nott." Blaise groaned. Theo's plan had worked though and Jade smiled at him before leaning towards him,

"I'll have to make sure I'm around when you try one." His smile faltered for a second, "I'd be interested too. Once you try one, I will too." Theo stretched out his hand and Jade shook it,

"Deal." He told her. She had no desire to try such a nasty thing but she didn't believe she was going to have to, there was no way Theo was going to do it. Draco reappeared then, wherever he went seemed to put him in a sour mood and he looked annoyed as he looked between Theo and Jade before reclaiming his spot.

"That was quick," Jade said and Draco just glanced at her before looking out at the dark sky.

As it got later and darker the lanterns in the corridors flared alive, the rain had grown louder and you could hear the whistling of the wind outside.

"We have to be almost there." Pansy sighed, everyone was getting a little restless, except for Jade. Jade always liked it when it rained, whether it was a light drizzle or a full-out thunderstorm, she found it relaxing and she had fallen asleep against Blaise about an hour ago. Her sleep was interrupted as the train lurched forward and then stopped. Blaise caught her before she fell to the floor. Ezekiel squawked loudly as his cage slid violently and Draco caught it before he tipped over.

"Thank you." Jade looked at her friends and watched Theo as he walked towards the door and poked his head out. "Why did we stop?"

"We're here!" Pansy sang but Draco shushed her,

"I don't think so." He told her and then all of the lights went out at once. Theo shut the door and locked it quickly. "What's going on?" Draco asked him and he quietly sat next to Pansy and shook his head,

"I don't think anyone knows."

"What if the train broke down?" Jade was slowly becoming paranoid that something bad had happened and that's why they stopped, what else could be the reason? "Have you heard about Sirius Black?" She whispered the thought as it entered her mind and her friends all looked at her. The train fell silent which only magnified the sounds of the storms outside.

"What does he have to do with anything?" Draco whispered without his recent hostility,

"You don't think he's on the train do you?" Pansy asked and Jade shrugged but Blaise rolled his eyes,

"Yes, one man could stop an entire train."

"It's possible." Pansy shot back at him.

"Something's moving out there," Theo told them and they all strained to look out the window, Draco shouldered Pansy away when she tried to block his view but Jade didn't see anything to look at besides the lightning illuminating the rainclouds. A quiet hissing sound caught Jade's attention from the window and she turned just in time to see a shadowy figure pass their door.

"Guys." She breathed and they all turned as another black figure moved slowly right outside their door. Lightning cracked across the sky at that moment and they saw that the figure was covered in a dark tattered cloak. Jade took a step closer to try and make out the figure a little better, to see who it might be, but Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his side.

"What is-" Pansy began but Blaise threw a hand over her mouth. The figure must have heard her though because it turned to face them. Jade couldn't see its face but an icy feeling pierced through her chest and pulsed throughout her body. She was afraid that it would be able to hear her heart beating in her chest as it raised a bony hand and placed it on the door's window. The lightning flashed across the sky again and Jade could see that the hand looked gray and almost decayed and the fingertips were scabbed over. Jade reached back, grabbed ahold of somebody's hand, and squeezed. She thought she would feel better if she was touching someone, maybe find comfort in it, she didn't know why but she did and it didn't work even as the hand squeezed back. Jade was still terrified, she was waiting for it to do something but it just stood there, taking a deep, rattling breath in and then hissing it out. The spot where its hand touched the glass was slowly frosting over but unbelievably the figure lowered his hand and turned before slowly moving past their compartment. Even though the thing was gone, none of them moved in fear of it returning or another one coming in its place. They only stood in the darkness for a few more minutes before the lanterns fluttered back on and the train whistle blew before it slowly began moving again.

"What was that?" Pansy sniffled as she wiped a frightened tear away.

"I'm guessing a dementor." Blaise let out the breath he was holding, he was the first to move back to his seat. Jade felt a shiver run over her body as the cold feeling started to fade and she let go of her friend's hand. She looked back to see that the hand belonged to Draco.

"Thanks." She said quietly and he nodded at her, "That's what a dementor looks like?" Jade asked as she took her seat next to Blaise and then slowly the others sat down as well.

"I've only read about them but it makes sense. A prisoner escaped from Azkaban so they're probably looking for him."
"Why would he be on the train to Hogwarts?" Pansy asked and Draco scoffed.

"I'm sure Jade knows." He said when they all looked at him but Jade furrowed her eyebrows,

"Why would I know?" She asked and Draco gave her a confused look,

"What, you haven't talked to Potter yet?"

"No?" She asked and he shrugged, "Why? What do you know?"

"Not my business to tell. I'm sure he'll tell you soon though since you guys are best pals."

"Can you not?" Jade asked tiredly, she was still recovering from the dementor and she was in no mood to argue with him, sensing that right now wasn't the time to jab at her, he relented and scooted closer to her.

"I'm sorry." He told her quietly as Pansy asked Blaise more about the wicked creatures. "I've been in a bad mood."

"You have?" She gasped and he grinned at her. "I'm glad you told me, I wouldn't have noticed."

"You're such a smartass." He bumped his shoulder into hers and she bumped him back. "Hey, Pansy." He grinned as he glanced out the window, "Now we're here." Pansy practically jumped out of her seat.

"Finally."