The incoming students scrambled to get off the train and it was a tight squeeze to get outside.

"Firs' years this way!" Jade heard the deep call of Hagrid's voice and she looked over the crowd of students to see him towering over everyone else and waving his hand to get their attention. The rain continued to fall in a freezing downpour and Jade's teeth chattered together as she walked close to Pansy to try and keep warm. Thankfully, the walk to the track where hundreds of stagecoaches waited for them wasn't very far. Somehow the stagecoaches pulled themselves all the way to the castle, Jade wondered if they were enchanted or maybe somehow sentient but she didn't dawdle on it much before climbing in.

"Draco, come on!" Jade chattered at him, a strong draft was coming through the door and Draco was standing there in the pouring rain talking to Crabbe and Goyle. "Draco!" Jade yelled and Draco quickly said goodbye to them and stepped in. The stagecoach was packed tightly to fit the five of them though Jade didn't mind, Draco and Pansy were keeping her warm.

"What were you standing in the rain for?" Pansy rubbed her arms to try and get some warmth back into them through her soaked clothes.

"Those dementors on the train scared Potter so bad that he fainted." Draco found this amusing but no one else did, Jade didn't blame Harry, the dementors were terrifying. The carriage rolled along the road, hitting about every pebble on the way.

"Hilarious," Jade muttered but Draco just rolled his eyes and grinned to himself again. The ride was quiet, they were all cold, tired, and hungry. Jade only spoke again when she noticed a floating figure on both sides of the great iron gates that welcomed them onto the castle's property. "Why are they here?" Theo looked out the small window and sank back in his seat.

"Maybe Dumbledore hired them to scare kids into behaving."

"Terrifying thought," Pansy muttered but the carriages quickly passed them and then in a little while later they stopped. Draco was the first to hop out and he didn't wait for the others before hurrying ahead of them and stopping halfway up the stone steps, blocking someone's way. "Who's he talking to?" Pansy asked, squinting to try and make out the back of the other boy's head.

"I'll give you one guess." Jade sighed before going after him, maybe Theo was right, she did feel like Draco's babysitter.

"You fainted, Potter? You actually fainted?" Draco laughed and Jade brushed her way past others to get to his side.

"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron spoke, his jaw was clenched but he relaxed slightly at the sight of Jade. He didn't look so different from last year, his hair had grown out a bit more. Harry looked exactly the same besides his hair, it was different, or maybe that was just the rain messing with it.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" Draco turned to Ron and was speaking loudly on purpose, trying to attract attention and embarrass them. "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too?"

"Let's go." Jade grabbed a hold of Draco's hand and took a step but Draco didn't move so she leaned in behind him, "Can you not? It's the first night back." She told him.

"Is there a problem?" A quiet but firm voice asked and Jade looked behind her friends to see an older man in faded robes making his way up to them with a suitcase in his hand.

"No, sir," Jade told him quickly and she yanked on Draco's hand again and this time he allowed her to pull him away. "I'm sorry." She told Harry and the others, Harry gave her a stiff nod and she turned around, flinging his hand out of hers once they were further away.

"You can hold my hand if you want to," Draco smirked at her and she groaned in disgust. "You've been doing that a lot today."

"You're right, when I need to pull you away from trouble I'll grab you by your collar from now on, or maybe your ear." Jade pinched his ear between her fingers and pulled and he cried out in pain before batting her hand away.

"No, that's much worse."

"It works." Jade countered as they made their way through the Grand Entrance Hall which was lit with flaming torches. To the left, there was a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors. The door to the Great Hall stood open at the right. Draco and Jade had gotten separated from the others but they followed the crowd of students into the Great Hall and found them again as they made their way to the Slytherin table and took their seats a bit further down the table than they had the previous year.

"Where's Professor McGonagall?" Jade asked as she watched Professor Flitwick hurry towards a stool sitting in front of the High Table where the teachers sat with the Sorting Hat in his hands. The first years were all standing silently just at the bottom of the steps as Professor Flitwick unrolled a parchment in his hands and then began reading off the names. Jade wasn't really interested in the incoming first years, she was looking for a younger girl that she had met last year. It didn't help that all of their faces were turned to watch the Sorting Ceremony, Jade was looking for Gretta Montgomery. Gretta was a shy girl that had grown on Jade and she became a part of their group when Jade decided to keep her around. Jade's eyes flitted between heads, looking for a girl with auburn hair but the trouble was that not all of the candles above were lit and the lighting in the Great Hall was dim. Gretta didn't have a bright blaze of red hair like Ron and his siblings, her hair was darker, almost brown. A girl a few seats in front of Jade turned to whisper something to the girl next to her and Jade recognized her at once.

"Gretta!" Jade tried to call to her quietly and she fully turned. Jade lifted her hand off the table and waved at her. Gretta's face lit up once she saw Jade and she waved back with double the excitement before excusing herself and coming to sit with them.

"Move," Jade told Draco so Gretta could sit next to her but he didn't. "Move." She said again but he just looked at her. Jade grabbed a hold of his ear and he immediately stood up and shoved Goyle out of the seat next to him and took it for himself. "Hello, love." She greeted Gretta with a warm smile and a big hug.

"How was your summer?" Gretta whispered,

"Busy. What about you?"

"It was okay. My mum and I visited my aunt in France."

"France?" Jade asked over the sudden applause from the Slytherin table as a student was sorted into their house, "I would love to go to Paris. Did you see the Eiffel tower?"

"She insisted on it."

"But I'm not the only one who traveled over the summer, I bet Egypt was much more exciting than France."

"What?" Jade asked over more applause, "Who went to Egypt?"
"Ron Weasley." Gretta said as if it were obvious, "They won the lottery and went to Egypt, it was in the Daily Prophet."

"Oh." Jade turned to see Ron sitting with his two older brothers and two empty seats beside him. "I didn't know that."

"You'll have to ask him how it was and tell me, I'm quite interested." Just then all of the tables erupted into cheers and she looked up to see Flitwick picking up the Sorting Hat and hurrying away. Headmaster Dumbledore stepped up then to address the student body. He was a very old man and a lot of people called him the greatest wizard of the age. He must have been quite impressive when he was younger, now he stood in front of them with long silver strands of hair and a beard to match, peering down at them through his spectacles.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore's voice echoed through the hall, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…" Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." He paused,

"I saw them at the entrance. They're horrifying." Gretta whispered into Jade's ear,

"At least you didn't see them up close on the train," Jade told her.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises… or even Invisibility Cloaks," Jade's eyebrow twitched and she looked over at Ron again to find that Hermione and Harry had joined him and they were all sharing a knowing look. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I, therefore, warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," Dumbledore paused again, he looked seriously around the hall and nobody moved or made a sound. "On a happier note," he continued with a sudden smile and Jade relaxed at the mood change, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Jade recognized this man, he was the one who stepped up to them when Draco was bothering Harry and Ron. He wasn't an old man but even as he smiled at the applauding children his face looked tired and sunken in. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, and as Jade looked at him at the other end of the table he didn't even try to hide his despise towards Lupin. "As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the scattered applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid," Jade paused and scanned the teachers to find Hagrid at the very end sitting next to McGonagall who had reappeared. "who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties." Jade looked towards her friends at the Gryffindor table, they seemed surprised at this news as well but they only lacked for a moment before bursting into cheers with some of the other students, Jade being one among them, earning herself odd looks from her fellow Slytherins.

"You've got to be joking." Draco grumbled behind Jade so she let out a short 'whoo' which caused Blaise to jump in front of her.

"Okay, that's enough. Sit down." Gretta coaxed her back down and Jade looked around at her friends with a large smile on her face but the others weren't nearly as happy with this news as she was.

"You're all so dull."

"I'm not dull!" Pansy objected from across the table.

"Let the feast begin!" Dumbledore called and the traditional golden plates, utensils, and goblets appeared out of thin air and in front of each student before food appeared in the center of each table. Jade was starving, now that she was inside she was starting to dry off and warm up and now she was about to eat, all was good. The feast itself was delicious as always. The hall echoed with familiar talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks. This right here was one of the things that Jade clarified as a feeling of home. Her first night in the new dormitories was different than before. Instead of going up the dormitory stairs they now went down and they led into a stone hall that had many doors down it. Torches lit the way and names were engraved in a silver plaque next to each door claiming who would be in what room. Instead of one large room that held all the girls of their year, they were now separated into pairs. Pansy and Jade found their names together and as they celebrated this, they entered their room and found a four-poster bed on opposite sides of the room. It would just be them this year. The door closed to their screams of joy.