Sam watched the English countryside blur by as he pressed his cheek against the window. He felt a bit of cold creeping through the glass, despite the fact that it was a sunny, rather warm September morning. It was lonely, with no one to talk to, but Sam was quite used to it. He could faintly see his reflection in the window. Light mahogany brown hair, navy eyes, very light brown skin. The tip of his nose was upturned a bit, from when he'd run into a wall as a small child. As he breathed, the window fogged up a bit. He tucked a strand of his feathery hair behind his ear, zipped up his maroon hoodie to keep warm, and drew a smiley face in the steam on the window.

He heard the compartment door slide open behind him, and he whipped around. Standing in the doorway was another boy, maybe his age. Inky black hair, piercing, ice blue eyes, and smooth light skin. Sam wondered what he was doing there. Perhaps he was lost?

'Hullo,' the boy said. His accent was a little bit different, like he was from somewhere else in England. Yorkshire, maybe? Not London, at least. 'Would you mind if I sat here? Everyone in my carriage was being quite obnoxious.'

Sam blinked. Someone wanted to sit with him? Well, that wasn't technically the reason.. But still. In his 3 years going to Hogwarts, no one had ever sat in the same train car with him.

'U-um, sure…' Sam motioned to the other open seat. 'G-go ahead.'

'Thanks.' The boy sat down in the seat, setting his brown, over-the-shoulder bag on the ground in front of him. 'I'm Alex, by the way. Alex Shiskin.' He held out his hand.

Sam reached out and shook Alex's hand. It was warm, and had a strong grip. 'I'm S-sam McCaffery.'

'Well then, lovely to meet you, Sam.'

He felt himself blush a little. "Ah, y-you too…'

Alex crossed his legs and leaned back. 'What year are you?'

'Oh, uh, th-third. You?'

'I am too! But I guess we're in different houses though. I've never really seen you before.'

Sam shrugged. 'Probably… I'm in Hufflepuff.'

'Aaah.' Alex smirked at him. 'Honestly, can't say I'm surprised. I'm Ravenclaw myself.'

'H-hey, what's that supposed to mean?' Sam frowned.

He shrugged. 'I dunno, you just look like the kind of person that you usually see around Hufflepuff. It's not a bad thing, you know,' he added, seeing the look on Sam's face. 'Just an observation.'

'Hmm.'

Silence stretched between them as the train moved faster through the country. It was a bit awkward, really. Sitting in total silence with someone he didn't really know, waiting to get to a school where they probably wouldn't run into each other again.

In an anxious attempt to break the silence, Sam shifted a little and cleared his throat.

'U-u-um… do y-you have any siblings th-that go to Hogwarts?'

'No, just me.'

'O-oh, well.. My sister just had her last year… and my brother is g-going to have his first year next year.'

Alex tilted his head. 'I'd give anything to have a sibling or two.'

Sam giggled. 'Oh, I don't think you'd say that if you knew my siblings. Let me tell you…

A/N Please tell me what you think so far UwU