I stepped off the train, and almost fell flat on my face because my robes caught onto the last step. Luckily, Neville was walking out right behind me, and grabbed my arm. Unluckily, him being his uncoordinated self, we both toppled to the ground, and I landed on top of him. I awkwardly laughed as we got stuck in some kind of staring contest. I never noticed how green his eyes were... Are they green? I can't really tell... His cheeks are so chubby! It's adorable...

"Um, this is awkwaaaaard..." I say, laughing as I untangle my robes from Neville's.

"I-uh, yeah." he says, blushing profusely. I laugh even harder. We start walking towards the carriages, but I stop mid-stride.

"What are those things?!" I ask, my voice squeaking a little.

"What are what things?" Hermione says, looking at my out of the corner of her eye, "I wonder where Harry and Ron are... I haven't seem them yet."

"Who knows, all I want to know is what the bloody hell are the things pulling the carriages!" I yell, planting my feet firmly on the ground.

"What things? There is nothing there, Rita!" Neville said, the blush slowly going away.

"There is, too! And I'm not taking another step forward before I find out what the hell they are!" I exclaim. I can distantly hear Hagrid behind me, yelling for the first years to join them.

"It's okay. I see them too," A quiet, dreamy voice said from behind me. I turn around and look at the shorter girl.

"Are you a first year? I don't think I have seen you before.." I say. She nods.

"They're Thestrals. Winged horses that only people who have witnessed death can see," The light-haired girl said. Oh.

"Oh. Um. Okay... Well, I don't really remember seeing anyone die..." I say quietly. Wait... There was Tonks' Great Grandma... That was probably it...

"Oh. Well I'm sure you will fin out sooner or later." She says before turning to walk away.

"Wow, she is...weird..." Neville said, shaking his head. I glare at him.

"Just because someone knows more than you, has witnessed death, and talks in a quiet voice doesn't mean they are weird!" I shout angrily at him.

"Jeez! Touched a nerve there...Sorry." He says, looking down at his shoes.

"You should be. What if she heard you? That would not be a very good first memory at Hogwarts for her." Hermione scolds. We walk towards the carriages, and Hermione and Neville get in. I slowly step up, and we are later joined by Lavender, another Gryffindor. We talked quietly as we waited for the Thestrals to pull up in front of Hogwarts. We got out and walked through the doors and straight to our house tables. I sat next to Hermione and Neville, which felt odd since I have never really sat with anyone at this table before.

NPOV

I think that there might be something wrong. I didn't really notice it on the train, but now that I can see Rita's face better, and it's not all dark, and she isn't hiding behind a book, she looks...really pretty. She looks way different from what I remember. She really grew up. And I was right, she is most definitely taller. Her hair is longer too. And when we fell, I noticed for the first time how pretty her eyes are, and how straight her teeth are. I wish I could get my teeth fixed, but Gran says that if a girl can't see the beauty on the outside, then it doesn't matter, because she won't be able to see the beauty on the inside. How am I supposed to impress a girl if I can't even stay standing up on my own two feet?! I'll never be able to get Rita to like me. I can't do anything right! I can't even make a simple boil potion without ruining everything!

"Hey Neville, guess what?" the auburn haired girl asks excitedly.

"What?"

"We get to try out for the Quidditch teams this year!" She exclaims. I smile.

"I won't be trying out. Remember when I tried to fly in first year?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. It wasn't that bad; I mean, anyone could have messed up!" She says. I know she doesn't really mean it, how could she?

I feel bad for poor Neville; all he can think about is how bad he was in first year. I will admit, he wasn't the best, but that doesn't mean he can't get better! Today was the first Saturday of the term, and Quidditch tryouts were being held down at the pitch. I quickly dressed and ran down stairs into the great hall. I wanted to be one of the first people there to try out; I wanted to be a chaser. Harry was an excellent seeker, and the Gryffindor team couldn't ask for a better set of beaters. Unfortunately(For them) one of their chasers graduated last year, so a new spot opened up. I wanted to get that spot so bad. I quickly ate my toast, and Hermione, Neville, Ron, and Harry came down soon after. Hermione sat across from me.

"Excited, are we?" She joked, laughing at me as I stuffed my face as fast as I could. I nodded vigorously.

"We're going to come with to see how well you do. I bet you that you'll get on the team," Neville said as he sat down next to me.

"Ths!" I say around my mouthful of food. Neville laughed before grabbing his own breakfast. I swallowed what was in my mouth, and stood up. I walked, okay I ran, out of the Great Hall and down out to the pitch. I was the second one there, a fourth year I didn't know was waiting down by the stands with his broomstick. Hmm. Not the right build for a chaser... I bet I can do better than him... I walked over to the school's broom shed, and pulled out the best looking one. I waited by the shed until Oliver Wood came down a little while later.

"Okay everyone! There is only one spot that is open, so try your hardest, and we will go on from there! Now, I want everyone to mount their brooms and do a few laps, so I can tell who is a good flyer." I climbed onto my broom, and rose into the air. I loved flying, it was so amazing. Being able to not be stuck to the ground. I flew around the pitch a few times, and waved to Hermione and Neville as I passed. I think I will get this spot. I hope I do...

I came trudging into the common room five hours later, soaked head to toe in mud. It had started raining pretty hard when we were trying out, and the dirt got all muddy. Malfoy thought it would be funny to dump a load of mud on me as I came back up to the castle. Hermione and Neville came rushing over.

"Sorry Rita! It was raining really hard, and we didn't want to get sick- What the bloody hell happened to you?!" She said quickly, looking me up and down.

"Malfoy happened." I growled. I was pissed. "I was doing fine, and freaking Malfoy spelled a bunch of mud to come and dump on me!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air and spraying mud over the carpet.

"Wow. He is such a little git!" Neville said. He kept looking at me funny. I wonder if he did get sick...

"Are you feeling alright? You look a little...Lost." I said, reaching out with my partly mud-free hand to feel his forehead. He quickly pulled away and blushed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just kind of tired. I'm going to go now." He rushed out, before he ran off to the boys dormitories. Hermione and I just looked at each other, similar looks of confusion.

How was it? Sorry for the long wait. #TheMuggleStruggleIsReal