A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I know this chapter is really long compared to the other chapters but it is hard for us to keep a consistent length to our chapters. Anyways we would love if you wonderful readers left a review and any advice on how to improve our story. Thank you!

-K

P.S. This is the first of K's chapters that I did any work on! - E

The Train Ride

Koko and Spencer had gotten on to the train and were now trying to find a compartment to sit in. Most of them seemed packed and Koko was a bit apprehensive to sit in some of the others that weren't, the students occupying them either looked like they would eat her alive or they looked like they would be all sweet, and sugary, like the bullies in her previous school. She and Spencer had almost lost their faith in finding a compartment when they stumbled upon a one with 4 people, 3 red-headed boys and a brunette girl. Koko immediately recognised the girl, she was the one from the platform. She was a bit scared, this girl had seen her when she was nervous, but she squared her shoulders. She couldn't let another moment of weakness show. Besides, the girl had smiled at her. She turned to Spencer.

" Let's go in there. We'll just have to deal with it if we don't like them."

"Sure. But, I really hope that they are people we can trust because it would be nice to have someone we can rely on in our new journey."

Koko turned back and knocked. A second later The door opened and revealed one of the red-headed twins. He was tall, but then again everyone was compared to her. He had blue eyes, kind of like Spencer's but a shade lighter. Spencer's eyes were an electric blue and were piercing and distrustful, at least at first, and also had a layer of eternal sorrow. The boy's eyes, on the other hand, were like the ocean and were happy, like someone who was used to laughing every day. Koko felt a twinge of envy, envy that someone could manage to see the light in everything when she struggled with that.

"Hello, what can we do for you?", he asked.

"We were wondering if we could stay with you on the train ride. We've got nowhere else to go."

"Of course!"

He then moved out of the way and opened the door wider to let them in. Spencer went in first and Keosha followed. The boy then shut the door. Spencer had a smile on his face while Keosha's was blank. They both waved and sat down opposite two red-headed boys, one who was most likely the twin of the boy who opened the door, and the girl.

Keosha hadn't gotten a good look at the girl's appearance on the platform but she had reminded her a little of Alice in Wonderland. She had a slightly naive, earnest look about her and her clothes were not helping: a pale blue dress (that in Koko's opinion was outdated, but it did suit the girl) with puffed sleeves and a white collar. The only things that were missing were the white apron and the headband. The girl had brownish hair in a pixie cut and really pretty green eyes that were framed by thin, oval-shaped glasses. She was also a head or so taller than Keosha. The girl smiled widely, revealing white, even teeth and said,

"That's a really nice ring. I've never seen a design quite like it before."

"Thank you very much. It was from my mom, she had it specially made.", Keosha replied with a smile tinged with a bit of sadness. "My name is Keosha Vani, by the way. What's yours?"

"Do you want the whole thing or the pronounceable nickname?", she said wryly, answering after a breath. "Unless you're French or have a burning desire to mispronounce my name - the two happen to be mutually exclusive - you should call me Ella."

"Way to give her a headache Ells!", the twins chortled

Keosha's expression was bemused. She had never met anyone that talked equally as much with their hands as with their mouth. She didn't appreciate the way Ella had introduced herself, it felt slightly rude, but Keosha wouldn't mention it. The twins, on the other hand, were clearly pranksters, it was as obvious as the fact that she was short. As she and Spencer sat down opposite each other, she said:

"It takes quite a bit more than that to give me a headache, actually, but I don't think I know your names yet."

"These two insufferable hooligans," Ella started, "are Fred and George Weasley. All I'll say is, don't get on their bad side. And this," she indicated the third boy, a bespectacled teenager who was sitting next to her, "is Percy. He's Fred and George's brother and is two years older than us."

"Pleasure to meet you.", Keosha said with a small smile. "This giant puppy," she said pointing at Spencer, "is Spencer Mcgee". She noticed Ella biting back a grin.

"Hiya!", Spencer waved cheerfully and then glared at Keosha. "I'm not a puppy!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Pabo!", Spencer pouted (Idiot)

"Mweorago?!", Keosha glowered (What did you say/What)

"Koko is a pabo", Spencer said, enunciating each word

"Ya!", Keosha shouted."Jjinjja michingeotta!" (Ya, you are really driving me crazy!)

Everything got pin-drop silent after that when suddenly Keosha and Spencer started howling like a pack of hyenas with laughter. The rest of the compartment stared in confusion and mild shock. Ella arched an eyebrow at the same time as Percy's mouth plopped open in a perfect "O". The twins, however, exchanged an intrigued glance. One of them- George, Keosha thought, but wasn't sure, asked,

"What language was that?"

"Korean.", Keosha answered calmly whilst Spencer just smirked.

"Where did you learn it?", asked Percy. Ella leaned slightly forward, interested as well.

"Well, Koko here was curious and wanted to learn a new language and I joined her because I was bored. Plus, we both wanted a language to speak between ourselves, a language not many people in England would be able to understand.", Spencer explained. Percy raised both eyebrows, impressed, and Ella smiled almost lazily. "Well, I have to admire your dedication," she said.

Keosha just smiled at her politely. She found the way the other girl said that patronising, but couldn't really explain why. It frustrated her, not knowing the reason.

"Little Miss Robot here speaks French, Romanian and Swedish fluently, on top of her already impeccable English. Honestly, she and Percy would be a match made in heaven.", Fred said, as if in answer, whilst rolling his eyes. A faint yet noticeable blush crept up Ella's cheeks, and Keosha raised her eyebrows.

"Nice. I know Swedish as well, but my writing and understanding skills are a whole lot better than my speaking. Quite frankly, my oral skills are garbage. I only learnt it because of one of my mom's ex-boyfriends. I can also hold a conversation in Spanish and of course, I am fluent in my own mother tongue, Telugu, which is a south-Indian language. It is really important in Indian culture to know the language that your family speaks. Spence on the other hand only knows English and Korean. He understands very little Russian only because his mom is Russian.", Keosha said.

"I just never bothered to lean it. The only Russian I know is Swear words and how to say hello. ", Spencer said, accompanying his explanation with a smile and shrug.

"It's nice to meet another polyglot. People these days just don't understand the fun of learning languages!", Ella exclaimed with a laugh like a silver bell ringing.

She opened her mouth as if to continue talking, but something outside caught her eye, and she pressed her face to the window.

"Oh!", she gasped, entranced. "Isn't that the loveliest thing you'd ever see?", she sighed, her dilated pupils fixed on a blue loch, its surface shimmering in the morning sun. Her slim fingers twisted the pretty charm bracelet she was wearing around her wrist. When she finally tore her wide green eyes away from the nature scene, Ella smiled - almost apologetically. "I'm afraid I rather have a tendency to go into ecstasies over pretty things.", she said, addressing herself to Keosha and Spencer.

Keosha "hmmed". She couldn't help but think that maybe Ella wasn't like everyone else and that although she seemed a bit vain, a trait that Keosha disliked, Ella would make a good and trustworthy friend. The Twins were fun, Keosha had always had a soft spot for pranksters and red-heads. Percy…well, she didn't really have an opinion about him. He seemed like an overly studious and rule-abiding person. She just hoped that he realised that having fun is an important factor in life.

Keosha wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings but she was broken out of her reverie when she heard loud laughter from the twins, and when she turned focused she saw that Ella was blushing. It seemed to her that they loved teasing Ella, and people in general - especially their family and those they considered family.

"Is Hogwarts the only wizarding school?", Keosha heard Spencer ask. She was dumbfounded and stared at him in disbelief. She shook her head slowly and then smacked him on the head hard.

"Seriously?! Do you have a brain?! Honestly, it doesn't make sense that Hogwarts is the only school! It's not like the UK is the only country on this planet! Aish…!", Keosha's voice was high pitched in her disbelief of Spencer's stupidity but she ended her comment with a sigh.

Ella giggled while Percy just smiled awkwardly. He started to explain,

"Well, there are schools all-"

"Our eldest brother, Bill, had a pen friend from Brazil. His name was Abel-something or other.", Fred interrupted. "Bill owled him all the time."

"Yes,", Ella continued. "There is also a school in Sweden, although I don't quite recall what it was called though. Something with "Týr" in it. He's the god of wisdom, you know, in Norse mythology. My father was awfully disappointed that I chose Hogwarts over it, as it was his alma mater. But mother insisted as we plan on staying in the UK, and she wants me to be better acquainted with the Wizarding laws here."

"Ahh. That makes sense. And I do know about Týr. I'm kind of a mythology geek, a huge one. Although, I mainly focus on Greek, Roman and Egyptian, and of course Indian. Can't forget my own heritage.", Keosha said.

"Oh, how lovely, a like-minded fanatic. Although I find Babylonian and Asian myths fascinating too." Ella answered with a smile. "Oh, I say!" she exclaimed, glancing at her watch in alarm. "We'd better go and change into our school clothes!"