Rachel followed the little redhead who had her by the hand. Margaret was spunky and sweet and had managed to catch Rachel's attention as soon as they had met in Diagon Alley a week previous. The poor girl was completely clueless about the magic world though, as her parents were both muggles. It was almost sad watching her try to find her way, but Margaret seemed to be enjoying every second of it.

Rachel cast a quick glimpse over her shoulder. Stephen, a blond boy with a confident way of carrying himself, was right behind her. A little farther behind was Gerald, who was struggling to keep up even with his long legs. He wasn't nearly as confident as Stephen.

She turned back to Margaret, who had stopped abruptly to fling open a compartment door. Rachel had to take moment to absorb the sight in front of her. The lightning bolt scar?

"Hi! I'm Margaret!"

Rachel pulled her back as Stephen gasped behind them. "Margaret! That's Harry Potter! You can't just say, 'I'm Margaret!'"

"Oh!" Margaret gasped. Then, "Who's Harry Potter?"

Rachel sighed. "Him! The boy who lived! He survived an attack by you-know-who!"

Margaret gasped loudly and turned to Gerald, who had finally caught up. "Gerald, you tried to kill him?"

Gerald was caught rather off guard by this. "What? No! She meant he-who-shall-not-be-named!"

"Why? Is his name a bad word?"

Rachel, Gerald, and Stephen all cast a quick glance around that meant only one thing: this girl must be protected at all costs.

"Er, no, it's, um…"

"Voldemort." Harry Potter grumbled.

Margaret looked back at the boy who lived. "I have no idea who that is, Rachel!"

Rachel sighed and put her hand on Margaret's shoulder. "I'll explain it later. For now, I just think you should show a little more respect for Harry Potter."

"Please don't, actually." Harry smiled at Margaret. "I am Harry Potter, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Margaret."

Margaret extended her hand and Harry took it. "Pleasure's all mine!" Then she turned sharply to the boy sitting next to Harry. "Fellow ginger." She giggled.

"Ron Weasley." The boy introduced himself.

"Weasley, hm?" Stephen poked his head into the compartment. "Haven't seen you in while."

Rachel could tell by the redheaded boy's face that he hadn't been expecting to see Stephen, and perhaps wasn't pleased either. "Andrews…" He grumbled.

"How are things with your father?" Stephen entered the compartment.

Ron continued to scowl at Stephen, but he didn't seem to notice. "He's fine. What about yours?"

Stephen was visibly bothered, but didn't say anything. "The usual…"

"Oh." Ron fell quiet.

Rachel looked between them for a moment, trying to read the situation, but with no luck.

Margaret stared at the scar on Harry's forehead. "So cool." She whispered. "I don't have a scar like that."

"Margaret! That's rude!" Rachel smacked her.

"Why?" She looked genuinely confused. "I said it looks cool!"

Harry smiled again. "It's fine."

Margaret suddenly perked up. "Wait! Are you new to this too?"

Harry thought for a second before answering, "Well, yeah…I guess."

Margaret grinned. "That makes me feel better. I don't know anything about what's happening here. I had to find Rachel in order to even find the right platform, and I still almost got lost. Then I tripped while I was boarding and got hurt." She smiled sheepishly. "It's only my first time and I'm already having a hard time."

Harry laughed. "I had a hard time too. But I'm sure it will get better."

Margaret beamed. "Yeah, you're right." She stepped out of the compartment. "I'll see you both soon!"

Rachel had to run to keep up as Margaret took off running again. "Hey! Wait!"

"Later, Weasley." Stephen nodded toward Ron and took off.

Gerald screwed up his face and gave Harry and Ron a look. "I feel like I've been kidnapped." Then he chased after the other three.

Rachel was amazed that the girl who tripped over everything could run so fast. "Margaret!"

Suddenly, the other girl stopped, causing Rachel to crash into her. Stephen hit both of them and they all fell onto the ground. "Margaret!" Stephen scolded.

"What's this?"

Rachel looked up to see a pale, blond boy. "Pardon?"

"Oh. You." Gerald had caught up.

He and the blond boy were glaring at each other. "White."

"Malfoy." Gerald looked down at Rachel, Margaret, and Stephen. "What happened?"

"Margaret stopped too fast." Rachel tried to shove Stephen off.

"Oh." Gerald looked back at the blond boy and grimaced. "Pleasure to see you again, Draco. When was it last? A week ago? Two?"

"One month." Draco Malfoy spat.

"It feels like it's been shorter than that." Gerald sneered.

"You know him?" Margaret crawled out from under the pile.

"This is Draco Malfoy, son of the ever-pretentious, er, I mean prestigious, Lucius Malfoy. His father and mine work side by side."

"It is unfortunate that your father married a muggle woman though." Draco remarked. "He could have done so much better."

Gerald forced himself to smile. "If you're picking a fight, Malfoy, I'll have to inform you that I'm under strict orders to not get myself dirty. But I'm sure someone else will happily mess you up for me."

Rachel was amazed at Gerald's ability to maintain his composure. It really was a trait belonging to anyone who had to work with Lucius Malfoy regularly. She finally got out from under Stephen, who seemed to have subjected himself to the floor rather than Draco.

Draco looked rather irritated. "Well then, some other time, White."

"Yes, another time, Malfoy." Gerald waved and walked away.

"Gerald, where are you going?" Margaret asked.

"Back to my compartment!" He responded.

"Well, wait for me!" She ran after him.

"Margaret!" Rachel yelled as Margaret took off running.

"Oh, here we go again." Stephen finally stood up and followed.