This is my first story and REVIEWS would be appreciated. At first, my story will be very close to the books except for a few obvious differences and additional characters. There will be a love triangle between Fred, Cedric, and the OC. Draco has an adorable little sister who does not act like a proper Pureblood. Ron will eventually not hate Draco (not anytime soon, and I do not promise he will like him). And Lucy and Draco fall in love (Not until possibly the fourth book).

Luciana Lily Potter sat in her empty compartment on the train leaving for Hogwarts and found that, despite having time to prepare, she was still nervous. She'd tied her long, dark red hair back with her only ribbon and had made sure to keep her school robes clean and hidden away from her dreadful cousin, Dudley

Why can't I live in an orphanage? Lucy thought for what must have been the millionth time in her life. Annie was lucky! I have red hair, I'm an orphan!

Lucy still refused to believe that Petunia was her mother's sister.

Lucy was thinking all of this, just as the door to her compartment slid open and a boy with bright red hair stepped inside. Lucy smiled politely as he looked at her. He must be the younger brother of those boys who'd helped her with her trunk.

"Anyone sitting here?" He asked with a nervous smile. "Everywhere else is full."

At that moment, a boy ran into the compartment behind him and gave Lucy a charming smile before stepping forward and saying. "Hello, Lucy."

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Lucy was sure she hadn't. She would have remembered this boy. He was even smaller than she was but he had the confidence to make up for his lack of height. He had a strange crescent-shaped mark beneath one of his dark blue eyes and his dark hair was long enough to reach his shoulders.

"No," he answered, still smiling as a girl burst into the compartment not even a second later.

"Rupert!" She yelled. "You're not supposed to leave my side! If you're going somewhere-"

And then she noticed that they weren't alone.

"Dreadfully sorry," she said, embarrassed and flushing. "My brother likes to do his own thing but I have to protect him and stay near him. Those were the conditions of his coming to Hogwarts, otherwise our parents would have never allowed it."

"It's perfectly alright," Lucy answered. "You're welcome to sit with us if you'd like."

Rupert turned to look at his sister and nodded before proceeding to sit beside Lucy and staring at her as his sister stood there awkwardly debating what to do. Finally, she stepped forward and extended her hand. "I am Clary Bonnet and this is my brother, Rupert. I apologize for his strange behavior. He's a Voyant."

Ron's eyes widened. Lucy was confused. What was a Voyant?

"Oh," she said, noticing Lucy's expression. "That was rude of me. Are either of you a Muggleborn?"

"Both of my parents were wizards, but I was raised by Muggles. What is a Voyant?"

"Voyants know the future, kind of like Seers except they can't give prophecies to the Ministry. They can't say anything about what they see and they don't only see the future. My brother is the youngest Voyant to have ever developed his abilities. That's why I've been assigned the duty to protect him. It's even easier because we're twins born with an empathy link, so I know exactly when he's in trouble. That's extremely useful, considering he often just wanders off on his own."

"I saw Lucy Potter so I had to come find her," he explained. "Can I see your scar?"

"Rupert!"

"Sure," Lucy said as she pushed away the fringe that covered her scar.

"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed. "So you really are Lucy Potter."

"Who did you think she was?" Clarissa asked, trying not to smile.

"I thought my brothers were playing another joke on me," Ron answered, flushing.

"I get it," Clarissa said, nodding. "Rue does the same thing to me all the time. He uses his visions to do pranks."

"I can't tell anyone what's going to happen," Rupert said, digging around in his sister's messenger bag. "That's against the rules."

Ron was still gazing at Lucy in amazement. "So, do you remember anything?" He asked. "About You-Know-Who giving you that scar, I mean."

"Of course not, I was less than a year old," Lucy said. "But sometimes I do think I remember a flash of green light."

"Wow!"

It was then the door to the compartment slid open and Ron's brothers walked in with mischievous grins. "Hey, Ron."

Clarissa took in the two redheads from her seat across from Ron and couldn't help but marvel in the ways the two were so alike as well as different. Even at eleven, Clary prided herself in being very good at reading and judging people. She had to be if she was going to do a decent job of guarding Rupert. Although the twins were identical, the one who'd entered the compartment first was the one who caught her attention. His presence seemed more daring than his twin's and he seemed just a bit more confident in the way he held himself. This was only her first meeting, but from what she could tell they were both up to no good, but the one she would have to watch out for was him.

"Listen we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron mumbled.

Rupert paused in his search through Clary's bag and started to laugh.

"Rupert!" Clary scolded him snatching her bag away from him. "Control yourself!"

"I'm sorry," Rupert said, still laughing. "But if you saw what I just saw, you'd have a laugh, too."

"I know," Clary said rolling her eyes. "You always say that." She tossed him his magazine she'd found in the front pocket.

"Thanks, Clary," Rupert said, opening the Quibbler.

"No problem, just learn to shut your mouth or you'll get us both in trouble."

The twins she'd been observing earlier watched her exchange with Rupert without comment. Finally the seemingly more confident twin spoke, "I don't believe we've met."

He was addressing Clary. She turned to him with a fake smile and said, "No, we haven't. Clary Bonnet, and that's my brother, Rupert. He's a Voyant so please ignore his strange behavior."

"A Voyant," he muttered. "Interesting."

The quieter twin spoke up at last and said, "We're Fred and George Weasley, third years in Gryffindor." They both smiled with pride. "And this is Ron, our brother. We just came to introduce ourselves to Lucy but it was really nice meeting you."

"Yes, it was," Fred said with a grin. "See you later, Lucy, Ron, Rupert," he turned back to Clary, "ma cherie."

Clary fought hard against the angry flush that was threatening to spread across her cheeks but it was a losing battle. He was baiting her and she knew it, but her oncoming fit did not seem liable to go away. Even when Fred and George had already left the compartment she still had her hands clenched into fists.

"Sorry about Fred," Ron said visibly shrinking into his seat at the sight of Clary.

Control, she thought. You can't take care of Rue like this.

She took a few deep breaths and allowed Rupert to take her hand and force the calm back into her through the empathy link. Finally, she felt normal again and sighed. "Sorry about that," she said with a weak smile. "I tend to explode when people tease me like that."

There was an awkward silence.

Lucy was the first to speak. "So, are all your families full of wizards?"

Clary smiled at her gratefully and answered, "Well, Rupert and I were raised separately. I was raised in England by Muggles for five years and I consider them family, but my family of wizards lives in France where Rupert was raised and trained as a Voyant."

"The Bonnets are pretty famous for their long line of Voyants," Ron explained. "They're actually the only Voyants."

"What about you, Ron?" Lucy asked. "Is all of your family wizards?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ron said. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant but we never talk about him."

"So you all must know loads of magic already."

"Not quite," said Clary. "Rupert's been training all summer and I've only been practicing spells to protect him."

"I heard you live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"

"Horrible – not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff– I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window

Rupert and Clary kept silent, not knowing how to comfort the poor boy. Both of them were quite well off and each had brand new wands, robes and owls. Well, actually, only one owl. Their parents had been adamant that they were only allowed to share an owl, because, if they were twins, what was the point in buying two?

Lucy on the other hand understood what Ron was going through perfectly. Petunia had refused to buy her new clothes as soon as she'd grown old enough to need them. Instead, she'd had Vernon trudge up to the attic and brought down a cardboard box full of atrocious summer dresses, blouses that were far too tight and skirts made of some itchy kind of material. Even now, she was wearing one of the summer dresses with an itchy cardigan and shoes that were far too small. She told Ron all of this along with the fact that she'd never gotten a proper birthday present. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –"

Ron gasped.

"What?" said Lucy.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people –"

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Lucy. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn ... I bet," she added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying her a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

You won't be," Ron and Rupert said simultaneously.

"Rupert! Clary yelled, hitting him on the back of the head. "You know you're not supposed to do that! You could get us both into some serious –"

"Trouble, I know," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "But I was just saying what Ron was going to say. Besides, hints don't hurt. Dad said it himself!"

Clary sighed. He had said that. "Fine. But you can't keep doing this!"

Rupert shrugged and went back to reading his magazine.

"What do you mean I won't?" Lucy asked, turning back to Ron.

"There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. Clary watched, fascinated. She'd never been anywhere other than the estate in France and her modest home in London. She was always studying protection spells, she'd never had the chance to explore London or Paris. Rupert, on the other hand, continued to read his magazine.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Rupert finally looked up from his magazine and turned to his sister with pleading eyes. He didn't have to. She knew he wanted Pumpkin Pasties. She herself wanted Cauldron Cakes. Lucy, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to her feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Lucy went out into the corridor.

Not wanting to miss anything, she got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Ron and Clary stared as Lucy brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it on to an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Lucy, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," said Lucy, holding up a pasty. "Go on –"

"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty," said Lucy, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. "You too, Clary. Grab some for Rupert." It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, Rupert, and Clary, eating their way through all Lucy's pasties and cakes (the sandwiches lay forgotten).

Clary couldn't help but giggle as Ron explained Chocolate Frogs to Lucy and remember the prank she'd pulled on her Muggle guardian over the summer with Rupert.

Lucy unwrapped her Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore!" said Lucy.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa – thanks –"

Lucy turned over her card and read:

Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Lucy turned the card back over and saw, to her astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day." said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her ... do you want it? You can start collecting."

"I'll trade you one of your Morganas for one of my Agrippas," Clary proposed.

"You're on," Ron nodded with a grin. "But that still leaves me needing Ptolemy."

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.

"Help yourself," said Lucy. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!"

Clary giggled again as she continued eating her Cauldron Cakes and handed Rupert another pasty and remembered the first time she'd seen a Muggle photo. How did the people in the photos manage to stay so still? There wasn't any magic in it!

Lucy finally tore her eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans.

"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Lucy. "When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once."

"I've never gotten one of those before," Rupert said. "But Clary has."

Clary stuck her tongue out at him. "Only because you gave it to me!"

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully and bit into a corner.

"Bleaaargh – see? Sprouts."

They had a good time eating the Every-Flavour Beans. Lucy got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Lucy had passed on platform nine and three- quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Lucy.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him ..."

He left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look ..."

Clary and Lucy watched with interest and Rupert turned the page as Ron rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway –"

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then.' She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er – all right."

He cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,

Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?"said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?'

She said all this very fast.

Lucy looked at Ron and Clary and was relieved to see by their stunned faces that they hadn't learnt all the set books off by heart either.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Lucy Potter," said Lucy.

'Are you really?' said Hermione. 'I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.

'Am I?' said Lucy, feeling dazed.

'Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me,' said Hermione before turning to Clary. "And you?"

"I'm Clary Bonnet and this is my brother, Rupert," said Clary.

"The Bonnets," Hermione muttered. "I believe I've read about you as well. Your brother is this generation's Voyant, isn't he?"

Rupert opened his mouth to answer himself but Clary beat him to it. "Yes, but please try not to ask him questions, he tends to say more than he really should. More than anyone really needs to know."

"Can he at least answer a question I have about the Ancient Egyptians?"

"Or tell me where my toad is?"

"No!" Clary exclaimed again before Rupert could even open his mouth. "You know better, Rue. Anything that can affect the future –"

"– is not allowed to be said," he finished. "Sorry, Hermione, Neville."

"I understand," Hermione nodded. "Anyway, do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad ... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You all had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon.'

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"Better change your mind soon, Ron," Rupert muttered as his sister dug through their trunks for her robes. "And be careful of what you say around her."

His sister paused to turn and glare at him.

"What? It was a hint."

Ron wasn't paying him any attention anyway as he'd turned back to Lucy who'd asked him what house his brothers were in.

"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"You know, Slytherin isn't so bad," Rupert interjected. "They're just misunderstood! Like lions! Snakes and lions aren't so different! Both are predators…"

"What are you talking about? Slytherins are downright evil!" Ron exclaimed in shock.

"You're starting to talk nonsense again, Rue. Find your robes."

"Might as well get rid of those old prejudices while we still have the chance," Rupert mumbled turning back to help his sister.

"Just ignore him," Clary told them. "His visions make him a little mad sometimes."

Ron turned back to Lucy.

"That's the house Vol– I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers's whiskers are a bit lighter," said Lucy, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now they've left, anyway?"

Lucy was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high- security vault."

Lucy stared.

"Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

Lucy turned this over in her mind. At first this whole thing had just felt so unreal. Voldemort had just been a name without any meaning behind. She was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. She supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.

What's your Quidditch team?' Ron asked.

'Er – I don't know any,' Lucy confessed.

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Lucy through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy or Hermione Granger this time.

Three boys entered and Lucy recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Lucy with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. Rupert watched with interest from his seat by the window as his sister continued to look for her own robe.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Lucy Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

'Yes,' said Lucy. She was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Lucy was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."

He turned back to Lucy.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Lucy's, but Lucy didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," she said coolly.

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. Your first public rejection from a girl could do that to you.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."

Clary, Lucy and Ron stood up. Ron's face was as red as his hair.

"Say that again," he said.

'Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?' Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Lucy, more bravely than she felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than Clary, her or Ron.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron – Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle – Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Lucy. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."

Rupert was laughing madly in the corner. "Events are so much better in reality!" He said. "You should've seen their faces!" Once he'd finally calmed down he said, "You know, even though Malfoy was being a prat, Ron started it when he laughed at Malfoy's name."

"What?" Ron yelled. "You're taking his side?"

"No, but it wasn't completely his fault. Lucy humiliated him in front of all of us and you guys were all ready to fight him. He felt threatened so he fought back," Rupert shrugged as Ron continued to glare at him. "Fine, don't listen to me. But if someone doesn't bring him that photo he dropped on his way out, it's only going to get worse."

"I'll –" Clary started to stand up but Rupert held her back.

"You have to stay with me and keep looking for your robes."

Ron didn't look even close to volunteering. Eventually Lucy sighed and picked it up. "I'll do it, I've met him before anyway."

"You've met Malfoy before?"

Lucy explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disap- peared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

Lucy nodded, glad for the extra bit of information and continued on her way to find Malfoy.

He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. None of you have been fighting, have you? You'll all be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Unheard by the others, Rupert muttered, "Ah, the future Mrs. Weasley-Granger."

Meanwhile, Lucy caught up to Malfoy halfway down the corridor, photo clutched in her hand,, careful not to crush in her fist, as she practically thrust in his face. "You left this in our compartment."

Draco took the photo of Cassie back and hoped to Merlin that she hadn't seen it. He gave a signal to Crabbe and Goyle to go back to their compartment on the other end of the train. They gave Potter wary looks before going back to the compartment. Idiots, what could she do to him? She probably didn't even know any magic!

"Did you see the photo?" Draco asked.

"No," Lucy answered stiffly, still angry at him for what he'd said about her parents earlier.

"It's my sister, Cassiopeia," Draco said, surprising even himself. He rarely if ever talked about his younger sister with his "friends." "She still has two years before she has to come to Hogwarts so my father won't let her leave the house."

"Is she like you?"

"No, she can be a bit…rebellious, to put it mildly," Draco said with a small smile. "She disagrees with everything my father says and refuses to follow our mother's rules for how she should act. She climbs trees for the love of Merlin!"

Lucy laughed at the image of a tiny girl in an expensive dress scaling a tree as her caring older brother screams for her to come down.

He showed her the picture. The girl's face was softer than Malfoy's with a carefree smile and big silver eyes surrounded by long dark lashes. Her hair was in long dark curls and her robes appeared to be a very light green. She was sitting in the tree that must've been the one Malfoy was mentioning.

"She wants to be a dancer," Draco continued. "As if my father would let her."

"Why not?" Lucy asked.

Draco gave her a look as if she'd gone around the bend. "Because she has to get married."

And then Lucy understood. It was like a scene from one of those boring Victorian romance novels Mrs. Figg would often discuss with her. The rich had arranged marriages where falling in love didn't matter as long as they had children. They weren't allowed to have any real wants or needs. Lucy almost pitied Draco for what he had to look forward to, but then she remembered his comments from earlier.

Instead she held out her hand. "How about we call a truce? I'll consider being your friend if, by this time next year, you don't do or say anything to hurt me or my friends."

"So, you're giving me a chance then," Draco said, a little startled by her proposition.

"Yes," Lucy nodded with a serious look set on her face but Draco could see from her eyes that she was only partially serious.

They parted ways, smiles on their faces, and Lucy got back to the compartment.

When she entered she saw that Ron was In a foul mood, Clary was still searching for her own robes and Rupert was back to reading his magazine.

"How many times have you searched through that trunk already?" Lucy asked.

"Five, at least," Clary answered, standing up and seeming to finally give up. "I just don't understand. I could swear I –"

"You did. I put it in my trunk when you weren't looking."

She gaped at him for a moment before shutting her trunk in silence and sitting down in Lucy's spot next to Rupert. "I know you did that for a reason, Rue."

"I did. I needed to distract you so that Lucy could go talk to Draco, and you always tell me not to tell you what's going to happen so I did that," Rupert beamed at her as if he expected praise for what he'd done, all the while knowing better.

"No more Pumpkin Pasties for the rest of the term!" declared Clary.

"But that's not fair! you know why I did it," Rupert protested, his face ashen.

"You can handle not having your favorite for a year. Grandmother's training was much worse! Didn't she threaten you with fire spells once?"

"Her favorite dog almost went up in flame," Rupert snorted.

"Bobo?" Clary asked before proceeding to burst out laughing.

"Um," Ron stood there awkwardly watching their exchange. "We have to change now because the train'll be arriving soon so can you go into the next compartment and change with Lucy, Clary?"

"Of course," Clary answered, getting up and giving her brother's ear a tug for good measure. "You're still not allowed to have them."

After Clary had found her robes in her brother's trunk, she and Clary went to find the nearest empty compartment available and changed. Lucy was very happy to be out of her summer dress and cardigan and in her comfortable robes. She looked over her shoulder at Clary only to find that the girl was scowling as she tucked her wand away.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

"Just my brother and his stupid jokes. I know he didn't mean to but…"

Lucy patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sure he'll learn from this. He's a Voyant, I'm sure he did it for a reason."

"I know, but sometimes he goes too far."

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The two girl rejoined the boys in their compartment. Lucy's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, she saw, looked pale under his freckles. Clary and Rupert found themselves clutching each other's hand like when they were younger. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Lucy shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Lucy heard a familiar voice: "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Lucy?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that Lucy thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!".

The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Lucy and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione. They watched Clary and Rupert questioningly as Rupert tugged his sister into the next boat. Clary shrugged back at them. What can you do with a Voyant for a brother?

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then – FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of under- ground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.

'Oy, you there! Is this your toad?' said Hagrid, who was check- ing the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

Remember to review. Give me your opinions. Tell me what you think about the pairings. What do you think about Rupert and Clary? What houses do you think each of them will be in? I know there's a troll out there somewhere. Help me with my British English if you see a problem (though there will be a lot of direct quotes from the book at first). HARRY POTTER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME!