The owner of the trunk was panting heavily as she tried to push her trunk into the carriage. Suddenly, she noticed that Roxie was sitting on the seat, observing her silently. "Oh sorry, I thought that it was empty. I'll just go, but it does seem a shame to lug that trunk out again. Do you mind?" the girl added indicating the seat.

"No not at all, here let me help you with that," Roxie stood up and reached for the trunk. This girl seems nice. I guess if I have to make friends she could be a nice start. Roxie thought. Together, the two girls heaved the trunk into the rack overhead. The red-head sank breathlessly down onto a seat. Roxie followed suit and sank onto the seat opposite the girl.

"Oh you must think me so rude! I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Ginny, Ginny Weasley, actually it's Ginerva, but no one actually calls me that. Except my mum, but that's only if she's really mad. Which seems to be more and more often lately."

This girl reminded Roxie a lot of her friend Hannah, in America. She too talked non stop. "I'm Roxie Barker." Roxie extended a hand to Ginny. The two girls shook hands and then they both sank back into the seats.

"I haven't seen you around, but you don't look young enough to be a first-year."

"Oh well..." but Roxie was cut off. The carriage door once again swung open, this time to reveal three students standing outside.

"There you are Ginny. We thought that we had lost you. That would have been fun to explain to mum. 'Mum we lost your one and only daughter. Oh well, just try another six times, maybe you'll have another girl.'" A tall, gangly boy with hair similar to Ginny's threw his trunk into the rack. He appeared not to have noticed Roxie at all. He was closely followed by a girl with bushy hair and a boy with black hair. They both gave glances at Roxie. The red-haired boy retrieved something from his trunk and plopped down on the seat next to Ginny. He unwrapped what appeared to be a sandwich.

Hungrily, he started to eat the sandwich and only then did he notice that Roxie was sitting right across from him. "Who...you" he mumbled through a mouthful of food. Roxie was splattered with bits of what appeared to be a bologna sandwich.

"I am covered in bologna is who I am," Roxie snapped playfully as she wiped her clothes clean.

"Sorry about Ronald, he only thinks about food," the bushy haired- girl stated giving "Ronald" a disapproving look. "Hi I'm Hermione Granger."

"Roxie Barker."

"Ron, not Ronald, Weasley," the red-haired boy stated, gulping his food down.

"I'm Harry Potter," the boy with black hair leaned forward in the seat. Roxie's stomach did a flip. She glanced at the lightning scar on his forehead. Shrugging, she turned back to the window. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny exchanged confused glances. Ron was once again engrossed in his sandwich.

"I'm sorry, but what was that shrug for?" Ginny questioned, breaking the silence.

"Well I read the Daily Prophet and they tell of this tragic hero. This stunning character, but I guess that's all it is. A character," at this she stared daggers at Harry, "because right now, what I'm looking at is no big deal. Not that impressive." Three jaws dropped at this last sentence. Even Ron had stopped eating.

"Wow Roxie, I'm impressed. You're the first person to meet me that hasn't sat and gaped at my forehead for at least fifteen minutes. And no requests for autographs. I admire that," Harry laughed.

Completely ignoring Harry's comment, Roxie turned to Hermione and asked, "So do you like it here?"

"What?...Erm yes! I do quite enjoy it here. There are great teachers and the lessons are magnificent. Especially Arithmancy."

"Oh don't listen to Hermione. All she'll tell you about is the lessons. There's more to this school. Like Quidditch and hot guys," Ginny giggled as Ron choked on the last bite of his sandwich.

"I'm sorry but I don't really like to hear my sister talk about all of the "hot guys" at our school. I thought that you had a boyfriend anyways," Ron said.

"Not anymore, but I've got my eye on someone. Roxie you were going to tell me about why I've never seen you before," Ginny replied.

"Oh yeah, well I used to live in America. Then my dad got transferred so we moved here."

"So what year are you in?" Harry asked.

"Sixth," Roxie snapped not giving him one look.

"Same with us, well except for Ginny she's in fifth," Hermione gushed.

"So what house are you in?"

"We're all in Gryffindor," Harry said determined to get her to notice him. He thought that she was breathtaking and he really wanted her "approval" of him, but she still seemed cold toward him. He was really surprised by this, I mean after all he was the hero of this world. Who would think that he wouldn't be able to get a girl to notice him? The carriage door opened for a third time that afternoon. A tall, blonde boy with a pointed face stood between two larger boys.

"Potty, Mudblood, Weasels, and who might this beauty be?" the boy asked. Roxie glanced up, he was looking right at her. "Yes, you babe," he laughed.

"Roxie."

"Well, Roxie, maybe you want to join me in my carriage. You certainly don't want to be associating with these people," he spat these last words.

"These 'people' are my friends," Roxie spat right back.

"All beauty and no brains, so sad. C'mon Crabbe, Goyle." With that the three boys retreated from the carriage.

"I see Malfoy's made it safely through holidays. What a shame," Ron muttered. This made Roxie giggle.

"So who is this Malfoy character?" she asked, "He seems…nice?"

"He's a stupid, blonde git that likes to be evil," Ron swore and Hermione smacked him playfully.

"Yeah and we also think that he's a Death Eater!" Harry interjected. Roxie looked down, avoiding his eyes. The carriage fell silent.

"So out of curiosity…Why do you hate me so much?" Harry asked casually.

"I just think that you like to get attention that you don't really deserve and I think that you're stuck up. You aren't even that smart or brave. You get through everything out of pure luck and then you go around telling people that you did it all on your own!" Roxie shouted.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," Ron concluded. Despite the fact that he had just been rejected by the girl that he really was hoping would like him, Harry laughed. He remembered his godfather speaking these exact words to his father. He had seen it with his own eyes while he was in the Pensieve. Suddenly he stopped smiling. His godfather, Sirius. He hadn't thought about him since…since it happened. Hermione saw that something was wrong with Harry.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"What… oh yeah. Nothing wrong with me." He forced a fake smile onto his face and turned to Roxie. For a moment he thought that he saw a look of sympathy on her face, but it was soon wiped away and replaced with a glare. He looked away. He had to admit that some of her words had been true. He wasn't really that talented, most of the time he had gotten by on pure luck. Despite the fact that it was true, he couldn't help but admit that he was deeply hurt by her disapproval.

Roxie noticed the look on his face. She had heard about the death of Sirius Black. She had also heard that he had been the godfather of Harry. She put two and two together and assumed that the look on his face was due to the death. She almost felt bad for him. She was indeed doing this task to avoid death, so she could relate. She was going to say something comforting, but she stopped herself. She couldn't get close to him. Looking up, she saw him look at her, so she fixed her face with what she hoped was a menacing glare.

Silence once again engulfed the carriage. This time it was Ginny who broke it. "So do you play Quidditch?"

"Yes, I actually play beater," Roxie informed her.

"Cool, I'm sure that you could get on your house team, especially if you're in our house. Harry's captain after all! You would give her a spot wouldn't you?"

"Of course!" Harry eagerly stated. If he gave her a spot maybe she wouldn't be so cold towards him. And then they would have all of those Quidditch practices to get to know one another. He suddenly got caught up in fantasies of the two of them trudging in to the common room late at night after practice. They would curl up by the fire together. A cough brought him out of his thoughts; his face fell at the sight of Roxie shooting him evil looks. His fantasies would never come true; she would barely talk to him while sitting in the same carriage. He fell silent for the remainder of the trip, listening to the rest of the group talking and becoming the best of friends while he sat, like an outsider, looking out the window.

"We'll be arriving soon, we must get changed!" Hermione jumped up and grabbed her robes. Then she grabbed Roxie's hand and the two of them along with Ginny disappeared.

As Roxie stepped off the train she saw a mass of students. "Firs' years!" a voice grunted. A man twice the size of normal men made his way through the crowd. "Lo there Hermione! Who's yer friend?"

"This is Roxie. Roxie, Hagrid."

"Lo Roxie! Dumbledore told me that we would be having a transfer! Well come with me then." Roxie waved goodbye and then followed Hagrid over to a group of tiny, scared looking children. Feeling ridiculously old, Roxie clambered into a boat with three midgets. The whole way across the lake Roxie felt three pairs of eyes on her.

Finally one midget spoke, "You're too big to be a first year!" the pipsqueak muttered.

"Yeah well you're just big enough to…" but she stopped short and let out a gasp. She had caught her first view of the castle. It was nothing like Abbotsville. It was breathtaking. Before she knew it she was heading into the castle and stopping at a staircase. A sharp woman stood before her.

"Good evening. My name is Professor McGonagall, I teach Transfiguration here at Hogwarts. Tonight I will be helping you get sorted into houses. Each of you will be called forward in turn. You will place the hat on your head and then it will determine what house you will be in." She led the group into the Great Hall. Roxie spotted Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and Harry at the Gryffindor table. She gave the first three of them a wave. Harry eagerly waved back with the rest of them, but one death glare from Roxie made his hand drop. The hat sang a song and then the sorting began. The hat seemed to be speeding through students. Jenna Aaron "HUFFLEPUFF", Kyle Anderson "SLYTHERIN", the midget in her boat Mark Barble "SLYTHERIN". Finally McGonagall called a name that she recognized. "Roxie Barker!"