Disclaimer: I own nothing except the charming and giggly Eliza Becketts.

And without further ado, I give you…

Chapter Four: The Arrival

After a few hours of card games and conversation, Benjy glanced at his watch.

"Well, I expect we'll be arriving soon. 's starting to get dark, anyway. Would you girls like us to leave so that you can change into your robes?"

Eliza started to giggle furiously. Lily sent her a disdainful glance. "Yes, please."

"Right then, see you in a bit," said Michael, yanking James and Sam out of their seats.

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

"Ruddy first-years," Michael grumbled. The door to the compartment slammed shut after him, leaving Eliza and Lily alone.

"Oh, I forgot – your trunk's in Bertha's compartment, isn't it?" Lily asked.

Eliza nodded. "Yes, I suppose I'd better go and get it. Do you want to come?"

"Beats sitting in the compartment all by myself. Just a moment, though, I want to change into my robes first."

After Lily had changed into her long black school robes, the two girls walked down the corridor to Bertha's compartment. Lily opened the door and gasped.

Robert and Bertha were wrestling on one of the seats. At least, that's what she thought at first. But then – they were kissing, as well…

"Lily!" Eliza whispered delightedly. "They're – they're snogging!"

"I know!" The two gaped at the scene taking place for a few seconds. Neither Bertha nor Robert had noticed their presence. Then the girls seemed to come to their senses and stood up on a seat to better reach Eliza's trunk.

"You pull from that end, and I'll try to get it down from here." Lily nodded and they tugged on the trunk. Eliza was stronger and the trunk tipped over onto Lily's hands.

"Ouch," Lily whispered.

"Sorry."

One more hard tug from them both pulled the trunk so that it was perched precariously on the edge of the rack. As it began to tip, Eliza gulped and moved out of the way. Lily quickly did the same and the trunk toppled off the luggage rack, hitting the compartment door and shattering the glass in one of the panes before crashing to the floor between the two girls.

There was a noise like a plunger resurfacing as Bertha and Robert disentangled themselves. "Do you mind?" said Bertha irritably as Robert flushed scarlet.

"H-how much did you see?" he asked.

Lily glanced at Eliza, who looked as if she was about to burst out laughing. "Oh, not much. A couple tonsils here, a couple there, I'd say –"

"Out! Out! Out of my compartment!" Dodging the shoe Bertha chucked at them, Lily and Eliza dragged the trunk out of the compartment. Eliza shut the door and collapsed against the wall, laughing.

"Ha – ha – Merlin, Lily!" She wiped her eyes. "But – oh, I've got to change, the boys will be coming back to the compartment soon!"

"Yeah, sure… wait, I've got to fix this." Lily pulled out her wand and flicked it at the broken pane on the door. "Reparo!" The shards of glass flew back together and onto the frame again, as good as new.

"You're pretty good at magic, I have to say!" Eliza told her as they walked back down the corridor.

"I just learned normal stuff. They had some that looked really interesting in the extra books I got for a bit of light reading –"

"Yeah? Cool, what were they?"

Lily blushed. "Oh, er, I just got the Standard Book of Spells collection."

"All seven of them?" They entered their compartment again. "Exactly how much time did you have on your hands this summer?"

"Shut up," Lily said, picking a package out of Eliza's open trunk and examining it.

"Those are Licorice Wands," Eliza said. She pulled her robe over her head. "In other words, the best kind of sweet there is. Here, try one!"

Lily stuck a piece into her mouth and poked her head into Eliza's trunk again. "Ooh, Witch Weekly? What's that?"

Before Eliza could answer, there was a loud banging on the door.

"You lot finished yet?" came Michael's voice from the other side.

Eliza started to call back, but Lily tugged on her arm. "Hey, don't say anything about Robert and Bertha to Michael." Her friend made a sound of protest. "No, really, you know he'd just take the mickey out of the poor bloke." Eliza sighed, defeated.

"Can we come in or not?"

"Yes, we're finished changing!" Lily shouted back.

The doors opened and James and Remus burst in. Michael came in after them.

"Hold on, I think I missed one," he said, and reached behind him. He grabbed Sam by the scruff of his neck and heaved him into the compartment.

"Ow!"

Benjy walked in and sat down. "I've just been to see the conductor, and he says we'll be arriving in a few minutes," he told them.

There was a knock on the compartment door and Robert came in. He avoided Lily and Eliza's eyes and spoke to Michael. "So how've you lot been?"

"Question is, how've you and Bertha –" Michael began, but Benjy hushed him.

Lily looked to her right and saw heavy rain lashing through the open window. "Oh, no, Michael, we've got to shut that window!" she exclaimed.

Eliza hurried to close her trunk. "Oh, most of my things are wet!" she wailed. "And my – oh, my Witch Weekly is ruined!"

"Don't worry," Michael said disparagingly, "there's nothing in those magazines but beauty tips and pictures of that sap, Charles Dalton or whatever." He slammed the window shut. "Neither of which are necessary."

The train began to slow and people started coming out into the corridor. Benjy herded first the younger boys and then Eliza and Lily out into the crowd.

"Leave your luggage, you two, someone else will bring it to your rooms." Robert said to a pair of small boys attempting to drag their trunks into the corridor.

The doors of the train slid open and the throng pushed its way out onto the platform. Lily could hardly see Sam's back a few feet in front of her through the pouring rain. She and Eliza huddled together for warmth, their teeth chattering, as the last of the students left the train and the doors closed again.

"Firs' years! Firs'years over here!" came a loud voice to their left. "Firs' years this way!" Lily turned around and gasped.

"Ooh!" Eliza squealed.

Standing in front of them was the largest man Lily had ever seen. She supposed he was nearly twice as tall as her father and three times as wide. He had a huge scruffy beard and moustache that hid almost his whole face. The hand that she could see was holding a lantern and was the size of a dustbin lid. The man took a step toward her and the platform shook slightly under his weight. He grinned.

"Firs' year?" Lily nodded, craning her neck the better to see his huge face. "Righ' then, follow me."

Lily grabbed Eliza's arm and the two hurried after the big man. He led them and about forty other first years down a narrow path. They slipped on the wet stones and Eliza's elbow collided with Lily's rib.

"Ouch!" they both complained.

"You'll get yer firs' look a' th' castle in a minute!" the man called. A moment later, they rounded a bend in the path and –

"Ooooooh!"

They were on the edge of a great lake. Across the water there was a mountain, on top of which was perched an enormous castle. It was hard to make out its many towers and turrets through the pouring rain, but Lily could see the bright lights in the windows winking cheerfully at her.

Floating near the water's edge was a fleet of small boats.

"Well, get in!" the man called. "No more'n four to a boat!"

Eliza and Lily were joined in their boat by a short mousy-looking boy who squeaked when the boat rocked and a trembling girl with long blonde braids. The large man got into his own boat and slapped the side of it. "Off we go, then! FORWARD!"

The boats began to sail smoothly across the lake to the castle. Lily saw James and Sam attempting to push Remus into the water and whispered, "Psst! Stop it!" Sam raised his eyebrows and splashed a bit of water at her.

"I wouldn' do that, if I were yeh," called the man. "The giant squid won' like it."

Sam yelped and quickly withdrew his hand.

After a few minutes, they came to the bottom of the cliff. "Watch yer heads!" the big man bellowed. They all quickly bent their heads as the boats carried them under a thick curtain of ivy. A second later, the boats touched the shore of a small harbor.

Eliza and Lily climbed out of the boat and followed the man's lamp through a passageway in the cliff. Coming out into the rain again, the first years shivered and pulled their robes more securely around themselves for warmth. They were standing right at the base of the castle. The man peered at the group as if counting heads, and then said loudly, "Righ', everyone here? In we go!"

The man started up the steps and everyone hurried to follow him. He reached the huge wooden front door and they all crowded around him, anxious to get out of the rain. Raising an enormous fist, he knocked three times on the castle door.

It swung open within seconds and everyone squinted at the sudden bright light. On the threshold there stood a formidable-looking witch with her hair pulled back into a tight bun. She looked at them all for a moment and her face twitched into a half-smile.

"The first years, I presume, Hagrid?"

The big man nodded, wringing enough water out of his beard to create a small lake on the floor. "That they be, Professor McGonagall."

"Well, come in, I daresay you've had enough of this weather," she said.

The woman turned and marched off up another flight of stairs. Eliza and Lily led the way through the door, whispering excitedly.

"She's a real witch! Like, a real one!"

"'course she is, Lily, what'd you expect, green skin with a wart on her nose?" Eliza answered, laughing.

"That is quite enough talking, you two!" Professor McGonagall called over her shoulder without turning her head.

Eliza raised her eyebrows at Lily and they giggled.

The group emerged onto a small landing. Lily could hear the noise of many people talking and laughing in a room nearby, but Professor McGonagall led them past that corridor and into a stone chamber a few doors down.

When they had all filed in after her, she turned and faced them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The Opening Feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you are at Hogwarts, your House will be somewhat like your family–"

"Gives the same speech every year," whispered a hoarse, bored voice from behind the girls. Lily and Eliza spun around and shrieked at what they saw.

A ghost, pearly white and slightly transparent, was leaning against the wall behind them. His face looked gaunt and sunken, his clothes in tatters around his bony frame. But the thing that most alarmed the girls was that the ghost was covered from head to foot in what looked like silvery blood.

He laughed, a low, menacing sound. "Frightened you, did I?"

"What's all this?"

Professor McGonagall had arrived. She took one look at the ghost and pursed her lips. "Mister Baron, sir, I'd really prefer it if you didn't –"

"Scare all the little firsties back to their mummies where they belong? I beg your pardon, Minerva," the ghost croaked. "I was just floating by and thought you might know where Peeves is."

"This really isn't the time –"

"Fourth floor corridor next to the portrait of Godric Gryffindor? I thought as much," said the ghost, and he glided through the wall and was gone.

"Who was that, Professor?" James asked immediately.

"That was the Bloody Baron," said Professor McGonagall. "And I would advise you not to cross him if you don't want to end up in the darkest dungeon of the castle, frightened out of your wits with no idea how you got there."

"Ten Galleons says that happened to her when she was a first-year!" Sam whispered loudly. Professor McGonagall pretended not to hear and looked out into the hallway.

"Yes, I think they are ready for you now," she said. She looked back into the room and swept her eyes over the nervous first-years. "You, there, with the glasses!"

James looked up, surprised.

"At least try and make that hair of yours look presentable. Now, form a line and follow me." She turned on her heel and marched out of the room. James stuck his tongue out at her retreating back and followed her, ignoring the sniggers from his fellow students. The rest of them formed a line that was really more of a cluster and hurried after him.

So that's it hope you liked it, I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner than this one! Oh, and REVIEW and I'll update even faster.