Jamie: Okay, well, here's the next one. There's going to be four chappies in the prologue, none of them very much longer than this.

Greg: C'mon, Jamie, they need length!

Jamie: Well, they'll be longer in the main part of the story! Enjoy!

Part One: Prologue

Chapter Two: Desperate For Attention

On the train, at long last. We only had to deal with London Traffic, wander around King's Cross with an absurdly-dressed Tom, and run through a brick wall to get here nearly too late. We had given Tom a hug and he had charmed our trunks to follow us to a compartment.

I felt quite pathetic, seeing as the train was taking off and Melly and I were still in the hallway, searching for a compartment. There were no more empty compartments and by the time we made it to the last one, we gave up hope. There was two compartments here one on each side. On the left there were five boys, on the right, five girls, with room for only one more in each.

Sighing, we nodded to each other, tapping our be-ringed fists, and opened the compartment doors.

I had chosen the boys. Lucky Melissa.

"Hi,"I said in a cheerful tone. "Mind if I pull up some leather? The rest of the train's full."

The five of them looked up at me, and a black-haired boy had the nerve to chuckle. Another, rather toned, boy with coffee brown hair stood and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Jon Hilliker, let me help you with that..." he said, lifting my trunk with ease to put it with the others. He sat down by the window and scooted over so I could join him.

"I smiled at the gentleman-like gesture and, secretly, at the American accent, and took the proffered seat.

"Hey, I'm Jamie Rowan, pleased to meet you all." A quick look around the compartment made me feel very young very quickly. "Mmm, lemme guess," I laughed, "I'm the only first year out of the group..."

"Ah, but you would be very wrong if you guessed that," came the voice of a tired, sandy-haired boy. "Actually, we're all first years here."

A bespectacled boy with wild black hair smiled at me. "I'm James Potter. That," he pointed to the sandy-haired boy, "is Remus Lupin, the nervous blonde there is Peter Pettigrew, and this is-"

"Sirius Black, at your, " interrupted the black-haired boy who had laughed when I came in as he eyeballed my figure, "service, m'lady."

I gave them all a big smile and a "Hi."

Sirius took up the introductions again, "And that weirdo next to you is Jon Hilliker, as stated, but also a Yankee and a metamorphmagi."

I turned to Jon...Or rather the seat that he had been in before it was the seat of a bubbly, pink-haired girl in a yellow jumper.

"Wha-" I started, then, before my eyes, she was Jon again. He gave me a cute smile and his crystal blue eyes twinkled.

"Do I want to know?" I asked.

Sirius barked with laughter. "I just told you-he's a weird Yankee metamorphmagi."

"Well, weird-maybe, Yankee-you can tell by the accent, but a what?"

Jon laughed, and Remus explained. "A metamorphmagi. He can change his appearance at will," he said, slowly and calmly.

"Oh. Umm, well, I didn't know people could do that," I admitted.

James smiled. "Muggleborn?" he asked.

"Erm...I dunno. I mean, my dad's a muggle, and my mum pretended to be one for fifteen years, so definitely muggle-raised, if not born," I told them.

Half-blood then," Peter clarified, "just like me!"

"And me," Remus siad, raising his hand briefly.

"Pure blood," chorused James and Sirius, following suit.

"No idea," Jon offered, raising his hand.

I laughed. "Eh, that's okay. So where in Ameri-"

I was cut off by a loud chirp from inside my bird carrier, followed by a nervous humming.

I looked apologetically around as all of them stared at me.

"Sorry, it's just, Fawkes has never been on a train before, and gniP and gnoP always get nervous when she chirps..." I tried to explain while taking Fawkes out to sit on my shoulder .

"Fawkes?" questioned James.

"gniP and gnoP?" asked Sirius, Remus , and Peter.

"Aww, he's kinda cool..." said Jon, stroking Fawkes' back. The rest of them stared. Again.

"She," I corrected him.

"Ah, she, then," Jon said.

They still stared.

"What? Fawkes was named by Mum, and I think it's a pretty nifty-rad name. gniP and gnoP are just Ping and Pong, but backwards," I pulled them out as I said this, and Fawkes hopped over to Jon's hand. "They made me think of fluffy ping pong balls," I explained.

"He is kinda cool...Can I hold him?" asked

"Her. Yeah, you can. This is gnoP," I corrected him and set her carefully in his hands.

Hey! Can I see gniP if Peter has gnoP?" Sirius asked, suave attitude gone.

"Yeah. Careful, though," I said, handing the male fluffball over.

"So, you do know where your mum got that name, right?" James asked, nonchalant as ever.

"What, Fawkes? Nope. I just thought it was a cool name, and we didn't know she was girl when we named her. Why?"

"Well, 'cause Fawkes is the name of the headmaster's pheonix."

It ws my turn to stare now. "Erm, James...There's no such thi-"

"Yes there is. Muggles usually don't see them, though," cut in Jon. "They aren't native to Europe and they fly too quickly for anyone to see unless they had been concentrating. And any muggles who do see them put it off to an overactive imagination," he explained, still paying attention to Fawkes.

"How would you know?"" I demanded.

"Haven't you ever read all of those kid's stories before?" he asked, not bothering to look up from the cockatiel.

"Well, yeah, but those are all make-believe. They aren't true."

"Everything is based on something." he said, rather finally.

Fawkes suddenly decided that she wanted to wake up the half-asleep Remus by flying into him before I could grab her leash.

The startled Remus caught her and had her perched on his finger quickly. He made cooing noises at Fawkes, stroking her chest and calming her down.

"Hey Jamie," said Sirius out of nowhere and handing gniP to James, "If you're muggle raised, why are you dressed so...fantastically colourful?"

I laughed. "Well, because I want to. And because I'm Jamie Rowan. Do I need an excuse to wear my normal clothes? 'Cause this is how I usually dress, sans cloak."

Sirius gave me a wolfish grin. "That is an interesting cloak-make it yourself?"

"Nope, I found it in Madam Malkin's on the clearance rack. She claims it's leftover from the 60's. The skirt and shirt are handmade, though." I told him proudly.

"Very...intriguing," the suave boy replied, winking roguishly at me.

I winked back. Eyeballing his attire-a loose leather jacket, black tee and faded jeans with a pair of Converse-I had to ask. "So, Sirius, if you're a pure blood, why are you dressed like that?"

He laughed, "Why, because, I am Sirius Black."

The compartment erupted into laughter.

"So..." I started, "do you guys have any brothers or sisters that go here?"

"Only child," chimed Remus, James, and Peter, slightly raising their hands.

"An annoying twit of a younger brother, but he hasn't started yet," Sirius replied dully.

"Umm...Only child," said Jon, "but my cousin, Allison, is right across the hall in the other compartment."

"My twin sister is over there, too," I added in.

"Really?" asked James, getting a bit excited. "Is she the one with red hair?"

"Nope, the tall blonde one," Jon told him, slightly apologetic.

James looked at me hopefully.

"Well, Melissa and I are fraternal, but she's got dirty blonde hair like mine."

James looked so put down that I had to offer. "But I can go find out who she is, if you like..."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty please?" he begged.

Well, I couldn't ignore that cute, hopeful little face, could I? I shrugged off my cloak. "Okay, give me a minute," I said walking towards the sliding door. "I'll be back, don't lose my pets, okay?"

"Got it!" answered James, ever eager.

I walked across the hall and knocked on the door as I pulled it open. Upon entrance, giggles erupted.

"Oh, look! You guys are wearing matching socks and shoes!" said a tall blonde girl in a very southern America accent.

I gave her a garish smile and sat down on my twin's lap, though she was a bit skinnier than me.

"So this year, I've been extra good, so I want a pony for Christmas!" I said to her like a child on Father Christmas' lap.

She shoved me off and scooted over for me to sit down. "So did you just want to get away from the testosterone, or did you need chocolate?" my lovely twin asked of me.

"Well, I definitely won't say no to any chocolate, but the guys are way more exciting and talkative than this quiet group," I replied, looking around. "Hi everyone, I'm crazy and sometimes just a bit Jamie," I told them with a garish smile. The other girls laughed.

The southern blonde-Jon's cousin-spoke up first. "Hi, I'm Allie Turner, Jon's-"

"Cousin, so I've heard," I finished.

"Yeah," she laughed.

"I'm Miranda Trelawney, pleased to meet you," said a very pretty brunette next to Allie.

"Pleasure's all mine, I'm sure," I replied.

"Alice Cooke, third year," smiled a tawney-haired girl sitting next to me.

"Glenda Thomas, also third year," said a dark-skinned girl on Alice's other side.

Only the mysterious redhead was left, but her nose was stuck in a book.

"So, what are you reading, dollface?" I asked her.

After a moment, she realized that I was talking to her. "Oh, erm...Of Mice and Men b-" she began.

"By John Steinbeck, great book, sad ending," I told her, nodding. "Do I get the privelidge of knowing my fellow book junkie's name?"

"Oh, erm, Lily Evans." she stammered.

"Pleased to meet you Lily. That's a lovely flower, and a lovely name for a lovely girl," I said, smiling kindly. This girl was a nervous wreck.

"Umm...is Severus over in that compartment, by any chance?" she asked me hopefully.

"Erm, nope. We have James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Jon Hilliker besides myself. I didn't meet a Severus, but I can go check if he was in there before I arrived, if you like," I told her, slightly apologetic.

"Really? Would you?"

A loud chirp came from across the hall.

"Well, I have some work to do, and my baby is calling, so I'll see you guys around," I said, bumping Melissa's fist with my own on the way out.