Harry Potter had been sitting in a train compartment for the better part of a half an hour. With a hint of a smirk on his face, and his chin resting on his knuckles, he watched the scenery transition from an urban jungle to rolling green hills. He couldn't believe it - he was on a train. By himself. No Dursleys. No problems. He breathed a sigh of relief and stopped fighting the increasing weight of his eyelids. He was just about to drift off to sleep when a friendly-faced ginger opened his compartment door.

"'Scuse me," the carrot top said. "You don't mind if I sit here, do ya?"

"I don't mind," replied Harry. He smirked at the lad. "Gnarly hair, mate. I don't see many redheads, particularly natural ones... mind if I call you Rusty? You kinda look like a Rusty."

The red-haired boy shrugged. "I s'pose you can if you want. My rightful name's Ron though - Ronald B. Weasley."

Harry chuckled. "Ron it is, then. I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter."

Ron threw Harry a look of disbelief. "The Harry Potter?" He then narrowed his eyes. "If you don't mind... could you let me see... the, erm, scar for just a second?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure, why not. I don't see why it makes me so special, I'm just Harry from Surrey, after all." He pushed a few strands of hair away to show Ron his scar, who whistled when it came into clear view.

"You are kind of a big deal in the wizarding world, you know," Ron replied with a smirk.

Harry shook his head slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed about his apparent fame. "Yeah, it's kind of weird when all these random people in Diagon Alley want to shake my hand, or ask for my autograph... I'm just an eleven year old boy that doesn't know much of anything about magic..."

Ron chuckled. "Well, that's why you and I are going to Hogwarts... we'll learn all about the wizarding world together!" He then shifted his eyes. "Though, pretty much everyone in my family's magical, though my mum swears she has this distant cousin that's an accountant or some-such... I think she's just pulling my leg."

Harry's mouth opened into a large "o".

Ron cocked his head slightly. "Other than your parents, do you have any other magical family? Your folks were some of the finest to ever graduate from Hogwarts..."

"I don't think so," Harry responded softly. "I mean, I'm sure I do, but they're probably long gone... I've never met any of my magical family before."

Ron patted Harry on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, mate. Your parents have to be proud of you, for following in their footsteps..."

Harry gave Ron a sad smile. "I miss them, terribly."

"I know you do, Harry. I know you do," Ron said reassuringly. He wasn't particularly gifted at comforting people, but Harry was grateful just the same. He'd never had a real friend before, and Ron was sure talking to him like he'd know Harry for several years. And Ron seemed to know a fair bit about the wizarding world... must be nice growing up in a magical family, Harry thought.

A few minutes later, a elderly witch pushing a trolley stopped by their compartment. "Would you like anything, dears?" she asked in a kindly voice.

Ron produced a small pile of meat pies from his pocket. "I... think I'm good, thank you though," he said politely.

Harry looked over her inventory, then stuck his hands in his pants pocket, feeling several knuts, sickles, and galleons go jingle-jangle. "Hmm," he said as he was making up his mind. "I don't rightly know what I want, so I'll just take a little bit of everything, please!" He handed the sweet old witch a handful of coins, and she handed Harry a couple of pumpkin juices, a few chocolate frogs, some Bertie Botts beans, and a few other goodies.

Harry and Ron even traded their snacks - Harry had never tried such a tasty homemade meat pie before - courtesy of Mrs. Weasley, while Ron was enjoyed the chocolate frog and pumpkin juice he got in exchange.

After the boys had gotten their fill, they heard a gentle rapping on their door. A girl in with milk chocolate hair put up in a French braid, and light grey eyes opened the door. She was in a simple white button-down shirt and some smart trousers, and looked to be about Harry and Ron's age.

"Hello," she said. "There's a lad a couple of compartments over that seems to have misplaced his pet toad named Trevor. Would either of you care to help me look for his little amphibian companion?"

Harry looked at the girl. She was pretty cute, Harry thought. Her eyes were gorgeous, very icy... almost silvery in color. He cleared his throat. "I can help you," he volunteered.

"Great," replied the girl. "Neville would really appreciate your help."

Harry stuck out his hand to the girl and smiled brightly. "Oh, and I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

The girl flashed an utterly beautiful smile back - almost every feature of hers was model-perfect. She could do ads if she wasn't magical, Harry thought. "And I'm Melody Forbush." She then cast a glance at Ron, who was still munching on a chocolate frog and a meat pie. "I didn't catch your name," she said with a note of impatience in her voice.

Ron stifled a burp in his sleeve before introducing himself to Melody, who barely resisted a colossal eyeroll in return. "Ron Weasley."

Melody turned her attention back to Harry right away. "At least one of you has some manners," she said softly. She then flashed that brilliant smile at Harry. "Come on, let's go find Trevor's pet." The two of them exited the compartment to try to help poor Neville out.

Five minutes later, Ron heard another knock on the door. Ron cocked his head - it sure looked like it was the same girl as before, but her hairstyle was a bit different - she had twin pigtails, and wore wire-framed glasses. "Any luck, Melody?" Ron asked. "That was pretty quick for you to change from a French braid to pigtails... and I didn't think you wore glasses."

The girl gave Ron an incredulous look, her eyebrows scrunched in a way that indicated she took quite a bit of offense to his comment. "Melody? I'm her twin sister, Mallorie! You best get off your duff and help us find that frog," she said. "Neville won't stop his incessant blubbering." Unlike Melody, she couldn't resist a massive eyeroll. So this must be the 'evil'twin, thought Ron.

"It's not a frog, it's a toad," Ron groaned. "And I'll get up and help if it'll get you off my back."

Thirty minutes had passed, and the children were no closer to finding Neville's toad Trevor. Neville was so worried that he looked like he was about to burst into tears. Melody sat with Neville to console him, while Harry, Ron, and Mallorie continued their search for his lost amphibian.

Melody took Neville by the hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Neville's head was pointed somewhat downward, but Melody grabbed Neville's chin and gently guided his face toward hers.

"Look at me, Neville," Melody said as gently as she could. "Your toad will turn up. It might not be right this second, but I promise that he'll show up before the night is over. You have at least three other children helping you out right now - and possibly more. I know it's not fun being separated from him, but you can't ever lose hope." She flashed her pretty smile at Neville, who couldn't help but returning a small smile himself.

"Thank you, Melody," Neville replied gratefully. "I'm glad that someone out there is looking out for me..."

Melody's smile only broadened. "I've only known you an hour or two, Neville, but you strike me as a very sweet boy. You'd do the same if the tables were turned..."

Neville nodded, unable to respond verbally. He was clearly unused to being complimented like that, as he was usually teased and mocked for his awkwardness and difficulty remembering things. "Now Forbush... that's not a wizarding family I'm familiar with," he finally said. "Do you have any magical family members?"

Melody shook her head 'no'. "I'm afraid not, Neville... outside of my twin sister, we're all non-magical, that I'm aware of..."

"So you're Muggle-born then," Neville announced. "Does learning about magic excite you? I'm sure you'll find that Hogwarts will be vastly different than your old school..."

"Very much," Melody replied with a giggle. "When Mallorie and I found out that we were witches, we couldn't wait to get our books and robes and other materials in Diagon Alley... oh, that reminds me - I'd better change into my robes! Neville, could you please hold my seat while I go to the loo to get changed? I promise it won't take long..."

"Go right ahead," Neville responded softly. "I'm not going anywhere... oh, and before you go... thanks. You've done a wonderful job of taking my mind off of Trevor... please come back and keep talking, I rather like that!"

Melody giggled. "I'll be back as quick as I can!"

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron and Mallorie continued their search for Neville's toad. Their efforts proved futile, and Ron was about to give up and return to his compartment when Mallorie chastised him. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm stopping for a moment," replied Ron. "I could use a minute to use the loo."

Mallorie sighed. "Well, hurry it up then. The sooner Neville gets his pet back, the sooner he'll shut his trap and the quieter this train ride will be."

Ron let out an exasperated sigh as he entered the nearest unoccupied loo. He toyed with the idea of just staying there so he wouldn't put up with Mallories' bossiness, but he also knew that other firsties probably had to legitimately use the loo too, so he didn't stay in there too long. He doubled back to the compartment where Neville and Melody were sitting, and they were completely lost in conversation. If Neville wasn't fussing, then it might be a good stopping point, Ron surmised.

As he turned around to return to his compartment, Melody cleared her throat. "Erm, Ron? While we still haven't found Neville's toad yet, you can stop for now, I think. He seems to be content with me sitting next to him. Why don't you and your friend Harry go get into your robes in the meantime? We probably can't be all that far from the castle."

Ron nodded and breathed a quick 'thanks' to Melody. He thought that Melody was a bit nicer than her sister, so he didn't mind her nearly as much. He went into his compartment and pulled his robes from his rucksack and returned to the loo he just emerged from a few minutes prior. He caught Harry on his way back to the compartment.

"Don't worry about Trevor for right now, mate," he whispered to Harry. "Just get into your robes for now... the sun's about to set, so we probably don't have too much longer before we get to the castle."

Harry gave Ron a thumb's up, as he grabbed his robes from his trunk and headed for the loo.

About an hour and a half later, the train began slowing down, and finally made a complete stop at Hogsmeade Station. The famous half-giant, Hagrid, greeted the first-year students as they got off the train. He held a lantern next to his face, which revealed a black mane and matching beard, and a friendly expression to go with it.

"First years, first years, this way please," he barked. "We've got places ter be, so step lively!"