A/N: Hello everyone! Don't worry, no rants today, but I should warn you that I might not have a chance to post tomorrow or Saturday, but I will try my best. It just depends on how much homework I get, really, and how much time is left in the weekend in which to do it. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and I apologise for how short it is.

Chapter Four:

Potter Manor was in chaos as its four residents rushed around on the morning of September 1st, desperately looking for lost socks, books, or, in James' case, his tie.

"Harry do you have my copy of Hogwarts: A History?" Hermione called as she ran into his bedroom.

From downstairs, Harry could here his mother calling for them to "Hurry up, or I'm going without you! Yes, James, you too!"

Throwing his sister the book he'd been using to weigh down his clothes, he slammed the lid of his trunk closed and began pulling it out of the room.

"'Mione, are you all set?" he asked, as she dashed back into her own room across the hall, treasured book in hand.

"Of course I am!" she replied indignantly. "And I would have been down there a lot sooner if you hadn't stolen my book."

Harry just laughed and pulled his trunk down the stairs. Dropping it in front of the fireplace, he headed into the kitchen, Hermione following behind. Lily was standing at the bench, fixing James' tie as he ate a piece of toast.

"Honestly, James," she said. "One of these days you're going to have to learn how to do this yourself."

James merely gave her a cheeky grin and kissed her cheek.

When she spotted her children, Lily pointed to the stack of food on the table.

"Eat fast. We've only got fifteen minutes before we leave. It's a good thing we're flooing to Kings Cross, or we'd never get their on time!" she said.

Harry and Hermione obediently loaded their plates and dug in.

"Are you coming to the station, Dad?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I am, sweetheart," he replied with a smile, ruffling her hair. "Do you think I would me miss my kids' first train ride to Hogwarts?"

Hermione grinned and pulled away, fixing her hair.

"Actually, now that you mention it," he said "I have something for you guys. Hurry up and meet me in the Lounge."

Harry and Hermione quickly scoffed the rest of their breakfast as James headed off in the direction of the study. With Lily looking slightly disapproving following behind, they ran into the lounge and sat excitedly on the couch.

"Now," James began, returning to the room with his arms held teasingly behind his back. "You both know the stories of what Sirius, Remus and I used to get up to as the 'Marauders', right?"

At their eager nods, he continued. "Well today I'd like to pass on the secrets of our success."

With that, he removed a package from behind his back with a flourish and handed it to them.

"This is your invisibility cloak!" Hermione said reverently, handling the sheer fabric with a look of awe.

Harry, however, had found the blank parchment resting underneath it. "Is this the Marauders' Map?" he asked with a wide grin.

"You bet!" James said, delighting in the awestruck looks of his children.

Lily cleared her throat meaningfully and he turned towards the twins with a serious look.

"Now, just because we're giving you these, doesn't mean your mother and I consent to you breaking any rules. These are strictly for emergencies." Hermione nodded fervently, but as Lilly turned away, James winked at his kids.

"Right," Lily broke in "If we don't leave now, we'll be late. Hermione, you first, then Harry, and your father and I will bring your trunks."

With an excited smile, Hermione threw in her floo powder, called out "King's Cross Station!", and vanished into the flames. Seconds later, it was Harry's turn, and after a dizzying ride, he landed in the fireplace of Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Harry stared in awe at the scarlet steam engine waiting in front of him. He was about to begin his first ever ride to Hogwarts! The platform was bustling with wizards, and he looked around for any familiar signs of red hair. Just as he thought he might have spotted them hurrying through the barrier, there was a pop and his parents appeared next to him, each carrying a trunk. As he and Hermione reached for their trunks, he heard a shout and turned to see the Weasleys headed towards them.

After a quick hello, his attention was caught by his mother as she and Molly gathered all of the children around them.

"Now, stay safe and look after each other," Lily said.

"Fred, George, Percy," Molly broke in. "Make sure you keep an eye out for these three, and Fred, George, I want you two to behave yourselves this year! If I get one more letter saying that you've gone and blown up a toilet, or something, look out!"

"Blown up a toilet!" George said "We've never blown up a toilet!"

"Great idea, though, thanks mum!" Fred added.

Molly merely rolled her eyes as the whistle blew, warning them that the train would depart in three minutes.

She and Molly enfolded each of the children into a hug, looking as though they were fighting back tears, and James followed suit, saving Hermione for last.

"Now you be a good girl, and I know you'll blitz all of those tests!" he said with a grin.

Ginny stepped forward, and gave them all hugs, trying her best to smile.

"You will write, won't you?" she asked, looking from one to the other.

Hermione pulled her into another hug.

"We'll write so often, you'll be sick of us by the time we come home for Christmas!" she said.

Ginny laughed and watched them board the train with Harry's owl, Hedwig and Hermione's cat, Crookshanks; birthday gifts from Sirius and Remus.

The whistle blew again and the train began to move, as Fred, George, Percy, Ron, Harry and Hermione waved from a carriage window.

Half laughing and half crying, Ginny ran after the train, just in time to hear Fred call out as the train rounded the bend.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!"

**~**

That night, Ginny sat on her bed in The Burrow, hating the empty silence filling the house. There were no explosions from the twins' room, no Percy lecturing her on proper Quidditch etiquette, and no Ron badgering her to play chess. Her parents were just downstairs, conversing quietly, but The Burrow was a place made for noise and excitement; the unnatural silence felt eerie.

Feeling slightly depressed and wondering if it was possible to be homesick for a school she'd never visited, Ginny glanced at the photo on her bedside table. It had been taken at her birthday party only a few weeks ago, and showed her, Hermione, Harry and Ron, all with their arms around each other and big smiles on their faces. Ginny loved the photo, but right now it was just making her sad, so she turned to survey the rest of the small table instead.

There, resting innocently beneath her lamp was the little black diary which Ron had given her the night before. Thinking she may as well decorate the bland thing, Ginny reached for her new set of glittering rainbow inks, a birthday gift from the Potters, and a quill. After dipping the quill into the bottle of shimmering purple ink, Ginny made a deft stroke down the cover, intending to draw a unicorn. To her astonishment, the ink sank right into the cover and disappeared.

Confused, Ginny tried again, with the same results. Frustrated at the thought of someone placing an imperturbable charm on such a useless book, Ginny turned to the front page. Hoping, rather fruitlessly, that a different colour might improve her luck, Ginny dipped her quill instead into the glittering pale blue ink, and drew a long line across the page.

Again, the ink sank through. Puzzled as to why someone would make a diary that was impossible to write in, Ginny turned the page to see if the ink had gone through to the other side. When she had verified that that page too, was clear, Ginny flipped back to the front and was about to give the diary up as a lost cause, when a word appeared on the page in fresh, black ink.

Hello?

Ginny paused. She'd never heard of a book writing back before, but really, things like this happened everyday in the wizarding world, didn't they? Someone had probably enchanted the diary as a joke, though she guessed it would have to be a pretty advanced charm.

Hesitantly, she dipped the quill back into the blue ink and paused, hand suspended over the page. A brief memory of her father flashed into her brain, a warning. Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain. But this was just someone's old diary, surely nothing worth worrying about.

Before she could change her mind, Ginny quickly lowered her quill to the page.

Who's this?

There was a pause as the words sank into the page, and Ginny waited, feeling slightly foolish. And then the black ink appeared again.

My name is Tom, what's yours?

With a small smile, Ginny put her quill back to the diary and wrote. Maybe she wouldn't be completely lonely this year, after all?