AN: Thank you for reading up to this point! I have decided what House Emily will be in. I will be having additional votes about this story on my page, so don't forget to vote! (I will tell you when there is one) There's one right now! But anyway, REVIEW PLEASE! I sorta need constructive criticism right now... and reviews provide this! (plus, they make me happy :)) I hate to beg, but I need an idea of how I'm doing. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: horsegurl16 does not own Harry Potter

There is no worse feeling than getting in the car and realizing you can't do anything because you have no internet connection. Unless, of course, you're Hermione. I looked over at the seat next to me, and sure enough, she had her nose in a book. I strained to take a peek at the cover. It said The Standard Book of Spells – Grade 2. She was reading a textbook? Only Hermione…

I was getting desperate for entertainment, and I wasn't about to read a book. That was last resort. I remembered my video game at home, and started trying to figure out how to beat my current level. I'd been stuck on it for ages, and now was the perfect time to think it through. I had spent so much time on it that I had committed it to memory. As the car bumped along the road, I was lost in thoughts of strategy and technique.

By the time we got to King's Cross station, it was already 10:55. Hermione and I barely had time to grab our trunks and tell Mum and Dad goodbye before rushing off to the platform. Once we were on the train, Hermione shot off towards the back of the train, presumably to find her friends. I turned to follow her, but hesitated. As much as I liked her friends, I knew that as long as Hermione was there, they wouldn't really want to talk to me. I headed towards the other end of the train to find an empty compartment. After passing through a few cars full of older students, who gawked at me like they had never seen a first year before, I found a compartment that was empty except for one redheaded girl. I was pretty sure she was a first year, so I sat down across from her. The girl looked up, startled.

"Oh – hello," she said with a tiny smile. She relaxed a little as she saw that I was a first year too. She looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen her before.

I realized I had been staring, so I shook myself and kept the conversation going. "Hi. I'm Emily."

"Ginny," she replied, looking up so that light fell across her nose, highlighting her freckles. My eyes grew wide. Red hair, freckles – she was just like Ron! No wonder she had looked familiar!

"Are you by any chance related to Ron Weasley?" I asked her. Weasley was his last name, right?

Her eye widened. "How do you know my brother?"

"Ron? He's my sister's friend." I kind of assumed I had the last name right, seeing that Ginny had understood what I had said.

She thought for a moment. "So your sister must be… Hermione?" she asked.

I nodded disinterestedly. She was my sister, if you think in terms of family trees. But in terms likeness, we scored a zero.

If Ginny noticed my uncaring demeanor, she didn't let on about it. Instead, she just stared out the window, apparently lost in thought.

Just then, Hermione burst through the compartment door, gasping for breath. Well speak of the devil…

"Have you seen Ron or Harry?" she asked Ginny. I knew I wasn't included in this conversation, so I kept quiet. My sister's eyes were focusing intensely on Ginny, actively avoiding mine.

"No," came Ginny's confused answer. "But they were both at the station; I saw them just before I crossed the barrier. I thought they were with you."

"Well, they're not. I just don't see where they could be – I've searched the whole train! Unless they didn't get on, but they wouldn't dare…" Her voice trailed off. "They didn't," she whispered, her eyes growing wide. "They can't!"

"Um… Hermione? They just did, apparently. Where else could they be?"

"But if they missed the train, they can't get to Hogwarts! And as much as they hate homework, I know they don't want that. Especially Harry. It's either Hogwarts or the Dursleys for him, and that's not exactly a hard decision." My sister was now pacing back and forth along the length of the compartment. "And Ron – well, I don't know about Ron. But I know his parents would be absolutely furious with him."

"You've got that right," muttered Ginny under her breath.

"Exactly! There's no reason either one of them should want to miss the train. So there must have been something else stopping them." Hermione stopped short in the middle of the compartment, hands on hips. "The question is, what?"

"I suppose we'll find out when we get there?" whispered Ginny weakly as she recoiled under Hermione's fierce stare.

My sister realized what she was doing and her gaze softened. "Sorry about that," she said apologetically. "But I just don't get it…"

"Stop trying. I've lived with Ron my whole life and I don't understand him!"

Hermione laughed. "Well, I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts then."

As Ginny and Hermione chatted, I stared out the window, uninterested in their conversation. But that didn't stop me for listening to every word. As soon as my sister had left the compartment, I turned to Ginny. "Is your brother usually like that?"

Ginny ignored my question. "Why don't you talk to your sister? I mean, when she was in the room it was suddenly like you didn't exist at all."

"Oh – no reason," I said, suddenly feeling a strange mix of emotions, none of which I could identify. "We just aren't very close, that's all." Mercifully, Ginny seemed to be content to let the matter drop. I honestly didn't feel like talking about my relationship with my sister at the moment.

Neither of us really felt like talking, so we sat in silence for the rest of the ride. When a lady with a food cart walked in, I stood up eagerly, but when I saw that the trolley was filled with a strange assortment of sweets, I froze. Mum and Dad would never let me buy anything off of that cart. Never in a million years would they let me spend money on sweets, especially since it had only been a week since I'd eaten ice cream in Diagon Alley. But Mum and Dad weren't here. Besides, Hermione had probably gotten something too, and I needed something to spend my money on. My parents had given Hermione and I each some money, but I doubted there would be anything to buy at Hogwarts. So I went ahead and bought a sugar quill. Pure sugar – I'd be bouncing off the walls. Yet another reason I wasn't supposed to have sugar. But at school, I would have free reign. I had a feeling I was going to like Hogwarts.