Chapter 1

The large clock at the muggle train station read exactly 10:45am. The place was packed with muggles all rushing to catch their train, while others sat in waited for relatives. A woman announced on the intercom that the train from Manchester had just arrived, but I ignored it. I was too excited.

Despite the lack of sleep I had last night, I was a bundle of energy. I had been awake since 7 am this morning. I then took 3 hours to pack my entire trunk with all of the clothing I own and all of my school supplies. Let's just say that it took a lot of difficult magic to cast an undetectable expansion charm without any help! And then over the years, I had realized that no matter when I packed my trunk, I would simply unpack it and repack it the morning I left. So I decided to wait until the day itself to pack it. Problem solved!

So now, I walked between my parents through the muggle filled station. I shifted my rucksack onto my right shoulder and tightened my grip on the cat basket in my hand. As we approached, my father turned his conversation to me.

"Are you certain that you've packed everything you'll need?"

"Of course!" I said brightly.

"And Tanya will be meeting you on the other side of the barrier?" My mother asked from my left.

"Yeah, we owled each other early this morning, and she's meeting me under the clock on the other side. Draco also owled me late last night telling me that he would be there with his parents too."

"It's 'yes', not 'yeah'. Rosalyn, you're a proper young lady, so do act like one" My mother snapped.

My mother and I were never close. Sure, she bought me clothes and taught me how to act like a lady and had me sit with her while her and her 'friends' sipped tea and gossiped, but that was only because she didn't want to embarrass herself. I was pretty much only for show. Once, she told all of her friends that I was the best daughter she could ever have and that she had never come across a child as behaved as myself. If I remember correctly, I snorted so hard into my tea that the ladies closest to me were a little more than sprinkled.

"Yes mother" I said with the slightest hint of sarcasm. Whether she noticed it or not, she said nothing.

We soon reached the crossing between the wizarding world and the muggle world and I still had a good 13 minutes left. My mother and father walked right ahead and through the brick wall without hesitation. No one took notice. I walked up to the wall and casually leaned against the wall. I slid by without notice.

As soon as I passed through the barrier, I caught a glimpse of the scarlet train before I was engulfed in a hug.

"Where have you been?"

"Hiding from you" I snickered, hugging Tanya back.

"Only kidding" I added after noticing the look she gave me.

"You better be" She said as she let me go.

I quickly turned to my parents who were in a light discussion with the Notts'. I briefly hugged them and bid them farewell before turning back to Tanya. My mother began to object but my father gave her a look. She sighed in defeat before nodding.

"Have fun Kiddo" My father said.

I smiled brightly and took off with Tanya.

Along the way, she bent down and peeked into the cat basket I was still carrying.

"So fluffy" She cooed before standing back up. "She's gotten so big! I swear you have the coolest cat ever!"

"I know" I said jokingly.

"You've cut your hair!" I said as I reached out and touched it. She smiled brightly.

"Just a little change"

"Well it looks great. I'm jealous" I said as I let go of her hair.

She honestly looked great. Her hair, which used to be waist length and simply cut straight across, was now mid-length down her back and layered.

She thanked me and then launched into an overenthusiastic detailed story of her 2 weeks spent in Venice, Italy. As we wove through the crowd she told me about the muggle boy she had secretly been seeing.

"No!" I gasped loudly. "A muggle!"

She quickly clasped her hand over my mouth and dragged me away from the looks the families gave me.

"Shh!" She wailed. "It's bad enough with my parents against it. My father almost hexed him when they caught us kissing"

I immediately felt sympathy towards my best friend. Tanya was just as pureblood as me, and I came from one of the noblest families. And so her being caught with a muggle boy sure was something. I can just imagine how disappointed her parents must have been.

"Did they forgive you?" I asked slowly.

"Barely. I'm sure they're getting ready to disown me or something" She said sadly.

"I'm sure they love you all the same" I said as I reached out and patted her arm.

"Yeah" She agreed softly.

"So, I'm just curious. Why a muggle?"

Her face changed immediately. She looked excited to tell me.

"He was absolutely gorgeous!"

I raised an eyebrow. Out of the two of us, I was the one who was somewhat kinder towards the halfbloods and muggleborns. I could count on Tanya any day to shoot smart remarks to them. And all of a sudden, she was all interested in Muggles? I found this quite amusing.

"Well what are you waiting for? Spill it!" I said excitedly as we continued to weave though the crowd of students saying their 'goodbyes to their parents.

"Well he was tall, and he had blue eyes and- ouu, he was tanned. And his name was Alidor. He had lots of freckles and he kissed like a man..."

Every now and then I would throw in a comment or agree on something, but one thing really caught me by surprise.

"Red hair?" I repeated as I gave her a look.

As soon as she mentioned the red hair, a brief image of her wrapped around a tanned Weasley filled my head. I couldn't hold back my laughter.

Ever since I could remember, she and Fred Weasley have always hated each other. Actually, hated would be an understatement. They loathed each other. Absolutely despised each other. Whether they were crossing each other in the hall or sitting at opposite ends in the Great Hall, it always included noisy banter and a lot of dirty looks. Every once in a while, Tanya would pull her wand out and send a few hexes and jinxes, but nothing major. Either way, they declared war. And so the thought of Tanya and her enemy locked in a steamy embrace was pretty funny.

"Well if you can't have Alidor, then I suppose you could always go for your favorite ginger" I suggested.

"Rosalyn!" She whined. I dodged her and twirled through the crowd. She was hot on my trail with death threats until I hid behind a rather large group of people. She passed by me and I snickered loudly.

Suddenly a low, menacing growl startled me. I whipped around only to come face-to-face with a rather large black dog. His muzzle was crinkled and his lips were curled back to reveal an impressive set of dangerous looking canines. I took a startled step back. And inside the cat basket, a low growl emitted.

"Snuffles" A voice said with uncertainty. The dog gave me one last piercing look before turning around. I looked up to see Potter.

"Nice dog" I said with a frown and a slight hint of sarcasm. I was still slightly startled from the dog.

"Sorry" He said as he gave me a hard look. And then Granger and Weasel were flanked by him.

"What are you doing here Black?" The red head sneered.

"Nothing" I said as I matched his look. "I simply complimented Potter on his dog"

"Well you can leave now"

I rolled my eyes and turned away. As I was walking away, I turned back once more and caught a glimpse of the large black dog staring intently at me.

Those eyes. They look so familiar. As a matter of fact, they looked a lot like mine. Black.

I was still pondering over it then someone called my name out.

"Draco! How good to see you!" I said as I joined him next to his parents.

"And you too. How was your summer?"

I quickly took in his appearance. He had grown much taller over the summer. And he seemed to fill out the lanky look he supported last year. He was well dressed, but nothing new was there.

"Great! The book on Quidditch was helpful" I said happily.

"Did you like it?" His mother asked me from my left.

"It was lovely" I said as I smiled up at her.

She smiled approvingly and shot Draco a look I couldn't describe. And then she bid him goodbye as the train was leaving in 5 minutes.

His father gave him a quick lecture on doing well in school before he nodded a polite goodbye to me. And then they left.

"Glad that's over" He muttered

"I've been trying to get away from them for the past 20 minutes. I still haven't found Crabbe, Goyle or Blaise"

"Oh stop whining. They're right over th…"

I dropped my finger from where I had been pointing to a small group. Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise and Tanya were hovering in front of one of the train entrances. And then a shrilly laugh made me roll my eyes.

"Draky! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" She claimed as she threw her arms around him.

In my entire life, I have Never met someone as annoying and as obsessive as Pansy Parkinson. She literally spoke about Draco all the time. It was past the point of obsession. It was quite ridiculous to be honest.

And as I approached Tanya, she stifled a laugh. She knew of my hatred towards the daft girl and she found it quite amusing. Then again, so did I. Arguments between Pansy and I were just about as frequent as those between Tanya and Fred Weasley.

And as I boarded the train in conversation with Blaise, I noticed Pansy give me a look. I simply smiled mockingly towards her before boarding the Hogwarts Express.

She sneered. And so did I.

"Hasn't your mother ever told you that if you make a face too long, it stays like that?" She called nastily.

"Well, Pansy, you can't say you weren't warned" I said smugly.

I caught Tanya's eye and laughed loudly.

"This year is going to be interesting" Tanya laughed.

"It certainly will be" I grinned.

A/N:
Thanks for reading!
And I'm so sorry for the long wait for the story! I'm just not that into it yet so it's a little harder for me to get the gears turning, but fear not! I'm baaaccck :)

Please tell me what you think about it. This is only my second story.
Ok, maybe not, but I've never stuck with the other ones yet, and I'm pretty excited about this one! So let me know; did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Any story suggestions? I'm very open to any ideas!
Reviews are appreciated!

PS, I'm looking for a Beta! Thanks!

~Maddie

Coming Soon: Hogwarts Feast, First Day of school, Pranks and much more!