Chapter Five: Beginning

Mal sat alone in the train compartment. He was dressed in faded jeans with worn cuffs and a long-sleeve, soft green t-shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He also had on his new, dragon-hide boots—a birthday slash hey-you're-a-wizard gift from his parents.

Mal sighed heavily, his breath fogging up the window he was staring out of, as the train whistle blew and last minute arrivals hurried to get on, lugging heavy trunks and caged familiars. Platform 9 ¾ was full of waving parents and siblings, younger and older. Most tried to put on a happy face for their children as they sent them off to another year at Hogwarts, but Mal could still detect traces of fear in their eyes and scent.

Professor Lupin had shown them the platform back in June, nearly three months before, and explained that muggles were not able to pass through the invisible barrier. So Mal had said goodbye to his still anxious parents in muggle King's Cross Station, promising to borrow a school owl and send them a letter within the first week. He had then stepped through the barrier and lugged his heavy trunk onto the train, claiming the first empty compartment he found.

While Mal was a naturally friendly and outgoing person, years of being a virtual outcaste had made him shy around new people. He had never truly been close to anyone or completely trusted anyone besides his parents. Now, in an entirely new and unfamiliar world, he was unsure of how to make new friends. So he sat alone, watching the people on the platform. One particular family, made up mostly of redheads, caught his interest. Mal counted eight redheads, although from the looks of it only the youngest two were boarding the train, along with one black-haired boy in glasses and one girl with bushy brown hair, who were also boarding; and there was a large black bear-like dog barking and hopping around joyfully.

Mal was just starting to lose interest when he heard someone pause in front of the door to his compartment. He turned as it opened to see a small girl with straight shoulder-length brown hair and grey eyes. She paused, nervous, like she wasn't expecting anyone to be there. Probably another first year. Well, now's just as good a time as any to start making new friends, thought Mal, trying to muster his courage.

"You can sit in here if you like."

"Do you mind if I sit in here?"

The both blushed and smiled as they spoke at the same time.

"Here, let me help you with that." He said, seeing she was dragging her trunk behind her. Standing, he helped her hoist the heavy trunk into the luggage rack.

"Thanks," she said, smiling shyly once again and sitting in the seat opposite him, the cage she carried now resting on her lap.

"No problem." He breathed in, catching the scent of the animal in the cage and automatically identifying it as a ferret. Smiling, Mal remembered many fun times playing with wild ferrets in the forest. He looked up at the girl and blushed again when he realized he'd been caught staring.

"Sorry. I just really like animals. I'm Malachi, by the way, but most people just call me Mal," he said, extending his hand.

"Dani," she said, shaking his. "And this is Gen." At the sound of his name the little creature stirred, uncurling slightly to look around and yawn, before shuffling around and adamantly returning to sleep. Mal smiled.

"He's great." Now it was her turn to blush.

"Thanks. I just got him in Diagon Alley last month. Are you a first year too?"

"Yep." Mal fished for a topic of conversation. "So, what house do you think you'll be in?" Suddenly, Gen the ferret realized he had an itch and sprung up, twisting and turning as he tried to reach the spot. Mal snickered at the sight.

"Well, I'm not really sure," Dani said, looking down at Gen, who was now scratching furiously at the bars of the cage, requesting freedom. She smiled fondly at his antics and pulled him out, setting him in the seat beside her so he could roam around the compartment. Looking back up at Mal she said, "I only just learned about Hogwarts last month so I don't really understand the whole house system. What about you?"

"I actually just found out in June," Mal answered. "But I read a lot about the school and the houses and stuff over the summer. All four seem to have pros and cons. I don't really have a preference. So are you muggle-born as well?"

At this Dani shook her head. "No. Turns out my dad was a wizard, but he died when I was four, so I didn't remember it. My mom didn't know how to explain everything to me, so she just didn't mention it 'til my letter came in August, then she told me everything she learned from my dad." As she said this Gen had managed to crawl out on her knee and was now sniffing Mal curiously.

Mal held out his hand, smiling at the little ferret. He knew that his smell was strange compared to other humans and sometimes animals, especially those who'd been around a lot of people and knew what they were supposed to smell like, took a minute to decide if he was going to eat them or not. Finally, Gen seemed to decide Mal was safe enough, and he stepped from Dani's knee to Mal's, licking his wrist as he did so. Dani smiled.

"Looks like he likes you," she said. "Funny, usually he doesn't take so long to warm up to people." Mal just shrugged, wrestling the ferret with one hand as it nibbled on his fingers.

They continued talking about Hogwarts, comparing notes on what they knew of the school and the wizarding world. As they did, Gen explored the compartment. Eventually, after his requests to investigate Mal's trunk and explore the rest of the train were denied, he curled up in the boy's lap to do what ferrets do best—nap. Maggi and Mal continued talking. Mal knew a bit more about the wizarding world because he'd had his textbooks, plus the extra books he'd bought, for nearly two months longer than her.

They were just exploring the new world of wizard sweets from the snack trolley when the door to the compartment was hesitantly slid open by a sandy-haired boy carrying a caged barn owl.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit in here?" he asked. The both shock their heads and Mal cleared a space on the seat next to him, pushing aside empty chocolate frog boxes and half-eaten cauldron cakes. The new boy smiled gratefully and sat, the cage resting on his lap.

"Thanks," he said. "I was with my older cousins and their friends, but they 'had something private to discuss' and asked me to leave." He looked up from his owl, "I'm Jared, by the way. Jared Prewitt."

"Malachi."

"Dani."

"So your cousins are witches and wizards too?" asked Mal. "Are all of your family magical?" He was curious to learn more about the magical world from someone who had lived in first hand.

"Yep," answered Jared. "You must be muggle-borns?"

"Well, I am, but Dani is half-blood."

"But my father died when I was little so I really don't know much of anything about magic and all."

The three first years spent the remainder of the train ride talking happily about both the wizarding and muggle worlds. Jared was just as curious about the muggle world as Mal and Dani were about the magical one. After several hours, they arrived at the station, which Jared informed them was in Hogsmeade, and disembarked, leaving their trunks as well as Jared's owl—who was named Loki—and a once again sleeping and caged Gen.

They stared in awe at their first sight of the magical castle as the boat they shared glided across the lake. When they reached the opposite shore they were ushered inside and told to wait. Everyone began to whisper excitedly.

"So Jared, what house do you think you'll be in?" asked Dani.

"Well," he said, taking on a thoughtful expression, "my cousins, the Weasley's, have all been in Gryffindor. That's what house Ron and Ginny are in now," he said, naming his seventh and sixth year cousins. "But we're really second cousins, and the rest of my family has been sort of scattered about the houses, even Slytherin. Really, I wouldn't care which, except with everything going on right now I'd prefer to stay out of Slytherin."

"What do you mean?" asked Dani, not having any idea that the wizarding world was on the verge of war.

"You mean you don't…" Jared started, surprised, only to be cut off by Mal, who had heard someone approaching. He quickly recognized the scent and smiled just before Professor Lupin entered.

"Alright, alright," he said loudly, getting all their attention. "Everyone quiet down. Now, I'm about to take you in to be sorted into one of the four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin." He paused, looking around at the anxious faces, stopping to meet Mal's eye and give a quick smile. Mal returned it with a wide grin, happy to see the werewolf again.

"I know your all anxious," Lupin when on, "but just stay calm and follow me." With that he turned and walked back through the door in came through, expecting them to follow. After a moment's hesitation, Mal, who was near the front of the crowd, followed, bringing Dani and Jared with him.

AN: Hey, thanks for all the reviews! Like I said, this is my first fanfiction, so I really appreciate it. That said, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this story, so I'm open to suggestions. Hope you enjoy!

AN: So, I know I haven't written in forever and I think that maybe I'm more suited for reading fanfics than writing them, but I'm not giving up. I am, however, changing this story rather drastically. I'm gonna leave this version up and if anyone wants to take it and make it there own, feel free. Please shoot me a message if you do as I'd love to read it! I'm gonna re-write this as taking place at the same time as the HP novels because the complete AU with the jumbled time-line thing wasn't really working out for me. It may be awhile before I actually get the other version uploaded, but it is in progress. Thank you again for the great reviews and I hope you enjoy the new one!