The playful conversation starts

Counter all your quick remarks like passing notes in secrecy

And it was enchanting to meet you

All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you…

- "Enchanted," Taylor Swift

"Fifteen minutes before the Hogwarts Express departs!"

"Mum, Dad, I really need to go. Now." Olivia Montmorency sternly eyed her parents, who were known for drawing out goodbyes. Had Liv been a first year, a long farewell would have been more appropriate, but at seventeen, a quick peck on the cheek and "see you at Christmas!" should have been sufficient.

"We'll miss you so much darling!" Mrs. Montmorency gushed, sweeping up her youngest daughter in a suffocating hug. Releasing her, she said with tears in her eyes, "Oh, Fred. Our baby's growing up!"

"Yes, she is," Mr. Montmorency agreed, his eyes twinkling as he pulled Olivia in for a hug. "You be good at school, Livvy. Make us proud."

"Don't I always?" Olivia teased, giving her father a playful glance.

"So proud!" Mrs. Montmorency said, sobbing. Olivia's father pulled her into a one-armed hug and she proceeded to soak his shoulder with tears.

Olivia sighed, impatient to get away. She loved her parents, she really did. But she despised her mother's dramatics, and her father's tendency to put up with them rather than put an end to them was just annoying. "Thanks, Mum," she mumbled, eager to get on the train and find her friends. "I'll see you both at Christmas. Love you!" She gave them each a final peck on the cheek and ran off to board the train before her parents could call her back.

Now to find Emme, Olivia thought to herself as she made her way through the corridor of the train. Every compartment seemed to be full, and first years were playing tag in the corridor. They were so excited to get to school that they apparently couldn't contain themselves to the small space of a compartment. Olivia groaned to herself – she really was not in the mood for this today.

"Olivia!"

Olivia turned to her right. A petite brunette wearing Ravenclaw robes waved eagerly to her from inside a compartment. Olivia squealed – something that she usually never allowed herself to do – and practically leaped into the compartment to give her best friend a hug. "Oh, Emme, I missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

"I missed you too!" Emme replied, giving Olivia a bright smile. She patted the seat next to her. "Sit here. You know everyone, right?"

It was the first time Olivia thought to look at the other people in the compartment, and she blushed. She didn't like to put on a show, and rarely did, except she'd missed Emme so much. She didn't mind being giggly around Emme, but Emme was literally the only person who she ever got giddy with. If she'd realized that other people were there, she'd have been much more reserved. Sitting next to Emme, she glanced up at her neighbors.

Shit. Just the people she'd never wanted to embarrass herself in front of. Remus Lupin sat to Emme's right, next to the door. Olivia didn't really have too much of a problem with him – he was pretty quiet and reserved, very polite, and very intelligent. It was really a shame he hadn't been put in Ravenclaw. Instead, he'd been sorted into Gryffindor, where he'd met his three best friends: Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew.

Sirius and James sat across from Olivia. Sirius had an obnoxious smirk on his face, clearly pleased to see Olivia loosen up a bit – he'd certainly told her enough times that she needed to. Olivia blushed in response. James wasn't paying her the least bit of attention. Rather, he was completely preoccupied with Lily Evans, yet another Gryffindor. It kind of surprised Olivia that Lily was reciprocating James' attention – she never had before, and she'd certainly had plenty of opportunities. In fact, Lily had always made it quite clear that she wanted nothing to do with James – yet here she was, practically making out with him in public! Clearly, something had changed over the summer. Peter was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi," Olivia said softly. How embarrassing. She'd made a fool out of herself in front of the most popular group of boys in school.

"What, no squeal and hug for me?" Sirius asked, grinning maliciously. "What a disappointment, Montmorency."

"Sorry," Olivia mumbled. Sirius chuckled. Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the bustle of activity taking place in the train station in the brief moments before the Hogwarts Express' departure.

"How was your summer, Liv?" Emme asked, smiling.

Olivia shrugged. "It was alright," she replied. "How was yours?"

"Oh, it was just lovely," Emme said breathlessly. She turned to Remus with a sweet smile, and Olivia didn't miss how Emme squeezed Remus' hand. Was romance in the air?

"I'd love to hear about it," Olivia told her truthfully. "Would you mind filling me in while I go to find the snack cart?"

"Of course," Emme said. She rose and turned to Remus before leaving the compartment. "Can I get you anything?"

"Nope, I'm not hungry at the moment," he replied with a tired smile. "But thank you!"

"No problem, love," Emme said. The girls left the compartment in search of the cart.

"Alright, Em. You've got to tell me what's going on with you and Lupin," Olivia demanded.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Emme said with a grin, doing a very poor job of making it appear that nothing was going on. She giggled. "Oh, alright. I guess I might as well tell you; it's certainly not a secret. Hmm, where to start…" Emme frowned, and then sighed. "Well, you know we've always been friends. So this past summer, we kept in touch pretty much constantly, and one thing led to another… so… yeah, that's pretty much it," she finished with a smile.

"No, Em, you're leaving one crucial part out," Olivia disagreed.

"What's that?"

"Are you and Lupin together? Like, are you a couple now?" Olivia asked.

"Oh." Emme frowned. "You know, I don't really know. We haven't discussed it."

"What? How could you not discuss that?" Olivia demanded in disbelief.

"We know how we feel about each other, Liv. What need is there to define our relationship?" Emme asked.

"Oh, I don't know. What if other girls flirt with him? If you're not dating, you don't have a real right to get jealous," Olivia pointed out.

"Olivia, he won't let that happen," Emma chuckled.

"He's a bloke, Em. He might." Olivia stopped, looking at her friend very seriously. "I'm just trying to make sure you won't get hurt."

"Thanks, Liv. And don't worry, I know what I'm getting myself into," Emme promised, smiling, " and I'm quite excited about it."

"I guess that's just about all I can want for my best friend," Olivia decided with a sigh.

"Just about. C'mon, let's go get those snacks," Emme suggested, grabbling Olivia's hand and pulling her down the corridor, laughing all the way.

" –and then I hit him with a bat bogey curse and the bloke was a goner!" Sirius boasted, laughing in memory of his latest attack on Snape.

"I do wish you'd stop picking on him," Lily scolded.

"Stop picking on Snivellus? Never," Sirius scoffed. "Olivia, toss me a Chocolate Frog, would you?" Olivia smiled and did as she was told. "Thanks love," Sirius said, winking slyly at her.

"No problem," Olivia replied with a blush. No wonder all the girls in school seemed to swoon over Sirius – she'd never understood it before, but this afternoon had definitely enlightened her. Not only was he handsome, he was also clever, witty, and unfailingly charming.

"Sirius, I know that you've got some sort of vendetta against him, but honestly, he's got a lot on his plate. He doesn't need you to be picking on him. I know better than anyone that he can be a prat, but really, you need to stop," Lily continued seriously.

"Evans, why do you care? And you might be able to get James to do whatever you want, but thankfully, I'm not tied down to you and I don't have to listen to you," Sirius retorted, clearly starting to get annoyed.

"Stop it, you two," James spoke up. "Sirius, don't talk to her like that."

"But-!"

"Sirius. Don't," James said, daring Sirius to argue.

"Fine," Sirius said with a sigh. James nodded and proceeded to cuddle Lily. Olivia watched them for a few minutes, observing how they whispered to each other and seemed completely oblivious to the rest of the world. She'd never had anything like that, and it suddenly occurred to her that maybe she wanted it. Too bad no boys ever looked her way…

"Looks like we're just about there – look, we're passing by Hogsmeade now!" Emme exclaimed, pointing out the window. The compartment was suddenly filled with activity as its occupants rushed to get their robes on and gather their belongings. They'd decided to get ready just in time, for as soon as they were finished the train pulled into the station and the students all piled out. "C'mon Liv, let's go to the Ravenclaw table!" Emme said, excited to see their housemates again.

"Bye, everyone!" Olivia called, wondering if she'd made new friends, or if the afternoon would be forgotten by dinner. Her questions were answered fairly clearly, for just as she was about to disappear into the crowd, a hand encircled her wrist, forcing her to pause for a moment. Olivia turned, and found herself looking into the deep brown eyes of none other than Sirius Black.

"I'll see you again, right, Olivia?" he asked, giving her a devastatingly attractive smirk.

"I hope so," she whispered in the most bold statement she'd made all day.

"Great," Sirius replied, grinning. He disappeared into the crowd, leaving Olivia craving for another meeting.