A/N: Thanks very much to the colossal three of you who've shown interest in this story! This is the first fic I've published, and receiving my sole review to date was very exciting!

Slowly, the Hogwarts Express pulled to a halt, stopping with a short screech and a loud hiss of steam at Hogsmeade Station. Dusk was just starting to settle in, and Jane pressed her face to the window to look up at the castle in the distance.
'There's Hogwarts, Frankie,' she pointed. 'What do you think?'

Frankie all but leapt onto Jane's side of the compartment in excitement. There was the castle he had seen so many times on paper, taken straight from the page and made enormous before his eyes. Hogwarts was brightly lit against its ever-darkening backdrop, ready and waiting for students to fill its walls once again.
'Awesome,' he grinned.

Jane shouldered the backpack that was now devoid of sandwiches, having been replaced with close to twenty chocolate frog wrappers that Frost had bought for them off the trolley. They'd found Frost two new cards for his collection: Gringott and Babayaga, so he was pleased.

The train doors opened, and the trio joined the bottleneck of students in the corridor. 'Know where you're going Frankie?' Frost asked.

He shook his head, suddenly looking like a small woodland creature caught in the headlights. 'I don't get to go with you guys?'

'Naw, they take the new students across the Black Lake as a welcome thing,' Jane explained. 'You need to find the Keeper of Keys and Grounds. He's a big old guy, half giant. He'll be calling for ya.'

'Hard to miss,' Frost grinned.

'You'll be fine, Frankie!' Jane said, as they stepped out onto the platform. 'I'll see you at the Sorting!'

She and Frost went off in search of a carriage, greeting friends as they did so, and Frankie was left alone on the platform in the growing darkness. 'Great,' he muttered, using sarcasm to try and ward off an impending panic attack. He almost wished he had made friends with some other first years on the train, instead of sitting with his sister and her friend. But then he remembered all the chocolate frogs and deduced he had made the right decision.

He started walking up the platform, in the opposite direction to his sister, trying to find some other kids wearing robes that didn't have a coloured lining. But then he heard the call, just as Jane had said he would.

'Firs' years, over 'ere!' an enormous voice boomed, the source of which was buried somewhere in the train steam. 'Firs' years, this way!' Frankie followed the voice, and soon found a number of students clustered around, what surely must have been, a half giant. He was waving a big, bright lantern from side to side over his head, still calling for the lost first years. His big bushy beard was streaked with grey, and matching shaggy hair reached his shoulder blades. He wore the biggest coat Frankie had ever seen, and from it came a fairly strong scent that Frankie didn't recognise. He breathed in deeply through his nose, with his eyebrows knitted together, trying to locate the smell in his memory. The half giant addressed him before he even realised he'd been noticed.

'Tha's hippogriff,' the man informed him, before thoughtfully sniffing his coat's collar. 'An' maybe a little bit o' bowtruckle. Come down ter my hut sometime and I'll show yer. Right, you lot,' the man addressed the group he towered over. 'I'm going to go an' check fer any stragglers. You stay 'ere fer a minute, and get inter groups o' no more'n four. We'll be going in the boats in a little bit.'

Frankie looked around at the other students as the giant disappeared. They all wore plain black robes, and black ties emblazoned with a Hogwarts crest. Some looked scared, but most looked excited.

'We're going across the Black Lake!' one girl whispered excitedly.

'Isn't there a giant squid?' asked another.

'Yes, and Merpeople!' a third added.

'There aren't Merpeople in the Lake!'

'Yes, there are! My Dad told me. He can speak a bit of Mermish.'

And so it went on. There was plenty of speculation amongst the group of first years. Most of them had heard tales from older siblings, and parents about Hogwarts. But nobody could be sure of what was truth, and what was trickery; who was pulling their leg, and what were features of yesteryear. Jane hadn't mentioned anything about Merpeople, Frankie thought. But then, the Black Lake didn't sound like a very inviting swimming spot. Maybe she didn't know about the Merpeople either.

She had said during the summer that there was such a big desire amongst first years to make Gryffindor that Hogwarts had introduced a troll fighting competition, so the youngsters could prove their bravery and make it easier for the Sorting Hat. Frankie was mostly sure that wasn't true. He looked up at the glittering lights of Hogwarts in the distance, and wondered about the feasibility of there really being a troll waiting there somewhere to test his courage. Maybe the troll was in the Black Lake, waiting to ambush them in the darkness. But, wait, were trolls any good at swimming?

'Excuse me,' a feminine, accented voice came at him from somewhere nearby.

'Me?' Frankie pointed at himself, having located its source.

'Yes,' came the reply, and with it approached one of the most attractive girls Frankie had ever seen. 'I just wanted to let you know that your tie is on back to front, in case you weren't aware.'

'My tie?' Frankie looked down at his chest, and found that his tie was indeed on backwards; the Hogwarts crest was pressed against his belly. He was suddenly very grateful for the darkness around them as a deep blush washed over his cheeks. He made eye contact with the girl in front of him for a split second and gave a sheepish grin, before his hands leapt to fumble with the knot.

'Are you embarrassed?' the girl asked, genuinely curious, having noticed his shaking hands. 'There's no need to be. I don't imagine you've had much occasion to don a tie before this?'

Frankie shook his head quickly in agreement, still struggling to free his tie.

'Would you like some assistance?' the girl asked.

Frankie's hands stilled, and he looked her in the eye. She wasn't mocking him. She seemed nice. 'Yeah, thanks,' he smiled.

'What's your name?' she asked, feeding his tie back out of the knot with ease.

'I'm Frankie,' he said, getting a good look at her for the first time while her gaze was not upon him. Frankie had not been around many girls before. In fact, now that he thought about it, his sister was probably the only girl close to his age that he had spent any significant amount of time alone with. But Jane was so much of a tomboy he wasn't sure she really counted as a girl. His lack of female company didn't prevent him from realising that this girl was beautiful, though. She had golden brown hair that was presently done up in a complicated-looking French plait, and her cheeks and the bridge of her nose were dusted with freckles. He couldn't make out the colour of her eyes in the dark, but they were bright, and friendly. 'Frankie Rizzoli.'

'I'm Maura Isles,' she said, pulling his tie free and offering it back to him. 'It's nice to meet you, Frankie.'

'Yeah, you too,' he agreed, taking the tie and giving her a lopsided grin. 'What's that accent? You American?'

'I've spent the last six years in America, yes, and my father grew up there, but I wouldn't call myself American. My mother's English, and most of my early childhood was spent in Serbia before we moved to Boston. My accent is better described as European-American, I would say.'

'Wow,' was all Frankie could say. 'That's… wow. I've lived in the same house all my life, and we've only left the country twice.'

'Well that's nothing to be dismayed about!' Maura assured him. 'You've plenty of time to travel, and I think it must be comforting to have such firm roots. Packing things into trunks isn't nearly as desirable an activity as people seem to think it is.'

Frankie paused, Maura's way of speaking throwing him off a little. Was she showing off, or was this how everybody spoke in America? He was inclined to believe the latter, since Maura didn't seem in any way conceited. 'Yeah, maybe,' he gave a shrug and a smile.

Maura's eyes darted away for a few seconds, as she seemed to recognise she had made him a little uncomfortable. 'Are you going to put that back on?' she asked, changing the subject, pointing at the tie.

'Oh,' Frankie looped the tie around his neck. 'Yeah. So, Maura. What d'you reckon? Are there Merpeople in the Lake?'

'Merpeople? Certainly! There have been Merpeople inhabiting the Black Lake since the tenth century. The colony here are Selkies, and they're very closely related to the Irish Merrows. Currently, their leader is Merchieftainess Murcus. They're incredibly intelligent beasts.'

Frankie gaped as this information fell as easily as rain from Maura's lips, but he recovered quickly. 'Beasts?' he joked. 'Not people?'

'Oh, no,' Maura shook her head seriously. 'They wanted being status sometime in either, it's an ongoing debate, the fourteenth or seventeenth century, but the Chieftainess of the Wizards' Council, Elfrida Clagg, denied them. They achieved being status in 1811, under the new Minister for Magic, Grogan Stump. But when they later found out that hags and vampires and other Dark creatures were also claiming being status, they requested to be treated as beasts once more.'

'I… how on Earth do you know all that?'

'I read it, in Newt Scamander's book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Do you like to read, Frankie?' she asked hopefully.

'I, uh, well… sometimes, sure. Look, that giant's coming back. D'you wanna share a boat with me?'

'Half giant. His name is Rubeus Hagrid. And yes, I'd like that very much.'

The Black Lake was choppier than Maura had expected. The sky was now pitch black, and if it weren't for the lantern at the front of their boat, she wouldn't have been able to see her own hand in front of her face. The black Hogwarts robes made it very hard to distinguish the other students in their boats against the darkness, and so at first glance it appeared that there was a large group of lanterns hovering independently above the water. As they steadily crossed the half mile to the castle, the south side of Hogwarts loomed closer and closer, proving to be twice as big as Maura had dared to imagine.

Maura's kitten heels had not made it easy to navigate the boat, but she had managed, and now she and Frankie were sitting at the front on a broad wooden plank. Maura had her robes wrapped tightly around her; the September air on the Lake was unusually chill. Frankie, for his part, had rolled up his sleeve to skim the water with his hand, wanting to be ready to act if he felt something resembling a troll close to the surface. They were joined in their boat by a pair of girls, who had briefly introduced themselves as Mandy and Chloe, before turning their heads and whispering and erupting into giggles about some boy on the train.

Hagrid sat alone in a boat that was in danger of falling below the water line from his weight, heading the procession to the castle. The boats moved entirely of their own accord, and Maura found herself gazing up at the sky, looking for the constellations Ian's father had showed her. There was her favourite: Orion. It was comforting, almost, to know that some of the stars here were the same ones her finger had pointed out some years previous in another part of the world.

Still, despite this realisation, she was a bit anxious. From her readings, she had surmised that she would probably be sorted into Ravenclaw, though she felt uncomfortable making use of such conjecture. She was worried about making friends. Frankie had been very jovial towards her, but he was a first year. It wasn't that she felt he was below her, but rather, she wanted friends her own age, who she could attend classes with, and have intellectual debates with. She had spent more than enough hours sitting in a solitary corner in the Potions room at Acton, powdering her bicorn horn while other students laughed with their partners and gasped in delight as the contents of their cauldrons changed colour and gave off new scents.

She felt a little out of place amongst all these first years. But a note had arrived alongside her Hogwarts letter and school supply list, instructing her to accompany the first years, in order to take part in the Hogwarts welcome ceremonials and be Sorted. Perhaps it was a good thing. They were, she supposed, not only figuratively, but also at this moment, literally, in the same boat.

A gentle bump jolted her out of her musings, and she realised with a start that they had reached the opposite bank already. Three or four boatloads of students were already gathered on solid ground, and Hagrid stood on a wooden platform helping students up. Their boat reversed as close to Hagrid as possible, and he helped Mandy and Chloe step out. Frankie went next, and finally Maura accepted his enormous hand to help her up onto the small quay.

She turned and looked back at the way they had come. The boats were now very clustered together in the water, and the combined lantern light made it possible to see the faces of their occupants. Most contained wide eyes, and open mouths, the earlier excitement having been replaced by apprehension. It was mostly quiet; the realisation that there were no more events separating them from the Sorting had dawned upon them all, and most were lost in contemplation. The rumbling in their bellies, though, and the promise of food at the Welcome Feast was enough to convince the vast majority of their party that forwards was the best option, and they shuffled their feet impatiently, waiting for their peers to join them on land.

At last, all feet were firmly on the ground, and the wooden planks of the quay creaked in protest under Hagrid's weight.

'Tha's everyone?' he asked, receiving no reply. 'Right, foller me. We're jus' goin' round tha' turret there.'

The group followed a pebble path that led to, and then hugged, the castle. Had there been better light, they'd have been close enough for Maura to admire the immaculate stonework of the castle's outer walls. It had been standing at least ten times as long as any of its founders, and showed no signs of wear. Hundreds of thousands of young witches and wizards had been educated within these walls, and on these grounds. The magical community, at least of Britain, essentially owed the continued smooth running of their entire existence to Hogwarts. Without such thorough education, the framework of their world would surely crumble. The days before formal magical education had been somewhat disastrous, and it was the construction of this very building that had solved a hundred problems for the wizarding world.

Maura struggled to comprehend the sheer difficulty the Hogwarts founders must have endured to create it. Like the Muggle world's technology, magic had also advanced through the ages. Two men and two women from the tenth century constructing something so large as a castle was no easy feat, and Maura was in awe of the history that surrounded her.

The path took them round a sharp corner, and from an open door in the far wall, warm, inviting-looking light spilled out into the evening.

'On ya go,' Hagrid stood to the side and ushered them on. 'Through tha' door. I've got ter tend ter the boats.'

The group continued, more silent than ever, the crunch of pebbles underfoot cutting sharply into the air. The glow from inside the castle came from lit torches spaced periodically along each wall, and the crunching of the pebbles slowly gave way to the dull thud of feet on flagstones as the first years filed inside.

Pupils suddenly flooded with light, Maura squinted as she looked around her. They were in a medium-sized passage, very clean, that turned into a short flight of stairs. A suit of armour stood to one side, and as she climbed the stairs with the other students, she found the walls adorned with artwork.

'Wendelin!' a woman in a picture, dressed as though she was from the fourteenth century tapped the arm of a woman beside her. 'New students!'

'Oh, yes,' the witch looked over the top of her spectacles. 'Welcome to Hogwarts!'

'Lovely hair, dear,' another woman commented as Maura passed by.

Frankie was walking just up ahead, past a long painting of a group of men smoking pipes and cigars that gave off a whispy yellow smoke.

'Watch out for Slytherin, lad,' a man wearing a top hat warned him. 'Lot of bad blood in Slytherin.'

'Mmm, indeed!' remarked another, removing his pipe from his mouth. 'You be sure to tell the Hat you don't want Slytherin. You will tell it, won't you m'boy?'

'Ignore them, love,' another picture, housing a young mother with her baby, told Frankie. 'Ambition's not a bad thing. And green would look wonderful on you.'

Frankie drifted quickly to the centre of the passage in an effort to ward off any further advice from the portraits.

The passage soon turned a corner, and they climbed two more flights of stairs before meeting a witch on the final landing. She was plump, with rich brown hair and cat eye glasses. She wore a pointed hat and a midnight blue robe, and looked quite friendly, Maura thought. She stood there patiently until all the first years were gathered on the landing or the stairs.

'Hello!' she smiled. 'My name is Professor Clark. Through these doors is the main atrium of the castle, and presently we will go through there and to the Great Hall so you may be Sorted. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are here your house will be like your family. Your name will be called, you will sit on a stool, and the Sorting Hat will be placed on your head. It will call out your new house, and you may then join the appropriate table. Your house prefects will orientate you to your common room later in the evening. Are there any questions? No? Then follow me, please.'

Anxious glances were exchanged, now that the prelude to the main event had reached its close. The towering oak doors of the Great Hall had been opened in full, and Maura joined the line of first years filing inside to meet the interested gazes of close to a thousand pairs of eyes. The events of the next half hour might very well determine if she would manage to make a friend, or spend the following day locating nooks and crannies of the castle that she could hide herself away in. She steadfastly forced her eyes to the front of the Hall, and tried to appear as outwardly calm as possible. It was just the Sorting. It was a good thing; it meant she would be more likely to find people who thought like her. It was simply improving her odds that she might find a person to share in the experience of high school with.

Right?

A/N: I know this chapter was a bit of a filler, but I'm having way too much fun geeking out over the magical world to be sorry. Thanks for reading, happy Friday!