(AN: Hola. Soy es boredo.)


"She's weird, just like me." Harry couldn't help but think as he watched the girl from the corner of his eye. Every once in a while, she would hiss something to herself that he could barely make out. But he did. Usually about something in her book, or, he was pretty sure she had mentioned something about him. It was fine, though. He talked to himself a lot as well.

Eventually, as he tried to gather the courage to strike up a conversation, someone else entered.

"Uh, hi." It was that boy Harry saw with the family… Ron, he believe the mother had called him.

"Hi… Ron was it?"

"Sorry, I'm not interrupting, am I?" the redhead asked, moving his eyes between the two occupants.

"Um…" Harry looked at his companion, who merely rolled her eyes and moved back to her book. "Not really? We're just doing some reading."

"Do you mind if I sit in here? All the other compartments were full or had older years by themselves. But you're a first year too, right?" He seemed hopeful.

"Just try to keep it down." Cassandra muttered.

"I don't mind, either." Harry offered.

"Wicked." He grinned and walked in, dragging his trunk. As he moved to put it up top, the girl once more flicked her want, silently sending his trunk to the top compartment. "…Wicked…"

Harry snorted at the repeated line. But realized, "Oh, you didn't get a book out first."

"That's fine." The redhead was quick to interrupt. "I'm not a strong reader, anyway."

"Oh, right?" Harry felt bad. If he kept reading his book, then he'd be ignoring their guest, but if he talked to him, he'd be alienating their host. He grit his teeth. This was why he tried to stay out of these situations with the Dursleys. "I—"

"Whoa, are you Harry Potter?"

The door slid open for a second time, and a woman stood with a trolley, saving Harry from answering right away. "Anything from the trolley's dears?"

"Nothing for me. Mom packed some sandwiches." Ron was bright red, his eyes staring longingly at the candies and sweets.

So many choices, Harry didn't know what to choose. Everything looked so nice in the Wizarding World. The prices weren't bad either… "Uh, two—" Right, there were three people in the car. "Three of everything, please."

He handed over the coins after she stated the price, and he could feel Ron's eyes burning a hole in his back. Was that the right move? Did he do something bad? It was too late to think about such things anyhow. Now he sat in his corner, with Ron across from him, and a mountain of sweets covering him.

"Uh, want some sweets?"

Ron hastily pulled out a sandwich from his robs, cheeks red in embarrassment, "No thanks… like I said, mom packed some… Ugh, corned beef, mom knows I don't like… that was Charlie's favorite…"

Harry didn't like corned beef much either. "I love corned beef. Want to trade?" He lied easily.

"Trade?" The boy's eyes were wide now.

"Yeah, take one of each if you want, for a sandwich or two."

"Your mental, mate."

He shrugged. "Go ahead." And the trade war began. "Oh, you can have some too, miss."

She grunted in reply, but as Harry had a conversation with the red head boy, he eventually turned his eyes back to her, and noticed a pumpkin pastry hanging out of her mouth as she turned the pages of her book.

"So… you are Harry Potter, then?" Ron eventually asked after a moment of silence came about.

"Yeah. Though, I'm… just Harry. You know?"

"Just Harry?"

"Just Harry." The boy smiled at his new possible friend. "I'm new to this magic thing, the same as everyone else."

Ron scratched the back of his head. "Ah well, I've been around to magic since I was a babe, you know. Most purebloods or half-bloods have, though, with your parents—" He slapped a hand over his mouth.

"It's alright. That's amazing though. You're lucky. I guess when I was a baby, I was around it. But I've been living with my norm—my muggle family." He felt Cassandra's eyes burrowing into his side, but when he turned to her, she was instead glaring balefully at her book. Weird. He smiled at her. "How about you, Cassandra? Did you grow up around magic?"

Her glared turned to him in full force, and he regretted asking such an impolite question. But before her mouth was fully open, the door slammed open.

"Has anyone seen a toad?"

Thank goodness for small miracles. Harry asked, "A toad?"

"Neville's lost his. Poor things been running up and down the train cars, looking for his toad, Trevor. No one else would help, so I offered."

"Uh no, I haven't." He stared in wonder at the bushy-haired girl that suddenly pushed her way into the room.

"Oh, are you doing magic in here?"

Harry almost said no, but a quick glance at Cassandra revealed her wand clutched in a shaky hand.

"I'm a first year as well. Go on then, let's see it. I've read all of our books cover to cover multiple times. I'm so excited to see magic in person. You know, besides what Professor McGonagall showed at the house. Isn't it just so exciting? We're going to be learning magic! So amazing. My parents were about to send me to Boarding School. They were arguing about which one when my letter arrived. They thought it was a joke. Magic? Being real? They're dentists, you see, so magic was so new to us! Well go on then. Show us what you can do."

"…" Cassandra's eyes were burning, not with anger, however. Harry recognized that look. She was… fearful for some reason. Slowly, like always, the girl spoke in short, slow, firm words. "I. Am a Third Year."

That floored the group. She was quite small, but now that Harry looked at her, he could see she already had different robes than him. Her's were trimmed and embroidery with the same seal that was on his letter, with colored trim.

"Oh, that's amazing. Can you tell me what to expect for my first year? I'm—"

The door slammed open… again.

"I hear Harry Potter's on the train. Are you him?" Cassandra looked like she was going to start throwing spells left and right now. So Harry stood to quickly diffuse the situation.

"I am." There were three boys, two goliaths, or apes, that towered over him, and one in the middle that looked like a snooty rich kid with greased back platinum blonde hair, and practically glowing skin.

"Well…" the boy looked him up and down, a sneer forming on his lips. "I came so that I could introduce you to the right sort."

"The right sort?" Harry asked. In his mind, he was rolling his eyes… but why was he familiar?

"I'm Draco Malfoy, of the Malfoy family. Surely you've heard of us?"

Right. He was at the robe shop. Talking bad about Hagrid… He wanted to be in Slytherin house, right? Ron snorted beside him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? Let me guess, raggedy clothes, ugly orange hair. Smells like poor in here. You must be a Weasley then."

"Bastard."

"Come, Harry, let us get away from this riff raff. I can introduce you to the future of the Wizarding World. Including the Heir to Slytherin, she's my best friend, you know, practically family. We get along quite well you see. Plus, I am heir to the Black family as well as the Malfoy's. Wouldn't you rather come with me than stay with Weasleys, what looks like a Mudblood and… and…" The boy's eyes went wide as he finally found Cassandra. Stuttering out his words. "C-C-Cassandra?"

"Stuttering? Draco, really?" Slow and elegant, Cassandra stood. And boy, was she not small. While not as big as the other two, she was definitely taller than the rest of the room now that she wasn't squeezing herself into the corner. Not awkwardly lanky, but still tall and thin.

"I-I didn't mean anything by it! You just caught me by—"

"Langlocke." Harry barely heard the whispered word before Malfoy's head snapped back and he began trying to speak, only for jumbled words to fall out. "Get out… besssst friend."

She hissed at him. And the boy fled. It was amazing. Harry wished he could send off trouble makers like that. Cassandra turned to him, and he gulped, before looking back at Ron, and then the new girl.

"Prefects. Find one. They can ssssumon your friendsss t-t-toad." She stuttered the last word, and suddenly looked angry, before grabbing her book and storming from the compartment.

"Cassandra Gaunt…" Ron muttered in shock.

"I think I've heard that name before…" Hermione muttered.

"She's a dark wizard!" Ron said, before blushing. "Well, witch. But still!"

"She's only a third year." Harry pointed out. That would only make her two years older than them.

"Still… she's a ward of the Malfoy's. You've got to stay away from her. Apparently dad said half the Wizengamot was fighting over adopting her."

"Adopting her?" Harry asked.

The red head quickly looked into the hallway, glancing up and down, before slamming the doors shut, and whispering softly. "I don't know much of the situation myself. It happened a couple years ago. But when she came to Hogwarts, everyone found out that she had a crappy home life or something. I think her muggles parents abused her or something? Once it was discovered, the Malfoy's for some reason got an inheritance ritual done, and she became the heir to the Gaunts. The Gaunts are the descendents of Slytherin. One of the founders."

"She's a potential Heir!" Hermione jumped up. "The new edition of Hogwarts a History mentioned it at the end of the book! There are potential heirs that come to Hogwarts all the time! But this is the first proven Slytherin Heir in over a century!"

"Yeah. That's why she's bad news. Slytherin is evil!"

"She was so nice, though." Harry muttered, freezing the red head. "Right? She let us into her compartment and didn't even say anything when we got too loud while she read?"

"Still…" Ron looked around conspiratorially. "She could have just been trying to get on your good side. You saw the way she acted and then ran out of here! It was probably a trick."

"I… I don't know…" Harry didn't think she was evil… just weird, like him. But…

"I don't think she's evil either." Hermione joined in, "Just because she's a Slytherin, wouldn't make her evil. That would mean over a quarter of the school was. Don't you think something would be done about it by now?"

Ron fell back into his seat with a huff.

"Besides, she told me to find a prefect for the toad. So I'm going to go and do that. Also, you two shouldn't be eating so many sweets. They're bad for you teeth."

And then there were two. Though not the two that Harry wished. At least he seemed to have made a friend. If that Malfoy kid didn't like the Weasley family, then he supposed they weren't all that bad.

The two spent the rest of the train ride talking with each other, learning more about the Weasley family, and Harry made sure to steer the conversation away from his own, each time Ron brought it up. It was nice, for once, that he had met someone who loved their own family so much. Sure, Ron complained about little things here and there, about feeling over shadowed, or put down by his older brother's achievements, and yet, his eyes shone so much when talking about them. Even his younger sister, even when he complained about her being the favorite. It was nice.

"Sounds like an amazing family."

The boy looked away, blushing as bright as his hair. "Y-yeah."

"I wish mine…" Harry trailed away and waved off the boys' follow up. He wanted to cry. Why couldn't he have a family like that? "Have you read up on your books? Like the other girl did." He meant Hermione, and the boy looked away, guilty.

"I, uh, skimmed 'em." The boy coughed into his fist.

"I think it's interesting. Maybe it's because I grew up without magic, but… It's so fascinating to me. Spells to do almost anything. Clean your dishes, start a fireplace…" He waved to the trunks above them, "Even moving your luggage."

"I guess… growing up around it, I never really knew…" Ron fell into deep thought. "I guess to you, and that Muggle-born girl, magic really is fascinating. I take advantage of it."

A thought occurred to Harry, and he leaned toward his friend with a large smile. "Hey, I doubt we'd learn them in school. But do you think you could ask your parents for some common spells? Like that dishwashing spell, or anything else interesting?"

"Really?" The boy looked extremely bewildered. "You'd be interested in that?"

"Yeah!" Harry was feeling giddy now. "Just image! I'd be able to learn all sorts of stuff that way! And, and! I could learn even more than what they teach in school!"

"I… guess I could send a letter to mom. I'd have to borrow my brother's owl—"

"Oh! You can use Hedwig! She's my owl. She wanted to fly, so I let her go before getting on the train. Her cage is outside, but—" As if sensing him, Hedwig flew into the window that Harry hadn't even realized was open. Well, it was open, but no wind came through. He stood in fascination, slowly sticking his hand through what felt like a bubble, and suddenly he could feel the wind. He grinned.

"Huh, the other windows weren't like that?" Ron muttered.

"really?"

He scrunched his face up in thought. "Yeah… my brother's had wind coming in. Maybe that girl did it?"

"She was in here first." Harry muttered. He shook his head though and turned toward Hedwig, who was currently attacking one of the chocolate frogs that he hadn't opened. "Hey, come on, girl! Can owls even eat chocolate?"

"Oh! Chocolate Frog's! Hey, are you collecting them?" Ron turned to the three that Harry had purchased. "If you don't, could you let me know if you've got Cornelius Agrippa… or Ptolemy? I don't have any of those yet."

Harry picked up the first one, opening it, and watched in shock as the frog leaped at the window, disappearing into the countryside.

"Oh, come on Harry. You're supposed to catch those!"

Harry pulled out the card with a grin. Magic sure was fascinating. "Albus Dumbledore…"

"That's the headmaster. Oh, and owls can eat chocolate. We feed Errol, the family owl, all the time." Harry and Ron continued eating their sweets for a little while longer as Ron wrote a letter to this mother, seeing if she had any old books they, or just Harry, could borrow.

"Here's an Agrippa." Harry passed off the card from the third chocolate frog. He'd start a collection sometime. Maybe not now, though.

"Thanks!" Ron wrote the letter with renewed enthusiasm. Harry had to admit, this was a much more fun trip than he thought.

Once the night began to show, however, Prefects began going up and down the train, letting them know they needed to change. Harry grimaced as he looked into the top compartments, not having caught the prefects in time to ask them to pull them.

"This is great." Ron muttered. They'd have to somehow wiggle—The trunks moved on their own. Harry spun around, eyes on the door, watching as Cassandra tucked her wand away, scowling at the two boys.

"Cassandra!" Harry started forward, but the girl's scowl only grew.

"Whatever." She stormed off down the hallway, hissing once more under her breath.

Ron muttered something behind him, something about snakes being snakes, but Harry was already hanging out the door with a smile. "Thanks!"

She moved faster down the hallway, but Harry only waved after her, catching her sneaking a look back at him.

"Girls are weird…" Ron said with a shake of his head.

They got ready, throwing their robes on and making sure the sweets were evenly distributed between themselves. Though Harry kept the two remaining pumpkin pastries. Sure, he wanted to try them, but Cassandra seemed to like the sweets, so he left them alone for now.

Within no time, the train slowed to a start, and he and Ron departed the train with the others. His eyes scoured the crowds as everyone departed. He heard Hagrid calling for the First Years near the edge of the lake, but Harry was focused on something else. There. Cassandra Gaunt stood near the edge of the train station, having a conversation with a very tall but lanky boy with a special badge pinned to his robes. She seemed annoyed, especially as more and more students began gathering around her. Or was it behind her? As if waiting for her move. Harry smiled and rushed forward, shouting her name.

"Cassandra!"

Those gray eyes fell on him instantly, as did the rest of the people gathering at her back. The only person he recognized was the Prefect that had visited their compartment earlier.

"Who's this?"

"Some Mudblood?"

"That scar…"

"Potter." She gave the slightest of nods. There was a glint in her eye that Harry couldn't quite place. He was fine with that. Puzzles and mysteries were always fascinating. He'd figure her out, eventually.

"Here." He held out the two pumpkin pastries, even as he heard Ron shouting in the crowd for him.

She simply starred at the sweets with a raised eyebrow. The others behind her waited with bated breath. She snatched them with a huff and handed them off to a girl on her left. "Leave."

A one-word answer that sent the other's jeering at him.

Mostly the seventh years that made passing comments about him and the Dark Lord. But what only Harry had seen was the slightest upturn of her lips after taking the sweets. He grinned at her while scratching the back of his head. "I hope you enjoy them."

"Get lost, Potter." One of the prefects stepped forward, holding his arms out in front of the crowd.

He looked her in the eyes, noting a false glare trying to pin him down. But he didn't feel anything behind that look. Another puzzle piece fell into place, and he couldn't help but smile wider at the Third Year. Her scowl only deepened.

She stepped forward, hissing at him. "~Why can't thesssse idiotssss ever shut up~?"

"You tell him, Heiress Gaunt!" The crowd of Slytherin roared, but Harry could only blink in confusion. Why were they acting like she had cursed him?

"Oi! First Year!" Another student appeared at his side, a different badge on his clothes than the other prefects. "You need to go with the others and Hagrid. First years go that way."

The man had blue and bronze trim on his clothing, and Harry quickly sorted through his earlier interactions with other students. "Ravenclaw had those colors, right?"

As he was pulled away, he watched as the Slytherins followed Cassandra's annoyed footsteps as they headed for what looked like carriages pulled by air. Magic was so cool. He grinned stupidly in that direction.

"Listen, kid." The special prefect leaned down in a whisper. "My advice is to stay away from Gaunt. She's friendlier than she puts on, but the other Slytherin's will drag you to hell for screwing with their princess, alright?"

With a slight shove, the boy pushed him toward the rest of the first years. "Hagrid! I've brought you a straggler!"

"That was wicked, mate." Ron ran up to Harry the second he was near the group of First Years.

"huh?"

"Thank you, Reginald!" The large man waved. "Everyone, just so you know, this 'ere is Reginald! 'E's a good sort and this year's Head Boy! You all'll learn more about 'em from your Head's of 'ouses."

The large giant gave a speech about the boats, and Harry had to roll his eyes as Malfoy made a comment about having to ride dirty, disgusting boats. But after the man finished his speech, Harry grabbed Ron and fell into a boat with their bushy haired companion from earlier and a larger boy who feverishly clutched his toad.

"Harry!" the girl smiled and waved, showing off her buck teeth. She shook the other boy violently. "This is Harry Potter. The boy I was telling you about! And I didn't get your name." She rattled off to what had to have been Neville.

"Hello." Harry waved. "This is Ron, by the way."

"Right! I'm sorry, I didn't get you name earlier! Before that rude boy came in and called me… what was it? Something about mud?"

"He did!" Neville turned white as he did, before looking around. He leaned into the middle of the group. "Was it… Mudblood?"

"Yes. That's it! What does that mean, anyhow?"

Harry was curious as well and leaned forward as Ron looked a little green.

"It's—It's a bad word. You should say it."

Her eyes widened. "But why? What does it mean?"

"It means you have mud in your veins. Dirty Blood. It's a horrible insult. You can't say it in polite company. Only Pure blood supremest's say things like that."

"What!" Even Harry was stunned. He knew there was a Dark Lord, but he didn't realize there were people that hated Muggle-borns simply for being born.

"Shhh." Neville hushed them. "I'm sorry you found out about it this way, but… only the lowest of the low use it."

"So that Malfoy boy wasn't just using some playground insult like I thought." She almost seemed close to tears when Harry finally spoke up.

"I heard my mother was one. He was trying to make friends with me but still said those things?" The other boy seemed uncomfortable at the situation.

"He's always been… a little pompous." Neville grimaced. "But ever since he found out he'd get the title of Lord Black after Sirius Black's death, then he's been even more of a…"

"Twat?" Ron scoffed.

"Uh, yeah, something like that." Neville blushed.

"If I tell a teacher, would he get in trouble?"

Neville blanched again, not really knowing what to say.

"You could ask my brother later. He's a prefect."

"Everyone! Watch your 'eads!"

Harry ducked, pulling Neville with him as they went under an overhang. But as he sat up, he was an awe-inspiring sight… "So this is Hogwarts…" The school was massive and such a wonder to behold. Even the stars surrounding its silhouette glittered brighter than the north star. And was that mars twinkling at the highest spire? Every inch of it was majestic, just like the stories he had read hiding in the small library near school as a kid. Harry could only let his jaw drop.

"Beautiful…"

The bushy-haired girl was right.

"It sure is…"

When Draco Malfoy's name was called, the hat barely touched him before it shouted, "Slytherin!" And the blonde boy sauntered off with a winning smile. Harry followed the boy with his eyes, watching as he stopped at the head of the table, where Cassandra sat surrounded by what had to be seventh years. The Malfoy heir smiled at her, saying quick words that Harry couldn't hear as the rest of the sorting continued. She only moved her lips twice, even as the boy tried in vain to squeeze into a spot beside her. One of the Seventh years put a hand on his shoulders, but his back was turned, so Harry couldn't read his lips. But Malfoy quickly ran off, head forcibly held high as snickers erupted from the other students. Harry quickly took his eyes off the blonde, however, and glanced once more at Cassandra, where he saw a small smirk on her face before it fell into a blank stare once more.

"Potter, Harry!" His eyes snapped to the front as whispers erupted from every table. He walked forward and sat, allowing the hat to be placed upon him. What would happen now? Would it ask questions? Read his mind? Know by his magic?

"You were so close, my boy!"

Harry blinked? Was that—"

"That's right!" The hat spoke inside his mind. "I can read your thoughts. So fear not, boy, you shall be sorted."

Harry hadn't even thought of not being sorted.

"Ah, but your subconscious did. Just like how I know you are torn between houses."

"Am I?" He really wanted Gryffindor. The thought of being dorm mates with Malfoy, of all people.

"But you'd like to be in the same house as someone else, no?"

Harry blushed. He hadn't thought about that. Not at all!

"Though Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Granger are also on your mind? And no doubt young Ronald Bilius Weasley will go where his brothers have. No doubt at all. My, just seeing the memories of his brother's as well as yours shows where he might go."

"You said no doubt, and then might?"

"Did I?"

"You did."

"Challenging me, are you, boy?"

"Just re watch the memory."

"Smart. Perhaps Ravenclaw smart?"

"I like learning, but not that much."

The hat chuckled. Harry didn't know that was possible. "No, you are a man of action. Running from your cousin, imagining it was a troll chasing you? Stoking the fireplace, like you were a blacksmith making a Hero's sword. A hero's sword should be wielded by you, though? Should it not?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm no Hero. I'm just Harry."

"The greatest Heroes come from nothing. Come meet me this Saturday evening, 7:00pm on the dot. Do not be late, do not be early."

"But where?"

"I will inform Albus. The Headmaster. You will have one of you wishes fulfilled now, sadly, both cannot be done at once."

"Both?"

"Being in Slytherin and Gryffindor is impossible. But to be a Hero, you need Courage. And courage grows best in—"

"Wait!"

"Gryffindor!" The hat was removed from his head to the sound of groaning from two tables, booing from a third, and finally, the loudest cheering he had ever heard, with two red-haired twins linking arms and dancing in a circle.

"We got Potter, we got Potter!" He blushed red and looked at the floor before raising his hand and waving at the school. Quietly, however, he whispered to the hat. "I'm not a hero."

"No. But maybe, just maybe, you can save your princess." The lips of the hat did not move, yet Harry still heard the voice, still in his mind. Princess? What princess? He didn't have time to think about it, as people threw their hands at him as he passed, patting him on the shoulder, or shaking his hand. He was just a child. Why was he so popular? Just a baby when Voldemort fell.

"Harry!" Hermione Granger called, waving for him to sit by her. An easy choice since already many had scooted away from the overly chatty mini genius. At least he had figured out her name, thanks to the sorting. His eyes wandered the table as he sat. Looking at the others of his year.

Seamus Finnigan.

Lavender Brown.

Fay Dunbar.

Neville Longbottom.

Eventually Dean Thomas and Ronald Weasley joined them, and the sorting ended with Blaise Zabini joining Slytherin. It was funny watching the Italian boy bow to Cassandra, but his stomach turned when he said something, only for her to snort and smile, waving the boy off. Though, watching him smirk at Malfoy and gesture to the blonde boy rudely certainly made him feel better.

"Harry!" Ron called him. "Man, you've been staring over there for a while."

"Better ease up with the eyes, Potter!" someone from down the table called out. "I saw what you did at the train! The Slytherins will hang you over their princess!"

Laughter erupted down the table, with only the first years watching in confusion.

"The snakes have a princess?" Dean Thomas asked, immediately standing and staring across the hall, causing someone to grab his shoulder and pull him down.

"Watch it, firstie. Oliver was talking about Cassandra Gaunt. Stay out of her way."

"Is she evil?" Ron asked excitedly, causing Harry to roll his eye.

"Evil? Eh… not really."

"Rude as hell."

"Hisses at you if you look at her wrong."

"Or look at her in general."

"Knows her way around her wand."

"Snape's protégé."

"Idiot, they don't know who Snape is."

"He's the Dungeon Bat. Potion's professor. Hates, Hates Gryffindor."

"She'll curse you in a heartbeat. Just ask the Weasley Twins."

The surrounding Gryffindors all flooded in with their comments.

"Honestly!" Percy Weasley smacked the table and stood. "Those two deserved it after their first year. And she's a model student. Something many of you could learn from."

"You've got to admit, Perc, the Parseltongue is something that's hard to ignore."

"What's Parseltongue?" Harry asked.

Before he could get an answer, the food finally arrived, and while he had snacked on sweets the entire train. There was something calling him. A nice, thick, juicy looking meatloaf. His hands trembled as the delicious food called to him. So… so gorgeous.

For the first time in years, Harry felt full. Sure, he didn't make it obvious. He snuck small sandwiches into his pockets and made sure no one was looking too closely when he did put things on his plate. But after making it into his bed and eating the two rolls stuffed with sliced meatloaf and mashed potatoes, like he had seen Dudley do countless times. Harry could sleep happily.

Hogwarts was turning into something better than he could ever wish. Now if only he never had to go back to the Dursley's. If only…


Cassandra Malfoy fell into her bed, happy to finally be back home. Three months was far, far too long. She allowed her perfectly manicured fingers to curl into her lone pillow and wept. For who knows how long? Her body shook, and she allowed the pain to ebb away. She was so happy to be back.

So.

Happy.


(AN: Alright. I know I said it was a one shot. But Honestly. This story has been stuck in my head. So today I wrote this whole chapter. Soooooo… In other news, Press Start to Begin is currently at 3k words. Also More Than Our Names is at 1.5k. Though those chapters are much shorter than this current one and PStB. Anyway, don't forget to leave a Review, they fuel me!)