Hogwarts Express was bustling with loud students trying to find their friends and for places to sit. Juniper liked the quiet and was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the noise. Her father had advised her to find other Purebloods, ones she had play dates with while growing up. She wasn’t particularly close to any of them but at least they had some sort of rapport. Upon scanning the train, she didn’t immediately see anyone she knew so beginning to feel nervous she quickly hopped into an empty compartment but had left the door open in case anyone wanted to join her. She took a seat next to the window. The first year wanted to be able to see the scenery on the way to Hogwarts. Her mother had told her that the scenery and the sweets from the trolley were the best parts about the ride to Hogwarts but had warned her not to upset the trolley witch. Juniper couldn’t wait for the trolley to come around, she LOVED sweets. Quickly the compartments were filling up with groups of friends although no one joined hers, at least not yet. With no one to talk to, Juniper pulled her long red hair back into a high ponytail with a ribbon, pulled out one of her novels from her book bag and began to read. It was a fantasy adventure about a wizard who travelled the world defeating all sorts of dark magical folk and creatures. Fantasy was her favorite book genre, she loved the adventure and enjoyed a sprinkle of romance.

'Oh God, oh GOD!' Rosy's mind buzzed and she tried to not look intimitated by all the people in the train. She had put on a brave face for her parents a few minutes ago when she still stood at the platform but now that she was alone in a crowd of chattering and mingling students, her bravery melted into a puddle of anxiety. Every compartment seemed to already be filled to the brim with smiling children, talking loudly to their friends...
'How did they even get friends this fast?', Rosy thought, as she squeezed past a group of tall teens.
'How am I ever going to find a place to sit down? How can I relax with all these strangers around me? What is Hogwarts going to be like?'
A thousand thoughts shot through her mind and she walked further until a sharp pain exploded in her head. "OW!", she exclaimed, shaking her head slightly.
'Who in their right mind would leave the door open when the corridor was this narrow?'
Rosy peeked into the compartment, her cheeks reddened by embarrassment and slight anger, trying to find the culprit. Her heart jumped as she realized that only one redheaded girl sat in there, quietly reading a book. She bit her lip and quietly she sat down opposite to the girl.
Curiously, Rosy looked closer at the girl and the book she was reading. It appeared to be a fantasy book, judging by the title and cover.
Rosy cleared her throat and smiled slightly. "Hi there! My name is Rosy!"

‘Oops, I should have closed the door’ Juniper thought to herself as she winced after hearing the bang of someone walking into it. So embarrassed though she refused to look up from her book right away and pretended like she hadn’t noticed a thing. Before she knew it, a brunette girl had entered the compartment and took a seat. Juniper slowly looked up from her book and blinked at the girl as she spoke. ‘Theres no need to be so shy Juniper, for Merlin’s sake, there’s no stopping your jabbering around your father and I’ her mothers voice played in her head. She didn’t recognize the girl, so it was unlikely her parents were acquaintances of Junipers parents. As much as she was nervous to interact with new people, she was very much relieved to not be sitting by herself for the ride, assuming the girl stayed that is. Although use to being alone it would be nice to have someone to share this experience with. Realizing a little too much time had passed since the girl introduced herself as Rosy, Juniper quickly put her book down on her lap and replied, “Hi Rosy, I’m Juniper, it’s nice to meet you.” Assuming this was the person who walked into the door she added “Oh and I’m sorry about the door.”

The girl looked a bit startled as she introduced herself as Juniper. Redness crept in Rosy's cheeks and her smile turned a bit lop-sided. She felt shame arise in her stomach because she seemed to have embarrassed the other girl.
"It's fine. It doesn't even hurt." It was only a small lie - Rosy had to restrain herself to not touch the pulsing spot on her head.
'I hope it is not going to bruise!' Her heartbeat quickened and she tried to focus on something else in order to calm down. Her eyes fell on the book that Juniper had put in her lap after Rosy had introduced herself.
"I also have a book for the train ride!"
Her voice sounded a bit shaky but hopefully Juniper would not notice how nervous Rosy was. The truth was: Rosy has never been away from her parents and one year sounded like half a life-time for her. Granted, she would return for holidays, but apart from that she was really scared to live among strangers.
'What if the professors weren't nice? What if she somehow wasn't magical enough?'
Rosy exhaled audibly and inhaled deeply. In order to distract herself and show Juniper what she was reading, she took her bag and rummaged through it. After a few moments, she found what she desired: "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" by Phyllida Spore. It was an old, annotated edition from the time her mother went to Hogwarts and Rosy was glad that she had it with her. She loved the book and it reminded her of home.

Juniper couldn’t help but grin as Rosy pulled out a book that looked well loved. She was happy to have met a fellow reader and instantly felt a little bit more comfortable. “I think reading is one of the best ways to pass the time” she stated matter-of-factly. The train ride to Hogwarts was almost nine hours long so bringing a book was absolutely necessary for Juniper. Juniper noticed a slight shake in Rosy’s voice but didn’t mention it. She was also nervous. Juniper was introverted and a bit shy, meeting new people wasn’t easy for her. In addition, she was starting to miss her younger sister and house-elf very much and she had just gotten on the train not that long ago! Her grin fell slightly at the thought of her family. Her father and older brother were often not at home as her father travelled a lot for work and her brother attended Durmstrang so she wasn’t missing them quite yet, but she was certain she would soon. Despite the homesickness starting to settle it, she was also excited about Hogwarts, the education she would receive and hopefully the adventures she would go on, ‘come on Juniper, you’re eleven years old, chin up, otherwise people are going to think you’ve been attacked by a Dementor’ she thought to herself. So, with a bit more courage, she focused on the title of Rosy’s book and hoping to get to know her a bit better asked “oh are you interested in Herbology? You must be excited for Herbology class!”

Rosy exhaled and her shoulders relaxed a bit. Her smile became more genuine and the redness also left her face. She felt a bit more confident: she could talk about books for hours, so the train ride would not be all to awkward. Also, she now knew one friendly face in Hogwarts - before, she did not know anyone. That has been the one thing that she has been most scared of - being all alone and knowing absolutely no one.
"Yes, I really am excited for Herbology class. I have already planted some magical herbs with my mum at home...", her voice faded out and she felt queasy. Thinking about her mother hurt, because Rosy would rather be back home or at least in a familiar place. "Anyways, I really want to become a healer one day, so I do need to know a lot about magical plants and what they do.", she finished and hoped that Juniper hadn't noticed her moment of home-sickness.
"What do you want to become when you're older?", Rosy asked. She did not know an awful lot about the wizarding world and what jobs you could do, as she spent her childhood rather in the muggle world.