Piper walked down the train, unsure where to sit. Everybody seemed to be chatting in compartments happily, reserving compartments for their friends. She decided to sit alone, not wanting to interrupt somebody.

She found an empty compartment closer to the back of the train, put her stuff away, and sat down. She sighed heavily. She was homesick already. Once it finally happened, she realized that leaving home wasn't as easy as she thought. She's always rejected her Father's request to move, at least far, because she didn't want to start a new life, make new friends and learn new places. Now, she had to. And she was pretty sure she had no choice.

She watched people hurry down the train, looking for compartments. Not once did she see somebody alone. They hurried down, looking for a place to chat quietly with their friends.

She sat back, staring out the window. Nobody had come into her compartment. She'd seen a few people alone now. She also saw a lot of kids her age, who she could tell were first years. Why hadn't anybody wanted to sit with her? Did she do something wrong?

She fell back into her chair and sighed miserably. It was going to be a long ride.

Word Count (Not including this): 209

Just my luck. All she wanted to do was find somewhere nice on the train. Maybe get on there early and find a good seat, wait for people to fill up around her. But that couldn't happen, could it? She had to be the one girl who's suitcase split on the platform, right in front of everyone. Her mum had raced her along, telling her off for how she'd been shoving her trolley along. She was doing that thing that all parents did, telling you off so well for what you'd done wrong that they made it harder for you to fix their mistake.

She'd still miss her mum, though.

By the time she'd pushed onto the train carriage itself, a lot of the compartments had filled up. Eager children lost in laughs and chatter. It all looked very exciting... but no room for her. With a sigh, she moved down the train, scuffing her trainers on the floor as she looked and looked and looked. Gee, thanks suitcase, I'll be sure to set fire to you first when I learn some spells, she thought, semi-seriously.

Then she came to a compartment. It seemed pretty empty, with just one dark-haired girl. She looked to be a first-year too. Or a very tiny, young-looking fifth year. Wouldn't that be awkward? Aoife pushed the door open and leaned in, pigtails dangling either side of her face.

"Hey! Is ah... anyone else sitting here?" she asked, pointing towards one of the plush seats opposite. "Every other carriage I've tried is like, completely full up?" She flashed a smile to the girl, stepping a little more into the cabin.

“Hm?” Piper looked up from her miserable gaze. “Oh, no, nobody else. Just me,” she sighed, but laughed gently to lighten the mood.

She seemed to be good at that, changing her emotions. Her mother told her that. She missed her. She was already homesick and she’d been on this train for what, half an hour? How was she going to survive 7 years here?

Oh no, she was doing it again. Panicking. What if she didn’t make friends? What if she got hurt? What if she failed classes? What if she was the wrong person and there was another Piper Hargrove? She’d try to preform magic and she’d fail miserably in front of the whole class. She was muggle born after all. What if..., Piper couldn’t stop thinking of the things that could go wrong. But right now, she had other things to handle.

With all her willpower she cleared her head and turned to the girl in front of her. The girl seemed to be a first year too, by the looks of it. She didn’t know, but probably a first year. Piper played with her curls nervously. She wasn’t very good at conversations. But the ride would’ve been more awkward if she didn’t say anything. Besides, the stranger looked friendly enough, and as a fellow first year, well, Piper assumed she was a first year, it couldn’t be that bad. She took a breathe and introduced herself. “Hi. I’m Piper. Piper Hargrove,” she said shaking as the girl entered the compartment.

Word count (not including this): 255 words

Summer gave her parents one of the most heartfelt and sincere hugs she’d ever given. While she was incredibly excited to be going to Hogwarts, she didn’t know how she was supposed to go without seeing her parents for so long. After a few more hugs, promises to write, and promises to try and make friends. Summer boarded the train. She knew she’d promised her parents she’d try to make friends, she wasn’t quite ready to do that yet and began the search for an empty compartment she could read in. After searching the train a total of three times over, Summer realized that there would be no finding of an empty compartment. Instead, she decided to find one that at least had people her age. After a bit of searching, Summer found a relatively empty compartment that only had two girls, both who looked to be about her age. Still, it was going to be awkward actually talking to people. Taking a deep breath, Summer rapped smartly on the door, then walked in, dragging her suitcase behind her. “H-hi,” Look at that! First word and she was already stuttering. Steeling herself, Summer continued.My name’s Summer. Is it alright if I join you guys?

"Oh, grand!" Aoife replied, moving to sit opposite the other girl. She settled into the comfortable, old seats well, dropping her bag with a satisfying *flump* to the side of herself. She stretched out a little more, finally feeling a little more at ease after the stress of getting on the train. Running around, looking for the last seats and picking up bits of her luggage were definitely not what she had planned.

"I'm Aoife! Aoife Quinn," she said to Piper, grinning as she waved at her. She nearly went for a handshake, but that seemed waaaay too formal. What was she, some ancient professor? Aoife felt her cheeks flush a little more. Making friends had been easy when it was just you, a bunch of a Muggle kids and a street full of trees and grassy gardens. Now everyone was nervous, apprehensive and all magical. It was strange and exciting and scary, all at once.

"Are you finding this dead strange?" she asked Piper, looking around in awe. "I mean, my ma kept telling me about how it'd go but I never really thought it'd be like this." She was nervous, and when Aoife was nervous, she talked. Rabbited, her ma would say. She was interrupted by the door opening, another girl standing there. Aoife offered her a warm smile, waving to her too.

"Heya. There's plenty of room here. I'm Aoife," she repeated, smirking as she looked over at Piper. I'm gonna have to say that a looooot over the next few days. Am I gonna get sick of saying my own name?

Piper was panicking again. Why was she panicking? It was just two girls, just like her. Except they probably weren’t muggle-born and actually knew what they were doing. They probably heard stories from family and friends, and maybe even their next door neighbor. Did wizards live near each other?

Oh no, Piper was doing it again. Filling her mind with the worse case scenario, asking pointless questions to calm herself down, only for them to make her more frightened.

Don’t be absurd Piper, she told herself. They’re two first years, heading to Hogwarts just like you.

Nervously, she introduced herself. “I’m Piper, Piper Hargrove. Nice to meet you,” she said. She tried her best to not sound nervous, but she swore she heard a stutter. Piper sat awkwardly as her whole body shook.

Stop, she told herself. Shaking made it obvious that somebody was nervous. She was nervous, of course, but she didn’t want it to be obvious. Who would want to make it obvious that they were nervous? An actor playing a part, maybe. Oh, she told herself. I need to stop doing that. She needed to stop doing a lot of things, actually. She cleared her mind again for a fresh slate of things to think about. There seemed to be a conversation coming soon.

Word count (not including this): 217 words

Adriel stared wide eyed and agape at the trains platform. She was at a loss for words. The train in itself was not what rendered her speachless but rather that her new journey was about to begin. She was nervous, practically shaking with anticipation as her father kissed her forehead and ushered her onto the train. "Remember to write me every chance you get! I love you pumpkin!" Her father yelled to her. She shouted back a quick goodbye before the doors closed and Her hunt for a seat began.

Adriel's legs felt like jelly, she was finally going to experience her father's world for herself. She recounted every story he had ever told her about Hogwarts in her head as she walked aimlessly through the train.

"First impressions are everything. This train ride could single handedly determine my friends for the year. Oh Merlin theres so many thigns that could go wrong! What if I say the wrong thing, or get trapped in a compartment with people I don't like! My whole year could be ruined!"

Adriel laughed to herself about the absurdity of her thoughts. It was as if this train ride meant life or death in her mind how ridiculous. She snickered a moment longer before finally stumbling across an open compartment. The inside housed 3 first years such as herself. They looked friendly for the most part, fun even. She decided to knock gingerly on the side of the door.

"Hello, I noticed that this compartment has room for one more would it be alright if I joined?" she asked with a friendly smile.

Piper turned to the door. “Oh, another person!” she said, smiling. “Come in, there’s plenty of room.”

Now the compartment was pretty full. Piper felt awkward sitting in the silence. She waited for somebody to strike up a conversation, but nobody did. She’d have to then. She thought of a good conversation starter. How’s the weather? Ew new, old people said that. She wanted to be a group of excited students discussing the school they were all about attend. She decided to ask about what house they believed they would be in. It was nice and simple, but important too. This would be their homes. Sure, as a muggle-born, Piper didn’t have much expectations and wouldn’t really be able to participate that well in the conversation, but it was a start.

Piper put her hands in her sweater pocket and pushed them deep down. She hadn’t changed into her school clothes yet, still in her black sweater from home. She had planned to just place her robes over. She feared being judged by muggles for wearing a robe, to the muggle world, it would seem so strange. It would to Piper if she was still a muggle. “Sooo...” she began, looking at the three girls. “What house do you guys think you’ll be in?”

Word count (not including this): 214 words

Adriel walked inside she dropped her luggage in front of her seat then sat down. She smiled at the other girls in the compartment and wondered about the adventures to come. The silence felt a bit awkward but she wasn't sure how to break it.

"If only I were a polar bear." Adriel thought and internally laughed at her little joke. She was thankful when the girl with wavey brown hair and cute freckles possed a question.

"Hmmm what house would I be in?" Adriel mulled the question over in her mind before finally answering. "I'm praying I'm put in hufflepuff like my father was. He's said so many wonderful things about the house, and how lovely the people will be. I want to follow in his footsteps...though he does have a rather large foot, size 12 to be exact... Anyway I would love to be a Hufflepuff but I have the nagging feeling that I'll be a Ravenclaw like my mother." Adriel let out a small yet happy sigh. She was excited either way. "Oh gosh I've forgotten my manners!" Adriel gives the group a rather sheepish look. "My name is Adriel Greynore I probably should have told you that before my preference in houses. To late now." She gives a small shrug. "At any rate what house are you hoping to get into?" She asked giving her attention to the girl with wavey brown hair.

Veronica was thankful when her sister, Ashlee, had dropped her off at the station. She couldn't afford a bad start to her second year, especially after what happened last year at the sorting ceremony. With a deep breath, she hugged her sister and headed towards the train that was going to take her to her favorite place, Hogwarts. She had managed to make quite a few friends last year, and this year would be no different.

As she found the compartment where a few of her friends were sitting, she sighed. It was nothing against them, but they're auras just seemed different this year. She sat down with a smile, already in her robes for school. Making small talk, Roni began to zone out. She enjoyed their presence, but something had changed over the break. "I'll be back soon." Her voice was softer than normal as she excused herself from the compartment.

Once outside, she turned towards her left and continued on through the cars. She had passed a few with second and third years, even a few seventh, but she really didn't want to be near them. Maybe she was just feeling upset about her home situation, or the fact that she was one more year closer to leaving school. Whatever it was, it had a negative effect on her.

She continued to walk until she stumbled upon a compartment with four girls. The first girl that Roni had caught sight of was a brunette with short hair and lightly tanned skin, the second, a blond with beautiful blue eyes, the third, appeared to have either light brown or dirty blond hair, however, Roni couldn't see her face to determine what colored eyes she had, and the forth, another blonde, only, this girl's hair was closer to a soft honey blond. Seeing the four girls gave Veronica a happier feeling. She instantly forgot about how upset she had felt only moments prior.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the door and knocked on it, opening it slightly. "Do you mind if I join the four of you? It's getting terribly crowded quite quickly." She offered her best smile. She wanted to be friends with these girls, for some unknown reason, she knew that they'd be good friends once they got to know one another.

@Adriel Greynore @Piper Hargrove@Aoife Quinn@Summwe Chesser