“You expect me to WHAT!?” I managed, “No way.”

My older brother grinned at me, “I’m not kidding, I swear. Just run through the wall.”

I rolled my eyes, he must be joking, if he thinks I’m dumb enough to run straight into a brick wall, then he has another thing coming. I motioned for him to go. 

“Go on, run through the wall.” I said sarcastically, “two galleons say you’re lying and just trying to see me run face-first into a wall.”

He gave me a mischievous grin, “You’re gonna owe me two galleons.” And then he ran straight at the wall. 

“Jack you Id-” He disappeared through the wall. “-iot. What just happened?” 

I shook my head, wondering why I had bet him two galleons. I closed my eyes, pushing my trolley at the brick wall ahead of me. I was tense, bracing for an impact that didn’t come. Someone lightly slapped me in the back of the head and laughed.. “Where’s my two galleons?”

I opened my eyes to glare at him but instead they caught on the platform. People were bustling about, shouting and looking for friends. A bright red train sat, puffing merrily. I watched as people got on to the train. I watched other first years running through the wall, some of them with their eyes closed like I had. 

“Later.” I said absentmindedly, my eyes were still trying to take everything in. 

“Fine but I won’t forget it.” He smirked at me, “Wanna go find a compartment? I need to find Lucas.”

I groaned, “Really. Ditching me already?”

He nodded, “Yup. Have fun!” And then he disappeared into the train.

I rolled my eyes and glanced around. Someone tapped my shoulder. I whirled around and blinked. The girl’s hair was a vibrant red and bounced in loose waves. “Hello?”

“Hey. You just looked a bit lonely, I’m Lily Evans.” 

“Emma Mitchel.”

“Do you have a compartment yet?” 

I shook my head, “No, I don’t have anyone to sit with.” 

She grinned, “Well then, come sit with us.” 

She grabbed my arm and started pulling me, “Wait wait, Lily? Who is us?” 

She didn’t respond and I couldn’t help but grin as she pulled me towards the train. I didn’t even try to stop her, she seemed like a fun person. 

Lily pulled me into a compartment with four other people in it. 

There was a blonde girl named Marlene McKinnon who was talking about some boy named Sirius Black she had met on the platform. 

Another girl, Mary, who had dark blonde hair and was on the short side, was listening to Marlene rant.

Dorcas Meadows was keeping to herself. She was a tall girl with platinum blonde hair, and had some book propped open in her lap. 

And then there was Severus Snape. He had greasy black hair and a long hooked nose and was writing notes inside of a potions book. He hadn’t even noticed us enter. 

“And his hair-” Marlene’s rant was getting louder and louder. 

Dorcas snapped her book shut. “Oh my god, Marlene, stop. Black has a big enough head as it is.” 

Apparently they had already had a run in with him. 

“Oh shut up, you didn’t see him.” Marlene flicked her hair behind her ear. “If you had seen him, you would understand.” 

Lily rolled her eyes, “Enough about Black.”

“And more about Potter.” 

I felt like I was missing something. “Who’s Potter?” 

Marlene grinned, “A hot guy who has already asked Lily out.”

Lily flushed, “He’s not that hot. Anyways, he’s a stuck up jerk.”

They were terrible at explaining, and I gave them all a blank look. “Some of us weren’t there, you know.” Dorcas gave me a smile. 

“Hey Dorcas, if they are gonna keep talking about boys, how about you and I go for a bit, I wanna meet some other people.” I said, the truth was, I was sitting by Severus, who was now muttering to himself. 

“Nah, it’s kinda interesting.” I rolled my eyes, no way in hell was I going to stay here next to Slimeball. I waited another half an hour, before I couldn't stand it anymore, I stood up.

“Ok then, I’ll be back.” Lily gave me a thumbs up and tried, unsuccessfully, to start a conversation with Snivilous, I mean, Snape. 

I pushed open the compartment door, and slipped outside. 

I wandered around the train, wondering if there was any food on board. Just then I heard a voice, “Anything from the trolley, dears?” 

I assumed the lady had been talking about food. I searched through my pockets and cursed when I realized I hadn’t brought any money on board. I pulled my hands out of my pockets and started to wander again. 

“Lost?” A male voice from behind me said.

I twisted around. The boy had light brown hair, and several scars marred his face. I frowned, wondering how he had gotten them. 

 “No, just needed a break.”

He smiled kindly, “You can come sit with me and my friends for a while if you want.” 

I nodded gratefully, he seemed nice enough. 

I followed him through the train cars, finally stopping at one. He slid open the door, and stepped in.
Inside the car were two other boys. The boy sat down and waved for me to sit down as well. 

“Hey, who’s this cutie Remus?” A boy with stormy eyes and shoulder length black hair said, grinning at me. 

I just glared, “Emma Mitchel.”

“Sirius Black, love.” The boy with stormy eyes winked at me. 

“James Potter.” The other boy had messy brown hair and metal glasses framing his angular face. 

“And I’m Remus Lupin, in case I haven’t already said.”

Soon enough we were in a full blown chess tournament. I had been surprised at first, when the pieces had moved and smashed other pieces. I wondered if they put themselves back together, or if you had to buy new ones. I learned later that they did, in fact, put themselves back together after the game was over. 

I had won against Sirius, Remus had beat James, and now I was playing a close game against Remus. 

“No no no don’t go there!” James shouted from behind me, “Look at his bishop!” I begrudgingly moved my hand away from the horse, moving a castle instead. 

“Checkmate.” Remus said with a smirk on his face. James passed Sirius a galleon. 

“Ugh, Remus.” I pretended to mope. “How are you so good?” 

We all laughed. 

I wondered why the girls had found them so terrible. Sure, Sirius was a huge flirt and James had a bigger ego then my older brother, but they were fun. 

By the end of the train ride, the corners of my lips were sore from smiling. I had never felt like I had belonged anywhere else then in this world. This is where I was meant to be.