The cab that Stygian had just entered was huge. She could barely control her exhileration as her eyes sweeped across her new environment. There were doors leading to other cabs, and more doors, that, if opened, lead to compartments. Stygian opened a door, peeked inside, squealed, and shut the door. She had just walked in on a shouting match. Whoops!..

Stygian slided open, door after door, until she got to the end of the train. She was trying to find one that didn't have anyone inside. Finally, she found the perfect compartment (with no one inside) and walked in.

Stygian placed her belongings in an overhead compartment, before plopping down on the soft, cozy seat.

So.

What was she supposed to do now?

She didn't have anyone around her to talk to. Stygian regretted finding a compartment where she was alone.

Suddenly, her door whipped open. Stygian was just about to jump to her feet when she realised that this woman was hunched and old, probably in her 90s. She smiled kindly at Stygian.

"What would you like, sweet?" She croaked out.

"There's Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Jelly Slugs, Liquorice wands, and Pumpkin Pasties."

"Er-" Stygian had been given a pouchful of galleons from her mother. "Um, maybe a chocolate frog and 2 pumkin pasties please.

"Okay," the 'Trolley Lady (Stygian guessed)' said, her voice somewhat faltering. Maybe she had expected Stygian to buy more. Stygian added a jelly slug to the list, and the elderly woman beamed. Stygian handed over a galleon, got her change, and started munching.

Suddenly, a boy swept into the room. He had dark brown hair falling to just above his dark brown eyes, and his skin was olive. He actually looked kind of cute, if it were not for the frown on his face.

"Oh, hey." He said suddenly, smiling a little, before his frowning creased. "I was trying to look for an empty compartment, but I didn't find one.. Can I sit here?"

"Uh- sure?" Stygian said, mumbling as she did so. The boy sat opposite from her, right after packing away his belongings. They sat in awkward silence for a while.

"What's your name?" Stygian tried. 

"Oh," the boy said, as if surprised that she was talking to him.

"It's Nathaniel. You?"

"I'm Stygian."

"Nice name! It's unique, I've never heard it before." Nathaniel said, grinning. Stygian felt blush creeping up into her cheeks, and furiously stamped it down. No one had ever complimented her strange name before. This was weird.

Suddenly, a girl burst into the room, panting heavily.

"Oh my gosh, sorry! I was running around the whole train, looking for the perfect compartment. I couldn't find one, though! No one wanted me there. One time I walked into a compartment, and there were two people there, a boy and a girl. They looked like they were 16. Anyways, they let me stay, as long as I'm quiet. Which is hard, if you're me, but I agreed."

Stygian noticed how this girl's blondish-white hair fell freely to her shoulders, and the cute freckles that were scattered across her nose. Nathaniel must have noticed this too, because a blush was creeping up into his cheeks. Stygian felt a little twinge in her stomach.

"Um- why did you leave them, then?" She said instead.

"Er- well, they kind of.. Started.."

"Snogging?" Nathaniel laughed. "They're hopeless."

"Um- soo, this is a weird question but.. Are you two- Do you two like eachother?"

"No," Nathaniel said quickly. A furious red was overtaking his face, and he was turning into an embarrased tomatoe. "That'd be so weird! I've only just met her!"

"You know what, can I just go?" He said fiercely, packing all of his items and leaving, shutting the door behind him with a huge BANG!"

The two girls looked at eachother, blinking. Then the pretty girl's face actually contorted into pity.

"I'm sorry- I'm really blunt. You clearly liked him."

"What- n-no!" Stygian was surprised that she had read Stygian's mind so clearly. "We-we only just met, like he said.

"Yes, but I saw your face when he left. Come on, sometimes you've got to admit things!"

"Well- but-" Stygian started, stumbling over words.

The girl patted Stygian's back reassuringly. Stygian was starting to melt.

"My name's Stygian Hippogriff. Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Astoria Viridis."

"Nice!" Stygian was starting to smile now. Maybe she could be friends with this particular person. 

Suddenly, the door opened. A tall girl stepped in, pink ribbons in her hair. She had a mean look on her face, and her eyes were sparkling dangerously. Behind her were two muscular girls, almost twice the first girl's size.

"What's this? Astoria, are you going around annoying people now?" The first girl sneered. "I'm sure that she-" -The first girl pointed at Stygian- "Doesn't like your chatter. She might as well come with us. We'd be way better listeners, rather than rumbling on and on all the time. My name's Chloe, and this is Jade and Tanith." Chloe held out her hand.

Stygian didn't shake it, sticking firmly in her seat. Chloe scowled.

"Oh, very well. I suppose you want to stick with losers. Well, you're life's going to turn into hell. Don't hang around with the wrong people, number one lesson that my family taught me. Didn't Astoria scare that cute boy away? Probably wanted to scare him away on purpose, did you Astoria? And you, you're what, toad-face?"

"It's Stygian!" Stygian replied indignantly.

"What a stupid name. Very dark indeed." Cloe added scathingly. Jade and Tanith laughed forcefully, and somewhat unconvincingly. And they left.

"Thanks for sticking on my side!" Astoria said, squeezing Stygian's hand. 

"NP!" Stygian beamed at her new best friend, and they chatted happily the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts. Stygian felt like she truly belonged.