"Goodbye, Mom," Rowan said for the thousandth time. Her mother wouldn't stop fussing over her, trying to straighten her hair or get the wrinkles out of her clothes. It seemed like everyone else's mother had already said goodbye and were waiting for the train to leave so they could chase it to the end of the platform and watch it disappear into the horizon. However, they all seemed to be witches, not normal. Her mother was normal, and normal mothers were insistent with their fussing.

"Oh, all right, baby," she said, kneeling down so she could look into her little girl's eyes, "You be careful... and don't talk to strangers."

"They're all strangers, Mom," Rowan reminded her, "All these people, I don't know any of them."

"Right, right," she muttered, "Well, I'm just trying to get used to this. I mean, my daughter is a witch, for crying out loud!"

"I got it, Mom," Rowan said exasperatedly, "Can I please go now? I don't want the train to leave without me!"

"Oh, fine. If you're so eager to go, then just go," her mother said, standing back up. She was a very short woman with dark, curly hair and pale blue eyes. "Get going, or the train will go without you!"

Rowan smiled at her mother and said, "Bye, Mom." Then she turned around and started toward the train. Just as she was at the steps, she dropped her bags, turned around, and ran at her mom. She jumped into her arms and squeezed so hard she herself was having some trouble breathing.

"I love you, honey," she whispered into her daughter's ear, "Don't you forget that. And don't forget to write!"

"Okay, but you can't freak out when you see a big, fat barn owl knocking on your window," Rowan said, her voice muffled by her mother's coat.

"Alright," her mother said, holding her daughter at arms length, "Go, or they really will leave without you."

Rowan nodded, her bright green eyes looking both sad and excited. At that, she turned and ran at the train, the sound of the warning whistle going off. She took her bags in one hand and let the conductor help her off the platform. Once safely on the train, she turned, waved at her mom and yelled, "Love you!"

She noticed that her mother, from far away, looked practically miserable. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she waved back at Rowan. Another woman walked over to her and offered her a handkerchief. She took it gratefully and they were suddenly in deep conversation.

Rowan turned around and went down the hallway, looking in at every cabin, but they were all full of kids talking and eating and joking, all of whom looked up at her as she passed by. Not a single cabin that way down the hall had any open seats, so eventually she hit the end and had to turn back and go the other way.

Unfortunately, the only empty cabin was also the only one with any seats available, and it was the last cabin at the end of the train.

Finally able to sit down, she stared out the window for a few minutes, in search of her mother. She was still talking to the woman, who had managed to calm her down a bit.

Smiling, she pulled the window down halfway and snatched a book out of her backpack; Hogwarts, A History by Chroniclus Punnet. Soon her nose was practically buried in the text.

Just as she felt the train start moving, a shadow moved over her. A little nervously, she looked up from the book at the figure looming over her.

It was a boy, around 11, like she was, with dark, untidy hair and pale grey eyes. He was sort of... flimsy. Rowan didn't know what she really expected of 11 year-old boys, but maybe she thought the other wizards would a little more...built.

"Hi," she greeted, "What are you doing?"

"Is this seat taken?" he asked, ignoring her question, "It doesn't really matter what you say, I'm sitting here anyway."

"No, that seat isn't taken," she replied, choosing to ignore that last part, as he ignored her question.

"Good answer," he said, grinning. He took his bags and began stowing them on the rack above them. When he was finally seated, he reached out his hand towards her and said, "The name's Sirius. Sirius Black, as a matter of fact."

"Are you just trying to shake my hand so you can go tell all your friends that you've held a girl's hand?" Rowan demanded, "Because that's something all the boys I know would do, and you don't seem much different from them."

"Then you must not know many boys, because I'm as unique as it gets," he joked, "And you're right, that is something I would do. I just didn't happen to think of it at the time. Your name is?"

Hesitantly, she took his hand (noting how incredibly rough they were) and said, "Rowan Mulciber. I'm the only wizard-witch, sorry-in my entire family. If you'll excuse me, I have to catch up with everybody else."

"You're a Muggle-born?" he asked, "Well, that would explain the excessive reading."

She nodded and began to read again. She got about a half a sentence read when he blurted out, "I'm a pureblood, and certainly not proud of it. You know, if my parents knew I was 'conversing' with a Muggle-born, they'd flip out...literally."

"Well, isn't that nice?" she muttered, not even looking up from her book, "Please, I'm trying to read. Everybody else is so far ahead, I have to catch up."

"Catch up with what?" he asked, "We're all first years! I mean, except for everyone who's not a first year, anyway. So what if we know a little more about magic and broomsticks and all that. We still haven't got the brains to figure out any spells by ourselves! Yeah, we're all at the same pace. You're just trying to get ahead."

"The way I see it," Rowan said, a little angrily, "You know a heck of a lot more about magic and broomsticks and 'all that' then I do. I'm willing to bet that every first year on this train does, Muggle-born or not."

"Do you even know what a Muggle is?"

"Of course I-no, I don't."

"Non-magic folk."

"I could've figured that out by myself!"

"Excuse me for trying to help you!"

"Whatever," she said, "I don't know half the things you do, because you've grown up with wizards and magic and potions and all that stuff. I have to take the surprises as they come, and I hate surprises. So I'm doing as much reading as I can, thank you very much."

"Fine," Sirius muttered, "Have it your way, stupid know-it-all."

"How can anybody be a stupid know-it-all?" another voice asked. They both looked over to see a skinny boy with dark hair and eyes hidden by large, circular glasses. "Frankly, it doesn't make any sense."

"And who are you?" Sirius asked, his voice sounding a little annoyed.

"James Potter," the boy replied, sitting down beside Sirius, "It's a pleasure to meet you and-"

"The know-it-all's name is Rowan Mulciber," Sirius introduced, "She's quite annoying actually."

Rowan made a funny little choking sound before slamming her book shut, glared up at Sirius, and inquired, "I'm the annoying one?"

"Yes, as a matter-of-fact, you are," he replied, "What with your excessive reading and your inability to converse well."

"My inability to converse?"

"Well!"

"Well, since it is obvious I'm not going to get any reading done, what could you possibly want to talk to me about?" she demanded, shoving the book away.

For once, Sirius was silent.

"Besides," she muttered, "If I'm such a know-it-all, why don't you quiz me?"

"Okay, we will," James said, collecting a glare from Sirius, "How many players are on every quidditch team?"

"No idea," Rowan replied, "What's quidditch?"

"When did Dumbledore start working at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.

"Who?" she questioned.

"Who is the current Minister of Magic?" James quizzed.

"There's a ministry?"

"You're not helping yourself," Sirius said, laughing.

"I wasn't trying to!" she exclaimed, "I was trying to prove I'm not a know-it-all! Have I made my point?"

"I think so," James murmured. There was a moment when they all just stared at each other, until Sirius broke the silence with hysterical laughter.

"What's so funny?" James demanded.

"I-have no-idea!" he replied, laughing so hard he could barely speak.

His laughter was contagious, and eventually everyone was laughing with him. It finally quieted down when the trolley came by.

"Anything you'd like, dears?" chimed a sweet voice. A woman was looking in pleasantly at them.

"Oh, wow..." Rowan whispered, staring at all the candy and treats as if it was a pile of gold, "But I haven't any money..."

Sirius looked at her and said, "I'll take care of it."

"No," she said, "I wouldn't be able to pay you back."

"It's fine," he insisted, "I've got plenty of money."

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans?" Rowan muttered, "How could it have every flavor?"

"Oh, trust me," Sirius said, "It really does. It's got apple, chewing gum, grass, sardines, potato, salt, tarter sauce... once I was unfortunate enough to get a vomit flavored bean."

"Vomit?" she gasped, "That's absolutely disgusting!"

"The good thing," James said, "Is when you are unfortunate enough to find yourself a vomit flavored one, you learn to remember exactly what it looked like, and then you can play the best pranks on your friends...and parents, too."

"Are there any good flavors?" she asked, "Like grape or strawberry?"

"Those are Muggle flavors," Sirius replied, "We don't really eat Muggle food much, let alone use their flavors."

She sniffed the box and then put it down, silently muttering to herself, "I'll save that for later."

When she looked up, she saw a giant brown blur flying straight at her face.

She yelped out loud as a frog landed on her forehead.

"What is that?!?" she demanded.

While Sirius was too busy laughing so hard he was starting to tear up, James responded, "It's a chocolate frog! Quick, catch it!"

She felt the little feet crawling up her forehead onto the top of her head. Waiting for the precise moment, she reached up and snatched it away, cupping it in her hands.

"Here," she said, "Take it."

"You caught it," James reminded her, "You should keep it."

"But it's yours," she insisted.

"And I'm giving it to you," he finalized.

Rowan looked down at her cupped hands and wrapped her fingers around the frog. Looking at both boys quickly, she shoved the entire frog in her mouth, when suddenly it started jumping around and she had to cover it with both hands.

Both boys started laughing when the door was opened and a girl walked in, with long red hair and vivid green eyes.

"Excuse me," she said, "But my friend has been looking for a place to sit for the past half hour, and this is the only open seat. Can he please...?"

Rowan swallowed the frog finally and said, "Sure." She moved some of her stuff that was on the seat next to her to the rack above her and moved closer to the window.

"Thanks," she said, holding out her hand, "I'm Lily Evans, by the way." Then she turned away and said, "Come on, Severus. I found a seat for you."

She moved into the hallway to let in a boy with long, greasy black hair that covered his eyes, an abnormally large nose, and wearing all black.

"Oh," Sirius said, standing up, "What did you say his name was? Snivellus?"

"Hey!" Lily defended, "Leave him alone!"

"Is that what your name is?" Sirius continued, "Snivellus? I must say it's very... suiting for you."

"Nice one, Sirius," James encouraged.

"Are you going to defend yourself, Snivellus?" he asked, "Or are you just going to let me bully you around all the time? That's what I'm thinking of doing."

"Cut it out!" Lily screamed, "Just let him sit down and leave him alone!"

Sirius turned to her, saying, "Or what?"

She glared up at him and replied, "Or you'll have to answer to me!"

"Oh, we're so very scared," James exaggerated as he stood up, "I'm James Potter, by the way."

"Well, Potter," Lily said, "I can't wait to see the likes of you sorted into Slytherin. And you-" she turned to face Rowan, "I feel sorry for you."

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Because you're stuck hanging around with these bullies," Lily explained. She took the boy's arm and said, "Come on, Severus, I'm not going to make you sit with these jerks. You'll just have to squeeze into my cabin."

"Alright..." the boy muttered as she dragged him out of the area. Before she left, she turned to Rowan and said, "You're welcome to come, too."

"That's fine, you already have too many people," Rowan said, "I'll see you when we get there."

"Okay," Lily agreed, "See you later."

She turned and stalked away, but the boy just stood there until she clutched his arm and pulled him away.

"Well," Sirius said as he sat back down, putting his hands behind his head and his feet up on the seat beside Rowan, "That was fun."

It was late when the train finally arrived at the school. Rowan, Sirius and James all got off together, putting their luggage with all the rest. When they heard all the gasps of the other first year students, the three of them turned to see the huge, glowing castle across a dark lake.

"Woah," they all breathed in unison, their eyes shining.

"You three!" a loud voice yelled, "Onto the boat!"

Their gazes shifted to the source of the voice. A tall boy was staring at them angrily. "Did you hear me?" he demanded, pointing to a small boat full of first years, including Severus and Lily, "Get in the boat!"

Rowan was the first to respond and climbed into the boat, the seat next to Lily. She smiled and they were about to start chatting away, when four sturdy hands grabbed her arms and dragged her backwards. She let out an odd, strangled scream as she was pulled away unwillingly.

"You don't want to sit next to them, do you?" Sirius asked, sitting to her right. James was to her left.

"Actually, I would prefer it if you wouldn't drag me away from my friends," Rowan said, shaking their hands off.

Lily and Severus turned back to face them. "Why are you two so mean?" Lily asked, "Did your mothers drop you or something?"

"It's quite possible my mother did," Sirius replied, "But if she did, it certainly wasn't an accident."

"That's a horrible thing to say about your mother," Lily said disgustedly, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"If I wasn't ashamed when my mother said it, then I'm not ashamed when you say it," he replied, lounging against the back of the boat with a graceful sort of casualness.

"Ugh," Lily grunted, "Rowan, come on, sit back up here without the jerks."

As she was about to move away, Sirius put his arm around her waist and James put his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but she doesn't sit with black wearing, huge nosed, greasy haired freaks," Sirius said, grinning and glaring at Severus, "Sorry Snivellus."

"Stop calling me that!" Severus exclaimed angrily, "Just stop it, or I'll-"

"Stop your yelling this instant!" the tall boy ordered, "Or the moment you are sorted I will take ten points from whichever house you're sorted in."

After a moment's hesitation, Severus quickly turned away. Lily, however, continued to stare. She leaned in close to James and said, "Control yourself and your friend, Potter."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, smiling at her. She then turned away as angrily as Severus had.

"I am Professor McGonagall," the tall woman said. She wore long black cloaks and a tall witch hat. "You will follow me to the Great Hall, where you will then be sorted into your houses. There are four houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Once you have been sorted, you will sit at the table of your house, and once the feast is over, you will follow your Head Boy to your house common rooms. Is that understood?"

Some people nodded, some people stared, and some people muttered, "Yes Professor McGonagall."

"Good," she said, "Then let's get going. Follow me, now!"

Sirius and James looked at each other excitedly and were about to go when they realized Rowan wasn't moving.

"Rowan?" Sirius asked, "What are you waiting for? The group-" he motioned to the large group descending the stairs "-is leaving."

"I'm just a little nervous," she said, "You guys go without me. I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Again they looked at each other, and then they intertwined their arms with hers and lifted her off her feet, walking forward as she yelped her protests, that were unheard because of the loud noise coming from the Great Hall.

They finally managed to get her through the doors with the rest of the group, while Professor McGonagall was all the way at the end of the hall. The room was huge with four long tables packed with students bearing different colors like red, green, blue, and yellow. Long tapestries a green and silver color with a snake in the center hung from the high ceiling that showed the beautiful night sky with its bright stars spotted at random. Hundreds of candles floated high above all of their heads, and at the far end of the room there was yet another table, where many adults, who Rowan presumed were the professors, were sitting staring out at all of the students, some joyously, some distastefully. McGonagall walked straight to a tall man with a long, white beard.

"Hey James, where's the hat?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," James replied, "I can't see it."

"Hat?" Rowan questioned, "What's so important about a hat?"

"It's the Sorting Hat," Sirius explained, "It's a big, ugly hat that decides where we get placed. House-wise, I mean."

"A big, ugly hat decides what house we're in?"

"Yup," James said, "It's pretty weird that we have to place our trust in an inanimate object."

"I heard it talks!" another voice yelled.

A pair of little hands squeezed in between Sirius and James, and another voice was yelling, "Don't be rude, Peter!" The same voice was continuously saying, "Excuse me, excuse me, pardon me, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to knock your hat off..." Finally, two more boys managed to squeeze in between Sirius and James, one rather short and stout, the other around the same height as Sirius and as skinny as James.

"I'm Peter!" the short one introduced himself, "This is Remus. Don't mind him, he's a bit of a goodie-two-shoes."

"I am not!" the tall one, Remus, defended. He seemed incredibly uncomfortable, like he didn't want to be there.

"Um..." Sirius said, "It's a...pleasure to meet you. I'm Sirius Black, and this is James Potter, and this-" he grabbed the sleeve of Rowan's cloak and pulled her a little bit "-this is Rowan Mulciber."

"Remus Lupin," the tall one said, "And that's Peter Pettigrew."

"I'm perfectly capable of introducing myself, thank you very much!" Peter exclaimed, "Anyway, you were talking about the Sorting Hat! I heard that it can talk, which technically makes it animate, not inanimate. Isn't that cool? Magic is so amazing, don't you think?"

"Okay..." James agreed, "But we still don't know where the big, ugly hat is, so that lovely bit of information isn't much help to us."

"It's right there," Remus pointed out, staring straight ahead, "On that stool. You're right, it is ugly."

They all shifted their gazes to match Remus's and found at the other end of the hall, where McGonagall was standing, there was a stool with a very big, very ugly, very old-looking hat.

"Students!" McGonagall called, "Students, students quiet down now!" She stood and waited while the room silenced almost instantaneously.

"Now, I'm going to call off all of the names of those who need to be sorted. When you are called, you will come up here and sit down on the stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and it will make its decision. Once its decision is made, you will then find a seat at your house table and watch the rest of the sorting until it is complete. Then our headmaster will have a few words for you before you eat," she explained, "I'm going to start off calling the names in alphabetical order by surname." She pulled out a scroll and opened it. "Georgia Araya."

A girl right in the front of the line walked up the few stairs to the stool, but was reluctant to sit down.

"Is there something wrong, dear?" McGonagall asked.

The girl turned to her. She had brown hair up in drooping pigtails and square glasses that hid her dark eyes. She said something quietly to McGonagall, who then yelled, "No, the hat is not going to hurt you."

Georgia's pale cheeks flushed as many of the older students snickered, and she sat down on the stool. McGonagall then placed the hat on her head.

The many folds of horrible grey fabric suddenly burst into life with a sound that at first could not be understood, because the poor girl had screamed when she heard it. But then it was soon realized that the hat had yelled, "Hufflepuff!"

A table in the middle burst into thunderous applause as the terrified girl was shooed off the stage. She then walked there, where she was greeted by many welcoming faces.

"Jessica Armstrong."

Another girl with long hair that was blonde at the tips but darkened all the way up to deep brown at the roots walked up. She walked with a cocky step and as she sat down she crossed her legs and smirked at the onlookers.

The hat wasn't even on her head when it screamed, "Slytherin!"

She laughed a bit, stood up, and bowed, saying, "Thank you, thank you!" as a response to the racket the leftmost table was making.

"Sirius Black."

"Good luck," James said as Sirius began to walk forward. As he passed Rowan he muttered, "If I get in Slytherin like the rest of my pure-blood family I think I'll ask you to kill me."

Before she could respond, he was pushing through the crowd.

He sat down on the stool and looked up at McGonagall, who put the hat on his head. It fell over his eyes and he exclaimed, "Hey!" as he tried to lift it back up so he could at least see.

"Another member of the Noble House of Black, I see," the hat said.

"Yeah," Sirius responded, "And trust me, it's not that great."

This statement collected a few laughs from the crowd.

"Of course, of course..." the hat muttered, "You have a much better heart then the rest of them. I can only say... Gryffindor!"

The smile that lit up Sirius's face was such a smile that everyone but the leftmost table was clapping and cheering and yelling with all their might. Somebody at that certain table yelled out, "But he's a Black! He has to be in Slytherin!"

Sirius all but danced to the table where a mess of boys slapped him on the back and shook his hands, and all the while he couldn't stop smiling.

After a while, Remus was called and placed in Gryffindor, and Rowan couldn't help but be glad that Sirius would at least have one friend with him.

It seemed like an eternity before her name was finally called. She slowly walked away from James and Peter, pushing through the mass of bodies, all staring at her, many wishing her good luck, others smirking at her.

Finally she arrived at the stool and very hesitantly sat down. McGonagall set the hat upon her head, and she let it fall over her eyes, but suppressed a quiet whimper of nervousness.

"Ah! A Muggle-born! And a bright one at that... should you be in Ravenclaw? No, no, that's not it... You couldn't be in Hufflepuff, you'd be too much of a troublemaker..."

"Hey!" Rowan exclaimed, "I take offense to that!"

"So much of a troublemaker," the hat went on, ignoring her completely, "That maybe Slytherin would be good for you..."

She widened her eyes and screamed, "What?"

"What, Slytherin not good enough for you?" the hat questioned, "Well, all right then, I suppose there's nowhere left for you to go but Gryffindor!"

She sighed with relief and smiled almost as widely as Sirius had. Everyone at the Gryffindor table stood up and cheered, including Sirius who was possibly making the most racket out of everyone in the entire room.

Rowan hopped off of the stool with a bounce in her step as she ran to where Sirius had made room for her.

After quite some waiting, Peter was called up and sent to Gryffindor as well, which left James, who was called up directly after Peter.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," the hat said, "I do believe I have to keep you with your large group of friends."

After a moment, James, who looked very confused, asked, "Does that mean I'm in Gryffindor?"

"Yes."

"Can I go now?"

"Yes."

"Great!"

James hopped off of the stool and joined Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Rowan. After the Sorting had finished, their headmaster, the tall man with the long white beard, announced that his name was Dumbledore. Then he told the students of several rules they were to follow, and finally the feast commenced. Once it was time to go, they all followed the Head Boy of their house to their common room, where they all wandered off to bed.