* * * * * * *

Neville woke up at the crack of dawn. He had not gotten up before his grandmother all summer long. But this day, he finally had something to look forward to. In fact, he'd been looking forward to this day for several weeks. Today, he would finally be going back to Hogwarts to finish his final year. Neville couldn't wait to talk to all his friends on the train again. He especially wanted to spend time with Ginny because she was one of the only people he hadn't talked much with over the summer. He quickly got showered and dressed, and began eating his breakfast.

"Neville, dear, what is the hurry?" asked his grandmother, who had gotten up shortly after him to make him his breakfast. "The train doesn't leave until 11 o'clock, and you will be apparating straight there."

"I know, Gran, but I still have to finish packing my trunk, and I want to get there early before all the good compartments are taken," responded Neville.

After breakfast, Neville packed up his trunk. He couldn't help thinking about Draco's wand when he looked at it. He ran his hand over the spot where he remembered putting the wand. What had happened to it? How did Draco manage to outsmart him? He pushed the thought out of his mind and continued to pack.

The last thing he needed before leaving was the picture of his parents that he always took with him to Hogwarts. Being able to see their picture whenever he wanted had always helped him get through the year. Neville opened the hall closet door and pulled down the shoebox full of photographs. He expected to grab the usual picture off the top of the stack, but he noticed that it was not where he had placed it at the beginning of summer. He looked though the pile of pictures before finally finding it at the bottom of the stack. Rage immediately filled every part of his body, right down to his pinky toe when he realized that Draco must have opened the shoebox and had looked at the pictures of Neville's parents during his overnight stay at the Longbottom house. Those pictures were Neville's most prized possession, and just the thought of a Death Eater's hands touching them made him sick.

"If I ever see that bastard again, I will rip him to shreds," he muttered to himself.

By the time he was finally ready to go, it was still one hour before boarding time, but he decided it would be best to leave now, before his grandmother realized how upset he was at the moment. He just wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible, even if it meant waiting longer for the train to start moving. He kissed his grandmother goodbye, grabbed all of his things and apparated to platform 9 3/4.

He didn't see very many people out on the platform, and the train was boarding early, so he got on and searched the compartments for his friends. He didn't find anyone, so he picked and empty compartment, put all of his things down and waited for his friends to arrive.

* * * * * * *

Promise woke up bright and early at 6:30 am to Charm's prodding. She groaned. She'd been out pretty late with Blaise the night before and was feeling rather good about the matress below her as well as the sheets above her and not feeling very excited about the cold air and the waking up outside of her bed.

She groaned and rolled out of bed...literally. She found that it was much more productive than trying to get herself to sit up and get off of the bed. This way she wasn't forced to stand up until she'd hit the floor already and thus woken herself up.

She finally set about brushing her teeth, showering, making herself pretty in all the ways girls tend to do on a big day. She then made Charm's wings disappear and just as she'd promised, brought her out to get some sushi before catching the express.

It took longer than she'd expected to convince the sushi establishment to allow her inside with her 'cat' so she was afraid they would be late for the train. However due to a lot of rushing and an abundance of curse words she managed to reach platform 9 3/4 in plenty of time. (Plenty of time being ten minutes.)

She made Charm's wings reappear once in the presence of all wizards and witches again and took a deep, calming breath. She was on her way to school...where she'd been for the past few weeks...but this time with classmates. People she was going to be spending the next several months with.

After steadying herself she put a pretty smile on her face and was about to board the train when she remembered that Mrs. Weasley had seemed terribly concerned about her. She also made a mental note to double check her 'friends only' settings on her livejournal.

She looked about for her, keeping her eyes open for bright red hair. She then lifted Charm above her head to look for her. The little cat spotted her and Promise quickly headed that direction to check in.

"There you are!" Molly exclaimed. She broke away from her own children when she caught site of Promise. "In one piece, I see. Have everything you need?...Well, what am I saying?  Of course you do, all your things are already at school. Well come over here, I know you were all at the wedding, but I'm not sure if you were introduced. This Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny." She added in a whisper. "Only the redheads are really mine. The other two are sort of unofficially adopted." More loudly she said. "They're all Gryffindors, so you'll be in the same dorm."

Promise smiled at Mrs. Weasley. The woman was overly concerned over Promise's well-being but she was very nice and Promise liked her very much. She was just trying to keep her friend's daughter safe, she couldn't hold that against her.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley, wonderful to see you again," Promise said with a smile, "and yes, all in one piece."

Mrs. Weasley introduced her to everyone, and Promise gave them all a friendly smile, "Well I have sort of met Ginny over livejournal. Nice to finally see you face to face. Harry I met in Diagon Alley, good to see you again. And I recall crashing into Ron at the wedding but we never officially met. I recall seeing Hermione, but I never actually got introduced. It's nice to meet all of you. I'm Promise and this is Charm," She said, motioning to Charm on her shoulder.

Ginny gave Promise a smile and a nod, "It's nice to meet you in person," she said, looking her over. Ginny wasn't sure what to make of her - she seemed nice, but Ginny wasn't sure what her interests would be. Perhaps they would get along. Ginny was still a little distracted thinking about the events of the day before, and didn't realize that she hadn't offered her hand, extending it to the girl when she did.

Promise looked relieved to be greeted by Ginny. She, for some reason, was expecting to be shunned by her classmates. However these people seemed to be more accepting of her family name than those at her last school. (or at least ignorant of its implications.) It had been an endless source of drama and angst in her past.

She smiled at Ginny and took her hand to shake it. Even Charm peeped a greeting to the girl. Promise was startled; Charm was very rarely polite.

"Hey Promise!" shouted Demelza, catching sight of her and running over to hug her, "It's great to see you!"

Promise looked shocked as the pretty younger girl came dashing over to hug her. She blinked, confused then it clicked in her brain that she'd seen this girl's picture on her livejournal. It was Demelza, lovely girl from what she'd seen so she hugged her back and smiled warmly. "Nice to see you too, kitten." She said, using the little endearment she gave to just about everyone that she felt the urge to.

Promise looked as if she was going to say something else but Charm was tugging the collar of her t-shirt impatiently and Promise rolled her eyes. "Gah, sorry Demelza but looks like Charm isn't letting me stand for a moment. I'll meet you on the train or see you at the school ok?" She waved at the girl then took off toward the train again saying "ok OK!" to Charm.

After a few moments Promise smiled and decided it was a good time to get on the train. She waved at the group and said, "Nice to meet you all, but I'd best be getting on the train."

With a smile she boarded the train and walked awkwardly down the 'hallway.' It was odd, she was probably older than anyone on the train but she felt like a little first year who didn't know what was going on. Oh well, she supposed everyone had to go through it once.

As she walked she noticed Blaise in a compartment…

* * * * * * *

Deciding not to wait up for Harry, Ginny made her way down the length of the train looking for a compartment with room enough for herself and as much of the rest of the gang as would fit. Nearing the back, Ginny saw Neville sitting alone in a large compartment, and opened the door, deciding that this would do nicely.

"Anyone sitting here, Neville?" She asked, leaning against the doorframe with a bag in one hand.

"Ginny! Just the person I wanted to see! I have barely spoken with you all summer," said Neville. "No one is sitting here now except you, so have a seat!"

Ginny nodded gratefully, saying, "Hasn't it been mad? I feel like I haven't seen anyone beyond my family, Harry, Ron and Hermione in months. That wedding's to blame.

"It was a lovely wedding though," he said to her. "Even though I didn't get to talk to you since you were in the wedding. That must have felt special, huh? I've never been part of a wedding before myself."

Ginny thought about it for a second, replying, "It was a nice wedding, and I liked being a part of my brother's wedding, but it was certainly a lot of work. Granted, I think it was probably just a lot of work because my mother was planning it and running us all ragged."

Neville laughed. "My grandmother is very similar. Luckily, she hasn't thrown a party in ages! I bet you're glad to be going back to Hogwarts. I know I am. I was bored out of my mind all summer, except for the Malfoy incident."

Ginny smiled and shook her head, "Good Lord, if my mother throws another party, it will be too soon. It's sort of a mixed bag. I'm pretty glad to be going back to school. And yeah, me too," she responded, saying 'me too' to more of what Neville said than he would have known.

"So how did you do on your O.W.L.S.?" Neville asked her. "Have the results helped you decide on what N.E.W.T. classes you'll be taking this year?"

"I did a little better than I'd expected. My worst grade was in History of magic, but I think I already have an idea of what I want to do," she replied with a nod.

"I think a bad grade in History of Magic is to be expected," Neville said to Ginny. "Who can keep from falling asleep in Professor Binn's class? So you already know what you want to do? Well, what is it?

"I think you have a point. The man probably bored himself to death," Ginny replied with a smile, "But I was thinking I wanted to be a healer, actually. It's a lot more school after school than I'd wanted, but I'm really interested in it."

"That's right," said Neville. "I think I remember you saying that in a conversation we had at the beginning of summer. Remember, I asked you to make sure my parents are being well taken care of when you work in St. Mungos?"

"I remember that," Ginny replied with a nod, "And I still promise to make sure that they're getting the best care I can get them. Assuming of course that I make the proper grades and..." Ginny suddenly stopped, realizing that she had a prefects meeting she was supposed to be at, "Oh, bugger, I'm supposed to be at a prefects meeting, I'll talk to you in a bit, alright?"

"Prefects meeting?" Neville said, suddenly getting up out of his seat. "Oh no! I completely forgot! I'm Head Boy this year! I found out so long ago, I hadn't thought about it in a while. I probably need to be at that meeting too!"

He let Ginny lead him out of the compartment.

* * * * * * *

Harry arrived to Kings Cross at 10:59 and ran to platform 9 3/4.  He hopped on the train just as it left the station. He was a bit surprised though as he couldn’t find nor Ron or Hermoine. He asked Ginny: "You know were Ron and co is?".

"Not a clue," she replied honestly, shrugging, "You holding up okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine, my love" Harry replied with warmth in his heart. "What classes will you take this year, Ginny?", he asked then.

Ginny winced internally at the beginning of what he'd said, remembering her meeting with Draco, "Oh, all the courses required to be a healer. I've been giving that more thought."

Demelza looked from compartment to compartment, finally spotting Neville, Ginny, and Harry.

"Hey there!" she said, opening the door and taking the empty seat next to Ginny.

"Hiya Demelza", Harry replied. "Looking forward to quidditch this year? I’ve heard from quidditch afficionados, that this years Hogwarts cup is gonna more exciting than ever.."

"Gosh, I can't wait for Quittitch. I've been thinking about it all summer." said Demelza

"Hi Demelza!" said Neville. "Are you looking forward to another year at Hogwarts as much as I am?"

"Definitely," Demelza replied, "Summers are boring beyond belief or me."

* * * * * * *

Blaise had been packed for two weeks, so he slept in until ten. He got up, dressed in his school robes, and sat around bored for a few minutes before deciding that it was time to go. He apparated with his trunk to Kingscross Station.

Crabbe and Goyle met him, and they took over a compartment near the prefects car, hoping to catch site of Pansy or one of the other Slytherin girls.

As Promise and Charm walked past Blaise's compartment she noticed him and gave him a slight smile and a wave but passed on. He was with his friends and she wasn't about to bother him though Charm seemed slightly disappointed with the decision. Promise continued to be surprised the liking the little cat took to Blaise, but she couldn't say it upset her. Charm hadn't any other friends but Promise herself before now, it was good for her.

She didn't really pause before continuing on to find a compartment where she would feel more comfortable and less intrusive....

Blaise was too busy recounting the previous nights adventures to Crabbe and Goyle to notice Promise. The two larger boys were sitting opposite him, and he had taken the whole bench, stretching his legs across to the far side. "Sanguini's face was priceless." He did an imitation and Crabbe laughed.

"Don't like vampires," Goyle grunted. Blaise gave him a tolerant smile.

Tracey stuck her head into Blaise's compartment and grinned. It had been quite some time since she had last seen Blaise and a few of the other Slytherin boys.

"Well, hello there. You three certainly seem engaged in whatever it is you're talking about." While she spoke, she quirked a brow and leaned against the doorway of the compartment.

"Had a little adventure at the Vamps' club on Knockturn Alley," Blaise said, putting his feet down and scooting over to make room for her. "Come on in, and shut the door, got a few things I'd rather the riff-raff didn't overhear."

"Really?" Tracey questioned with interest, quickly remembering to shut the door. Seating herself, she leaned inward, curious to hear of the incident Blaise had just mentioned.

"Well?" she asked in anticipation.

"Yeah, I took the new American exchange student with me, thought it might be fun to mess with her a bit. She did alright, but her cat when ballistic on Sanguini," Blaise explained. He glanced at the door. "Oh, and Malfoy's gone all swotty over the summer. He asked me to buy all his class books for him so he could keep up. Must really be bored."

"Ah, right. I've heard a bit about her, though mostly negative remarks. Was Sanguini affronted any? I'd imagine he would be." Tracey smirked at the thought of it; it reminded her slightly of Millicent's Hortence and her random outbursts that would often leave something in shreds.

"Malfoy? Swotty? I've never thought it possible that his name and that word could be used in a sentence together. I hope he doesn't turn into the male equivalent of Granger." Tracey made a face of disgust as she said the words and shuddered. "Horrifying thought."

"Bite your tongue," Blaise said, wincing at the comparison of Malfoy with Granger. "Sanguini was definitely affronted. The bint actually tried apologizing to him, and he just slinked off. I've never seen him pass up a pretty girl before. You'd think they'd be made of tougher stuff, vampires."

"Don't like vampires," Goyle repeated.

"She did knock down an Artery shot...on her first visit, that was kind of impressive," Blaise admitted.

* * * * * * *

The night before had been very hard for Cho considering she stupidly hadn`t told her mom about her new job. When she finally told her, her mom yelled and screamed at her and locked Cho in her room. Knowing it wouldn’t last long, she just started packing. When her mom finally came back into her room she sat on Cho`s bed and said "How long have you known?" . Cho didn`t know exactly how to respond to this because she forgot when she found out so she replied with "A few days".

"A few days?" her mother said in disgust, "Why couldn`t you have told me this a few days ago? Because right now, i`m actually considering not letting you leave this house. Do you know how unsafe Hogwarts is now without Dumbledore ? I mean Cho, this is-.”

"BE QUIET MOTHER!" Cho yelled . "My whole entire life you have been sheilding me from what you find 'unsafe' and now that I’m older I think I know what’s unsafe and what’s not and I also think that I can make my own desicion towards whether or not I approach the 'unsafeness' !!" At this, her mother got up quietly and said "I had plans for you" and left the room. She knew exactly what her mothers plans were. But that’s not what Cho wanted. She already knew what she wanted.

The next morning when Cho woke up she finished up her packing and in no time she was out of the door. It took her 10 minutes to get to the platform. She found an empty booth and sat down waiting for some of her friends to come and sit next to her.

Promise continued awkwardly past compartments until she saw one she assumed was empty (Cho's) for she didn't hear voices and popped her head in to have a look around. Her eyes widened slightly.  She hadn't expected anyone to be inside the compartment but they went back to normal shape when she recognized Cho.

The girl looked a little lonely all by herself and Promise had met her before so she didn't feel too intrusive.  "Hello, Cho! Nice to see you again...do you mind if I ride in here with you?" She greeted and asked the other girl brightly.

At first, Cho was startled by the look on Promise’s face. But she wasn’t going to pass up a chance for company.

"Of course you can sit with me Promise!" Cho replied. "I was starting to wonder if anyone was even on this train at all." she laughed.

Promise beamed, happy to have found somewhere she was welcome and came inside. She didn't have anything with her except for her folded school uniform. She’d had Charm bring that all back to Hogwarts for her earlier before they went to sushi.  She took the seat next to the window across from Cho and looked at the door, "So I see you must have gotten that teaching job. That's awesome for you...will I have to call you Professor Chang or is that only for your students?"

Promise paused and looked at Cho with a scrutinizing eye, suddenly realizing that Cho had looked slightly distraught before they'd greeted each other and something in her eyes wasn't very cheerful, "...Are you alright? You looked a little down a few moments ago." She said, disregarding her previous question as unimportant for the time being.

Cho was surprised that she actually looked upset over something so silly.

"Yes, thanks I’m fine. I just got into a little argument with my mother last night about this job. My whole life she had a 'plan' for me and it made her upset that I didn’t want that for my future. She has been holding me down from doing the things I want to do for multiple reasons. We have always gotten along fine until now so I’m still letting it set in. And no, you don’t have to call me Professor Chang." Cho smiled brightly.

"Wow! I didn't expect to see Cho Chang on a train to Hogwarts!” Luna exclaimed, entering the compartment.  “Ohh...and talking to Promise, either. You two look akward: care if I join?"

Promise gave a smile and waved Luna Lovegood in. Cho just smiled. She had never been to sure about what to think of the odd girl.

Luna glided to the spot right between Cho and Promise, wrinkling her skirt even more, while pulling out "The Quibbler" as if to read it.

"So how were your summers?" she asked while opening to an article in the middle. Before either could answer, unmistakably Slytherin laughter erupted from the corridor.

"My summer was fine." Cho lied. "A little boring, but I’ll survive." She was hoping that Luna wouldn’t ask any more questions, but this was Luna Lovegood she was hoping of.

Promise smiled gently, "Yeah moms can be like that sometimes. I'm sure she'll let go of her old plans when she sees you happy though. I'm sure she's just trying to be a good mom. That reason's usually the culprit with mine so I can't get mad at her...though she bugs me about my love life...or lack there of...all the time so it CAN get a bit old." She grinned.

She was startled as the new girl came in caroling her name. She cocked her head and looked confused. Who was this girl? And how in the hell did she know her?

Charm squirmed on Promise's shoulder and moved to the other side away from Luna for the girl had startled her.

Promise ignored the Slytherin mirth and stared at her for a moment before answering the new-girl-who-was-very-familiar-with-her's question.

"..I..m..uuuh..." She said dumbly then shook her head, "I mean...my summer was lovely...warm...sun...swimming..." She looked over at Cho in a 'who IS this?' sort of way, very confused.

Despite staring at her magazine, Luna had not missed the awkward confusion around her. Without looking up, she said, "Oh, I've heard all about you. My father is a journalist. We get all the facts, even minor ones. Has the trolley already passed? I have a massive craving for some Every Flavor Beans - I got a turkey flavored one once, and I've been searching for it again ever since. I love turkey."

The candy trolley conveniently arrived. Luna leaped towards the door, grabbing three packs of the Jelly Beans. Before paying, she turned and said, "Can I get you two anything?"

"No, I’m fine thanks."

As Luna was paying , Cho turned to Promise and whispered, "Luna Lovegood. Daily Prophet?" as she held out the newspaper sitting next to her.

Promise smiled and suppressed a laugh. Luna was charming in her own strange way. She took the Prophet from Cho. "Want a section?"

"Dang - brownie! I thought I might have actually found a turkey...oh well. So, Cho, have you managed to get a new boyfriend, yet? You're too pretty to not have one, you know." Luna turned disinterestedly and sneezed all over Promise.

"I`ve had a few here and there, but nothing too serious and not at the moment," Cho said.

Promise winced and wiped her face off with her sleeve. Charm held back the urge to hiss and scratch.  Promise looked at Cho by way of apology before saying, "I'm going to go for a bit of a walk, perhaps see what the others are up to. You're welcome to join me if you get bored...and I'm sure I'll be back within a few minutes, the train is only so big."

She smiled in a lovely, calm manner then slid out the door before Luna could do something worse than the sneeze, and set Charm off badly enough that she did get scratched.

Cho quickly got up right after Promise and followed her out the door before Luna could say anything.

"Oh man! Was that something or what?" Cho laughed to Promise.

Promise smiled a little hesitantly. "Well she's certainly an INTERESTING girl, I'll give her that. I just had to get out of there before Charm tore off her face. She's not very tolerant..."

Charm meeped grumpily from Promise's shoulder and shrugged in a catlike way then flicked her wings as if trying to flick the sneeze-juice off.

* * * * * * *

Pansy wandered through the Hogwarts Express, looking into various compartments containing first years and getting pleasure out of scaring them, but she was too preoccupied to really enjoy it. After the fourth girl had burst into tears, Pansy sighed. Draco still wasn't back, and she really didn't want to spend time with other Slytherin girls. She walked past a compartment with its door closed, and paused, thinking she heard Blaise's voice. She knocked once, then stood back and waited.

Blaise stood up and checked the door. "There you are," he said when he saw Pansy. "Come on in. How was the prefects car?"

Pansy sneered as she walked in. "How was it? Boring. Lectured by Head Boy and Girl about our duties. The usual." She smiled at Tracey when she noticed the other girl sitting as well, then nodded briefly at Crabbe and Goyle. "So, what's so secretive you don't want the tothers to hear it?"

"Who is Head Boy and Girl?" Blaise asked. He shut the door behind Pansy. "Malfoy asked me to buy school books for him. Have you heard from him since Diagon Alley?"

"Longbottom and Granger," Pansy spat out, shuddering slightly. "I don't understand why such total swots got chosen. Of course, if Draco had been here..." she shook her head. "Well, that's not something we can change. He asked you to buy books? That's odd. Not at all like him. And no, I haven't heard from him. Have you heard anything?" She sat on one of the seats, as far away as she could from Crabbe and Goyle.

Blaise eased into the corner beside the window. "Just through that journal thing. I told him I'd come join him if he liked, but he said he wanted me to stay here. Be his eyes and ears...though frankly, if they've made that Mudblood and the nitwit Head Boy and Girl, I think it may be time to jump the train."

Pansy snickered. "I'd jump the train with you. I'm not looking forward to spending time having to listen to the two of them." She glanced out the window. "Sadly, leaving is not an option at this point."

"I suppose not," Blaise murmured. "Besides, we're moving rather quickly." He put his hands behind his head. "I'm entering the Swedish broom race this year."

"Really?" Pansy forgot about Draco for the moment. "How're you going to manage that? Doesn't it take place during school?"

"I sent a request to McGonagall this summer," Blaise said. "But I'm going even if she turns me down. I don't think getting out is the issue, but I'm not sure how to get back in again. Mother said she'd cut me off if I left school early, but I don't care. I'm going to be in that race."

"Your mother probably would," Pansy agreed. "Mine would probably just skip cutting me off and go straight to trying to kill me." She glanced out the window, where the ever-present rain was beginning again. "Getting out wouldn't be that much of a problem, no," she said, thinking. "There's always the excuse of going to Hogsmeade--if they let anyone leave the castle this year, after You-Know-Who's followers getting in last year. The stupid wards around the castle are what would make it hard to get back in."

"I wish he had told us what was going on," Blaise said. "I bet it was really exciting, and I slept through it."

"He didn't tell us either," Crabbe added. "And we were helping him."

"Do you think they were planning to kill Dumbledore all along?" Goyle asked. "Or were they trying to get in for something else?"

Pansy sneered at Crabbe. "How unfortunate that he didn't tell you," she said sweetly. She turned to look at Goyle, who actually seemed to be the more intelligent of the two, which was surprising. "I think they were aiming to kill Dumbledore and, at some point, be able to get to Potter. Either to weaken him, kill him, or capture him for the Dark Lord."

Blaise brightened with Pansy's words. "Maybe that's why Draco wants us to stay here. Maybe they only finished half the mission."

Pansy looked at Blaise, tilting her head. "Draco wants us to stay here to have us help him capture, weaken, or kill Potter?" She thought for a moment. "Well, as appealing as it sounds, he's not usually one to share the glory."

"Maybe he matured over the summer," Blaise said. He liked this line of thought, and he was going to hold onto it. "Or maybe he's under orders. Doesn't have an option."

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