Chapter 4-

"I- hate- this- trunk!" Eve groaned. She gave one last push before hopelessly stepping back and letting the trunk fall at her feet.

"Need some help?" Eve looked up at the bushy brown head standing next to her.

"That'd be great," Eve sighed. Together, the two girls heaved the trunk up and into the train.

"Are you a first year as well?" the girl asked.

"What gave it away? The scared, doe-eyed look?"

"Either that or the bewildered expression," the other girl chuckled. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Eve." The other girl waited, clearly expecting her last name. "Potter."

"Oh my god!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Thanks for that," Eve groaned, looking around. "I'm totally trying to get the whole station over here. This is definitely something I feel like dealing with all this on my first day."

"I'm sorry, it's just… surprising, that's all," Hermione said sheepishly. "I've never met a celebrity before."

"I wouldn't quite say celebrity," Eve sighed. "Listen, I'm going to go find a compartment. You're welcome to come if you want, but no more of this celebrity rubbish."

Eve grabbed Hedwig and heaved herself onto the train. It was already packed with students. They managed to find an empty compartment towards the end of the train and loaded their things in.

"I've got to say goodbye to my parents," Hermione said after they stowed all their things away. "Are you going to be ok waiting here?"

"Yeah, of course," Eve said. "I brought a couple of books to read anyway." Hermione smiled at her before leaving the compartment.

Eve sat down heavily on the seat, pulling out a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages (a suggestion from Professor McGonagall). She opened it but couldn't focus on the words. She'd made a friend. Despite all her worries, she made a friend.

"Sorry, but, do you mind if I sit here?" Eve looked up, her thoughts going from her head. A redhead was standing at the door, his face covered in freckles and a dirt smudge on his nose.

"Oh, erm, of course." Eve gestured to the seat across from her, already with Hermione's stuff on it. "I hope you don't mind, but there's another girl sitting here too."

"It's no problem." The boy put his stuff away and sat down facing Eve. "I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley."

"Eve."

"Bloody hell," Ron said, his eyes going wide. "So it is true! Fred said he overheard Lee saying that Angelina heard someone say that Eve Potter was on the train! And I'm sitting in a compartment with her!"

"Quite the chain of events there," Eve rolled her eyes. She was going to kill Hermione for being so loud. "Is that how you get all the girls?" Eve said to Ron, who turned scarlet.

"I'm… merlin, I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me. You're probably so sick of getting that from people." Ron looked down at his shoes. "I'm a jerk."

"Only a little," Eve said, but her tone had flipped completely. "It's ok, really. I'm just not that used to people freaking out over me."

"Yeah! I heard they sent you to grow up with Muggles! What was that like?"

"Godawful," Eve said, rolling her eyes at Ron's enthusiasm. "This is loads better."

A train whistle blew, causing Ron to launch to his feet. "I'll be right back! My mums gonna kill me if I don't say goodbye!"
Eve waved him off and turned back to her book, but was once again interrupted when her name floated through the window.

"Eve Potter, mum! Did you hear me? Lee said she's somewhere on the train!" Eve looked out the window to a group of redheads standing near her window. Ron ran over towards them, panting lightly.

"I wonder what she's like," an identical redhead said. "I mean, it's Eve Potter!"

"Do you think she remembers how she got her scar?" the other twin said.

"Both of you, shut it," Ron growled. The twins looked over at him. "I mean- erm- she probably doesn't want you digging around her on her first day of term."

Eve felt a surge of gratitude towards the redhead. A small smile formed on her lips.

"What do you know, Ron," one of the twins said suspiciously.

"Ron's right, you two, leave the poor girl alone." What had to be their mum swatted at one of the twin's heads, causing them to duck.

"Mum," the twin wined.

"That's enough out of you. Now, where's Percy?"

"Right here, mother, but I've got to go." Another redhead came bustling into view. It's like they bought them in bulk. Eve took one look at him and thought he reminded her of every stuck up prat she'd ever been to school with. "The prefects have a compartment all to themselves up at the front of the train."

"Oh, are you a prefect Percy?" one of the twins crooned. "What a surprise!"

"You should've said something, we had no idea," the other twin said.

"Stop it, you two!" their mother said, swatting at them both again. "Alright, Percy, go ahead." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and sent him away. "Now, you two," she turned her gaze towards the twins. "You best stay out of trouble. If I get one more owl saying you… that you… blew up a toilet or something-"

"Blown up a toilet!" one of the twins cried out.

"We've never blown up a toilet!"

"Great idea though, mum, thanks!" Eve chuckled lightly.

"That's enough!" their mum cried. "And look out for Ron, please, make sure he's ok."

"Mum!" Ron whined as the twins put their arms over his shoulder. It was a funny sight, as the twins were a few inches shorter than Ron's gangly form.

"Don't worry about ickle Ronniekins," one of the twins said.

"We'll make sure he stays out of trouble!"

The horn on the train sounded again, causing the little group to jump. "Alright, off with you all! Get on the train before you miss it!"

The kids hurried off, leaving Eve to turn back to her book. The compartment door slid open, and Hermione entered, her hair, if possible, bushier than before.

"I can't believe it!" she said, her eyes alight. "We're going!"

"Believe it," Eve said, putting her book back into her bag, still unread.

The door slid open again and Ron came in. Hermione looked at him, puzzled.

"Who's this?" she asked, moving over to let him sit down.

"Oh, Hermione, Ron Weasley. Ron, Hermione Granger," Eve said, gesturing between the two. "Alright, introductions over."

"Ron?" the door slid open yet again and the twins from before came in.

"Ah, look at you making friends!" the other one said. Ron's ears turned scarlet, causing Eve to chuckle.

"Fred Weasley," one of the twins said, bowing jokingly. "And this dashing fellow is my twin, George."

"A pleasure," George said, mimicking his twin's bow.

"Eve Potter," Eve said, laughing at the two. Despite her name, the twins didn't say anything, obviously heading his brother's warning.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said, obviously not as amused by the twin's antics.

"Well, you kids have fun," George said with a wink. "Lee's down the train with a tarantula, so we'll be off."

"Don't have too much fun," Fred said, raising an eyebrow and following his twin out. Ron's ears were as red as ever, now matching his equally scarlet face.

"You brothers seem nice, Ron," Eve said, laughing a bit.

"That's one word for it," Ron said, groaning.

"I've always wanted siblings," Hermione added, tucking her legs underneath her. "I'm an only child, you see. Mum and dad have always been super busy, so it gets a bit lonely."

"You can have one of mine," Ron grumbled. "I've got five brothers and a sister. And all of them have the same annoying streak."

"Five brothers?" Eve said. "Must be a riot in your house? How in the world does your mum feed you all?"

"Well, Bill and Charlie are both graduated and don't live at home. Bill's in Egypt working for Gringotts as a curse breaker, and Charlie is in Romania training Dragons."

"Did you hear about Gringotts?" Hermione said. "They had a break in in one of their top security vaults!"

"Did they really?" Ron asked, leaning in curiously.

"Yeah, but the thing is, nothing was stolen because the vault was empty!"

"When was it?" Eve asked.

"Uhhhh, June 23rd, I think."

"Weird," Eve said, leaning back in her seat. "That's the same day I went to Gringotts."

"Really?" Hermione said. "I wonder if you saw anything?"

"I didn't. I was in Ragnok's office the whole time."

The train rattled on, the bustling cities eventually changing into countryside the farther they went. Ron and Eve began talking about Quidditch, something that Ron seemed to be well versed in. Hermione, who was less interested in the sport than the two of them, had a book open on her knees and kept asking them questions.

"What house do you two want to be in?", "Did you know that Merlin himself was in Slytherin?", "How cool is it that we're going to a school with so much history!".

Around noon, a trolley came by filled with sweets. Eve stood up immediately, her stomach already rumbling after the meager breakfast of toast she had had before her run that morning, Hermione close to follow. But Ron stayed seated, mumbling something about having sandwiches made already.

Hermione and Eve approached the cart, coins jingling in their pockets. The cart had a variety of candies, but nothing that Eve recognized. Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills.

"Do you know what any of this is?" Hermione muttered to Eve. Hermione was a muggleborn, meaning, as Eve had recently found out, that both of her parents were muggles. She grew up in the same world as Eve, without any magic.

"Not a clue," Eve muttered back. "Hey, Ron, could you come here and help Eve and I pick some stuff out?"

Everything they picked up got a nod of approval from Ron, so the trio just bought three of everything to try. Hermione and Eve pooled their money, shutting down a protesting Ron who tried to add in a few sickles of his own.

"We were the ones that wanted to buy it all," Eve said simply.

The trio loaded all the goods into the compartment and began to feast on it, Ron explaining what the candies were as they ate.

"One time," Ron said, biting into a sugar quill "Fred and George tried to give me one of these, but it was actually a plain quill enchanted to look like one. Tasted horrible."

"That wasn't very nice of them!" Hermione said, aghast.

"That, 'Mione, is brotherly love," Ron said lazily. "The twins love their pranks. They're actually known for it at school, but they still somehow manage to get decent grades. Not as good as Percy, Bill, and Charlie though. Mum expects a lot more from them, though. Bill was headboy, Charlie was captain of the quidditch team, and now Percy's prefect, but it doesn't look as if they're getting those any time soon."

Eve pulled a box of every flavored beans towards her, but Ron's rat shot out of it, causing her to yelp. "Oh god that rat!"

"Don't be mean to scabbers!" Ron said, affronted. He grabbed the rat and held it close. "He's a family heirloom!"

"Just because Percy had him first doesn't make him a family heirloom," Eve grumbled, glaring at it.

"Just you wait, he's going to do great things," Ron said, patting the rat gently on it's head. Eve and Hermione exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes at Ron's antics.

There was a light knock at the compartment door, and it slid open. "Hey, Cho," Eve said, smiling at the other girl. "Good to see you."

"Just wanted to check in," Cho said, a smile on her face. She waved at Ron and Hermione. "Hi, I'm Cho."

"Oh! Right, this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They're first years as well."

"It's nice to meet you guys," Cho said. "You're Fred and George's brother, right?"

Ron nodded, still staring at Cho. "Erm… um… yeah, I- I am."

"They're a year above me," Cho said. "Great beaters, the lot of them."

"Your brothers play quidditch?" Eve asked Ron, who nodded.

"For the Gryffindor team," Ron explained. "Do- do you play, Cho?"

"I'd like to," Cho said. "I'm going out for the Ravenclaw team now that I'm old enough."

"Want some candy, Cho?" Eve asked, gesturing to the lot around them. "We've got more than enough."

"I'm alright. I've got some back at my compartment. I just wanted to check in, make sure you're doing alright."

"Doing great," Eve said with a smile.

"Well, I should be going then. I've got to meet a few more friends before heading back. Stay out of trouble, you lot," Cho said, laughing lightly. The compartment door slid shut, leaving the trio alone again.

"You alright, Ron," Hermione said.

"I think your jaw is still hanging open," Eve smirked, reaching over as if to shut it. Ron swatted her away, glaring.

"Shut it you two," he grumbled.

The now familiar sound of the compartment door sliding open broke the trio from their spat. Three boys were standing there, glaring at them.

"Is it true?" the front boy said. He had stark white hair and identical pale skin. "They're saying up and down the train that Eve Potter is in this compartment." His eyes flicked past Ron and Hermione, before landing on Eve. "It's you then, is it? Bushy haired and dirt nose over here don't seem like they're the celebrity type." Ron and Hermione glared at him, but Eve kept her face neutral. She'd dealt with bullies like this before.

"Are you always this much of a bastard, or is it specially reserved for when you meet new people?" Eve said innocently.

The boy's eyes flared, but he kept his face calm. "This is Crabbe, this is Goyle. And my name's Draco Malfoy." Ron snorted into his chocolate frog, causing Malfoy to turn his glare on the redhead. "Think my name is funny, do you? No need to ask yours. My father says that all Weasleys have red hair, worn down clothes, too many children, and too little money."

Ron surged to his feet, but Eve was faster. A crack sounded through the compartment as she slapped Malfoy across his face.

"Eve!" Hermione yelled, pulling back the shorter girl.

"You'll regret that Potter!" Malfoy yelled. "Keep hanging out with riff-raff like this, and you'll end up just like your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either, and look where it got them."

Eve surged forward again, but Hermione pulled her back. "Don't even think about it," Hermione muttered. But it seemed as if Scabbers had other things on his mind. Goyle had reached towards the pile of candy, just as Scabbers jumped up and bit him in the finger. The large boy screamed and swung the rat around, trying to shake it off. Scabbers flew across the room and smacked into the window, falling to the floor.

"Get the hell out," Eve growled. With one last venomous look, Malfoy and his entourage left. Hermione let go of Eve who collapsed onto the compartment bench.

"What were you thinking!" Hermione scolded. "Getting into fights before we even get to school! You're asking for trouble."

"Well, I thought you were brilliant, Scabbers" Ron said, stroking Scabbers, who seemed to merely be sleeping on Ron's lap. Eve gave him an affectionate hit over the head.