Anna looked around her, the train's whistle overwhelming her. Her hands shook with anticipation as she entered, looking around. She couldn't help it; part of her was looking for Harry. She knew what she had promised her father, knew that she shouldn't see him. But it was her twin. She felt a connection to him that ran so deep she couldn't even explain it. Fear was in her stomach as she finally gave up her hunt, entering a compartment and placing her bag on the shelf. She reached in her robes and touched the locket her father had given her on her 11th birthday. Her mother stayed close to her heart no matter what.

The door slid open and she started. Turning, she saw Neville, his face in a huge beam. Squealing, her arms quickly wrapped around him and he spun her a little. "I cannot believe you are here this year. No one is going to know what hit them when Anna hits the halls. Is your dad nervous?" Anna smiled at Neville's mention of her father. He didn't talk about him much. In fact, he was terrified of her dad. He never mentioned it, but she knew it. The selfish part of her wanted to say that it was because he had feelings for her and her father made her nervous. The factual part knew that Snape was really hard on Neville. Because they had grown up together, he wanted a lot for Neville. He would never admit to it, but she knew it deep down.

"I can't believe it either! I have never been more excited for a moment in my life. You, Draco, and me. I know you two don't always love each other, but I also know we can all hang out. I am positive." It was more a plea than an actual fact.

"Did someone say my name," Draco entered, giving her a quick hug, slightly less intimate than Neville's. She equated it to them both being there. She had an inkling that they both wanted her to themselves for the train ride, but she had plans to keep them all together. She slid into a seat.

"Tell me everything there is to know about Hogwarts."

"Stay away from Peeves."

"And the girl's second floor lavatory."

"We have exams canceled every other year."

"The Weasleys are all prats."

"No they aren't. Draco curses me twelve times a week."

"That stopped after I was changed into a weasel. Not by Neville, of course."

"…By a girl."

"Shut up!"

Anna giggled. "You two are the best friends I could ever ask for."

"Why is every compartment full," Harry grumbled. He knew he was just being moody because both Ron and Hermione were off doing prefect things. He felt bad for making Ginny be around him. He was just so sick of everyone watching his every move. Plus, everyone thought he was nuts. Ginny smiled through it, searching the crowd. She had some sort of boyfriend right now; he had heard people mention it. He felt even worse for keeping her from that.

"Let's just go find Neville. He can't be sitting with anyone. Here he is," Ginny smiled as she opened the door. Then her face went lax as shock registered. Harry looked confused, turning to go in. There, on the bench, smiling and laughing was a pair he never expected. Neville and Draco. On the same bench, both legs propped up against the other, looking over at the pretty girl from Diagon Alley. Harry felt shock on his face as Neville noticed his friends in the corner.

"…Harry…Ginny…erm…." The girl looked over, surprise and a bit of excitement in her eyes.

"Do you two need a compartment? Join us. Boys, put your feet down, they need room!" Both boys did it quickly, and Ginny snorted at the sudden change of events. Draco taking orders, laughing with Neville. This was going to be a strange year. "Hi, Harry. I am so sorry; I must not have introduced myself the other day. I'm Anna Evans. And you are?" Her smile was familiar to Harry. He couldn't place her face. Although he hadn't noticed it before, she was so familiar.

"Ginny Weasley. Of course, she's in love with you," Ginny mumbled to him. It seemed a bit on the edgy side, but Harry shook it off. He wasn't so sure.

"Sit down guys," Neville added quickly.

"It suddenly seems crowded in here," Malfoy added at the exact same time.

"Draco, please. There is plenty of room. Don't you have to go see some sort of minion anyways? I will come find you later. Blaise asked me to give him that girl's name from Beauxbatons that I introduced him to over the summer. He always loses addresses, ever since we were children." Anna shook her head, her fringe playing with her face.

"Fine, as long as I will see you later." He walked out, looking at Neville and nodding imperceptivity. Were they actually friends in another life?

"So, Anna, you are from Beauxbaton. What's that like?" Ginny asked, a smile on her face.

"Girly. Lots of talk of men and such. I can't say it was for me, but my dad took some prodding to allow me to be here. You know how these things get. Father always seems to know best."

Harry raised a brow, "I've heard." He couldn't help but be a bit rude about that.

"Well, I wanted to come last year, but the Triwiz…" Her voice faded as she looked at Harry. He felt his cheek's burn at the thought of that horrendous year and the fact that everyone on this train had stared at him with wondering eyes. Anna's, however, just looked concerned and he saw a tinge of guilt.

"It's okay. He knows he's crazy," Ginny stated with a smile. He really wanted Ron and Hermione to come make some sense of this girl.

"I'm not so sure he is," Anna said absently, fiddling with something under her shirt. She padded her bangs and smiled at him nicely. The train started moving and she shifted rows so she sat next to Neville, whispering something in his ear. This was so confusing to him. He had never seen Neville so happy in his life. However, he had never seen Draco be protective or nice to anyone like her. This girl was strange. He couldn't say that he was interested in her romantically, but he wanted to know her for some reason. He felt connected to her somehow, like he really needed to talk to her. She was so familiar…

"Do you think I offended him," Anna whispered to Neville, glancing at Ginny and Harry. She saw the way Ginny looked at him, the way her feet slowly inched to him and her arm rested just too near. She had seen that type at Beauxbaton, she had it bad. However, she also had a different boyfriend. Anna was excellent at these types of things, but she felt bad her twin brother seemed to be oblivious to this fact.

"He's just iffy about it right now. Boy's been through a lot." She could feel Harry watching her, so she looked out the window and played with her mother's locket. It brought so much comfort, and she had never felt safer and yet very uneasy under Harry's watch. She hoped he wanted to be close to her, she wanted to be friends so badly.

"So, Ginny, what's Gryffindor girl's dormitories like? Neville said he's never had to be up them before and he's been trying to convince me Gryffindor is the best."

"They are a lot like the boys, a little bit softer and comfier. We have a few more couches than boys do and are bathrooms are much better."

"You've been in our bathrooms?"

"No." Anna smiled a bit. She was going to like this girl. She glanced at Harry now. She had a bunch of newspaper clippings about him. If anyone didn't know any better, they would have thought her a huge fan girl. He seemed a bit sadder now; a bit more distrustful than his previous smiles had shown. She felt sorry he had to see someone die last year. The door open and she shifted her eyes quickly away.

Ron and a girl with large, bushy hair entered. She remembered her from one of the articles, but couldn't remember a name. Ron saw her, though, and squeaked. The girl glanced at Ron then at Anna, her eyes narrowing almost to the point where Anna questioned if she had seen it or not.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger."

"Anna Evans."

"This silence is Ron."

"We've met. Does the silence ever go away?" Hermione laughed and sat next to Anna, leaving Ron to sit with his obvious sister.

"Unfortunately, if you are going to be this pretty and charming, yes." Hermione said confidentially.

"Then it shall not remain long. I get uglier and weirder as time goes on. Unfortunate but true."

"Hm, I will let him know. Maybe he will become coherent if he knows."

"Probably not," The girls both gave out a laugh to which Ron quickly turned red for.

"So you are new?"

"Yes, I came from Beauxbaton. Anything I need to know?"

"Well, I consider Hogwarts, A History to be a most accurate interpretation of our school. If you need to read it I have a…"

"I've read it." Hermione's eyes grew large at Anna's ad. "I liked Hogwarts and have always wanted to go. My father bought it for me to bore me out of it but I ended up reading it twice. I really like Hogwarts." Hermione was now as silent as Ron, mulling over this.

"Boys, Anna has read Hogwarts, A History twice. Pay up." Both boys looked over, startled.

"You can't be serious," Ron let out in disbelief.

"I have…pay up?"

Harry shook his head. "We had a bet no one would ever read that book cover to cover. Hermione took it." He placed two galleons in her hand, "For Ron and I, I owe him."

"You can't be serious."

"At least he's talking now," Hermione said through a grin.

"I told you I get weirder as time goes on…"

Harry entered Hogwarts, feeling at home again. However, the eyes of everyone made him feel ill at ease. He shoved Ron with his shoulder, motioning to Hermione and her new best friend, Anna. He knew that it was hard for one girl to be with two boys, but Hermione had jumped on her so quickly as a friend. He was a bit worried if she could be trusted, especially since she had implanted herself in their lives and he felt such an attachment to her.

"I don't know, but I like her," Ron shrugged, walking to their table. Anna broke off from Hermione, walking towards the front to be sorted. Hermione sat down, a huge smile on her face.

"What with Neville and us, I don't see why she shouldn't be Gryffindor."

"Hermione, you missed key information. She's best friends with Draco."

"Oh, she told me. I told her all about the time he grew my teeth and I changed him to a weasel. Honestly, you two judge too quickly. They've been friends forever; you both know how people can be with old friends. Ron, that friend we met who went to Durmstang, what was his name? Kirmkoff or something or other of that rubbish. Harry and I hate him so much but we allow it because you two have been friends forever."

"You guys hate Kostya?"

"Oh look, the professors are coming in," Harry snapped, watching them all. Snape was first, and his eyes glanced over at the line of first years. Then something happened to change the course of life in existence, as they knew it. Snape smiled. Not a sneer, either, a huge, genuine, over-the-top smile. Then he waved. Harry felt his jaw drop as Snape waved to someone. All three jerked their heads and to their shock, Anna waved back with a huge smile. Then she winked at him. He winked back. Harry felt his neck gong back and forth. Ron and Harry both jerked to look at Hermione.

"What were you saying about missing key information, Hermione?"

"Oh shut up, Ron."