AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! So, this story was originally written about 4 years ago by my friend Justine Rosen and I, but was posted on Quizilla since it was originally in second person POV (yuck!) but I was recently inspired to go through the ENTIRE thing and change it to 1st person, so now it will be posted here too! I'm going to try to do it quickly since it is all written, but even so I'm pretty busy. Anyways, I hope you like it, sorry if some of the writing sucks, we were puny little high school freshmen when we wrote it so don't judge too harshly! But messages/comments are always great! Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: We do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, they all belong to JK Rowling. We do, however, claim ownership of both Kara O'Connell and Natalie Martin. And Landon Bridges and Kerry Slots lol. But mostly just Kara and Nat.

"I'll see you when we get there", my brother Barry called over his shoulder as he went to join his friends. I waved and turned towards the Hogwarts Express. The large scarlet train was familiar to me by now, as I was entering my 6th year as a Gryffindor there. Barry, a Ravenclaw, was 17, and in his final year at the most prestigious school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. I boarded the train and headed to the back to find an empty compartment. As I settled in, I heard someone shout

"Hey, O'Connell, how was your summer?" I turned around and find myself facing my good friends, James Potter and Remus Lupin.

"Hey, James, Remie," I smiled as Remus winced at his nickname, which I had given him in our first year at Hogwarts. Before I get any further into our conversation, my best friend, Lily Evans, ran into the compartment and hugged me.

"Kara, how was your vacation? I missed you so much! How was Connecticut?" Meanwhile, James was ruffling his hair, trying to make it look like he'd just stepped off his broom. Remus and I held back snickers. James was forever trying to impress Lily. So far it wasn't working. She still despised him. Lily let go of me and James asked,

"How's it goin', Evans?"

"Well, Potter, it was 'goin' fine until you decided to stick your fat head into my business." I rolled my eyes at Remus and he moved over to talk to me.
"So, Kara," he asked above Lily and James' shouts, "How was your summer?"
"Great!" I responded enthusiastically, "We just got back from home last week." I was from Connecticut, but moved to England with my mom and brothers when I was 10. My dad still lived in the states. My parents were happily married, but careers forced them to live on different continents. At first I was upset about moving to England, but it didn't bother me now. I had friends, and Hogwarts was great.
A sudden clicking of fifty high heeled shoes and the squealing of a posse of Barbie dolls, also known as the fan club, turned the attentions of the four of us to the only person accompanied by those sounds almost 24 hours a day- James' best friend and accomplice, Sirius Black.

"Excuse me ladies," Sirius said apologetically as he shut the door to the compartment in their faces. "Hey, Prongs. Still working that good old fashioned Potter charm on Evans, I see. Any more successful this year?" Lily and James' glares answered his question. "Guess not," he chuckled. I sighed. Sirius Black was not my favorite person in the world, to say the least. From the way he treated me, I assumed the feeling was mutual.
"O'Connell," he said coolly.

"Black," I spat back at him. He turned to Remus, and I looked him over. As much as I disliked him most of the time, he wasn't bad looking. With his shaggy black hair and steel gray eyes, not to mention his broad, muscular chest, he wasn't exactly unfortunate looking. Far from it, in fact. I snapped myself out of my trance at a commotion in the compartment. It didn't matter what he looked like, I told myself. He was still Sirius Black.

I looked over to see what the disturbance was, and saw James arguing with a greasy haired, hook nosed boy. Severus Snape. As I started to join the group, I heard James yell, and Snape went flying out of the compartment, knocked out cold. James and Sirius grinned, satisfied. There was someone who wasn't so thrilled, however.

"Potter! You've been on the train for 10 minutes, you arrogant, self centered, conceited, depraved..." the list of insulting adjectives went on and on, as Lily shouted herself hoarse at James. Sirius and Remus didn't bother to hide their amusement, although I did cover my smile... for a few seconds.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful; Sirius and I shared heated conversation about the House Quidditch teams this year. Sirius and I, along with James, were on the team. He was a Beater, and James and I were both Chasers. Lily yelled at James some more, and Remus read a book, surprise, surprise. A few hours later, we had arrived at Hogwarts.