❝you broke me, left me, then tried to care for me. i refused to let you touch me, but if what they say is truly true, i'll be waiting for you at the end.❞

my mind raced with terrifying thoughts as i trotted through king's cross station on september 1st, looking for the brick wall that at the time, i had thought would lead me to the train to hell. i stared at my golden ticket, and the polar express suddenly made its way into my mind, and i smirked.

i had made sure that my parents didn't come, because the last thing i needed at the moment was a lecture, seeing as it happened so often. you see, i used to go to beauxbatons academy of magic, but i got expelled. i mean, you drop one dungbomb in etiquette class and they basically kick you out of france! my parents contacted every wizard school they could, asking them if they had room for a fifth year girl, purposely leaving out the fact that i could give zonko a run for his money. hogwarts was the first to respond, so they figured that hogwarts was their best shot. an old hag came over to our humble manor over the summer, placed a raggedy hat on my well-combed hair, and told me to sit at the griffin's door table or whatever.

i wandered aimlessly around the station until i saw an elderly witch and wizard hugging a young boy--well, he looked young in comparison to them. i mustered the courage to walk up to them and ask them for directions.

"aren't you a little too old to be a first year?" the boy asked with a smirk.

"great! the first person I meet is a smart aleck," i said, rolling my eyes.

he chuckled, ruffled his hair, and held his hand out for me to shake. "i don't know what an aleck is, but i'll get remus to figure it out. i'm james potter, 5th year, gryffindor. who might you be?"

i smirked and said, "ivory hue, 5th year, gryffindor, transfer student. kicked out of beauxbatons for setting off a dungbomb in etiquette class. that wasn't even a prank. i could have done way worse. that was the bare minimum."

"that's funny, first year. you appear to look like you'd be a teacher's pet--" he began, but was interrupted by a boy with long, black hair, grey eyes, and a mischievous smirk.

"not that you would know."

"hey, mate. you wouldn't know much more about it than i would."

"i would hope not. gee, even the thought of it makes me cringe. oi, h've you seen remus?" the boy stated. "oh, and i'm sirius black. pleasure to meet you."

"oh, don't even try that, mate. she's quite obviously not interested," james sighed.

"isn't that what you said about all the others? they seemed to be quite interested. whatcha think?" he asked, turning to me.

"excuse me?" I said.

"sirius here wants to know if you'd like to hook up with him," james said, rolling his eyes at his friend.

"no, you blithering idiot! look, can you please just tell me where the wall for the platform is?" i fumed.

"oi, james! why didn't you tell me she was a frankie first year?!" sirius whined.

"because she's not, snuffles," he said, surpressing a laugh.

sirius shot him a death glare and muttered, "we've discussed this."

"not now, snuffles. so, ivy--"

"ivory."

"right. c'mon, i'll show you."

"i know how, i just don't know where," i said, rolling my eyes again.

"jeez, i don't know what your deal is, freshy, but you're being a bitch. chill out," sirius grumbled.

"fine show me, just get me there," i said snarkily. james raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "please."

he smiled at sirius.

"get on," sirius ordered, pointing to his cart.

"are you insane? i'm not doing that!"

"do you want to get on the train today, or not?" he asked with a satisfied smirk.

"yes," i mumbled, climbing into the trolley.

"dad, do you mind getting ivy--"

"ivory."

"ivory dearest's trolley?" james asked the elderly man.

"of course," he responded with a smile. and with that, james potter led the group through the brick wall, and onto the platform. everyone bid their farewells while i stood there, staring into oblivion.

"hey sirius?" i asked suddenly.

"yeah?" he responded, turning around with that goofy grin of his.

"can i ask you something?"

"sure. ask away."

"why are all of those girls glaring at me?" i asked him.

"jealousy. you're talking to me, and i'm willingly talking back. that's something that they all want," he explained.

"oh. well that's a good kick off for my reputation."

"you're the new girl, and you're already talking to the most popular boys in the school, not to brag. if you walk over there, and pretend to fall and, say, twist your ankle, and i come and pick you up, that would earn you some respect," he explained. "just this once."

"alright." it sounded like a challenge to me, so i walked over, straight through their fangirls, and i was actually tripped by one of the girls, who snickered, and then they all trampled over me. one of the girls purposely stepped on my knee, which gave off a loud crack, sending a searing pain through my upper leg and up my spine. i wanted to scream, but instead I started crying from the excruciating pain.

sirius ran through the crowd and knelt by my side, picking me up in his arms, and whispered, "great job. you should see the looks on their faces--"

"sirius," i trembled. "it wasn't an act."

"oh right, still staying in charact--"

"sirius!" i cried.

"oh shit, you aren't kidding. oh, dear. james, get the luggage and follow me. she's hurt," sirius said, his face now pale. "gee, i'm sorry. i didn't mean--"

"sirius, isn't there a nurse on this train?" i sobbed, clutching my knee as he carried me onto the train.

"no, but there's a lily evans, i hope," he said, walking into a compartment where a blonde boy sat reading a book. "ivory, i'm sorry. i didn't--"

"sirius, chill out. i'm not going to tell on anyone. i'm not a snitch."

"but you sure are golden," he smirked, trying to lighten the mood.

"i would laugh if i didn't feel like my leg's falling apart," i groaned. he chuckled, but stopped shortly. he opened a compartment door where a boy sat reading a book.

"remus, fetch evans. i think her knee cap popped out." the boy, remus, turned a sickly green color when he looked at my knee, then ran out the door, following sirius's only order. james walked in, followed by a plump blonde boy, carrying all the luggage. you couldn't see their faces because of all the luggage.

"you owe me, hue," james grunted as he put down the trunks and caged animals.

"big time," i agreed. remus rushes into the compartment, followed by a beautiful redhead girl who looked awfully worried.

"james I swear to merlin, if this is one of your pranks just so you can ask me out—"

"it was sirius!" he exclaimed, pointing to sirius.

"sorry, evans—"

"it was all me, i swear! they had nothing to do with it! i just happened to walk through the barrier with them, and i went to walk away, these girls trampled me, and one of them stepped on my leg, and my knee popped. i started crying because it hurt, and these two boys hurried me onto the train and sent someone to go get you. can you fix it?" i sobbed dramatically.

"wow, sirius. That's probably the most convincing story yet," she said, rolling her eyes.

"look at her knee!" he shouted, and she did.

"oh, merlin. remus get me my school bag."

"why is it always me?" the boy huffed.

"because apparently you are the only one with common sense between you boys!"

------------------

i'm not really sure what happened after that. last i remember is looking at my knee, almost throwing up, and then i guess i passed out.

"do you think lily killed her?" a recently familiar voice asked.

"nah. she's probably just tired of crying," another voice answered.

"hey!" i exclaimed, shooting upright. the two boys shrieked, and i laughed. "i'll keep my mouth shut if you promise that you will keep quiet about me crying on the first day. deal?"

"fine," they grumbled.

"changing subjects, why is y'all's motto 'never tickle a sleeping dragon'?" i laughed.

"it speaks the truth and gets the job done, i guess. rumor has it that salazar slytherin dared godric gryffindor to tickle a sleeping dragon to test his bravery, and... well, let's just say that this was their way of saying that they learned their lesson," james explained rather enthusiastically.

"fact," Sirius slurred.

"merlin, are you drunk?" i asked with wide eyes.

"no, he isn't. if you want to hang with us you'd best get used to it," james said, folding his arms behind his head, and, across from me, sirius began drinking his... well, i don't really know what it was.

"and what makes you think that i'd want to be around you amateurs?" i asked, and sirius spat his drink all over me. i sat there, glaring at him with my mouth agape and with water dripping down my chin.

"amateurs? you take that back!" sirius ordered.

"not until you prove me wrong, and i am very rarely wrong."

"okay, you tell us about yourself, then," remus said, putting down his book.

"and why would I do that? we will either be rivals or allies. why would i risk saying anything that you could use against me?"

"maybe because deep down, you already know that we'll be allies," remus said.