Compartment 3

Rachel was sitting in there, curled up against the window, drifting off slightly. She had problems sleeping last night out of excitement, and she was drifting off now.

Amanda slowly opened the door, and poked her head in to see her friend. Happy to find a familiar face, she quietly slid the door shut and plopped down across from Rachel.

Rachel's eyes fluttered open at the sound of feet shuffling, and then when she saw it was Amanda, she turned to smile at her.

"Hello Amanda! Did you have a nice summer?

Lena pulled the door open so forcefully it bounced a few times before settling down. With her level of enthusiasm, she was glad the glass didn't break. "Hey, guys!" she squealed, her face positively beaming.

"Oh, hi Lena!" said Rachel. She was now completely awake, and there wasn't a trace of sleepiness around her face. Two of her friends had arrived on the scene! "How was YOUR summer?" she asked brightly. "Mine was alright, it could have gone better... my dad was just behaving a little psycho, but that's okay."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Lena sympathized. "We should have gotten together over the summer, or something. We should do that next year. I was supposed to go visit my grandparents in Greece this summer, but my parents started getting all worried that I was too young and canceled at the last minute. Maybe next year we can both go. I'm sure my grandparents would love to have you. The entire Greek Wizarding community there is very friendly."

"Oooh!" Rachel was beginning to grow excited, and her smile reflected that. "That would be great! I've never been to Greece before, but I don't speak Greek. Is that alright? I suppose it is. Maybe next you can come to Italy with us and-"

"Like Dad would ever allow that." said a voice, and Rachel whirled around to glare at the owner.

The owner vaguely looked like Rachel: They shared the same hair color, skin complexion, and proud nose, but there were noticeable differences. This girl's hair was longer, sleeker, and shinier. This girl was taller than Rachel despite being a year younger. This girl had prettier blue-green eyes, that gave her an almost romantically intense look. This girl lacked Rachel's freckles, had fuller lips than her, among other things.

Enter Karin Moreno, little sister of Rachel.

"Karin, I'm with a friend right now. Go make your own." Rachel said, exasperatedly.

"That's what I was about to do. I just couldn't help overhear your conversation-you're very loud, you know, but anyway, you know he wouldn't let you leave the country."

"Maybe he could!" Rachel argued bitterly. "I'm getting older, and more mature!"

"You might LOOK more mature, but how mature are you mentally?" With that final note, Karin ran off, and Rachel turned back to Lena, fuming.

"I'm really sorry about her," she apologized. "She's just... like that."

Amanda sympathetically smiled at Rachel, noting when she could cut into the conversation, , "I can only imagine living with her... But I suppose that is what little siblings are for?" She paused, as if imaging life her that girl living under the same roof every hour of every day. "My summer was surprisingly pleasant! I made few friends with these muggles on my street, who shockingly enough seemed less than freaky, and... did nothing other than that really. I'm glad to be back at Hogwarts."

Another girl appeared in the doorway, this one much less abruptly. She was short, shorter than Serenity, and very tiny. She was the same type of pretty as her older sister, but had slightly darker blonde hair then her older sister, Serenity, and with bigger green eyes. In fact, her eyes were watering- she had just gotten pushed around in the hall by some upperclassmen.
"U-um.." She stuttered, staring at all of the older girls nervously. "Uh.. Do you know where any other first years might be?" Selia asked, trying not to shake. She wasn't having that good of a first day. "I can't seem to find anybody."

Rachel looked at the first year sympathetically-she seemed like a nice one, much nicer than her sister. In fact, she seemed nice not to bear the yoke of hanging out with Karin.

"Well... I haven't really seen any. Maybe check down the hall of the train..." she said kindly, before talking to Amanda.

"That sounds nice! And I'm happy to be back at Hogwarts too.. I don't like being at home for too long of a time."

"Thank you very much." Selia said, going off in the same direction Karin had gone- the direction Rachel had directed her in. "Oh!" She squeaked, going back and sticking her head back in. "I'm Selia Rosensteel. I'm supposed to reduce.. Introduce myself. It's nice to meet you." She said, looking full ready to run away.

"I'm Rachel!" she said waving at her. "Good luck, tonight!"

"Thank you very much." Selia said, and ran off quickly.

"She seems sweet," Lena commented.

"She does! Just really shy..." she smiled at Lena cheekily. "Kinda like you."

Lena grinned, getting fond of the idea of a younger her. Maybe she could convince Selia to be her mini-me. Just then the compartment door slid open for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. When Lena saw who it was, she groaned. It was no one but Effie, her first-year sister.

"Excuse me," Effie said loudly. "Are there any extra seats in here?" She looked around the compartment nonchalanty. Her eyes widened when she spotted her sister. "Lenny?" Her eyes widened in delight. She plopped down in the seat next to her older sister. "Are these your friends?" she asked, looking around at the others in the compartment.

Lena cleared her throat. "Yes, Ef." She cast her gaze up at said friends. "Guys, this is my younger sister, Effie."

"Oh, I didn't know you had a sister!" Rachel said. "But hi, I'm Rachel. It's nice to see you." She studied the two of them. "You two really look alike. Me and Karin don't look the same at all."

"Oh, you have a sister too?" Effie asked loudly. Was Karin a first year, too? Would she be a potentially interesting friend. She was eager to find out. "What year is she?"

"She's a First Year, like you. It's strange, we all seem to have little siblings in the same year as each other, isn't it?" Rachel asked, looking over at Lena in a confused way.

Amanda broke in yet again, "I feel kind of out of place now!" She said, jokingly.

"Oh yeah, YOU'RE the little sibling!" Rachel said, laughing at her.

"Hell-ooo, everybody!" In burst Mélenie Astor, hair done in her usual pigtails, and squeezed in beside her bespectacled pal Amanda. She was dressed in a rather cute, gray frock with buttons down the front. "You all smell of joy and pumpkins!"

Amanda was about to reply as Melenie squeezed in. "Oh-ouch! Hey Mel!" She held in a laugh from her friend's comment by biting down on her lip. "That's what fall generally smells like."

"The-" Lena started, but was soon cut off by Effie.
"The joy must be me," Effie interjected. "I'm a generally joyful person.
Lena, who had just been about to say something along the same lines, glared at her sister. Not moving her eyes from Effie, she said, "Hey, Rachel. Serenity. Do you guys know where your sisters went?"

"Oh, hi Mel!" Rachel exclaimed, waving at the little pigtailed figure who was sitting down with them. "I didn't see you there at first! How are you?! You look exactly the same!"