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Platform 9 3/4 was packed to capacity with students trying to find their friends, parents running after their children with forgotten items and crying youngsters who did not want their elder siblings to leave. The four Bennett's stood nervously in the middle of it all, all looking quite lost and bewildered as they surveyed the scene of chaotic madness before them.




Coralie was gripping her trunk tightly, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She glanced at Violet, who was holding onto Coralie's cat, Shadow, for dear life, and both human and cat were looking positively frightened.




Diverting her gaze to Angus, who stood beside her with a look of pure joy on his face, Coralie realised she would never understand the twisted way his mind worked.




She then looked past Angus to see Jacob, who was looking the least nervous of them all. In fact, he was eyeing of a beautiful red-headed girl, who had noticed his gaze and was now blushing furiously. Jacob seemed to have that effect on girls.




"Well, I guess we should go," Coralie muttered softly, turning to face Violet.




"Meet some cute boys for me," Violet teased with one of her winning smiles as she stepped forward to hug her sister. Coralie sent a nervous smile back and hugged Violet awkwardly. The two of them hardly ever showed affection towards each other and were quite unsure as to how to look natural. "If anyone gives you trouble, sis, just owl me and I'll set them straight," she whispered softly, so that no one besides Coralie could hear. They both pulled back and smiled. Maybe things could change between them in the future.


"Well, Angus, mate, find out that cute red-heads name for me," Jacob said, breaking the silence as he patted Angus on the back.


"Will do, mate," Angus said with a glint in his eyes.


 

"You two are disgusting," Violet said in a bored tone, as she gave Angus a quick hug and a pat on the head. For once, Coralie had to agree with her. Even though she was used to her brothers' antics, she still thought that sometimes they could be incredibly tactless, especially when it came to girls. Coralie turned to Jacob and stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around him.


"I'll miss you, bro. Tell the guys I said 'goodbye'," she asked of him sadly.


 

Jacob nodded and kissed the top her head. Unwrapping her arms from his waist, he smiled brightly. "I'll miss you, too, sis,” he said. “Now you two better hurry up before your train leaves or Mum will have my head."


 

Coralie and Angus nodded, grabbing their things. They gave a small wave and jumped onto the Hogwarts Express, where it seemed even more crowded than the platform. “Remember! The red head!" Jacob called after Angus.


 

---

"Excuse me, do you mind?” Coralie asked as she slid open the door to the only relatively empty compartment. “Everywhere else is quite full...”


 

She glanced around the compartment, noting it's occupants. Inside were four boys; the first one was rather tall with messy dark brown hair and amazing hazel eyes that were covered by circular glasses. He was one of those very few people that actually looked good in glasses. In fact, they looked like they were made for him. He had a wide smile on his face and was talking animatedly to the boy who sat across from him.


 

This boy...well there was only really one word to describe him, and that was gorgeous. Every single part of him was breath taking. He seemed to be around the same height as the first one, but he had long jet black hair and grey eyes that glistened with excitement.


 

The third boy had his nose buried in a book, but from what Coralie could see, he had short, shaggy sandy-blonde hair, amber eyes and a large scar down the side of his face. Although he wasn't as attractive as the first two, there was something about him that made you want to know more.


 

Looking incredibly out of place with the other three intriguing ones sitting with him, sat the fourth occupant. He was short, stumpy with short, dirty blonde hair and small blue eyes under a large, sweating forehead. To put it frankly, he reminded Coralie of a disgusting garden rat.


 

The first boy nodded. "Can't say no to a beautiful girl like you," he said, flashing her an incredibly dazzling smile. Coralie hated to admit it, but she could feel her cheeks heating up. Her knees felt weak and her heart was fluttering, and she quickly took a seat next to the third boy before her legs gave out on her.


"How come I've never seen you around, sexy? You're not a Slytherin, are you?" the boy with the grey eyes asked.


 

Coralie blinked several times. She had just been called 'beautiful' and 'sexy' in less than a minute, by two different guys, no less! This was the sort of thing that happened to flirty girls, like Violet, not shy girls like her.


 

"Padfoot! She has a name," the third boy scolded, sighing as he closed his book and smiled at her. "Excuse my friends. They are psychically challenged, you see?" he informed her, a smirking playing on his lips.


"Us? Physically challenged? Pfft, what does that make you, Moony?" the first boy shot back, cocking an eyebrow.


"Uh...No.. No, I'm not, I'm new," Coralie explained, slightly puzzled. Who on earth would name their child 'Padfoot' and 'Moony'? And Coralie thought her name was unusual.


"That explains it then,” the grey eyed boy declared loudly. “Well, I'm Sirius Black, the famous ladies man of Hogwarts." He offered her his hand, which she took timidly. She noticed that his hands were extremely warm - they reminded her of her father. "Can I have my hand back now?" he asked, shooting her a smirk.


 

Coralie blushed a deep shade of scarlet before dropping his hand and hiding behind her curly hair.


"James Potter,” the first boy introduced proudly, “Griffindor Quidditch Captain and Lily Evans' future husband.” His eyes had a dreamy and determined glint as he informed her of the last statement.


"I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pettigrew," the third boy said with a smile, throwing his head in the direction of Peter. Coralie guessed he was nicest of the four boys; he just had this aura about him.


 

Peter, the rat-like boy, gave a little nod before he turned back to James and Sirius, talking quickly and breathlessly.


 

Faced with an awkward silence, Coralie pulled out her favourite muggle book, Emma by Jane Austen, and flipped open to the place her bookmark was sticking out of. She hadn't had time to read two sentences before she was interrupted by the compartment door slamming open. She jumped a little and closed her book to see a tall, tanned, black-haired girl standing on the threshold.


 

The girl was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans that highlighted her thin legs, a simple, low cut, deep green tank top and a loose fitting black jacket. Coralie looked down at her own outfit which considered of her favourite jeans, her pastel green sweater and her cream trench coat. She suddenly felt very average. Lost in her thoughts, she got a small surprise when the girl took the seat next and slid her arm around Coralie's small shoulders.


"You poor girl, did they kidnap you or bribe you with sex and money in order for you to stay in here with them?" she asked with a hint of sympathetic sarcasm in her voice.


 

Coralie's first impression was that this girl was just like Violet; beautiful, but a total bitch.


 

"Believe it or not, Soho, she came her on her own free will," Sirius informed her, almost proudly.


"Wait, you actually like the Marauders?" the girl scoffed, turning to Coralie and rolling her eyes in disbelief.


"Who?" Coralie asked, confused.


"Ahh, I like this girl. What's your name?" the girl asked with a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.


"Coralie Bennett. I'm new."


"Hello Coralie, I'm Kiki Soho. Welcome to Hogwarts," the girl, Kiki, said warmly.


 

Coralie usually had a pretty good idea on the type of person someone was by just looking at them, however, at the moment, she was incredibly confused. She just couldn't place Kiki at all.


 

"Hogwarts' Whore," Sirius mumbled under his breath.


"And that there, is Sirius Black, Man Whore of the school and his friends,” Kiki shot back fiercely. “They call themselves 'The Marauders',” she added in a dramatic baby voice.


"Isn't that a bit...five year old-ish?" Coralie asked, raising her eyebrows slightly and tipping her head to the side. Her brother and his friends had had a name like that once, but that was when they were six years old.


"Hey, it's a cool name," Sirius said defensively, looking very offended.


"You know, Coralie, I think you'll fit right in with my friends," Kiki told her, standing up and pulling Coralie out of the compartment. “Come on.”


 

---

"Guys, this is Coralie Bennett. She's new to Hogwarts and just insulted the Marauders, themselves," Kiki declared proudly as she and Coralie went into the latter's compartment. The five girls sitting in there all turned to face Coralie and Kiki, looking amused. Coralie recognised the one sitting next to the window as the red-head who her brother was checking out on the platform. She smiled warmly and stood up, offering her hand.


 

"I'm Lily Evans. It's nice to meet you, Coralie. This is Miranda Perry-" Lily said pointing to a small girl who was sitting opposite Lily's newly vacated seat. She had long, curly brown hair, lightly tanned skin and big 'bambi' like brown eyes.


 

"-This is Mary McDonald-"


 

A tall girl with long wavy golden hair and dashing blue eyes waved.


 

"-Marlene McKinnon-"


 

The girl closest by the door, who had long jet black hair and murky blue eyes, gave a small nod and shot Coralie a warm smile.


 

"-Ali-"


"-I can introduce myself, Lils," the last girl said with a cheeky tone. "I'm Alice Prewett," he said with a smile that almost mimicked Violets. Alice reminded Coralie a bit of her cousin, Rhiannon, who, like Alice, had short, dark brown hair and dark blue eyes..


 

"You're that James Potter's future wife then," Coralie remarked, looking at Lily, who suddenly turned a furious shade of crimson and looked slightly murderous as she took her seat back next to the window.


 

Coralie sheepishly took a seat next to the door, opposite Kiki, and made a mental note to not mention James Potter again if she could help it.