When Alyssa finally let go of her arm Isabelle saw what she had been talking about. Lily and Nikolai were locked in some kind of stare-down. Isabelle marched over to them and waved her arm in front of Lily's face, causing her to blink. Lily put her hands on her hips and glared at her.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed. "You broke my concentration!"

"What exactly were you trying to do?" Nikolai walked over to them with a haughty look on his face. Isabelle looked between her best friend and her boyfriend.

"Trying to beat him," Lily said with a shrug. Nikolai looked amused and Isabelle rolled her eyes. Lily and Nikolai were always competing, each of them wanted to win.

"Come on." Isabelle grabbed onto Lily's arm and half-dragged her onto the train. She finally found an empty compartment and she led Lily in, followed by Nikolai. She plopped down onto the seat and Nikolai sat next to her, while Lily sat across from her.

"It's so good to be back," Lily said with a smile. She leaned backward and put her feet on the seat next to Isabelle. "I really missed Hogwarts. This year I'm the only one of my silbings in Hogwarts. It feels weird." Lily had two older siblings who had gone to Hogwarts previously. The middle child in her family of three had just graduated last year. His name is Albus, yes Albus Potter. Yes, that would make her Lily Potter.

"I feel good to be back too," Isabelle said. Nikolai nodded in agreement and slung his arm around her shoulders.

"It's weird being away from Hogwarts," he agreed. "But I like being at home, no matter how hectic it is." Nikolai was the oldest in his family, with ten younger siblings.

"I would rather have a lot of siblings than have none," Isabelle said. She was an only child and often wished for a sibling. Especially a younger one, she loved little kids. She thought they were so cute!

"I like my family just the way it is," Lily mused. "Not too many siblings, but it would be lonely to be an only child." Isabelle nodded, "It is."

After a few hours they were getting restless. The food trolley had been by about an hour ago, and they had candy, but even that didn't hold them over for long. Suddenly the train rolled to a stop and the three exchanged a glance.

"Why are we stopping?" Lily sat up and looked around. "It's not time for us to be there yet." They had a good two hours at the least until they arrived at Hogwarts.

"I don't know," Nikolai said. "Let's go check it out." He stood up and slid open the door when a scream echoed through the train. The three of them exchanged a worried look, and a second later Nikolai's sister, Josey, came running toward them.

"Nik, the train was stopped by people wearing dark cloaks. Annie said they were Death Eater, but they can't be. The Death Eaters are gone, aren't they?"

"Josey, go get Charlotte and Nathan and bring them back here. Go quickly, and be safe. Understand?" Fourteen-year-old Josey nodded nervously and ran off. Nikolai, Isabelle, and Lily stayed where they were until Josey came back with the younger ones. Charlotte was twelve and Nathan was eleven.

"Niko, what's going on?" Niko was what his siblings called him, they had since they were little. Isabelle found it amusing, but now was not the time to laugh at him.

"We don't know Char," Nikolai said. "But don't be scared. Now come on, we'd better go out there." He took Nathan's hand while Josey took Charlotte's and the four of them walked down the hall. Isabelle and Lily followed not far behind them.

"Fred!" Lily cried out suddenly. She ran forward and engulfed her youngest cousin in a hug. He was a first year, like Nathan, so this was his first day of Hogwarts ever.

"Lily! Fred! Isabelle!" Right behind Fred were Molly and Lucy, Lily's cousins who were twins. They were both sixth years, like Isabelle, Lily and Nikolai.

"Hi guys," Lily said. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" They shook their heads simultaneously. Isabelle continued down the hallways and, after a moment, everyone else followed her.

She got to the door, but didn't want to go all the way oustide. If those people really were Death Eaters, then she didn't want them to see her. Isabelle peeked out cautiously, and could just barely hear what they were saying.

"We did it," a woman said. "We successfully stopped and conquered the Hogwarts Express. We have gained control of them all."

"We then, what are we standing around here for Jade?" A man's voice asked. "Let's go conquer them." They started heading toward the door and Isabelle ran back into the train.

"We need to hurry," she said. "Gather all the first, second, and third years in one place, preferably in the back of the train. Then get all the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years together. We need to protect them and defend Hogwarts."

"We're on it," Nikolai said. He herded his siblings back and Isabelle ran off to find the younger kids.