One

                                    

                                          
Magnolia made her way through the busy train platform, her mother close behind.
The bright red train, labeled The Hogwarts Express, stood out against the bleak colors of the station.
Magnolia's mother gave her a quick hug before she hurried onto the train. She stepped on, giving one last look at the platform before boarding.
As always, she went into the second compartment on the right in the fourth car of the train. It's where she sat with her best friends each year.
There sat the bubbly blonde, Daphne Greengrass, and her polar opposite, Pansy Parkinson. Daphne was Little Miss Popular, with more friends than she could count and a roster of boys three parchment scrolls long. Yet she made it known to the entire world that Magnolia and Pansy were her only best friends. For Pansy, they were quite literally her only friends. Her dark hair was always in her face, and she wore huge, clunky boots, even to formal events (which her parents absolutely despised). Yet, beneath that tough exterior, she was really a sweetheart.
As for Magnolia, she had quite a lot to live up to. Her older sister, Maven, was the dictionary definition of perfect. In her parents' eyes, Magnolia would never be as good as her. Maven was a slim, dark-haired (and, in Magnolia's opinion, rather boring) girl. She wore wire-rimmed glasses and always had to interrupt Magnolia's sentences with, "Actually, the correct usage of that word is..." Magnolia, however, was the complete opposite. Although their looks were exactly the same, she chose not to be a social outcast. The one flaw Maven had was that her only friends were her books. Meanwhile, Magnolia was the second-most popular girl (Daphne was the first) in her year, and she liked it that way. 
As Magnolia slid her trunk next to Daphne's on the rack, the three of them began talking about what they'd done over the summer. Magnolia had stayed at her family's beach villa in France, tanning and swimming all day. Daphne had gone to Italy, and told them all about the wonderful sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and completely tasteless gelato she'd had. Daphne had a perfect figure, but she always insisted that "every calorie counts". Pansy and Magnolia had told her numerous times it really didn't matter, but anything they said seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Pansy had gone to Greece, but she wouldn't tell them anything she did there. Magnolia found it quite strange, but then again, Pansy was the secretive type.
Maven popped her head into their compartment just then. "I hope you three won't be getting up to trouble this year, because I'd hate to give you a detention," she said, adjusting her glasses. "I'm Head Girl, you know-"
"Maven, you've droned on and on about this the past few weeks. Please don't put my friends to sleep," Magnolia groaned.
"Actually, the correct word to use in this scenario would be-"
"I don't care, Maven," Magnolia sighed. "Go hang out with your Head Girl friends and stop bothering us, please."
Maven shrugged. "I'm simply trying to further your grammatical knowledge," she replied as she walked away. "And for the record, there's only one Head Girl."
"Merlin, that took her ages," Magnolia mumbled. 
Just as Daphne was about to start talking about how fit Blaise had gotten over the summer, they were interrupted by a knock at out compartment door. Magnolia heard it slide open, and she started to say, "Maven, we don't have the time for-"
But the face she was met with was not Maven's. It was Draco Malfoy's. And Merlin had he gotten fit over the summer. Forget whatever happened to Blaise.
Daphne and Magnolia were lost in a trance until Pansy cut through. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, her tone bored, as always. Magnolia blinked. What were you thinking? she scolded herself. Draco Malfoy is a complete prick.
"I needed to know if any of you have seen a toad. Longbottom's gone and set his loose and I simply can't stand the idea of the bloody thing crawling around everywhere." Draco's lips curled in disgust, and just as Magnolia was about to respond, the train jerked.
Startled, she fell forward, but Draco caught her. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Lost my balance."
"I hope the toad didn't get in here," Daphne muttered, wriggling uncomfortably.
"Well, obviously, we haven't seen it, so you can fuck off," Pansy told Draco.
Draco just shook his head and left.
"Pansy!" Daphne wailed as soon as Draco was out of earshot. "Why would you do that? Didn't you see how fit he was?"
"But he's so rude," Magnolia replied. "Sure, he's a little... attractive, but don't let that hide his personality."
Pansy shrugged. "You think Daphne would listen to that?"
Daphne replied, "He's hot and that's all that matters."
Magnolia sighed defeatedly. This was going to be a long year.
At least she wouldn't be the one falling for jerks.