Harry Potter and the Granger Twins

King's Cross Station

"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters" Harry whispered staring reproachfully at his ticket. His eyes were fixed on the syllables forming the outrageous number. It was so implausible that someone had actually thought, writing the number down in letters was a good idea.

Harry had been staring at his ticket for quite a while. Over time, his facial expression had shifted from curious to confused to despaired. Ten minutes ago he had even asked a conductor for directions. The man had not been amused. In hindsight, Harry could easily see that it had been a mistake. The conductor was a Muggle. Therefore he knew nothing about the magical world. Which meant, he could not direct the young wizard to the hidden platform.

Two bell strokes announced the half hour. Harry looked at the clock hanging over platform ten. He had less than a half hour left to figure out how to get onto the magical platform. The departure of the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to leave promptly at eleven o'clock. He was running out of time.

Harry ruffled his messy hair while once more looking left and right for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. It was nowhere to be seen. This made sense since it obviously had to be hidden from Muggles...

Harry's eyes grew wide. He looked at Hedwig and whispered, "It's hidden! Just like Diagon Alley."

The snowy owl was not very impressed. She was asleep.

Baffled, Harry looked around. Where could you hide an entire platform?

There was a massive brick pillar between platform nine and ten. This couldn't be a coincidence! The wall behind the Leaky Cauldron had been made out of bricks as well. Harry pushed his trolley close and stared at the many red stones. He ran his fingers over them. They felt rough and a bit dusty.

Remembering the pattern used to enter Diagon Alley was a hard task. Harry had only seen it once. It had been a busy day for him. But he had a rough idea.

The young wizard glanced covertly around. He would have to use his wand to tap some bricks. Only a few people were waiting for their trains. None of them were paying him any mind.

Harry was fingering the lock of his trunk to fetch his wand when a girly voice squealed, "Look! That boy has to be a wizard!"

The shriek pierced Harry's marrow and bone. He turned around in fear of discovery. A few paces away, he saw a girl with bushy, brown hair. Her index finger pointed straight at him. She looked ecstatic.

Alas, not only the girl was staring at Harry. Half of the people standing on platforms nine and ten were discretely examining him. The other half was frowning at the girl.

"It's impolite to point your finger!" snapped a woman next to the girl. A passing glance at her bushy brown hair told Harry that she was the girl's mother. She smiled apologetically at the other passengers.

"How many boys is that now, Jane? Five?" asked a second girl.

Harry stared perplexed at her. She looked exactly like the first girl. Naturally, he knew what twins were. It was just that he had never seen a pair of them. There were none at his school. Everything about them was identical apart from maybe one or two strands of unruly hair.

Her comment made the last passerby lose interest in the scene. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He knew of his responsibility. Muggles were not supposed to know about wizards and witches. He had to keep the existence of magic a secret!

"He has an owl!" objected the girl named Jane in a low voice. "Who has a birdcage with an owl in it? Only a wizard!"

She gave off the distinct impression that she would have liked nothing better than to stomp her foot.

Suddenly she was no longer alone with her theory. Her sister whispered excitedly, "Remember the Hogwarts letter? Students are permitted to bring an owl along as a pet!"
"How do you know of Hogwarts?" Harry asked in surprise.

The second sister stepped closer to Harry. There was a wide smile on her face, "Because I am a witch."

"Me too!" added her twin in a haste.

"My name is Hermione." said the so far nameless girl. She pointed at the girl right next to her. "This is my sister Jane and those are my parents. Dr. Emma Granger and Dr. Daniel Granger."

"My name is Harry Potter." said the bespectacled boy and shook the hand of the sister named Hermione.

"You are the Harry Potter?" asked Hermione with a curious glance at his fringe.
For a short moment, Harry stared at the witch in confusion. However, he got distracted before he could ask what she meant. Hermione's sister nearly knocked him over when she hugged him out of nowhere.

"I'm so excited!" she squealed while hugging him like no one had ever hugged him.

"Jane! What's gotten into you today?" asked Emma Granger desperately.

"She's excited." answered her husband.

Hermione nodded at her father, "I'm sure she'll be alright once we reach the castle."

"Speaking of the castle. You three better get on the train. There are barely twenty minutes left before it leaves." said Mr. Granger.

"That's right. It's time to say goodbye." Mrs. Granger tried to keep her voice even but it cracked slightly.

It took Jane the blink of an eye to let go of Harry and launch herself at her mother. Hermione went to hug her father.

Harry tried to look somewhere else while the Grangers said their farewells. The very last of many whispered words were spoken by the father, "Watch out for your sister, Hermione."

"Jane can watch out for herself." huffed Emma and untangle said girl from her husband.
Hermione stood next to Harry and whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "She really can."

"Don't forget to write to us," said Mr. Granger and handed the trolley with both of his daughters' trunks to the girl he thought of as the more responsible one: Hermione.

"We are going to send letters with owls!" squealed Jane.

"We promise," said Hermione.

His sixth sense made Harry check what the other twin was currently up to. He found Jane one step ahead of her family. She was already trying to befriend Hedwig. Her fingers had wriggled between the bars of the cage and she tried to pet the white feathered owl. "Hey! Stop that!"

The offending fingers retreated guiltily. Alas, everyone had witnessed it. Hermione snapped, "Jane, you're almost twelve! Act your age."

Jane made big eyes at her parents. Harry thought it worked quite well since Mrs. Granger only said, "Jane. You know which kind of behavior I expect from you."

"Sorry. I'll be good." She turned to look at Harry. "Sorry!"

"It's really about time to go!" Mr. Granger said reluctantly.

Hermione waved at both of her parents and pushed her trolley at the wall.

Harry gasped when he found out that he had been right. There was a secret passage in the pillar. The bricks peeled back like a curtain for Hermione. Once she had gone through the wall, the passage was once more sealed off.

Jane remained behind. She eyed the wall doubtfully. Suddenly her big eyes fixed Harry and she asked pleadingly, "Can we go together?"

Secretly, Harry was a bit insecure himself, "Um, okay."

Jane instantly grabbed his hand.

"How am I supposed to push the trolley?" Harry wondered since he had only one free hand.

There was just a moment of hesitation before Jane's face became determined. It was a look that already reminded Harry of Hermione. "Each of us has one free hand. We can push the trolley together."

She turned to wave at her parents one more time before the two of them crossed the magical barrier to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

On the other side, they were greeted by a very impatient Hermione, "What took you so long?"

A/N: Thank you gahmeep, your beta-reading has improved this story greatly. The remaining flaws are entirely on my head! There is only so much one can do to...