SWINGING BALLS

disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or any people/places/terms associated with Harry Potter.

Ch.01 PLATFORM 9 ¾

She sighed deeply, her hands fidgeting with the straps of her backpack. Eyes darting around nervously, she observed all the other students running around, hugging and talking to old friends, kissing mothers and fathers goodbye before jumping onboard the old fashioned train. The whole world was in motion around her, and she was simply standing there dumbly amidst it all.

"Oh gosh being the new girl sucks…" she muttered under her breath.

In all her 17 years of existence, Amber Owens had never felt so nervous and alienated. Of course, before, she was with friends, family, fellow Americans. To be here, unknown to people who had known each other for years, in a foreign country, at one of the most legendary schools of witchcraft…the experience was quite overwhelming.

Up until this year, she had attended the Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizard in Massachusetts. However, when the offer to transfer to England for her final year was suggested, she jumped at the opportunity. She figured that it'd be her only chance to experience Hogwarts, so she had agreed to it almost immediately. The only thing she hadn't anticipated was the homesickness and the lack of friends.

"She's in deep thought…"

"You can say that again…" she thought sarcastically in response. "Wait…!"

Eyes widening in sudden shock, she spun around on her heels…the gaze of two pairs of identical hazel eyes fixed on her with great interest. The eyes then surrounded her on opposite sides before circling around her.

"What am I, an animal carcass…?" Amber thought to herself wryly, their inspection of her akin to vultures circling in the desert.

"She's obviously new here…" one of them said matter of factly as he tapped his chin.

"Oh, without a doubt, that's for sure, Fred," the other replied.

"Okay…so the guy in the green is Fred…" she noted mentally.

"But not a first year, for sure…What do you reckon, George?" Fred asked his counterpart.

"And George is in the gray…" she noted.

"Sixth year maybe…?" George suggested after some thought.

"He's pretty good," Amber admitted to herself. She had always had an issue for being mistaken to be younger than she was. Being only 5'3" and with a "kiddish" face, she often came off as appearing 14, despite all her efforts to appear older. Her brown eyes were big, almond shaped because she was half Japanese. Brown hair was cut in a bob with sideswepted bangs around a slightly tanned face. She thought the shorter cut would make her seem more mature, but the effect was anything but.

The circle tightened, and the twins were practically staring into her eyeballs now. "Muggle born, judging from the clothing-"

"WRONG!"

"She speaks!" they gasped in chorus, jumping back. Exchanging glances, they were just about to get closer again before Amber stuck her hand out.

"Hold it busters!" Amber said sternly before smiling widely. "Proper introductions first and foremost! I'm Amber."

"Blimey…a foreigner!" they gasped before shaking her hand in turn.

"And I," the one named Fred spoke up. "Am Fred…and he" he gestured towards his twin.

"Am George," George said. "And we…"

"Are the Weasleys!" they said in synch. Amber bit back a giggle. They were just like a real life Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, only with flaming red hair.

To her joy, Amber struck up an instant friendship with the twins, taking special delight to their infamous reputations as pranksters, an art she prided in herself. Comparing creations, she swapped her own Jelly Leg Pops for some of the Weasley's Ton Tongue Toffees.

"So, you guys do anything else besides being the local hell raisers?" Amber asked as they dragged their trunks through the crowded and busy corridors of the Hogwarts Express. Amber's initial reaction to the "relic" of a train was fascination, as her experiences with such trains was limited to museums and old Western movies.

"Of course, my dear girl!" Fred said with a smirk. Amber was actually a year ahead of both Weasley's, to their shock. But because of her shorter stature and younger appearance, the two took particular joy in calling her 'dear girl'.

"We only avidly play the most amazing game in creation!" George added as they were able to find an empty compartment. Shoving her trunk in with her sneakered foot, she promptly sat down on one of the cushioned benches.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. "You two play soccer?" she asked enthusiastically. Despite being an American, Amber was a soccer maniac. She'd play every day during the lunch break and during weekends at the park. Even at this moment, she was donning an Arsenal jersey.

The two Weasleys looked at her with confusion. Amber's mistake then hit her in the face. "Oh yeaaah…forgot where I was for a second!" she explained with a laugh. "Football, right?" she asked. The Weasley's still looked at her confused.

"Soccer?" Fred repeated, voice laden with disbelief

"Football?" George asked in a similar fashion.

"Also known as a Muggle sport highly inferior to the great game of Quidditch," a voice commented in a matter of fact manner.

Amber's jaw immediately dropped with the sudden, and RUDE, comment. Her brows knitted in rage. Sharply turning to face the doorway, she prepared to pounce on and maim the offender.