A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has come along with me for this ride. I loved reading your thoughts and reviews, and it was so much fun to explore this scenario. And thank you to my incredible brother, who immediately answered my "Can I have your quick opinion on this thing?" text with a phone call despite the fact that he's busy and isn't even betaing this story. He's a gem.

To the guest reviewer: Thank you. I'm really glad you liked Arcturus' cameo. Even though Harry and Sirius moved to France, I love the thought of Arcturus trying to prepare Harry to deal with Slytherin double talk despite having accepted that the chances of anyone raised by Sirius ending up there were slim.

Platform 9 ¾ was even better than Harry had imagined it would be. Slowing to a stop, he looked around with wide eyes, feasting on the magnificent sight. The platform was bustling with activity as parents said goodbye to their children and students were reunited with one another after a summer spent apart. He was no stranger to wizarding cities or high traffic tourist destinations, but this was something else entirely.

He had been looking forward to this day for years. The countless stories Sirius had regaled him with had made him yearn to see Hogwarts, to go to the school where his parents had met and quarrelled and fallen in love, where Sirius had created a family for himself, where Remus had found somewhere to truly belong. It was as if going there, and following in their footsteps, would somehow lead him closer to them and their memory. Nerves tingled in his chest at the prospect of living away from his godfather for so long, but they were easily overwhelmed by the excitement that was bubbling up inside him like water being brought to the boil. This was it, and he was so ready for it. "This is wicked."

Sirius laughed. "It is, isn't it? Just wait until you get there." The older wizard knelt down and, resting one hand against the base of the birdcage they had bought mere weeks prior, said, "You have fun, now, won't you? Make sure you write to me – about anything you want, no matter how serious or trivial or embarrassing it might seem. And don't leave me in suspense; send a letter with Hedwig to let me know which house you've been sorted into as soon as you get to your dorm. And let Fred and George know if anyone bothers you."

"Percy said to tell him." Harry reminded him, "He's a prefect this year."

"Go to Percy first," Sirius conceded. "Then, if he can't help officially, tell Fred and George so they can sort it out."

"And don't get caught," Harry said, parroting back one of the main pieces of advice his godfather had given him over the years.

Sirius smirked. "Exactly. Get up to trouble, not into it."

Harry threw himself at his godfather, who reflexively encased him in a warm embrace. "I'm going to miss you."

"You too, Harry. But I am so, so proud of you. And I know that you're going to love it there."

"Do you remember all of the secret passageways?"

Nodding against his chest, Harry rattled the entrances and passwords off like a checklist, whispering to keep any passers-by from overhearing.

"Good job," Sirius commended him, but Harry noticed that he sounded sad. "I'll teach you the ones that lead out of school when you're thirteen, if you haven't worked them out for yourself beforehand."

After a few moments of silent hugging, Harry admitted, "I'm nervous." It was daunting to confess things like that to the brave and self-confident Animagus, even though he knew that his guardian never judged him for it, but he couldn't imagine leaving without owning up to it.

"You're going to be brilliant," Sirius reassured him, his voice earnest and impassioned. "You already are. If people can't see that, then they don't matter; not in the long run. You have as much right to be there as they do, and you have as much right to an opinion as they do. Besides, I'll tell you a secret: most of them are as nervous as you are. And you won't always be able to tell who's nervous just by looking at them. There have been times when I've been panicking internally about how to explain something to you but you haven't noticed because you haven't been looking for it. Don't ever feel like you're the only one who's nervous."

"I love you, Sirius."

"I love you too. Always have, always will." Sirius held him tighter for a few moments before releasing him from his grip. "You should get on before all the compartments are full. Go find those Weasleys of yours, yeah?"

"I'll write as soon as the feast's over," Harry promised. "I'll ask Hedwig to find my dormitory and wait for me there so I can send her right away."

"And, if there's ever a problem, I can come to fetch you or to help sort things out."

-l-r-

Sirius watched as Harry made his way towards the gaggle of Weasleys mulling about by the train doors and, with their help, hoisted his trunk onto the vehicle. As Harry paused on the steps to give Sirius a happy wave and a beaming smile, Sirius was struck anew by a sense of nostalgia. He had, over time, gotten much better at separating Harry from his father, to the point where the comparisons had become fleeting statements of fact rather than prescriptive expectations. It was, however, impossible for him to watch his godson board the train without fondly remembering that messy-haired boy, so similar physically and yet so different temperamentally, that he had met on that very same train twenty years prior.

As he grinned back at Harry, waving happily, his only hope was that his godson would get to experience all of the experience and love that the Marauders had had without having to endure the pain and fear of their later years.

-l-r-

When they had settled into a compartment with the twins and their friend Lee, Harry and Ron set about nervously discussing the topic of which house they thought they'd be sorted into. They had exhausted the topic many times before, of course, but the fact that it would be happening that night brought a new level of anticipation to the conversation. The discussion had always been in the abstract before, as if it were happening to far-off people in a faraway place and time. Just being on the train had given it new meaning and urgency.

Swallowing the last bite of his chocolate frog, Harry peered down at his new card. Amala Gadhavi, the inventor of the time turner. Awesome, he thought. "I still reckon you'll get Gryffindor. Where else would you go?"

"Dunno. They," Ron said disdainfully as he jerked his head towards his brothers, "bet Ginny that I'll get Hufflepuff."

"There's nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff," Harry reassured him, remembering what his cousin Tonks had said about it. According to her, that house had its problems like any other – she'd told him that it contained some of the most insular cliques she had ever seen – but it also had some of the loveliest and loyalest people she'd ever met. "Still reckon you'll be a Gryffindor, though."

"Want a bean?" Fred butted in, holding one out to Ron. The twins tolerated their younger brother's presence as it tended to be part and parcel of spending time with Harry, but they still constantly looked for ways to tease or prank him. He was, or so they had told Harry when he'd questioned them about it once, just so much fun to provoke that they would be remiss in their brotherly duties if they didn't pick on him every once in a while.

"I saw George put it in his mouth and then take it back out again. No way am I eating it."

"Drat. And I was keeping such a straight face, too. It's vomit-flavoured, you know; we were hoping to go for a double whammy."

"It was impressive," Lee agreed. "I almost thought you'd accidentally picked up a corn-flavoured one instead."

"I need to go to the loo," Ron said, apparently deciding to ignore the older boys' antics. "Want to come, Harry?"

Fred snorted. "What are you, a pair of girls?"

"No," Ron replied defensively. "I just thought Harry might enjoy getting away from you lot for a bit."

"I'll come. We need to get changed into our robes anyway, and you lot probably want some time to plan your prank in peace."

"It's already planned," Lee said proudly, before hitting himself on the forehead. "Forget I said that."

Laughing, Harry assured him, "It's alright. We're not going to tell anyone. Besides, we already knew."

They grabbed their robes before heading out to find the nearest toilet. Despite Harry's affection for the older boys, it was rather nice to spend some time away from them. Their ability to make everything into some sort of dramatic production was hilarious and endearing, but it could get a little tiring. Even just the brief walk with Ron was reinvigorating. Harry couldn't imagine how chaotic it must have been in the older boys' dormitory or, even more so, in their minds; he could temporarily excuse himself from the madness if he wanted to, but the twins' whole existence seemed to revolve around playing off one another. It was like being around two Siriuses who were both on a constant sugar high.

"Sorry mate, but I'm going first," Ron said when they reached the toilets to find that there was only one unoccupied male toilet. He quickly darted into the small room before Harry could reply.

Harry stood around awkwardly until Ron re-emerged, wearing his school robes and looking much more comfortable. "Your turn, mate. Sorry about that."

"No problem," Harry replied as he entered the recently vacated room. Although he and Sirius both preferred Muggle clothes, he had gotten used to wearing robes over the years, so he made quick work of relieving himself and getting changed. He was soon back in the aisle with Ron.

Ron immediately started walking back in the direction they'd come from. "I still can't believe we're finally going to Hogwarts. I still remember when Bill first left for school. At least, I think it was Bill… It might have been Charlie; it kind of bleeds together, you know."

"It would. I guess that's the good thing about growing up with Dudley; I never had to worry about mixing people up."

"Do you ever wish you had a sibling?"

"I used to," Harry replied, twisting one of his sleeves in his palm. His time with the Dursleys wasn't something that he liked to talk about. Sirius had, over time, learned almost everything about it, but Harry generally tried to avoid discussing it with the Weasleys. "When I lived with my aunt and uncle, I wished I had a brother or sister I could get along with. But I don't need to anymore; I have Sirius now."

"I sometimes wish I had less siblings," Ron admitted. "I wouldn't want any of them to, you know, not be around, but it'd be nice for there to be less of us."

Harry frowned as he spotted a girl wandering along the corridor. "Look," he whispered, nodding his head towards her. "What's she doing?"

"How am I supposed to know? Looks barmy, though. What d'you think she's looking at her feet for?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe she's looking for something?"

They both watched her almost expectantly. The girl had dark skin and a thick head of bushy brown hair that seemed to kink out at every angle, and she was staring intently at the ground in front of her as she slowly made her way towards them. She was also wearing her school robes, and, due to the absence of any house colours, appeared to also be a first year.

"Maybe she dropped something," Ron suggested, sniggering.

The black-haired boy dug his elbow into his side. "Be nice," he admonished him, before stepping forward to ask her, "Are you alright?"

She looked up in surprise. "I'm fine. A boy lost his toad and I said I'd help him look for it. I was hoping it would be a bit of a bonding exercise, but we went off in different directions so we could cover ground faster and it's taking a lot longer than I expected. It's amazing how many places there are that toads can hide on a train."

"We'll help you. I'm Harry, and this is Ron. What's your name?"

"Hermione Granger. Are you first years, too?"

"Yeah," Ron said. He hesitated, glancing at Harry before half-heartedly asking, "Which house do you want to be in?"

"I'm not entirely certain. They all sound wonderful, don't they? I wouldn't suit Slytherin because they don't like Muggle-borns, but they are supposed to be awfully high achievers. I'm hardworking enough to be in Hufflepuff, I think, but I think I'd be too much of an introvert for them. I will probably end up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor; I love reading and learning things, but I've often been told that I'm too outspoken for my own good, and that seems to be a rather Gryffindor trait, don't you agree?"

"I guess."

"What about you? Where would you like to be sorted?"

"Gryffindor," the boys chorused.

"Well," she said, "I suppose it would be nice if we were all in the same house. It would be wonderful to have people you had met on the train be sorted with you, wouldn't it? Neville – that's the boy who owns the toad – said he had no idea where he'll go, so I'm not sure about him, but we might all end up in Gryffindor together."

"Brilliant," Ron said dryly.

Harry, however, was more inclined to give her a chance. She was certainly outspoken and seemed a little overbearing, but he was used to that by now; you had to be if you were to manage around the Weasleys. Besides, Sirius had told him that the other first years were probably going to be just as nervous about fitting in as he was, and he rather thought that that was the case there. Probably more so, really; he already had a bunch of friends at school, and, from what she was saying, it sounded like she didn't. He wasn't sure that he would ever want to be close friendswith her, but it wouldn't hurt to be nice. "That does sound great," Harry said, and his agreement sounded, even to his own ears, much more genuine than Ron's had.

The girl with the strange name looked a little surprised when she turned to him, and Harry felt immediately that he had made the right decision. He smiled tentatively at her, and she beamed at him in return.

"How do you pronounce your name again?" he asked.

"Her-my-oh-nee."

"Her-my-oh-nee," he sounded back, resolved to remember it.

"Exactly. It's a bit unusual, but it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it."

Acquaintances thus made, the three first years wandered off in search of the slippery toad as they chatted about houses and family backgrounds and the classes they were the most interested in, not realising that that was the start of a strong, enduring, and, indeed, beautiful friendship.