There was a bustling of activity across the platform of Nine and Three Quarters; from the children waving at their parents through the windows of the red train, to the wide variety of noises from the animals. It was a peculiar site for the boy who had seen none of it before. It was so normal, and yet so different. If he himself hadn't passed the barrier in the wall just now, he would have thought this was another day for the train station. Beyond the weird clothes and animals of course.

The raven haired boy dragged his way through the sea of bodies as he tried to find a way on to the red train before it blew its horn and left. His owl, Hedwig, fluttered her bright pristine wings in her cage, which wobbled a little on his suitcase, and swiveled her head around slightly to get her own look at the station. The trunk was too large for him to carry, but he wasn't going to ask for help. He'd already gotten a lot of it from the red-headed wizarding family just moments prior.

He made his way down the train slowly as he checked compartment after compartment for an empty one, and it was only near the end of the train Harry came across exactly what he was looking for. He lifted Hedwig through the window before going to a train door to get his suitcase in. It was heavy, and he couldn't get it past the first two steps before he was stuck.

"Want a hand?"

Harry looked ahead of his suitcase and saw one of the red headed twins from before. He was all pale and freckled, and his brown eyes just twinkled with underlying mischief.

"Yes, please." Harry panted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

The second part of the identical duo appeared, and he was the spitting image of the first twin, right down to the the last strand of hair. Together they helped Harry with his luggage and carried it for him to his chosen compartment. Once it was nestled away in a place it couldn't hurt anyone, Harry turned to the twins and grinned.

"Thanks." Harry said. He brushed his hair from his forehead that stuck due to the the sweat.

"What's that?" Said one of the twins suddenly, and he pointed at Harry's lightning scar. Harry brushed it with his fingers and watched their reactions.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you?"

"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he asked.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Harry Potter. " They both piped.

"Oh," Harry said, stopping himself from rolling his eyes, though only just. "Yes, I am."

The twins stared at him weirdly, and Harry felt himself turning red the longer the looked at him. To his relief, their mother's voice rang through the busy air.

"Fred? George? Are you there?" She asked.

"Coming, Mum." They chorused loudly, and then turned and left like they were on fire. Harry took a breath, closed the door of the compartment, and wiggled his way into the corner, next to the window. Hedwig hooted from beside him, and he subconsciously stuck his finger through the cage. She nipped lightly at the given appendage, and he responded by brushing his finger over the top of her head.

"Ron, you've got a smudge on your nose." He heard from outside the window.

"Mum, get off." The one Harry assumed was Ron whined.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nose?" Asked a familiar voice of one of the twins.

"Shut up." Ron said.

"Where's Percy?" The mother asked.

"He's coming now." One of the twins said. There were several moments of silence Harry took to mean they waited for Percy.

"Can't stay long, Mother," He said. "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves."

"Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?" Asked one of the twins, genuinely surprised. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," The other one said.

"Once."

"Or twice."

"A minute."

"All summer."

"Oh, shut up." Percy said. Harry laughed, and peeked out the window to see what they were doing.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" One of the twins asked.

"Because he's a Prefect," His mother said. "All right, dear, well, have a good term, send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.

"Now, you two, this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've- you've blown up a toilet or-"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." One of them said.

"Great idea though, thanks, Mum." The other said.

"It's not funny. And look after Ron." She said.

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us." Said both twins.

"Shut up." Ron said again. Ron was almost as tall as the twins, and had the same pale and freckled skin as they had. He was gangly where they weren't though. His nose was pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" One of the twins said.

Harry could guess who they meant and leaned back so they couldn't see him looking. He stared at the wall across from him, and felt his heart pound for no reason other than being noticed.

"You know that black-haired boy from the barrier?" Said one of the twins.

"Yes?" Said the mother.

"He was Harry Potter!" They both exclaimed.

"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, please." A girl's voice begged. Harry slipped a little farther down.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?" The mother asked, and suddenly Harry was happy she was their mother.

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there, like lightning." One of the twins, likely Fred, said.

"Poor dear, no wonder he was alone. He was so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform." The mother reflected.

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" Said the twins.

Their mother suddenly became very stern.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school." She said. Harry paused for a moment, and he wondered if he did remember the night. If he did, he had no idea.

"All right, keep your hair on." The twin said.

A whistle sounded. Harry looked up at the ceiling like that was where the sound came from. He felt a flood of relief fill him, and a sense of reality appeared. This was actually happening. He was actually on a train, to a school he knew nothing about besides it was a magic school. This was happening.

The train lurched forwards, and Harry looked out the window as the station moved past him. Soon after, there were houses outside.

The door of the compartment slid open and Ron walked through. He heaved his luggage in behind him.

"Anyone else sitting here?" He asked, and pointed at the empty seat across from Harry. "Everywhere else is full."

Harry shook his head, but he could feel a tug in his head; something about what the boy said felt weird. The boy closed the door behind him and plopped himself down on the seat. He glanced at Harry for a moment before he looked out the window.

"Hey, Ron." One of the twins said as he opened the doors. Both of the boys looked over at him.

"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train, Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there." Said one of the twins.

"Right." Mumbled Ron.

"Harry," Said the other, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later."

"Bye." Harry said and Ron with varied degrees of enthusiasm. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them, and disappeared farther down the train. Harry saw Ron's fingers tap at his knee, and he relented himself for the soon to be questions.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out eventually.

"Yes." Harry said, and nodded along like that would back his statement up.

"Oh, well I thought you were another one of Fred and George's jokes," he paused. "So do you really have the, you know..." He pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who..." Ron trailed off.

"Yes," Harry said, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" Ron said eagerly.

"Well, I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else." Harry admitted.

"Wow." Ron said, and sat back with an awed expression. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked. He found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.

"Er, yes, I think so," Ron said. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you must know loads of magic already." Harry remarked.

"Not that much. I heard you went to live with Muggles," Ron said. "What are they like?"

"Horrible... well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers." Harry said.

"Five," Ron corrected glumly. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left; Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. He continued. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window. Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so; all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-" Harry continued. He stopped when Ron gasped.

"What?" Harry said.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron said, both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people-"

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name, I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet," He paused before he said something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough." Ron assured Harry. While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep.

They were quiet for a time as they watched the fields and lanes flick past. Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet at the opportunity, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry had never had money to buy anything, but now that he had coins loaded in his pockets, Harry was going to buy as many Mars Bars as he could. The woman didn't have any Mars Bars though. She had Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands. Many strange things Harry had never heard anything in his life, but he wanted to try all of them. He paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts, and entered the compartment carrying all his food in his shirt. Ron stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?" Ron asked.

"Starving." Harry said. He took a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," Harry said, and held up a pasty. Ron hesitated at the offer, so Harry encouraged, "Go on."

"You don't want this, it's all dry," Ron said. "She hasn't got much time, you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty." Harry said again. He never never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with.

As he passed one of the pasties to Ron, he got his first brush with Ron's hand. A sense of distrust rose in the back of Harry's mind, which he latched onto. It warped around itself into betrayal and estrangement, and pressed down on his brain heavily enough that it felt like it would physically push him to the ground, even though he knew it was all in his mind. A few soft wisps of childhood happiness laced the emotions, but it was so vague he almost didn't notice it.

"What are these?" Harry asked Ron. He forewent the brought upon emotions in favor of still talking to him for now, and held up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?"

He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.

"No," Ron said. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?" Harry asked, because he was sure he heard that wrong.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know, Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect, famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog, which jumped out free in the compartment, and he picked up the card. It showed a man's face; he wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and a flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore!" Harry said.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" Ron echoed. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa, thanks."

Harry handed over the rest of the frogs, and turned over his card and read:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!" Harry shouted.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron said. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again, and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."

"Sure. You can help yourself to the rest," Harry said. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!"

Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off of them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach, liver, and tripe. George said he had a booger flavored one once."

Ron picked up a green jelly bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. "Blaaargh - see? Sprouts."

They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.

The countryside that was flying past the window became wilder. The neat fields had gone; now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform Nine and Three Quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," the boy said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When the two shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

Ron didn't seem ready to get up from the seat until he needed to, but Harry held sympathy towards the boy who was in obvious distress, even if he himself had never had a pet to lose before Hedwig. Harry stood up from his spot.

"I'll help you look for him if you like." Harry offered. The boy sniffed a little and nodded his head woefully.

"Thanks." He said.

Harry smiled and held out his hand, "I'm Harry."

The boy looked at said hand before he took it, "Neville."

The instant their hands came in contact, a worm of joy settled into the back of Harry's head, which he poked at before it could fade away, and recieved what could be considered opposite to the feelings he got from Ron. A wash of acceptance and excitement flooded in to pool around Harry's brain, which made his mind feel as if it was submerged in a sea of warm sap, but not uncomfortably so. A blanket of sympathy and comfort would often find a way into their relationship; friendly love turned into it's brotherly counterpart; the thrill of adventure swamped around - Harry could've sworn he felt an echo of cheerful laughter in there.

The grin Harry gave Neville was probably the brightest look the boy had ever had directed at him, and while Neville followed Harry with confusion, Harry was happy to help the boy. He left Ron without a word, who continued to work through the cards. The only interruptions Ron experienced after that was a pale haired boy knocking on the door.

"Neville!" A feminine, albeit breathless sounding voice came from down the hall from Harry and Neville. Harry got a look at a girl with brown eyes and equally brown hair bushy like a squirrel, teeth a bit large for her mouth, and an air of know-it-allness surrounding her concerned expression.

"Oh, hello Hermione." Neville murmured. Hermione stopped in front of them, and looked between the two.

"Have you managed to find Trevor yet?" She asked Neville.

"N-no," He said quietly, then with a bit more air in him, "But I did find someone else who was willing to help."

Hermione turned to Harry, who grinned at her. The feelings he got from Neville hadn't completely faded yet, and he was ready to take whatever happened in stride.

"I'm Harry." He said, and thrusted his hand forward to be shaken. Hermione looked at the hand and then back at his face with trepidation.

"I'm Hermione." She said, a bit calmer than he. She reached forward and grabbed his hand, and shook it once dutifully.

The first few seconds of the emotions to come over him were off set, like he realized she was there but his back saw her more than his front. That shifted immediately into a wide range of peace and joy and something he could only say was trust. The same syrupy mix of acceptance and excitement he had felt moments ago with Neville came back with Hermione, and he let go of her hand with a brighter smile than when he'd started. For her part, his grin was obviously not what she had expected, if her glance at Neville said anything.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Hermione." Harry said.

"Yeah..." She said quietly, and then pointed over her shoulder. "We should get back to looking for Trevor. Everyone that way said they hadn't seen a toad."

"So we need to turn around?" Neville asked. Hermione nodded her head enthusiastically, which caused her wild hair to bob around her. The three worked their way through the train the rest of the ride, and despite their best efforts, were never able to find the toad.

A/N Here's the first chapter of our new story! Hope you enjoyed it. R&R if you please, thoughts and ideas welcome.