You know I don't own this, so don't bother saying I do. First Harry Potter story, just giving fair warning. I hope someone out there will enjoy it, I know I did.

Harry Potter looked around at the milling crowds nervously, he'd been here since nearly 5 because his uncle had to go into work early, and stated that he wouldn't be back to pick him up until next summer. Now he just had to find the right platform. He could find Platform 9 easily enough, and 10 was right next to it, but he couldn't for the life of him find a Platform 9 ¾.

Sitting down on his trolley he looked up at the clock on one of the support pillars and groaned. It was only about 7, but he was beginning to feel a load of dread at being unable to find the right Platform to board the train to Hogwarts.

"Hurry Mom... we have to get to Platform 9 ¾..." a young girl's voice cut through the din, causing Harry's head to snap up and hunt around for its source. A girl his age was striding through the crowd purposefully heading towards where he was sitting.

"Steady on there Hermione... you have another three hours before the train leaves... Now do you have the instructions on how to get there?" a woman, Harry guessed was her mother asked while the man, her father, pushed her trunk on it's trolley.

"It's right here," Hermione answered back holding up a folded piece of paper. "We just have to find the right pillar and... oh hello there..."

Harry didn't realize right off that she had been addressing him, until her eyes locked with his, and a wide smile spread across her face. He could feel a nervous smile spreading on his own face for a heartbeat before he looked down and away. "Hello... uhh... are you going to Hogwarts?"

"Oh, yes I am... I guess it's easy to tell huh?" Hermione answered back while rubbing her arm nervously and fidgeting slightly, until she caught sight of Hedwig. "Oh what a beautiful snow owl, what's her name?"

"Hedwig..." Harry answered while stroking a finger down the owl's wing, rousing the sleepy owl to hoot softly at him and lightly nudge his finger affectionately.

"Are you waiting for someone young man?" her father answered softly, causing Harry to jump and shy away from him.

"N... No sir... I... I wasn't told how to get to the Platform... and my Uncle dropped me off on his way to work..." Harry answered quietly while not meeting the man's eyes, his whole body screamed that he was uncomfortable under their gaze. "If... If you don't mind... I'd like to follow you..."

"Oh of course we don't mind!" Hermione gushed while looking around at the milling people, after a moment she pointed at the pillar with the big clock Harry had looked at earlier. "That's the one... we just walk in under that clock and the train will be on the other side..."

Harry looked at the solid wall skeptically for a moment before Hermione seemed to read his mind in what he was thinking. "It doesn't look like it should work... maybe it's like a curtain over the doorway..."

"Then we should just be able to push through..." her mother added as an afterthought while her father lined up to make his push to the pillar. Once the path had thinned enough he took off at a fast walk, and vanished into the pillar with barely a whisper. "You two next... side by side now..."

Harry pushed himself up and with Hermione at his side, began pushing his trolley towards the pillar, while her mother played look out. Just before the trolley hit the wall, he turned his head towards a loud red-headed woman acting like a mother hen towards a squad of similarly carrot topped kids, two of which were looking right at him with devious smiles. "Now then, we'll wait here for him to show up, and then guide him to the Platform. Not like we could trust his muggle care takers would show him how..."

"We'll go ahead mum!" the two called back, aiming right for him with identical carts of their own, decked out in blue and silver trim. It was just before they vanished from view that he realized they were twins. And suddenly he was through with Hermione, gasping and gaping at the scene before them. A gleaming red steam engine sat directly in front of him. He could catch the words Hogwarts Express on the engine, and knew he'd found his ride to the world of magic.

After a couple minutes of picking their way through the crowd, they were finally able to load their trunks onto the train and claim a cabin. Neither one asked the other if they'd mind, but it just felt like they should sit together, after coming this far. While Hermione hugged her parents goodbye, Harry sat in the cabin and fretted over his damaged glasses, wondering if there might be a way to fix them at the school.

Just as he was about to put them back on, a wand appeared out of nowhere and he heard Hermione's voice "Repairo..."

As he watched in awe, his glasses were repaired perfectly. Slipping them on his face, he smiled shyly at he girl that he'd taken a liking to. "Thank you... I'm Harry by the way..."

"You're welcome Harry..." Hermione answered with a wide smile on her face. "My name is Hermione Granger. This may sound rude... but I was told about a Harry that would be in our year... and I was wondering are you Harry Potter?"

"Err... yes..." Harry answered nervously as he looked down.

"Oh, thank you for telling me Harry," Hermione replied before sitting across from him and pulling out a large book from her trunk. Harry caught a glimpse of 'Hogwarts: A History' before she settled in for reading.

"Well lookie here Forge..." one of the red-headed twins from earlier called out as he peeked into their cabin. "We have two lovely little first years... We should sit with them and tell them all about the magical world they're about to enter..."

"Good idea Gred... and it looks like they're at least partially muggle-born too!" 'Forge' answered when he peeked in. "I say, have you two seen a kid named Harry Potter around? We want to warn him about a prank we're pulling..."

Hermione looked at Harry questioningly, which he returned with equal uncertainty before waving shyly. "I'm Harry..."

"So you are!" 'Gred' gushed before pulling up a pair of trunks. "Mind budging over so we can join you?"

After Hermione shifted over to sit next to Harry, the twins settled in across from them easily enough, Gred sitting on Forge's lap like a girl with her boyfriend. "Oh, I can't tell you how long it's been since we've wanted to have some little First Years under our wings... ain't that right Forge?"

"Quite right Gred!" Forge answered while hugging his twin tightly. "Why even as little babes in our mum's arms we were planning how to be good guides to the first years. And that we simply must have a boy and a girl..."

"Of course, it's only proper you see for a family to have at least one woman about..." Gred explained with a coy smile and a heavy blush. "I dare say it was love at first sight with me and Forge here..."

"No, it was chaos first, then the love came after."

"Oh so that it was..." Gred conceded before turning to look at the now completely confused and uncomfortable Harry. "Before we continue, I'm Fred and he's George, we're the Weasley twins. Ravenclaw members since last year. And our little brother is sitting in cabin 45 waiting for you... We recommend not going in there because halfway through, the doors and windows are going to seal and three spiders will be released. Harmless little garden spiders..."

"See, he thinks that if he befriends you, he'll become rich and famous..." George explained while Fred settled into the seat next to him, and off his lap. "We don't want that... but if you'd like to join the Ravenclaw Rebels, we're recruiting..."

"Ravenclaw Rebels?" Hermione perked up interested as she leaned in. "Sorry for interrupting, but I don't remember that being in Hogwarts: A History..."

"That's because we started it last year!" Fred proclaimed while puffing out his chest. "Just me and George here, working to exceed our famous predecessors the Marauders..."

At this the twins did some sort of holy ritual where they bit their thumbs and blew a raspberry while facing away from each other. After that they looped an arm over the other's shoulder and leaned in. "Now, Harry and... cute young witch that Harry has a fancy for..." George continued, ignoring the protest from Harry and the shocked look Hermione sported. "If you two are sorted into Ravenclaw, you could join us in our quest to improve the school from the boring and drab old magical thinking. We find that the muggles have a more entertaining mind-set. If not... I suppose we could set up branch memberships in the other houses..."

"Scholastic reform..." Hermione spoke with stars in her eyes. "A chance for the students to show the school the proper way to go about teaching us what we need to learn in order to function... After that it'd be such a small step into the world of social and political reform..."

"Err... right..." Fred started, his eyes shifting nervously towards George.

George smiled and nodded sagely. "Let's go with that..."

A jerk let them know that the train had started moving finally. Fred and George seemed prepared to spend the start of the trip catching up on sleep, Hermione opened her book again, and Harry, Harry just settled in to watch the scenery passing by outside the window.

Shortly after a scream, echoing through the halls alerted them to the fact that they were half-way to the school, a lady pushing a candy cart around stopped in to check if they wanted something. Initially Fred and George insisted that they didn't want any, and Hermione only seemed moderately interested, but declined politely. Before the lady left, Harry said that he'd buy all three of them some candy, as a thanks for hanging out with him.

Hermione watched a chocolate frog springing down the hallway, while a trio of students chased after it. "I really shouldn't... my parents wouldn't like me ruining my teeth with sweets..."

"Oh, is that what you're worried about dear?" The lady exclaimed while showing Harry a selection of chocolates that she assured him wouldn't leap away. "All wizarding candy has no actual sugar in it... it's enchanted that way... and we have some tooth cleaning chew-chews. They're brand new last month, and are delicious."

Hermione took a pair of the chew-chews, and something called a Goo-goo-ga-jube, Harry took a sample of filled chocolates, while the twins seemed to favor the toffees and taffy selection. It seemed they had made the wise choice, as they could hear vomiting from across the hall. Fred sighed and shook his head. "Looks like they found a really nasty flavored bean..."

"Bean?" Harry asked, the cream filled chocolate a hair's breadth from his mouth. "What beans?"

"Bertnie Botts Every Flavor Beans," George answered with a shudder. "I've had shoe polish before... it was disgusting."

The other three had a good chuckle, which George joined in after a moment. It seemed like it was the start of a beautiful friendship. Merlin help the Wizarding World.