A/N: The characters and HP universe does not belong to me! All Hail Queen JK. Always.

Chapter 1

September 1, 1971

10:49 AM

"Alice, dear, please do hurry up before you miss the train." Mairi Brown tried for the tenth time to hurry her daughter along. They only had 11 minutes to get to Platform 9 ¾ and at this pace they would never make it. If it were up to Mairi she would turn around and go back home with her daughter by her side. She was not ready for her only child to leave their quaint little home. An empty nest was not something she knew how to deal with. Alas, Alice was eleven and it was her time to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the duo neared the empty space between platforms 9 and 10 Alice stopped walking abruptly causing her mother to run into her with the trolley that held her trunk and her black Kneazle, Zilla.

"Alice, sweetie, we talked about this. Everything is going to be fine. Go ahead now. Start running and I'll see you on the other side."

Alice looked at her mum with fear in her eyes, but knew deep down she was right. She glanced at Zilla hoping the cat would sense her terror, but the fat, lazy oaf just stretched in his basket and went back to licking his paw.

Alice turned towards the wall that, had there been a sign, would read Platform 9 ¾. She inhaled sharply and took off like a Nundu chasing its prey. Alice hurled herself through the wall and directly into a formidable looking, middle aged witch who had a terrified looking vulture perched on her shoulder. Alice was so stunned she was unable to move from her new seat on the floor much less form an apology. Mairi emerged onto the platform and began helping her daughter up while apologising to a witch who could only be Augusta Longbottom.

"Of course, of course dear. It's perfectly fine. My boy Frank is also starting Hogwarts this year. Frank, come here and meet Mrs. Brown and her daughter." Mrs. Longbottom called.

Alice looked up from staring at her trainers just in time to see a boy only an inch, or so taller than herself with the most perfect, chocolate coloured hair sweeping across his forehead, reach for his mother's hand. The boy bent and kissed Mairi's hand eliciting a coo from his own mother's mouth. When Frank reached for Alice's hand next she could feel the blush creep up her neck and settle on her ears and face.

As Alice said goodbye to her mother, the only thing she could think about was the ache she could feel in her chest as Frank walked away holding his mother's hand with her vulture trailing along behind them. Mairi helped her daughter get her trunk on the train and watched as her whole heart climbed on after. She stood on the platform watching the scarlet steam engine until it was a small speck on the horizon. Meanwhile, Alice was carrying Zilla down the corridor trying to find a compartment that was not filled with overly rambunctious teenagers. What Alice did not realize was the invisible red cord pulling her to the back of the train. Once she reached her unknown destination, Alice opened the compartment to find a girl with beautiful, blonde hair wearing a peculiar looking pair of radish shaped earrings. Beside her sat Frank Longbottom and when he looked up to see Alice standing in the doorway, the widest grin spread across his face. The blush she had only recently gotten rid of speckled her cheeks once again.

"H-h-ello may I sit here?" Alice asked, internally kicking herself for sounding like a mouse.

"Of course you can," the pretty blonde affirmed "We were just discussing the whereabouts of a crumple-horned Snorckack. My boyfriend Xeno and I are sure there is one in Sweden!"

Alice looked to Frank wondering whether she should laugh, or agree. Frank just shrugged his shoulders and went back to staring at an object in his lap that Alice could not see. The blonde girl stood up and grabbed Zilla out of Alice's hands and deposited him on the opposite seat before wrapping Alice in a hug.

"Hullo, I'm Pandora, a third year Ravenclaw," she said. Before Alice could say anything at all the girl had turned and skipped out of the compartment, shutting the door behind her. Alice stood awkwardly with her arms out for a few second before Frank burst out laughing causing her to jump.

"A bit barmy, she is. Nice enough though. You going to sit down?" Alice couldn't help but smile as she sat down. Zilla mewed and curled himself on to her lap. Frank glanced at the cat before reaching out and petting the little beastie's ear, Zilla purred before falling into a peaceful slumber.

"What do you have there?" Alice asked pointing to the small blue and white speckled object in Frank's hands. When he realized what she was pointing to, Frank's grin returned, causing Alice to get a fluttering feeling in her gut that she had never experienced before.

"This is an Augurey egg. Mum is always trying to hatch them but Victor keeps breaking the eggs before they are ready. Stupid git."

"Who is Victor?" Alice asked.

"Oh sorry. I figured mum would have introduced him before me. Viktor is that stupid vulture you saw following us around. Awful bird, nothing like my little Barkis will be once he's hatched. I won't be able to keep him at Hogwarts once he's bigger, but my Uncle Algie agreed to keep him when I'm not home. Wizards once believed that the Augurey's cry foretold death, but they really just cry when it's about to rain."

As the train continued towards Hogwarts, Frank and Alice sat and talked about Victor, Zilla, and their parents for what seemed like hours. Alice told Frank about the time her father put a fanged gerbil in her mother's purse as joke, but it backfired on him when a couple weeks later he reached into her bag only to come out with a mousetrap stuck to his fingers. What Alice didn't know was the feeling Frank had deep in his body each time she reached up to move her short blonde hair out of her eyes. She didn't feel his insides turning to mush every time she laughed at one of his jokes. Neither of the young people in the last compartment on the Hogwart's Express realised that they were already bound to each other. From birth, beyond time and through universes. Alice Brown and Frank Longbottom were bonded; soul mates destined for something far beyond their wildest dreams.