(A.H.P)

'DAAAD! I NEED HELP!' I called loudly from the train side as I tried to heave my trunk onto the step

'one second, Ally' My dad said from a while off, talking to one of the mums of my future school mates - or otherwise,

'Stop flirting and get your lazy ass over here monkey man!' I told him firmly and jokingly, I always called my dad monkey man, it was a joke that had lasted for as long as I could remember 'I could be enemies with her kid by the end of this year!'

'sorry,' he apologised to the women he was talking to and separated himself from her, she shrugged and walked down towards the farthest end of the platform. Finally my dad joined me and lifted my trunk into the carriage with ease.

'thanks dad' I said happily 'ooh I'm going to Hogwarts' I let the excitement build up inside again but stopped short of bouncing on the spot.

'well I hope you have a good time, but don't go forgetting about me okay?' he told me

'I'll write to you every week, I promise' I told him grinning

'good, and remember to feed Lalita before long journeys home, I'd like to see her again some time' he reminded me

'I will and you'll see her every week when she brings my letters! And you better reply!' I ordered him

'well if Lalita is still alive I will' he said laughing, he tickled me slightly as I looked offended. I couldn't help but let out a giggle. Then I saw something that made my skin crawl, or rather - someone. Strangely this person looked just like me.

'what's up tyke?' Dad asked as I fell silent

'don't look now dad but the wicked witch of the west is at 10 o'clock' I told him, not taking my eyes off of the girl and her mother moving through the crowd. Dad turned around unaffected then suddenly, spotted them and turned back to me quickly

'she was always one to be late for everything' he said, clearly talking about my mother, I had meant my twin but one man's treasure is another man's poison, right?

'she's not late, we were early' I told him dismissively, I watched my mother help Scarlett put her trunk onto a carriage about 5 away from mine.

'maybe I should wish your sister good luck on her first day' Dad pondered

'oh dad, don't make me go see her!' I begged

'sorry honey, but she's my daughter too' he told me, I gave in and left my bag on the train hoping it would be okay.

We reached them as they managed to get their trunk into the train compartment, I watched my sister as dad made pleasantries with my mother quickly and moved onto Scarlett, wishing her luck and hugging her. It was funny, my twin seemed smaller to me, but she was still the same size as me. Her honey blonde hair that reflected the shade exactly of mine fell over her shoulders neatly, and she had clearly put on make-up but compared to last time I saw her (and by that I mean we had plastered ourselves in mum's red lipstick last time I visited as we were quite small) there was barely any on her at all and to people who didn't know her it would be almost impossible to tell. I pretended to be nice but forced myself not to speak to my sister as I wasn't sure how nice I could be when I was so excited; I didn't really care but I knew dad wanted us to get along or at least be civil to each other.

Luckily for us the whistle went and I ran back to my carriage to put my bag in a safe place and get a seat. I held my trunk in the corner as I waved goodbye to my dad out of the window on the door. I made my way down the compartments, the first one that had a spare seat had another young girl in it but I asked to join her anyway.

'I'm Luna Lovegood, who are you?' she asked me as I put my trunk onto the luggage rail along with my owl, Lalita.

'my name is Alyce Harmony Paiper' I said formally 'nice to meet you'

'would you like to buy a copy of the quibbler?' she offered me, seemingly not taking in the information

'oh no thanks, I read proper newspapers like the daily profit and teen-witch weekly, what are you doing selling junk like that?'

'my fathers the editor' she said sternly 'don't stand up for too long, the nargles might try to trip you up'. Oh great, this is going to be a murderous journey.

(S.V.P)

'Mummy? Is this the only way to get onto the platform?' I asked while tugging at her sleeve and stared up at her with tears brimming in my eyes 'w-w-what if I don't make it through and I crash?' I continued to whimper at her.

'Scarlett, honey, you will be fine! I was just like you when I first started at Hogwarts' she reassured me while patting my shoulder lightly.

'Really Mummy?' I said as I glanced up at her.

'Of course! Every First year's like it.' She replied giving me a big beaming smile like she always did when I was nervous.

Whilst all of this was going on we heard more trolleys coming up behind us and a kind woman's voice could be heard saying:

'Now come on boys show Ginny what she has to do. Also, Fred and George Weasley I am begging you please don't misbehave this year as this is the year before you sit your O.W.L.S and I'm not planning on keeping you at Hogwarts if I get anymore letters from Dumbledore if this happens you can work in the Ministry with your father – I mean it! – George don't give me that look!'

My mum and I turned around to see who had just spoken and was faced with a sea of redheads and one boy with brown hair – OMG HARRY POTTER the most famous wizard EVER? - I also clocked two identical looking boys – they must be Fred and George who had just been given a lecture by the plump looking woman who I assumed was their mum. There was one more than particularly stood out to me; the one standing next to Harry Potter was clearly the youngest of the redhead boys and he was angelically beautiful, I just couldn't take my eyes off of him after they had settled. The women also turned round and stared at my mum with the most amazing expression on her face as she took both of us in and then started talking nineteen to the dozen with tonnes of questions all aimed at my poor mum;

'Lucy? Lucy Kirk? Is that really you? How is life going with John Paiper? Oh silly me! You must have changed your name to Lucy Paiper by now, right?' The kindly woman then came down to my level and said in the most kindest voice I've heard: 'who are you then? I must say you look the spitting image of your dear mum.'

With that I looked up at my mum and asked her if I was allowed to tell her my full name; she replied:

'Of course you can my love, this is Molly Prewitt darling; although I'm under no illusion that you and Arthur ended up tying the knot then? Which makes her Molly Weasley. For the record John and I got divorced when the girls were aged six. So then I went back to Lucy Kirk.'

Molly Weasley then put a kindly smile on her face (which everybody seemed to do when my mum mentioned the 'D' word) and said to me; 'well then tell me who are my dear. I'm assuming just like my, only, daughter Ginny here you're starting Hogwarts this year?'

'I'm Scarlett Victoria Paiper!' I beamed at her – I loved introducing myself formally – 'it's lovely to meet you all; hey Ginny? Would you like to tackle this horrible wall together?'

'Yeah sure! I'd love too! Hey can we be best mates?' She replied with a bigger smile then I normally wore.

'Duhhh! Of course! Come-on Ginny lets go!' I yelled and shut my eyes as I ran at the aforementioned wall with Ginny on my heels with her trolley.

As soon as I opened my eyes I saw a bright red steam train in front of me and I let out a gasp; not because of the train but because of the two people I saw walking towards the train…

'MU-UM!' I yelled behind me 'You never told me that the wife of Satan was going to Hogwarts too!'

'SCARLETT VICTORIA PAIPER! That is no way to talk about your sister like that!'

'But you always call her that at home, why can't I call her what she really is?'

'Just. Get. Onto. The. Train. NOW!' She screamed at me.

'Alright, fine I'm going! Coming, Ginny?' I huffily replied.

'Yup coming Scarlett, bye Mum! I promise to write when I get the chance, see you lot at the feast!' She called behind her at her family and of course Harry.

With that we jumped on the train – five carriages away from Alyce – and settled into our seats and then I let out my tabby cat out and put her onto my lap.

'Aww she's pretty what's her name?' Ginny asked me whilst stroking her.

'Thanks, her name's Biscuit but everyone calls her Bicky.' I replied whilst stroking her too, then I let her down so that she could roam the carriage alone. 'So tell me, how in Merlin's name do know Harry Potter?' I half-screamed at her

'Haha! He's my brother, Ron's, best mate. He's so nice…' She replied in a dreamy kind of way

'OOOOO someone's in love!' I replied

'Oh shut up Scarlett like I didn't see you clocking Ron and my other brother's like that!' She laughed and playfully punched my arm,

'Scarlett?' I heard my mum's voice from beyond the window and looked out, mum spotted us through the window and came over, pulling my trunk behind her. I had totally forgotten about it at the wall, I must have been even more nervous than I realised… or excited. Then I realised my mouth was open slightly and closed it quickly,

'can you watch Biscuit?' I asked Ginny, getting up. She nodded friendlily and I left the compartment. 'Sorry mum I forgot' I told her jumping off of the train.

She helped me lift the trunk on quickly as I was in a hurry to join my new friend again. We slid the trunk firmly across the floor of the train as somebody cleared their throat behind us. We turned around to find the wife of Satan and my father standing there. As usual Alyce was giving me evils and I returned them without hesitation, suddenly my father turned to me, he wished me good luck and hugged me, I muttered a reluctant thank you to him but never returned the embrace. Soon he pulled away looking slightly disappointed, my sister, if that is what I have to call her, still had her usual bad attempt at an evil look on her face, I stared back at her with what I was certain must have been a better attempt than hers as everyone fell silent. Suddenly the whistle blew and the train let out an extra puff of steam. Finally my unfortunate relatives left me in a rush, allowing me to hop back on the train. I yelled a final goodbye to my mum from the window and pulled my trunk back to the company of Ginny who smiled at my entrance. This journey and the rest of my school life was going to be a breeze…