Author's notes: Okay guys, this is my first shot at a Harry Potter story so it might not be that good. (If not, then sorry!) Also bear in mind that this writing style is not how the rest of the story will be written, for some reason the intro turned out to be in a completely different style…

"Platform Nine is just down there, love." James barely heard the mumbled thanks he received as he looked round the crowded train station where he worked.

The morning shift could be a very busy time of day to be working this time of year, but he couldn't help but notice how King's Cross seemed more crowded then the last station he'd worked at. True, lots of children were being sent out to fancy boarding schools by themselves, not so different from anywhere else, but the crowds here were very different.

He didn't think many boarding schools allowed pets, but many children had come through with cats, rats and owls. He'd even been stopped by a kid who had apparently lost his toad… But that was nothing compared to the clothes he'd seen people wearing. London was used to weird styles but this was just bizarre! James felt like he'd seen hundreds of people wearing strange clothes that day: bright bowler hats, men in women's dresses and army boots, snow gear, one-piece bathing suits - and these were the adults dropping the kids off.

But the odd thing was, out of all the children of these weirdly-dressed parents and the ones with strange pets like owls, he couldn't once recall seeing them getting on the trains at either Platform Nine or Platform Ten, where all of them seemed to be heading.

James was quickly distracted from these thoughts as he felt something hit his leg. Looking down, he saw that he'd been hit by a trolley loaded with suitcases. He looked up in time to see a young girl running up to him, apologizing at what seemed to be a hundred words a minute.

"OhmygoshsirI'msosorryIreallydidn'tmeanto..."

James smiled, bending down to replace a small overnight case that had fallen off her trolley.

"It's okay, it's pretty easy to lose control of these things. What platform are you heading for?" She seemed to panic when he asked her that.

"Oh, I, um," she looked down at her ticket nervously, then back to him, "it's, uh, Platform..."

But James didn't get to hear her answer because she was suddenly cut off by a woman's loud voice:

"GEMMA, COME ON! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR THE TRAIN!"

The owner of the abnormally powerful voice came rushing over to her, followed by two more young girls. She mumbled a quick thank you to James before taking her daughter's trolley and nudging her towards Platform Nine.

James stared after them for a while before a loud crash drew his attention to a small group of kids who had apparently crashed into the wall between Platforms Seven and Eight.

When he ran over to make sure they were all right, he couldn't help but notice that they were also oddly dressed and an owl was flapping about in a cage that had toppled over.

One of the kids looked up at him, trying to keep a straight face as he explained what happened.

"Sorry sir, lost control of the trolley."

James sighed, running a hand through his hair. It's just gonna be one of those days.

"Hurry up, you two, or we'll miss the train!"

"I'm trying, but the wheel's stuck!"

"Give it here, Dimitri. Here, you take mine."

"…How'd you do that?"

"There was nothing wrong with it! Let's go. God, why do I have to be related to you?"

"Aww, Tina, you love me really… Hey, wait up, Lou!"

"I'm not babysitting you, and I'm not missing the train waiting for you two!"

"Aww, you wouldn't leave us all alone in a scawy place like this, would you Lucy?" Tina asked her brother in a stupid baby voice that made Dimitri burst out laughing and almost lose control of his trolley again.

"Call me Lucy again and you'll be traveling to Hogwarts underneath the wheels!" He snapped back at her, speeding up and disappearing into the wall between Platforms Nine and Ten

"I'd like to see you try." Tina laughed, following him through the wall.

Dimitri hesitated for a moment, looking around to see if anyone else was about to go through. He saw someone stood next to the wall with a cigarette, but the man gestured for him to continue through the wall.

Dimitri took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he charged through the wall to the other side, where he stopped to look at the brilliant red train in front of him.

He noticed a pretty blonde helping to pass cases up onto the train and he waited behind her to load his own cases. When she'd finished, the boy she'd been helping leaned out of the train to give her a hug.

"Bye mum, I'll owl you as soon as I can tonight to tell you what house I'm in!"

Dimitri couldn't help but wonder how the two could be related: she was tall, very pretty, and her blond hair was neatly curled at her shoulders. Whereas her son was small and thin and looked really shaggy, his hair was a brown mess with a grey streak tucked behind his left ear, and he had odd-colored (mismatched or "wall"?) eyes. The woman turned and smiled, noticing Dimitri for the first time. She seemed to realize he was on his own and politely asked if he wanted a hand with his luggage.

"That'd be great, thanks." He smiled and started unloading his things.

As they started to pile them onto the train, Dimitri noticed his brother passing on the train and called out to him.

"There you are! I was gonna ask if you wanted a hand, but it seems you already got one." His brother leant against the wall with his arms crossed, watching his pretty blond helper. "And a much better-looking one than me, by the look of it… I'm Lucifer, by the way. And who do I have the honor of thanking for helping out my little brother?" He said, smiling at the woman and clearly liking what he saw.

Dimitri expected the woman to snap at his brother but instead she just smiled.

"Aww, that's so sweet. I'm Janey Buckle."

Although she seemed to take his obvious flirting as a compliment, Lucifer seemed to react as if she'd just slapped him in the face: he lost his balance and only just stopped himself from falling to the floor.

"Janey Buckle? The Janey Buckle? As in THE same famous healer, Janey Buckle?"

Dimitri was distracted from his brother's conversation by a small, dark-haired man coming through the platform entrance with a scared-looking girl. She must have been about the same age as him. They were followed by who he assumed to be her mum and sisters.

Janey Buckle smiled at Lucifer; seemingly oblivious to the fact he was now gawping at her.

"I'm just dropping off my son, Kim. It's his first day today - his father's coming now with the last of his things."

As if on cue, the dark-haired man came jogging up towards them. Dimitri recognized him as the man who had been smoking on the platform outside.

"Sorry I'm late, I was helping a muggle-born and her family through the gate… Lucky I was there too, train's about to leave any minute! Everything alright here?" He asked, looking between his wife and Lucifer.

"Yeah, fine." She bent over to give her husband a kiss and gestured over to Lucifer. "I was just having a little chat with this dashing young man here."

Her husband frowned and looked over to Lucifer, who felt his cheeks go red. He quickly dropped to the floor to gather the rest of his brother's things.

"Well, I think we should leave them all to find a carriage and get settled. Kimber, you be good now, you hear?" He grinned, passing his son a rucksack that looked like it was probably stuffed with clothes. "And if you forget anything else just send us an owl, alright? And let us know what house your in, okay? I've got a bet going with your uncle that you'll end up in Ravenclaw like your mother!"

He winked at his son, and his wife hit him lightly on the arm before they both walked away from the train to join the other parents, who were all waiting to wave off their children before leaving the station.