This is my first story concerning the great Harry Potter fandom and my first story changing what happens in the books so much! Usually I write about events that could happen in the canonverse, I don't usually change it completely! Hopefully I've managed to pull at least some of what I've been trying to do off and that you'll help me improve wherever I failed to deliver ;) I hope you enjoy it!
"Platform 9 and 3 quarters this way"
My ears managed to pick out amongst the bustling and babbling created by the throngs of people at Kings Cross Station. Looking frantically left and right as I hastily stuffed the ticket Hagrid had given me back into my pocket, I just managed to catch sight of where I thought the voice had come from. Well, I say 'just managed' to catch sight of, I mean it was hardly difficult not to pick out the peculiar group of people from the crowd, all with matching flaming red hair and old fashioned trunks stuffed into their trolleys, an owl cage perched precariously on one.
Owl cage! I thought to myself excitedly as, if I wasn't much mistaken, ordinary trains didn't take owls onboard so that must mean...
Tentatively I began to roll my trolley towards the group of, I hoped, wizards. They were led by a middle age woman, also with ginger hair, clutching the hand of a small girl; behind which were four boys each with their own trolley piled with the type of luggage similar to my own.
I didn't have to follow them far for soon enough they came to a stop in front of the brick pillar marking the stations 9 and 10.
Looking to make sure they had in fact stopped walking, I pushed my trolley behind the last pillar they had passed and peeked round the side. (I was just taking a safety precaution! What if they weren't actually wizards and they saw me spying on them to see which train they got on? One awkward situation I could certainly do without thank you very much.)
However, when I looked back at the group I realised that the boy with the owl cage sat atop his trunk, was missing.
"What? I only looked away for a few seconds, there's no way..." I trailed off as my body tingled with excitement. There was no way that he could have moved away so quickly which meant that I was right, they were wizards!
Making sure not to even blink this time I watched intently as the shortest boy was pushed forward lightly by the middle aged woman ,who I assumed was his mother, with an encouraging smile.
Not taking my eyes off the small figure I saw him take a deep breath and seem to steel himself up for something.
Another wave of excitement and anticipation ran through me as I waited with baited breath. Finally, I was going to see some magic again after Hagrid's last visit all those weeks ago at the start of the summer holidays.
The boy gripped the handle bars of his trolley tightly before he started to run... straight at the brick wall?!
What is he doing! I squealed inside my head, hands flying over my mouth. Maybe it's like the brick wall disguising Diagon Alley at the back of that pub Hagrid took me to I wondered, though how he was going to tap out a combination on the bricks in time I had no clue.
Edging further and further around the edge of the pillar I watched with wide eyes as he got closer and closer to the wall before...!
Someone stepped in front of me.
"No!" I let out a gasp as my chance of finding out how to get onto the platform in time was lost.
Damn it I thought before I realised that the person, or should I say persons, who had stepped in front of my line of sight were still there, and talking.
"I told you she was following us Fred"
"I think you were right George"
"And she's been watching us too"
"Right you are again. Good job we stood in the way"
"Don't know what we would have done if she'd seen"
"Or what we would have told mum"
I stood there, speechless as I stared into the faces of two boys with ginger hair.
And the same face.
"If we were you, we'd be on our way now" they both said in unison, grinning cheekily down at me as I frantically tried to get my mouth to start working again.
"Uhhh" I managed and mentally kicked myself-not what I was hoping for.
"Maybe we didn't need to worry after all" one said, waving a hand across my face.
"Yeah, looks like there's not much there" the other chimed in peering into my eyes.
"I'll have you know that there's quite a lot there thank you very much unlike you two, who look like your IQs combined couldn't reach more than about 10" I said petulantly, folding my arms across my chest crossly.
"What's an IQ?" the twin to my left asked his mirror image, puzzled.
"Well there you go" I muttered as I slowly back away around the pillar to where I'd left my trolley.
"Muggle speak me thinks Georgie-boy" the other replied as they both followed me round the brick column. 'Muggle' I'm sure I've heard Hagrid use that word before I thought to myself as my mouth turned down in a scowl.
Walking backwards, my eyes never leaving the two red heads, I bumped into the handle bars of my trolley and Hedwig squawked loudly.
"Hey why've you got an owl on your..." the boy to my right trailed off as his eyes suddenly lit up in understanding while a rather sheepish smile crossed the face of his brother.
"Look, I'm not a 'muggle' or whatever you keep trying to offend me with but I'm going to miss the train and I have absolutely no idea how to get onto the platform because I asked the station master where platform nine and three quarters and he told me to- hey!" I yelled, blushing a almost out rivalling the twins hair colour as I watched them double over in fits of giggles when I told them about asking help from the station master.
"Y-you didn't actually-"one laughed wiping a tear from his eye.
"-ask help from a muggle-" his counterpart giggled leaning against the pillar for support.
"-about a magical platform" they finished together barely containing their grins of mirth.
"Oh well I'm glad you find it so funny", I mumbled embarrassed, "But I seriously need you to-"
"FRED!? GEORGE?! You're going to miss the train" a woman's voice cut me off and the two boys heads swivelled round.
"Come on then" Fred/George chuckled as he grabbed the handles to my trolley and started wheeling it towards his mother while George/Fred tugged on my arm to get me to follow them.
"Where have you been? I hope you've not been messing about with the muggle toilet facilities again, took your father weeks to make them stop spewing insults and disgusting water at whoever started to use them, not to mention you're not even supposed to be using magic outside of- now who's this then?" their mother, finally pausing to take a breath, smiled politely at me.
"Can talk for England can our Mother" George/Fred whispered to me as his brother explained my situation.
"Ah not to worry dear, not to worry. My name's Molly Weasley" she smiled patting me reassuringly on the shoulder before gesturing at one of the boys, "Fred'll demonstrate how to get onto the platform for you"
"Hey I'm not Fred! He's Fred" George cried indignantly at his mother as he pushed his trunk towards the brick column marking the stations 9 and 10.
"Honestly, woman, and you call yourself our mother" Fred said from beside me, indignantly shaking his head.
"Oh sorry George" she sighed as she stepped out of his way.
"Only joking mum, I am Fred" he winked as sprinted past us and straight through the solid brick pillar.
Um... what.
I stood there with my mouth hanging open as my brain tried to comprehend what had just happened.
"Well there you go dear, I'd go at a bit of a run to start with if you're nervous" she smiled kindly down at me.
"Er um o-okay" I stuttered as I wrapped my suddenly clammy hands around the handle bars of my trolley and slowly pushed it towards where Fred had started his run up.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to convince myself I wasn't running full pelt into a brick wall but really running into a magical portal taking me to a magical platform to board a magical train to a magical school which now that I think clearly about it all sounds completely insane and who in their right mind just follows a giant of a man who's told you that you're a wizard and takes you shopping and-
I was abruptly saved from spiralling into despair by a reassuring hand squeezing my shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay, you'll be fine. Fred'll be waiting for you on the other side and I'll be right behind you" George said from beside me as he gave me a toothy grin.
Giving him a shaky but grateful smile, I nodded my head in thanks at him and gave his mum a smile from where she stood a little to the side with her daughter.
"You better be" I muttered as I began to run, only just hearing his light chuckle before it was swept away by the roaring in my ears as the very solid looking red bricks and cement leapt closer and closer.
Determined not to shut my eyes I could now make out the grimy and chipped surfaces of the stone structure as the gap shortened further and further until I hit the wall.
And everything went dark.
Oh great, it didn't work and now I've knocked myself bloody unconscious I started moaning to myself before a resounding 'pop' filled my ears and colour burst into my eyes along with the quiet thunder of a busy train platform ,filled with the sounds of tearful goodbye's and excited cries of reunion after a summer break of being away from your school friends, the usual; "How was your Summer?", "We had such a good holiday", "I heard you went to Tibet", "Yeah the Yeti's were so friendly, the snowball fights were insane".
Yeah, the usual I thought as I was quickly beginning to realise that nothing was going to be my usual anymore.
"Hey move out the way of the entrance or George'll run straight into you" a familiar voice said beside me as I felt a tug on my arm pulling me away from the brick wall I'd just passed through.
"I can't believe that actually worked..." I trailed off still in awe at having successfully run through a brick column.
"Well let's be glad it did otherwise..."
A gush of wind brushed past me as his twin came through the wall.
"You would have made a right mess running into a brick wall at a station-"
"Filled with a load of muggles" they finished together.
"How do you do that?" I asked incredulously, George hadn't even been on the platform when Fred had started talking!
"Ah, it would lose its charming novelty effect if we told you that now, wouldn't it" they replied in unison, not forgetting to wink at the same time.
"Perish the thought" I muttered dryly as their grins intensified and they shared a knowing look. My eyes narrowed.
"You're plotting something aren't you" I said as we began to walk along the train to find an empty compartment.
"Who, us?" Fred cried indignantly.
"We're angels incarnate" George added, an overly innocent expression playing across his face.
"Uh-huh and what was it your mum said earlier? Something about talking toilets?" I smiled, raising my eyebrows.
"Ah, now that was pure genius" Fred said, nodding his head as he remembered.
"Hardly even needed to practice the spell for that one" George boasted on my other side.
"Well, we could have done with a little more practise" Fred said as his face scrunched up into a frown.
"We weren't quite expecting that all the toilets would be affected-"
"-Or that they would start to talk-"
"-Or the truly magnificent insults they would think up"
"-Only going for one to spit out water really-"
"But it turned out great in the end!" they both finished beaming before I burst out laughing.
"Angles incarnate, suuuuure" I giggled rolling my eyes.
They continued to tell me about all the mischief they'd gotten up to in and out of Hogwarts, not forgetting to mention the truly spectacular punishments their mother had thought up for them, until George spotted what looked to be an empty compartment.
"Here, give us a hand" George puffed as he tried to manoeuvre his heavy trunk off his trolley.
Fred and I went to help and soon all our belongings were aboard the train.
"Blimey what have you two got in your suitcases" I exclaimed as I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.
"I'm glad you asked that-"Fred began before George's gasp and pointing finger interrupted him.
"What's that?" he asked, indicating at the lightening shaped scar on my forehead.
"Umm..."
"Blimey," Fred joined George in scrutinizing my scar. "Are you-?"
"You are, aren't you-"
"Hailey Potter" almost whispering my name as their eyes widened.
"Why didn't you tell us?" George asked me, frowning slightly as he took as step back.
"Well we never did get round to actually introducing ourselves and I didn't think it mattered..." I muttered looking up at them uncertainly through my eyelashes.
I hadn't really thought I was all that famous to be perfectly honest with you, even when Hagrid and I had gone to the Leaky Cauldron and everyone had been shaking my hand, I didn't think even the school children of this world would know my name.
"Sorry?" I ended it as a question, not really sure if I had caused any offense or anything- I mean come on, I've only been part of this world a few months!
"Naah its okay-"Fred assured me.
"We were just surprised is all," George said. "I thought the scar was a myth to be honest" he joked.
Relief coursed through me and I let go a breath that I didn't realise I'd been holding.
"It's real all right" I grimaced remembering all the times Aunt Petunia had tried to get me to cover it up under layers and layers of thick makeup as it was 'indecent for a girl to show off an ugly scar in the middle of her face'
"Fred?! George?!" someone called them from amidst the bustling crowds of parents saying their final goodbyes to their children.
"That'll be mum" Fred sighed, though his eyes held warmth as they searched through the mass of people.
"No doubt come to tell us not to mess about with Filch and his darling cat again this year," George said before turning to me. "Go ahead, we'll meet you in there" as he and his brother made to find their mother.
I watched them for a bit as they left and managed to catch;
"As if we'd go after the same person twice" George scoffed.
"But his reactions were rather brilliant you have to admit" Fred said chuckling before they were swallowed up by the hustle and bustle of the station.
With that I turned and climbed the steps up and into the corridor of the train, stepping into the empty sitting area.
Or what we had all thought to be empty.
"Oh sorry, I thought it was empty- Is that a tarantula?" I gasped in disbelief at a boy with dreadlocks sat in one of the seats, a tarantula sat in his slightly cupped hands.
"Yeah! You wanna see it?" he beamed holding it out tentatively towards me.
Grinning I rushed over to get a closer look at the spider.
"Wow, I've never seen one in real life before" I whispered in awe as I watched the large hairy creature peek back at me through its four pairs of gleaming black eyes.
The boy laughed as he gently ran his finger along its body.
"Normally girls are screaming to get it away from them at this point," he chuckled. "I'm Lee by the way."
"Hailey Potter" I smiled at him watching his eyes widen in shock.
"Wow for real?" he asked in disbelief as his eyes zeroed in on my forehead.
Guess I'm going to have to get used to that I thought as I pushed back my fringe to reveal the lightening shaped scar.
"The one and only" I said as I let my fringe fall back into place and my attention was once again drawn to the tarantula Lee held in his hands.
"Do you think I could touch him?" I asked, suddenly filled with the urge to find out if it felt as hairy as it looked.
"You can hold him if you like" Lee answered before laughing at the shocked expression crossing my face, "As long as you're gentle" he added placing him slowly into my outstretched hands.
"This is so cool" I squeaked as I felt the spider shift and move slightly as it settled down.
"Hey, d'you wanna see some magic?" he offered, delighted with my reaction to his new pet.
"Definitely" I said immediately, eyes sparkling at the prospect of getting to see some more magic.
"Right, put him down on the floor and stand back a little" he instructed grinning mischievously at me before bringing out his wand from his jacket pocket.
"Engorgio" he cast waving his wand in a circular pattern before pointing it at the spider.
An icy blue flare of light shot from its end and hit the tarantula squarely on the back.
Almost immediately it started to swell and I gaped as it slowly grew to the size of a mug, then a plate, then a cushion, until it was the size of a small T.V and still growing!
"It's getting rather large now" I said nervously as I glanced across at Lee over the ever growing creature.
The look on his face didn't make me feel any better as it slowly dawned on me that, if I was reading the 'oh god I have no idea how to stop this' look on his face right, he wasn't too sure on how to actually get his now dog sized tarantula to stop growing.
"Get over here quick!" he yelled at me as we both realised that it would soon be too big to actually get over and for me, being on the side of the compartment furthest away from the door, that would be a problem.
"Go go go!" I urged as I scrambled along the seats to avoid the swelling spider before both barging through the door and slamming it shut behind us.
"Why won't it stop growing?" I questioned Lee who was becoming paler by the second beside me.
"I think I put too much power into it" he said uneasily, watching the spider fill the compartment from the other side of the glass door.
"How much bigger will it get before it stops?" I asked, biting my lip as we exchanged worried looks as he shrugged helplessly.
"What have we here then?" said a voice right by my ear causing me to jump.
"Jesus Fred" I gasped hand flying over my unsteady heart.
"How'd you know it was me?" he frowned before Lee burst out.
"Never mind that now! I've forgotten the counter-charm to the engorgement spell" he said looking towards Fred for help.
"Engorgement spell? What are you using that for..."George's voice trailed off as he caught sight of the growing dark shape currently inhabiting out compartment.
"That's not-"
"Your tarantula is it?" disbelief colouring the boy's voices as they stared at Lee's pet.
"How'd you manage that one?" Fred said mischief lighting his eyes as he thought of all the pranks they could pull with this new discovery.
"Now's not the time for thinking up ways to use the spider in a prank!"I cried, "There won't be a spider if you don't find some way to stop him from growing"
"Right, we can think of that later" George winked before sliding the door back with one hand and bringing out his wand with the other.
"Reducio" he said making his wand draw a 'V' shape in the air.
A brilliant purple colour shot from the end of his wand and soon enough the compartment sized spider began to shrink back down to its original size.
Breathing a sigh of relief we stepped back into the now nearly empty room.
"That was some magic you showed me there" I laughed to Lee who smiled cheekily at me before picking up his spider and gently putting it back into its box left discarded on a seat.
"We leave you for five minutes-"George started as he sat down beside me.
"And already you've get yourself into trouble" Fred finished, sitting in the opposite seat.
"I think it's meant to be" they both said, sharing a look which promised trouble.
Trouble I undoubtedly would find myself smack damn in the middle of knowing my luck.
Well there you go, I'm not sure if I'll be able to write all of the Philosopher's Stone like this or even if this will turn out into a load of one-shots about fem!Harry and Fred and George and Lee. If anyone wants to give me a theme for one of these said one-shots I'll be more than happy to oblige, I just really love writing about my favourite characters so I'd probably do it for you no matter what you asked for ;)
Please leave a review to tell me what to improve or what you liked I would much appreciate it :)