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A Strange Beginning

"Shove off!"

"No! You shove off!"

Harry grinned. After a quiet start, the twins had finally come back to normal. They were trying to load all their things onto the Hogwarts Express and were failing miserably. Waiting for the twins to get out of the way so he could load his things and get on the train, Harry looked around and realised he was alone. Hermoine and Ginny had wandered off to speak in private, only to be surrounded by a group of Ginny's followers.

Ron, of course, had gone to chaperone and now stood a reasonable distance from Ginny, standing on tiptoes to try and identify every male who so much as spoke to her. Taking the time to look around at his schoolmates, Harry thought there was something different about the group as a whole.

He stood and stared, trying to figure it out.

"What is it!" he thought.

But nothing came. They were still the same old kids,

"A bit older and better looking,"

But still the same kids.

"Kids, hardly. Young adults, yeah!"

Fred and George had finally finished squabbling and started to load all the other trunks. Harry called Ron over, but he refused to come without first dragging Ginny away from her fan club, which he did with much pleasure. Hermoine followed after Ginny, covering a grin as she listened to the outraged sputters that were coming from her friend. Ron pushed Ginny ahead of him onto the train and leapt in after her. Harry took a step towards the train, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

He turned and found Hermoine's brown eyes staring back at him.

"Are you all ready for this year, Harry?" she asked quietly.

"Um, yeah," he replied uncertainly.

"Couldn't this have waited for later!"

"Good!" she chirped and bounded up onto the train. Harry followed. He looked around, and nearly groaned out loud when he realised that she'd done this on purpose.

Now he was stuck with just her for company until they found the rest of their friends. With her in the lead, it could take longer that it should.

"I wouldn't put it past her. She's been acting really strange these last few weeks."

"Come on Harry. Let's go find everyone!" She started to the right, but Harry grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I saw them go this way," he reminded her impatiently while pointing to the left.

"I knew she would do it! Lead me the wrong way just so it would take longer!"

"Oh right, my mistake," she grinned and gripped the hand he had just been about to drop away from her arm. She pulled him into the first carriage and stopped suddenly. She looked sort of disappointed. Harry looked around and almost laughed. Fred and George had managed to score a carriage closest to one of the boarding doors. He hadn't had to spend too much time alone with her after all.

As soon as they had walked in, Fred and George had both slid in opposite directions, leaving a space on the cushioned bench wide enough for two people.

Now they began to speak at the same time.

"H--"

"H--"

They turned and glared at each other, something so unusual that everyone felt uncomfortable. In the few seconds silence, Harry realised that Hermoine still had a grip on his hand, so he quickly jerked it free. Hermoine glanced back at him with a hurt look on her face, but then the train started to move.

"Are you two gonna sit down or what?" Ron wanted to know. Harry and Hermoine both slid into the space left by Fred and George, as all the other seats were taken.

Hermoine settled herself down next to George and grinned at him. She got along well with all the Weasleys and was treated like part of the family.

This time however, she did not receive a grin in return. More a dismissive glance as George leant around her to glare at Fred. Fred was at the same time leaning around Harry to glare at George. Everyone was put out by their behaviour. The twins were so close they never fought. They finished each other's sentences and often spoke whole sentences in unison. This was nothing unusual, but their reaction to the occurrence was.

No one wanted to be the one to break the silence.

So, for the first time ever, the ride to Hogwarts was a silent one.

A/N Please review!

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