DISCLAIMER: You know the usual song and dance. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Blah, blah, blah. Story time. YAY!

PS: Of Trains and Boats and Hands

As Harry looked at his ticket, he was confused. Platform 9 ¾? There had to have been a mistake.

"Hagrid?" Harry asked before the very large man had left him at the Dursley's for the rest of the summer. "I think there's something wrong with my ticket."

"Wrong?" said Hagrid. "Lemme see."

Harry handed him the ticket and Hagrid looked it over.

"Nope," said the half giant. "Everything looks fine to me."

"But it says Platform 9 ¾," said Harry. "Surely such a place doesn't exist."

"Blimey, I forgot," said Hagrid, slapping himself on the forehead with his dustbin lid sized hand. "Platform 9 ¾ does exist Harry, but it's a special place only witches and wizards can get to. You see, what you have to do is go to the area between platforms nine and ten. Along the area there will be a series of large pillars. Count down to the fifth one, and you'll find the hidden entrance. It looks like a solid wall, but that's so the muggles don't see it. Just walk right through it and you'll find yourself where you need to be."

"Oh… Okay Hagrid," said Harry. "And thank you for today. It was the best birthday I ever had."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Harry smiled to himself as the Dursley's drove off, laughing as they thought they were leaving him to his fate at King's Cross. Uncle Vernon had made a comment about how they didn't seem to have built Harry's platform yet, and Harry didn't bother to tell him it was hidden by magic.

The joke would be on them when they came to pick him up in June, his head chock full of magical spells. Harry's smile grew even wider as he thought about seeing if he could learn how to give someone a pigs tail, so he could cast it on his cousin the day he got back.

After making sure that Hedwig's cage was secure on top of his trunk, Harry pushed the trolley down between platforms nine and ten, counting the pillars as he went.

Just as he passed the forth pillar, he caught a glimpse of someone vanishing right in front of the fifth pillar, just like Hagrid had told him.

Making sure that no one was watching him, Harry pushed his trolley towards the pillar. He closed his eyed just moments before he reached it, his mind telling him he was going to hit it.

Instead, nothing.

Opening his eyes, he found himself staring at a large scarlet colored steam engine. He looked around, seeing the various people dressed in all sorts of robes and smiled once again when he spotted the sign that read 'Platform 9 ¾'.

Harry made his way over to the train, where the conductor was nice enough to help him lift his heavy trunk up onto one of the cars.

"But Father, it isn't fair," a boy with slicked back blond hair whined. "I should be able to bring my broom with me. You're on the Board of Governors. Make it so I can have my broom"

Harry shook his head, reminded of his cousin and how he would throw a temper tantrum whenever he didn't get his way.

Pulling his trunk and cage, Harry made his way down the train until he found a compartment with only one person sitting in it.

"Is it okay if I sit here?" Harry asked.

The young girl with bushy brown hair and slightly large front teeth looked up from the very large book she had been reading and looked at Harry in surprise.

"Um, okay," she said nervously, though Harry wasn't sure why.

After storing his trunk under his seat and setting Hedwig's cage in the overhead rack, Harry sat down on the seat opposite the girl, who had buried herself back into her book.

Harry stared out the window, watching as the various families showed up and said their goodbyes to each other. He felt a sense of longing as he watched a mother tearfully hug and kiss her son goodbye before his father ruffled his hair and wished him luck.

Ever since he had learned the truth about his parents and how they died, he started to wonder what it would have been like to grow up with them still alive. Would he be receiving the same kind of farewell from them as that other boy he had just seen?

Hermione looked up from her book when she heard the boy sitting across from her sigh. He was looking out the window at everyone and just seemed… Sad. He reminded her a lot of herself, as she had seen that same look in the mirror plenty of times after the kids at her old school would make fun of her.

Taking a deep breath, she decided that if she was going to make any friends, she would have to put herself out there.

"Is this your first year?' she asked.

Harry looked at her, a little surprised by her voice. They had been sitting there in silence for nearly ten minutes.

"Yes," Harry said, nodding his head.

"Mine too," said Hermione. "It's still kind of all overwhelming to me, being a witch and all."

"I know what you mean," said Harry. "I've only known for a month now and I still have trouble believing all of this is real."

"Oh, so you're a muggle born as well?" Hermione asked, remembering the term that Professor McGonagall had used when she came to tell her and her parents the news and invite her to Hogwarts.

"No," said Harry. "Both of my parents were magical."

"Were?" she asked.

"They died when I was a baby," Harry said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Hermione, mentally kicking herself.

"It's okay," said Harry. "I was only a year old when it happened… I don't even remember them."

"I'm Hermione, by the way," she said. "Hermione Granger."

"Harry Potter," he said.

Hermione gasped in surprise. Here she was, sitting there and talking to someone that was famous in the wizarding world. She then realized why his parents were dead.

"What?" asked a confused Harry.

"Are you really?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"I was just reading about you," said Hermione, holding up the book in her lap.

"Reading about me?" asked Harry.

"Yes, you're quite famous," said Hermione. "Look."

Hermione opened the book and found the page she wanted before handing it over to Harry to read.

Harry James Potter, also known as the Boy-Who-Lived, and for good reason. He is the only person known to have ever survived the killing curse, which was first known to have been used in 649 and works by detaching the persons life essence, or soul, from their body. The curse had been cast upon him by You-Know-Who, during the height of his dark reign upon Wizarding Britain on the night of October 31, 1981. For reasons unknown, even to this very day, the curse some how had reflected off of baby Harry, and instead destroyed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, leaving young Harry with nothing but a small scar of a lightning bolt on his forehead.

"I didn't know I was in any books," said Harry after he finished reading and handed the book back to Hermione.

"You're in a few others as well," said Hermione. "But they all pretty much say the same thing."

"This is kind of weird," Harry said. "Finding out that I'm written about in books."

"Did you know you were famous?" asked Hermione.

"Kind of," said Harry. "I mean, after I got my letter and Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley to get my school supplies, everyone in the Leaky Cauldron came up to me and shook my hand and stuff."

Sensing he was feeling awkward about talking about his fame by his body language, Hermione decided to change the topic.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" she asked.

"House?" asked Harry.

"Yes, house," said Hermione. "There are four of them. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History. It mentioned that each new student has to take some kind of test to determine what house they belong in, but it didn't say what kind of test. Which I think is kind of unfair. I mean, how are you supposed to review for a test if you don't know what it will be about."

"Test?" asked Harry, a little afraid of what it might entail.

"Yes, a test," said Hermione. "If it's one where we have to use magic, I hope I can do okay. I mean, I've read through all of our course books already, but haven't been able to actually use any of the spells since we're not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts until we turn seventeen, which it turns out is when you become an adult in the wizarding world."

Harry started to feel nervous as he thought about being tested. He didn't know any magic and worried that he would make a fool of himself in front of everyone and be told that he didn't belong and be sent home.

Just before the train pulled out of the station, a chubby, round faced boy who was carrying a toad asked if he could sit with them.

"I'm Neville Longbottom," he said as he tried to keep a hold on his toad.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said. "And he's Harry Potter."

Neville's eyes went wide when he heard Harry's name.

"My Gran told me about you," said Neville, who was nervous about sitting with the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry just nodded, feeling uncomfortable at being the center of attention. And he just knew that it would get worse once he got to Hogwarts and everyone found out about him.

Before they knew it, the Hogwarts Express started on its way. For the first bit of the journey, there was a feeling of awkwardness in the compartment as none of them knew what to say.

When Neville's toad, Trevor, suddenly leapt out of his owners hand, Harry saw it out of the corner of his eye. Without even thinking about it, he reached out and captured the escaping amphibian.

"Thanks," said a surprised and a grateful Neville. "He's been trying to get away from me ever since I left home this morning."

"You shouldn't keep him in the open like that," said Hermione in a slightly bossy tone. "He needs water to stay comfortable."

Just then, the door of their compartment slid open and a squat looking woman smiled at them.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked.

"Do you have any water?" asked Harry.

The witch pulled out her wand and a small container. "Aquamenti," she said, and a stream of water poured out of the tip of her wand.

"Amazing," Hermione whispered.

"Here you go," she said, handing it to Harry, who then handed it to Neville, who put his toad in it. "Anything else?"

Harry looked over what she was selling and purchased a few Cauldron Cakes and a bottle of Pumpkin Juice.

Neville bought himself some Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Juice, while Hermione pulled out a small bag with fruit slices in it. As Neville watched her pop a grape into her mouth, he looked at her questioningly.

"My parents are dentists," Hermione said, answering the unasked question. "So I'm really not allowed to have sweets."

"Dentists?" asked Neville, never having heard of the word before.

Hermione went on to explain what dentists were to the young wizard, learning as well as she found out that most injuries and small health issues were handled at home through magic, while any major problem, you had to go to St. Mungos and see a Healer.

The rest of the train ride went without incident, with the three of them getting to know each other. Though, Harry didn't say much about the Dursley's and Neville didn't say anything about his parents since they had all just met each other and didn't feel comfortable sharing such personal details.

As the sun set and the neared Hogsmeade station, the three of them pulled their plain black robes from their trunks and slipped them on over their clothes just as the train started to slow down.

Exiting the train, Harry said hello to Hagrid and introduced Hermione and Neville to him.

"A'right firs' years, follow me," Hagrid said to the gathered first year students.

They followed him down a path, away from the station and through some trees until the came to the edge of the Black Lake where a dozen small boats were waiting.

Hermione instantly froze when she saw the boats.

Harry, noticing she had stopped, turned to look at her.

"You okay, Hermione?" he asked.

"N-n-no," she said quietly. "I…I… I… I can't go."

"Why not?" asked Harry.

Hermione looked down at her shoes and whispered something.

"What was that?" Harry asked as he stepped closer so he could hear.

"I'm afraid of the water," she said. "I can't swim."

"Oh," Harry said, feeling bad for his new friend. "But we have to take the boats. Otherwise, we wont be able to get to Hogwarts since we don't know the way."

"I know," said Hermione. "But still…"

Hermione started to tremble a little with fear as she tried to force herself to move towards the boats.

Suddenly, Harry smiled and said, "I have an idea."

"What?" asked Hermione.

Harry took her hand and slowly pulled her towards the boats.

"Harry, what are you doing?" she asked, her voice full of panic.

"We're going to ride the boats together," said Harry. "I'll be with you the whole way, holding your hand, alright?"

Hermione looked down at the joined hands and then back up into her emerald green eyes.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise," Harry said.

The two of them made their way to the only empty boat, and Harry helped her get in and sit down before they magically took off. Harry was starting to lose the feeling in his hand due to the death grip Hermione had on it, but didn't say a thing. Hermione had her eyes squeezed shut tightly, afraid that if she looked, she would freak out in front of everyone.

Finally, the boats reached the docks and they got out.

"See?" said Harry. "That wasn't so bad."

"I guess," said Hermione, her heart beating a million miles a second.

The two of them stood there for a moment while the rest of the students followed Hagrid up a very long set of stone steps.

"Thank you Harry," Hermione finally said. She then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before letting go of his hand and following after the rest of the first years with a blush creeping up onto her cheeks.

Harry stood there dumbly for a moment as he gently touched the place her lips had touched his cheek before realizing he was the only one where and running to catch up with everyone else.

The End

A/N: I wanted to go for something a little different than the usual 'I love you and I have to be with you' story. I wanted this to be something kind of sweet and innocent, but leaving it open for the possibility of something more between them when they get older.

Also, I'm sure a lot of you noticed that Draco didn't come by and try to be Harry's friend. The reason for that is because since Harry didn't meet the Weasley's to get onto Platform 9 ¾, the twins didn't know he was there and spread the word around, so Draco had no idea that Harry Potter was on the train. No one but Hermione and Neville would know about Harry until the Sorting.