It had taken little time for the Grangers to claim an empty compartment near the back of the train. All three Granger children had skimmed, at the very least, their course books and their three trunks floated behind them under a Levitation charm. Starlight bounded happily along the corridors while Amber kept strict hold of her leash.

As the train moved out of King's Cross, the three siblings gently floated their trunks into the luggage racks above the seats and made themselves comfortable. They had no idea just how long it would take to get to Hogwarts, and so they decided to distract themselves from waiting by getting out books to read.

Okay, Hermione and Harry got out books to read, and Harry's was his new Quidditch book. Amber was more content to just play with Starlight, playing tug of war with chew toys and tormenting the poor canine by throwing the toy up and down without letting her get it.

It was a fairly peaceful ride on the steam engine as the cityscapes outside their window gradually became sheep and cow dotted fields. At least, it started out that way, as not even three hours later they were disturbed for the first time of many.

The first time was fairly straight forward. A chubby boy who seemed to be in their year came inquiring after his toad, which had been lost somewhere along the train. The boy seemed most upset at this displacement of his pet, and Hermione decided to go out and help him look. Harry and Amber stayed behind, mostly because someone had to watch Star, and neither Harry nor Amber could really do something without the other.

While Hermione was out, they were disturbed once again about 15 minutes later by a red-haired boy who was in their year. His blue eyes were full of apprehension as he poked his head in to inquire if he could join them, as everywhere else was full. The twins really didn't care, and invited the boy in.

Introducing himself as Ron Weasley, he and Harry made fast friends, after he got over the shock of seeing them, anyway. The two boys exchanged questions back and forth about their lives, as Harry wanted to know what it was like growing up with magic like Ron had. Ron, in turn, wanted to know what it was like being incapable of going anywhere without a tag along, intentionally or not.

Amber, after introducing herself and Starlight, went back to playing with the dog, but listening and adding her own questions here and there as well. She was astounded that Ron was 6th of seven, and felt sympathy for Ginny, who had to be in the toughest position as not only the youngest but the only girl.

Around noon or so the new trio of friends was interrupted by a kindly old lady selling wizarding sweets. Ron, looking embarrassed, held up wrapped corn beef sandwiches made by his mother. The Weasleys were apparently rather poor by wizarding society standards.

Harry, on the other hand, was quite rich and was quite happy to spend those riches on his family and friends, and brought quite the stack of sweets for them to loot through. Ron had quite the fun time educating the twins on magical candies, even as his own pet, a rat named Scabbers that seemed more dead then alive more often then not, stole a snack for himself.

Amber, munching on a cauldron cake, glanced at the rodent. "May I see Scabbers, Ron?"

The red-head looked slightly surprised but held him out for her to take anyway. Amber gently stroked the brown fur as she cooed at the rat, who stared at her with intelligent black eyes. She seemed rather taken with the rodent as she scratched it under the chin and handed him back to Ron.

"He's really cute. Professors McGonagall and Snape mentioned him in passing when they took us shopping, as we were asking about Starlight at the time. They mentioned that he was originally Percy's, but obviously that's not true, at least any more."

"Yeah. Percy made prefect and Mum and Dad got him an owl, so I got stuck with Scabbers." Ron blushed at this admission.

"That's good. I'd hate to think of what would happen to him if Percy focused more on his new owl. Heaven forbid that the bird actually gives in to natural instinct and eat him. At least you'll take good care of him now that Percy won't."

Ron looked rather delighted at this thought, apparently having been too busy brooding over the fact that in his family even the pets were second hand to realize this. He grinned and stroked Scabbers himself as the rat went back to sleep.

Hermione came back shortly after they had stashed the remaining sweets in an extra seat, and quickly introduced herself to Ron. Harry had to make his sister slow down a bit after she began rambling, and it was obvious by the red-head's face that he didn't know what to make of her.

It seemed that Neville hadn't had much luck finding his toad, but they weren't giving up. Hermione was just checking in, and stole a couple of snacks for herself to munch on as she headed back out to look for Neville's toad.

She didn't get very far.

The blonde boy that blocked her way looked extremely arrogant and Amber didn't like him very much right off, and his two ape-like bodyguards didn't help matters much. He looked into the compartment with an air of a self-proclaimed god, demanding Harry Potter's location.

Amber turned to her brother. It would appear that Harry was expected, even though no one but the teachers knew about the name change. She smiled at him, and silently asked her question. Did Harry want to acknowledge his birthright?

Hermione glanced at Harry too, and even Ron looked confusedly at the twins, and Harry shook his head ever so slightly. He didn't want fame, he wanted a peaceful normal life, like the kind he had been living since the Grangers adopted him. That he was Harry Potter would be a secret kept between them and the teachers.

Meanwhile, the blonde was gaping at the twins, not that anyone minded much. The Grangers were too used to it to care and Ron was still confused about the boy's Harry Potter questions. Harry looked over at him calmly.

"No I have no idea where this Harry Potter is. My name is Harry Granger, and these are my sisters, Amber and Hermione. Who are you?"

"Draco Malfoy." Came the sneer. "And I haven't heard of the Grangers before."

"And your point is? A family doesn't need to be well-known to have intelligent heirs capable of looking after their own." Amber arched an eyebrow. Draco glanced at her, giving Starlight, who was watching all this from her seat next to the twins, an odd look.

"I suppose you have a point. But we Malfoys have more then just capable heirs."

"Yes, yes, you have a load of gold that can't buy you what everyone really wants. Respect and love and friends can't be really bought young Malfoy, and you should take the time to really figure out just what exactly the name Malfoy gets you. Now, since we have no idea where Harry Potter is, why don't you kindly move out of 'Mione's way and continue your search elsewhere?" Amber waved the blonde away dismissively.

He scowled at her, before stepping back and motioning to his goons that they were moving on. Hermione grinned at Amber in thanks before continuing out on her way to continue her search for the missing toad.

"What was all that about?"

"He was looking for Harry Potter, and I decided to cut him down a few notches, as he obviously thinks his name means everything in a world that could honestly care less."

"What about the glances you guys exchanged? What was all that about?"

"Promise to keep it to yourself?" asked Harry, staring at Ron seriously. When the red-head nodded, Harry moved his bangs, revealing the lightening bolt scar that he had to cover up. "I really am Harry Potter, before I was adopted, anyway, and my sisters were wondering if I wanted to let that guy know it or not. I like my peaceful life as it is, so I decided not to tell him."

Ron gaped for a few minutes, before remembering himself and blushing. "Sorry. So, anyone else but us four know your real identity?"

"The teachers, because they didn't know about our name changes, so we had to write them back to inform them." Amber shrugged.

"What was your former name?"

"Slivermoon."

"Cool!"


Later that evening the voice of whom the twins assumed was the conductor of the train floated over the magical version of a PA system, informing them of their imminent arrival at the school and to leave all things on the train to be picked up by an unnamed means.

Ron and Harry had gotten into their robes, Amber with her eyes closed, and Hermione had been in her robes from the very start. Starlight whined as Amber scratched her behind the ears.

"You stay, Star. We'll see you really soon, and you behave for whoever picks you up for us, understand?" Amber ordered the dog sternly. The mix breed barked, licking Amber and Harry's faces. "Good dog." Amber praised.

Finally, the train came to a stop and the Grangers and Ron headed out into the train station, looking for their next destination. Ron was talking animatedly about the Houses and the Sorting, as well as theorizing on what would happen with the twins' Sorting. Amber, in turn, was helping Ron slowly see that not all prejudices were always true.

When an accented voice called for first years over the crowd, the quartet headed in the voice's direction, only to find themselves staring at the largest man they had ever seen in astonishment. He had to be at least seven feet tall, and his dark hair and beard were even more of a mess then Harry's.

This giant of a man, once assured that all the first years were gathered around him, lead them on a rocky path that many had trouble keeping their footing on. Amber wondered if the school was testing them by trying to see if they could survive the trek to the school. Both she and Harry were very careful and deliberate in their footsteps.

Finally, things seem to calm down slightly as the year group got their first sight of Hogwarts. Hogwarts turned out to be a rather beautiful castle that should have been on cards or in a history book or something. Everyone gasped and "ohh"ed and "ahh"ed over the sight, except the giant man (unsurprisingly, considering that he had probably seen it before).

Then the Grangers and Ron discovered where it was they were being led to; a little dock full of little wooden boats, no doubt enchanted someway or another. They were instructed that there was to be no more then four to a boat, so Ron made the forth in their boat, even if there was only three bodies.

A rather serene boat ride across the school's lake was taken, Amber letting her hand drift in the water alongside the boat. Their guide was so big as to get a boat to himself, as they floated towards and underneath the castle. It was all very beautiful, and the ivy hangings to the underground harbor gave it all a sense of mystique.

Professor McGonagall met them at the massive wooden doors that led into the castle. The Grangers smiled at her as she took them off of the man's hands, calling him Hagrid. Ron looked around him in awe of the hall they were led into, a hall big enough to fit an entire house and then some.

The twins turned their attention to the closed doors behind which loud chatter could be heard, suggesting that the rest of the school had already made their way inside. However instead of being led into that hall, they were led off to a smaller room off the Entrance Hall.

"Now, before you can take your places with your peers, you must be Sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, each having it's own noble history and producing great witches and wizards. While you are here, your House will be like your family; rewards will come in the form of House points, and said points will be deducted for misbehavior. A House Cup is awarded to the House with the most points at the end of the year."

"Now, please wait here while I go prepare the Hall for you, and good luck." With that, McGonagall left them to their own devices while she went to do just that, what ever that meant. Probably, Amber mused, to set up whatever test it was that Sorted them. She turned her attention to talk with Harry, wondering what Houses would be nice to be sorted into, and how they were to be sorted.

"I think Gryffindor sounds nice. Maybe Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw." Hermione answered first, having also heard the question. Harry nodded.

"I would like to be a Gryffindor, personally. That's the House my parents were in, according to that history book I picked up in Diagon." Harry added his thoughts to the conversation. He kept his voice low, however, to make sure no one knew that he had magical parents.

Ron nodded. "My whole family's been in Gryffindor, so I can't really say. I suppose the other houses aren't too bad, but Slytherin is said to be the worst of the lot. All of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters came from there."

"Not true." Amber rejoined. "I also read that book of Harry's, and it said Sirius Black was the one to betray the Potters, and I looked him up in my own books. Sirius was a Gryffindor, which was why the Potters trusted him enough to let him be Secret-Keeper."

Ron blushed slightly. "I forgot about him." He admitted.

"Yeah, I guess when you're raised that Gryffindors are always good, and Slytherins are back-stabbing murderers, you tend to overlook it when something throws that perception out the door. Just imagine what everyone else would think if they remembered that Black was a Gryffindor, and he was perhaps the biggest back-stabber of them all!" Amber wondered aloud with a small giggle at the thought. "I think Slytherin might be a nice House to get into, but not in its current state. Dealing with people like Malfoy every day? Please, just kill me now."

The other three laughed, nodding in agreement. That's when the other students' screams interrupted their conversation. The foursome whirled around to see what all the fuss was about and saw ghosts talking about someone named Peeves. A chubby friar was saying that Peeves deserved another chance, while a finely dressed nobleman, from his appearance, was rebuffing this argument by pointing out that Peeves had been given plenty of chances before, and that it wasn't fair that he was giving all ghosts a bad name when he wasn't technically a ghost at all.

The both of them where part of a large group of ghosts, but they were the only ones talking, and the both fell silent at the sight of the gawking students.

"Hello, what are you doing here?" asked the Nobleman, looking at them curiously.

"Waiting for Professor McGonagall to set up the Sorting test." Amber replied primly, the only one to do so. Even Ron and her siblings appeared shocked at the appearance of the floating dead people.

The Friar looked delighted. "First years! Oh wonderful, and this looks like a good lot too!" he exclaimed happily, looking over the whole group. The ghosts then decided to gape at the twins, which the whole wizarding world was bound to do once they caught their first sight of them. Amber sighed resignedly.

"Thank you, Mr. Friar, but might I suggest you move along to wherever you were heading? Because unless my eyes deceive me, Professor McGonagall appears to be returning." Amber replied to the ghost. The spirits all whirled around, or their best equivalent of anyway, to see the witch was indeed almost upon the whole group. They nodded, and floated through the wall.

McGonagall eyed the first years under her care shrewdly, taking in the fact that several of them, indeed all of them save Amber, were slightly pale and kept glancing from her to the nearby wall. Amber watched her curiously. She arched an eyebrow at the twin in question, and got the mouthed "Ghosts" back in response.

With a nod, more to herself then the students, she gathered their attention and informed them to line up, personally telling the twins to get in the last place. Even though their names were higher on the list because of their surnames, because of their…unique…circumstances, they were to be Sorted last. Harry and Amber nodded in response, not minding in the least.

Then they were led into a grand looking hall with a ceiling they all knew was enchanted to show the sky outside and hundreds of floating candles. The four House tables lined the hall, with a fifth table for the staff up on a slightly raised stage like area. Everyone watched them walk up to the front of the hall, where a decrepit hat sat on a three-legged stool.

The Grangers made especially sure to pay no mind to staff and students alike when they finally registered the twins, walking calmly behind their sister, both heads held tall and proud, their robes swishing out behind them, partially revealing the two uniforms sewn together, Harry with the guy's, Amber with the girl's.

All three Grangers gawked in astonishment, and a little incredulous disbelief, when the hat on the stool began to sing. When they realized that the hat was to Sort them, their expressions became even more so. Amber leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear, causing him to nod in agreement.

McGonagall paid no attention to this by-play, focused instead on unrolling a scroll and calling out names. The first two students were in Hufflepuff, the third in Ravenclaw, then Slytherin, and Gryffindor. There was no rhyme or reason to the choosing, just the hat sitting on the student's head and then calling out a house.

The Hat took a couple of minutes to decide on Hermione's placement, seeming to argue with both itself and Hermione about where she should go, before deciding on Gryffindor. Amber and Harry nodded and smiled at the thrilled looking brunette as she raced for her new table, and then patiently waited for the other students to go.

Neville Longbottom, the boy with the missing toad, took a long time to become a Gryffindor, and he accidentally ran off with the hat after his placement and had to go back to return it. Malfoy took no time at all to become, surprise of all surprises (please note the sarcasm), a Slytherin, and Ron became a Gryffindor as well.

Several students began muttering softly to themselves when no one called Harry Potter was called up to be sorted, even though nearly every student on the train knew that this should have been the Boy-Who-Lived's first year. McGonagall glared at them all until they silenced, and then continued. Ron and Hermione smirked at one another.

Finally, Blaise Zambini was dispatched to Slytherin and it became the twins turn. Student and staff alike gaped as the duo got comfortable on the stool, and McGonagall held up the hat, looking at it curiously. Obviously, even she wondered how the twins would be sorted.

"Well, put me on one of their heads, would you?" the hat spoke out, sounding slightly annoyed. Several people found it in themselves to snigger as McGonagall obeyed with a glare that hat ignored, if indeed it could actually see it. Harry became the first, but the hat did not yell out a name; instead it seemed to have a conversation before deciding something and having Harry place it on his sister's head.

Again, the hat did not yell a name, but had yet another conversation, this one taking longer as Amber seemed to make friends with the hat, before it was settled on the twins' lap, where it hummed and hawed for several minutes.

"What exactly is going on?" demanded Snape at last, looking annoyed.

"It's assimilating its knowledge of us and figuring out our best placement. Seeing as we have no other choice but to go to the same house, it's trying to figure out which would best suit both of our individual personalities." Amber answered smartly. Snape, if he had been anyone else, would have flushed in embarrassment.

Finally, after several long moments punctuated by Ron's moans about food, the Hat seemed to come to a decision, and Amber and Harry Granger became Hufflepuffs. "Your loyalty to your friends and family, as well as your morals and values, are something you both share. Hufflepuff will be good for you both where the other Houses would not." It added after announcing the decision.

Amber thanked the hat for them, and handed it back to McGonagall, as she and Harry made their way to their new house tables. Hermione looked momentarily sad that her sister and brother did not make it into her house with her, but she smiled at them anyway, nodding in congratulations from her seat at Gryffindor. They smiled back.

Then the feast started, food appearing on the table as if by magic, with a few words, odd as they were, from the Headmaster, who seemed like a jolly old fellow. Personally, Amber thought he could be a good stand in for Santa Claus, although this Santa had obviously done a little Weight Watching. She found herself stifling giggles at the thought.

Harry stared at his twin curiously. "What is your problem?"

"Just a thought about the Headmaster and Santa Claus. I was thinking about how he looks like Santa on Weight Watchers or something."

Harry chanced a glance at the old man, and snorted. He agreed with this very accurate description of his new Headmaster, and found it as funny as his sister did. All he was missing was the reindeer pulled sleigh. And, of course, Harry wasn't entirely sure Santa would wear a bright purple robe with neon orange teddy bears all over it, either.

"May we help you with something?" Amber's calm voice brought Harry out of his attempts to imagine Santa in Dumbledore's outfit, and he found his sister staring evenly at their fellow first years, who were eying the twins in astonishment, along with the rest of the house. One, who Harry vaguely remembered as being called Finch-Fletchley, didn't look as stunned as the others.

"So, conjoined twins, huh?" he asked, sitting across from them and looking more curious then stunned.

"That's right, and would it you believe that we wouldn't have been if it wasn't for magic? A wish to stay together forever, and boom. Here we are, sharing one functional body together, for the rest of our lives." Harry replied with a smirk. He liked this kid, whoever he was. "But why don't you seem as shocked about it as everyone else?"

"I'm muggleborn, just like you two. I've never seen conjoined twins before, but my parents knew a doctor who separated a pair once, so I already know about them, unlike everyone else."

"Well, that would explain it. Easier to accept that which you knew already exists, even if you have never set eyes on it before." Amber nodded. She held out her hand for the boy, who shook it, followed by Harry's. "We're the Granger twins. I'm Amber and this is Harry."

"Justin Finch-Fletchley, nice to met ya." The boy introduced himself with an easy-going smile. They all ignored the others, allowing them to come to grips with the twins on their own. It would work, eventually.

By the time the other first years had managed to shake off the shock, Justin and the twins were happily trading tales about their families.

"My folks were shocked when the letter came. I mean, I was supposed to go to Eton, and then this bird comes in with a letter saying I can go to this school we've never heard about, and that it happens to be a school for MAGIC of all things. My brother thought it was some prank, and insisted that I write back saying that I wanted to go. Then Professor Flitwick shows up after I write back saying I didn't appreciate being pranked, and things evolved from there."

"Ours was even more straight-forward. Three owls came for us, because the school hadn't heard about our being adopted by the Grangers, I guess. We wrote one response back asking what was going on and telling them about the adoption, and Professor McGonagall wrote back saying that she and Professor Snape would come and talk to us and take us shopping." Amber told her own story.

"Hermione was thrilled at the idea of learning something new, but she always is. Amber here already knew about magic, because our former guardians dumped us in an alley, and she had to get us back to her previous orphanage, and we kind of came across Diagon Alley being opened up along the way. Amber saw it, but I didn't, too shocked at my guardians' nerve to do that." Harry added. "But we accepted it in good grace. Mum and Dad did too after McGonagall's response came with the owl, proving our story."

Justin laughed. "Oh I bet the teachers got a kick out of meeting you two for the first time! I can just see their faces!"

Amber and Harry giggled themselves. "It was quite funny. Their mouths didn't close back up for like five minutes. I was waiting for the flies to come zooming in."

"I wouldn't have been surprised if they had actually swallowed a bug and never noticed. But you should have seen them go cross-eyed when they started regaining their composure and Hermione started in on her rapid-fire questions. Mum and Dad actually had to scold her."

"Um, excuse me?" one of the others, a girl, butted in cautiously. "But what happened to you that you look like this?"

"It's actually called conjoined twins. Muggles have known about them for awhile, normally as Siamese twins. It's complicated in real life, but for us, it was an act of accidental magic. We're Harry and Amber Granger, by the way, who are you?"

"I'm Hannah Abbot, and this is Susan Bones and Ernie Macmillan."

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley."

And so, the Granger twins quickly made friends out of everyone in their year. Finally, Dumbledore stood up to make his Start of Term notices, including the Forbidden Forest, Filch's banned items and no-magic rules in the corridors, and the third floor corridor being out of bounds this year. Harry and Amber exchanged glances at this one.

Once the singing of the school song was over, done by the twins to two different tunes they had picked out themselves—Amber honoring her biological Irish roots and Harry choosing his favorite tune from the band America—the Headmaster released the students for bed.

Amber and Harry quickly sought out Hermione to say goodnight before beginning to follow their prefects to their new dormitory. As they walked, Amber memorizing the route along the way, the first years discussed just where the twins would sleep, considering that they were both boy and girl.

This was solved shortly after arriving at the Hufflepuff Common Room, where the Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar, happily led the twins to a separate room for them to share. Supposedly, it was a Head's room, but neither the Head Boy nor Girl were in Hufflepuff this year, and it was unlikely that both would be in Hufflepuff for the next seven.

This thought caused the Headmaster to allow the twins usage of the rooms, because they could easily swing back and forth if a Hufflepuff should make Head—most of their things were taken to and from their rooms by an unknown means at the start and end of each term, so all it required was moving from room to room.

Amber and Harry accepted this with happy nods, and relief that it had been decided that Star was to live with them, precisely for this reason. They had figured that their being a combined boy and girl would get them their own room, and it would be better so Star went to them.

Star was ecstatic to see the twins as they opened the door to their new room, their trunk already on the bed. Amber scratched the dog behind the ears. "Hey, Star. Did you behave like I told you to?" Starlight barked. Harry snickered as he levitated the trunk to the foot of the bed, gently setting it on the floor.

"Well, it's been a long day, and we have classes tomorrow, so how about we get in a quick shower and head to bed?" asked Harry, stretching and yawning. Amber, hastily covering a yawn of her own, nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. Come on Star."

Soon, the twins were out cold on their new bed, Starlight curled up protectively at the foot, ready to defend her friends at a moment's notice.

After all, tomorrow was another day.