AN: Thanks to the wonders of migraines, I got put out of commision and had to play catch up irl, which put me behind. Really behind. Then I had to scrap this entire chapter twice, which put me even further back. Yay! (muffled sobs echo in the distance)

Chapter Three

Hettie stood, staring at the wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10, incredulously. She hadn't truly believed the twins when they told her that she had to run through a brick wall to get to the train, but here she was, and there was a blond boy a few years older than she running through a wall. Hettie felt that that needed to be reiterated, since he was running headfirst into a wall, pushing his trunk before him and not even slowing down as it swallowed him up. She turned to look at the older woman, the blond's mother, who just smiled at her warmly.

"Go ahead, dear. Just run through and keep going a bit so no one runs into you on the other side." She patted Hettie's shoulder, making the girl stiffen and fight to not move away from the unfamiliar touch. "Close your eyes if need be, but don't worry."

Hettie gave her a hesitant smile, subtly shifting from underneath her hand, and turned to the wall, taking a deep breath. She tightened her grip on her trunk and took off at a brisk pace, not quite running, but going much quicker than she would normally allow herself. It took only moments, Hettie fighting herself the whole way, and she was past the illusion and stepping onto the platform, gazing at the massive ruby train. It was early yet, so there weren't many people milling about, allowing her a nearly clear view of the Express. She kept walking, much slower this time, keeping the woman's advice in mind, but her eyes stayed fastened on the transport to her next step to start on her journey when she turned 16.

Being with the Dursleys, she had despaired of being able to take her first journey on her birthday. She knew she wouldn't get any money from her relatives, and a Trainer's pokemon had to be one of the 21 Regional Starters by law, which could cost a lot of money, depending on the Breeder she would be able to go to and which pokemon was chosen. She really didn't need a lot of money to start her journey, basic PokeDexes are free with registering the Trainer license on the sixteenth birthday and most other supplies could be ignored for living off the land, as long as the Trainer was well prepared. Getting her first pokemon, though, could have more than bankrupted her, forcing her to get a job for a year, or more, to build up some money, while still trying to study and stay up to date with all of the new discoveries in Kanto, and the other Regions. Realistically, Hettie had been planning on going on her first journey between 18 and 20, if she was lucky. Then, she would have had to be constantly battling other Trainers and the Gym Leaders to get the prize money, which would have been just enough to actually live without having another job.

Any savings she had managed to accumulate over the 2-4 years of work would have been mostly wiped out with her Starter and the supplies to make sure she didn't accidentally die in the wilderness. That she didn't have to worry about money, and that she knew she would be getting a good education at Hogwarts, and no longer had to answer to the Dursleys was such a relief that, when she had realized the freedom she now had with the delivery of her Hogwarts letter with a very irritated Hoothoot, Hettie had broken down, sobbing for a good hour in sheer relief in her apartment on Domestic.

Hettie settled into a compartment towards the middle of the train. Etched runes, that she had spent a bit more for, allowed her to easily heave the bulky trunk up onto the rack above the window. She had gotten there early on purpose, mostly so that she could get her pick of the compartments, and settle in before many more people could get there and gawk at her. The few times she had slipped up, early on during her time exploring the Alleys, she had been mobbed. It had not taken her long to realize that the small scar on her forehead shaped like the sowilo was extremely well known somehow. She had quickly resorted to buying a few different beanies that she pulled over it; she had also gotten her hair cut with bangs in an attempt to disguise it for when it was just too hot to wear a hat.

She was wearing a black one today, with a white tank tucked into black cargo pants that fell over a pair of black hiking boots. An oversized black Hogwarts sweater completed her ensemble, spelled specifically to match her House when it was decided. She had been relieved that Hogwarts' uniforms were less uniforms, and more like specially spelled articles that were labeled 'official,' more than anything like what Dudley was going to have to wear. They had a handful of official Hogwarts pieces that they could choose from, as long as they always had at least one on during classes and official events, and all spelled the same to reflect their House and be unchangeable after. Finally, she had a messenger bag, also black, that she was planning to use for the next six years for day to day.

She was just happy that the combination of the technology used in PokeTech and Runic Magicks allowed for even more upgrades than she had expected for her gear. Her bag and trunk were altered pretty much the same way, with tech and magic working together to make it larger on the inside, nearly infinite, and constantly the same weight, no matter what was added. She also had some blood protections added, like she had done with her bank card, wallet, and the folders containing her Family information from Gringotts. In the end, it was mostly basic things that didn't take much time, but beefed up the security (as well as her ability to actually move the massive trunk with her stick arms, she had thought sullenly at the time) so that she really didn't have to worry about someone else getting into her things. Luckily, because they truly were basic rune sequences, they didn't add much cost to her total, which had been getting fairly high. Fred and George, whom she had shanghaied into shopping with her after she officially got her First Year list, had had to comfort her over the total expenses, reminding her that she had to buy everything from the ground up, as she hadn't bothered to return to the Dursleys for anything she could salvage after she got the news of her emancipation.

Hettie shook her head, forcing depressing thoughts of her life "Before Gringotts," or "Before Fred and George," as she was beginning to think of it, away, and tapped her RotomDex.

"Yes?" the strangely layered voice came from the speakers. Her 'Dex always sounded like a bizarre amagalamation of machine and ghostly cackling, like the pokemon that was possessing it was always a moment away from breaking out in malicious laughter.

"What time is it, 'Dex?"

A put-upon sigh sounded as her 'Dex managed to slump. "It's 8:30, Mistress." It perked up quickly, interrupting her before she could utter a sound. "Anything else I can do for you? You can read through the Starters again," it said as it pulled up the pokedex information on the screen, automatically scrolling through the 21 too fast for her to actually catch any of it. "Or you can start your journal entry for today," the screen flickered as it closed out of the app and opened the travel journal. "Or-"

"Enough!" Hettie finally said loudly, blinking away the spots from the quickly flickering screen in front of her face. "I'm just going to read 'Dex," she said, her tone more even. "Thank you, though. Besides," she eyed it suspiciously as it floated down to rest on the seat beside her. "How many times have I told you not to call me that? You know my name is Hettie, and you should use it."

"No can do, Princess."

Her RotomDex ignored her muttered, "that's hardly better."

"I am in your service, so you shall have an appropriate title. We just have to agree on one we both like!" it finished brightly, mockingly. The ghostly tinge to its tone made it abundantly clear that there was no "we" in this, and that 'Dex would be calling her whatever it wanted to until it bored of her irritation.

"Fine," she snapped, tossing her bag against the wall after grabbing a random book. "Call me whatever you want, just do it quietly."

She proceeded to ignore the annoying thing, quickly becoming immersed in her An Introduction to the Art of Potions by Eileen Prince, the text for First Year Potions. She had been warned about Snape, and had no intention of spending her time in detention when she had better things to do. She was so wrapped up in the text, she was unaware of the passage of time, and the steady increase of people and their accompanying noise. It wasn't until the train started to move, jolting her, that she realized it had been nearly three hours. Hettie blinked, focusing on the real world slowly, trying to drag her mind away from the theory she had been reviewing as she slipped the book back into her bag, petting 'Dex softly as he napped between her books. Just in time for the door on her compartment to slid open, her twin terrors falling over each other and grinning brightly at her. She was helpless to the fond smile she returned.

"Fred," she yelped as he practically fell on her, smothering her in a hug.

She could hear George laughing at them as he closed the door, letting out Bob1 and Bob2 with a flash of light, the two monfernos joining the pile on the bench almost immediately. She finally succumbed to laughter when Fred nuzzled her cheek, letting her feel the wild grin on his face. The entire thing reminded her of the first time they had met back up in the Alleys after that first, fateful trip.

It was nearly two weeks after their first meeting, almost a week after the confirmation of her emancipation, that there was a knock on her door. Having planned to spend the day at home reading, she was still in her pajamas, a black tank and red and white plaid shorts with her hair pulled high into a messy bun. Deeming herself presentable enough, she answered the door, only to be practically tackled once it was wide enough by two almost-teenage boys. Hettie wheezed out a painful breath as the two landed on her, smacking them on the sides with her hands until they scrambled up. To her amusement, they were actually blushing a bit as they grabbed her hands and dragged her up.

"That's certainly one way to enter a room," she said, her tone sarcastic, but lips twitching.

One rubbed the back of his head, looking away for a moment and his blush deepening, before collecting himself. The other, who, after a quick glance, she determined was Forge, just grinned at her widely, the slight flush already gone. She looked at them a second longer, then huffed and rolled her eyes, motioning them further into the room, closing and locking the door behind them as they sprawled onto the couch. She had planned to sit across from them, on the other couch, but paused. They stared at her, questioning looks apparent as she strode to stand in front of them, between them and the coffee table, with her hands on her hips.

"Everything ok-"

"-little pichu?" Gred finished when she didn't say anything for a minute.

Hettie paused a moment longer, deciding whether she was going to say anything or not, before firming her resolve. She had never been close to anyone before, not that she could remember, and the possibility of losing these two was terrifying. But, she had felt comfortable with them front the start, even allowing them to help her, allowing them to see her weakness for a moment. And, for some reason, she had the feeling that if she let this go on too long, she would lose them no matter what.

"I know you go by Forge and Gred, but I would like you to tell me what your actual names are." She saw them shut down, and quickly spoke. "I get that you use the names, and the twin-speak, to throw people off. I get that. But, I can't," she fumbled for a moment. "I won't call you made-up names that you use to distance yourselves in case someone calls you the wrong one," she finally finished. At their still tense postures and cold eyes, she sighed. "Look, I know that you're," she gestured to the twin to her right, "the one introduced as Gred, and you're," she waved at the other, "Forge." At their shock, and burgeoning hope, she smiled. "I can tell which one of you is which, I promise. So, I-"

She was cut off by the two reaching out simultaneously and taking a wrist to pull her between them with a shriek. They cuddled her between them, hiding their faces in her hair and gripping her tightly between them as her surprise turned into a sort of bittersweet understanding.

"George," Gred murmured and Hettie could feel Fred's grin against her neck. She blinked, before smiling softly, understanding.

"Nice to meet you, George," she said quietly, before drawing away a bit to turn to Fred. "And, nice to meet you too, Fred."

There was a beat of silence, like they were afraid to break the understanding. Hettie could see George getting more embarrassed, while Fred was slowly getting restless, and interrupted before either of them could spoil the moment.

"You said that you both have monfernos?"

They both blinked and nodded in unison, George motioning to the shrunken ball on his belt while Fred pulled his pokeball off his belt and resized it in answer.

"As long as they don't damage anything, I don't mind if you release them," Hettie finished, trying to sound unconcerned, but she couldn't take her eyes off the ball in Fred's hand. The Dursleys disapproved of pokemon in general, and any pokemon they could have had wouldn't have interacted with her well anyway, like Marge's granbull, so she hadn't had much chance of interacting with any.

Fred shrugged, throwing the pokeball into the air, saying, "If they start acting up, we can always return them."

George only hesitated a moment before following his brother's action. "They should be fine, though. They tend to follow our lead on the acting out," he finished with a reluctant smirk.

Hettie wasn't really listening, though. Instead, her attention was focused on the two bright flashes of light that materialized into two small fire monkeys. They immediately crouched, the flame on the tips of their tails flaring, as they prepared for battle, only to pause in confusion as they registered no danger and an unfamiliar room. They spun at the coo that Hettie couldn't fully suppress, her eyes wide and adoring, hands clenched together under her chin, as she stared at them.

Hettie was oblivious to George's smile, completely enraptured by the little pokemon that were slowly approaching her, cautious of this new person that their Trainers obviously trusted but hadn't met yet. Fred, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes at both of them. Finally, he elbowed Hettie, who was holding out her hands to the two monfernoes, letting them get accustomed to her scent.

"That one," he motioned to the closest fire monkey that had taken hold of her hand and was absently fiddling with her fingers, "is Bob."

"And, mine," George said, petting the other monkey's head as it stared at her, gently holding her hand and just as adoring as she was, "is Bob."

She nodded absently, not really taking it in, until a moment later when it was like her brain screeched to a halt. She blinked rapidly, her smile faltering a bit as her head tilted.

"Wait." She looked from the monfernoes to Fred then George. "Both of their names are Bob?"

"Well, technically," Fred said. "One is Bob1 and the other is Bob2, but I'm not really sure if I have 1 or 2 at this point."

George just shrugged, nodding in agreement. "We weren't really fussed about having a standard 1 or 2, so we just claimed whichever number popped up first when we were forced to choose."

Hettie bit her lip, looking between the four. "This is another part of the whole twin-confusion-armor thing, I'm guessing. But," she pulled the two monfernoes closer to her as they climbed onto her lap. "Are you two really ok with it, or would you like me to call you different names, like I'm doing for Fred and George?"

Bob1 and Bob2 chittered at her, repeating their names as they each patted a different cheek comfortingly and leaned into each other.

She laughed softly. "I'm guessing that means the two of you really don't mind." A pause and she smirked down at them. "And that you enjoy helping create chaos."

They could barely keep up their innocent looks for a few seconds before they fell into laughter, grinning widely up at her; Fred and George both looked a bit incredulous, but pleased, at how quickly their normally suspicious pokemon were taking to her. It had been the perfect start to their reunion, the first time the twins managed to sneak away to the Alleys that summer, but definitely not the last.

"Yes, yes," she muttered, finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. "It's great to see the three of you. I know, two days is such a long time. Now, get off!" she finished, shoving Fred off of her.

He fell to the floor with a thud and a surprised groan, while the Bobs chittered and scrambled onto her lap properly before either of their Trainers could take it again. George burst into cackles as Fred scowled at the monfernos and heaved himself up onto the bench beside his twin. Hettie just grinned to herself, petting the two pokemon until they were slumped across each other happily.

"So?" Hettie asked leadingly, only to gain two blank stares from the boys across from her. She huffed. "Did you have any luck with that potion you were playing with last week? You were halfway through combining it with that charm last we spoke."

She trailed off when Fred groaned theatrically while George scowled, and looked out of the window.

"I'm guessing no luck then."

"None!" Fred nearly yelled. "George can get the potion right, and I'm certain I'm casting fine, but they just won't mesh the way we need them too. It's so frustrating."

"Maybe you just need to focus on something else for a bit? I mean," she continued, a bit more hesitantly as they stared at her. "You've been agonizing over this all summer. And I'm not sure that creating a new combination like this is something that you can do in a couple of months. Maybe you just need to put it to the side, do something simple for a few days, and come back with fresh eyes? That's what I do when I'm having issues."

"We know you're probably right," George said softly, most of the anger drained. "But, we need to start lining things up so that we can get everything running in a couple years. We need to have the order side of things well established before we graduate and go on our journeys so that we have a solid base of buyers."

"Otherwise we won't be able to go on our journeys," Fred finished.

Hettie nodded, well aware that her twins were looking at similar money issues that her sudden inheritance had cleared up for her. Unfortunately, there was no possibility of an unexpected windfall for them.

"You'll get it," she finally said. "Maybe you just need to talk through it to someone who has no idea what you're actually talking about." When they just blinked at her, she smiled, leaning forwards, careful not to dislodge the two pokemon still on her lap. "Go on, then. Work me through it, and let's see if there's something obvious you haven't been able to pin down cause you two are so knowledgeable about all of it."

Fred and George only paused for a moment longer before each pulling a tattered notebook out of their bags and flipping them open and beginning to speak.

Nearly two hours later, Hettie, Fred, and George were deep in the middle of a discussion/brainstorm/lecture on the applications of keyed levitation rune sequences in conjunction with potion filled balloons. By this point, it really had gotten to the point of ridiculous, instead of helpful, but none of them were too worried about it. They had all migrated to one side of the compartment, to more easily look at the twins' notes. They were so consumed by the lively arguments that the abrupt slamming open of the door made them all jump, the napping monfernos, and Hettie's 'Dex as well, waking with a start and nearly attacking the blond boy who stood in the entrance and the two hulking figures behind him.

"I heard Hettie Potter wa-"

"Potter-Black," she cut in.

"Excuse me?" the boy sputtered, shocked that she had interrupted him.

"It's Hettie Potter-Black. My name, that is. And you?" She straightened, tilting her chin up confrontationally.

His arrogance, his tone and the way he had simply barged in and started to demand answers, had irritated her. Still, she was rarely one for direct conflict, and she would rather not get into an actual fight when she knew she was at a disadvantage. A couple of months of good eating and potions could barely counteract the worst of the damage the Dursleys had caused, and it was still highly likely that she would never be as tall, or carry any significant fat, due to the long term starvation. Because of this, and her lack of any training at all, made her wary of entering a physical fight, and she had no pokemon to aid her yet. The twins and their Bobs were there, and obviously just as upset as she, but Hettie had never been one to rely on anyone, and she wouldn't start now. No matter how willing she knew they would be to back her up.

"And me, what?" he snapped.

"Your name," she said deliberately slow, as if questioning his intelligence.

He straightened, obviously offended. "Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Her head tilted as she stared at him. "A pleasure to meet you, Malfoy. These are Fred and George Weasley," she said, not bothering to motion to the correct twin, or even offer her hand to the haughty boy. "And their Bobs," she added when the two monfernos chittered at her.

Malfoy pursed his lips, but said, "Crabbe and Goyle. They are first years along with us," he added, making her eyebrow raise even as she nodded towards them. They were certainly large for ten year olds, perhaps not quite as tall as Fred and George, who were admittedly very lanky even for twelve year olds, but definitely at least twice as broad.

"Well," Fred said after a moment of awkward silnce, clapping his hands. "This has been-"

"-fun and all," George continued, speaking in their twin-speak in front of her for the first time since the beginning of the summer. "But-"

"-if there's nothing else-"

"-we were in the middle of something-"

"-so, if you wouldn't mind-"

"-we'd really like to get back to it."

She had forgotten how much she hated it.

The twins swanned forward, ignoring every attempt Malfoy made to stay in the compartment, or to get past them to speak with her more, and herded him and his lackeys out into the hallway.

"Thanks for dropping in!"

"Please feel free to not come back!"

"Have a nice trip!"

"As long as it's not with us!"

And they slammed the door shut, locking it in his face as he tried to lecture her on "the right sort," which was apparently not her twins. Hettie just stared at them for a second, while they looked both unrepentant and also a bit worried she would be mad at their high-handedness in kicking him out. Finally, she just laughed, and they relaxed back onto a bench to continue their conversation from before.

Truly, they really were the best.

END

AN2: I feel like I should go ahead and clarify about how the PokeDexes work in this universe. There is the basic PokeDex which is completely free (the first time you get one) that comes with certain apps included (also free). Anything else, any extra apps, or mechanical upgrades progressively cost more money (which is how they make their profit for these-extras). Upgrades can even include a Rotom or Porygon that is registered as yours, and bonds to you specifically-it's a tricky piece of magic-tech that no one except the scientists at Silph Co really understands. Basically, if you choose to upgrade to a RotomDex, you meet the Rotoms the store is currently carrying and choose between the ones that volunteer to go with you. If you don't get along with any of them, or whatever, then you can get other Rotoms mailed into the store, basically, for you to test compatibility, until you find one you like that likes you back. It's super important that you and Rotom get along, because the ritual that binds you is permanent, until your death at least. If your PokeDex gets damaged, and you need to get a new one, or just a newer copy, your Rotom can extract itself, bringing all of your data along with it, to possess your new empty 'Dex. (You will also see both PokeDex, RotomDex, PorygonDex, 'Dex, and pokedex. The first 4 are all the same thing-the actual physical, handheld device. The last is the app that is downloaded on all 'Dexes, that has the pokemon info on it. Make sense?) If this is confusing, or you just want to know more about the 'Dexes and their workings, just let me know in the comments and I'll go deeper into it.

(Sorry for the long note)