Message from the Mako: Hi. I'd like to apologize for the long time it took to put this, for those of you that have been following since the first chapter. If this is the first time you're picking it up, Wow! I didn't think I could write chapters this fast! ;;;
-ahem-
This was going to be a really long chapter, but I got to the point where I said, "I could end this right here… " and after a moments deliberation I decided it would be best to end it and post it than wait until I finished the other two thirds. And just so you can get a hint of why it's going to be three parts, the true title of this chapter is A Rat… but it seems punctuation isn't allowed in titles So… if you think about it, you'll see where I'm going…
( A Rat, a --, and a --)

After leaving Diagon Alley, Hagrid had bought him a hamburger as they waited for the train. They talked a bit more about Hogwarts and Hagrid gave him his ticket for the train he'd be taking to school. Soon after returning home, he managed to convince Vernon to take him to the station, and everything seemed to be in order.

Weeks later however, he was finally starting to realize that there was something…off, about the ticket. He'd looked at it many times, each time he was left with the feeling that he was missing something. He read it again.

Sept 1

11am

Kings Cross station.
Platform 9 ¾

…

Wait a minute.

Platform nine and three-quarters? Where is that supposed to be?

Three quarters of the way between platforms nine and ten, a more rational part of his brain said.

It was too late to back out now though, they were leaving in the morning.

If only they hadn't locked Hedwig in her cage I could send a letter to figure out what to do.

-o-o-o-

As Vernon lead him into Kings Cross he asked Harry, "So which platform are you boarding on?"

"Uhm."

Think fast Harry!

"Either Nine or Ten, I don't remember."

His uncle smirked, said, "Well, try not to get lost going between the two," and he left.

Harry sighed and headed towards the platforms, trying to look as inconspicuous as it was possible to with a snow owl on top of his cart. When he reached platform nine, he kept walking and ran right into platform ten. He turned and walked until he was back at platform nine. It wasn't a long trip. Somewhere between the two was platform nine and three-quarters.

The question was how to get there.

He looked at the divider between the platforms, thinking that maybe he just wasn't in the right spot. Maybe he needed to be three quarters of the way down.

That stood to reason. Walk three-quarters of the way down and… And then what?

He sighed in frustration and started walking. Once he was three-quarters of the way down, he started, casually, pushing against the wall, hoping to find some gap, some anything. But he didn't find a thing except for a bit of gum that got stuck to his hand.

As he picked it off he thought that maybe he was just at the wrong third-quarter. That is was three-quarters down from the other side of the platform. He tried that and found nothing. He thought that he might have had it right the first time and that it was magically stuffed between the two platforms.

That still didn't help him get there.

Maybe I'm supposed to use my wand. Tap something. Tap things in the right order. Like… the ticket booth. Maybe if I tap it it'll jump out of the way…

He shook his head. It couldn't be something like that. Something like that would attract to much attention… wouldn't it?

Ugh

It was probably something so subtle that he was completely overlooking it. It had to be, it was the best way to keep it hidden, but what exactly was it that he was a suppose-

"--packed with muggles, of course--"

Bingo.

He turned and found a plump woman leading four boys and a girl, all with flaming read hair, towards the platform. The boys each pushing a cart ahead of them, and the oldest had an owl.

He hurried to catch up with them, and caught the woman looking at her daughter through the corner of her eye, "Now, what's the platform number?" she said with a small smile.

"Nine and three-quarters!" the girl piped up, "Mom, can't I go…"

"You're not old enough Ginny-"

Harry blinked.

"-Percy you go first."

The eldest went forward with his owl and Harry watched to try and see what you needed to do, but a crowd of passengers passed between them and Percy was gone.

"Fred, you next."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," the boy said with indignation. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, Dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," and he hurried off towards the divider, and was gone.

… well at least I was right about the divider

Then George moved forward and disappeared. But how had he done it?

"Excuse me," He said as he approached the group, briefly meeting eyes with the girl.

"Hello, dear. First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She said pointing towards her youngest son.

"Yes, but, the thing is, I don't-"

"Know how to get onto the platform?"

"Ah," he said, briefly looking at the girl again, "yeah."

"Not to worry. All you do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop or be scared or you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Right. Thank you."

He turned and faced the barrier. It looked very solid and the prospect of running right into it didn't interest him at all, however, once he started towards it, all fear and hesitation went away. It was like he'd been doing this for years. He broke through the barrier and found himself on a busy platform next to a scarlet steam engine labeled as the Hogwarts Express.

He looked around the platform as he headed for the train.

Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy. Why do those names sound so familiar? I swear I felt like I knew them. Especially Ron and Ginny…

He found a compartment and put Hedwig in first before attempting to shove his trunk in, with little to no success. He'd managed to move it a foot(maybe), almost break his toes twice, and was panting for breath before someone came to his rescue, "Want a hand?"

It was one of the twins from before, "Yes, please."

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins help, Harry finally got his trunk tucked away in the compartment.

Harry brushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes, "Thanks"

"What's that?"

Harry looked up and saw one of the twins pointing at his forehead, "My scar?"

"Blimey," Said the other twin, "Are you--?"

"Am I what?"

"Harry Potter," they chorused.

"Oh, him. I mean, yes, I am."

The twins gawked at him and Harry felt his blush start burning his cheeks.

Fortunately, after only a moment he heard their mother call them and the two hurried out.

Harry watched them from the compartment, as their mother forced Ron into submission before rubbing at something on his nose with a handkerchief. The twins teased him about it for a moment before making a great show of recalling how they remembered Percy mention something about him being a Prefect once, or twice, a minute, all summer.

Harry laughed as they then got a dressing down for their behavior and a warning to behave and not blow up a toilet or something, and then thanked their mum for the great idea. Then he pulled away from the window as they told their mother how "that black-haired boy that was near us at the station" was Harry Potter. He moved back to the window then as he heard the girl's voice, "Oh, mom, can I go on the train and see him-"

Harry had no idea why, but suddenly he was up and moving towards the door. He got to the platform just as their Mother said how she had wondered why he was alone.

"Uh, hello," Harry said.

The group turned to see him as he embarrassedly walked up to them, "I, uh, I didn't get a chance to thank you for helping me get to the platform."

"Oh, it was nothing dear, you don't have to thank me."

"No really, if it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't have made it," he saw Ginny looking at him and suddenly it seemed as if the two of them were trying to see who could blush the most.

A whistle sounded, "Oh, you'd all best hurry up, the train is about to leave."

The four boys, plus Harry, nodded and got back on the train.

Harry just got back to his compartment as the train started to move. He looked out the window and saw Ginny running along with the train, half laughing, half crying. Harry waved to her and she stopped and waved as the train speed off.

Not long, perhaps a minute later, the door to the compartment opened and Ron poked his head in, "Is anyone sitting there?" he said, pointing to the seat opposite Harry.

"No, you're welcome to it."

Harry noticed that Ron still had a black mark on his nose, and Ron peek at him then turn his head away pretending he hadn't looked.

The twins came in then, "Hey Ron. Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right" mumbled Ron.

"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

"Bye," said Harry and Ron, as the twins slid the door shut.

There was a brief silence before Ron blurted out, "So you're really Harry Potter?"

"Yes," And when he saw Ron start to open his mouth again he added, "Yes, I do have a scar," he pushed his bangs to the side, "and no, I don't know what he looked like. The only thing I can remember is a lot of green light."

The talked briefly about coming to school from a wizarding family and coming from a muggle one, and how it didn't really make a difference academically, and about how overshadowing it is to have had five brothers come before you.

"I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat," at which point he produced a fat gray rat from his robes, and Harry recoiled violently with a hiss.

Ron seemed shocked, "Are you scared of rats?"

"I—I didn't think I was but… " Harry shrugged, "So how come you have all hand-me-downs?"

Ron started to go pink and Harry caught on quickly. He explained about how he'd always had to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting any proper sort of birthday present and how he hadn't even known about his parents or Voldemort until Hagrid had shown up to deliver his letter. It was at that point that he admitted his fear that he was going to be bottom of his class because of that, but Ron went on to tell him about how loads of muggleborn's pick it up fast enough so there was no reason he wouldn't be any good.

After that, they'd spent awhile just watching the scenery before the food cart came by and Harry, though temporarily disappointed to find no Mars Bars, bought a bit of everything. He got his next real shock from the wizarding world in the form of a runaway picture of Albus Dumbledore that he got from a chocolate frog card, and then experienced the mixed blessings and curses of Berttie Bots Every Flavor Beans.

Earlier, they had been interrupted by a boy searching frantically for his toad, and now, as Ron was going to attempt a spell to make his rat turn yellow and be at least a little more interesting, they were interrupted again by a girl with large front teeth, bushy hair, and a bossy sort of voice. However, her tone somehow put Harry at ease, as if this was the way things were supposed to be.

Needless to say, the spell Ron had gotten from Fred and George turned out to be a bust. After which the girl went on a long spiel about how she had memorized all her textbooks already, and after they had gotten around to introducing themselves, went on another tangent about how Harry was in several different books. She left shortly after, and they ended up talking about Ron's older brother as Harry was curious about what exactly a wizard did after leaving school, at which point Ron remembered something, "Did you hear about Gringotts?"

For some reason that he couldn't place, Harry's stomach dropped into his shoes, "What happened?"

"Someone tried to rob a high security vault."

"That didn't catch him did they…"

Ron looked at him strangely, "No, they didn't, how did you--Harry, are you okay? You're looking kind of pale."

And as quickly as it came, the feeling passed, "Yeah, I'm okay, sorry, I—I don't know what came over me."

"You're sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine."

Ron decided at that point that they should move onto a lighter subject, and started talking about Quidditch. Harry was quite enthusiastic, which pleased Ron to no end, despite not knowing much more than the basic rules.

Ron was just building up a good head of steam when the door opened, and for once it wasn't someone looking for a toad. Flanked by two brutish looking boys who had the air of bodyguards around them, the boy Harry had talked to in Madam Malkin's walked in.

"Oh, hello," Harry said to the boy.

The boy nodded to him, "You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I've heard all up and down the train that he was in here."

"Yes, I am."

"My name's Malfoy—"

Harry suddenly cocked his head to the side and looked at him quizzically, the vibe he'd gotten from him at the shop, was stronger, like the one he got from the Weasly's only tinted with wariness, "Draco Malfoy?"

Draco's face lit up, "Ah, I see you know who I am."

Harry nodded, "I must have heard someone mention you, I can't remember where though."

"Well, that's no surprise, we are a very illustrious family."

Ron, meanwhile, was staring and Draco and Harry goggle eyed.

"I see."

Draco nodded, "Yes, there are certain families you shouldn't get mixed up with, and one's that are worth getting to know," he stuck out his hand to shake Harry's, "I can help you there."

Harry looked at his hand for a moment, before taking his hand and shaking it, "Thank you for the offer, though I'm sure I'll be able to pick them out myself."

Draco looked like he was both pleased and irritated, but he nodded and said, "I'll see you at the welcoming feast then," and left.

"They just completely ignored me," Ron said, looking highly offended and starting to go red.

"Don't worry about it Ron, I don't think anything good would have come out of it if he had."

Hermione chose that moment to reappear, advising them that it would be a good idea to change into their robes. Harry thanked her, and then suddenly decided to offer her a Chocolate Frog. She looked slightly taken aback, but took it and thanked him before heading off.

Ron looked at him, "What was that for?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. Just seemed like the thing to do at the time."

Ron shook his head, "So you've met Malfoy before?"

"Yeah, in Diagon Alley, at Madam Malkin's. We were being fitted at the same time and we ended up talking a bit."

Ron looked uncertain, "I've heard about the Malfoys. Dad says they were some of you-know-whose biggest supporters, and after he disappeared, they said they were bewitched. Dad doesn't believe him, says they didn't need a reason to go to the dark side."

"Well, you know what they say don't you?" Harry smirked, "'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'"

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