Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or world, everything belongs to JKR, etc. etc.
P.S. This is a non-voldy world, where he dies after giving Harry his scar. Sirius is still in Azkaban for Peter's murders, but Peter accidentally blew himself up with everyone else because I don't have the emotional strength to write in a traitorous rat :). Also, Fred and George are only one year above them, just for simplicity. Might put it an occasional escaped death eater later in the series. This is my first fic, so leave a fave or review if you like it!
... ... ... ... ...
Chapter 1
Hermione woke up with a start, thinking for a moment that everything must have been a dream. She soon realized that, no, she hadn't simply imagined the strangely dressed woman knocking on the door and telling her she'd been automatically enrolled since birth in a school she'd never heard of. And it wasn't just the secret school that had her head spinning. It was the idea that she had magic.
The representative from this school- Hogwarts, they said it was called- said somewhere in her lineage must have been someone of magical blood, the trait just skipping through the generations, to finally land on her. Hermione had taken science the year before at her middle school. She knew that traits weren't in your blood. She must've lucked out and gotten some deeply recessive gene, turning every shred of her body into some magic-wielding being.
"Can I even call myself human still?" She mumbled to herself.
She then heard her mother yell from downstairs: "Hermione? Dear? We have to leave in an hour".
Hermione groaned as she rolled out of bed, pulling off her pyjamas and changing into a pair of baggy jeans and a maroon tank top. Figuring it was still summer but the train might get cold, she grabbed a jumper off her dresser and hurried downstairs.
"Don't forget to pack those books you were reading last night, Hermione, dear", her father said as she sat down at the kitchen table to eat breakfast. They had planned on leaving at 10:00 am, to give them plenty of time to get to the station and get Hermione on the train before it left at 11:00. With it currently being around 9:05, that meant Hermione had a bit under an hour to get everything in order to leave home for almost a year.
"Yeah ok, dad. I'll pack them when I go back up", she said, as she ate a tiny bite of the pancake her mother had set in front of her. She was rather queasy, and eating didn't seem to be helping. "I've never even cast a spell! What if I'm horrible at magic?" She thought to herself, knowing full-well that thoughts like that wouldn't help her nervous stomach either. Shaking the nerves away, she got up, set her dishes in the sink, and headed back upstairs to pack her books.
... ... ... ... ...
As her Jean Granger pulled the car into a 2-hour spot in an underground lot near King's Cross Station, Hermione reminded herself that stressing over things never helped. However, as they neared the station, the loud roar of trains and hundreds of people shoving through the crowd was certainly doing nothing to ease her nerves.
"Alright dear, what platform did the representative say you were to report to?" Her father asked as he helped her mother out of the car.
"9 and ¾…" Hermione said nervously. She'd been told exactly when and how to access the unusual platform, but it still felt like that at any moment, someone would jump out of a corner and reveal that the whole thing was just a cruel, elaborate joke. "I'm supposed to go to the barrier between the 9th and 10th platforms. Well, not just 'go to'. They said I need to go through the barrier. Maybe we can follow someone else?" She explained, trying to act as if this would be an easy feat.
Her father grabbed a trolley as they passed a row of them, and started loading her trunks onto it.
"Thanks, dad", she said, relieved that she'd have an easy way to carry them through the barrier. She helped him load the last bag on and grabbed the handle to start pushing the trolley, noticing as she did so a large group of redheaded kids being ushered through the crowd. "I wish I had an older sibling to follow right now," She thought.
After a few minutes of pushing their way through the crowd, they reached the 9th station, and Hermione pulled out the notepad she'd been taking notes on when the representative was explaining the station to her. However, she immediately realized that the notepad would be unnecessary, as there was clearly already a gaggle of wizarding children and their parents waiting to access the barrier. Nearly everywhere she turned, she saw owls in cages, cats on shoulders, and broomsticks thrown across trolleys. There were so many startling things surrounding them, she wondered how she'd been so oblivious not to notice them before.
"I think I'll be okay now," she said to her parents, not entirely sure of herself, but trying to put on a brave face.
"Alright dear, if you're sure", her mother said, somewhat nervously. Jean Granger didn't want to leave her daughter alone on an unfamiliar platform, but the idea of walking through a brick barrier was causing her stomach to curdle in a most uncomfortable way.
"Be sure to write us every day", her father added, before they crowded together for a final hug.
"I love you both, and I'll write as often as I can".
As her parents disappeared into the masses, Hermione realized she was next in the unspoken order created by the crowd in front of the barrier. Bracing herself, she ran after the shock of red hair that had just passed into the barrier before her, making sure to keep a firm grip on her trolley.
"Blimey!"
"Merlin's beard, I think she's trying to kill you, Fred!"
Hermione opened her eyes with a start, only to realize she'd crashed her trolley straight into the boy who'd gone before her. "I'm so sorry, it's my first time I-"
"Love, it's okay, just a stubbed toe and a bruised arse. I imagine I'll live", the older boy said, a smile appearing on his freckled face. "I'm Fred".
"And I'm George", his friend added. Wait. His brother. No, his twin? Hermione took a step back as she realized there were two of them. Two identical boys, each with a matching smattering of freckles, a shock of red hair, and a lanky frame.
"You… I-", she stuttered.
"Twins, love", George replied, seeing the overwhelmed look on her face. "Here, we'll help you out with your trunks, ok?"
"Yes, thank you. I left my parents behind the barrier", she said. "They don't have magic, you see. I didn't want to bother them", she added.
"Ah, muggle-born then", Fred said kindly, as he ushered her away from the barrier. "Lots just like you, you'll be just fine. No need to worry".
"Fred! George! Get over here right now and give your mother and me a hug goodbye", Hermione heard someone yell from behind her. As she turned around, she saw the redheaded family she had been admiring earlier. Realization struck, and she realized they must all be witches and wizards.
Fred and George groaned in unison and grabbed their trolleys. They started off towards their parents, before looking back at Hermione.
"Well, aren't you coming?", they said together. As she hastened to follow after the two boys with her trolley, Hermione wondered how anyone could know exactly what someone else was going to say before they said it. The twins seemed eerily connected in that way.
"Mum, Dad, this is… Well, actually I'm not sure we ever got your name, love", Fred said casually.
"Hermione", she replied, scanning the faces in front of her.
"Well, Hermione dear, are you a first-year?", their mother asked.
"Yes, ma'am".
"Just like Harry and Ron here", she replied, pointing out the two youngest members of their crowd. Ron fit right in, with a messy head of red hair, but Harry had dark hair and dark eyes. Hermione assumed he was a friend of theirs, and not another brother.
"Hello", the two boys chorused. It was clear they were both a bit nervous too. Harry, in particular, seemed to be shaking just a little.
"Well, we better be off, mum. Try not to worry, we'll take care of little ronniekins for you", George said, grinning.
"George, be nice to your brother. I want him back in one piece, you hear?", their father admonished.
"Come on Hermione, let's get your trunks up into a compartment", Fred said, ushering her towards the looming train with a hand on her back. Harry and Ron followed behind with their own trolleys as George transferred her trunks onto his own and starting pushing them all forward. The twins loaded her bags into a compartment and disappeared before she could so much as say thank you. She sat down and stared out the window, somewhat morosely. The two friends she'd made had already left, and now she was alone. Not a second later, she heard a knock on the compartment door.
"Excuse me, but could we sit with you, Hermione?".
Hermione turned around quickly. Harry and Ron stood in the compartment entrance, with their trunks.
"I'd love that", she responded.
... ... ... ... ...
A/N Next chapter coming soon?