Alright, so I am not a regular writer, even if I try. Due to many things in real life, I can hardly churn out a few lines a month. Do not despair, that this story will eventually be finished, even if takes me a couple of decades.

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The journey from Platform 9 3/4

No single word would describe the summer Harry and Cherry experienced after being "kidnapped" from their family, but a large list of qualifiers could come to mind. Wonderful, magic, colourful, awesome, relaxing, but overall happiest-ever, as for the first time as far as they could recall, they could run, laugh, play, be noisy, and in general act as normal kids their age, without being prosecuted because of it.

During their first week they were mostly imprisoned in their room in this inn, thanks to Mrs. Pomfrey, who wanted them not to move till they had grown whatever they hadn't with their family.

Took them till the end of the holidays to actually notice it being literal, as they had grown two inches in a month. After all, Dudley's troussers didn't just pin themselves even higher on their own.

Talking about clothing, now they only had a handful of the clothing they had with the Dursleys, and that they used just to keep the potion jars from clattering. They now had their trunks full of assorted wizard clothes, plus a handful of new muggle clothes (mostly because Harry felt weird wearing "dresses", as most robes looked like to him).

Over the summer, aside from going through their books and all the exercises of "Quill-writing primer", they got the opportunity to explore this Alley behind the pub.

The sights, the smells, the tastes, the escence of the world of their parents were now theirs; nevertheless, they had less than a month in it, and only had a glimpse at a small corner of it.

Gone July, in the morning of August the First, Tom woke them up early. They had already packed, and were ready for school. Terrified stiff, but ready to go together.

Not too much conversation went between in that fateful morning. They knew what they had to do, so they did it in silence, and Tom knew how tense they were, so he respected their silence. After breakfast, they picked their trunks and Hedwig's cage and exited by the pubs' muggle entrance. They took a taxi to King Cross Station, and not until they were between platforms 9 and 10 that Tom finally pressed the need to talk.

"Er, would you happen to have your letter, children? I'm not quite sure how to get to the platform . . ."

"Well, sure" said Harry, unpocketing his letter and giving it to Tom. Then looked up startled, as they saw Tom waving on at the crowds coming into the Station. Soon they saw a plump redheaded woman return the wave, and approach followed by a column of equally redhead children, most of which also had trunks of their own. The woman approached Tom and shocked his hand warmly.

"Hello there, Tom. I hadn't seen you for some time." Noticing the twins with him, she waved at them. "Well, hello. Are you Johnny's children? I thought you were still too young to come!"

"In fact my grandchildren are still too young, being 5." Tom interjected over the lady's shoulder. Moving over the children, he continued. "These are James and Judith Evans, 11. Kids, this is Molly Weasley."

Outside of the Leaky Cauldron, they had gone by their second names, and their mother's maiden one, for the entire month. Better safe than sorry, after all . . .

"How nice meeting you, James a Judith." Said the lady, as she shocked their hands. Then she stepped back, and presented her children, who had been looking at the scene. "And these are my children who are still at Hogwarts, Percival, 15 . . ."

The oldest of them nodded his head at them.

" . . . The twins George and . . ."

"Mom, how do you mix us! I'm Fred, not George!" Said one. They both looked just a couple of years older than the Potters did.

"Honestly, you call yourself our mother!" Said the other.

"Oh, sorry Fred."

"Just kidding, I'm George!"

Both Weasleys chuckled. Mrs. Weasley glared daggers at them, but said nothing of it.

"And these are my youngest, Ronald, 11, and Virginia, 10."

The two waved at them, the girl shyly.

"Er . . . Molly, might you please help me here? I don't trully remember the way to get to the platform." Said Tom, scratching the bald point on his head.

Molly giggled at that. "Don't worry Tom, I'll get them into the train. You can go and give Johnny his leave; I've heard you got him working night shift."

"No, he actually voluntereed, so he can do homework during his shift. He's studying on weekends all day, you know? Anyway, thank you very much."

Turning to the kids, and giving each a great hug, told them "It was great for me to care for you for this month, kids. Come and visit again."

"Of course we will visit, Mr. Tom." Said Cherry.

"Thanks for everything." Said Harry.

And with a final smile, Tom popped a Chocolate Cherry in his mouth, and disappeared with a light pop. Mrs. Weasley turned to the kids.

"And I guess you don't know how to get to the platform, do you?" As they shocked their heads, she continued. "Well, no problem there. We'll show you. Percy?"

"Quite simple, Mr. And Ms. Evans. Just walk into the wall behind you, and you'll be at the platform. Like this." And just as he said, he calmly drove his trolley into the wall, and walked calmly through the wall, as if it was some everyday stuff.

Seeing their disbelieving faces, the Weasley twins followed with their trolleys. The one in front stopped in front of them, said "If you have your doubts, try doing it on a run," and ran though the wall. The other stopped and said, "Just be confident that you'll go throught, or will turn solid," and followed his brothers.

"Well, now try yourselves, dears. You won't have a problem." Encouraged Mrs. Weasley.

Pulling their whelled trunks, and Harry carrying Hedwig's cage, they approached the wall. Standing a step from it, they silently agreed, closed their eyes, and stepped ahead. Feeling nothing, they opened their eyes, and saw themselves in a new platform, with a red steam engine in front of them.

"Hey James, Judith! Better move away from the gate, or Ron might run you over!" It was one of the twins from before, standing a few steps away. They moved from the stone arch they were standing at, and indeed a second later Ron appeared at the archway, closely followed by his mother and sister. Once these last three were at the platform, Mrs. Weasley began hugging her children and giving them her good byes for the year. Harry and Cherry moved away after beggining to look at this, a bit of a natural response for them whenever they saw something they longed for. They quickly found an empty compartment in the third carriage, and puffed a bit to pull in their trunks. After that, they left a sleeping Hedwig on a seat by the door, and sat on opposite sides of the window, looking outside.

After a few minutes, the steam's whizzle blew, and they were on their way to school. Almost immediately after the train began moving, the Weasley boy who was their age came knocking at their door.

"May I come in? Everything else seems to be full." He said, sliding the door slightly open.

"Sure thing." Said Harry.

"Your name was Ronald, wasn't it?" Interjected Cherry.

"Just Ron." The boy said, while he sat by Cherry. "Just plain Ron, the second youngest of the long Weasley line. Do you have older siblings?"

"No, or at least non that we ever knew about." Said Cherry, without energy.

"We only got our uncles." Finished Harry.

"So . . . you're orphans?" Ron quickly covered his mouth. "Oh, sorry for bringing it! I'm soo sorry!"

"Don't be." Said Cherry, patting his shoulder. "Ten years is a long time to adapt."

"Yeah, well . . ." vocalized Harry.

Not much more noise happened for what seemed an eternity, as any attemps at iddle talk froze in the unnatural atmosphere. Until Ron suggested getting on the school uniform, when he saw a side glimpse at Harry's forehead while he pulled of his sweater.

"Whoa, what's that on your forehead? I hope it isn't dirt; otherwise, my mom might catch up with the train just to rub it off. You might have seen, she almost rubbed my nose off, right in front of the carriage!"

They sniggered a bit, having seen the scene.

"No, it's just a scar." Harry lifted his firinge, to show Ron.

Ron's eyes went out off its sockets. He jumped off his seat and began screaming.

"WHOA, YOU TWO ARE HARRY AND CHERRY POTT . . ."

Both Harry and Cherry jumped to cover his mouth.

"Well, Yes we are; but please keep it quiet!" Began Cherry.

"We don't need the entire school to mob us, you know!" Followed Harry.

They pulled him to the seat, and told him of what happened on their first day at the Cauldron. After that it had logic the explanation of why going by their least known names.

Not sooner had they finished with it, and Ron had began talking about his own family, the door slid open. It was the blond boy they saw in their first day at the Cauldron. His hair was so overdressed as the last time, seemingly pulling his face into an eternal sneer.

"Hey, I heard that somewhere in this carriage were Harry and Cherry Potter. I've looked over the carriage, and you are the only ones who follow their description. You are, am I wrong?"

"And who asks anyway! Doors are to be knocked, you know!" Cut Ron. The boy's face filled with disdain instantly after his eyes fell on Ron.

"Not as if I needed asking the same question! Run-down clothes and a head on fire, you are a Weasley. Even if I heard one of you flucked out and made it into Slytherin, I know you are nothing but muggle-lovers and bummers!"

Ron went red at that.

"Not as if I actually needed asking, either! Chicken-blond hair, a permanent sneer, and a face so pointy as if you had been sniffed by a dragon; you have to be a Malfoy! I've heard your clan only has a child a generation because you all are so dis . . ."

At that point things were hot enough to fry an egg at, and Harry jumped in to hold Ron back. Cherry jumped at Malfoy before he had a swing either.

"Hold it, Ron, we haven't even made it yet to school! No one needs a fight this early!"

"And what's your bussiness here to come in here and insult our new friend?" Cherry shouted at the Malfoy boy's face.

He answered with finesse. "Precisely that, Ms. Potter." He took her hand from his shoulder. "I wanted to come present myself, to help you and your brother become somebody in the world. There are families of wizards whom you should avoid becoming friendly with . . ." With his nose he pointed at Ron, who was now relatively calm, listening with Harry " . . . And I would trully be glad to help both of you on that field." To prove his point, he tried kissing Cherry's hand.

Noticing his intentions, Cherry quickly retrieved her hand from his, and stepped closer to his brother.

"No thanks! I think I can see the wrong kind myself, and my brother will, too. Now move along!"

"And what if I don't want too? And what if I want this owl here?" He said defiantly, while moving in to pick up Hedwig's cage. Both Potters jumped on him before he even touched it, and shoved him out of the compartment before he could even react. After screaming "And stay out!" at his prone figure, they shot the door closed. Turning back to Ron, they sat back.

"Well, what were you saying before the git came in?" Said Harry, as if he had just swatted a mosquito.

"Rrrrrright! I guess I might talk about . . . the houses, yes! Of the four houses, for centuries my family has gone into Griffindor, with only exceptions of my great- great- grandpa, who went into Hufflepuff, and my brother Percy . . . who did Slytherin. It's said that brave ones go into Griff, brainy ones into Ravenclaw, patient and loyal ones into Huff, and ambitious ones into Slyth; however, the only thing I know for sure is that when Percy became a Slytherin, my mom and dad mostly acted like he had died. It took them months before they would mention his name, and it was on that time when the twins trully became pranksters, in their effort to make them cheer up. I wouldn't want to go into Slyth, not for all the gold in the world . . ."

Ron quieted down, looking at the floor. Harry and Cherry looked at each other in the eye. Would that be so awful if they actually made it into Slytherin? They had already done some research on the houses, and eventually came to the conclusion that non would be too bad as far as they were together.

The silence stood until a boy and a girl, also in their school uniforms, came to knock at their door. The girl had dark bushy hair and a somehow bossy attitude, and the boy carried a knobby wooden cane and was sobbing softly.

"Hello. Neville here says he just lost his ooze, and being this the compartment next door, it might have crept into here."

"I went into the bathroom down the hall and left Trevor sleeping on my staff . . . " He waved his cane at this. " . . . And when I returned, he had dissappeared from the place. He might have woken up, and not seeing me around, would have gone to look for me! He must be terrified!"

Ron stood up and patted the other boy on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, pal. As far as I know about oozes, they are extremely loyal, so the little slimeball . . ."

"DON'T call him a Slimeball!" For a second, Neville's voice became vibrant and his eyes fierce, but it faltered almost instantly.

" . . . So your Ooze should come around any second now. " Ron corrected, conciliatorily. "Better go back to your compartment, so he can locate you."

"Would that be right with you, Neville?" The bushy-haired girl said to the boy. He nodded, and let himself be pulled out. Before leaving, the girl looked back at Ron, with a nice smile.

"Thanks."

After the girl ushered the boy out, and slid the door closed, Ron did a double take at the door.

"Was that boy carring a staff?" He said at the twins with him.

"I think so." Said Cherry, unsure. She looked at her brother, who just shrugged.

"What's with the staff, anyway?" asked Harry, at Ron.

"That means he's not a wizard, but a mage! Mages are really rare, and really powerful! I've heard that most mages go into Hufflepuff, but I trully hope he makes it into Griffindor: just to imagine what he'll do for us in Quiddich . . ." He dissolved into dreamy visions.

"And what's an Ooze, Ron? A kind of pet?" Harry pulled him back to earth.

"Uh? Oh, no, or at least by what my dad has told me about oozes, is more a companion than a pet. They don't have a set shape or colour, but are extremely resistant to magic. And of magic they can do, they can ooze through any kind of barrier or ward, and can squirt any number of powerful potions right out of their bodies." He paused to scratch his head, thinking. "And now that I think about it, his ooze would also be an ascet to Gryffindor!"

Ron submerged himself into dreamy visions, and stayed at this for quite a while. The twins, after noticing he had zoned-out again, just enjoyed the scenery out their window for what seemed like hours.

An interruption came as the food trolley made its appearance, at around three o'clock. [Mostly the same scene as with the book, except that the kids did know of the moving pictures.] After they had enough fun with the Berty Bob's beans, they began chatting anew. Long hours passed as Harry and Cherry described Ron plenty of thinks they had become accustomed to in the muggle world, but which Ron would have little or no experience with.

Sortly after dusk, the bushy-haired girl from before knocked at their door. Not waiting for an aswer, she slid the door and stood at the doorway.

"Hi, there. I have just spoken with the driver, and he said he expects us to arrive anytime soon. I would advice you to get on your robes."

"Alright, thanks there." Answered back Cherry, with a smile.

"No problem." Said the girl, returning the smile. "I hope I can get to know you, guys."

And with that, the girl closed the door. The guys at the compartment indeed made good deed of her advice and put their robes over their clothes, and soon enough felt the train begin to slow-down. Just before it entered a small town, a voice was heard all over the train.

"We will be arriving at Hogsmeade station in a couple of minutes. Please leave your belongings at the train, as their are to be transported separately."

The three kids moved into the hallway, were plenty more had already gathered to get off the train.

[What follows is mostly the same as the book, up to when they disembark.]

"Hey, you there, is this your ooze?" Said Hagrid, as he pulled out of his pocket what looked like dark bluish, gigantic snot.

"Trevor!" Screamed the boy, overjoyed. The snot turned canary yellow, and jumped of Hagrid's hand onto Neville's waiting arms. It then bounced off his hands, plastered itself onto his chest, and after a second seemed to disolve into the fabric. The overjoyed boy kept holding his chest for a while.

"Well, this way, new students."

He kept his lantern up high, while guiding the children through a stone stairway, which ended just by the castle's entrance. He led them up the stairs to the entrance itself, and with his fist, knocked the huge oak doors three times.

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As you might imagine at this stage, I have planned to modify the character "Neville Longbottom". I always thought him to be an under-used powerhouse (which is partially proven in book 5, and I'm sure will be outright proven in book 6), so I want to explore that special aspect much sooner than the books.

Feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Bye there. See you in at least a month from now.