Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Three Shades of Blue

Chapter Two

But maybe he'd loved her too. She'd never really know; he was a prankster, a joker and he played around just way too damn much. Yet she stayed. Through all the tears and heartache, she stayed. And the reason was much deeper than love.

It was Fate.

She'd been a scared little twelve-year-old when they first met, all alone in the outside world. All alone and in a whole lotta pain.

"Ow, Mommy!" she complained as she followed her glitzy mother into the King's Cross train station. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"What is it, Angelina?" her mother asked her sharply.

"You did my hair too tight."

"Good. It'll last longer. Lord knows how you like to get rough and mess up things."

"Mama!"

"Well, it's true. You see, Angie baby, a woman's hair is supposed to be her glory, not just some pretty accessory that you can take for granted." She cut her daughter a meaningful glance.

Angelina caught the nagging hint and began to pout. What her wonderful, darling mother was referring to was the silver bracelet her father had given her for her birthday last year. It was a charm bracelet, really. A real one, not at all like those pathetic, stiff ones that Muggles owned. Oh no. Her charm bracelet was brilliant. Each trinket was a different charm, each was a magical surprise. And they all symbolized something of Angelina. Like a personal history and mood indicator.

But sadly, she had lost the bracelet a week back while cleaning a freshly made wound. It had slipped from around her thin wrist and threw itself right down the opened drain. Poor Angelina had cried out, a big mistake on her part for her mother came running and almost tore her to pieces when she learned what happened. Angelina almost wish she had. She loved that bracelet to death.

"Angie baby, fix your face. Pouting isn't cute. I mean, I don't think so and I'm sure he doesn't either," her mother said, referring to an attractive man as they passed him by. The man looked at Angelina's mom and his pretty face lit up. But when Angelina cut him an icy stare, he looked away, turning red.

"See? You see the way he looked at you, sweetie? Pouting is ugly."

"Yeah yeah," Angelina murmured as she, sulking, pushed her cart. Her mother had a stigmatism for beauty and Angelina had a hatred for her vanity. Why did everything have to be pretty? Life itself was big and ugly.

"All right." Her mother stopped and Angelina almost ran into her narrow behind. "Now, you see where it says platforms nine and ten?" Her mom pointed to the two signs.

Angelina nodded. "Yes."

"Well…there you go."

The girl frowned at her mother's vagueness. "But where's platform nine and three quarters?"

"Right there."

"Where?"

"There!"

"No," Angelina said slowly because she honestly didn't think her mother understood. "It says platforms nine and ten, not nine and three quarters."

"Look Angie baby. I really don't have time for this. I have an appointment at noon and your father's coming home today…Just-" She paused and looked down at her daughter. She was forgetting to be a mother and her guilty conscience was kicking in. She sighed and gave Angelina a weak hug.

"It'll be all right, baby. I promise. You'll have fun, learn things…maybe meet a couple of nice boys," she added playfully but Angelina refused to smile. She refused to feel anything at all. Her mother didn't really love her; she was just acting.

Mrs. Johnson sighed again and released her suddenly stoic daughter. "Just don't mess up, okay honey? Just make it." She took a step back and pulled her shades down to hide her tearing eyes. "Don't forget to write." She laughed shakily.

"I'll write if you will," Angelina replied nonchalantly.

Mrs. Johnson was frozen for a few seconds before she laughed.

"I'ma miss my baby something awful," she declared before giving Angelina a tender kiss. "See ya, Angie girl." And she was gone.

"Aw hell!" Angelina exclaimed out loud. Her mother still didn't tell her where the heck Platform nine and three-quarters was.

"Care to watch yer mouth there, lassy?" a grumpy old man asked as he walked passed. "For some of us, it's a bit too early to be thinking about Hell."

Angelina gave him a strange look before pushing her cart towards platforms nine and ten. She was much too scared to ask for help and much too angry to think straight.

Platform nine and three-quarters. She scoffed. Was there such a place? She'd never heard of it. Had never heard of Hogswarts either. Of course, she'd never bothered to ask her loving parents where they'd learned their magic but you'd think your parents would tell you something as important as this. Going off to a school where they taught supernatural things.

The thought of being so far from home excited Angelina. To be off and away with people her own age, to learn real magic…She'd gone into fits of pure joy when she'd gotten her letter. Dear Miss Johnson…Ah, she couldn't wait.

But it seemed that she'd never get to Hogwarts, never know magic, or meet friends…She cringed as her head began to throb. And these damn braids were driving her crazy. She wanted them out!

The hoarse, teasing voice of a boy that suddenly erupted from somewhere behind her, made her jump. Angelina turned her head just in time to see two red headed boys race toward her, steering their carts so haphazardly, they left unfortunate, unhappy people in their wake. They were approaching so fast that Angelina didn't have time to react and almost screamed when one of them came close to crashing into her.

Of course they had stopped on her account and were now gaping openly at her. Angelina met each one's gaze, trying so hard not to freak out. She'd never met real live twins before and this unexpected encountered unnerved her. It was a bit…disturbing.

"Hullo!" one of them suddenly boomed. Mentally, Angelina christened him Tweedle Dum. He was wearing a huge grin on his face, just staring at her. Angelina subtly touched her braids as he had painfully added to her headache. Her small gesture brought his attention from her face to her hair. She became very annoyed. She hated when people did that-gawk at her hair instead of looking her in the eye. It kinda gave her the idea that they weren't paying any attention.

"Hi," Angelina said loudly, sort of leaning forward as she tried to catch his eyes. It was a no-go. He was standing there, grinning at her hair. Oh Lord, she suddenly thought, please don't let him make fun of it. She had had awful, past experiences where little boys would laugh at her hair. It always made her shudder.

Nervous now, she couldn't look at Tweedle Dum anymore. She averted her eyes to the other one.

"Hullo," he mimicked his brother. Then he smiled. Not a big, ridiculous grin like his twin. But a genuine, friendly smile.

Ah, Tweedle Dee. "Hi," and she said this almost shyly.

"Er, I'm George." He stuck out a hand. Angelina took it and suddenly felt like she didn't need Hogwarts. That she knew magic already.


A/N: Hmm...at quick glance at most of the reviews, I'd thought that everyone who'd read/reviewed found the story confusing. And I was like, 'Noooo! I tried my best and EVERYTHING' -sigh- And then I thought that I should elaborate the storyline a bit, but then I remembered that doing so would give away almost everything, so if you're still confused, you're gonna have to be confused a bit more. But maybe this chapter helped? Who knows :-/

And I'm in terrible need of a new summary...