Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.K Rowling…perhaps you've heard of her?

A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews. As I said before this is when the story really picks up. I tried really to make this chapter coincide with Philosopher/Sorcerers Stone. Feel free to correct me though if something isn't right. Just remember we'll be seeing things from a different point of view so the characters may see things differently.

Anyway we'll see how it turns out. Onto third year!

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Chapter 15

"Alicia!" Oliver called across Platform nine and three quarters.

The auburn haired girl spun around. She waved then made her way over to him "Oh, hi, Oliver. Have a nice summer?"

"Pleasant enough. How about you?"

"Great! I did a lot of Quidditch practice with George, I think I'm much better with the Quaffle now. I have a feeling we can win it this year."

"At least you're optimistic. Well, there's Matt, I better go. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok."

Just as Oliver left, Angelina and Katie came running over.

"Where have you two been? We were supposed to meet over there ten minutes ago." Alicia tapped her watch pointedly.

"Sorry. Lee was showing us his tarantula," Angelina explained.

"Lee has a tarantula?" Alicia gasped. She'd been about to lecture them on their tardiness but…a tarantula.

"Yeah, he got it for Christmas apparently."

"Well, he better not bring it anywhere near me." Alicia shivered involuntarily. Just the thought of the hairy little beast made her queasy.

"We told him you weren't a fan of spiders," Katie assured her.

"Why the hell did you do that? Now he'll be sure to bring it near me!" Alicia began to panic.

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Calm down for Merlin's sake, you really over react sometimes."

"I do not! Why, the very suggestion makes me - I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

"Yep. Come on, let's get on the train."

They were attempting to lug their trunks onto the train when Cedric and some of his Hufflepuff friends came to help them.

"Thanks," the girls chorused.

"No problem. Hey, Angie, I got the photos back from my party," Cedric said.

"Angie?" Alicia whispered to Katie.

"Don't look at me," she said with a shrug.

"Cool, I'll come look at them now. Girls, I'll be back soon." Angelina waved then left with Cedric and his friends.

Alicia pouted and crossed her arms. "I wish I could have gone to the party."

Cedric had had his birthday party in the holidays and all three of the girls had been invited. Alicia's mother had refused to let her go so only Katie and Angelina had gone.

"Like I keep telling you, you didn't miss much. Cedric ignored everyone except Angelina the whole time anyway. I bet all the pictures are of her."

"I still would have liked to go."

"Well, it would have been nice to have someone to be bored with. I think we're about to leave," Katie said, peering out the window.

Alicia waved to her mother and father. Jasmine was standing beside them crying her eyes out. It was now official: she was going to Beauxbatons. As a result she was refusing to talk to her parents.

The Hogwarts Express moved off and the girls took their seat. The silence was broken by Alicia's new owl hooting and beating his wings.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" Katie asked as she poked her finger through the wire to stroke him.

"Yeah, he's Joey now."

"Cute name."

"George suggested it," Alicia said.

"Yeah, where are the twins anyway?"

Alicia shrugged. "Dunno."


Meanwhile, down the back of the train Fred and George were introducing themselves to Harry.

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

"Bye," the boys replied. Ron seemed relieved that they were leaving.

George slid the compartment door shut and the twins headed for the middle of the train to find Lee and the girls.

"I can't believe it, Harry Potter at Hogwarts," Fred said, a little breathlessly.

"I knew he was about as old as Ron but I didn't think he'd come to Hogwarts. I thought one of those haughty schools would poach him."

"Well, I think we can thank Dumbledore for that. No other school can say their Headmaster is the greatest wizard of our time. Hey, do you think Harry might be in Gryffindor?"

"Let's hope so. Do you think we made a good impression?" George asked as they began to search the compartments.

"Of course we did."

They went along the train opening compartment doors and bragging to the occupants that they'd met the famous Harry Potter. Finally they spotted Lee standing outside a compartment. He was trying to get inside but someone was pushing him back.

"What's wrong, Lee?"

"Your crazy friend won't let me in the compartment!" Lee complained to George.

"My crazy friend?"

The twins peered around Lee to see Alicia standing in front of him, refusing him entry while Katie giggled in the background.

"Oh, that crazy friend. Leesh, just let him in," George said coaxingly.

"I will not allow that THING in here!"

"Oh, come on, it's just Lee."

Alicia pointed at the box in Lee's hand. "You know very well I meant the spider!"

Lee hugged the box protectively. "Hey, don't call her a thing, you'll hurt her feelings."

"Do spiders even have ears?" Katie giggled in the background.

"I don't care about its feelings, I just want it away from me!"

"She isn't an it! Her name is Princess!"

Everyone fell silent then burst into laughter. Who in their right mind would name a tarantula Princess?

"You named your spider Princess?" Fred snorted.

"Yes," Lee said shortly.

"Couldn't you think of a scarier name?" George asked.

"A scary girl's name? Do you know of any?"

"What about Alicia?"

"Shut up, Fred."

"Why didn't you get a male one then?" Katie asked from behind Alicia.

"Because females are larger," Lee rolled his eyes as if he expected everyone to know this.


"It's as bad as Katie naming her owl Sparkles," Fred sighed.

"Leave Sparkles out of this!"

"Let me in! I promise to keep her in her box." Lee put on his most innocent face and gave one of his grins.

Alicia stepped back to let the boys in. "Fine. But the second I see that thing out I'll open Joey's cage. He likes spiders," she threatened.

"Joey? You lot name your pets weird things," Fred said airily.

"I seem to remember you owning three frogs when you were nine, Frederick. What were their names again?" Alicia smirked.

"Gertrude, Franklin and Fred Jr." George answered for him.

"Fred Jr.! That's a good one!" Lee laughed.

"It's better than Princess! Hey, where's Angelina?" Fred asked.

"With Cedric. You only just noticed she's not here? Jeez, you're perceptive today."

"Well, I've been a little preoccupied if you must know."

"What have you done now?" Alicia sighed.

"Nothing like that. Guess who we just met on the train!" George said excitedly, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Santa Claus?"

"No, seriously, someone famous."

"The Queen?" Alicia guessed.

"She that old Muggle lady with the crown who waves funny?" Fred asked.

"Yeah."

"Then no, not her."

"More famous than the Queen," George said.

"The Pope?"

"Who?"

"Really old guy with the funny hat and the stick?"

"Oh, yeah, not him. Definitely not Muggle."

"Celestina Warbeck?" Lee asked hopefully.

"NO! You guys are hopeless! Harry Potter! We just met Harry Potter! He's coming to Hogwarts!"

"THE Harry Potter?" Katie squealed.

"Yeah! We saw his scar and everything!"

"The boy who stopped You-Know-Who?" Alicia asked.

"Of course! Are you sure you're not really a Muggle?" Katie shrieked.

"Calm down! So I'm not an expert on that stuff, my dad didn't want me exposed to it. You know what my first memory is though?"

"Meeting me?" Fred smiled sweetly.

"I said my first memory, not my worst," Alicia replied tartly. "When I was about four I remember being at a Halloween party with my parents when all of a sudden people started appearing out of no where and yelling about You- Know-Who and the Potters. My mother was crying so much I started crying too. Then news came that something had happened to You-Know-Who.

"Apparently the little Potter boy, bless his soul, had some how defeated You-Know-Who. Nobody knew how or why but they rejoiced. I'd never seen anything like it! It was chaos! Everyone was screaming and cheering as the news was confirmed over the Wireless.

"I didn't know what was going on but my parents were happier than they'd ever been and they were discussing letting Erica go to Hogwarts. It was a whole week of parties and celebration."

"What a nice first memory," Katie said with misty eyes.

"My first memory is Fred throwing mashed banana at me," George said sadly.

"I think I remember my brother Dryden dropping me," Katie added thoughtfully.

"I always knew you were dropped on your head as a baby," Fred snickered.

"Not on my head, you prat!"

"Who's a prat?" Angelina appeared in the doorway. She spotted Fred and smiled. "I should have known."

"Nice to see you, too."

"Ooh! Photos!" Alicia snatched the stack of pictures from Angelina's hand and sat by the window. (As far away from Lee and Princess as she could get.)

"Pictures of what?" George peered over her shoulder curiously.

"Cedric's party. The one I wasn't allowed to go to."

"Oh, yeah." George nodded. Alicia had complained constantly about the 'injustice' of it all.

Fred looked at the first photo on top. It was of Cedric and Angelina laughing and eating cake.

"You didn't tell me you went to Diggory's party," Fred said, a little hurt that he was always the last to find anything out.

Angelina raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know I had to."

"Well, nice of him to invite me. Why didn't he invite me?" Fred wondered aloud.

"I'm just guessing here, but I think it might have something to do with the time you dumped dragon dung in his lap," Lee said absently as he peered through the holes of his box.

Fred raised his nose in the air. "It's not mature to hold a grudge."


"What a cute picture!" Alicia cooed.

Fred made a grab for the photo but Alicia was too quick for him. He certainly wasn't going to like the picture. Cedric had his arm around Angelina and she was giggling and batting her eyelashes profusely.

Fred held out his hand calmly. "Give it to me, Spinnet."

"Don't give it to him," Angelina said quickly as she realised which picture it was.

Alicia looked between them and gulped.

"Show me?" George whispered.

"Here you go." She held it up for him so he could see it but not Fred.

"Nasty. You won't like it, Fred," George warned him.

"Give it to me."

"Please, Alicia, don't give it to him," Angelina begged.

By now even Lee had put the box down to watch the scene unfold. Katie was watching anxiously as Angelina and Fred both glared at Alicia.

"Umm…how about I just keep it," Alicia suggested quietly.

"How about you give it to me before I'm forced to take it from you."

"There's no need to threaten her," George said to his brother.

"That photo has nothing to do with you, Fred." Angelina turned on him and the two glared at each other.

"Like hell it doesn't!"

Alicia sighed in relief. She was simply glad to have the attention off herself for a while.

"Uh-oh," Lee moaned quietly.

"What?" Katie, the only one who heard him, asked.

"Princess got out," Lee whispered as he showed her the empty box.

"How could the thing possibly get out?" Katie hissed.

"She's very smart," Lee said proudly.

"If she's so smart then she wouldn't have left her damn box, Alicia will not hesitate to squish her," Katie said tersely.

Lee was horrified at the idea. "Quick, let's find her then."

"She can't have gone that far." Katie peered around the compartment. There didn't seem to be many places for a huge tarantula to hide.

"You'd be surprised. She's likely to go to a quiet, dark place," Lee whispered.

"Just don't tell anyone the spider is loose or Alicia will do her nut." Katie got down on her hands and knees and checked under the seats.

"Where are you?" Lee whispered as he crawled unnoticed between Fred and Angelina.

"Uh, Katie, what are you doing?" George looked down at her.

"Nothin' much." She smiled up at him, as if it were perfectly normal to crawl around on the floor. "How about you?"


"At the moment I'm wondering why you and Lee are crawling around on the ground."

"Yes, well - er, you see," Katie stammered.

"Katie lost an earring!" Lee yelled quickly.

Alicia eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and curiousity. "Katie's ears aren't pierced."


"Did I say earring? I meant to say ring. Yes, she lost her ring. I'm helping her look for it."

"Really? I'll help you look, too," Alicia said.

"No! You just stay right there and look at the rest of the photos with George, we'll find it," Katie said quickly.

"If you say so." She shrugged and went back to the photos. She didn't really want to get down on the floor anyway.

"Why won't you show me the photo? Are you naked or something?" Fred yelled.

"Of course I'm not naked! You just don't need to see it! It does not concern you!" Angelina yelled back.

They continued to argue, oblivious to anyone else around them. George and Alicia were happily concentrating on the photos. Lee peered through Fred's legs to talk to Katie.

"That was bloody close."

"Earring? Haven't you ever noticed my ears aren't pierced?" Katie demanded in a whisper.

"When I look at you I don't tend to focus on your ears!"

"Pervert!" Katie gasped.

"Well, you asked. Let's just find Princess before Alicia figures it out."

"Fine, but if I ever catch you looking at me again I'll make sure you never have children," Katie threatened.

Ten minutes later they still hadn't found her. Alicia and George had finished with the photos and had insisted on helping them look. Angelina had shown Fred the picture and now they were fighting louder than ever.

"Look, Lee, the door is ajar. She probably got out," Katie whispered and pointed to the door that was open just enough to let Princess out.

"You're right," Lee admitted sadly.

"Oh, look! Found my ring!" Katie announced happily.

"Great. Now I can get off the floor." Alicia brushed her hair from her face and stood up and swept dust from her jeans.

Angelina looked down at them curiously. "What were you all doing on the floor, anyway?"

"I lost my ring but I got it back so it's all good now," Katie said pleasantly.

"Oh, ok"

"Hey, Angie, Fred and George met Harry Potter on the train!" Alicia informed her excitedly.

All six of them sat down. Fred far from Angelina and Alicia far from Lee and his (empty) box.

"Harry Potter? Poor kid. First he had to deal with You-Know-Who, now he has to put up with these two twits."

"I resent that!" Fred exclaimed.

"You're supposed to," Angelina said icily

"So is Harry cute?" Katie asked.

Fred and George just stared at her like she was crazy.

"How are we supposed to know? I have to admit he isn't what I expected though. Kinda scrawny for a hero, if you ask me," George said earnestly.

"Did you expect him to be big and muscle bound or something?"

"Not exactly, but he just looks like a regular kid, apart from the scar of course," Fred said.

"Well, everyone seems to forget that he is a regular kid." Alicia shook her head. She couldn't quite understand the Harry Potter hype.

"Who was your hero when you were younger then?" Katie asked Alicia.

"A soccer player named Diego Maradona. The Hand of God was totally wicked."


"I have no idea who you're talking about, so I'll just nod and smile."

"Weren't you afraid of You-Know-Who though?" Angelina asked.

"A bit, I guess. But I never knew the extent of what he'd done. I was more afraid of this singer my mum liked called Boy George. He seemed realer than You-Know-Who. I always thought of He Who Must Not Be Named as only a fairytale villain."

"I'm gonna take Muggle Studies just so I know what you're talking about for once," Katie said in exasperation.

"Hey, speaking of Muggles…Angelina, I got a picture of Michael Owen for you." Alicia grabbed her open backpack off the floor.

Lee and Katie suddenly looked at each other. A quiet, dark place…

"Stop!" they both yelled at the same time.

But it was too late. Alicia plunged her hand into the bag. She groped around for a while then she screamed. A black, hairy blur raced up her arm and onto her head.

"LEE JORDAN!" she squealed so loudly that the whole carriage heard her.

"Princess!" Lee clapped his hands happily.

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A/N: Harry has finally arrived! So that chapter was pretty pointless. I just felt like lightening up and writing a nice humourous chapter. I get that way sometimes.

I've done my job now it's your turn! Please leave a review.

If you don't feel like leaving a review then you can email me at potterprincess_au@hotmail.com or even feel free to add me to your msn list. I'm always happy to talk to anyone. I love to talk about Harry Potter, fanfiction, rugby league and currently the World Cup. Pretty much anything really. Except cricket of course…it's soooo boring.

Anyway, VIVA ITALIA in the World Cup and GO THE KNIGHTS!