Author's Note: The muse has finally given me enough for this chapter to be considered complete. It didn't get as far as I originally thought it would timeline wise, but I think that's a good thing. I've now got Harry to meet more potential friends, though not all of them will end up in the same house. I think I've also figured out the structure of the story going forward. The only thing I don't know yet is who is going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. It won't be anyone who did so in canon at any time, for sure. I think it will be a surprise for next chapter.
Before I go on to this chapter's text, I'd like to thank the following for their feedback on this chapter: joeyzoot, unicornzi, Brad Coleman, Alysson deMerel, Tommy King, Cal.m, meteroicshipyards, AKindOfMagic, and jdleonard88.
Chapter Three Platform Nine and Three Quarters
Augustus Rookwood woke to the sound of a series of regular beeps. He could tell he was restrained to a bed, and his skin felt like it was stretched across his body. His right arm was burning with pain. With great effort he opened his eyes. It didn't help the Unspeakable Death Eater determine his location. The white room was virtually featureless, and smelled some sort of sharp clean scent that he was also unfamiliar with.
Suddenly a young woman wearing a light blue dress and a strange white hat came into his limited field of vision, her mouth covered with a mask. "I see you're finally awake, sir," the woman said. "I shall let the doctor know."
Rookwood's eyes widened with horror. He knew where it was now. He was in a muggle hospital. His eyes darted around, and tried to find something to determine how long he'd been there. Nothing, Nothing, Nothing. He'd been under the care of the butchering muggle doctors. Who knew what they had already done to him. They could have cut things off, screwed him, or even put him in stitches.
He tried to remember how he'd ended up in this place. Rookwood cast his mind back. He'd been following that muggle family with the Boy-Who-Lived, intending on putting an end to the half-blood who had murdered the Dark Lord and all of his family. He had plans of turning the obviously muggle family house into a ruin filled with blood and guts. Of course that required planning and luck. Rookwood believed he had luck.
He'd followed the family out of Diagon Alley, using the burn they were causing his Dark Mark when he lost the sight line. It was fortunate that he, as an Unspeakable, had a full muggle kit, including a valid Travelcard. Otherwise he would have lost them going through the barriers into the Underground.
He'd barely managed catch the train they boarded at Waterloo, which was apparently a stopper to Whinging Central. It was a Thumper. Wizards, if they ended up riding British Rail, generally ended up riding mostly rural services. Rookwood was very familiar with Thumpers and Pacers as well, the rough rail bus of many a service. They were often crowded, the unconditioned coaches filled with the smell of sweaty workers on their way home from work. They were noisy and uncomfortable, even more so if the windows were open.
He tried to be as far away from the Dursleys as possible, but they'd sat right in the middle of the train. Even at the back of the other car, he couldn't stop the burn, and only a conjured ice cube under his sleeve prevented his mark from catching fire. He went through three cubes before the Thumper left Greater London.
Then the Thumper entered the Green Belt, stopping next to a small quaint station, Little Titter. He briefly panicked when just as the Thumper pulled away from the station, the burn started to get less. He frantically looked back at the station, but the platform only had a couple of nuns on it. But the burn didn't get better, so he concluded that the family must have moved farther forward.
The next station, Stryct though, the burn got worse, and he looked out to see the family stepping onto the platform. He quickly got up and muscled his way off the train, grimacing as the burn got stronger. The platform reminded him a bit of Hogsmeade in it's arrangement. They were on platform one, so of course the family of muggles had to cross over using the bridge. He watched, letting them build a lead, as the oldest boy picked up his littlest sister and carried her up the stairs.
Rookwood waited until they were half way across before he started up the bridge, his hand holding his pained arm, right over his Dark Mark. It almost felt like it was broken, rather than burning now. Out of the station he followed them. Down the walk, past a school of some sort, the woman herded her children. Rookwood wasn't used to walking so much, and the pain went higher.
His arm was aching, burning. His legs were sore and seemed to be transfiguring themselves into lead. Rookwood didn't know how much further he could walk, but he took greater strides with new energy when the children picked up speed, an obvious sign that they were almost home. Ahead of him, he could see the red headed girl turn onto a side road. Above her head he could see the sign proclaiming it to be Privet Drive.
It had been a sunny day with barely cloud in the sky when Augustus Rookwood had gotten off the train. Suddenly it wasn't sunny anymore. Out of nowhere clouds seemed to concentrate over Privet Drive. It might have been a summer afternoon, but he'd never seen clouds gather quite that quickly. A thunder clap seemed to be right next to his ear, causing him to stumble forward. That's when he got too close to the Dursleys.
First his robes caught fire at his wrist, then it worked up his arm, much like he'd seen happen to Malfoy. A charm he'd precast took effect, as his robes became soaked with ice water, in what he believed was an ingenious reversal of a charm usually used to warm up someone who had fallen into the ice. It almost was enough. It certainly got him closer to Privet Drive.
That was when the bolt of lightning hit him and his robes flashed into burning embers. A second bolt followed the first, and Rookwood knew no more until he'd woken up in the white room. Before the woman could leave, he somehow managed to croak, "What day is it?"
"It's September the First."
VBDF
It was September First, and Petunia Dursley was glad that it was also a Sunday, so at least all of the family would be there to see her two eldest off to their respective schools. In the case of Dudley, Vernon would be joining him on the three oh two train from Kings Cross to Cambridge which was the stopper, allowing them to get off just a half mile from Smeltings. The rest of the family would return home to Little Whinging while Vernon wouldn't return until the next day. It was quite fortunate that his boss had actually insisted that Vernon take the day off so Dudley could settle in. Vernon had attributed it to the fact that his boss was a fellow Smeltings alum.
So they somehow managed to get to King's Cross, just in time to be nearly run over by two red headed boys on there way through the wall to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. It was enough to cause just enough of a domino effect that Lily lost her balance and fell into the girl trailing the mother in much the same way that Iris was trailing Petunia.
"Sorry," Lily said to the fellow red headed girl. Petunia couldn't hear the girl's soft response, but it seemed to be accepted, before the girl sped up and followed her mother who was just behind another boy with a cart, probably one of her sons.
Petunia turned to Harry. "Just head for the wall like those boys did, best to do it with a bit of speed. You'll go right through, and we'll be right behind you." Harry nodded, picked up a bit of speed, and soon vanished into the wall. Petunia, Vernon, and the rest of their children quickly followed.
As soon as Petunia cleared the brick wall, she looked up to see Platform Nine and Three Quarters. It was something she'd enjoyed since that first time when they'd taken her sister Lily for the first time. There was the scent of coal smoke in the air as Petunia took a deep breath, surveying the platform. They were pretty close to departure time, so the platform was full of children moving this way and that, manhandling carts and evading embarrassing parents. Petunia had sworn that she'd never be one of those mother, but now...
"I'm going to miss you," Petunia said, as she suddenly lurched over to hug her nephew. She enveloped him in a hug, and could tell his return of that hug was reluctant. Being hugged in public by your aunt was not a sign of being a big boy. Thus both Harry and Dudley had been avoiding them as much as they could. Petunia didn't intend to let him get away today.
Still she let him pull away quicker than she wanted him to. Harry did not, however, stop his sister from giving him a hug. Nor did he stop the progression of his little girl cousins giving a quick hug. He did stop Bradley from jumping up into his arms.
It wasn't long before Harry got onto the train, and all too soon Petunia found herself watching the steam engine and it's classic mark one carriages pull away from the station. Tears, unexpected, and ones that she'd promised herself she wouldn't have found traces down her cheeks. She didn't dry them. To do so would be denying the effect that her nephew had on her, and that was something she had long ago sworn not to do. He may have not been the fruit of her loins but in every way that counted, Harry Potter was Petunia's son.
VBDF
Lily Dursley stepped a bit away from the rest of her family as they took their turns hugging Harry. "I think you're going to miss Harry more than you miss me," Dudley suddenly said from right next to her.
"No, but I think Harry's more likely to write," Lily said. "Of course, if you don't write, I'll arrange for Bradley and Noel to come visit you. I think I can convince them that you're dumping them as roommates. You know how much they love being in the room with big brother."
"Anything but that," Dudley said. "I don't know how you girls got the pairs, and us boys ended up with three in one room and the other under the stairs."
"Because I told Harry that the cupboard under the stairs would get him his own room," Lily said. "I knew they wouldn't let me have a room alone, and Primrose was still in the crib, so the bunk beds weren't really an option. We could have ended up with you, Harry, and Bradley, then me Violet, and Iris, with Noel and Primrose sharing a room. It was the initial plan."
"Disaster waiting to happen, there," Dudley said as suddenly bumped from behind by a blond boy who couldn't be more different than Harry. The thin aristocratic boy fell straight back on the platform, having hit the immovable object that was Dudley Dursley. His trunk fell out of his grasp, ending up teetering on the edge of the platform in the gap between carriages.
Before Dudley could do any more than bend down to offer a hand up, the boy scampered back bit. "Stay away from me, muggle. You shouldn't be on the platform."
"I think you might want to rethink that statement," Lily said turning towards the boy had has resumed standing. His robes were obviously effected by his bounce to the ground and slide backwards. Lily could feel the static of her magic in her hair, and knew it was just short of turning into a nimbus of red, as it often did when she was emotion enough to do accidental magic. She brought her hand up, and snapped her fingers. The snap was accompanied by a flash and was nearly loud as thunder.
The boy quickly collected his trunk and got on the train. As soon as the boy was out of hearing range, Dudley turned to Lily and said. "I'm not worried about you as the oldest sibling. Not after that."
Lily smiled as the final whistle blew, just as a young red head the age of her oldest brother scrambled onto the train. "Come on, Dusleys, line up and give honor to Harry!" she cried out.
"Harry? You mean Harry Potter?" a girl maybe half a year older than Lily said, coming up next to her. Lily was pretty sure she'd seen the girl sometime before. "Can I join you?"
"The more the merrier?"
"Ginny Weasley."
The Dursley's lined up by age, with Ginny in between Lily and Dudley, swiftly and as the train began to pull out, each of them snapped to a salute as Harry passed by them. Once the train receded in the distance, however, Lily turned to the girl who'd joined them at the last minute.
"Ginny Weasley ... any relation to Ron?" she asked.
"The youngest of my older brothers," Ginny said. "I don't get to go until next year, so I'm going to have to spend a year alone with mum. I hate being the youngest and only girl, sometimes."
"I've got two years before I go," Lily said. "I think Harry's going to forget totally about me by then, even if I'm actually his little sister."
"Big brothers never remember to write," Ginny groused. "I've got six of them, and I'm lucky to get a single letter from each of them while they're away. Only reason I seem to get letters is when they get hurt. That's how I got letters from both Bill and Charlie last year. I didn't know Harry Potter had a little sister."
"Their was a charm set up that transferred me to Mum's womb when she accepted Harry," Lily admitted. "I didn't find out until six weeks ago. Not that it matters at home. We're all one big family. Eight of us between the ages of four and eleven, and Mum's pregnant again."
"Wow, I didn't think I'd ever meet any family with more children than my family's," Ginny said. "I don't think we'd be as a big of family if it wasn't for the fact that Mum wanted a girl."
"There are a lot of big families in my neighborhood," Lily said, as she noticed that her mother was chatting with a redheaded woman who could only be Ginny's mum. "When I'm old enough, if I'm not at Hogwarts, I'll probably be dragooned into child minding for other families. I'm going to be the oldest at home now, so I'll probably have much more experience than I want. You wouldn't believe what gross things Bradley ends up bringing in the house. Last week he brought in a muddy toad and told Primrose that if she kissed it, it would turn into a Prince."
"Ewweee ... ever have to get their laundry from their rooms?" Ginny asked. "I've got that chore, and they're always so messy and stinky."
"That's a given, with boys," Lily replied. "A few months ago I had to make Noel's bed, and the smell, it almost made me pass out. I took the whole bedding out, opened the window, sprayed deodorant and still it was barely standable."
"Only thing good about my big brothers being away from school is that the bathroom won't be filled with stink pellets until Christmas," Ginny said. "I don't care if they claim that don't use them in the bathroom, it still smells like they did."
"They have no concept of clean," Lily said. "And now the worst of my brothers with that is going to be the eldest boy at home. There is no way the boys room isn't going to be a disaster by the end of the month, if not end of week."
"First thing I'm going to be told to do is probably clean up Ron's room," Ginny said. "I bet I find at least three chocolate frogs."
"I think those are worse than real frogs," Lily said, as her mum approached. "Real frogs don't leave prints on the ceiling. Hi mum."
"Lily, this is Molly Weasley, Ginny's mum." Petunia said. "I see you've met her daughter. I've invited her and her daughter to join us at McDonald's."
"Okay, come on Ginny, I'll show you the way."
VBDF
Harry Potter entered the first compartment on the third carriage. He'd gotten on board early enough that there was still a few compartments that only had one or two students in them. This one was occupied by one girl who had a copy of Hogwarts, a History out, and seemed to have be trying to bring her emotions under control. "I have confidence in me," the girl whispered, the hint of the tune in the soft almost too soft to have a true tone.
"I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain," Harry responded in song, causing the bushy haired girl to look up from her gaze at the platform.
"I have confidence that spring will come again," Seamus Finnigan sang.
"Besides, which you see, I have confidence in me," the three chorused.
"As we apparently share the same musical tastes, it is okay we if join you," Harry said. "Aunt Petunia says that I should have a compartment with someone I don't know." He smiled big. Hermione gestured her acceptance. "Apparently friends that meet up on the Hogwarts Express can be very good friends indeed. Mum met Alice Coombs, who apparently was among her best friends, and one of the ones in her will to take care of me. I wonder what happened to her."
Harry had been unaware that Neville Longbottom had been behind him, reaching the compartment door just as he'd mentioned the name. "She was my mum," Neville said softly. "Then come on in, that is if you don't mind, my lady, you were here first. I don't think we actually exchanged names."
"I'm Hermione Granger," the girl said, tentatively. It was obvious that she was still in the process of feeding her courage, as each word was more firm. "And you are?"
"Harry Potter, don't believe what you read," Harry said.
"Why not?" Hermione asked. "You're in ..."
"I know exactly what I'm in, but those authors never met me, never even went to Godric's Hallow as far as we can tell, and most certainly never interviewed anyone who was actually there," Harry said. "And as far as the ever to be damned Boy-Who-Lived and insert strange object, place, or event here, books, they came this close to being shut down by Aunt Petunia and the goblins ... not that I knew anything about that until the beginning of last month. Anyway, I should probably introduce these gentlemen that I met in Diagon Alley. Beside me is Seamus Finnigan, who hails from Armagh in Northern Ireland, I believe, and at the door is Neville Longbottom, whose parents worked with my father as aurors, I understand."
At Hermione's questioning glance, Harry decided to expand on it, "The Auror Office is apparently the magical equivalent of Scotland Yard," Harry said. "At least that's what Ite'wold said. My father was apparently one of the ones that the Goblins really respected, same with both Frank and Alice Longbottom. Ite'wold showed me the plaque that Gringotts puts honored aurors on. He told me that their tale wasn't his to tell though."
"Come on in Longbottom," Hermione Granger said, patting the seat beside her. "The more the merrier."
"Longbottom, Potter, boy am I glad I found you," Blaise Zabini said from the doorway. "I thought I was going to have to sit with Malfoy and his ilk. He thinks he's going to rule the school, because his father's is a Governor." He sat down hard between Harry and Seamus.
"And you are?" Granger asked.
"Blaise6 Zabini, I met these three in Diagon Alley, I hope you don't mind all the boys, but I think Dunbar is on the way. Potter, I assume those blonds with the red head were your cousins?"
"Yes."
"I may have to write an apology to the eldest. I kind of made Malfoy run into him. It didn't go well ... for Malfoy. Fell straight on his pants."
"Dudley Dursley, immovable object," Harry said, as a dark haired girl with a sun burn appeared in the doorway. She was flexing her right arm. "Granger, meet Fay Dunbar, of Bristol Dunbars, not be confused with the Delhi Dunbars, nor the Derby Dunbars, and most certainly not the Rutland Dunbars if you value your life."
"And don't you forget it," Fay Dunbar said before ruining it by breaking into giggles. "I have no idea who half of those Dunbars are." She took a seat next to Hermione. "I was worried that I'd end up with a bunch of boys."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"These boys managed to totally ruin, well not Potter, every attempt I made to meet other girls in my year," Fay said. "They somehow even managed to make me end up in boys' robes."
Harry noticed that Fay's robe fastened on the same side as his did, not the side that Hermione's did. It reminded him of the one time he'd managed to give Iris's shirts to Bradley and the reverse. He could tell that Hermione was about to ask how.
"Don't ask," Fay said. "Just know that you're not stuck with some seriously maligned males ... oh wait, they're all in this compartment. Hello Thomas."
A black boy with pencil tucked behind his ear, stepped into the compartment.
"Granger, this is Dean Thomas, muggle born like you, and the fastest sketch artist I've seen," Fay said. "Thomas, tell me you're not one of those bloody Arsenal fans that Potter warned me about?"
"No, Manchester United," Thomas replied.
"Good choice in teams," Granger replied, much to Harry's dismay, though at least she wasn't an Arsenal fan. "I think we still have room for a couple more." Dean plopped down near the door. There was room for maybe one more opposite him, though Harry would have swore that there was less room earlier.
Just as they were starting to pull out of the station, a red headed boy, who reminded Harry a bit of the twin menaces who had nearly crashed their cart into the rest of his family on their way through King's Cross. "Can I join you? Everywhere else they say is full."
"Well, it will be once you join us," Hermione said, surprising Harry as she began to introduce everyone as Ron's trunk was hefted upwards to the amazing expanding rack. "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?"
"Ron, Ron Weasley," the boy said with growing confindence.
"Beside me is Seamus Finnigan, our Irish member, Neville Longbottom whose parents were in law enforcement, and Blaise Zabini who has a well justified objection to Malfoys. On the other side is Fay Dunbar of the Bristol Dunbars who are not to be confused ever with the Rutland Dunbars, Dean Thomas who serves as the compartment's resident sketch artist. He's already started sketching us, and I want a copy Dean. And last but no means least, Harry Potter."
"Really?" Ron asked, taking a seat. "Do you have, you know, the scar?"
Harry raised his bangs to show the scar. He thought it was actually a bit cool, so he didn't mind showing it, save when it made him too identifiable in Diagon Alley.
"Cool."
"A bit," Harry admitted. "And before anyone asks again, I have no idea what happened that night, and I don't think anyone does. I wasn't even two, and I'm the sole survivor. Now who wants to play Exploding Snap? I've got an unopened deck."
Next Chapter will include the sorting, as well as Lily dealing with being the eldest at home. I have completed figuring out where everyone will be sorted, and it looks like 9 of the 40 have switched houses, including the entire trio and someone who made a comment about his future house indicates he might not want to stay at Hogwarts.