[Disclaimer: Except for Alice and the extra scenes and modifications, everything belongs to JK Rowling. ]

Platform Nine and Three Quarters, King's Cross. That's where Alice was headed. Pushing her trolley as fast as she could, she tried not to think about the jeering her aunt and uncle had given her as a sort of 'goodbye and good riddance' thing.

"Nine and three-quarters, eh?" Uncle Vernon had snickered as she hoisted the heavy trunk she was taking with her onto the trolley, "Isn't there anything that isn't abnormal about these oddballs? Good luck finding your platform. Mind you, we won't be letting you into the house if you end up missing your train."

They hadn't said a word to her the entire month. In fact, the only time Alice had talked to them, had been the previous night when she had asked her uncle if he would give her a ride to London. He had only agreed because they were taking Dudley to London anyway, to get his tail removed ('Wonder what they'll tell the doctors,' Alice had thought).

It was as if they were under the impression that by making things as difficult as they could for her, Alice would be forced to reconsider her decision.

'There's Platform Nine.' Alice hurried over to it. 'And Platform Ten.'

But there was no Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Okay. Now what?

Hagrid hadn't mentioned anything regarding this matter. She pored over her ticket, hoping to see instructions on it which would tell her what she needed to do.

No such luck.

Maybe she had to be three-quarters of the way between Nine and Ten.

…That wasn't it either.

"Feeling slightly idiotic now, just standing here between two pillars with my trolley and my owl cage," Alice whispered to herself, a wave of panic sweeping through her.

'OKAY. CALM DOWN. What are my options?'

She knew she didn't have to do any spells. Hagrid had warned her against doing any magic in the midst of Muggles as it was against the law. So taking out her new wand and waving it about probably wasn't the way to go.

There was nothing for it. She'd have to wait until someone else came along. She couldn't be the only witch going to Hogwarts from King's Cross, right?

"…Nine and three quarters, yeah?"

Alice whirled around. A man in an everyday suit was rolling a trolley in her direction, closely followed by a woman and a girl.

There was a large trunk on the trolley and the girl looked like she was Alice's age, but those were the only factors pointing toward the notion that they might be going where she was headed as well. They didn't have an owl or any other animal with them, and they seemed\

to be completely normal.

'Please don't let them have been talking about spare change…'

The young girl was looking down at her ticket."Yes, dad, nine and three quarters. Now that we're between the platforms nine and ten, we can follow the next step of the professor's instructions."

Nobody else would try to listen in on this perfectly ordinary-looking family in the middle of the hustle and bustle that is part of their daily lives. Alice strained to hear more, feeling slightly guilty for eavesdropping.

"Run at the ticket barrier," the older woman stated.

Say what now?

Alice waited for the rest.

Was that it? They had stopped conversation and looked like they were ready to leave.

She couldn't lose them. She might not get another chance. Alice rushed over to the family.

"Excuse me?"

All three of them looked up at her, slightly flustered.

"Are you, um, headed toward…Platform Nine and Three-Quarters? I'm headed there as well," Alice said slightly hesitantly. The last person she'd asked (the guard) where Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was, hadn't been very nice.

"Why, yes dear," the woman replied with a slightly relieved smile.

"Are you going to Hogwarts too?" the girl asked brightly.

"Yeah, I am!" Alice bobbed her head quickly. "The thing is, I don't really know how to…how to—"

"Get onto the platform?" The man completed, a kind look in his eyes.

She nodded.

"Well, the professor who informed us that our daughter had gotten into the school, explained it to us. You've got to walk through that ticket barrier over there, between the two platforms."

Alice gaped at him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, that was my response too. Honey, why don't you help this sweetheart out? I'll go through with Hermione."

Alice watched as the man started to push his trolley toward the barrier, with the girl, Hermione, holding on to his right hand. He kept walking straight on and on and—

Where'd he go?

"Ready?" The woman was smiling down at her.

Alice nodded for the third time, eyes wide.

Gently taking her hand, the lady helped her roll her luggage toward the barrier. Faster and faster they walked, Alice's breathing quickened, the barrier was growing bigger by the second and—

A completely different platform stretched out in front of her. People were hurrying about, doing last minute checks and dragging their trunks over to the beautiful, big, scarlet train sitting on the tracks A large 'H' was stamped on the front of the engine. A sign that said Platform Nine and Three Quarters hung overhead.

Alice turned around to look back at the way she came. A large doorway stood there instead of the barrier she had just come through. She grinned excitedly at the woman who was still holding her hand, who returned it. The man and the girl were waving from a little further ahead. Alice noticed the lady glance at them.

"Thank you so much for your help, Mrs— "

"Granger," the woman replied good-naturedly.

Alice flashed her a grateful smile."I'll be okay now."

Mrs Granger patted her on her head. "You take care."

A slight pang pricked her heart as she watched Mrs Granger hurry over to her daughter and husband.

Shaking her head, Alice took off through the noisy crowd in search of a seat in the train. The first few coaches were already filled, several children hanging out the windows to say goodbye to their families. There were kids running about everywhere, on the platform and inside the train.

The many hoots that filled the air let Alice know that her new owl, who she'd decided to call Hedwig, a name she'd found in one of her textbooks, wasn't the only owl in the place. In fact, owls weren't the only other animals there. She spotted a tall boy with a green mohawk who had a solemn-looking iguana sitting on his shoulder. Alice nearly tripped over a furry brown cat as it weaved its way between her legs. On the way, she passed a round-faced boy who was saying worriedly saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again," to a stern older woman next to him.

"Oh, Neville," Alice heard her sigh.

The carriages toward the back of the train seemed to be comparatively empty. Alice hurried towards one of them. She put Hedwig's cage inside the compartment first and tried to shove her trunk in but it was much more difficult to lift it onto the steps than it had been to place on the trolley. And dropping it onto her foot in the process didn't help.

"Need some help with that?"

A tall boy with bright red hair and freckles was grinning down at her as she hopped around on one foot.

"Yes, please," she panted, raging at herself on the inside for being so helpless.

"OI, FRED! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND HELP US OUT!"

Another red-haired boy who had to be this one's identical twin bounded over to them. With the aid of the two boys, Alice's trunk was inside the coach in no time.

"Thank you," she sighed, and then muttered to herself, "…can't even handle my own luggage…"

"Ah, that's okay. First year's supposed to be a bit crazy," one of the boys said. "'Least you didn't try driving the train over to the English Channel while your twin brother distracted the driver with chocolate frogs."

The other one burst out laughing. "Man, we were such amateurs."

"Nearly made it to Brighton though, didn't we?" the former shook his head.

"Which one of you is which?" Alice asked, cocking her head.

"Well, that's for us to know and you to find out," the second one winked at her. "Right, Fred?"

"Right you are, George."

"I think I'll find a way," Alice warned, laughing. "Well, I'M Alice, at any rate."

"Well, Alice, if that's all, we'll be off now. Got to go and see if there are other damsels in distress who are calling out for us," Fred winked at her.

"I have no idea how you can call our mom a damsel in distress, honestly," George shook his head.

"Merlin, George, I've got a reputation to maintain!"

"I'll see you guys around, then!" Alice gave a little wave and got onto the train.

Once she'd settled into her seat in one of the few empty compartments left, Alice looked outside the window and once again, let her mind soak in the hustle and bustle of the station. Her wandering eyes caught sight of the red-headed twins again, who were surrounded by an equally fiery-haired bunch. They were all close enough for her to overhear their conversation.

"Where were you two?" A stout woman with a pleasant face, demanded in a surprisingly stern voice. "You left without taking your sandwiches! Which poor soul did you pull one of your pranks on this time?"

Both the boys each placed a hand on their hearts dramatically.

"You wound us, mother," Fred said. "We would no such thing."

"In fact, we might have even helped a poor soul out," George piped up.

"We aren't as bad as people make us out to be, mommy dearest," Fred grinned, ruffling his mother's curly red hair.

She swatted away his hand but Alice could see that the woman was trying not to smile. "That's enough fooling around, you two. Here, take your sandwiches. Have any of you, by any chance forgotten to take something along?"

'OOH, OOH, ME, ME! YOU'VE FORGOTTEN TO TAKE ME!" A small girl with as red hair as any of them bounced up and down with her hand in the air.

"Ginny, you're not of age yet. You can go next year, sweetheart."

"Don't worry, Ginny. We'll write you every week, loving brothers that we are," George pacified his little sister.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat," Fred nodded seriously.

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING," their mother said in a firm voice.

"Only joking, mum."

"Well, mother, I'll be off then," a lanky red-headed brother with horn-rimmed glasses spoke up. He had a shiny silver badge pinned to his chest. "The prefects have two carriages all to themselves where they all meet and have tasks assigned to them."

"Sounds like fun," George smirked.

"Oh, wait, what? You're a prefect?" Fred said, with an air of great surprise. "You should've told us, Percy, we had no idea!"

"Oh no wait, he might've mentioned it once-" George piped up.

"-or twice-"

"-a minute-"

"-all summer-"

"Oh bugger off," Percy said churlishly while little Ginny giggled.

"Enough, you two," the mother commanded. "Now, you have a good term, Percy. Send us an owl when you get there."

"I will send word with Hermes as soon as we arrive, mother."

He kissed her on the cheek and walked off briskly.

" 'Send word with Hermes'," George grumbled. " Could've just said yes, but no, he had to mention his brand-spanking-new owl…"

"How come he gets a new owl and robes, and we don't?" Fred demanded.

"Because he's a prefect," the woman answered curtly. "Behave yourselves, you two. And take care of your brother. It is Ronnie's first year after all."

"We'll take care of ickle Ronniekins," Fred grinned.

"Yeah, make sure Lee's tarantula doesn't bother him," George winked at the younger brother who was very visibly unnerved.

"See ya!" George waved as he sprinted toward the toward the train which had let out a warning bellow.

"There's something on your nose, Ron, by the way," Fred called out, following his brother.

Alice shook her head and turned away from the sight of the mother grabbing Ron to rub at his nose. She couldn't hold in her excited smile as she felt a rumble course through the train.

"You with me, Heddy?" She looked up at her new companion, who hooted in response.

"Tu-whit tu-whoo to you too."


[A/N: DO NOT KILL ME PLISS. I HAS A COLLEGE COURSE TO FUCK UP. / ]