I'm sorry I made you all wait so long--work has been so crazy and then this chapter wasn't even supposed to be a chapter by itself but I decided to make it so. I dunno what's going on in my mind lately, lol. Anyway, for all of those who have been patiently waiting for the real story to begin, this is it!

Many many thanks to everyone who has reviewed and added this story as a favorite/added me as a favorite/put an alert on this story. It means so much to me that you're enjoying yourself.

Before I begin, I of course must do my standard A/N, but this time a friend of mine has hacked onto my computer an has decided to do it for me. (sigh) Say hello, Evey.

Evey: Hello, Evey!

You've been hanging with Fred and George too much. Will you PLEASE get on with it so the nice readers can get to the chapter?

Evey: Oh, alright. PopstarJ01 owns me and my family; everyone else belongs to JKR.

Thank you Evey, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

On the first of September, Evey was rushing through King's Cross Station, her luggage and Dorothy's case on a trolley she was dragging behind her; it was ten minutes to eleven and she didn't want to miss the train. She had arrived back in England on the red eye just hours before the Hogwarts Express was to depart and grabbed a black cab from the airport to the station. She had been in a rush but even if she'd had time, she wouldn't have even considered stopping by her parents home first. They had sent her away to spend the summer with lukewarm relatives who either largely ignored her (in the case of her aunt and uncle) or assaulted her (bloody Robbie). Jacquie had been the only good part of the summer vacation and as glad as she was that it was over, she'd miss her cousin.

She rushed through the brick barrier and emerged onto Platform 9 ¾ with just minutes to spare. Her head whipped back and forth, frantically searching for her friends as she walked the length of the platform. Despite overhearing that no one had been hurt at the World Cup, she was still incredibly worried about them, especially the twins. She hadn't had any sort of contact with anyone over the summer--they didn't even know she had left the country! Unable to see the familiar red heads, she boarded the train, hoping that they were already sitting in a compartment. She struggled through the narrow hall, watching out for her friend's faces without any luck, and finally settled into an empty compartment towards the back of the express. She put her knapsack and Dorothy's carry case on the bench seat then struggled to manoeuvre her trunk onto the luggage rack. The train jerked and began to move just as she got the heavy trunk off the floor.

'What do you suppose Mum and Bill and Charlie were going on about?' Fred questioned as he and George searched the compartments for somewhere to sit.

'No idea,' George responded absently. 'But I don't give a Hippogriff's arse, to be honest.'

Fred took a deep breath, trying to keep his patience (which was already wearing thin). 'George, don't worry, she'll be here.'

'Seventy five days, Fred. Not a word for seventy five days!' George practically shouted as he sped through the corridor. 'I knew that letter from her parents was suspicious. What if they took her away? What if we never see her again? What if she's dead?'

Fred stopped and turned to his brother, grasping his shoulders and shaking him. 'George, calm down, you're overreacting. She'll be here; alive. Trust me.'

George took a deep shuddering breath and slowly nodded, running a hand through his shaggy ginger hair, 'You're right. Its just after what happened last year-'

'I know--I'm worried too. But you know Evey--she's stubborn to a fault, nothing could keep her away from here.'

George chuckled, 'Right you are, twin, right you are.'

The twins picked up their trunks and started down the train once more. They couldn't see their friend anywhere, which worried them to no end, but as they reached the back of the train they were…distracted by an unfamiliar sight. Inside an otherwise empty compartment was possibly the hottest girl they'd ever seen at Hogwarts. She was struggling to get her trunk up into the luggage rack, her raised arms accentuating every one of those impressive curves. Her denim skirt barely reached the middle of her sculpted thighs, showing off nice legs and as her t-shirt crept up, the boys saw a strip of beautifully bronzed skin. The girl's hair fell in wine red waves down her back, ending just beneath her shoulder blades. The twins glanced at each other and smirked as Fred slid the door open, letting out a long, low whistle.

'Bloody hell! The scenery this year is much better than previous years, wouldn't you say?'

'I must agree,' George responded, a little less enthusiastically than his brother; his mind still with Evey. 'Say, love, would you like two, strong, handsome blokes to help you with that heavy trunk?'

Evey had finally managed to get one edge of her trunk onto the luggage rack and she began to wiggle it back towards the wall so it was secure. As she did so, she heard the compartment door slide open, followed by a long, low whistle.

'Bloody hell,' Evey heard a very familiar voice stage whisper. 'The scenery this year is much better than previous years, wouldn't you say?'

'I must agree,' a voice identical to the first responded. 'Say, love, would you like two, strong, handsome blokes to help you with that heavy trunk?'

Evey bit back a smile as she finished adjusting her trunk. Lowering her arms, she quickly turned towards the door. 'I don't see any strong or handsome blokes in this compartment.'

'BLOODY HELL!' the twins exclaimed in unison, their jaws dropping and their eyes widening.

'Evey? Is it really you?' Fred asked, recovering from shock first.

Evey rolled her eyes. She had changed over the summer, but she didn't think the differences were that drastic. The twins, however, would beg to differ. Gone was the little girl in pigtails that they had met at King's Cross five years ago. While they'd always been aware that she was a girl, suddenly the fact was smacking them right in the face. Whatever she'd done over the summer had obviously agreed with her - their best mate was now a total babe.

'Wh-what--where?' George mumbled incoherently but Evey ignored his stuttering and rushed to hug the twins.

'Do you have any idea how worried I was about the two of you? Thousands of miles away and not sure whether my best mates were alive or not!'

'We-we're fine,' Fred answered as he and George returned Evey's embrace awkwardly.

She stepped away and smiled up at them. When did they get so tall? They had always been taller than her, but they had to have grown a couple of inches over the summer.

She smiled, 'Well, now that I know you're not dead, tell me EVERYTHING that happened at the World Cup--I know absolutely nothing!'

She sat on one of the benches, crossing her legs. The hem of her skirt rose a bit and the twins averted their eyes, still uncomfortable thinking of Evey as a girl; a really hot girl.

Suddenly, George remembered how worried he'd been just minutes ago.

'Where the bloody hell were you!' he almost yelled at his friend as he stood over her, arms crossed. 'Two and a half months! I--we didn't know where you were! No letter, no visit. Do you have any idea how worried we were?!'

Evey was a little taken aback by his anger and glanced over at Fred. He was concerned as well but not as upset as George appeared to be.

She gulped. 'I'm sorry,' she said, lowering her eyes to her hands, pretending to examine her black nails as she tried to hide her distress. 'My--my parents tricked me. When I got off the train, they were so nice, nicer than they've ever been, and I thought they'd finally changed, you know? I was so happy but then in the car they told me they were sending me to visit my cousins in…in America. I tried to get out of it, really I did, but nothing I did worked. My relatives in the States are Muggles, so I couldn't write you. I am so, so sorry.'

By the end of her explanation, Evey was almost in tears, taking a few deep, shuddering breaths to calm herself. Fred and George's stances had relaxed completely and they looked guilty for making their friend feel bad.

'Evey,' George said as he sat beside her and gathered her up in his arms. 'We're sorry.'

'Yea,' Fred agreed, sitting on Evey's other side and reaching out for her hand. 'We had no idea. We didn't mean to sound cross.'

Evey sniffed, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes, 'No worries, you didn't know.'

'So how was it? Was it absolutely horrible without us there?' George asked with a smile.

Evey laughed, music to the twins' ears. 'It wasn't completely horrible,' she said, having already decided that Robbie was NOT something she wanted to discuss with the twins. 'My cousin Jacquie had quite a fun time giving me a make-over as you can see.'

'And a wonderful job she did,' George muttered, but Evey heard and a sly grin crept across face as she turned pink under her tan.

'George Fabien! Are you ogling me?' she teased and George's face flared.

'I can't help it, Evey--I'm a sixteen year old boy, what do you expect?'

Evey laughed again, and this time, the twins laughed with her.

'Seriously though, Jacquie had a marvellous time,' Evey continued. 'Obviously, she changed my hair, and my clothes, and made me sit in the sun every day. She also made me go jogging with her which was ghastly as first but I quite enjoy it now. Then, there was Vinny's.'

Fred and George's eyes narrowed and their posture grew stiff as George practically hissed, 'Who is Vinny?'

'Oh you two are absolutely ridiculous, I swear,' Evey said, rolling her eyes. 'Vinny is a friend of Jacquie's who specialized in…body modification.'

That got the twins' attention. They sat bolt upright, their brown eyes wide as they looked at their friend.

George gulped, his eyes wandering over her body. 'What kind of…modification?'

Evey blushed and avoided eye contact, 'Oh just a few piercings--'

'Where?' Fred interrupted.

Evey tucked her hair behind her ears, revealing her three new ear piercings and the boys winced. 'Didn't those hurt?'

'Not nearly as much as this one,' she said, arching against the seat and pulling her shirt up a little to reveal her navel ring.

Fred looked shocked, and George's eyes widened as he briefly glanced at the ring before he took in the expanse of tanned flesh. He blinked when he realised what he was doing, trying to focus on anything but the way that skin was making him drool.

Evey pulled her shirt back down. 'Jacquie wanted me to get some more piercings but I told her that I was done after she forced me to get a tattoo.'

'A WHAT?!' the twins exclaimed as they leapt to their feet.

Evey laughed, 'You guys are being so silly. Its not a big deal, honestly.'

'Can we see it?'

'George!'

'What? I just want to see it, Fred.' He looked at her and his face reddened again. 'Unless it's somewhere…you know…private…'

Evey laughed, 'Its ok. Let me just get some sweat pants on. This skirt is bloody uncomfortable.'

She reached into her knapsack and pulled out the sweat pants she'd packed. She toed off her shoes off before slipping the sweats over her legs and under her skirt, which she then took off and put in her bag.

The twins had turned away to give Evey privacy when it became obvious she was going to change right there. Well, Fred turned but had to nudge George to remind him that he should look away. Fred had been noticing George's odd behaviour when it came to Evey since her accident last Halloween, but brushed it off as concern for their friend. But now, seeing how his brother's eyes had lingered over Evey's body today and how his face had flushed when she pulled her shirt up, he knew he'd have to confront his brother soon about what appeared to be a growing crush on their friend.

'Ok,' Evey said when she was finished changing and the twins turned back, taking their seats beside her once more.

'Now be honest and tell me what you think,' she said, twisting slightly and pulling her sweats down to reveal the small green and brown tree frog.

There was a moments silence then Fred exclaimed, 'That's brilliant!'

'Really? You like it?' Evey asked as she pulled her sweats up again.

'Absolutely,' Fred said, glancing over at George quickly and hoping Evey didn't notice the dazed look on his twin's face.

Evey smiled and looked to George, who was still staring at her hip where the tattoo was now hidden but, when he realised she was watching, he quickly looked up to his friend's light green eyes.

'George? What do you think?' she asked nervously.

'Why do I care so much more about what he thinks?' she wondered briefly.

He thought for a moment, then smiled, 'I think…that it reminds me of our first prank.'

Evey's eyes lit up, pleased that he had immediately made the same associations that she had. 'Yes! That's why I got it! So you like it then?'

'Absolutely,' George said with a smile.

Evey smiled widely and jumped up to hug each of the boys before demanding they tell her what had happened at the World Cup.

Yay! There's chapter 11. I hope you all enjoyed this. I'd really like to know what you think...it only takes a minute...please?!

Evey: Just do it; you have no idea how bloody annoying she is when she's like this.

Evey, would you like it if I sent you back to the States?

Evey: No!

Then be quiet.

Evey: Ok...

Sorry about her everyone, please review; it may make me post the next very insightful chapter sooner :-)