A/N: I tried to get this in before the year ended. I didn't expect progress to be so slow (uni took me by surprise) and I apologise. Thank you so much for continuing to read on. All your comments (if you made any) were very appreciated. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Thanks to my beta, Maiafay, who has helped tons.

Chapter 1: The Hogwarts Express

"Come on. Wake up, you two."

Someone shook Fred Weasley's shoulder. He groaned and covered his head with his pillow. He heard his twin mutter something about "annoying older brothers" from the other side of the room.

"If you don't wake up you'll miss the train, come on!"

Fred opened an eye. "What time is it?"

The ginger-haired, slightly sunburnt face in front of him sighed. "It's nine."

"S'two hours left," Fred said and he closed his eye.

"So you're not getting up, then?"

"Nope."

"Not even at the risk of facing Mum's wrath?"

"Nope," Fred said again, failing to notice the touch of laughter in his brother's voice.

"Then you leave me no choice. Aguamenti!"

Something cold and wet splashed Fred in the face. He bolted upright, using his hands as a shield to stop the onslaught of water. By the time he could see again, spluttering in indignation and completely soaked, Charlie Weasley had left his bedside to tackle George.

"That's not fair," Fred said, squelching as he got off the bed. "Now g-go and g-get George before he wakes up."

"Go and get ready for school." Charlie grinned. Fred left the room, his feet making wet patches on the carpet. He heard Charlie call out in a singsong voice, "Oh, George! Would you like a shower, as well?"

"Git," Fred muttered under his breath. Just because he'd emptied the rest of the frogspawn over Charlie's head did not mean he deserved such a rude and wet awakening...at least with the frogspawn, Charlie had been awake.

Fred came down for breakfast before George. Percy and Ron were already at the table, munching on scrambled eggs and toast. His mother pursed her lips as he sat down, but gave him a good helping of toast, anyway. His and George's antics of the previous night had earned them a sound verbal lashing and a punishment of washing the dishes the Muggle way. They'd also been given solitary confinement until bedtime. Fred had gotten Bill's empty room (the oldest Weasley child had left for Egypt three weeks previously) while George stayed in his own bedroom. Mrs Weasley's behaviour that morning told Fred she had not forgotten what they'd done.

He did not mind. He and George managed to incur Mrs Weasley's wrath several times a week; he'd gotten used to it. Besides, that day was the day he would leave for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He'd seen three of his brothers go into the school and come home every holiday with amazing tales of magic and mischief (although, in Percy's case, hardly any mischief at all), and he couldn't wait to go and have his own adventures. His parents' own happy memories did not diminish his excitement. He and George were finally going to Hogwarts; and Hogwarts, he snickered, had better be ready for them.

"Are you all packed, Fred?" his mother asked as George came in, yawning.

He nodded, shoved the last of his scrambled eggs into his mouth, and headed over to the sink to wash up. Then he went back up to his room under the pretence of double-checking his trunk. However, once there he headed straight for his bed.

He couldn't believe he'd almost forgotten. The one thing he absolutely had to bring to Hogwarts, and he hadn't packed it! Fred pulled his duvet cover back. An old blanket the size of a pillow lay on the bed sheets. Once a bright shade of red, the colour had now faded to a light pink and its edges had become frayed. The spell on it was still intact, though. When Fred picked it up and gave it a quick squeeze, it curled around his hand and a warm, sleepy sensation crept over him. He yawned and then headed over to his trunk to hide the blanket amongst his other possessions. George entered just as he locked his trunk.

"I thought you told mum you'd already packed," George said.

Fred rolled his eyes. "I also said I'd go double-check." An inward sigh of relief washed through him. George had chucked his security blanket away a few years ago and it wouldn't do for him to find out Fred still had his. After all, he was a boy, and boys did not have sentimental toys, not even ones that made you feel warm and secure.

Charlie helped the twins put their trunks in the new, second-hand Ford Anglia their father had just bought. A waste of money in their mother's opinion, but when Mr Weasley wanted something he could be more stubborn than a centaur. The car was not quite big enough for everyone and their luggage, so Fred, George, Ron and Ginny squeezed in the back, while Percy sat in the front with their father. Charlie and Mrs Weasley were going to Apparate onto the platform (Charlie had, just two weeks previously, finally passed his Apparition test after failing it the first time).

After a few last-minute dashes into the house, and Ginny insisting on sitting on George's lap, they set off. Fred could feel the excitement mounting with each mile that passed. Hogwarts, Hogwarts! What would he find there? What sort of spells would he learn? More importantly, did Hogwarts teach its students hexes and jinxes (and, if it didn't, did the library have books on them)? Which House would he be in? He had no doubt it'd be the same as his twin, but which one? How did they pick Houses, anyway? His brothers had been strangely silent on the whole topic, even Percy. Did he have to go through a test before a House was chosen for him? All these questions and more he voiced during the trip to King's Cross.

It was a very noisy car that finally arrived at the train station. Ginny, who was eight and very excitable, was bounding up and down in her seat, and even George's cross admonitions ("Gerroff, that hurts!") did nothing to calm her down. Once they'd gotten out of the car and taken their trunks from the boot, though, she became very sombre. The full realisation of what was happening seemed to hit her and miserable cries about how much she would miss the twins replaced the excited chatter of before.

Fred did nothing much to cheer her up, aside from a distracted promise (instigated by his father) to write regularly to her. He was far more excited about the prospect of going to Hogwarts to be bothered by his little sister's sniffles. George, too, could only give Ginny a distracted reply to her requests, and even almost hit her in his eagerness to get his trunk onto a trolley.

"Oh – sorry, Gin, didn't see you! Say, Fred, I wonder how many of the people here are going to Hogwarts, too?" George scanned the station eagerly as they made their way to platforms nine and ten.

Fred pointed out a dark-skinned girl with long, black braided hair. She was sitting on a trunk and holding a cage with an owl in it while her father pushed the trolley. Her little brother (Fred assumed) was tugging on her father's trousers and loudly asking for a go on the trolley.

"If she's not going I'll eat my hat," Fred said. "I wonder if she's in first year, too?"

George shrugged. A group of Asian tourists decided to cross their path at that moment and when they'd gone, so was the girl with the braids.

"Alright, boys, now it's your turn! Your mother should be on the platform already," Mr Weasley said. "Fred, George, do you want –"

"Us first!" Fred declared, and grabbing George he began walking very quickly to the wall between platforms nine and ten.

"No, wait, make sure no one's look –"

But the rest of what their father was saying became lost as they went through the barrier. The scarlet train of the Hogwarts Express greeted them as they arrived on platform nine and three-quarters, smoke billowing over the heads of students and parents. The twins grinned at each other. They'd been on the platform before, but this time, they'd be getting on the train!

"Boys!" Someone clapped George on the shoulder. It was their father. He looked cross and irritated. "Don't ever just go like that, always make sure there aren't any Muggles looking!"

"Sorry," the twins chorused in unison.

"Can we go put our trunks in the train now?" Fred asked.

Mr Weasley hesitated, then nodded. "But come back and say goodbye to your mother!" he shouted as they hurried off.

The first few compartments were full. Fred recognised one or two of the faces as he peered into them. They were friends of either Charlie or Percy, ones that had at some point come over to the Burrow for an afternoon or sleep-over. Fred managed to wave at Maureen Minch, a friend of Charlie's who had come over a few times over the summer. Fred kept asking Charlie if she was his girlfriend, and Charlie kept saying 'no', but Fred could have sworn he'd seen them holding hands before.

They found a relatively empty compartment near the middle of the train. It was occupied by a girl with short brown hair and a pair of the biggest blue eyes Fred had ever seen. On her small, slightly round face, they seemed just a bit too big, but the wide smile that greeted them was friendly enough. Fred found he couldn't help but smile back.

"Hallo!" the girl said.

"Hallo," Fred and George said together.

She giggled. "Do you always do that?"

"Do what?" George asked.

"Talk at the same time," she said. Without waiting for an answer, she introduced herself as Patricia Stimpson.

"I'm George," George said. "And this is Fred."

"We're twins," Fred said very helpfully.

"I know," Patricia said. "I've got twin brothers. They're in their fifth year at Hogwarts."

"Oy, Fred." George was trying to lift his trunk onto the luggage rack. "Give me a hand, here."

Fred took hold of the other end of the trunk and together, they managed to lift it onto the rack. When they were done, George stretched himself out on the seat opposite Patricia. Fred pointed at his own trunk.

"George, we've still got mine."

"I know." George closed his eyes, as if he were about to take a nap.

Fred went over and hit him. "Help me, you dolt."

Fred got his trunk put on the rack in the end. The twins were just settling into their seats when Percy came in. When he saw them, his ears and throat turned slightly red.

"You were supposed to go and see Mum before the train leaves! She wants to say goodbye to you! Come on!" Percy snapped before turning and stalking away, muttering that he didn't see why their mother would want to say goodbye to such a bothersome pair.

Fred and George leapt up and followed him out. On the platform, their mother was looking anxious. Fred thought it was safe to say she'd forgotten about their antics of the day before. "Oh, there you are! Why didn't you come out sooner? The train's going to leave soon!" She hugged the twins in turn. "Now, you two be good, alright? Don't get into trouble –"

"We won't," Fred said, his fingers crossed beneath his mother's embrace.

"And take care, and have a good time!" Mrs Weasley smiled at them. "Oh, you'll love Hogwarts. Owl me with your House, alright?" Then she hugged Percy and Charlie. Mr Weasley hugged the twins, as well. Ginny began to cry and even Ron looked a bit sniffly. The whistle blew, indicating the train was about to leave. After rushing on board, the boys waved goodbye to their family as the Hogwarts Express pulled away.

When they got back to their compartment they found two more people there. Both of them were first years, too. There was Cedric Diggory, a slim boy with grey eyes who was rather small for his age. Chatting animatedly with him was Lee Jordan, a boy with what Fred thought were very cool-looking dreadlocks.

The subject of Houses inevitably came up during the ensuing conversation. Lee's parents had both been Ravenclaws and, he confided, they expected he would be put in the same House. Patricia told them her brothers were in Ravenclaw but, "Personally, books and learning and cleverness don't interest me."

"Our family's Gryffindor," George said. "But I don't know what House I'll get into."

"Me neither. I think they're all about the same, really..." Fred reconsidered his statement. "Well. Except for Slytherin. But," he continued confidently, "I know I won't get in there."

"Why not?" Lee asked.

"Because I'm not a Dark wizard!"

George laughed. Cedric crinkled his nose. "Not everyone in Slytherin is a Dark wizard."

"But practically all the bad ones come from there," George said.

"That doesn't mean they're all bad." At the slightly dirty looks the twins gave him, Cedric held up his hands as a peace gesture. "I'm just saying!"

"What House do you think you'll be in, Cedric?" Patricia asked.

The blond-haired boy shrugged. "I don't know, really. I have a better question for you guys: how do you think they choose your House?"

If Fred had been hoping for some enlightenment on the subject during the train journey, he was severely disappointed. Not one of the other first years knew. It seemed the refusal to tell new students what lay in store for them was not just limited to the Weasley family. They spent a good half hour theorising how their Houses would be chosen.

Cedric thought they might have to answer a few questions. Lee suggested some kind of test. Patricia had heard all the Houses had their own animals for their badges – maybe the animals chose the students they wanted? Fred told them that his and George's older brother Percy had been very nervous about Houses. He reckoned there might be some sort of challenge or fight, or spell they had to learn on the spot.

"Or maybe," George said, "they give you a list of four tasks to do, and the one you pick decides which House you go to!"

"What happens if you fail at the task?" Lee asked.

"Maybe you get kicked out." A scared look came over Patricia's face.

"Nah," Fred said. "Percy would never have got into Hogwarts if that happens." He snickered.

They settled in and played a few rounds of Exploding Snap. Patricia was quite bad at it, and the twins enjoyed betting with her and gaining three Chocolate Frogs from it. A few weeks back George had discovered a way to make the cards explode far louder than usual (he still couldn't make them explode on demand, but louder was better than nothing) and he celebrated his achievement with his new friend Lee Jordan.

"Do you know," George said, stacking up the cards and putting in two other cards from different Exploding Snap decks, "that if you listen closely enough, you can hear the ticking before the cards explode?"

"No way!" Lee exclaimed. "Really?"

"Yep." George nodded, winking at Fred.

"Go on, try and listen," Fred said. Both Lee and Cedric brought their heads closer to the stack of cards.

Cedric pulled his head back suddenly. "Wait, what if the cards explode while we're listening?"

"You'll know when they will, the ticking gets faster," George said. He leant his head closer to the cards, too. "Do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything," Lee said.

Cedric tried to listen to the cards as George leant back in his seat. "Maybe you can't hear it over the noise of the train."

Maybe, Fred thought. That was probably a plausible explanation, if George had been right about the ticking in the first place. "Try harder," Fred said. "I'm sure you can hear the ticking."

Lee shook his head. His ear was barely two inches from the stack of cards. Just as Cedric had given up, and was halfway back to his seat, the cards exploded with a loud bang. Both Lee and Cedric yelled and Patricia, who had just re-entered the compartment, clapped a hand over her mouth.

"You idiots!" Cedric howled. "There is no ticking, is there?"

Fred and George were rolling around on their seats, laughing. Fred managed to shake his head and gasp, "You should've seen your faces!" before his laughter bubbled up again.

Cedric glared at them, obviously not in any way amused.

"Oi!" Lee said very loudly, face unreadable. "I can't hear anything!"

"That's kind of the point," George half-shouted back at him.

"That's not very nice." Patricia frowned.

"Oh, come on. It was just a bit of fun," Fred said, looking around the compartment. A seed of uncertainty planted itself in him. Surely his new friends understood? George had meant no harm, and like all the twins' pranks, this would leave no permanent damage. But maybe these people didn't have the same sense of humour that the twins had...

Cedric was still looking very unimpressed, and he told the twins that trying to make someone deaf was hardly something you did when you first met them.

Lee spoke up right after Cedric was done. "I still can't hear you! Do you have this ringing in your ears, too?" he bellowed at Cedric, who shook his head.

"Now you've made Lee deaf," Patricia sighed.

Fred caught George's eye. Maybe we should apologise, his twin's eyes told him. Just as Fred gave an almost imperceptible nod, several things happened at once. Lee patted George hard on the back and bellowed, "Good one!" into his ear, while Cedric broke out into a smile and said, "You should save the jokes until we've had a few lessons together, at least."

Fred didn't think George had heard Cedric through Lee's shouts, but that didn't change the fact that Cedric was not, as he had feared, angry at them. Whew, Fred thought. It had never occurred to him that his and his twins' jokes could rub off badly on anyone (except Percy, because Percy was never any fun) and the prospect of ruining such newfound friendship did not sit well with him.

"What's all this noise?" Charlie poked his head into the twins' compartment. "Oh, it's just you two."

Lee must have noticed that everyone's attention had shifted to the door, for he turned around and on seeing Charlie, said, "Hello!" Pointing at George he continued, "He's just gone and made me deaf in one ear!"

Charlie grinned and then spoke to the twins, shaking his head. "I was going to ask if you two had started stirring up trouble yet, but your new friend's already answered that for you. If you're not careful, you're going to set a new record for getting detention before term even starts!"

Fred was delighted. "Really?"

Charlie took a step back. "I did not just give you that idea." He turned to leave, then paused. "And if I did, don't tell Mum!"

A/N: Once again, I would love comments and constructive criticism. Let me know if I made typos, or mistakes, or that sentence sounded weird. And, of course, if you feel I'm destroying any canon characters.

If you just read it for enjoyment, I love comments like that, too!