Chapter 4: The Scarlet Engine

The days slid slowly through August and before Harry knew it, it was September 1st.

"Look!" Lily pointed to a redheaded family and smiled, "It's them! It's the Weasley family!"

James smiled, "That's going to be Harry's family. In more ways than one."

Harry was nervous. There was no such thing as Platform 9 ¾.

"– packed with Muggles, of course –" A voice shocked Harry. He spun around and saw a plump woman talking to four boys and a little girl. They all had flaming red hair, and were carrying trunks like Harry's and they had an owl!

Harry watched in awe as one of the boys went running through a wall. Three more went and then Harry walked up to the woman and her two remaining children, a girl and a boy, both who looked about his age.

"Excuse me," Harry said, "Could you tell me how to – er,"

"How to get onto the platform?" The woman asked sweetly. Harry nodded and the woman continued, "It's Ron's first year at Hogwarts too." She gestured to the boy and Harry smiled at him.

"Just run," the woman said, "run straight at that wall."

Harry, still unsure of exactly what she meant, stared, confused.

"Why don't you go with Ron?" She suggested. The ginger boy shrugged stood next to Harry, ready to run at the wall.

James and Lily went on either side of Harry and each put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ready, son?" James said, excitedly.

"Ready?" the boy asked Harry.

James, Lily, Harry, and Ron all ran forward and right through the barrier. They were greeted by a scarlet train. The Hogwarts Express.

James and Lily smiled at each other.

Harry was fully expecting to crash into the barrier and break his nose, so he was shocked as he easily ran through with no problem or pain.

The scarlet engine was beautiful. Harry walked away from the barrier where the ginger boy just came out and waited for his mother and sister.

Harry boarded the train and pressed through the crowd until he found an empty compartment. He attempted to shove his trunk into the compartment, with little luck.

"Need a hand?" A voice behind him asked. He turned to see that it was one of the redhead boys who he had followed through the barrier.

"Yeah, thanks," Harry said.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" he called to his twin.

With the twin's help, Harry's trunk was finally tucked away.

"Thanks," Harry said, and pushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Here it comes," James said.

"Whats that?" one of the twins said, pointing to Harry's lightning scar.

"Blimey," said the other, "Are you –"

"He is!" the first replied.

"I am what?" Harry asked.

"Harry Potter!" the twins chorused in unison.

"Oh, yeah, him," Harry said, "er – yeah, I am."

"Fred, George, are you there?"

"Coming, mum!" the boys hopped off of the train with one last look at Harry.

"Nice compartment choice, Harry," James said.

"Why?" Lily inquired.

"Oh, don't try telling me that this wasn't the compartment we sat in on our first journey to Hogwarts,"

Lily looked around, shocked, "Wow! It is?" she cringed at the memories and bit her lip, "It really is too bad that Severus..." Lily didn't continue, but James nodded in understanding.

….

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat shouted.

The Gryffindor table all cheered, but Lily and James's shouts were louder than everyone's.

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm really sorry about the delay. I was just waiting for more than one review... But, it didn't come, so I just decided to update. So please review! Also, I've been having severe writer's block. So I'm just going to do a few events from each book instead of go through Harry's entire school career. So please, give me your feedback! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! BECAUSE ONLY HAVING ONE REVIEW SUCKS ROYAL HYPOGRIFF (hello, Rileyswag).