Chapter 1: The Train
September first was always a busy day at King's Cross station, and the station's guards had learned to treat the day as if it were like any other, despite the fact that every year on September the first they tended to get a lot of...strange people. These particular people didn't act much different from everyone else, no, it was the way they dressed that made people look at them like they were completely barmy. Some of these people wore cloaks, or robes - some even wore the strangest combinations of clothing the guards had ever seen. Some would enter King's Cross wearing swimming costumes, and there were even cases of grown men wearing dresses.
As if the strangely dressed people weren't enough, there was one particular question that at least one eleven-year-old would ask every year, and it had all the guards wondering if it was some kind of joke they simply didn't understand.
"Excuse me, Sir, but where can I find Platform Nine and Three Quarters?"
The guards all assumed that it was just a joke that a group of eleven-year-olds thought clever. Sometimes even adults would ask, but an eleven-year-old would always be accompanying them. The guards had probably been asked this question hundreds of times over the years, and yet they still refused to believe that such a platform existed.
But what the guards didn't know, was that Platform Nine and Three Quarters did exist, however the people who used it didn't blame the guards for not knowing that the only way to get to it was through the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. They were only Muggles after all, only wizards and other inhabitants of the magical world knew where it was and where the train on this particular platform lead to. It led to a school that witches and wizards sent their children to: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
As it was September the first, the platform was packed with families of witches and wizards with their children. Parents and grandparents were hugging children of the ages of eleven to seventeen goodbye as they prepared to board the train. There was one particular family on the sidelines, however, where no one was hugging anybody.
"-I'll be prepared to get an owl from the school saying that you both made it into Slytherin," a tall, black-haired woman was saying to her blonde twin daughters, as if there would be consequences if they didn't make it into Slytherin, "And I better not be getting any owls at any time during the year telling me you've caused trouble," she concluded, narrowing her eyes at the twin on the left.
The girl visibly flinched at her mother's glare, as she was accustomed to receiving punishment when she was met with that look. Her twin noticed this and replied to their mother for her.
"We won't cause trouble, Mother. You've raised us to know what's right and wrong."
Their mother accepted this answer and nodded, "Good. Now, we spoke about this before, but I'll remind you again: no making friends with blood-traitors or Mudbloods-"
"Make only Slytherin friends," both of the girls finished for her.
"We know, Mother," continued the one who had spoken before, "We won't disappoint you."
"Yes," the mother said, looking unsure, "Well, it's almost eleven. Your father and I will leave you here. Have a good term." She stooped to give them each a quick hug, before whispering in the ear of the twin on the right, "Keep an eye on your sister, Chrysilla. Send me an owl if she starts heading in the wrong direction."
"Anthea will be fine, Mother," Chrysilla whispered back, "She won't be making friends with the wrong people, I'll make sure of it."
Their father, who hadn't said anything during their conversation, gave them both a curt nod, as if to say goodbye, before both their parents turned on the spot and apparated away, leaving their children with their trunks alone on the platform.
...
"Fred! George! Wait just a moment!"
"Muuuum!" the twins in question whined together as their mother called them back for what seemed like the tenth time that morning.
"The train's going to leave soon!" one of them said.
"Yes, and we'd rather like to be on it," said the other.
"Oh, I know," their mother replied as she pulled them into their fiftieth hug that day, "I just wanted to apologise for Dad not being here."
"You've already apologised!" they both replied, trying to get away from her hold.
"Twenty times, actually."
"We know he had to stay home to take care of Ron and Ginny."
"I'm sorry, boys," she said as she pulled away from them, tears filling her eyes as she looked at their freckled faces. When she noticed how long their red hair was getting, she suddenly wished she'd thought to give them haircuts the night before, "I just can't believe you're already off to Hogwarts!"
"We've been over this, Mum!"
"Can we get on the train now? We'd like to find a compartment."
"Yes, I suppose I should let you go," she said reluctantly. Fred and George took this chance to run towards the train before she called them back again. When their mother took notice of this, she started to yell after them. "Behave yourselves! I don't want any letters from the school saying you got into trouble! I've asked both Charlie and Percy to keep an eye on you!"
Fred and George, already far away from her, didn't hear her cries over the noise that filled the platform, and even if they had, they'd have chosen to ignore them. This was their first year at Hogwarts, and they wanted to cause as much trouble for the school as they could so everyone would know their names. They only had seven years at Hogwarts, and they wanted to make the best of them. Their goal for the year was to establish a reputation for them.
Their names would be as well known in Hogwarts as Harry Potter's was in the entire Wizarding World.
As they approached one of the many doors to the train, one of them took notice of something.
"Oi, Fred, look over there."
A small blonde girl their age was trying and failing to get two trunks onto the train. Fred and George wondered why she was trying to do this alone. They had their mother and brothers to help them, and she had no one? Two trunks meant two people. Where was the second person?
"Reckon we should help her?" George asked his twin.
Fred nodded and they walked toward her.
"Need help?" Fred asked as they approached.
The girl, who hadn't noticed them approach, looked at them her blue eyes widening in shock. She smiled at them and nodded her head.
"I'd love some help, thanks."
Alone, carrying two trunks onto the train was next to impossible for an eleven-year-old, as they had no spells to help them, but lifting the trunks was no problem for the three of them together.
"Where're your parents?" one of the boys asked.
"And where's the second person, or are these both yours?" asked the other.
The girl shook her head, her long blonde hair swaying from side to side as she did so. "Mother and Father already left, and Chrys went to go find a compartment."
"Who's Chrys?" the boys asked in tandem.
"Oh, Chrys is my sister. She's actually my identical twin," she replied, smiling brightly.
Fred and George couldn't help but smile with her. They had other twins they could make friends and cause trouble with! Hogwarts wouldn't know what hit them!
"We're like you guys," the girl continued, "Er- I'm sorry, but what are your names?"
"I'm Fred-"
"And I'm George."
The girl smiled at them again and held out her hand for them to shake. "I'm Anna, it's nice to meet you both!"
"Same to you," Fred and George replied as they took turns shaking her hand.
"Is this your first year too?" they asked her. When she nodded they asked, "What house do you think you'll be in?"
Before she could answer another blonde girl identical to Anna ran up to them from the sea of people on the train.
"Anna, there you are. There are so many people here I couldn't find where I left you. I found a compartment-" the girl Fred and George knew must be Chrys froze when she saw them, "Anna, who're they?"
"Oh, they helped me get our trunks onto the train. Fred, George, this is my sister, Chrys. Chrys, this is-"
"You're Weasleys, aren't you?" Chrys asked, rather rudely .
The smiles on the others' faces immediately disappeared at her words.
"Yes," Fred and George replied together, narrowing their eyes at her.
"I thought so," she replied, looking them up and down with an expression on her face that gave the impression she had just trodden on a giant slug. "Ginger... Hand-me-down clothes. It's painfully obvious who you are," she turned to Anna before adding, "Why didn't you spot it?"
Anna didn't reply, and the train's whistle blew overhead, signaling that the train was about to leave.
Chrys grabbed the handle on her trunk and began to drag it down the aisle towards the compartment she had found, "Come on, Anna!"
Fred had already turned away to leave, and so only George noticed when Anna mouthed the word 'Sorry' before grabbing her own trunk and leaving with her twin.
...
"Weasleys, Anna! Honestly, they've got to be the biggest group of blood-traitors in the world! I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already befriending blood-traitors... What's next? Mudbloods?"
Chrys had been going on like this for the past few minutes, ever since the train started moving.
"I don't think you should be using that word in Hogwarts, Chrys," Anna said. She hadn't been paying much attention to her sister, choosing instead to lean her head against the compartment's window and watch the scenery, "There are a lot of people around. You'll offend someone."
"The word's not meant to be a compliment, Anna. Honestly, I've always known you were odd, but why come to their defense? They don't belong in our world!"
Anna shrugged, ignoring her sister again. She was too busy wondering what Fred and George thought of her now.
"They were nice people, Chrys. I don't see why we should hate them. Maybe Mother was wrong about them."
Chrys looked appalled at Anna's words. "Who cares if they're nice? We can't be talking to people like them. Mother would kick us out of the house if she knew!"
Anna didn't really see a problem with that, she always got the short end of the stick at home anyway. She shrugged again, closing her eyes. Maybe if she took a nap they'd get to Hogwarts faster...
Anna heard Chrys sigh from her seat opposite her. She reluctantly opened her eyes to look at her.
"I'm sorry, Anna. I don't mean to make you feel bad. Mother only told me to look out for you."
"Maybe I don't need you to look out for me."
Chrys chose to ignore this, and changed the subject instead. "Let's focus on the big thing here: we're finally going to Hogwarts! Aren't you excited?"
Anna couldn't help but smile. "I wish this train could go faster. I can't wait to get there!"
The girls spent the next few hours chatting excitedly about what the castle would be like. They had no older siblings, so they had no idea what the castle looked like, and their parents never told them about it either.
"I heard someone say that there was a curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors when I was looking for a compartment," Chrys said, "I wonder if that's true..."
"Curse? You mean they die at the end of every year? Why would anybody want to sign up for that job?"
"I dunno. But I guess they can't be dying if people keep signing up for the job."
It wasn't long before the sky outside began to darken, and a small woman was offering them lunch off of a trolley ladden with sweets. They each got a handful of their favourite sweets and ate quietly as time ticked by.
The last few hours on the train seemed to go by extra slowly, as if to taunt them, but finally, they could see a silhouette of Hogwarts and its many turrets and towers in the distance. They were almost there!
Anna and Chrys took the opportunity to change into their school robes, and before they knew it, the train was screeching to a stop.
They could hardly contain their excitement as they left the train to be greeted by a rough, yet merry sounding voice.
"Firs' years over here, please!"
A giant of a man with a lantern was standing at the end of the platform, calling the first years towards them.
"Any more firs' years?" the giant asked as the first years approached them, Anna could see Fred and George's vibrant red hair a few feet away. "Alrigh' firs' years, follow me. Mind your step, now!"
The giant lead them all to a great black lake, a fleet of little boats sitting on the shore. Across from the lake was Hogwarts, its windows sparkling in the distance.
"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant shouted as everyone moved towards them. Anna and Chrys were followed onto their boat by a tall, pretty black girl with her long, black hair in a braid, and another girl who she seemed to be friends with already. They introduced themselves as Angelina and Alicia.
"Everyone in?" the giant asked, Anna noticed he had a boat to himself. "Right then, FORWARD!"
This was it. They were finally going to begin their first year at Hogwarts.
A/N: Thank you for reading, and I'd appreciate it if you reviewed. Did anybody catch any AVPM/S references? ;)