Harry got a nice, dreamless sleep that night due to the Sleep Potion, but that morning he didn't get any rest at all. Sirius shook him awake at the crack of dawn; he took a quick shower and washed his hair (it was important to look good on the first day of school). He packed his school robes in his trunk and put on his slacks and white button-down.

"What time does the train leave?" Harry called into the kitchen, where Sirius was scarfing down bacon like an animal.

"Eleven o'clock!" Sirius yelled back, his voice muffled slightly.

Harry put his dress shoes on the wrong feet by accident, and by the time he had them fixed, Sirius was out near the front door, finished with his bacon and wiping grease off his face. He shoved his feet into his dragon-hide boots and laced them up. Harry grabbed his trunk and they were out the door and into the busy street.

Sirius bewitched Harry's trunk to make it light as a feather, and he tied it, as well as Hedwig's cage, to the motorcycle. Then he used the Invisibility Booster and up they went, flying into the rising sun. King's Cross was in London, just like Sirius and Harry's flat, so it wasn't a very long ride at all. They got there about an hour early, at ten. Harry looked around.

"What's the platform number?" he asked.

"Nine and three-quarters," Sirius replied, grinning.

"But…" Harry looked. There was a big plastic nine, and then a big plastic ten.

"See that?" Sirius pointed at the metal barrier that separated platforms nine and ten. "You just have to walk straight through the wall."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Look, I'll demonstrate," said Sirius. "You just kind of have to lean casually against it, so that no Muggles notice you vanishing into thin air…Watch closely."

Harry watched as Sirius leaned casually against the metal, just as he'd instructed. And to Harry's shock, he disappeared right through it. Harry was reluctant for a moment, but then, if Sirius had done it…

Bracing himself for a collision, Harry grabbed his trolley, which had his trunk and Hedwig's cage on it, and walked slowly up to the metal barrier through which Sirius had disappeared. Eyes closed, he pushed the front of his trolley in as hard as he could and…

No crash? Harry opened his eyes and looked around. The platform was extremely crowded. Since it was only a few minutes after ten, the train wasn't here yet, but behind Harry there was a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been. It said Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

"Sirius!" Harry cried, running towards Sirius, who was waiting on the platform, hands in his pockets, a broad grin still on his face. "I did it! I got onto the platform!"

"Good job," said Sirius. "Now we just have an hour to kill. There's a snacks cart over there, I think…"

"I could go for some snacks," Harry agreed. They made their way over to the cart and bought two soft pretzels, plus two gigantic cans of soda. Sirius commented that Lily would just kill Sirius if she knew what he was feeding Harry, but they both couldn't help laughing over it.

It was about ten-thirty by the time they finished eating. Fifteen minutes later the train rolled in. It was magnificent, a beautiful scarlet steam engine puffing out smoke. On the side, in gold lettering, it read Hogwarts Express. Harry looked down as a cat walked past him. It was on its way to Sirius, who had already been scented by several cats. Then a toad hopped into his hands. At the same time, Harry saw a round-faced boy and his grandmother. The boy was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," his grandmother sighed.

"Is this your toad, kid?" Sirius asked kindly, holding the toad out to Neville. "He hopped right into my hands."

"Trevor!" Neville cried happily, grabbing the toad. Sirius smiled at them, then turned around again.

"Oy! Weasley clan!" he barked, his loud voice carrying across the platform. Harry looked where he was looking, and he saw who Sirius was talking to—they weren't exactly hard to pick out of a lineup. All of them had flaming red hair. There was a plump woman, four boys (two of whom looked like twins), and one girl.

"Sirius!" said the plump woman. "My word, is that you?"

"The one and only," he said. "I'm sure you've heard the story—"

"Oh yes," she agreed, nodding. "You were innocent? That's what the Daily Prophet said."

"And it's true," Sirius told her. "By the way, have you met my godson, Harry?"

"Blimey!" said one of the twins. "Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded. Both of the twins were gawking at him now.

"I'm Molly Weasley," said the plump woman. "These are my sons, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and my daughter, Ginny."

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were all staring at Harry like he was an exhibit in a zoo.

"Hi," he said uncomfortably, searching for his self-confidence, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Harry!"

That voice! Harry turned around to see Hermione, already in her school robes, running towards him. She almost knocked him backwards with her hug. Harry felt better; it was good to see her again!

"Um…Weasleys," said Harry. "This is my best mate, Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is the Weasley family."

They all waved, Percy shook her hand pompously, and Mrs. Weasley said, "Nice to meet you, Hermione."

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said politely.

"Well, it's nearly eleven," Sirius said, looking at his watch. "You all had better find seats."

Harry forgot Hermione and the Weasleys for a moment and turned to look at Sirius. Two months of living with Sirius, and now he wouldn't see him until Christmas…yet he couldn't think of a word to say.

"S-Sirius, I…" Harry began shakily.

"I know," Sirius said softly, and he bent down to give Harry a tight hug. When they separated, Harry saw tears shimmering in his eyes.

"I-I'm going to miss you," Harry told him. "Are you sure I'll do all right?"

"Sure I'm sure," Sirius said, tousling Harry's hair, sounding awfully choked-up. "This is…this is the proudest day of my life."

"Thank you," Harry whispered.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione said gently, touching his arm and smiling. "Maybe we can get a compartment together if we hurry."

"All right," he told her, and headed for the train—but then he bolted back, just for one last hug before he hopped on the train, along with the Weasleys and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley and Sirius waved as the train picked up speed.

This was it. They all were going to Hogwarts.