Author's Note:

This story is the result of an idea that just wouldn't leave my head when reading other Harry-rescued-from-Dursleys stories. I thought of an idea where Harry somewhat rescues himself, and the rest of the setting simply sprang to mind as I wrote.

My story diverges from canon long before Harry was even born; in my universe, Voldemort never made Horcruxes. So when he attacked the Potters and his curse rebounded, he died permanently. There are lots of knock-on effects to this change, some of which will impact the story and some of which I have in my notes but may never actually be directly referenced in the story.

I've almost finished writing the entire story, I'm mostly just editing the chapters and then posting them. This story is not intended to cover Harry's 7 years at Hogwarts, or even anywhere close to that length of time. If you're here for Harry and Ginny to get together romantically, then this isn't the story for you; it'll end long before that happens.

Chapter 1 – King's Cross

Eleven-year-old Harry Potter was quickly approaching panic.

Harry had been wandering around King's Cross station for nearly four hours, and the 11 o'clock deadline for the train to Hogwarts was fast approaching. Trouble was, nobody at King's Cross seemed to know about any trains leaving for Hogwarts at that time, or any other time. The lady at the ticket counter had accused him of pulling some kind of prank and making up words when he tried to buy a ticket. When Harry continued trying to explain himself, she started calling over a police officer and Harry had nervously jumped out of line and bolted. Since then, Harry had been checking all the platforms and keeping an eye on the departure board, but true to the ticket lady's word there seemed to be no sign of the train he was supposedly going to take.

Harry checked the clock on the wall again: 10:15 AM. He had less than an hour to find the train, but he was sure that he had already checked the whole station. He had no idea what to do and found himself sitting on a bench near platform 9, trying to come up with a plan. He could not go back home; Harry shuddered to think of that. Surely Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had discovered he was missing by now, as well as realized all his clothes and his few possessions were gone. They would know he had run away, and they would know that he stole Uncle Vernon's duffel bag and some of the food from the refrigerator when he did it. No, going home was not an option.

Harry was halfway through deciding that making up a name and trying to check himself into a homeless shelter might be his best option when something caught his eye. A large family of red-headed people had just walked by him. The group was a bit strangely dressed, but what caught Harry's attention was that two of the children were carrying animal cages. There was a boy carrying a caged rat, but more importantly, the oldest boy had a large cage with an owl inside it.

Harry quickly fished the letter detailing the school supplies he was supposed to bring with him out of his pocket. He scanned it and confirmed that, yes, it mentioned that students were allowed to bring a pet, and owls were specifically mentioned as allowed. Harry had never heard of someone keeping an owl as a pet before, and at the time he remembered thinking it was odd. But now, that owl might be the key to his salvation. He quietly got up, grabbed his duffel bag, and tried his best to inconspicuously follow the red-haired family to see where they went.

Remaining inconspicuous was harder than Harry would have liked. The platforms were all very busy by now, with hundreds of people walking by. Harry kept his distance, trying to observe the family by ducking a bit behind a pillar and peeking out from the side. The view wasn't very good though, and suddenly Harry noticed that the boy with the owl was gone. He did his best to look around, and the rest of the family still seemed to be there, but the boy with the owl had vanished and Harry had not seen where he went.

Harry stepped out farther from behind the pillar, but he accidentally bumped into a man in a fancy looking suit, causing him to drop his briefcase and making a small commotion as Harry fell. "Watch where you're going!" shouted the man, as he picked up his briefcase and shuffled away. Harry picked himself back up, and then looked towards the family again. To his horror, the two twin boys had vanished as well. All that was remained was the older woman, the mother he supposed, and the youngest boy and girl. Even worse, Harry realized, the girl was looking at him.

Harry quickly ducked back behind the pillar and silently berated himself for his clumsiness. He took just a moment though, since he still needed to figure out where he was supposed to go. Harry was just about to try peeking back around the pillar again when, suddenly, he found himself nearly colliding with someone. The little girl had apparently run over to investigate where Harry was hiding, and she nearly ran into Harry coming around the pillar.

Harry was frozen in place. This girl was looking right at him, with a look on her face that Harry could not interpret. "Hello?" she said. Harry didn't know what to say. He just continued looking at the girl, half wishing she would go away and half wishing he could drum up the courage to ask for her help. A moment passed, and after a puzzled look crossed her face the girl said "My name is Ginny, what's yours?"

"Harry. My name is Harry."

"Nice to meet you Harry. I saw that man run into you, I thought I would see if you needed any help."

Harry once again found himself staring dumbly at this girl, at Ginny apparently. He forced himself to speak "Yes, help…"

Ginny knelt down and picked something up off the floor, giving it a quick glance; Harry gasped when he realized it was his school supply letter. He was just about to try and grab it out of her hands when she held it out to him and said "Is this your first year going to Hogwarts?"

Relief flooded through Harry. Ginny knew what Hogwarts was. It wasn't some big prank, and maybe he might still be able to go. "Yes" he said, reaching out to take his letter. "It will be. If uh… if I can figure out…"

"How to get onto the platform? You can come with me if you want to, I know the way." At that, Ginny stuck out her hand towards Harry.

Harry stared at her outstretched hand as if it was some kind of unknown object. Nobody had ever offered to hold his hand, as far as he could remember. Ginny stretched her hand slightly closer towards him and said "Come on, come with me." The look on her face was… kind. Harry slowly reached out and grasped her hand, his heart pounding in his chest. "This way!" Ginny said, and then she set off back towards her mother.

The young boy was gone, and it was only the mother standing there now. "That's my mum" Ginny said, as she lead Harry by the hand. They approached the woman, who was now looking questioningly at the two of them. "Ginny? Who's your friend?" said the woman.

"Mum, this is Harry. He needs help getting onto the platform."

"Oh that's so sweet of you Ginny, but you really shouldn't talk with strangers, or wander off. Now then, Harry is it? I'm Molly, Ginny's mother. Go on ahead you two, there's about half an hour left until the train leaves, so you want to get a move on."

Ginny had not let go of Harry's hand, and was dragging him over towards platform 10. "Harry, you'll have to trust me now. Just keep ahold of my hand, and follow me." With that, Ginny set out at a brisk walk, and Harry suddenly realized that Ginny was not heading for platform 10. She was, instead, walking directly towards the wall between platform 9 and platform 10. "Ginny, wait…" Harry tried to say, and he tried to pull away his hand, but Ginny's grip was firm and she just kept walking, dragging him along.

Harry prepared to impact the wall when, suddenly, everything changed. Instead of hitting the wall, Harry found himself staring at a gleaming red train, surrounded by hundreds of people. Above the train was a sign, Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. Harry turned and looked behind him, once again seeing nothing but a solid wall. He knew the letter said 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' but, up until now, Harry had never seen any evidence that magic actually existed. Completely bewildered, Harry breathed a sigh of relief and just stood, rooted to the spot. After a few moments, he realized that Ginny was still holding his hand. He pulled back slightly, and Ginny released him with a small frown.

"Thank you. I don't know if I would ever have found it on my own." Harry looked around wide-eyed, and unsure of what to do now. He looked back to Ginny, "I suppose we should get on the train?"

Ginny's frown deepened. "I can't go, I'm too young yet. Next year for me. I'm… I'm going to miss my brothers. I've never been home alone without them."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. Harry would have been happy to be without Dudley, or all of the Dursleys for that matter; him trying to make it to Hogwarts was proof of that. But he could imagine things might be different if the people you lived with actually cared… no, he didn't want to think about that right now. He had only known Ginny a few minutes, and he was already disappointed that she would not be going to Hogwarts with him. He looked up at Ginny, who seemed almost like she might begin to cry. Harry's eyes came to rest on Ginny's hands, which she was gripping together in front of her.

Mind made up, Harry slowly reached out his hand and recaptured Ginny's hand in his. Ginny's breath hitched a bit, and both children looked at each other. "I'm sure they are going to miss you, Ginny. I… I will too, I think."

Ginny smiled at Harry, and then suddenly pulled strongly on their connected hands. Harry found himself wrapped up in a hug from the small girl, and for a brief moment he stood frozen still as a statue. His instinct was… no, Harry ignored his instincts. This girl had been nothing but kind to him, and she was not a threat. Awkwardly, Harry wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug. "Thank you Harry. I'll miss you too. Can you… would you write to me?"

Harry was still enveloped in the hug, which was by his estimation probably the most comforting sensation he had ever experienced in his life. A smile was involuntarily stuck on his face, and he would probably have agreed to anything at this point. "Of course I will. Uh… if I can figure out how."

"My brothers will all be at Hogwarts, if you ask I am sure they will show you how to send letters. If you don't have an owl, the school has plenty." More business with owls, Harry thought, as Ginny pulled back from the hug and detached herself.

"OK, I will. I promise" said Harry, and he once again found himself standing somewhat awkwardly in front of Ginny. Somewhere on the platform, a bell rang out. Harry looked around for the source of the sound, and he saw Ginny's mother Molly walking over to Ginny and himself with a smile on her face.

"Harry, that's the first warning bell. You need to get on the train. Do you need help with your things?"

"No, Mrs… um… Molly. I can handle it." Harry shouldered his duffel bag and looked towards the train. A line of students were filing into the train, surrounded by a large group of adults that Harry assumed were their parents. Harry started to walk towards the train, and then hesitated.

He turned towards Ginny one last time. "I promise I will write. Thank you again. Goodbye Ginny." At that, Harry turned to the train and headed for the line of students. "Bye Harry!" he heard from behind him, but he did not trust himself to turn around. He was nervous enough about coming here, especially as unprepared as he was, and did not think that hesitating any longer was a good idea. Harry stood in the line of students, and when it was his turn, he clambered on board the train.