Sun and Stars *Improved*

Chapter Three:The Hogwarts Express

     One month later, it was time to catch the train to Hogwarts. The last month with Uncle Remus was great. He didn't have to hide his magic anymore, so every morning, there was a new object moving around on its own. And every time I saw it, it impressed me.

I decided to name my cat Amelie. I always liked that name, and I thought it suited her. At night, she curled up close to me as I read and re-read my school books over and over again. I tried to consume everything about this new world that I could.

At nine o'clock the morning of September the first, I was woken up by Uncle Remus. He told me to get ready because we were leaving in an hour. We had to because the train to Hogwarts left at eleven o'clock from platform nine and three-quarters.

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Uncle Remus and I arrived at King's Cross Station with thirty minutes to spare as we were a little late in leaving the house. He had to show me how to get on the platform. I had to run into a brick wall-well, through, a brick wall. Once through, a scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to on another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

I turned around and gave Uncle Remus a hug. He smiled down at me, and said, "Look at you. All grown up, about to attend Hogwarts. I'll miss you while you are away."

"I'll miss you, too."

"Well, you ought to get going, then."

I gave him one last hug and promised to write before setting off through the crowd. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. I continued down the platform in search of an empty seat.

I pressed on through the crowd, not paying attention to where I was walking. Consequently, I ran into someone, knocking them over.

"Oh, no!" I gasped, running around my cart. I held my hand out to help the person up, "I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and-"

"It's fine," the person cut me off.

I helped them to their feet with difficulty because the person was at least a foot taller than me. They-or rather, he- had flamong red hair and freckles. "I'm Fred Weasley," the boy said.

"Annabelle Potter. Nice to meet you. Sorry again about hitting you with my cart."

It seemed, however, that my words were wasted. The second I said my name, the boy gawked at me. His eyes flickered to me scar before openly staring at it. I felt myself turning as red as my hair and tried to move my hair to block his view, but, to my relief, a voice came floating down the platform.

"Fred! Where are you?"

Fred, with a last look at me, turned to the voice. Taking my chance, I started to shove and heave my trunk up the steps. After several moments, I managed to do it. Carrying Amelie's crate, I looked for a compartment.

A whistle sounded, The train began to move. I took a quick glance out the window as houses flashed past. However, I didn't have a lot of time to admire the view as I was still looking for a place to sit. A head with flaming red hair popped out of one of the compartments.

"Annabelle, do you need somewhere to sit?" Fred asked.

"I, um, well...er, yeah," I stammered.

"You can sit with us, if you'd like."