Simple Twist of Fate

Chapter 2: Take the H Train
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A/N: I'm really having a blast writing this and I have a lot to owe to my amazing readers. I'm getting a lot of comments on the Neville situation and I want to say that it will be delt with in this chapter or the next.

***

Naturally, Harry couldn't sleep a wink that night. He kept neurotically looking through his trunk, making sure he had everything and when he wasn't doing that, he was playing with his wand making it light up and move different things. "Hedwig... not much longer." He told his feathered friend that he got from his Godfather six years ago. She clicked her beak and hooted in what Harry thought was agreement, but there was no way he could be sure.

He felt so eager to call Hermione, but he decided against it. Her parents really liked him. He didn't want to spoil it with calling in the middle of the night. "Harry..." The voice sounded from his doorway and he looked over and saw his brother standing there.

"Christopher?" Harry asked into the darkness. "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me either." This voice belonged to Harry's sister, Carolyn. "The kid was keeping me up." He was always a lot closer to Carolyn than to Christopher. Probably because they were closer in age and had two years to get to know each other before Christopher came. Also a lot of it had to do with he being social in school. All Harry and Carolyn seemed to have was each other until Hermione came alone.

Without invitation, the both of them crawled into bed with Harry. "We don't want you to go tomorrow." Christopher pleaded with his brother.

"I have to go... um... Hermione would be lost with out me." Harry made up the best excuse that he could think of that didn't involve him belonging there. "Just think, in a couple years the two of you will be joining me there."

"Oh, I can't wait for you to go. I get to have my own room." She chided. Harry knew his sister well and he knew that she actually would miss him, despite never wanting to say it. On the flip side, he would miss her too. She was always a mainstay in his adventures since they were both little.

A light then went off in Harry's head. "Merlin, I almost forgot." He dove towards his trunk where he pulled out two rose smooth colored stones. "I got these for you while I was in Diagon Alley. They're channeling stones. With them you can talk to the other person who has them or other two in our case. I also had them link to Hermione."

"Thanks, Harry." They both gave him a hug and they spent the night talking about Hogwarts and how cool it will be when they all were there. Rather then going back to their room, they fell asleep in Harry's bed, not wanting him to wake up the next morning and go off to Hogwarts.

That next morning, when Lily and James went in to wake Harry, they were very surprised to find their two other children in the bed with him. "Wake up, sleepy heads. Aguamente!" James laughed as he used his wand to spray cold water at his kids. They all awoke with a jolt and tumbled out of the bed.

After waking up, Harry went into overdrive. Running back and forth from one end of the house to the other, making sure he had everything. "Toothbrush! Wand! Extra Robes!" Rather than help him, his parents just stood by and laughed.

"Come on. If you forgot anything, we'll owl it to you." His mother knelt down to his level and kissed him on the nose.

"All you'll really need for the first few days are your robes and your wand... at least for the teachers I had. McGonagall, Flitwick, Binns... I don't know about Snape though." James tried to keep the bias out of his voice, but he didn't think it worked well after Lily shot him an evil glare.

She sent Harry off to his room to get the trunk into the car and pushed James into the nearest room. "We are not sending our son to Hogwarts with pre conceived feelings for Severus..."

"Lil... he's not right... I trust Dumbledore, but I don't trust Severus." James' expression quickly became serious in a way she hadn't seen him in a long time. "Honey, I know that I wasn't exactly the nicest person towards him in school, but he was a dark wizard... there's no retribution for that."

"I know, but maybe Albus is right. Maybe he has changed." She bowed her head as if James' look was killing her.


"We both know why he changed. He got himself into a pretty big mess and he didn't want to see his beloved Lily get hurt." James knew he had taken it too far when she walked out of the room with out a word. "Lily!" He knew it was no good though. She just needed some time to calm down. "Dammit."

The drive to King's Cross was a tense one for James and Lily, but luckily for their children, they didn't sense it for they were continuing the conversation from last night. "Lily..."

"James, we'll talk later." And that was that. There was no sense pushing the subject any further. "Hey, there's David's car. Let's park there."

The five of them got out of the car along with Harry's trunk and Hedwig and they started moving towards the terminal. "Do you want us to go through with you for the first time." His mother asked him and he nodded.

They didn't need to explain to him how to get through the barrier. He had quizzed them on it no less than a thousand times. When then got to the other side, Harry marveled at the beautiful the red locomotive "Is this...?"

"Yeah. You're going to have a great time." Lily smiled at her son as she kissed him on the forehead.

"Now, remember, Harry. If you're not in Gryffindor, you're no longer welcome in our home." Harry's heart sank. He never even thought of the change that he wouldn't be in that house. It was always expected for him to be in Gryffindor. What if he was placed in Hufflepuff or worse... Slytherin.

"Harry! I saved us a compartment!" Yelled a voice from the train. He spun around and saw Hermione waving at him with a huge smile on her face. Harry smiled back at her and look up at both his parents with wide, excited eyes.

Both Lily and James pulled him in for a hug and his two siblings soon joined in. Though he would greatly miss his family, he couldn't wait to start his life at Hogwarts. It was as if that had been where he came from and he was going home after so many years.

Before Harry got on the train he father took him aside and knelt down on the ground. "I didn't want to say this in front of your mother, but give Filch 'Hell for me." James smiled at Harry and gave him a big hug before lightly tapping him towards the train.

That was exactly what Harry needed. Without looking back, he hopped on the train and began scouring the halls to find the compartment that Hermione was seated in, but before he could reach it, he ran into none other than Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood.

"Harry Potter!" Ron exclaimed as he clapped his hand on Harry's back. He hadn't seen Ron or Luna in years, but he could certainly tell who they were. Ron had the classic Weasley distinguishing features, most notably the bright blue eyes and striking red hair.

Luna hadn't changed one bit. She still had the same long blonde hair, the same vacant grey eyes and he even thought he recognized the radish earrings that she wore back when they last saw each three years ago. "'Ello, 'Arry." Luna smiled at him with a spacey look on her face.

"How the hell are you, mate?" Ron began to lead Harry down the hall, the opposite way. "Oy, it's been way too long."

"Uh... Ron, I have a compartment... with a friend of mine, I'm sure you could join us if you want." Ron was always a little bit overbearing. Even when they used to play as children, he was always the dominating friend.

"Of course. That would be great. Come on, Luna." Ron went on plowing through the narrow passage ways as if he owned the train.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Haven't been able to calm him since we left... he really is quite cute really." Luna smiled at Harry while grabbing his hand. "Lead the way." Harry smiled back at his old friends and led them both back to the compartment where Hermione was patiently waiting.

She appeared to be going through her fifth reading of A History of Magic, and at first, she didn't even see them come in. "Oh! Harry! It's good to see you." Hermione was one of those people that were very skittish while reading. She normally got so lost in a book that she forgot where she was if she was left alone with one long enough.

"Hey, 'Mione, I'd like to introduce you to Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood. Friends of mine from the Wizarding World. Ron and Luna, this is Hermione Granger, my next door neighbor." The three wizards introduced themselves, shaking hands and finally sat down as the train began to disembark.

The train was everything Harry had expected and more. From his seat, he heard people dueling in the passage ways, though Hermione told him that it was probably very much against the rules. Around twelve o' clock, Harry heard a large explosion near their compartment that made the whole car shake and before Harry could go out and check to see what it was, two similarly looking boys tumbled into where the four were sitting. "Bloody 'ell." One of them said.

"Bloody brilliant if I do say so myself." The other one commented. "Well, what do we have here? Our dear brother's found some friends..."

"It was bound to happen sometime, mate." Both Harry and Hermione looked at each other as if they were about to get whiplash from their method of speech because they kept trying to finish each others sentences and were succeeding pretty well. It was if they were one person, but in two different bodies. "Oh how rude of us... he's George Weasley."

"And he's Fred." The other one piped up.

"And we're the Weasley twins." They exclaimed in perfect unison as they took a bow.

Harry had remembered them from when he was a kid, but not as well as Ron or Ginny. They tended to stay at home and play tricks on Percy instead of coming to tea with their mother and younger siblings. "So... was that you?" Hermione piped up.

"Was that us?"

"I'm almost insulted..."

"Spreading chaos is our specialty..."

"Yet people still have to ask..." Harry, Ron and Luna let out a bit of a snigger, but Hermione glared at them.

"You know if you're caught doing something bad, you'll be in detention before you even get to school." Hermione scolded them for their foolish behavior in a very matter of factly tone.

The twins looked at each other and began to laugh furiously, slapping each other on the back. "May I ask what's so funny?" Hermione questioned incredously.

"You. The Weasley Twins. Caught. No one that goes to Hogwarts is stupid enough to turn us in..."

"Not if they don't want to wake up with a third limb."

The boys laughed again and exited the compartment. "Sorry about them, they can't help it really. They're funny most of the time, except when you're at the receiving end of one of their 'practical jokes.'" Ron apologized to Hermione who looked a little bit shocked and hurt. "They told me that I'll probably end up in Hufflepuff and they magically charmed my room to have everything to be in their colors. That's unlikely though. I'll probably be in Gryffindor like the rest of my family."

"Yep. My Dad told me that if I weren't in Gryffindor I'd have to find a new place to stay." Harry laughed a bit, but Hermione looked down right dreadful again.

"Gryffindor? What about Ravenclaw, they're the house of cleverness and wit... that seems to define you pretty well." Hermione exclaimed. Her true goal was to be in Ravenclaw, but at the same time, she didn't want to spend her time at Hogwarts any other way, but with Harry.

"Wit beyond measure is Man's greatest treasure." Luna smiled as she recited her favorite quote.

Harry gave Luna a questioning look. "Hey, I just thought of something... aren't you still ten?"

Luna lazily shook her head. "I'll be eleven next week. Daddy thinks You-Know-Who is coming back and he decided it would be better for to go to school as one of the younger ones in my class, rather than one of the oldest." Harry wasn't exactly sure how they linked together, but his Dad used to tell him about Lovegood logic and he decided no to question it.

The four of them continued to talk about what Hogwarts and what their first classes would be like and the sorting, though it noticeably wasn't Hermione's favorite subject. As the sun began to hang low in the sky, the four heard murmuring outside the compartment.

"What doe we have here?" sneered a voice as the compartment door swung open and in walked a thin, pale bleached blonde boy accompanied by three hulking "side-kicks."

The blonde boy stalked the room, examining each person and piece of cargo in it. "A Weasley and a Mudblood. The other two look semi-respectable. If only they would pick better friends."

"You did NOT just call my friend a Mudblood," Harry stood up and pulled out his wand which was resting in his sleeve. "You'll apologize or I'll hex you from here to Azkaban."

Rather than back off, like Harry thought he would, he and his goons just laughed it off. "You've got spirit..."

"Potter. Harry, Potter."

"Well, Potter. They call me Draco Malfoy and these are Crabbe, Goyle, and Entwistle." Ron suddenly looked disgusted and pulled his wand out to back up Harry.

"Malfoy... take after your father, I imagine. Your father stopped mine from progressing in the ministry." Ron spat at Malfoy, thinking about all the hexes he could throw.

"That had nothing to do with my father. Your last name did it to him." Harry didn't know Malfoy at all, but he was already sure that they wouldn't get along... ever. He was sure that his father mentioned the name somewhere, but he couldn't be too sure. If he had a knut for every time his father mentioned a wizard's name in anger, he probably wouldn't have to work a day in his life.

"Oh yeah, Malfoy...? um... uh..." Ron stammered trying to think of a spell, but he couldn't. He was beginning to wish that Fred and George were there to help him out. "Damn..." He sat down and put his head in his hands.

Malfoy and his goons began to laugh, except for Entwistle who just stood there and looked angry as if he didn't find humor in it... or he didn't get it. Harry didn't find him to be a very quick witted. "Avis Oppugno!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at Malfoy. Out of the tip, flew a large flock of canaries and they charged right at Malfoy and his cronies. "You wanted something, Malfoy?"

Harry sat down and smiled at his first spell cast by his new wand. When he actually got down and thought he realized that it was the first spell that he did on purpose. "You know, if I get in trouble, it will be worth it."

"Don't say that, Harry!" Hermione shrieked. Harry was a bit taken aback by Hermione's behavior towards breaking the rules. Harry saw this whole Hogwarts experience as a chance to live on the edge, but Hermione didn't share his sentiments.

A half hour later, Ron and Luna took their leave to talk to Percy and then change into their school uniforms. Harry gave Hermione a look that screamed 'welcome to the Wizarding World' that really made her laugh, for the first time since they got on the train.

"'Mione, you okay?" Harry asked her when he noticed that she was aimlessly look out the window.

"I'm not sure, Harry. I thought I was getting good at this whole magic thing and then I met Fred and George... and that spell you shot at that Malfoy person. I could never dream of that." Hermione lamented. Harry looked into her eyes and saw that tears were starting to form.

"'Mione... there are tons of Muggle Borns that go to Hogwarts and they eclipse people like Malfoy all the time. I mean, my mum was a Muggle born like you and she excelled far beyond my Dad who was completely pureblood." Hermione looked up and smiled at him. He could tell that made her feel a little bit better, so much that she continued to chatter away about how exciting it was to go off to a completely new place and learn completely new things.

As they heard the announcement over the intercom that they would soon be reaching Hogwarts, they decided that it was time to change into their robes. "What's a Mudblood?" Hermione asked so suddenly that it made Harry drop the book that he was reading.

"Um... nothing important really..." Harry tried to cover it up the best he could, but Hermione just glared at him with one eye-brow raised. "Uh... it's just that some Wizards, like Malfoy, I imagine and You-Know-Who, feel that some wizards are better than others because they come from a whole family of wizards. Mudblood is a derogatory term that means someone who has Muggle blood in them... dirty blood, as they think. It's a load of rubbish."

Surprisingly, Hermione didn't look at all hurt, she just shook her head in agreement. "With all the magic, I find it that the haven't yet progressed passed Muggles yet."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked her with his head cocked to the side.

"Well, it's just that in many cultures, racism runs rampant, it's just odd to see that the wizarding world, as progressed as they are suffers from the same prejudice." Hermione explained to him, not as he though she would. She didn't sound like a teacher trying to fill his head with knowledge, but as someone who was truly upset with the world around them.

Harry thought about it for a second and he began to realize how right she was. He had never thought of Purebloods vs. Mudbloods as a parallel to Muggle racism, but it rather did make sense. "I never thought about it that way... you're right... but you'll show them." She smiled up at him and then did something that she had never planned on doing. She lightly and sweetly kissed him on the cheek.

"You're so sweet, Harry. I'm so glad we're friends." She then pulled him into a big hug.

The rest of the train ride was more or less uneventful or at least there were no more Malfoys or Weasley twins visiting their compartment. Towards the end of their trip, Ron and Luna joined them, full decked out in their Hogwarts uniforms. "Percy said he'd deal with Malfoy later. Though, oddly enough I think it was just to get rid of me. He's been such an arse since he got that shiny new prefect badge."

"Typical Percy." Luna rolled her eyes and sat down next to Ron who had already sat across from Harry and Hermione.

A few minutes later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station and all of the young witches and wizards stepped off of it.

"Firs' years t' the right... the res' o' ya know where t' go." yelled a large, bearded man at the top of his lungs. Harry was a bit taken aback. Every thing magical that he had personally seen up to now didn't look all that strange, but the giant did.

The giant led all of the first years towards the Black Lake and on to boats only big enough for four. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Luna stepped into one of the larger ones closest to them. "Ah... wonderful... no' many people join me t' the castle." The giant exclaimed as he stepped into the boat, almost sinking it. "Oh, 'ow rude o' me... I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' the Keys... an' you mus' be James Potter's boy."

"Yes, sir. Harry." Harry said at almost a whisper.

"I miss 'im. Always useta visit me wit' his friends... er... Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and um... we best not talk o' the other one." Hagrid looked at the other two who were noticeably frightened by him. "An you mus' be Ron Weasley. Charlie used to speak a lot of you. It won't be the same wit out him aroun'"

The boats moved closer to the castle, and the four began to get to know Hagrid and they realized that he wasn't as scary as he seemed to be. He was actually quite nice. "Ah... well, we're here. I hope we get ta talk later or summat."

As the boats pulled up to the shore, the new students finally got an idea of how big the castle actually was. Even Hagrid looked small in comparison. "Allrigh' now... Everone enter through the main entrance and wait fer McGonagall. She'll explain everything to you."

All the young students walked into the entrance hall and took in the amazing image that they beheld. Hermione looked at Harry with wide eyes. She had read all about what she could look forward to, but she never imagined that it would look like this. "Ah. Welcome first years. My name is Professor McGonagall. In a few moments I will ask all of you to enter the Great Hall to be sorted. When I call your name, you will come to the front and place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be placed into that house where you will remain for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. Now... I need to check on some things. I'll be right back."

Harry wasn't sure what to think of Professor McGonagall, except that she seemed to be very by the book and seemingly strict. His father spoke much praise of her, but Harry didn't see it at this point in time. The whole experience was starting off so fast. It seemed like it was just ten minutes ago that he was on the train, throwing his first curse at Draco Malfoy.

He looked over to a crowd of rather unfriendly looking first years and he saw Draco right in the center, not that it really surprised him. But the thing that really did surprise him was Entwistle. He seemed to be really detached from the group, as if he really didn't want to be there at all.

"Okay, we're ready for you now." McGonagall spoke in the kindest, most encouraging voice that she could muster, but it still came off as that of an angry librarian.

The mass of about 100 students moved into the Great Hall at a slow, nervous pace. No one really wanted to be sorted, yet all of them couldn't wait to see what house they would be in. It was a paradox that every first year had to suffer, except the Weasley Twins. Fred and George decided to take bets to see if they could will themselves into Slytherin, and they also had bets on how long it would take for their mother to send a howler.

The Great Hall was magnificent, everything that Harry dreamed about. The four long tables divided by house, the great ceiling that looked like it could reach all the way to the heavens and the glorious staff table where all the teachers and Hagrid sat watching the first years file in.

"Now it is time for the first years to be sorted. Minerva, you will take it from here." An elderly man at the center of the staff table, that Harry knew to be Albus Dumbledore spoke. He waved his had towards the chair standing right in front of the staff table and the Sorting hat appeared. Just afterwards, Minerva McGonagall pulled a large piece of parchment out of her robes and began reading.

"Abbott, Hannah!" Professor McGonagall spoke as loudly as she could, and from what Harry heard, it was loud enough to ring out through the entire room. From the small crowd, a small pink faced with her strawberry blonde hair tied back in pigtails stepped up towards the stool and put the hat on.

"Hufflepuff." Harry whispered to Hermione. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the hat shouted Hufflepuff. Harry continued doing this and getting it right almost half the time, each time causing Hermione to laugh.

"Entwistle, Oscar!" Professor McGonagall yelled again.

"Slytherin." Harry rolled his eyes as if they didn't need to waste time seeing where he would end up.

Oscar got up to the chair and McGonagall placed the hat on his head and despite what Harry thought, the hat began to speak in a voice that only Oscar could hear. "Hmm... Entwistle... one would expect you to go into Slytherin... but you don't feel a connection with that house."

"No... but I don't know why... I just know I don't belong there." Oscar whimpered into the hat.

"I wouldn't suppose that you do, but that is for another discussion... if not Slytherin than it better be... GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled and rather than get the applause that the rest of the students got, the hall just continued to stay silent. Without looking at the faces of his other classmates, he ran towards the Gryffindor table and put his head down.

Harry simply looked at Hermione with a shocked look on his face. "Bloody 'ell. I don't think anyone expected that one."

"Well, Harry. Maybe there's more to Oscar Entwistle than meets the eye." Hermione smiled back at Harry, but it was no use, he was still completely confused at what had just happened.

Before they could chat anymore, Hermione's name was called. Though she should have expected it, her eyes showed that she was completely caught off guard and she probably never would have made it up if Harry didn't give her a little nudge.

Hermione cautiously walked up to the front and sat on the stool, allowing McGonagall to place the hat over her head. Before too long the hat began to shout, "RAVEN...!"

"Wait!" She spoke a little bit too loudly into the hat. "Not Ravenclaw... Harry won't be in Ravenclaw."

"Hmmm... intriguing... Ravenclaw fits you like a glove, are you sure that this friendship is a lasting one? Enough to ruin your future over?" The hat asked her in a little bit of a devious voice.

Hermione started off knowing that she wanted to be in Gryffindor, but now she wasn't so sure. Her future was always the most important thing to her, not friendship. "Yes..." she finally said with a bit of a sigh.

"Extreme loyalty is a Hufflepuff trait, but I know where you really want to go. GRYFFINDOR!" The whole Gryffindor table began to clap loudly, but no one was louder than Harry. Before going to the table, she ran down in to the slimming group of students and gave Harry a big hug.

For the rest of the sorting, Harry couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. Luna was placed in Gryffindor, Malfoy and the rest of his cronies were placed in Slytherin and Harry was put into Gryffindor before the hat even touched his head. To finish up the night, Ron was too put into Gryffindor joining the rest of his family and friends. "Gosh, Hermione, I really thought you'd be put into Ravenclaw..."

"Yeah, I guess the hat saw who I really was..." Hermione was quiet for the rest of the night, but Harry barely noticed, while getting to know all the other members of his house. He was in a heated argument about Quidditch through Dumbledore's speech with a dark haired Irish boy named Seamus Finnigan. He did hear something about the third floor corridor being off limits, but he didn't feel it important and if it were, he'd just ask Hermione later.

As far as Harry was concerned, he was at home. Hermione on the other hand, never felt more away.

***

After the feast, Dumbledore and McGonagall retreated to his office where they shared a cup of tea, like they did ever year. Usually, the conversation was a bit more personal, like talk of their holidays and families, but this time they went straight down to business.

"Seven and six... very interesting, if you ask me, Minerva." Dumbledore smiled with a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he looked at the giant book with all the house rosters, taking special note at the Gryffindors. "The inclusion of Oscar Entwistle is an odd one... surely he was to be in Slytherin."

Minerva simply nodded. She wasn't especially fond of the idea that one of her students would be such good friends with a Malfoy or being the son of known Death Eaters. "My dear, Professor McGonagall, you're not letting age old rivalries get the best of you, I trust?"

Minerva sighed. She hated house rivalries just as much as Albus did and tried to fight them but, this time it just didn't feel right. "Albus, this is an odd situation... Melinda and Thomas Entwistle were Death Eaters. The other two that over took the Longbottoms..."

"Which brings up another interesting situation." Albus winked at her and turned around to tend to Fawkes.

Minerva looked at Albus, her eyes were wide with shock. "You don't think he's... No. It can't be."

"He has Alice's eyes... and Frank's build." Dumbledore solemnly spoke, his voice full of unhidden emotion. Albus was usually calm and collected, or if not that slightly whimsical. This time he was neither. "We should have won all those years ago. The plans were set and set well, if I do say so myself."

Minerva walked to where he was standing and put her hand on his shoulder. "Albus... you can't dwell on the past. You always used to tell me that. Frank and Alice's deaths aren't what we should be focusing on... we should be focusing on how to save Neville." It pained her to call him that. She knew it since he walked into the Great Hall, though she didn't fully realize it until Albus mentioned it. He was born in a feeling of hope, but now... she wasn't sure what would become of him now that he was in Gryffindor. The house of the enemy, as his "parents" would say.

"Mr. Longbottom will be fine... seven and six adds to thirteen. Thirteen Gryffindors in one year. That's a very powerful number." His wrinkles became highlighted in the candle light as he gave his friend a devilish grin. "The two supposed chosen ones in one house... a house of thirteen. It must be fate."

Minerva rolled her eyes at the thought of it all. "Divination is poppycock, Albus, and you know it. When has it ever been proved to be right?"

"Time will soon tell. Now my one wish is that you do not act strangely in front of the boy. His future and past are things that he needs to be determined on his own." Minerva nodded as she walked towards the exit.

"It's going to be a very interesting year... or seven."

***

A/N: I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long. But the good news is that I'm on break. I have six weeks off, so I really hope to get these chapters out faster. Thanks for sticking around!

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