Lucy looked down at her ticket and then up at the big digital clock on the wall.

"Lucy!" Severus called loudly across the station. The girl turned and grinned at him excitedly before running up to him with her trolley.

"Sorry we couldn't come to pick you up, darling!" Emmeline said worriedly. "Albus called to tell Severus about a meeting and it threw all of our morning plans into chaos. Were you waiting long?"

"No! Only twenty minutes or so!" Lucy assured her happily.

"Where are your parents?" Severus demanded. Lucy sagged a bit but kept on her smile. 

"Father didn't come," she nervously started to wring her hands into her dress. "He got into a bit of a fight with Mum yesterday. He wanted her to drop me off with you… or get me a train. Or a bus. Or-"

"Where is your mother?" Severus demanded, cutting off her growing worry. Lucy stared at him for a moment before she swallowed and peered down at her shoes.

"S-she had to go." She whispered. "Father said if she wasn't back…" the girl looked up at him, face stern and stubborn. "She had to go." Severus sighed, keeping his gaze linked with hers. Then he reached out a hand. Instantly the girl beamed and grabbed it, not a care in the world. Of course behind both Emmeline and Harry looked worried, though Harry's worry was tinged with a scowl. "So the ticket says 9 and ¾… how does that work?"

"The platform is hidden from non-magical eyes, in a pocket of space cleverly created using illusions. It's actually placed where the original platforms nine and ten were. The station was expanded in the 1830s and then cleverly disguised by the ministry." Severus explained smoothly.

"Neat!" Lucy cried. "But… how do we get in?"

"It requires a bit of courage, and in this case, I suppose some trust," Severus muttered before he gripped the trolley on either side of the petite girl. " Hold on tight."

"Okay," Lucy said, gripping the trolley handle until her knuckles were white.

"Now, put your feet on the crossbar," Severus instructed. Lucy raised an eyebrow but did just that. Severus smirked and then burst into a run. The girl laughed in delight before her face fell.

"Severus, you're gonna hit the wall!" She cried worriedly. The man smirked wider and started running faster. "Severus! SEVERUS! DAD!" Lucy shrieked before she screamed and screwed her eyes shut. Then a weird ripple went over her skin. She opened her eyes and gapped in shock as Severus slowly stopped the speeding trolley. Then he let go of one arm. Lucy hopped off and took several steps from her trolley and stared at the train in awe. Then she turned around, seeing more people emerge from the various walls up and down the platform. She turned again just as Harry rushed in followed by Emmeline.

"Severus!" The woman harped. "That was a cruel trick!"

"I thought it was funny," Harry argued with a snicker.

"Harrison!" Emmeline scolded with a harsh frown. Lucy laughed.

"To be fair, I probably wouldn't have done it if he told me to run at a solid brick wall." She trained back to Severus with a grin. The man was leaning on her trolley by his forearms with an easy smile and a surprisingly open expression. He then stood up and pushed it forward for the girl to take.

"Come on Lucy! I'll show you where to put your trunk!" Harry offered happily before leading the girl towards the baggage car. Emmeline noticed the man's expression and frowned.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"Hm?" Severus asked, turning to her with a curious expression. Emmeline smirked.

"You have that look like you think you're getting away with something… what are you up to?"

"Just got confirmation of something," Severus assured his fiance easily. "May make future plans easier."

"Future plans?" Emmeline demanded.

"Later," Severus said as he guided Emmeline closer to the train. Both Lucy and Harry came running back with their rucksacks.

"You have your robes?" Emmeline asked.

"Yep!"

"Here you are," Severus said, handing Harry four galleons and Lucy one.

"What's this for?" The girl asked.

"There's a trolley with all sorts of sweets on it," Emmeline explained happily. "That should be enough for you to get two or three treats. Not too much to spoil your dinner either."

"Well then How come Harry gets more?" Lucy complained lightly.

"Harry is going to be sharing with his friends," Severus said candidly.

"But what if he doesn't?!" Lucy demanded.

"I will," Harry assured her with a grin then he leaned closer and muttered into her ear. "Some of my friends… Well, they don't have a lot of money, so they can't afford to get things from the trolley. Their mum packs them biscuits and things like that but it's not the same as candy you know?" Lucy leaned away and looked at him with a smile.

"Well, that's really nice!" She declared. Harry shrugged.

"I'm sure they do the same for me." A whistle sounded from the head of the train.

"All aboard!!!" The conductor hollered with a sonorous 

"On you get." Severus urged. The pair climbed the steps just as one of the baggage hands came down and closed their train door.

"See you soon, darlings!" Emmeline cried.

"Bye Mum!" Harry shouted back happily as the train gave a lurch and began to chug forward. Beside him, Lucy sucked in a breath 

"This is happening… I'm really doing it! I'm going to Hogwarts!" The girl exclaimed happily.

"Yep!" Harry said with a laugh before he moved down the corridor. Then he stopped and turned back to her with a kind smile "Do you wanna find your own compartment or sit with me?"

"Can I sit with you? Won't your friends mind?" Lucy demanded wearily.

"Oh, not at all I'm sure!" Harry cried as he continued to guide the girl through the crowd of excited students.

"Harry!"

"Hey Neville!" Harry called back with a grin. "How was your summer? What is that?!" He said, cutting himself off with slight horror at the strange moving plant in his arms.

"It's a mimbulois mimbletonia! My gran got it for me for my birthday this year! Isn't it brilliant?!" The excitable boy cried, thrusting it forward with a wide grin. One of the lumps on the side of its trunk pulsed then deflated, letting a stream of foul-smelling green ooze seep out of it. Lucy leaned back and made a disgusted whine before smiling nervously.

"V-very lovely." She said weakly. Neville blinked.

"Oh! Hello! Harry, who is this?"

"Oh right! Neville, this is Lucy, Lucy, this is Neville Longbottom. He's one of my dorm mates, and well, just mates in general."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy said.

"You too!" Neville responded easily. 

"Lucy is from St. Margaret's Bay. My folks and I have been helping her get ready for Hogwarts." Harry explained.

"Oh! Well great! Hogwarts is amazing!" Neville declared. Lucy smiled and followed Harry as he and Neville continued walking down the corridor.

"Harry!" A voice called before the familiar head of Ron Weasley poked up from the crowd of shorter students.

"Wicked seek Ginny!" Ron cried in awe.

"You know I'm always excellent." The girl responded smugly.

"Hey Ginny, hey Ron!" Neville responded.

"Hey Nev!" Ron responded. "Hi Harry! And Lucy again!"

"Hullo!" Lucy responded merrily.

"Who?" Ginny asked in confusion

"Lucy!" Ron declared, pointing the girl out. "Harry's parents were helping her around since her parents are muggles."

"Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you! My name is Ginny. This idiot is my older brother." The ginger girl introduced herself 

"Hey!" Ron cried in irritation. 

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Didn't she tell you? She made prefect this year!" Ginny declared. Harry blinked.

"No, she didn't! But that's no surprise! Who's the other one?"

"Dean," Ron said flatly. Harry blinked.

"Well, that's a good pick. Why'd you say it like that?"

"Mum was upset because it wasn't him. Hermione was over when she got the letter and Mum had thought it was for Ron. So excited to have two prefects." Ginny recounted with a snicker. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as the ginger boy scowled and started nagging his sister, which she did not at all seem phased by. As the five of them settled into the train car the teens all took turns telling Lucy about all the wonderful things Hogwarts had to offer. The girl was buzzing in her seat as the sun was starting to pass its peak. Then the compartment door opened.

"Hello handsome." The tall coffee-skinned girl in the doorway purred with a grin.

"Tracey!" Harry cried excitedly as he leapt up and gave the girl a big kiss. As she pulled away Ron gave a wolf whistle. Harry turned and swatted at the boy with a scowl. 

"I love your hair!" Ginny cried in awe.

"Thank you! I got it done in Osaka." Tracey declared showing off the done-up style with the jewelled comb keeping it in place. "Now Harry! We have to talk! I heard a rumour that you've got a new girl trailing after you!" Her eyes flicked down to Lucy with a jovial smirk. "Should I be worried?"

"No!" Lucy and Harry both cried in horror. The entire compartment burst into laughter at their expense. As the trolley witch came by Lucy's eyes boggled at the selection.

"What should I get?" She demanded.

"Chocolate frog!" Ron cried "They've got famous witch and wizard cards in each one! I've got at least five hundred of them myself!"

"I prefer fizzy whizbees!" Neville argued. "They sort of rocket around your mouth and make it all tingly!"

"Doubles best is loads of fun! You can make the bubbles float!" Ginny added. The girl was suddenly feeling very overwhelmed. Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he saw her hands gravitating towards her dress.

"Hey," he muttered. "I'm gonna be getting all that and more, so don't worry too much. We always share anyway."

"O-okay," Lucy said, giving Harry a wobbly smile before taking a deep breath and steadying herself. "I'll take a chocolate frog and… the gummy snake please."

"Excellent choice dearest!" The old trolley witch assured her before handing the girl her sweets and her change of four sickles. Harry  took a couple of coins from Neville and Tracey each before he stepped forward and took a deep breath

"One Bertie Botts, four red licorice wands, a packet of blueberry droobles, five chocolate frogs, three fizzy whizbees, two pumpkin pasties, one bar of Honeyduke's best and a package of ice mice." He blurted out all in one breath before taking in a gasp. "Please." 

"Oi Potter! Save some for the rest of us, yeah?!" A cry came from down the train, where various people were leaning out in anticipation of the trolley.

"Oh shut it!" Harry hollered back as he took the precariously stacked sweets. "Keep the change."

"Thank you dearest." The woman responded with a smile before travelling forward. Harry turned around and let out a sigh of relief as all his friends dove for their favourites. 

"Here Lucy! You have to try this!" Ron insisted as he broke the Honeyduke's bar up into squares and divided it up amongst them all, saving a few squares. The girl took a square and let out an appreciative noise.

"That's the best chocolate I've ever tasted."

"Honeydukes are the best." Tracey insisted happily. 

"One thing about the frog!" Harry said quickly as the girl pulled open the box. But it was too late. She was already flinging the box away with a shriek.

"It's alive?!" She cried in horror as the frog jumped onto Harry's lap. The boy laughed and grabbed it before it could leap away. When he opened his hands he revealed the now-frozen frog.

"They're enchanted to appear alive, but they can only manage a few good jumps."

"The trick is to catch them before they get away!" Ron insisted as he ripped his own box open and then quickly bit the chocolate's head off before it could jump. Lucy looked slightly horrified at the concept but took the no longer enchanted frog from Harry and nibbled on it cautiously before she flipped over her card.

"Newton 'Newt' Scamander." She read quietly.

"Oh he's super common. I've got at least thirty of him." Ron complained. Then he flipped his own. "St. Mungo." He looked up. "You guys?"

"Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore."

"McGonagall."

"Me," Harry said in awe. Everyone looked over in shock.

"Wot?" Ron demanded.

"They made me into a chocolate frog!" Harry cried as he showed his card off. Inside the gilded frame was a small official-looking portrait of Harry a bit younger than he was now, though he couldn't remember ever posing for that kind of photo. The miniature him looked a bit nervous and would occasionally scratch the back of his head or take off his glasses to clean them before sliding them back onto his face.

"What's it say on the back?" Tracey asked. Harry flipped it over.

"'Born: July 31st 1980. The son of James and Lily Potter, famously known as the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. He was instrumental in the defeat of You-Know-Who on Halloween 1981.'"

"Well, that's boring! You were one! Wouldn't exactly call your input 'instrumental'... Erm… no offence " Ron finished weakly.

"None taken." Harry agreed. Ron grinned before he let out a huff.

"It doesn't even mention all the much cooler things you have done! Like battling a troll or killing a basilisk!" He complained loudly.

"I think they did it on purpose." Tracey suddenly piped up, eyeing the card closely. "Have you been following The Prophet at all?"

"Erm… well not really," Ron admitted.

"I was trying to have a more relaxed summer," Harry argued. Course his summer had turned out to be anything but. He hadn't had a proper night's sleep in over a month. His birthday had been particularly bad…

"The Prophet has been slandering Dumbledore almost nonstop for weeks now," Tracey revealed gravely.

"What?! Why?!" Harry demanded in horror.

"Because he's been saying the You-Know-Who has returned." Tracey declared. Harry paled while Ron and Ginny exchanged worried glances. Neville just looked puzzled.

"Why would he say that?"

"Because he has," Tracey said in unison with Harry. The pair shared a look of shock. "Father was informed a few days ago by a colleague."

"I found out in June," Harry explained quietly.

"You're serious?" Neville demanded in horror. "Bloody hell…"

"Mum told us not to make too big a deal about it," Ginny said cautiously. "She said it wasn't up to us to try and convince everyone. We'll just seem like nutters if we try."

"Which incidentally is what The Prophet has been accusing Dumbledore of being. Off his rocker I mean."

"Bloody hell," Neville repeated, looking sick to his stomach. Harry looked at his friend worriedly.

"It’ll be alright." He tried. But everyone seemed very grave. Even Lucy, who didn't fully understand what was happening, but understood that something terrible was happening in the wizarding world. She had a feeling it had to do with those sinister men who attacked them when they were shopping. Probably their leader, but she didn't understand how Harry could be famous for being the only one to survive an attack when he was only a baby. It was very far-fetched. 

"But if you notice, the chocolate frog card specifies your defeat of You-Know-Who. They released this as emphasis. To say flat out 'we do not support Dumbledore and his views'. Probably because they're still printing his chocolate frog card. It makes it seem like they support him. They want it to be clear, without saying it flat out. That's marketing for you. It's like the disclaimer clause in our sales contract." Tracey explained. "But with the added benefit of more profits. It's a collector's item after all. You have to get one to complete your set."

"Hey yeah…" Ron said slowly. "Say Harry-"

"Keep it." The boy said quickly, which made the taller teen gush with delight.  

"You should sue." Tracey blurted out. Harry spit out his bite of licorice wand with a choke.

"Wot?!" he cried in shock.

"I'm sure that the company is supposed to ask permission to use a person's visage for their cards. But from your expression, I can tell that you received no such request. You should tell your parents and then file a suit against the company. Because if you let them get away with this, pretty soon people will be using your face to get away with all sorts of things." Tracey muttered darkly. Harry slumped into his seat in horror.

"That's a good bloody point," he muttered before getting a faraway look in his eyes, likely imagining worst-case scenarios. 

"Can't we have just one quiet year?" Neville begged to the compartment in general. Ron let out a bitter laugh.

"With Harry around? Not a chance. We should just get rid of him. Chuck him in the lake I say."

"Oi!" Harry barked, with a worried frown.

"Only joking!" Ron insisted before giving the compartment a very exaggerated wink. That set Harry off and pretty soon he and Ron were half-heartedly wrestling with each other with the others laughing at their expense, worries temporarily forgotten.