Hello, this is AU! Please be patient, I'll try to put as much detail into the story. If I fail to do so and you still have a question, please feel free to ask away! And a 'welcome' to the new readers! And a 'hi guys' to the veterans!

Song of the (up)Date: "White Rabbit" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Hermione Granger had never had any business inside of King's Cross. Sure, she'd gone to say goodbye to visiting family or friends of her parents, but that was usually for a few minutes before she went back home. She'd never had to get on a train by herself, and certainly not for school. Of course, this goes without saying that she'd never had to find the platform itself, or find somebody who wouldn't look at her strangely for asking where Platform 9 and ¾ was.

Hermione Jean Granger had gotten a letter from an owl, if you could believe such a thing, and had promptly been visited by a woman with billowing robes and spectacles. She'd been told she was a witch, and with a great deal of kind arguing from the woman, she finally believed it. She'd gone and gotten her wand, schoolbooks and school robes, but she had no idea how to find the train, let alone the Platform.

Her parents were dentists and had both been scheduled for appointments shortly after they were supposed to drop Hermione off, as they thought they'd be able to find the train quick and easy. They'd winced at the idea of leaving Hermione alone at a train station, where many strange people could've kidnapped her, but Hermione promised that she'd be alright and would've screamed as loud as she could if anybody tried to attack her. Her mother had given her a kiss on her head and told her to call if she couldn't find the train, giving her enough money for the payphone if she needed it. She promised she'd write as soon as she found time at Hogwarts, assuring them that she was alright.

So Hermione wheeled her cart around the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 exactly fifteen times before a redheaded family came up, the mother fussing over two identical boys, the older straightening his tie as a younger boy and girl looked sullenly at the twins.

"Now Fred, George, I don't want to hear of any mischief from McGonagall about you two," she said sternly, hands on her hips. Hermione lifted her head and blinked at the woman, as the lady who had told her she was a witch had been named McGonagall.

One began a sentence, "Aww, Mum, if we can't have any mischief then – "

" – we can't have any fun," the other finished before blinking suddenly at Hermione, looking at her and her cart curiously, making her face flush as she fought the urge to avert her gaze as she began to make her way around the barrier for the sixteenth time. Just as she was about to start on the seventeenth time, the boys were in front of her and looking at her curiously, making her jump with a start and her eyes grow wide. They stared at on another for quite some time before the one on the right spoke.

"You know, we're alive and all, not just something pretty to look at," he grinned. She blinked, as this suddenly all reminded her of when Alice met Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in Through the Looking-Glass, and she might've furrowed her brows and muttered 'tweedle' under her breath, as the one on the left smiled.

"Contrariwise," he grinned, "If you think we're alive, you ought to speak."

This startled her even more, as she'd never met anyone her own age who had read that book and liked it enough to remember anything from it.

"Maybe she's the wax-work, brother," the one on the right whispered loudly to his twin.

"Am not," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest, "I just…uhm…." She fiddled with her fingers, biting her lip and wondering whether or not it was safe to ask them how to get to Platform 9 and ¾.

The boys arched their eyebrows at her, in sync, and looked at her curiously. They had loud, bright red hair and bright blue eyes, freckles across their pale faces. She couldn't tell one from the other. She self-consciously smoothed down a bit of her bushy brown hair, wondering what they must be thinking of her.

"Do you – I mean, do you know of…" she trailed off again, biting harder on her lip, even though her mother had told her many times not to do so.

The one on the left dropped the eyebrow back into place and smiled, "Do you need help finding Platform 9 and ¾?"

She let out a sigh and smiled, nodding.

"You just go through the barrier you've been circling twenty times," the one on the right helped.

"Through it?" she blinked, looking curiously at the brick wall. "And I've only been around it sixteen times."

"Yeah, through it," the one on the left said before suddenly getting an idea, "Hey, we can shove Percy through it to show her!"

"And if they've moved the gate, he'll just ram into the wall!" the one on the right said happily before they ran off back to their mother, brothers and sister. They began speaking and waving their arms wildly to the older brother, making him look at them without an idea on what they were saying, when their mother stepped in and found out. She smiled and led the two younger children by their hands, the twins rushing back towards Hermione with grins on their faces.

"Are you new to Hogwarts?" the woman asked kindly, although she already must've known this to be so.

"Yes, ma'am," she answered.

"Then it's perfectly alright not to know where to go," she said before offering her hand to shake, "I'm Molly Weasley."

"I'm Hermione Granger," she smiled lightly, feeling at ease with this family.

Molly glanced over at the twins, who suddenly remembered that they hadn't introduced themselves.

"I'm Fred, he's George," one said, as they had probably rearranged themselves when they'd left her, grinning at her brightly.

"Percy Weasley," the oldest said before he went calmly through the wall, making Hermione gape back at him. Molly chuckled at her reaction, looking to the younger boy and girl to let them introduce themselves.

"I'm Ginny," the girl spoke up, smiling happily up at her, "This is Ron. He's grumpy that he can't go to Hogwarts for two more years."

"Oh, well I can understand," Hermione nodded, "It must be fun, from what I've heard."

"I bet it is," Ron said grouchily, Molly frowning disapprovingly at him.

"You ready to go in?" Fred asked her, "The train is getting ready to leave. I think. Don't really know until we go."

"Umm," she faltered, but Fred and George grinned at her reassuringly, and she nodded and warily pushed her cart in ahead of her before following. Soon enough, she was gaping at the scarlet train and blinking at it, wondering why nobody had told her about this.

"C'mon," one twin said, as she couldn't be sure which was which again, "You can sit with us!"

Hermione sat on the stool, fiddling with her fingers and biting her lip as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head. It hummed and muttered that she was smart, and caring, and even a little bit cunning, and then it was silent for a few long moments, which scared her even more than when it had begun talking. It finally bellowed out something – she didn't know what, it had startled her too much – and the Hat was taken off of her head and she looked curiously up at McGonagall, who looked very proud and nodded her to the red and gold table, which was clapping the loudest.

She sat down at a close empty seat, smiling at whoever congratulated her and looked around rather frightfully as they turned their attention back on the sorting. She never was good with making friends, people always calling her mean names or finding something to pick at her for, so she'd never really perfected her social skills. She clapped politely though as another boy was sorted into Gryffindor – apparently, her House – and sat down across from her, beaming brightly before offering his hand to shake.

"Hi – I'm Lee Jordan," he said as she smiled gratefully at him.

"Hermione Granger," she said, taking her hand back as he looked a little lost as well. "Are you glad to be here?"

He grinned, "Yeah, it's great, I've already got a few pranks planned."

"Pranks?" she asked, blinking at him in astonishment as he only grinned wider.

"Yeah, pranks," he said eagerly, "D'you want to help me?"

"Well, I – " she was quickly cut off as somebody else was Sorted, clapping as she looked around, a little lost as they had now jumped to the 'L's. Lee didn't ask her again, giving her plenty of time to think about whether she wanted to stick by her parents' definition of a 'good girl,' or maybe rewrite their dictionary a bit to have some fun. Fred and George were Sorted into her House as well, Fred sitting down next to her and George sitting across from him and by Lee, smiling happily at her as Dumbledore began to talk.

Once he'd gone over the rules, the restrictions on the Forbidden Forest, and other such things, they were allowed to eat. This prompted Lee to ask her again, to which Fred and George seemed to brighten and agree to help him. They all turned to Hermione, who thought about it for another moment before smiling.

"I'll help in a few," she decided, which the boys took as a complete and utter 'yes.'