Graceful Insanity- Chapter 1

By Haruka and Galadriel

If you happen to be at King's Cross Station right now and you're lucky enough to be in the right place, which is, just so you know, near platform ten, then you might be surprised to see a pair of twins nagging a very uptight looking man. He is their father. And he's also a top-secret undercover FBI agent. But you're not supposed to know that. And I'm gonna tell you a lot of other things you're not supposed to know. And by the time I'm halfway finished, there'll be a lot of people out to kill you. But that's beside the point. The point is that

Gala, on of the twins, is complaining and we're gonna listen in. She cries, "Dad! Not another move!"

The other one, standing next to her adds, "Why now? And why, may I ask, a train?" That one is Gabbi.

Two sets of eyes look imploringly up at their father and identical hands gesture wildly in their attempt to get the message through.

But their dad seems to be getting annoyed w/ them, so their mother firmly takes their hands and directs them away towards the barrier to give them a good scolding. But Gabbi, in a reckless fit, breaks free and calls to Gala, "Race ya!" playfully while running and getting a prominent head start.

Gala pauses momentarily, trying to decide if it's worth the risk of getting her hair all mussed up, but laughs and joins in. When she reaches her sister, she plans to take revenge by mussing her hair. But at the barrier, she finds that her twin has disappeared. Gala laughs again and begins to hunt for Gabbi, encircling the barrier a number of times before, in defeat, she leans against it and calls out to the station, "Ok, Gabbi; I give up. Where are you already?" Well, that is, she was calling out to the station. But, now, she isn't there anymore.

In fact, she's in a totally different station, lying flat on her back and wondering just how much sleep she got last night.

But never mind sleep, she thinks, getting up to notice a particularly cute redhead sitting w/ some other kids nearby. And he also has a twin!

She takes a quick glance at the rest of her surroundings and decides immediately that, even though it'd be a smart thing to go look for her parents, she'd rather stay and flirt w/ the cute redhead, especially as she has recently been grounded. Smoothing down her dress and adjusting the straps of her expensive backpack and oversized purse, she marches up to the boy, planning her flirtation technique, and accidentally trips over a filibuster firework. "Aeeeee!" she cries as it explodes behind her. Her purse has dropped and the contents lay scattered about George Weasley and the ton-tongue toffee he's been fiddling w/.

George is upset. Terribly upset. In fact, at this very moment, he is ready to pulverize the idiot who destroyed his firework. That is, he was, 'cause just now, he looks up to see a very cute and rather attractive looking girl w/ wavy reddish-brown hair, freckles, and pale green eyes looking down at him. Instead of roves, she's wearing a very sophisticated business type dress tie-dyed various shades of blue, green and purple. But George doesn't pay much attention to this. His observation skills tell him that he's just encountered an apparently wealthy muggle dress with who is, in his opinion, very pretty. "Oh, hi!" he says, a wide grin spreading across his face. Quickly, he hides the toffee behind his back, as turning someone into a canary is no way to make a good first impression.

But Gala, smiling demurely, sees this and curiosity takes over. Instead of a flirtatious bat of the eyes or even a hello, she asks, "What is that behind you back?" and attempts to look behind him.

George quickly stands up and stuffs the candy in his pockets, but, enjoying her look of frustration, pretends to still be holding it.

"Hey! What is that? Come on! Tell me; pleeaaase!" Gala jumps up and down, still trying to see around his tall stalky frame.

Finally, George gives in, or at least, he pretends to. Holding out a hand, he says, "Here it is." Gala reaches out to accept the item, mischievously grinning at the thought of her new buzzer. But both get shocked as their hands meet. "Whoa," says Gala, looking at her hand. "I didn't know my buzzer worked two ways."

George just stares at her. "You have one too?" he asks.

"Oh! So that's it!" The clouded brown of Gala's eye turn into an understanding of bottomless blue. "But why can't I see yours?"

George laughs and shakes his head. "Did you really expect to see it? It's a Zonko's."

"A what?" asks Gala, wondering if she should go through "the Joker's Catalog," one more time. "Let me see." She grabs George's hand and prods it until she gets shocked again.

"Ouch!"

"So, you can actually see your buzzer?" George asks.

Gala nods.

"Can I have a look?"

Gala gives George her hand and inspects the muggle buzzer.

"I guess you (ouch!) didn't get that (ouch!) at Zonko's then?"

Gala blinks. "What is Zonko's anyway?"

George stops poking the buzzer and stares at her in disbelief once again. "You've never heard of Zonko's? What house are you in anyway-Hufflepuff?"

"Huh?" Gala's beginning to wonder if there's more to this place than just cute redheads. This one seems perfectly sane (which is more than can be said about herself) so what's he talking about?

George looks about for her trunks or an owl and finally it hits him that he's not talking to a witch. Ignoring Gala, he calls, "Fred! Come over here!"

His twin strolls over, ginning.

"Fred," George says worriedly. "We've got a problem on our hands."

Fred's grin widen and he looks like he's about to laugh. "No, my dear brother practicing your animal magnetism," he says, teasingly. "You've got a problem on your hands-a rather cute one too."

George blushes and drops her hands, but Gala's eyes flash red and she gives Fred a death glare that causes him to stagger back. Then, her eyes change to an innocent blue-green and she smiles sweetly. "Anyways, my name's Gala Anne Smith. And-" A loud scream interrupts her. They all turn to see Gabbi cowering before a very angry looking Lucius Malfoy.

"That would be my sister," Gala finishes, groaning inwardly.

Fred grins. Another one! But, then, he realizes that if he wants her, he's gonna have to save her, so he looks around quickly for help. Spotting the world famous Harry Potter, he calls out to him, "Oy! Harry; can you give me some help here?" He points towards Gabbi.

Harry blinks as he registers the scene then, without saying a word to Fred, dashes over to where Lucius is preparing to put a hex on Gabbi and throws himself between them.

Lucius stops in mid-spell and glowers at Harry. He doesn't dare to hurt him in such a place. So he just glares menacingly at them while Harry, without an explanation, grabs Gabbi's hand and drags her back to the others.

Fred sulks for a minute, but then, regains his usual cheery disposition.

As soon as Gala sees her sister, she stops talking to George and runs up to embrace her in a warm hug. "God! What happened? Are you okay? What did that guy do to you? Do you know where we are? This is almost like a fantasy!" She says this all very fast unlike the way Hermione speaks.

Gabbi grins, amused by her sister's gush of statements, but then, answers back in a similar tone. "Well, I was running to the barrier, and I was really close to it and thinking all about how I wanted to get ice cream later, but then, suddenly, there was no barrier and I was in no position to get ice cream. (Which happened to be lying flat on her face.) And then, I saw that one dude and some kid who was dressed in a black kimono and looked like a ferret (Harry, Hermione, and Ron stifle laughs) and I thought I might as well ask them where I was. When I did, the man looked scared for a moment, but then, he got really mad and pulled out a light saber (everyone face vaults) out of his pocket and started shouting Latin. I was really afraid, but then," she grabs Harry's arm and pulls him towards her. "He saved me." She abruptly ends her conversation and turns to Harry. "By the way, thank you very much. My name's Gabbi Julie Smith. What's yours?"

Harry does a double take and exchange looks with his friends. Is this some kind of joke? He thought everybody knew who he was! Looking down at his shoes, waiting for a gasp of surprise, he mutters, "Harry Potter," and waits for that self-conscious moment when Gabbi will flick her eyes over his scar, but it never comes. Instead, he hears her say, "Cool; I like it. 'Never heard anything so simple and interesting at the same time. And it's got a nice ring too."

Harry looks up slowly, not quite believing what he just heard. But, then, he figures, he shouldn't ask and smiles broadly at Gabbi. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Would you like some help getting your trunk on board?"

Gabbi leans towards Gala and whispers from the corner of her mouth, "We don't have any trunks, do we?"

At the same moment, George nudges Harry and pulls him aside. "Harry, do you know what those girls are?" he hisses, looking over his shoulder at them.

"Spoken for?" answers Harry, knowing he's not right.

"They're muggles."

"What?!"

"Ssshhh!" George puts a finger to his lips. "I think there could be a glitch in the barrier. What w/ the havoc in the Ministry nowadays, they must've made a mistake in one of their enchantments."

Harry knows. He's been corresponding all summer w/ Dumbledore and even watched as Voldemort was revived.

"So, do you think we ought to bring them to Hogwarts w/ us or tell Dad and let him put a memory charm on them?" He looks regretful a he says the last few words.

Harry understands how he feels. Gabbi and Gala seem so sweet and friendly. Why kick them out of their lives now? "How about this?" he says. "Let's take them to Hogwarts w/ us.

Nobody will have to know they're muggles if Hermione lends them her robes, and they can hang out in the common room while we're in classes."

George smiles. "Ya know, Harry. I think you've got an idea there. We really could do that. I'll go find them a compartment on the train and get them settled. If Mum asks, tell her I'm w/ Lee." He walks over to the other twins and talks to them. A few moments later, he takes their heavy backpacks and helps them onto the train. Harry gives a sigh. Now, he's got to go explain this to Ron and Hermione, both of whom he knows won't understand.

And they don't. While Harry nearly kills himself trying to get a word in edgewise, Hermione lectures endlessly, and Ron goes into a fit of sniggers.

Suddenly, the Hogwarts Express lets off steam and begins to move. The next few minutes are a blur of hugs, kisses, good-byes, and somebody's gray poupon.

Gabbi and Gala are seated quite comfortable in an expansive compartment as Harry and co. run in, red-cheeked and out of breath. George is off somewhere, but he soon returns and takes the seat next to Gala, who smiles.

Gabbi knows that smile. It's the same smile her sister's given a total of twelve boyfriends. Now, on to number thirteen…Gabbi stares out the window and once again, begins to wonder where the heck she is.

As Harry's who can answer her question that she knows the name of, she asks him, "Harry? Where are we?"

Harry sits upright and blinks. He's been mulling over the letters he's gotten this summer from Sirus and Dumbledore. Ever since the recent rise of Voldemort, they've been in constant contact. "Well," he answers, carefully. "I'm not sure how to answer that, but first, let me tell you one thing. I'm a wizard. A real wizard. In fact, every here, besides you and

Gala, are wizards," he gives Hermione a sidelong glance. "…or, erm, witches." He stops and waits for the twin's reactions.

But instead of a, "You're kidding," or even a scream, Gabbi and Gala squeal in delight. "Oh! I always knew it was real! I knew there was magic! Ooooh! (to each other) Do you suppose JRR Toilkein was a wizard too? Do you suppose…?" Finally, Fred and George have to clamp their hands over their mouths to get them quiet so Harry can continue. He, happy that they've been shut up, launches into a fairly short and under-detailed explanation of the wizarding world, with many intervals from the others, and finally, Gabbi and Gala have registered enough to have about 2% of their questions answered, which is quite a feat for anyone, once they get asking. Harry also explains to them what he and George have planned and they're delighted.

"Your parents won't mind that you're gone?" Hermione asks in disbelief.

"No."

"Oh."

The witch w/ the cart comes by and Harry gets enough for the girls to try a bit of everything and then some.

"So," say Ron, leaning back in his seat and biting into a cauldron cake. "You know all about us; now let's hear about you."

"Well," says Gala, tilting her head back thoughtfully. "I suppose an interesting thing to know would be that our father is an undercover FBI agent. That is, he's a spy the American muggle government."

"That's nice," says George. So are some of my dad's best friends for the Ministry. But we want to hear about you."

Gala blushes under his gaze and turns to Gabbi, looking for help. Her sister grins to say, "Don't worry. Cute redheads don't leave me tongue-tied!" and begins to talk.

"As y'all know, our names are Gala and Gabbi Smith. We've lived everywhere throughout our lives because of our dad's job. Our mom is, well, you could say she's blond to the bone.

And neither of them spends much time w/ us. In fact," She laughs dryly. "I doubt they even know we're missing."

Everyone becomes very quiet and stares at her and Gala in a kind of sympathetic awe and Harry wonders if it'd be worth having parents if they didn't acknowledge you existence.

Gabbi continues. "We don't have many friends, except for on the internet," (Now, all the Weasley's look puzzled) so most of our hobbies are individual activities. We like reading, writing, drawing, computers, (Ron mutters something luckily incoherent about muggle appliances) and collecting stuff.

"And singing!" Gala interrupts.

"Okay. Gala likes singing. I can't hold a note for my life. So-"

Suddenly, the lights flicker off and the train comes to an abrupt halt. A few screams are heard from other compartments, and then, the sounds of angry voices. Apparently, a fight is

going on at the front, but it ends quickly. The sounds of pounding feet fill the corridors and as they near, everyone can feel the hairs on the back of their necks prickle.

The door of the compartment bursts open and in the dim light of a wand, they can see a tall death eater looming in the doorway. He immediately turns toward Gabbi and Gala and even

though his face is hidden behind a mask, Gala can feel a cold smile spread across his face. "You muggles have two options; either stay here and die, or get out and die."