"Me neither," Harry admitted with a smile. "From what you've told me about them, I'm sure we'll get along fabulously."
They walked through the barrier that separated Platform 9 3/4 from the rest of King's Cross, and soon spied two adults smiling and waving at them. "Mum! Dad!" Hermione sprinted towards the two and caught them in a hug. Harry came up behind, at a slower pace allowing his girlfriend to gather herself and introduce him. "Mum, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Harry."
"It's a pleasure, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," he said, shaking each of their offered hands.
"Please, call me Dan," Mr. Granger requested.
"And call me Emma," his wife echoed.
Harry and Hermione exchanged a wary glance. "What did you just say?"
Confused, Dan Granger took a second before replying. "Er, I said, 'Call us Dan and Emma,'" he clarified.
"Hermione, don't those names sound...familiar to you?" he asked casually.
She slowly nodded. "Now that you mention it, Harry, it does sound a little familiar. I don't know why I didn't notice it before."
"I'm sorry, notice what?" Emma asked, wondering what the two youngsters were up to.
"Well, it's just that...you know Hermione and I are together." Both parents nodded. "Do you remember who played us in the movies?"
"Well, it was..." Dan trailed off as he realized what Harry was getting at.
"Yeah, that's right. Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson." Frustrated, he stomped on the ground. "How many goddamn fanfics am I going to be paired up with Hermione in, only to find out your names are Dan and Emma? It's both unprofessional and lazy. How long does it take to come up with two different names? Look: Bob and Betty. Ernie and Eunice. Larry and Linda. Wanda and Willy. Ned and Nadine. Frannie and Frank. There, I came up with six pairs in under a minute. If you wanted to invest a little more time and effort, you could come up with non-alliterative names. Is that so much to ask?"
"I guess not," Dan said, dejected.
"Right, then." Harry turned around, Hermione following along. "If you two ever get some non-derivative names sorted out, let me know."
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This is seriously a giant pet peeve of mine: I'll open up yet another Harry/Hermione story, the Grangers are introduced, and it's yet another Dan and Emma. Reeeeeal subtle, guys. Come on. I've only seen one fic where their names WEREN'T Dan and Emma (and it was a refreshing change of pace). Stop perpetuating this Dan and Emma Granger nonsense!
