AN: Written for Round 1 of the QLFC
Team: Pride of Portree
Position: Beater 2
Beater's Prompt: Write an AU you've never written before (Muggle!Harry)
Optional Prompts used:
1. (dialogue) "Your silence scares me."
4. (word) divorce
Word count (excluding AN): 1506
Just Like Magic
Dear Mum,
I just wanted to let you know we made it safely to Bridgeton. How is everything back home? When I left, things seemed tense — much more tense than usual. Are you and Dad fighting again? Is this about his trip to Italy? You know how business is this time of year. He's just busy.
I'm sorry to cut this short, but Ron and Hermione are waiting on me. I'll write a longer email later.
All my love,
Harry
"Doesn't your mum have a cell?" Ron asked as Harry hit the Send button on his phone.
Harry nodded. "She does, but she says emails are more personal. Closer to an actual letter, but faster. I don't mind sending her an email every few days if it'll keep me from having to hear her bitch about Dad every day on the phone."
The two met up with Hermione just as Harry said this, and she scrunched up her nose. "Is there still trouble at Potter Manor?"
"Always." Harry bent down and kissed Hermione on the lips. "What's on the agenda tonight?"
Harry Potter, son of James and Lily Potter, slipped on his Bridgeton Academy hooded sweatshirt while listening to his girlfriend discuss the possibilities for the trio's evening. He caught her hand as they exited the dormitory. Squeezing it, he looked between the two and suggested, "Let's just hang out at the coffee shop and relax before classes start, eh?"
Hermione and Ron agreed, so the three made their way across campus toward the small coffeehouse that had catered to them throughout their entire career at Bridgeton.
Bridgeton Academy was a small, exclusive prep school located in Scotland. James and Lily had met as fellow students of the academy and were enamoured with the idea of Harry attending as well. They presented him with his acceptance letter to Bridgeton on his eleventh birthday. While Harry hadn't been immediately thrilled at the idea of leaving his parents, the process had steadily become easier with each passing year.
James Potter, a former football star and current owner of at least three World Cup teams, and his wife Lily, brilliant researcher and philanthropist, had what most thought of as a marriage blessed by the Creator himself. However, Harry, and in turn, Ron and Hermione, knew better. Over the years since Harry entered Bridgeton, James and Lily realized they no longer had anything in common. Lily began pouring all her energy into her work, and James turned his attention to other women.
Of course, very few knew of their troubles. While at public events, such as various promotions for James's teams and Lily's charity galas, the two acted as if they were just as in love as they had always been. However, once they arrived back at Potter Manor, they went their separate ways and often didn't speak again until the next event.
Harry vowed to be different. He found friends in Ron Weasley, a student who was only at the school because of the benevolence of an anonymous donor, and Hermione Granger, an only child and the first in her family to earn a scholarship to the prestigious academy. Harry began dating Hermione during their fifth year at the academy, and he swore to himself that he would never fall into a shell of a relationship like his parents'.
Just as the three arrived at the small building, Harry's phone rang. His father's number stared up at him, so he turned to his friends and said, "You two go on in and get us a table. I have to take this." Harry walked around the building and found a quiet spot on the patio.
"Hello?"
James Potter cleared his throat. "Harry! How are you? You make it to school alright?"
"I made it just fine, Dad. Didn't Mum tell you?" Sarcasm oozed out with each word.
"Well, uh, no, she didn't. I haven't talked to her yet. How are Ron and Hermione?" James seemed to be avoiding his real reason for calling.
"They're fine, Dad." Harry was over his parents' foolishness. "Now, you never 'just call,' Dad, so what's going on?"
James cleared his throat again. "Okay, son, I'll get right to the point. Your mother and I aren't happy, and we haven't been for a while."
Harry couldn't stop the eyeroll. "Obviously," he dragged out. "And?"
"And," James continued, "we think it's best that we don't extend this charade any further. When you come home for Christmas, you'll see me at Potter Manor and your mother at her home in London. That's if you even come home for the holidays this year."
Harry was quiet for a moment. "Thanks for telling me. Good night." He pressed the button to end the call and just sat there, seeing nothing, hearing nothing for a while. Then:
"Everything okay, love?" Brown orbs danced in front of him in the shadows of the dark patio.
Harry pulled Hermione into his lap and laid his head on her chest. "I've missed you."
Hermione ran her fingers through Harry's usually-neat, black hair and replied, "I've missed you too, Harry," she whispered into his ear. "Even though we did see each other multiple times over the summer."
Harry picked his head up. "Where's Ron?"
"Oh," Hermione waved her hand toward the coffeehouse, "Ron's found at least three different girls willing to give him the time of day in there. He's not worried about us."
The two sat there for a while, Harry still processing his father's news, Hermione absentmindedly rubbing his head, letting him think for a while.
"Harry," Hermione leaned back and looked into Harry's sad emerald-coloured eyes, "what is it? Your silence scares me; it usually means you're overthinking something. What did your dad—"
"My parents are getting a divorce," Harry blurted before Hermione could finish. "They've officially given it up." He gave a wry laugh, then continued, "I should be happy. Dad said I'll get two Christmases this year. Wish they'd have done this years ago; maybe I would have appreciated it a bit more."
Hermione pulled Harry closer. Soon, she felt his hot tears soak through her blouse as Harry released years of pent-up frustration at his parents. "Let it all out, love."
The two sat there for an indeterminable amount of time, no one bothering them, Harry holding Hermione tightly as if she would disappear as quickly as the love his parents once shared. Once he had settled down, Harry loosened his hold and looked up at Hermione.
"Promise me something, Hermione."
At that moment, Hermione couldn't think of a single wish she wouldn't grant this man. "Anything, love."
Harry looked deeply into her eyes and said, "Promise me we won't be like them. Promise me that one day, when I vow to love you until death takes us, I won't be lying." Harry was angry, and Hermione knew then that she had to be honest with him, or she might make a promise she couldn't keep.
"Harry, don't base our future on your parents' past. We're not them, and our relationship is strong. Your mum hated your dad until their last year or two in school; they couldn't get along. Basically, even though I love Ron, your mum and dad had the same type of relationship Ron and I would have. We can co-exist for a time, but too much time stresses our friendship. Imagine if we were actually in a relationship!
"You and I are best friends, and we balance each other out. We enjoy each other, and we don't need something, or someone, to keep us happy together. Your parents had you, and once they lost you, they lost that in common. Just have faith, love. We'll be okay."
Harry sat back and thought for a while, then nodded. "I see where you're coming from. I guess I knew my parents were unhappy, but for some reason, when Dad said they were getting a divorce, it just solidified the whole thing, you know? I know that we'll have tough times, and there'll be days we don't want to be together, but I want you know this, Hermione Jean Granger:
"I love you more than life itself. You're my best friend, and I know I'll never find another like you. You make me happy when I can't even stand my own self, and I wake up and fall asleep wanting to be near you. We have all the time in the world to get married and start a family, but I want to take the next few years to just enjoy being with you. How does that sound?"
"Like magic, Harry. Just like magic."