Ordinary

Disclaimer: I (of course) do not own Harry Potter or Glee and their characters.

Chapter 2

The three wizards found their first weeks in America to be deliciously hectic with the mundane. Their waking hours were filled with non-life threatening pursuits like finding a home, unpacking their belongings, and having spirited debates over how to turn on a computer. For the first time in months, Harry felt anticipation paired with excitement and opportunity rather than fear and the knowledge of certain death.

At the end of their second week in Lima, the friends were finally ready to meet with Hermione's cousin. After several emails, they discovered he was a person they could trust with the bonus of teaching at the local school. They arranged to meet at a restaurant to get to know each other and find out what the two younger Gryffindors would need in order to start high school the next month. And that is how Harry, Hermione, and George found themselves standing outside the glass doors to a restaurant.

"Breadsticks?" Harry said in disbelief. "Are they serious?"

"Well, I doubt they would name it the Hog's Head, Mate." George replied with a smirk.

"Come on, let's go in, Will said he would meet us here at seven." Hermione urged the boys through the door into where they were met with the smell of baking bread, cool air conditioning, and soft music. As they walked up to the hostess, Harry noticed a man, he guessed to be in his mid thirties, sitting alone at a table looking at Hermione with a curious expression.

"Er, Hermione?" Harry tapped her shoulder and nodded over to the man.

"WILL!" Hermione's unexpected (and somewhat shrill) shout caused Harry and George to wince. The man in question beamed at them as he jumped up from the table and quickly made his way over to them.

"Hermione? Is that you? I can't believe how much you've grown!" Harry watched as Will pulled Hermione into a tight hug. After a few seconds he seemed to notice Harry and George over her shoulder, watching on with amused expressions. Will released Hermione and held out his hand for Harry and George to shake.

"Will Schuster. You must be Harry and George? Hermione mentioned you both so much in her emails, it's a real pleasure." His smile was infectious as he lead the group over to the table he recently vacated and Harry already felt more at ease.

"The pleasure is all ours, Will" George said smoothly. "We appreciate your help."

Will's smile faded and he looked somber. "I know I don't have a clue of half of what you three and your families have been through, but if I can help you find a way to feel safe enough to move on, I will do what I can." Harry could feel the sincerity of Will's statement and didn't know how to respond. Luckily Hermione quickly moved the conversation on to catching up with other family members, so Harry was saved from unwanted emotional outbursts.

While Will chatted with Hermione and George, Harry couldn't help his gaze from cataloging everything in the restaurant. After a year of the Never Ending Camping Trip, as Ron had named their Horcrux hunt, Harry still wasn't used to being in public, especially in a place he had never been to before. He quickly noted possible exits for muggle and magical getaways as well as the other patrons. For a Friday night, the restaurant was rather crowded with couples on dates and young people spending time with their friends. Hermione noticed Harry's behavior and offered him a small smile while lightly patting his hand under the table.

"Relax", she breathed into his ear, "nothing is going to happen." Harry sighed at this and right when he was about to join in George's commentary on the absolute brilliance of television a loud shout made him leap out of the booth reaching for his wand before Hermione could grab his arm to stop him.

"MR. SHUE!" A group of teenagers had gathered next to their table looking curiously at Harry standing up looking tense. As Will replied with a calm, "Hey guys," George causally pulled on Harry's elbow to get him to sit down. The group of teens looked between Will and his dinner companions with various expressions ranging from curiosity to wariness. Once Harry sat down, Will made the introductions.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my cousin Hermione Granger, her friend Harry Potter, and their guardian George Weasley. They just moved here to Lima." The group of teens noticeably relaxed at this introduction. The tallest boy smiled and stepped forward.

"Hey, I'm Finn." He started pointing around to his friends, "this is Rachael and Puck and Sam and Brittney." The other teens nodded or waved as he pointed them out.

"It's nice to meet you," Hermione said and smiled.

"Woah, did you guys seriously move to Lima from England?" the blond boy that Harry thought was named Sam, asked.

"Uh, yeah?" Harry responded, wondering what England had to do with anything.

"But dude, why would you want to do that?" asked Puck. Harry and Hermione gave each other nervous glances while George squinted at Puck's unique hair. When the silence got a bit long, Will rescued his companions from answering by coming up with his own explanation.

"George received an opportunity to study medicine here in the area and Hermione and Harry have accompanied him to be under his care." Hermione smiled at this response which seemed to quell the curiosity of the group. Will continued to chat until the girl named Rachel brought up something called Sectionals to which her friends decided it was time to move to their table.

"What are Sectionals? Some kind of sofa?" George asked.

Will laughed, "No, Sectionals is the name for our first Glee competition." Harry felt even more confused.

"You compete to be happy?" This made Will laugh even harder.

"Glee, short for Glee Club, it is basically a choir that dances along to their songs. I'm the coach over at the high school and those kids are all in the club."

"Well, that sounds more interesting than people smiling at each other," George said as the waitress brought them their food. Dinner continued without any incident. Once the food was cleared, Will brought out a folder of the papers they would need in order to legally register as students at the school. Hermione assured him that she would be able to make the necessary copies that would be completely believable.

At this remark, Will looked at them all sternly, "Now I know this is a special case, and like I said, I will do whatever I can to help you guys, but this is a two way street." Looking at Hermione and Harry he said, "I expect you to behave properly while in school and do your best in classes." Turning to George he continued, "I will hold you responsible for them like I would any other parent or guardian. I need to be able to trust all of you."

Hermione placed her hand on Will's arm and looked him in the eye. "You can trust us Will. All we want is to go to school and be ourselves. We won't mess up this opportunity."

Harry left the restaurant feeling like things were finally coming together. Will reminded him of a shorter, and decidedly less hairy, Hagrid. That feeling was short lived when in the car Hermione turned from her front seat to look at him in the back, her eyes big in desperation.

"Harry, we have a problem."

Author's Note: Thank you all for adding the story to your alerts and favorites! This is my first attempt at fiction since I was in the fourth grade. Oh, obviously, the time lines for Glee and Harry Potter do not match. The Battle of Hogwarts took place in 1997 and Glee is in 2011, so clearly they would never attend high school at the same moment. Luckily for us, I can make stuff up, so to be clear, this is going to be in the "real time" of Glee, not Harry Potter. ~Paris