Chapter 2 Train ride and first year
A/N: First year will only be a chapter much like third year as they have little to do with my idea but second year will take a few chapters and forth year will be the introduction of Harry Potter to the wizarding world while Fifth year will be where the story starts to take a much darker turn. Enjoy!
After a long talk the Grangers signed over modified custody of Hermione to Alastor so while officially Alastor made the decisions he only could so with Hermione's parents' consent, it was also decided amongst the Moody's that until Hermione could protect her mind they would not tell her about Harry's real identity. A trip to Diagon alley was a real treat for the kids so they could get their robes and wands, Hermione had to be dragged from bookstore after a few hours. When they went into get wands the old man almost called Harry by his real name but a growl from Alastor Moody and a reminder that Harry's legal name was now Marcus had the man scared enough to forget about letting Albus know about Harry's new identity, an angry auror of Moody's skill was something to be avoided at all costs. The moment the kids got Home Alastor removed the trace from both wands and Keira set up a teaching schedule for Hermione as Harry had five years of magical theory under his belt Harry helped teach Hermione how to properly handle her wand and worked with her on pronunciation.
Two months passed quickly for the kids as they got ready to step in to a new environment, before they knew it the kids were stepping foot on a train after passing a rather loud woman that was getting an earful from Alastor Moody for violating the status of security and getting informed that she would be receiving a fine for her behavior. As the kids walked past the group of red heads Harry accidently brushed against a pretty girl with red hair when their hands touched both Harry and the girl felt a spark like static electricity. Harry apologized and helped Hermione through the barrier making the pretty girl wish Harry Potter was there to help her like that.
After saying good bye to Keira and receiving hugs and kisses from the Grangers Harry promised Danial he would protect his little sister with his life if need be, had it come from any other eleven year old kid he would have laughed but from Harry he knew the boy meant every word. Danial and harry shared a manly handshake, a handshake that told Harry that Danial looked at him like a man he could trust him to keep his word. Alastor came up last and hugged Hermione then gave Harry a once over and slid something into his coat pocket as he hugged his son and wiped away a tear. "Good fortune my boy." Was Alastor could think of to say as he let his son go. Alastor's gift was an auror grade wand holster.
The sight of Alastor Moody with a child was more than a little shocking and had drawn quite a few stares but a growl from the man sent those lookie-loos running, Keira gave her husband a hug and whispered in to his ear that now would be the perfect time for them to go on that second honeymoon they had talked about. The moment his wife mentioned a private beach in South America and a bungalow for two all thoughts of menacing the onlookers left his mind after she said it was clothing optional beach Alastor was ready to apperate them to Brazil right then and there. Keira might be in her late thirties but she could revive a coma patient with just one of her sexy looks in her Husband's opinion.
Harry and Hermione found an empty compartment and made themselves comfortable, Hermione grabbed her favorite book, Hogwarts a History while Harry pulled out a stack of his favorite comics, Cyberforce and enjoyed the simple pleasure of having a close friend close by his side. A few minutes later the door flew open and a pair of twin boys they had seen on the muggle side of the station jumped in to the room and quickly hid on the rack and made shushing sounds. Before Harry could ask a boy with pink hair and wearing a glowing green and silver full length ball gown with matching pumps and purse stormed into the room and asked if they had seen twin boy's with red hair. Hermione couldn't figure out how he could not see them until she glanced up and saw the racks empty only to have Harry decide to be helpful.
"Yes ma'am I have they just ran down that way." Harry pointed in the direction he had just come from.
Percy ignored the taunt and made to leave until Harry called, "Hey Hermione do you think the carpet matches the curtains."
Percy stopped for a moment and then stormed off as the two twins rolled off the rack and laughed until Harry was sure they pissed themselves even Hermione was giggling at the prank and Harry's joke. Both boys introduced themselves as the famed Weasley twins the next best pranksters since the famed Marauders of Hogwarts they then sneaked out of the compartment to cause more mayhem.
Before the door even closed the pretty red head from the train station stuck her foot inside and asked if she could sit with them. Harry just shrugged and Hermione nodded her head as her way of showing consent, the girl pulled out a note book to read and then tried to get her trunk up on the rack. Harry took pity on the girl and easily hefted her trunk up onto a rack just as he got it into the racks the train gave a mighty lurk forward catching both Harry and the red haired girl by surprise and sent them falling into the open bench with Harry landing flat on his back and red landing on top of him much to Hermione's amusement.
"Hi." Harry said as the pretty red headed girl lay on top of him blushing as bright as her hair and keeping her face hidden in Harry's chest for as long as possible, "I am Marcus James Moody."
"Gi-Ginny Weasley." The blushing girl said as she looked up finally into Harry's eyes, placing her hands on Harry chest she lifted herself up a little amazed at the muscle tone of his chest and arms, feeling a little braver she tried again, "Ginerva Molly Weasley is me, I mean it's nice to meet you Marcus." Ginny could have laid there on top of Harry for the rest of her life and just stared in to the depths of his emerald green eyes, the depth of his eyes filled her with warmth that traveled from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes. It was like wading into a sea of love and comfort for the young girl and damn did the rest of the package leave nothing to be desired.
On the other bench Hermione watched the moment she thought she would have had with Harry a year ago happen before her eyes. It saddened her a little but to truly love someone was to understand that jealousy over their happiness was just greedy and not love, so she would love Harry like a sister like he loved her and make sure the little tart feeling up her brother understood that if she broke his heart she would kick her ass Hooligan style. "So red are you going to continue to dry hump my brother until he decides to rip off your clothes and send you on a one way trip to happy land, if so let me know now so I can get some popcorn and enjoy the show." Sometimes nothing beats a public education.
Ginny practically jumped on to the rack and when she relieved they were not alone and babbled out an apology while Hermione was doubled over laughing at her joke. Harry just gave Hermione one of his 'you're in trouble' looks then tackled her and proceeded to tickle her into submission much to the humor of Ginny. When Harry was done he asked Hermione if she surrendered, getting her nod of acceptance Harry rewarded her with a kiss on the lips then made proper introductions.
"Ginerva Weasley this is my best friend and honorary sister Hermione Granger," Harry dipped into a bow to Ginerva and swept his arm towards Hermione, "The grinning cock-blocking cutie-pie that is my little sister this is Ginerva Weasley the much prettier of the Weasley sisters." Hermione just smacked Harry over the head with one of his comic books and laughed at him.
Given how close they were when she walked in Ginny thought they might have been dating at first but hearing that Harry was single and the girl he was close to was just his sister had Ginny grinning as she decided to stake her claim on Harry as quick as possible so the moment he sat down Ginny took a chance and sat in his lap much to the surprise of Hermione and glanced at Harry's comic. In response to her forwardness Harry slid his arm around her waist and allowed her to read with him. Hermione just rolled her eyes and leaned against Harry's shoulder until Harry lifted his arm allowing her to use his other leg as a pillow and read.
An hour later Ginny was so totally engrossed in the comic book that she never heard the door open or see her brother walk in and go beet red at her making herself comfortable. "Ginny what are you doing sitting on a boy's lap mom is going to explode when she hears about this." The red heads screams had started all three of them out of their reading and caused Hermione to reach for her wand, no one interrupted reading time, NO ONE!
"Shut up Ronald, it is perfectly ok." Ginny snapped at him.
"No it isn't," Ron yelled.
Ginny just rolled her eyes and decided to use Ron's stupidity to her advantage, "I am allowed to sit on Bill and Charlie's laps because they are my older brothers right." Seeing Ron nod his head in agreement she continued, "Well Ronald Marcus here is Hermione's older brother and since I told her she could sit on their laps when she wanted she said I could sit on Marcus's whenever I wanted." Seeing the look Hermione was giving her she grabbed a pair of pictures from her purse and handed them to Hermione.
The first was a tall handsome man with his hair in a ponytail and rugged good looks the second man was stand proud with one foot on a dragons head his arms were thicker than her whole torso and his face while he tried to look serious his eyes had a kindness that could rival Harry's any day of the week. "Ow yeah any time you want Ginerva." Hermione said Happily as went back to her book.
"Well… Whatever Ginny, we need to find Harry Potter and become his friend like mom and dad and Dumbledore said." Ron's words gushed out of him like a fire hose until he realized there were two people in the room he didn't know. "Hey if you see Harry Potter, don't tell him what I said just that I am supposed to be his friend."
Both Harry and Hermione gave the boy a thumbs up then went back to their reading while he looked at both of their foreheads to see if either of them were Harry Potter, he had been all over the train and still hadn't found Harry Potter even if he had found Neville Longbottom, Dumbledore's apprentice. "Come on Gin let's keep looking for Harry."
"You go Ron and ask Neville to help I will wait her for him just in case he shows up." Ginny told her brother who nodded at his sister and left to start the search.
Ignoring the obvious question Harry continued to read as Ginny snuggled in to his shoulder and closed her eyes it was nice and soft and felt so natural to be close to Harry. For Harry he felt like his life was more complete, not whole but at least more complete.
The next visitor was a blond haired boy who made Harry's hair stand on end and put him on edge, "Who are you, are you Potter?"
Rude didn't come close to the boy's manners but then again anyone who came from the loins of a death eater was liable to be a dick and from the fact that he had blond hair and arrogant looks followed by a pair of idiots. He had to be a Malfoy, "Fuck off you rotting death eaters crouch fruit, or I will kick your ass." Seeing the boy about to spot some nonsense, Harry continued, "I am Marcus James Moody, son of the great Alastor Mad-Eye Moody, you really want to go tell your daddy the mean son of the big bad auror made you cry like a little girl after he made you his bitch."
Any retort died on Draco's lips at the thought of what his father would do if he started to stir up troubles with the greatest dark wizard catcher alive. Draco knew his dad kept some muggles for his own pleasure and didn't want to take his turn down in the dungeon after angering his dad like his mom did a few years ago for moving his diary while she was pulling her favorite set of black family jewels out of their personal safe. The sounds of his mother screams still haunted his dreams.
Draco was gone as fast as the wind and since Harry and Hermione had pre packed healthy lunches they just sealed the door eat in peace stopping long enough to wake Ginny and share some with her while she shared with them in peace. Hours passed in silence only broken by the turning of a page as the sun began to set and the train began to slow Harry stood up and closed the curtains as he and Hermione began to strip off their clothes and get dressed Ginny was blushing like mad at the sight Harry with just his pants on and Hermione in just a pair of knickers and a training bra. It was Hermione who noticed the girl's embarrassment first.
"You ok Ginerva?" Hermione asked as she stood there in just her underwear. "Would you feel better if Harry left while you got changed?"
Seeing that both of her new friends were not very modest and knowing that if Hermione was ok with it then why shouldn't she be as well, it's not like she would be wearing less than her underwear and even if she got nervous she could just pretend she was wearing a bathing suit. "No Hermione its ok, I am just surprised that you are already wearing a bra I probably never will."
Ginny looked down at her flat chest as she took off her shirt and slid off her skirt to put on her uniform she was so preoccupied with looking at the ground that she never noticed Harry and Hermione surround her and give her a warm hug and a chaste kiss on the lips making her go into a full body blush. "You shouldn't do that Ginerva…" Harry began followed up by Hermione and continued the sentence so seamlessly that it was like they shared a single mind, "…your beautiful just the way you are…" Harry finished as Ginny looked up surprised with tears in her eyes, "…and no one puts down our friends especially themselves."
Sure she had been told she was pretty but to be told that she was beautiful by a handsome boy and a very beautiful girl made her heart flutter, forgetting her near nakedness Ginny pulled both Harry and Hermione in to a Weasley strong hug and began to sob her eyes out. Harry and Hermione held and let her cry as it was easy to tell the girl had to be tough with six brothers and being tough all the time didn't lend itself to beauty. After a few minutes the three broke apart and got dressed, as was Moody family tradition Harry chose to wear a kilt instead of slacks as it was allowed in the dress code.
When the train came to a stop Harry held the two girls back for a moment and allowed the first rush of the students to barrel past them before the three of them got off the train themselves. On the platform a prefect directed the first years to place the trunks with a group of others while a large man wearing what looked like several bears sown together shouted out for the first to come to him, the large man dark black eyes and a huge bushy beard, Deliverance anyone. Harry became the unspoken leader of the group as he stepped forward followed by the rest of the first years.
Given his father was known as a bit of a paranoid son of a bitch Harry had a bit of fun throwing glares at every kid that was associated with a dark family even if he didn't have a magical eye he could still creep them out by glaring at them. In letters that will be leaving the school that night and in the morning to homes across England, they would be filled with every detail about the insanely paranoid son of the of the insanely paranoid auror which made Harry very happy as he wanted to just get done with this school and get on with his life.
Sorting went quickly as Harry stood waiting for his turn; Hermione was already in Gryffindor making Harry happy as he feared she would fall back into old habits in Ravenclaw; Neville was also in Gryffindor making Harry roll his eyes as the pompous jackass was talking to everyone who would listen about how he was Harry Potter's best friend. When they called out Marcus, Harry stepped forward and placed the hat on his head and listened to it try to talk for several seconds before ordering it to place him in Gryffindor and shut up already. For the first time in years the hat broke out in laughs as it screamed out Gryffindor, Harry sat with Hermione who was busy chatting with Lavender and Parvarti about fashion at this Harry rolled his eyes listening to Hermione talk about low cut jeans. After an elbow from Hermione and a whispered explanation about finding common ground Harry decided to chat with Dean and Seamus even if Dean was an idiot who was not a Manchester fan.
The sorting end with both of the Weasley brood ending up in Gryffindor, Ginny took the seat next to Harry while Ron was still staring at Neville like he was an all you can eat buffet. After the Headmaster informed everyone that Harry was already sorted in to Gryffindor and he would be arriving late as he was occupied. The Headmaster had started to say about the dangers on the third floor but thought against it as the boy-who-lived was not there and he needed to find out why.
The first week of school sat the pace for the rest of the school year. Professor McGonagall was an expert in her field as well as his head of house but given her duties as the deputy headmistress her schedule was often to full to allow much one on one student interaction which was fine for Harry as she knew his real father a little too well for Harry's liking anyways and getting to know her better was a stupid risk. Snivillius was just a bastard but Harry was able to earn a little respect from greasy git by brewing an almost perfect sun burn potion and even mitigate some of the points lost by Neville who blew up his cauldron because he couldn't pay attention, oddly enough the potions professor just scoffed at Harry's relation to the famed auror. Charms class was a riot for Harry as the diminutive professor was old friends with Harry's adoptive father in the last two wizarding wars and was more than willing to spare a few minutes after class to talk to Harry. History was a snooze fest but luckily all the teacher did was read from the book so it would be an easy class to pass. Defense was next to useless as the teacher did nothing but stutter, Harry could teach the class better than this idiot. Herbology was fun as Harry and Hermione often worked together growing up in a vegetable garden that stood between the kid's houses.
September past quickly as Harry fell into a routine with his school work, Hermione had set up a study group for their dorm that got their year mates excited once they relieved how well they could do after they kicked out Ron for asking everyone for the answers and Neville for demanding that Hermione does his Homework in exchange for introducing her to Harry Potter. All it took was for Harry to ask if he planned on magically pulling Harry Potter out of his ass and if he wasn't then he could do his own work or leave. Neville stormed off and went to complain to his head of house who told Neville that he was responsible for his own work and he better get used to it.
In October Harry was challenged to a duel by Draco at midnight but Harry told him if they wanted to go they do it right now, Since Harry challenged him openly and loudly it drew more than a few stares from students who stared to take bets on the duel and drew the staff in as well who thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to evaluate the students as Dumbledore had kept a lot of distance from Harry as he was still leery of Alastor looking at his past decisions. Draco had no way out but saw a golden opportunity to win a bit of respect in his house so the duel was set up for after dinner, oddly it was Daphne who pretty much demanded to be Draco's second closely followed by Ginny who elbowed Neville back into his seat and said she would stand with Harry. Personally Hermione would have been Harry's first choice but Ginny had been the victim of constant insults for her second hand robes from Daphne and Pansy and she was not missing the chance to slap the girl down.
Professor Flitwick agreed to officiate the duel and Lee Jordan handled the commentary of the duel which lasted longer than the duel itself between Harry and Draco. The moment the duel began Harry snapped off a trio of stinging hexes that all broke through Draco's shield and slammed him in the chest; a tight grouping like his dad taught him. The only offensive spell Draco got off was a weak cutter that Harry didn't bother to even shield the weak spell instead he just side stepped it. Harry ended the duel with a over powered disarming charm that knocked Draco into Pansy and Millicent who easily caught Draco and tossed him aside. It was the duel between Daphne and Ginny that became known as the fastest duel in the history of school when Ginny hit her with a boils hex and the vain girl ran off the dueling platform screaming and covering her face much to the laughter of the rest of the school.
November passed into December quickly as Harry and Ginny became fast friends while Hermione welcomed the fact that there was now a girl in the group who could keep Harry in line. Once they got to know Ginny they discovered she was a funny and sarcastic little spit fire who loved to have fun and hang out but was also a bit of a brainy girl who could sit for hours and just discuss magical theory with Hermione that went over Harry's head who was much better at spell execution. The fact that many of the discussion usually happened sitting on either side of who often had arm around each girl and tried to follow the verbal tennis match but ended up sitting back and just nodding at the older boys who gave Harry a thumbs up for getting a pretty bird on both arms.
With Christmas approaching and the Weasley's going to Romania to see Charlie, Hermione wrote home while Ginny got permission from her parents to allow Ginny to stay with Hermione over the winter hols as long as Ginny figured out the purpose of a rubber ducky and dishwasher. Ginny had a wonderful Christmas at the Grangers house for the first time ever she received all new clothes and a makeup kit to match Hermione's that she receive as well, Alastor and Keira gave her more clothes from the muggle world as well book on dueling techniques and a guide to understanding the dark arts as it was well known that many of the light side families never touched the dark arts but Alastor was a strong believer in one needs to at least understand the fundamentals of dark magic to stay safe from it and it is more about intent of your actions then the magic itself. Ginny had the time of her life as Harry took her around the neighborhood and introduced her to his friends, the only dark spot that happened was running into Dudley quiet literally as the fat ass got a snow sled and fell off it and barreled down the hill like an avalanche and clipped Ginny while she was standing up from making snow angels with Hermione and several other girls. Had Dudley apologized to Ginny all would have been forgiven but that isn't Dudley's style and his goons were with him, seeing Ginny was a part of Harry's group Dudley pushed her and called her a bitch only to receive a broken nose from Harry who had just arrived with the guys the moment Dudley put his hands on Ginny. Sleep overs were a new experience for Ginny as well, usually Ginny only had a sleep over with her best friend Luna not with a dozen other boys and girls and do things like eat pizza and play kissing games as the girls were getting to the point in their lives were they thought the boys should be ready to pair off but seeing as Emma was very good at watching the kids the kissing never went past pecks on the lips. Ginny was actually a little sad to leave all the Grangers as she had the time of her life and wished her mother would be more like Emma and Keira.
Life back at Hogwarts stayed pretty bland until mid March when Ron, Neville and Seamus had lost fifty points each for being out after curfew because they were helping Hagrid get rid of a dragon. The study group forgave Seamus pretty quick as he was a funny and quirky little Irishmen who was very good at blowing stuff up and had a wonderful future in the IRA as a bomber as long as he survived that long, last potions class he blew up a cauldron with just water in it even Snape was confounded by that feat. The study group had grown to include several other students in their year, Susan, Hannah and Justin from Hufflepuff and Su and Terry boot from Ravenclaw. Currently no Slytherin yet had the courage to join the group but Theo and Tracy were at least not snipping at them anymore.
Hermione had lost a few points with her friends over her need to study hard and push everyone to study just as Hard but when finals were over and every member of the study group had finished in the top half of their year had at least earned her a bit of a reprieve from stony looks well until she mentioned that they could get a start on next year which got her pelted with balled up papers and boos. Dean and Harry tried to start up an impromptu football match but ended up having to teach most of the purebloods and half-bloods how to play the game.
The only interesting thing to happen at the end of the year was the defense professor had been found dead in his room from what looked like a massive heart attack. Well that and the fact Harry Potter never arrived at school much to the headmaster's anger who was beyond angry to discover that even though he left Harry on the Dursley's door step he never made it into the house. Worst still was the fact that whoever had taken the boy was not going to send him to Hogwarts even though the headmaster had explained in his letter why Harry needed to be properly minded for the benefit of the wizarding world. A part of Albus wanted to recruit Alastor to find the missing boy but discounted the idea quickly as Alastor Moody was the type of man to ask questions that the Headmaster was not willing to answer.
The train ride back home was pretty fun for the kids as it consisted of Harry, Hermione and Seamus on one bench with Ginny on Harry's knee across from them was Dean, Parvarti and Lavender. Susan and Hannah stopped by to say hi and make plans to get together over the summer with Harry and the rest of the group the week before school started, Draco came by to toss in his own usual helping of bile but got hit with seven stinging hexes for his trouble, Ron also stopped by to say Hi and ask if he could rejoin the study group next year as he was going to catch hell for his bad grades this year from his mom. As Hermione was in charge of the study group she gave her consent as long as Ron remembered that it was a study group and not a do my work for me group.
All the kids said good bye on the platform and let the parents get to know each other for a moment before they went home to enjoy a summer away from study. Lucius watched the kids get off the train and made a few adjustments to his plan for next year to end the corruption of Hogwarts, with no Harry Potter their he didn't have to worry about any loose ends putting a stop to his plans, maybe if he got lucky the Moody brat would be dead as well he was still angry about his son losing a duel to the little brat.
A/N: answer to reviews and clarification on a few points
The reason Ron and Ginny are in the same year is I have adjusted a few birth dates; Ron was born in October 14; Ginny was born ten months later August 3 making them both start school in the same year.
Now the reason Ginny and Harry seem so close is a bond takes a few hours to settle and while touching is required being close physically is also Ginny is free of her mother for the first time and acting rebellious by getting closer to a guy who is not Harry Potter or so she thinks.
BJH: While I like the whole idea of soul bonding and finding your soul mate I prefer to think that a bond of souls can exist between friends as much as lovers and I will be working on keeping the slang more British as for the BBQ well Alastor has traveled quite a bit and he seems like the type of guy to enjoy standing in front of a grill to me and that is why I had him grilling.
The thought behind Moody adopting came about because I have never really heard of it before and thought it would be a bit fun to do throw in my wife challenging me to make a pairing work between characters that seem wrong to me I.E. Harry and Ginny along with Hermione and it will be a surprise.
Please feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer them.