I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Note: I wanted to give a little insight of what's to come. After a lot of planning and thought, this year there will be some more deviations from the canon story-line. Up until now I've tried to remain as close as possible while making minor changes here and there. I decided after going over what I've done, I don't want to follow the main story-line while trying to shoe-horning in the Quidditch team and the like. This story became something different while writing it and I think I want to focus on the interactions between people while creating a believable alternate universe setting of sorts.

I've really come to enjoy how the characters are developing in the story and wanted to really make that the focus of this fanfic instead of trying to warp the main story-line to make it fit. Hopefully everyone will come to agree and enjoy the story as well.

Thank you all for the support, the views, and the reviews. Lately when I've been feeling down, I look back at all the kind words and it helps a lot. Thank you for joining me. Have a wonderful day!

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 34 – Reunion

"Where have you two been?!"

Harry looked up and smiled at a visibly irate Hermione. "Hi Hermione," he said brightly. "It's good to see you!"

Hermione crossed her arms and looked at him with as much irritation as he she could muster. "What are you doing here at school already?! Why weren't you on the train?"

Harry shrugged sheepishly while Ron's attention was focused completely on him taping his wand. "Something kind of happened," Harry said lamely.

"Clearly." She sat down beside Harry, arms still crossed and eyes still glaring.

"No hug?" he asked meekly.

She resisted the urge. "Not until you explain yourself." She poked him in the side.

"Ow! Alright, okay. Well we got to King's Cross and Ron and I were the last ones to cross through the barrier at Platform 9 and 3/4s. Except we couldn't. The barrier wouldn't let us through."

"It wouldn't let you through?" Hermione repeated incredulously.

"Nope. It was solid stone. We pushed on it, prodded it, did everything we could but it would not let us through."

She stared at him. "What did you do?"

"Ron suggested we take the car because it can go invisible and fly but I didn't think that was a good idea. I didn't want to get the Weasleys in trouble after everything they did for me."

She glared at Ron who was still looking at his wand. As if he could feel her gaze he shrugged. "What, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"At least one of you has some sense," she said sharply and returned Ron's glare. "So what did you do?"

"I wrote a note and gave it to Hedwig. It said we were trapped on the Muggle side and that we needed help."

"Oh that was smart." She relaxed a little and was gratified to see Harry grin.

"That was also Ron's idea."

"That was well thought Ronald," she said in what she hoped it was a gracious manner. By the way Harry snorted and how Ron rolled his eyes she knew she failed.

"Anyways, we waited for a while but finally Mr. and Mrs. Weasley showed up. They tried to get through the other way and couldn't and found us. We proved it was blocked our end too. They talked to a couple of people that help maintain the Express to send a message along and then they took us to the Leaky Cauldron and Floo'd with us here." Harry shrugged. "We put our things away and changed and came here to the Great Hall."

"Speaking of, what happened to Ron's wand?" Hermione asked.

Harry snickered. "He pushed his way through the Floo and fell on his arse and broke his wand."

"It's your fault," Ron groused. "If you hadn't stood there like an idiot I wouldn't have run into you now would I?"

"I was trying to not track soot all over Professor McGonagall's office," Harry retorted. "You could have waited until I was clear like she said."

Hermione finally smiled, shaking her head at their bickering. "Well I'm glad it wasn't over something serious. I was really concerned on the train when I couldn't find either of you. I wasn't the only one either."

Before she could explain more students had been walking into the Great Hall, and a trio of red heads saw them and came running over.

"See? I told you they'd be here," Fred said airily.

"No, you didn't. I did." George said.

"If I recall, the both of you were making up dreadful rumors and taking bets on them," Percy said, glaring at the twins who looked momentarily abashed. "I am pleased to see you both here and well. What happened?"

Harry repeated the story and the twins guffawed at Ron falling and breaking his wand. He started to hit them with it, sending greenish sparks flying out and a cloud of acrid foul smoke.

"Stop that Ron, before you do something permanent," Percy said, avoiding the flailing wand. "Still, good job on thinking of the best solution."

"Yeah! We're so proud of our ickle brudder," Fred cooed, pinching Ron's cheek. He then hissed in annoyance when Percy slapped him upside the head. "Oi! You're a Prefect! You're not supposed to hit your charges. I can have your badge for that."

"School has not started yet, technically, and you're not yet my charge. Right now, you're my little brother and I'm stopping you from bullying our little brother." He straightened to his full height and looked down at the twins. "Besides, there are other ways of punishment you know."

"Like what? You can't take points away yet cause like you said, school hasn't started yet. You going to give us detention for bullying a younger student who happens to be our brother?" George asked snarkily.

Percy gave him an all-teeth smile. "No. I can, however, tell certain people your actions and they can act as they see fit."

"You'd tell Mum? That's low even for you!" Fred gasped, deeply offended.

"I would not bother Mother with something like this, though she would be very upset." Percy looked even more offended that Fred accused him of that possible action. "No, I would tell people much closer who are able to take immediate action. Ones who have no reservations in telling you what they think." Percy looked towards the doors of the Great Hall, at the students walking in. "Like your teammates."

The twins paled. "Still a low blow," Fred hissed.

"Not as low though. Come on Fred, let's scarper. Angelina's and Alicia's already annoyed at us and we should let them cool off a day or two before escalating," George said, keeping an eye on the open doors.

"What did you two do to Angelina and Alicia?" Harry asked but the twins had already run off further down the table. He looked up at Percy. "What did they do?"

Percy looked uncomfortable. "Nothing terrible but it really is not my place to say. I am sure you will hear of it soon." He huffed. "Anyways, I am glad things turned out well. I will ask the Professors about the barrier later." He patted Harry on the shoulder and nodded at Hermione. He then sat next to Ron and gamely tried to help Ron repair his wand.

"Potter!" A loud voice made Harry jump in his seat but only from the sudden noise. Harry recognized the boisterous tone and a smile appeared on his face as he looked towards the doors. "Hi Captain!" he called back happily.

Oliver came striding over and he draped an arm around the younger boy's shoulders. "Hey you're looking…pretty good!" He gave the Harry a closer look. To be honest, Harry did not look great. He had heard how bad the beginning of the Summer treated the boy and while the last few weeks had helped, Harry still looked thin and sickly, like someone recovering from great ordeal.

Which he was.

Oliver tried to keep his concern concealed, but he could not hide how closely he was looking at Harry.

"You're inspecting him like you would a dog," Hermione said waspishly, her eyes radiating disapproval.

Oliver grinned at her, increasing her disapproval. "Not a bad idea," he mused jokingly. He ran a hand through Harry's messy mop. "Coat seems good, still messy but I think that's a good quality." He peered into his eyes. "Still got two eyes, still tracking. Left paw!"

Harry obliged, showing his left hand. By now Harry was giggling and following Oliver's commands much like a dog would.

"Left paw looks good. Right paw looks equally good. Right, open wide, let's check your teeth and tongue." Oliver pretended to blanch. "Could use a breath mint, wait, can dogs have breath mints?" he asked Hermione. He moved away from her and her look of increasing wrath. "I'll ask Madam Pomfrey later. Alright boy, all seems good. Speak!"

Harry barked.

"What are you two doing?" Alicia came up and she looked between the boys with confusion mixed with irritation. "Oliver, why are you treating Harry like a dog?"

"I didn't intend to; it was her idea." He pointed at Hermione with his thumb.

Hermione literally growled at Oliver, making him take another step away.

"That's my cue to run along," Oliver said with a smile. "Good seeing you Harry. We'll catch up later in the common room. I'll tell you about my Quidditch camp. I took some notes on Seeker things and want to share it with you." He gave Harry another hug and waved at Hermione before moving swiftly down the table.

"Honestly, first thing he does to you after not seeing you for months is to treat you like a dog." Alicia crossed her arms.

"I didn't mind," Harry said smiling. "It's different when Oliver does it. I know he's kidding with me."

Alicia and Hermione both heard the seemingly off-handed comment and winced nearly identically.

Alicia looked down at Harry and her heart softened. She and the other two girls on the team exchanged letters during the Summer and she was appalled at their descriptions of Harry when they saw him. Privately she had hoped they were exaggerating. The other two had very soft spots for Harry after all.

Seeing him now, after weeks of 'recovery', he still did not look well. If he looks this bad now, how bad was he earlier? she thought sadly.

Harry looked up at her, his happiness to see her turning into concern for her. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

She plastered a smile over her face. "No, just thinking instead of greeting you." The smile turned genuine when Harry opened his arms. She hugged him tightly. "It's really good to see you. Wish I could have seen you over the Summer but I was out of the country. I missed you."

"I missed you too," he said while squeezing her with his arms. "Did you have a nice trip?"

"Overall yes. Some annoyances here and there. It was mostly involving family business but there were fun times too. I might have picked you up a souvenir."

His smile melted her heart. "You did?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course you silly thing," she chided gently. "Though if you're going to act as thick as Wood, I might not give it to you."

Harry opened his eyes wide and he whimpered convincingly like a puppy.

"Do not ever look at me like that again," Alicia said with a heavy blush. "I do not need a puppy-eyed Harry Potter making me feel like I've done something terrible." She grinned. "I'll give you your souvenir though if you give that look to Angelina and Katie later, make sure I'm there to see it."

"Deal!" Harry hugged her again and Alicia returned the embrace before sitting down near him. He turned to Hermione and caught her sour look. "Is everything okay?"

"Perfectly fine," she replied though it did not sound like it. "I don't understand why you let them treat you like that. Is it because they're older?"

Harry shook his head. "No, that's not why. They'd stop if I asked them to, I'm pretty sure. I like it when they joke with me like that."

"It just seems a bit rude," Hermione said.

"I don't think so," Harry said honestly. "I would know if they were being rude to me."

You probably would, she thought uneasily. She was ashamed at bringing up the topic. It was clear that Harry enjoyed the attention and it did seem well meant, if teasingly, delivered. She did not know why seeing the team treat Harry like that irritated her so much.

Yes you do, the voice insider her head said snidely.

Her face twisted again and Harry saw it again. He opened his arms, "May I have that hug now?"

Her expression mellowed and she did just that. With every hug the two shared, she could feel them change. The first time she hugged him she had thrown herself at him and he had stood as still as a pole. He had a look of intense discomfort on his face, as if expecting the worst.

At first Hermione thought it was just her. That she did something to warrant the response. She had breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that Harry treated all physical contact like that. The relief was obviously short-lived and she had hoped to help break him of that habit.

She had no idea if she did have a hand in helping him and that uncertainty gnawed at her.

She released him when she felt him relax his arms. She was no longer angry with him. Truth be told she was more concerned than legitimately angry earlier. It was easier for her to show irritation at him though for some reason.

"Rabbit!"

Harry's smile bloomed at he turned, seeing the tall girl come rushing down the table towards him. Katie followed closely behind and their smiles of relief made him feel warm. Angelina lifted Harry clean off the bench, hugging him tightly.

"Thank goodness!" she said as she tried to crush him. "We were so worried."

Harry hugged back with all his strength. "Aww thanks," he said shyly with a bright red face.

"Put him down," Katie said amused. "You trying to get him to see Madam Pomfrey extra early?"

"You're just jealous," Angelina said as she set Harry down.

Katie's reply was stalled as Harry hugged her tightly. Katie felt immense relief. Harry still looked sickly but much better than the first time she saw him weeks ago. The time spent at the Burrow had helped immensely but she knew she would never forget how skeletal Harry looked, how neglected.

"Why weren't you on the train?" she asked as she sat down beside him. Angelina hopped over the table to sit across from them, earning a look of disapproval from Hermione. Alicia leaned in from Katie's other side to hear the story told again.

"Huh, that's very odd," Katie said when Harry finished.

"Never heard of anything like that happening before," Angelina said.

"I'm surprised you didn't take advantage of it," Alicia teased. "I would have. That's a handy excuse for not coming to school."

"But then I wouldn't see any of you," Harry said simply. "I'd miss you all too much." He leaned into Katie's hug, resting his head on her shoulder.

"I think this just proves that Alicia doesn't care about you as much as we do," Angelina said giving the shorter girl a superior look.

"You take that back right now!"

"Nope, never. You said it, not me. Telling Harry to not come back to us. For shame."

"It's okay Harry, don't be too sad. We'll care more for you to make up for the loss," Katie said. She snickered at Alicia's face.

"Not you too! Harry, help me here!"

"Now you're trying to use him when you don't care about him?!" Angelina gasped.

"You monster!" Katie exclaimed, turning her body as if to shield Harry from Alicia.

Harry was giggling harder now, the laughter increasing at Alicia's incensed look.

"Harry, give them the look!"

Harry lifted his head away from Katie and tilted his chin down. He opened his eyes wide and batted his eyelids slowly, trying to look as pitiful as possible. "Please don't be too mean to Alicia," he whimpered with as much false sincerity as he could muster.

Angelina and Katie looked at Harry with open jaws and red faces.

"Okay I promise Harry," Angelina said hurriedly. "Stop looking at us like that, for pity's sake."

Katie shook her head as if punch-drunk. "I was not prepared for that. You have to warn a girl before you do that Harry." Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Who taught you that? Did the Twins put you up to do that?"

Harry smiled impishly; all dolefulness gone. "Alicia said she would give me a souvenir if I did that to you and Angelina and if she was there to see it."

"You really are a monster!" Katie said to a snickering Alicia.

"Bribing him to torture us and weaponizing that look!" Angelina exclaimed, her face flushed even more. "How dare you!"

Hermione sighed as the other three witches started to argue with each other, with the culprit of their argument giggling beside them. "I think they are a bad influence on you," she sniffed.

"It's all in good fun," Harry said still giggling. "They aren't really mad at each other and making silly faces isn't so bad." He turned her way and repeated the facial expression.

Percy and Ron had looked over at the raised voices from the trio of Chasers. They saw Harry and both snorted, rolling their eyes at him.

Hermione made a point to deliberately look away from him to show her disapproval, and to hide bright red cheeks.