Title: Strings of Fate
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: Being raised only by his Aunt, Harry comes to Hogwarts not only knowing about the Wizarding World, but with a kind of training no one at the school is expecting.
A/N: The Slytherin administered punishment is a slightly modified version of a punishment in 'A Different Sort of Bond' by Balder on Ficwad. An interesting Harry Daphne story.
It took a few days for the female students to calm down after the big Q&A session. The girl were all… giddy, and while there were a few male students who regretted that they were not present, none of them had been willing to risk the girls' ire by gatecrashing the event, or embarrass themselves by asking for autographs in public after the fact. Had Harry been so inclined he could have asked the female students to either storm the faculty and take over the school or form a giant harem and they all would have simply nodded and gotten down to planning and implementing either request with the same gusto. Luckily for the staff and the male population, Harry had no such inclination.
After those few days things settled down to normal, or as normal as things ever got around Hogwarts. After the final count from the sale of the photos had collected 35 Galleons, 9 Sickles and 6 Knuts, the extra amount had been thanks to a number of girls who had donated on top of the purchase price of the photos. Susan had taken responsibility for delivering the donation, something that was close to her heart because it was her father Dominic, and in a way herself, that had been the whole reason the Fund had been set up 'anonymously' by her Aunt, something that, out of all the people at Hogwarts, only Hannah, Tonks and Harry knew.
Harry had also worked out a deal with Hannah in regards to her massive collection of Harry Potter merchandise and books. Every other Monday, while they were at Hogwarts, Harry would sign one item, however if Hannah managed to go the entire fortnight without blushing when talking to, or being around, Harry then he would sign three items. Harry figured it would probably take until at least fifth year before that would happen.
Harry had also taken a good look through the folder that Professor McGonagall had given him. There had been a plethora of photos in the folder, a selection of which now hung on the walls of Harry's bedroom thanks to some sticking charms, and it was obvious that the Professor had taken a great amount of time and effort putting it together from a range of sources. There were obviously a number of baby photos of Harry. With his parents. With some combination of Professors McGonagall, Spout and Flitwick. With the Groundskeeper, Hagrid. With a baby Neville Longbottom and both their parents. Even one with a six year old Tonks holding him and grinning as her hair ran through a thousand different colours. That one he had teased Tonks about.
But there was also a range of other pictures centred around his parents. Formal portraits. Wedding photos. Photos of James and his three friends, including Sirius Black. Even a photo of a young Lily and James, in what he guessed was their third year, where she was giving him a look of exacerbation and frustration that Harry had received more than once from Hermione… and Daphne… and Susan come to think of it. There were even a series of candid shots of Lily and Petunia laughing and playing. Those photos Harry had immediately sent of with Hedwig to be delivered to his Aunt. Dudley, who had been home for the weekend from his prep school, had related in a letter back to Harry that when Petunia had received the photos she had broken down crying and when he had gone to comfort her she spent the next few hours relating stories of her childhood with Lily.
Harry was checking over the last few items he was throwing into his small backpack, which included the photo folder, and he hitched it up onto his shoulder before going out into the Apartment's living room and locking the bedroom door behind him. The train home for Christmas break was leaving in a few hours and Harry felt no inclination to haul all his possessions home and back, even knowing that most students did due to their shared dorm room. Tonks, Susan and Hannah were all waiting in the living room with their own small bags.
"Let's go get something to eat before we leave." Tonks said. "They always have food available in the Great Hall until about an hour before the Express leaves. With the five hour trip, trust me you will want to eat now."
The three First Years simply nodded and followed Tonks to the Great Hall. When they got there they sat down with the Patil sisters, Daphne and the Weasley Twins. Thanks to her participation in Harry's study group, and the influence of Tonks, both sets of twins had welcomed Daphne into their social circle and she had become the unofficial bridge that may possibly end, or at least deescalate, the feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin. On the Gryffindor side she had the support of Pavarti, and the Weasley Twins, who were known to despise anything Slytherin, even spoke up in favour of her when Ron began harassing Pavarti for 'hanging around with a dirty snake'. On the Slytherin side, well after the fifth time Draco Malfoy had been found tied up and stripped naked on the ceiling of the Slytherin Common Room after insulting either Potter or Daphne everyone got the point… everyone except Draco that is.
The group all looked up when Padma noticed and pointed out the approach of Neville and Hermione. Neville was half supporting Hermione who seemed pale in shock.
"What happened?" Susan asked in concern.
"We were visiting Professor Sprout in the Greenhouses." Neville began. "I was checking on some plants I have been cultivating and Hermione was asking some questions on what we would be doing next term when…"
"A plant tried to eat my hand." Hermione interrupted. "A freaking plant!"
"It was a Dragonfly Trap." Neville replied, causing Susan, Hannah and the Weasley Twins to flinch.
"So… what? It's like a Venus Fly Trap?" Harry asked.
"That's what I said." Hermione replied automatically.
"I don't know what a Venus Fly Trap is, but the Dragonfly Trap has a mouth about the size of your plate and has been known to eat small cats." Neville answered.
"Whoa." Harry said, shocked. "Well here's to Dragon for saving Wells' hand."
Harry raised his glass in salute to Neville who groaned. Susan and Daphne were helping Hermione into a chair and pouring her a drink of water.
"Great. Now I have a nickname." Neville said.
"Better than Sunset." Hannah replied.
"Actually I kind of like Indy." Tonks added with a cheeky grin. "I can totally pull of a bullwhip."
"Wells does kind of fit." Hermione admitted, the colour having somewhat returned to her cheeks. "And he is one of my favourite authors."
"When are we getting nicknames?" one of the Weasley Twins asked.
"I thought you just went by Chaos and Mayhem." Tonks replied.
"No, he's Mayhem, I'm Chaos." The other twin countered.
"Four down, six to go." Harry chuckled manically for a second, before he broken into a coughing fit.
"Keep laughing. We still have to come up with one for you." Susan replied.
The group continued to eat, and banter, getting ready for the long train trip ahead. Even Hermione regained enough composure to have something to eat.
Normally when the Hogwarts Express is returning students to London, the moment it pulls into the station the students immediately start rushing the platform. This time no one emerged onto the even more crowded than usual platform for three minutes, and even then it was a solitary First Year. The reason was the veritable wall of reporters, photographers and equipment, which looked like almost the entire press corps of Europe, that was in between the train and the waiting parents. The First Year who emerged was Harry Potter. The moment he emerged he was bombarded with a cacophony of questions, to which he simply held up his hand and waited for them to quieten down. Only where there was silence did Harry speak.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press." He began, loud enough that everyone on the platform and train could hear him. "While under normal circumstances, I would be more that happy to answer a few questions, I must point out that currently you are standing between my school mates and their parents, whom they have not seen in nearly four months. If you would make a request through my agent, I would be happy to arrange a time for a formal interview. Until then, I will be waiting on the train with my school mates until you all leave. Thank you."
With that Harry simply turned and re-boarded the train. There was a second of stunned silence until a middle aged, stern looking woman with a monocle stepped out of the crowd of parents and guardians.
"As head of the D.M.L.E." Amelia Bones began. "I am ordering all press, who are not parents or legal guardians of a student on that train, to leave immediately. Any member of the press still here in two minutes will be arrested. Aurors, to me!"
No less than fifteen Aurors stepped out of the crowd, to the cheers of the parents. The Dowager Longbottom took her place next to Madam Bones, who gave her a quick look.
"I may be retired, but once an Auror, always an Auror." Augusta replied.
The press corps stood staring at the assembling Aurors for a second and then began rushing for the Apperation and Floo points. Three members of the press approached Madam Bones to verify that they were in fact parents or legal guardians of students on the train. Once the press bid their hasty retreat, the usual rush of students onto the platform began. Harry, Hermione, Susan, Neville and Hannah made directly for the now dispersing Aurors, or more accurately Madam Bones and Dowager Longbottom.
"Thank you for that, Harry." Amelia Bones said. "I will make sure the security on the platform is updated now to not allow unrelated members of the press onto the platform."
"I did it for the other students, Madam Bones." Harry replied. "They were not going to leave until they saw me, but if I answered even a single question then we would have been here all day."
"Oh admit it Harry." Susan said. "You are just as anxious to see your Aunt and Cousin as the rest of us are to see our families."
"True." Harry replied. "See you on the train ride back, Susan, Sunset, Dragon. Come on Wells, let's get through the barrier."
"Neville, why did Mister Potter call you Dragon?" Augusta Longbottom asked.
"Harry has this thing about calling his friends by nicknames. He calls his Seventh Year Cousin, Tonks, Indy. I don't know why but someone mentioned something about a whip and a hat." Neville replied with a shrug.
Harry and Hermione did not hear the response as they were making their way through the platform to the gateway to Kings Cross Station. When they passed through the gateway, it turned out that Petunia and Dudley were talking to Hermione's parents.
"Sorry about the delay, Auntie." Harry said as they approached. "Hey Duds. There was a mob of press on the platform."
Hermione was quickly wrapped up in a group hug by her parents.
'That explains all the hugs she gives.' Harry idly thought.
"Were you careful in how you answered? I don't want anything negative showing up in the papers." Petunia replied, with a long suffering sigh.
"Don't worry Aunt." Harry replied. "I simply pointed out to them that they were preventing the students from meeting with their parents after four months and I, and the other students, would stay on the train until they left. Madam Bones took exception to them preventing the students from disembarking, so she ordered them to leave or be arrested."
"Harry was brilliant." Hermione added. "Calm, composed and in complete control."
"Good boy." Petunia said, giving Harry a warm hug.
"Wish I was half a good at the political stuff as Harry is. Harry could be an Ambassador if he wanted." Dudley added.
Harry saw the glint in Hermione's eyes and figured it out immediately.
"Oh no. Don't even think about it, Wells." Harry said.
"You don't have any say in your own nickname." Hermione said with a grin. "Your rule… Ambassador. I'm going to have to Owl the others and tell them of this momentous occasion."
The Grangers cast a look at Petunia who simply shrugged and smiled.
"Thanks a lot, Dudley." Harry groused.
"Could be worse. My nickname at school is Battering Ram." Dudley replied with a smirk. "Break through their entire forward pack in one game and they never let you forget it."
TBC…