Fly On The Wall, Snake In The Grass
Disclaimer/Plot/Challenge Information/Author's Note: SEE FIRST CHAPTER
Recommended Reads: Harry Potter, Squatter by Enterprise1701-d, Harry Potter, Dark Legacy by The Fallen One 2012, The Son of Storms by PerseusPeverell092, Harry Potter: The Demigod Who Lived by DGJabberwocky, Damaged Raven, Apex and Dark Lord Potter by JustBored21, Harry Potter and the Potter Grimoire by IamZerokun, The Rise of the Last Potter by HPfanfictioner66, Child of the Storm, Ghosts of the Past and The Phoenix and the Serpent by Nimbus Llewelyn, A god's love by LovableOkie and Worthy of Magic by Raul Fictitious
Key Pairing: Harmony; Female-Percy/Luke;
Other Pairings: To be determined
Normal Speech
'Thoughts'
'Mental Speech'
/Parseltongue/
Review Answers:
BROMBROS: Actually, it's Grade, but thanks for giving me the aid and advice to check;
Jostanos: Revealed in this chapter;
Even as she went on to talk about France, as well as everything she'd learned over the holidays, Hermione couldn't resist blushing at the warm, affectionate way that Harry talked about her.
Though she was also surprised by the strong-willed, playful, if not oddly-flirtatious way he referred to the Twins.
This left her asking herself a question, even as the Hogwarts Express finally rolled out of King's Cross Station.
'What on earth happened to you this summer, Harry?"
Chapter 3: Demented? You Must Be!
"…and you should see the French Ministry Building; I mean, I'd heard and read the reports and tales of Newt Scamander's days, as well as the meeting with Grindelwald beneath the Lestrange Family Tombs, but…oh…Harry…it…it's amazing!"
"It sounds it," laughed Harry, idly toying with his white wand, as he had done when Hermione found herself, and him, in the compartment, while he seemed content to listen her rattle off her experiences with the French Magical People. "And, did your parents feel out of place, or are the French as welcoming to No-Majs as we are?"
"I think you've got that the wrong way around," argued Hermione, earning a shrug from Harry as she explained, "But, honestly, they were surprisingly welcoming; we even met this family who are quite high-up over there and…one of them…gods, I hope she never comes to Hogwarts, because, I swear, the Hospital Wing would have a run on boys being hurt by their girlfriends."
"So, you're saying she's a Veela, or a Half-Breed Witch?" asked Harry, earning a surprised look from Hermione, while Harry shrugged ruefully as he added, "I read about them; what was her name?"
When Hermione opened her mouth to respond, however, she was cut off when the door opened, admitting a familiar loud voice, "Oh, finally! There you are, Granger! Do you know how much you've pissed my Mum off? Also, what's with this weird compartment? It looks like the one those slimy snakes hoard when they get on the train! Who's this? Another bookworm? And…hey: what's a grownup doing on the train?"
"Well, he's certainly not driving or pushing the sweet trolley, Ronald," argued Harry, earning a flicker of a smirk from Hermione as Harry turned to Ron, who gasped in shock when he saw the eyes, the hair and even the faded scar, while Harry added, "Also, how nice of you to finally understand that even someone as powerful as me needs books as well as cleverness and sheer dumb luck! Maybe there's hope for you yet; now, if you don't mind, Hermione and I were talking about the holidays, so…"
"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron, before he moved to shove his way into the compartment.
However, as he did so, Harry put a hand up, causing Ron to slam straight into what, unless Hermione was seeing things, she found herself at least thinking about how it looked like a wall of magic, like a Shielding Charm. As she watched, Hermione also saw the shield-like wall push Ron back, forcing him to slide his way out of the compartment. Once he was out the door, Harry lifted his new wand and flicked it once, closing the door before he sighed softly, returning his wand to the table.
"Damn…" muttered Harry, running a finger along the shaft of his wand as he growled, "Barely even at Hogwarts and, already, I have to use my wand to handle a mundane affair; if this thing doesn't end up bursting into flames on me, I'll eat my Nimbus…deep-fried!"
While Harry berated himself for what he'd, apparently, had to do – even though Hermione hadn't seen him using his wand to create the shield that threw Ron out in the first place – Hermione gulped before, looking to the wand on the table, she asked, "But…but if it doesn't like mundane affairs, does…does that mean it…it's a sycamore wand?"
"Yep," said Harry, again petting his wand, as though it was a faithful friend and ally, as he explained, "My holly wand was destroyed in the incident in Little Whinging, but, thankfully, after meeting him, Remus here took me to a real expert, who forged me this wand using arts that he claims so-called experts like Ollivander bastardise. As a result, I now have this…"
Here, he held up the wand, in such a proud manner that Hermione couldn't help but think of King Arthur holding Excalibur, while Harry went on.
"Sycamore, with a core made from the feather of a thunderbird and the venom of a Basilisk crystallised in its heart; eleven-and-three-quarter inches; stubborn, but loyal to the true masters who use it for more-creative and adventurous means."
"Blimey…" gasped Hermione, watching as Harry returned the wand to the table.
As soon as he did so, however, a scowl crossed his face when the door to their compartment opened again, once again prompting the loud voice of the unwelcome moron to snarl at Harry.
"What do you think you're doing, Harry? It's bad enough you ignored my Mum's letter and my apology about the bone thing…"
"Phone, Ronald," argued Harry, looking to Ron with a hint of personal annoyance as he explained, "And, on that note, you might want to convince your Dad to retake Muggle Studies, or find a more-advanced tutor, since, obviously, he doesn't know the first thing to teach his own flesh and blood about talking in the No-Maj World."
"What's a No-Badge?"
"No-Madge!" insisted Harry, intentionally emphasising the way to pronounce the word as he explained, "Non-Magical: and, between you guys and me, it's certainly a more-common, less-offensive way of talking about them, which is probably why nearly 65% of the world prefer to use the terms, including in Australia, America, Canada and even in parts of India and Africa…huh…I wonder if that's got anything to do with the few remaining colonies of the former British Empire…"
"Given we don't use the term, I doubt it," argued Hermione, earning a nod of mutual agreement from Harry.
Ron, however, seemed to have heard enough, judging by how he rounded on Hermione next, "You! What have you been telling him all this nonsense for? Isn't it bad enough you stalked my family for the past week…"
"You invited me, Ronald, not the other way around and, unlike you, I certainly didn't invite myself," argued Hermione, earning a scoff of amusement from Harry as she added, "Besides, if anyone's a stalker around here, it's your Mother, who, once again, from what I remember Harry telling me about how you met him, shouted down King's Cross talking about our world. And you continuously insisted that I would know where he's gone, while you've also spent the whole week complaining because he's not there…amongst other complaints!"
"Like what?"
"Like you believe you're going to use Mia as practice before making her your…female dog," said Harry, earning a horrified look from Ron, while the emerald-eyed scion scoffed again as he added, "Or that your over-obsessed stalker sister believes that I'm safe to approach and make me her boyfriend, or that either one of you thinks I need your assistance to be safe from a guy whose not even after me!"
"You mean Black? Of course he is…"
"Really?" asked Harry, humming softly before he looked to Ron as he asked, "And, tell me, Weasley, since you appear to know more about the comings and goings of friends of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter than its Heir Apparent, tell me: how, exactly, does a guy that's sworn blood-binding oaths of loyalty, protection and allegiance to his charge, namely…me! How in the name of Magic does he actually manage to defy those vows and hurt, much less kill the boy whom has become his godchild?"
"What are you talking about, Harry? You…you're starting to sound like her, you know? What next? Turning into someone like her?"
"Hey: being someone with both brains and beauty? Trust me, I'm not complaining," drawled Harry, earning a blush from Hermione, who suspected that Harry was either flirting with her to piss Ronald off or, somehow, his recent changes had extended to his attitude towards her and those whom he liked as more than friends.
Either way, she liked it.
Harry, meanwhile, smiled at Ron's dumbfounded expression before he added, "Now, since you're running out of wits for this battle, here's a free word of advice, which…let's face it, is about all you can afford these days, especially after wasting money on a holiday instead of making your family situation a little better…"
"Hey! I got a new wand."
"Bully; me too," said Harry, again holding up his new sycamore wand before, to Hermione's amusement and disbelief, he added, "Hey, would you look at that, Ronald? My wand's much bigger than yours…bet it has a lot more thrusting power too, what do you think, Mia?"
"Boys!" scoffed Hermione, earning an amused, if not cheeky shrug from Harry.
"Teenage boy, Hermione…what else would we compare? Test scores? Trust me, when it's me or him, it's no contest…anyway, as I was saying, Ronald: here's a free word of advice…piss off!"
"But Ha…"
This time, Hermione didn't see Harry use his new wand to close the door, although she was surprised to hear locks forming on the door, as was then evident by how Ronald seemed intent on opening a locked door, by trying to force it open.
"Powerful Locking Charms and DNE, which is short for Do Not Enter, Enchantments; never leave home without them," chuckled Harry, looking back to Hermione as he added, "By the way, sorry about the immature boy reference there, Mia; trust me, I have absolutely zero intentions of stroking that prat's ego, or any other part of him for that matter, as I've got much more important things to focus on."
"Like what?" asked Hermione, earning a small smile from Harry as he shrugged before he looked Hermione in the eyes.
"Like asking my best friend if she'd like to be my date for our first Hogsmeade Weekend…so, what do you say, Hermione?"
Not for the first time that day was Hermione left speechless by his responses.
Fly/Snake
Unseen by Harry and Hermione, while the brunette was left imitating a startled goldfish with how she opened and closed her mouth several times, out in the corridor, Ronald fumed as he saw Harry not only openly chatting and getting close to what was his, he also noted how much better-off, as in richer, the Boy-Who-Lived looked.
Then there was his brand-new wand, his attitude and his lies about Black, not to mention his magic and the way he seemed to have gone from being Ronald's best mate to becoming a new Malfoy over one summer.
All because of Granger, he knew, and her obsession with taking Harry away from what was important – like Quidditch, spending time, and money, with Ron, getting close to Ginny and, of course, Quidditch – and turning him into a swotty little nobody like her.
Well, no matter.
Once his Mum heard about this, he could make Granger beg for his love.
Then, she could preach to the Malfoy wannabe about which one of them had the bigger wand…
Fly/Snake
"Harry?"
"I know," said Harry, looking to the door of their compartment before, to Hermione's surprise, he snapped his fingers, unlocking the door and removing whatever enchantments he'd placed on it, before he added, "That's better; the lovely trolley lady will be around soon…want anything, Mia? My treat…as thanks for saying yes to my invitation."
"No, I…I was just going…"
However, before Hermione could finish saying what she wanted to say – namely asking about Harry's apparently-stronger magical gift, as well as the other changes he'd gone through, preferably without endangering him along the way as he'd warned her – a gasp of alarm escaped her when the train suddenly shuddered, before the screeching sound of brakes filled the carriage. At the same time, the lights in their compartment flickered ominously, earning a darkened look from Harry that made Hermione shudder, especially since she also saw him subtly reach for his sycamore wand, breathing deeply, heavily and almost-enragedly as he rose from his seat.
"I prayed this was only a rumour…what is that old bastard thinking?"
"What…what do you mean?" asked Hermione, watching as Harry looked back to the still-sleeping Professor Remus Lupin whom, for a moment, Hermione thought she saw jerk his head, but it could have just been a sleepy jerk, like when you're having a dream.
Harry, meanwhile, turned back to the compartment and the corridor beyond as he explained, "Well, thanks to the escape from Azkaban Prison, performed by Sirius Black, aka my godfather, my Dad's best man and the guy who didn't betray them to Tom, no matter what the sheep bleat. But thanks to that, in his infinite wisdom, Minister Fudge has basically forced Old Man Dumbledore to place Dementors at Hogwarts!"
"Dementors?" asked Hermione, looking out of the window as it began icing over, before she gasped, "What…why would he do that? Is he…"
"Demented? He must be!" insisted Harry, holding his wand firmly in his grip as he added, "Fudge claims it's all for the safety of the Boy-Who-Lived, meaning yours truly, and to keep me safe from Sirius. However, what Captain Corrupt hasn't considered is that Dementors are like a pansexual person: they don't give a flying fuck who they go after when they're hungry enough…and, with all the good feelings, excitement and positive emotions flooding the school…well, can you say smorgasbord?"
"But…but what are they doing…is this them?"
"Hunting Black, undoubtedly thinking he'd try and sneak into Hogwarts this way," said Harry, before he scoffed as he looked back to Hermione.
When he did so, she shivered again when she saw the cold, dark tint to his eyes, as well as the ominous air that seemed to envelop him as he growled in a dark tone of voice.
"But what they don't tell you is that, for the Dementors to consider doing this, they must first be told to do it…as in commanded by the power of a rite that's only supposed to be reserved for the Azkaban Patrols and the Warden of the Island. But, long story short, it means that the only reason they're playing soul-bloodhound here on the train is because…"
"Someone told them to!" exclaimed Hermione, watching as Harry nodded before he stepped out into the carriageway, "But…but Harry…what…what are you going to do? I mean, obviously you're stronger, but…"
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
To Hermione's awe, surprise and wonder, Harry cut her off with a cry that was so powerful, it seemed to reverberate throughout the Hogwarts Express, flooding the ears of everyone onboard with the sound of his voice.
As awe-inspiring as that was to behold, however, it was nothing compared to the bone-chilling, soul-warming sight of none other than the four Hogwarts Founders' Animal Mascots – Gryffindor's Lion, Ravenclaw's Eagle, Hufflepuff's Badger and Slytherin's Serpent – erupting from the end of his wand in a mass shower of white, mystical light and energy, closely followed by what Hermione could only describe as a very beautiful, almost-corporeal-looking white stag and doe.
As she stared at the conjured mystical creatures in amazement, Hermione watched as Harry whipped his wand in a wide arc, which seemed to be the cue for the six animals to take off in different directions, the white light trailing behind them like six beautiful-looking comets streaking through the darkness of the night sky.
With the creatures taking off in six different directions, Hermione then watched as Harry walked back into the compartment before, to her surprise, three black shrouds flew past the windows, accompanied by the most bone-jarring, soul-rending screeches of what could only be described as terror echoing through the darkening skies outside.
Once the shrouds were gone, Hermione saw the white trails dissipating, before Harry sighed softly and, reaching down under the table, he retrieved a metal flask, which was engraved with the Gryffindor Crest. Uncorking the flask, he drank from it, wiping excess drool from his lips afterwards before he handed the flask to Hermione.
"Here…drink some…it's all right, it's just hot chocolate; I've recently developed a fondness for it; and, as weird as it sounds, especially talking to a dentist's child: hot chocolate…actually, any chocolate is the best thing for post-Dementor exposure, even though they never got this far."
Masking her surprise at Harry's knowledge, including a fact that she herself wasn't aware of, Hermione took the flask and drank deep from it.
When she tasted hot chocolate – a taste so rich and sweet that it actually made her think of a brew once made by her grandmother before she'd sadly passed when Hermione was younger – the young girl licked her lips and smiled softly as she handed the flask back to Harry, who seemed to either be relieved, or satisfied by something she couldn't tell.
Returning the flask to its spot under the table, Harry coughed before, rising from his seat, he told Hermione, "Now, I need you to wait here, Hermione; we might not have been near them, but there are first-and-second-years who were…and they might need some help."
"But…how will you…"
Here, Harry tapped his nose before he chuckled softly;
"Oh, don't worry about my chocolate supply, Mia; in case you forgot, even before I was forced to leave Durzkaban, I made friends with a certain someone who was very happy, if not ecstatic, to serve a better Master nowadays."
Fly/Snake
'Well done, Harry.'
As Hermione consigned herself to the request made by her friend, all the while feeling another flutter of slight embarrassment at his continued use of the nickname she was starting to like hearing, she didn't notice a single green eye opening as it looked at her before, under the cloak, a thin pair of lips turned upwards in a smile.
'You not only sent a message to the humans; you also confirmed your suspicions about your beloved friend and companion here…'
As he closed his eyes again, Remus Lupin adjusted himself, seemingly in his sleep – or so Hermione guessed – before he smiled beneath his cloak once more, wondering what may be next for his young charge, especially with what he had discovered on this day.
'Now, I wonder whether Miss Granger will be as accepting as you were of the truth…that, like you, little warrior, she happens to be…a Demigod!'
Chapter 3 and, blimey: not only has Harry grown physically and mentally, but it looks like he has gained a heaping helping of greater power too: what is this dark secret he has and could it be tied to his growth?
Also…huh?
Hang on…Hermione's a Demigod? And…and Remus seems aware of it: surely not because of his 'other side' and its hunger for those like her and Harry…right?
Keep Reading to Find Out
Next Chapter: Hogwarts beckons, but Harry's definitely not done laying into the so-called wise powers that be about what happened on the train, as Hermione and more than a few others discover when he does the very last thing any of them expect…seriously: it's a shocker!
Please Read and Review
AN: Hermione
So, admittedly, you probably saw this coming, but let me make one thing crystal clear here and now…
HERMIONE IS NOT ATHENA'S DAUGHTER!
She is a Demigod and I actually have a fun choice already made, but it's NOT that cliché choice;
AN2: Remus
Also, if you know my work and love of this crossover, you MIGHT be able to figure out Remus and what's happening;
What can I say?
When you see a good idea, you use it, even if it means doing so multiple times.
