Alright people, we're dipping into the moderate AU territory here. Just a heads up.
Anyway, I figured now is a good time to say the stories that heavily influenced my mindset and why I portray characters as I do.
A few quotes and scenes in He's Not Dead Yet by Redbayly
Alongside this, basically, all of Chapter One shows why The Weasley meeting was a setup, and why Ron is a horrible person and friend. An objective point of view, critical thinking and just plain common sense are all that's needed.
Hermione's Brilliant Idea by Ares Granger
Harry has a piece of the most EVIL magics stuck in his forehead, of course he'll have a hard time expressing emotions, especially love and affection.
The Power He Knows Not by Elsbeth Ravensblood
This fic is my main reasoning why Harry cannot be a Horcux(one does not make a Horcrux 'accidentally', there is process)
There are a few others in my mind, but not on the top of my head.
And before you guys get on my case about how 'well love potions make the child heartless or something'. I call absolute bullshit on that. Voldemort may have been conceived with a love potion, but he was a product of his environment. A cruel environment that treated him like the plague. Coupled with Dumbledore sending him back year after year, I'd understand his view point and motivation for conquering the wizarding world. Revenge. After all, they repeatedly sent him back to a living hell home.
Hell, I've heard stories of kids having a damn near perfect life but they still became monsters so this could've been Voldemort's case anyway. Some people can be born evil, but for the most part, we're products of our environments. Not to mention his mother is the product of several generations of inbreeding so that's a factor. Some of this might be wrong, but the idea stands.
Did Molly Weasley ask where Platform 9 ¾ is when she went to Hogwarts herself, Bill and Charlie graduating very recently themselves? If so, I don't own Harry Potter.
It took about 6 months, filled with long nights of paperwork, bills, teaching Hermione about magic, setting the appointment with the American healer, obtaining their visas but it was worth it. At 9:15PAM, Harry, Hermione, Narcissa, Dan and Emma were flying First Class to New York. As Harry and Hermione sat together, each one occasionally giving the other a quick peck on the cheek and being adorable, their parents sat behind them, quietly discussing something that plagued the Grangers' minds.
"So Narcissa, I can understand going to America for Harry's procedure but why must we take a plane to get there? You said it yourself, there's quicker options out there." Dan asked.
"That's where the problem is Dan: they're all magical travel, something Magical Britain attempts to keep track of. However, they are completely ignorant of non magical methods. There's this one wizard I know of, Arthur Weasley, who is the so-called expert on non magicals. The moron doesn't even know what a rubber duck is for and like most other magicals, cannot pronounce electricity correctly. In the other timeline you met him in Hermione's second year, and from what I saw he was treating you guys like intelligent animals in a manner one would talk to their dog." She ranted. As she steamed in annoyance, the intercom came to life.
"Attention passengers, we are now one hour from our destination. Any magical passengers in disguise are free to assume their true form."
Before any of our British citizens could react, various passengers scattered throughout the seats were no longer human. In the row next to Narcissa and the Grangers, a muscular man with red hair and beard shrunk down immensely, although he retained his muscles.
"A dwarf?" Narcissa thought, astonished.
The woman next to Harry and Hermione grew a few inches taller, as her curves expanded a little bit, all the while black scales grew across her skin and a crown of thorns reminiscent of the Hungarian Horntail replaced her hair. As Harry and Hermione looked at her in awe, the draconian woman gave them a soft smile and waved at them with her tail.
All across the plane, elves, dryads, lizardfolk, you name it, magical humanoids were making themselves known without a care in the world.
Turning to them, the dwarf addressed Narcissa in a distinctive Boston accent.
"Guessing by your accent you five are British Magicals? Ah I figured that anyway. To let you know, on September 11th, 2001, Magical America began a plan to reveal itself to its non magical counterpart. With one act of terrorism, we had to come clean and reveal ourselves, as the number of security camera's being installed nationwide would've exposed us in months, coupled with an increasing population making memory modification risky. We might as well come out on our own accord, and it paid off. Almost every magical being I know of has a great life in some shape or form. Hell I own and run a landscaping business, one that has paid my daughter's college tuition and then some. I got a vampire friend down in Texas, and she's working in one the best hospital's down there, identifying blood diseases with ease."
As the various magical races regaled their British company and each other tales of their lives, some of successful careers, others more simple such as marrying their childhood friend turned human lover, the hour passed quickly and they shakily touched down in New York.
Walking out of the terminal, they saw a large, well dressed black man holding a sign with their last names on it. Walking forward, waddling slightly in Narcissa and Hermione's case, the man spoke to them in a deep voice.
"Are you Ms. Black, Mr. Potter and The Grangers?"
The group nodded.
"I need you to come with me please. My superior wishes to discuss something with you."
Considering they were in a foreign country, one that was expecting them, the group followed the suited man, who led them to a black van. Once inside, they drove off.
I know, this chapter is VERY short. Sometimes I write myself into a corner of sorts and the only solution at the time is a short time skip. I'm aiming to slowly but surely change that. However, I have incorporated some world building so that's nice.
The following is one of MANY rants I've found on Reddit that I feel encapsulate my feelings on various issues regarding the series:
My main issue with Ron is his relationship with Hermione. Ron, throughout the time he's known Hermione, gaslights her, verbally and emotionally abuses her, and uses her. Hermione with her self-esteem issues, latches on to that kind of attention and dependency, and is thus emotionally, intentionally or unintentionally, manipulated into thinking she likes him. This never leads to healthy relationships later on, and often ends up with the Rons domestically abusing the Hermiones. Bickering and constantly sniping and fighting is not "aww they're like a married couple", and they do not have much in common besides Harry.
He makes her feel like she isn't attractive before Yule Ball, then when she shows up as the Belle of the Ball, he waits until her night is over and ruins it for her, that's an abusive person's classic poisoning tactic. She later makes the first move, invites him to Slughorn's party, he throws that in her face by snogging Lavender because he suddenly felt inadequate since he found out from Ginny that Hermione allegedly had made out with Viktor, and because of her assuming he used the Felix potion illegally.
Ron has jealousy and inadequacy problems, he feels like he's not good enough at anything and so others having something he covets makes him feel terrible. That applies to Harry multiple times (fame money etc) and Hermione (smart and praise from teachers).
Hermione has self-esteem issues stemming from her looks earlier on in the series and people's dislike of her for being bossy and a know-it-all. So much so that when Ron said what he did as a reaction to being shown up at magic by the demonstration of the floating spell as a kid, it broke her down because she feels that people dislike her and she's been trying to help people to make them like her but it's not working.
She also has (guessing here) a lack of close friends besides Harry, Ron, and Ginny which makes it hard for her to have someone to point out what I said to her as Harry is emotionally stunted, and Ginny is Ron's sister. Case in point, when Ron makes out with Lav, Harry fails to clearly stand with Hermione. As far as she knows, Harry is acting like this is just another of their fights, but it wasn't, it was Ron intentionally hurting her. To Hermione, her friend is communicating that this shit is okay.
All of this is just about Ron and how he is towards Hermione. Let's not forget the two times Ron abandoned the trio even when he immediately knew he was in the wrong, and his apologies when he came back were horrendous and only because both Hermione and Harry are dependent on him and desperate that they easily forgive him, and it doesn't help that Harry had repeatedly demonstrated that Ron is his closer best friend than Hermione. Abuse survivor latching onto him, no matter how bad he is.
This is not to say that I see Hermione as perfect. She has faults, she makes mistakes. She has communication problems and lacks the ability to know when she's wrong and when she should relax. That does not mean it's okay for her to be treated like that.
JKR, in a series written for children/teenagers, created an abusive relationship and said essentially "YO, this is relationship GOALS, boys who like you will treat you like shit and insult and manipulate you, you should marry them and you'll have a happily ever after with them. THIS IS REAL LOVE".