Authors Note: Well I'll be. I've gotta say I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the response the first chapter got. In less than four days 100 follows and almost 50 favorites. I'm glad you guys like the story so far and hope to continue the trend. So here's chapter two, a few days early cause I'm just so excited. This one's a bit longer and starts setting up a few tiny things.
And because I realized I forgot it last chapter, the obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it. I'm just joining the sandbox and having some fun.
I've got plans for this story and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. If you like it, please review. If you hate it, please review. I'm always open to discussion that doesn't spoil the story and constructive criticism is appreciated.
Without further ado, chapter two of Soul Scars
Soul Scars
By,
Rtnwriter
Eleven-year-old Harry Potter was not an ordinary boy. In fact, he was about as far from ordinary as it was possible to get, according to his Aunt and Uncle, who hated all things 'strange' or 'freakish' with a passion, including him. He figured they were experts on the matter. Harry, was a wizard, something he had barely learned himself just a month previously on a wind swept rock in the middle of a storm ravaged sea.
And they had known. His family had known all along that he was a Wizard and had done their absolute best to beat it out of him all his life. He shoved aside the anger at how his so called family had treated him and focused on his goal. It was the day he was supposed to leave for school and Uncle Vernon had gleefully dropped him off at Kings Cross pointing out that there was no platform 9 3/4 even though that was specifically what was written on his ticket.
So where the hell was it?
He resisted the urge to curse under his breath and rubbed at his chest, just over his heart. There it was again. A tugging sensation in his chest like something deep within him was trying to get his attention but over the years, whenever he'd felt it he'd never figured out what it meant and it always faded away after a time.
He slowed as he walked, pushing his trolley in front of him as he noticed the strange difference in the tugging sensation. Always before it'd happened randomly and it always seemed to be tugging him in one direction or another. Now he could distinctly feel it in two different directions at once. That was new.
He stopped his trolley in front of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 and looked back and forth between the two, a look of confusion etched on his face. As he considered his situation he laid his left arm on the handle of the trolley and rested his right elbow on the back of his hand before dropping his chin into his upraised right hand. Idly, he fingered the scar that rested just behind the hinge of his jaw.
It was something he'd found himself doing when he was thinking. Harry Potter knew scars. He had a lot of them. But that one, the one alongside his jaw, he had no idea where that one had come from. He'd felt a twinge of pain one morning while he was brushing his teeth and saw the wound appear in the mirror and within moments it had sealed over into a pale scar on his skin.
He gave himself a mental shake, drawing his thoughts away from the mystery scar and back to the problem at hand, attempting to look at it as logically as possible. He had a ticket in hand that said his train was leaving from platform 9 3/4 and he had forty-five minutes until the train was supposed to leave, according to his watch. He looked to his left at the sign for platform 9 then to his right at the sign for platform 10.
No 9 3/4.
So how the hell was he supposed to get on the train?
"Trying to get on the train?"
#####
The boy flinched and turned sharply at the sound of her voice behind him. He didn't seem to like people behind him. When his eyes landed on hers, though, the frightened look on his face eased out into something calmer and Hermione barely held back a gasp as the tugging sensation she'd always felt in her chest gave a heavy thud, as if her heart had suddenly beat against her rib cage. A feeling of warmth spread through her body as brilliant green eyes locked onto hers and she lost herself in them.
Neither she or the boy in front of her noticed the gentle wisps of gold and silver energy that surrounded them for the briefest of moments, but her parents, standing behind her definitely did.
Dan and Emma Granger shared a look between themselves and Emma grasped his hand tightly, fighting back a sob as they finally laid eyes on the boy they were sure their daughter had spent years wondering about and worrying for.
He was small, incredibly so for an eleven year old and rather scrawny. A tousled mop of black hair crowned his head and his eyes practically glowed behind a pair of taped together spectacles. His clothes were old and worn and obviously several sizes too large for him. Dan clenched his free hand into a fist, fighting the urge to start cursing, loudly. It wouldn't do to scare the kid.
After the silence between the children stretched into it's fifth minute he gently cleared his throat to get their attention.
Hermione blinked and a slow flush crept into her cheeks, but her reaction was nothing compared to the child in front of her. He flinched, badly, taking a half a step back and his hands came up to cover his head for a second before he forced them back down at his side.
"Whoa, son," Dan said letting go of Emma's hand and holding both hands out in front of him in a calming gesture. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
The kid shuffled his feet and seemed to shrink in on himself before he finally spoke.
"That's okay," he said in such a quiet tone that they almost missed it.
Dan eyed the trunk on his trolley and the cage with the absolutely gorgeous snowy white owl in it. "Are you heading to Hogwarts too?" he asked and the kid nodded once, slowly. Dan smiled as comfortingly as he could, hoping that he was projecting a calm enough image. "Having trouble finding the platform?"
The boy nodded again.
"Well, we can help with that. We managed to get someone to tell us where it is but we were hoping to confirm it with someone else before giving it a try." He reached forward and nudged Hermione slightly, getting her started moving forward and Dan took a look around them, hoping to spot someone else that might seem out of place.
His eyes landed on a pair standing near the barrier that separated platforms 9 and 10. The younger of the two ladies, a cute looking redhead had a trolley with a trunk on it, just like the ones her daughter and the boy had with a cage sitting on top, a tawny owl inside with its head tucked under one wing. Lot of owls, he thought. At least that's an obvious giveaway.
"Why don't we verify things with them?" he asked and the four started to walk toward the barrier. Dan noted absently that the kid kept his distance from them, walking apart and all the while keeping a wary eye on them, or him in particular.
#####
"Are you sure, Auntie?" Susan Bones asked. She tugged at the cuffs of her long sleeved blouse, making sure they reached all the way to her wrists.
"As sure as I can be," her Aunt replied. Amelia Bones was a handsome enough woman, but her constant stern expression tended to put possible suitors off, not that she minded. She was focused on her niece and her career as an Auror and had just recently risen to the post of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a position rarely held by someone as young as she, much less a woman. "You've met the vast majority of pureblood wizards your age through the balls and events we've been to over the years. Our next best bet would be to look for muggle-born, and muggle-raised students." She looked down at her niece, the last living member of her family after the death of her brother and sister-in-law, and her stern countenance broke into a gentle smile.
"I'm sorry, Susan," she said as the young witch continued to fidget with her sleeves. "I wish I could change things, somehow. We just haven't had any way to find him or get him away from whoever is doing this to him. You'll be in a position to try and help some at school. To try and support him. Whoever he is. And once we know that, I'll be able to start looking into how I can help as well."
Susan nodded, her eyes scanning the crowd. Muggles crossed to and fro through the busy station, a constant rushing press of bodies that never ceased to amaze her. There were just so many of them. So many people rushing about each to their own destinations. Each so focused on their own path that many barely stopped to look at the world around them.
"Excuse me, that's a lovely owl," a new voice said, intruding on her silent observation of the crowd.
Susan turned. Without her noticing a family had approached, two parents with a son and daughter in tow. The kids, looked to be her age though the boy stood apart from them and seemed far more shabbily dressed than the other three. Ever the empathetic person she was, she immediately felt her heart go out to the young man, feeling something was terribly amiss.
She turned her attention to the man that had spoken as her Aunt also took in the scene, her sharp eyes missing nothing. He was tall and well built, dressed casually with a blazer thrown over his t-shirt and slacks and simple black trainers on his feet.
"Oh," she said when her Aunt suddenly prodded her shoulder. "Thank you, Archimedes was a gift from my Aunt when I got my letter. She wanted to make sure I could write to her while I was at school."
The man smiled and held his hand out to her Aunt. "Dan Granger," he said, nodding as Amelia accepted his hand and introduced herself. "Pleasure to meet you. This is my wife, Emma, and our daughter, Hermione. She's a first year too, like you, I suspect?" he added the last toward Susan who nodded and held out her hand.
"My name is Susan," she said and he smiled and took her hand in his much larger one, shaking it firmly but with care that he didn't crush her hand in his.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Susan. Oh, this here is…" Dan trailed off having turned to indicate the boy standing off to the side, his green eyes darting back and forth. "Umm… I'm terribly sorry, young man," he said, suddenly feeling a bit sheepish. "We completely forgot to ask your name."
Susan blinked, realizing he probably wasn't their son, which made him only more curious to her. Who was he?
The kid cringed again, a tremor running through his tiny frame for the blink of an eye before he shoved it aside and replaced his indifferent mask, the only defense he had against those that would hurt him. He'd found that if he didn't react, his family didn't tend to bother him quite as much. He raised his head, meeting Susan's eyes for the first time and, just as Hermione had felt, there was a thud in her chest. She couldn't hold in the gasp that escaped her though, as when he'd lifted his head, the fringe of his hair parted and the scar above his right eye became visible.
"Umm… I'm Harry," he said, his voice seeming to roll over her like a wave. "Harry Potter."
Susan couldn't say later what happened over the next few minutes. The Grangers continued to talk with her Aunt for a few moments and eventually they all moved onto the platform. Harry thanked them, politely, before he turned and pushed his trolley toward the train, almost looking like he was in a rush to get away from them and a minute later the girl, Hermione, had followed her parents toward the scarlet painted Hogwarts Express.
"Susan?" her Aunt asked, finally getting her attention and she blinked, shaking herself back to reality.
"Auntie, that was him," she hissed, discretely jabbing a finger in the direction of the retreating black haired boy.
"Yes, Susan, I am well aware that was Mister Potter, and I must say I am somewhat disappointed in you that you stared at him so. He's not some exotic animal in a zoo, here for your entertainment. Did you even look for your bond mate, or were you too distracted?"
"No!" Susan said shaking her head sharply. "I mean that was him. That was him." She lifted her left arm and yanked back her sleeve, showing the ugly scar that ran up her forearm from her wrist to the crook of her elbow. Tears stung at her eyes and she threw her arms around her startled Aunts waist, burying her face in the older womans dress.
"It was him," she muttered, brokenly, her voice muffled against her Aunt. "It was him, it was him, it was him."
Amelia Bones' mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide as the implications struck home. "Merlins beard," she breathed. Her niece was bonded to Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived, based on the scars that covered Susan's body, had spent the last ten years suffering who truly knew what kind of abuse. How had no one known or put a stop to it? Where had he even been for the last decade? When news of how he had been treated got out, and it was bound to do so eventually, the Wizarding public was going to have a collective fit.
The entire situation had just become more complicated than she'd ever thought. They'd been trying to find her nieces bonded for years. More than anything, Amelia couldn't stand the thought of a child being abused the way she knew he had to be but for that child to be Harry Potter? The political fall out was impossible to predict here.
She needed more information.
A lot more.
"Susan," she said firmly, placing her hands on her nieces shoulders and pushing her back so she could look her in the eyes. "You need to get on the train, you're cutting it close as it is so just get on the train. Try to sit with him if you can but don't mention bonds or the scars. We don't know what he knows or what he's been told and you don't want to scare him, okay?" Susan nodded and swiped at her tear stained cheeks. "Just sit with him, try to be friends with him. I think more than anything else, that poor child could use a friend."
"Yes, Auntie."
"Good girl." Amelia smiled at her niece and leaned down to give her a brief hug. "And make sure you write to me, understood? I want to know everything, and I'll start looking into ways to possibly get him out of wherever he's been living. Now that I know who your bond mate is, we might be able to get something done but it's just become way more difficult. I'll have to make extremely quiet inquiries to avoid kicking off a complete media circus."
"I understand. Goodbye, Auntie. I love you."
Susan spun and pushed her trolley toward the train without even a backward glance.
#####
Ice blue eyes stared with a frightening intensity at the shabbily dressed boy, taking in every motion, every movement as if committing every aspect of his physical appearance to memory.
He pushed his trolley across the platform, expertly dodging the shifting mass of parents and students. But he wasn't just dodging. To her discerning eye she could see another broken soul, used to making sure they were noticed as little as possible. She saw how he always kept out of sight of the greatest possible number of people. If she'd had to guess, less than half the people that he passed had even known he was there as he ghosted through, doing his very best to draw as little attention to himself as he could.
"Well?"
"Well, what?" she whispered, ignoring her best friend beside her as she kept her eyes on the bedraggled figure until he climbed onto the train somewhere further down the length of the platform, and was thus lost to her sight.
"Did you see him? Is he cute?"
"Tracey," she said with a long suffering sigh. "He's been savagely beaten and tortured for the last decade, at least. How cute do you think he'll be right at the moment?"
Her friend frowned, playing with a curl of light brown hair as she twisted it around one finger and unwound it again over and over. It was a nervous tic that Tracey had always had and for some reason always drove Daphne crazy. She reached out and placed her hand on her friends, stopping her fingers nervous actions and Tracey gave her a weak grin.
"So, you didn't see him then?"
"No," Daphne disagreed and shook her head. "I saw him." She leaned back in her seat, staring out the window at the platform but Tracey could tell that her blond friend wasn't actually seeing anything in front of her by the far away look in her eyes.
"And?"
"Yes, he was unbearably cute, in a kicked puppy kind of way." Daphne refused to say anything more, focusing instead on the memory of his eyes. Even at the distance he'd been when she saw him, there had been no mistaking the brilliant green of his eyes and she was positive that it had just become her new favorite color.
#####
Where'd he go? she thought, panic starting to grip her as she made her way down the length of the train, peering into compartment after compartment as she went. Just as she was beginning to think he'd somehow vanished into thin air she spotted him. In the last compartment on the last car, he sat with his trunk in the overhead and his owls cage on the floor by his feet. He was pressed as far into the corner as he could get with his legs drawn up onto the seat and a well thumbed book open on his knees.
Hermione smiled as she pulled open the door. He's a reader, that's good, it'll give us some common ground, hopefully.
He sat up sharply when the door slid open with a loud rattle and she paused, one hand on the door and the other still gripping the handle to her trunk, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. God, how does one even look non-threatening? she wondered.
"Sorry," she whispered after a moment when he just stared at her with those entrancing green eyes. "I didn't mean to startle you."
He shrugged with one shoulder, relaxing slightly but she could still see a visible tension in his body, like a coiled spring waiting for release. He didn't say anything, though.
"Umm… do you… do you mind if I sit with you?" she ask, hesitantly. "It's just… you kind of seemed as lost as I was and… well I figured since we're both new we could be a bit lost together?" She smiled then, keeping her lips close together and after a moment she saw the first signs of life.
It started with his eyes. Such a brilliant green, but deadened somewhat, like there was no joy in them. They started to glimmer just slightly. She might have imagined it, but she swore she could see just a bit of humor in his eyes and one corner of his thin lips quirked up into the tiniest of smiles.
"I… I'd like that," he said and stood as she pulled her trunk into the compartment to help her load it into the overhead compartment. Together, they managed to wrestle the heavy trunk into place and when they sat down, Harry back in his corner and her on the bench across from him, he was still eyeing the trunk in the rack above them.
"Heavy," he muttered, turning his gaze back to her and she flushed slightly, playing with a few strands of her hair with one hand.
"Yeah, I uh… I like to read, I think I might have brought a few more books than is strictly necessary."
Without a word he held up the book he had been reading so she could see the title.
"Oh!" she said. "The Magicians Nephew! That's my favorite book in the Narnia series."
He smiled again and conversation started to flow. Haltingly at first and with Hermione carrying the lions share of it, but it was a start, she felt. She kept her hands firmly placed on her denim clad thighs or otherwise at her side since she felt as if her fingers wanted to twitch constantly.
Knowing what she knew… it was all she could do to sit and calmly talk to him instead of throwing herself into his arms and letting the tears flow. Her mother had warned her though. She couldn't just blurt out that she knew about the abuse. She couldn't confront him with the same charge ahead manner as she usually faced things. It would more than likely send him packing far away from her so she needed to approach him carefully.
"Get to be his friend first, Hermione," her mother had said. "Get to know him, let him get to know you before you try to breach those harder topics. It's going to take time and you'll need to be very patient."
She'd nodded, standing in the entryway to their home in Crawley just before they'd gotten in the car to come to the station. "I know, mum. I wish I could just make everything okay, but I understand."
She kept that conversation firmly in mind as the train whistle blew and Harry suddenly sat forward, staring out the window as the scenery outside began to slowly slide by them.
They both jumped a moment later when the compartment door slid open again and they turned to the new intruder in the doorway.
"Hi," she said, deep blue eyes flashing along with her bright smile. "Mind if I join you guys?"
#####
Harrry stared.
Hermione stared.
The girl, Susan, he remembered, started to fidget under their scrutiny.
"Umm…" she hummed, nervously. "Is that… is that not okay?"
Hermione suddenly shook herself and lept to her feet. "Oh!" she cried. "Sorry, no, that's fine with me. Harry?" she asked, turning to the boy in his corner. "Do you mind? Might be nice to meet some other people, right?"
He didn't say anything but he stood and walked toward Susan, stopping when he was a few feet away as if he was waiting for something.
They stared at each other for a minute until Harry raised one armed and gestured for her to come into the compartment. She did so, silently, and without a word spoken he took one end of her trunk and they lifted it up into the overhead before she picked up her owls cage from where she'd left it sitting in the hall and brought it in, closing the door behind her.
By the time she'd turned around he was back in his corner, pressing himself against it as if trying to keep as far away from the two girls as he could get. Part of her wanted to immediately go and sit beside him but she carefully set Archimedes cage on the bench seat across from him and sat beside Hermione instead, about a foot of space between them.
The easy conversation that had flowed between Harry and Hermione seemed to stall as no one knew quite what to say.
"You're Granger, right?' Susan asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"Yes. Hermione Granger, please, call me Hermione. Susan… Bones?"
Susan nodded and reached out to shake the other girls hand. Neither of them noticed the lesser thud in their chests at the contact and the moment was missed.
"Susan, is fine. I'm not familiar with the Granger family. Muggle-born?" she asked.
Hermione nodded, slowly. They'd seen some of the reactions they got when her parents had taken her to Diagon Alley to pick up her school things and Susan seemed nice so far. She really hoped she wasn't like those other people.
Susan noticed the reticence in Hermione's posture and hastened to reassure her. "Oh don't worry. My family isn't like those idiots that think less of muggle-born witches and wizards. I was just curious. Trying to break the ice, ya know?" She shrugged. "My family has been pureblood for generations, so I find it nice to talk to people raised in the muggle world. It's good to get other views on things, don't you think?"
At that, Hermione smiled, thinking she could really learn to like this girl. "Oh absolutely," she gushed. "It's always better to learn new things than just stick with the same old tried and true all the time, I've always felt."
Harry read his book, listening with one ear as he turned the well worn pages while the two girls chatted. He didn't really have anything to contribute to the conversation and winced slightly as he thought that his lack of experience would just be another reason that he would stand out. He'd spent so long trying to fade into the background that when Hagrid had taken him to get his school things he had been very nearly overwhelmed by the sudden attention heaped upon him by every person they came across. Absently, his right hand came up and brushed down the fringe of his hair, making sure to keep his scar covered.
He was two chapters further along in his book before the half listened to conversation suddenly changed.
"I'm sorry."
Harry didn't react at first, eyes still tracing along the pages of his book. He barely had to actually read it any more to enjoy the story, he'd read it so many times he practically had it committed to memory. When the accompanying silence stretched, though, he looked up, finding himself pinned to his seat by a pair of deep blue eyes filled with an emotion he knew all too well but he wasn't sure he'd ever seen in someone else's gaze. The only time he saw it was when he looked in the mirror.
"Umm.. I'm sorry, what?" he asked, confused by Susans intense gaze.
"I'm sorry, Mister Potter," she repeated.
He blinked and a small frown furrowed his brow. Nervously he reached up and ran a finger across the scar behind his jaw. "It's Harry. Um… that's okay?" he said, his confusion readily apparent. "I mean… I don't know why you're apologizing, y-you… haven't actually done anything to apologize for…"
His voice trailed off as she leaned forward and put one hand on his knee. He stilled completely, eyes wide in something resembling terror. Both girls hearts reached out for him and they stomped down on the initial desire to sit beside him as Susan took her hand back. She swallowed hard past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. He'd looked like a statue. The second she touched him he had become so still she hadn't even been able to tell if he was still breathing.
"You're Harry Potter," Susan said quietly, her voice thick with some emotion he couldn't quite identify. "Famous and celebrated all over the Wizarding world for defeating You-Know-Who ten years ago," He winced, but nodded. "It's always bothered me," she said, "how people celebrate you. The Boy-Who-Lived. People talk about how you defeated You-Know-Who and saved our world. But I don't think I've ever once heard someone talk…" she trailed off uncertainly for a moment before squaring her shoulders and soldiering on. "They never talk about your parents. To the rest of the world that was a day to celebrate, but for you, that's just the day your world was destroyed," she said. "So… from me, I'm sorry for your loss, late though it may be. I… I lost my parents too, when I was really little, so I kind of understand, I think."
His mouth worked up and down several times, looking completely gobsmacked, but not a word came out and after a moment his jaw snapped shut with an audible click that had Hermione wincing. Finally he simply smiled, that same tiny quirking of one corner of his mouth and nodded to her.
The smile she gave him could have been measured in megawatts and she leaned back in her seat as Hermione jumped in, asking what house they thought they might be in to help ease the tension she felt in their compartment.
After that the conversation flowed easier than ever and Harry found himself contributing to the discussion more and more. By the time the snack lady came by with her cart half way through their trip to school Harry's book was sitting on the seat beside him and the compartment was filled with gentle laughter.
Harry bought a little bit of everything, pulling several gold coins from the pocket of his too large jeans and Susan quirked an eyebrow at his back. He'd pulled out a lot of gold, and seemed not to know what it was worth as the snack lady gently explained how much his purchases would cost, and yet he wore those ratty clothes when he obviously could afford new clothes that fit him. She couldn't wrap her brain around the contradictions the boy was giving off.
When he turned, his arms laden down with packages of snacks and sweets, she quickly wiped the look from her face. She considered the coins she had in her pocket. Her Aunt had sent her with a bit of change but she wasn't sure if she wanted to spend it all on snacks on the train or wait to see if an older student could pick her up something from Honeydukes during a Hogsmead weekend later in the school year.
While she was thinking, she suddenly noticed a hand in front of her face and blinked, looking up the length of the arm attached to it to find brilliant green eyes locked on her again. She dropped her eyes again, feeling overwhelmed by the emotions rushing through her at the look in his expressive eyes, to see that he was holding out a pumpkin pasty.
"Umm… I wasn't sure if you had any change or if you might be hungry," he said, almost apologetically. "And, well, I kind of bought way too much for just me so…" he trailed off, looking uncertain and started to pull his hand back but before he could she smiled and reached out to take the pasty. Their fingers brushed together and both of them felt that thud in their chests, stronger than before, as a slow flush built in their cheeks.
"Thank you, Harry," she said. "That was very thoughtful of you."
He shifted his feet and nodded before turning to Hermione. "Would you like something?" he asked. "Seriously, there's plenty here."
"Thank you," she said. "I would like that, but what are my choices? We don't actually do a whole lot of sweets around my house. My parents are both dentists so sugar is kind of outlawed around home."
"Let's see, I've got a few more pumpkin pasties, uh… licorice wands, chocolate frogs, something called every flavor beans?" He looked up at Susan who made a face, her mouth filled with pumpkin.
She chewed quickly and swallowed before speaking. "Yeah, when they say every flavor they really do mean every flavor. Even flavors that aren't food related."
"Really?" Harry picked up the box and started reading the back. "Chocolate, popcorn, waffles, sausage, grass, dirt, black pepper, earwax, toffee… Are they serious? Dirt?"
Susan laughed at the looks on her new friends faces. Harry's was dumfounded while Hermione's was screwed up in distaste at the very idea. "Oh yeah, they're serious. My best friend, Hannah, swears she got a vomit flavored one once."
Harry and Hermione both made disgusted faces at the very idea and Susan laughed again.
"Umm… I think I'll just take a pumpkin pasty, Harry, if you don't mind," Hermione said. "I'd rather not take a chance on those things." He nodded rapidly in complete agreement and handed it over. When their fingers touched there came again the, now familiar, thud in their chests and Harry absently rubbed a hand over his heart as he thought about the strange sensation.
Susan was absorbed by her treat but Hermione noticed the furtive gesture and briefly one hand came to her own chest. Did he feel it too? She thought, but before she could think any further on the subject the door slid open again and another voice intruded on them.
"Excuse me, has anyone seen a toad?"
#####
"Keep an eye out for him, Neville."
"Yes, Gran. I promise."
"House Longbottom has a long tradition with House Potter. If you get the opportunity, try to be his friend. Harry Potter should be in your year so this would be the perfect time to try and mend some old bridges."
"Yes, Gran."
Augusta Longbottom looked down with some fondness at her grandson, Hogwarts trunk beside him and his toad, Trevor, clutched firmly in one hand.
"I'm sure you'll make me and your parents proud Neville," she said. "Now go on, and have a good year, okay?"
"I will, Gran. I'll write to you soon."
The conversation with his grandmother fresh in his mind Neville had found himself a compartment and gave it a bit of time before heading off in search of his families ally. Harry Potter hadn't been seen since the day he defeated the Dark Lord and ended the war. No one knew where he'd grown up or who he'd grown up with. Neville just hoped that he was nice and that, maybe, they could be friends.
He made his excuses to the youngest Weasley and a few other people in the compartment with him after letting Trevor get away. The toad had a tendency to escape anyway, but luckily always found his way back to Neville, so it was as good an excuse as any to make his escape, and started making his way down the train asking at every car if anyone had seen a toad.
Three cars before the end of the train a pretty blond girl offered to help look and without any good reason to turn her down he accepted her offer and the two of them continued their way through the train.
It was at the last car that he finally struck gold, so to speak. Hannah pulled open the door and poked her head in.
"Excuse me, has anyone seen a toad?"
"Hannah?"
"Susan?"
"Hey, come on in," Susan said, beaming at her friend and the slightly pudgy boy behind her. "Sorry, I didn't come find you earlier but you're here now. Who's this?"
Hannah stepped into the car and plopped herself down on the bench across from her friend. Neville noted idly that the black haired boy that had been standing in the center between the seats moved quickly over to the bench seat and shoved himself into the corner, a large pile of snacks on the seat between him and Hannah.
"This is Neville Longbottom. He appears to have misplaced his toad so when he came asking I figured I could help him look for it and you at the same time." Hannah smiled at her friend but Neville noticed that her eyes kept flicking toward the boy in the corner even if she didn't turn her head to looking his direction. Susan shook her head the tiniest amount, trying to silently let her best friend know that they would talk later.
"Hi," Neville said, somewhat nervously with a glance at the bushy haired girl and the boy occupying the compartment with them.
"Oh, I'm sorry, manners fly right out the window as soon as we get away from the grownups, eh?" Susan said. "This is Hermione Granger. Hermione that's my very best friend Hannah Abbot and this is Neville. We've met a time or two haven't we Mister Longbottom?"
"It's just Neville and… umm… yes, I think… at a ministry function last summer."
"Oh, that's right, your Grandmother is Augusta Longbottom."
He nodded and turned to look at the boy in the corner.
"Oh, Neville, Hannah, I'd like you to meet Harry Potter."
Harry sat up a bit straighter in his corner and Neville forced himself not to glance up for the scar that he'd heard so much about over the years. He simply stepped forward and held out his hand.
"Mister Potter, it's an honor to meet you, please call me Neville," he said, his tone suddenly sounding far more stiff and formal. "I'm not sure if you're aware but our families have been allies for a very long time. House Longbottom and House Potter have always stood together and, well, I'd like it if we could be friends."
Harry looked briefly at his hand as if it were a snake ready to bite him but eventually he stood and reached for Nevilles hand. They shook and Susan and Hermione smiled as Harry seemed to be have calmed from the momentary fright that had sent him back to his corner when Hannah had burst in.
"Just Harry, is fine. I'm sorry," Harry added after letting go of Nevilles hand. "House Potter?"
Neville, Susan, and Hannah all gaped at him for a moment before Susan suddenly smacked herself in the forehead and suddenly all eyes were on her.
She flushed at the attention and stammered for a moment. "Sorry, we were all surprised but I just realized. Harry, were you raised in the muggle world?"
Harry flinched, so slightly that only Susan noticed. By the time the rest had turned their attention to him he had already schooled his expression into something calm and collected.
"Uh… yeah. I grew up with my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin. My mum's sister and her family are all muggles."
"So you've never heard of the noble houses or any of that I imagine?"
Harry and Hermione both shook their heads at that.
What came next was a brief crash course in Wizarding politics that had Hermione's blood at a low simmer.
"So," she said looking to Neville, Hannah, and Susan who were all sitting on her original bench as she had moved over to sit beside Harry, keeping his pile of snacks between them. "There is a hierarchy of pure blood houses that hold seats on the Wizengemont, the Wizard parliament, or closest equivalent. The more generations back one has wizards in their family, the better. And the oldest families hold the most wealth political power? That is so unfair!"
"That's about it," Neville said with a nod. "I've been getting lessons in all this since I was little since I'm the presumptive Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom. When I'm of age I'll take over as Lord Longbottom and I can take my seat. Harry, as the last member of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter you'll be able to do the same."
Harry was frowning as he considered the entire situation. As if being the bloody Boy-Who-Lived wasn't enough, there seemed to be even more about his family that he was famous for and none of it because of anything that he had personally done.
"So… when you said that our families were Allies, you really meant…"
Neville nodded. "I meant what I said. Our families have always stood together. Wherever a Potter goes, a Longbottom stands beside him and vice versa. I'm not saying that we need to swear any formal pacts or alliances between our Houses or anything. But our families have that history going back centuries, and I'd really like it if we could be friends. It'd be nice to hold up tradition but, that aside, who can ever have enough friends, eh?" he added with a shrug and a cheerful grin.
Harry considered the nervous looking young man in front of him, his gaze as intense as it had ever been. After a few moments, he smiled again. A real, honest smile that split his lips and showed a brief glimmer of teeth. "Neville," he said. "I think I'd like that. I've never had very many friends, so yeah, it'd be nice to count you as one of them."
The compartment door slid open yet again and Harry sighed, starting to feel like he was getting dizzy with all the times the door had opened and closed since he got on the train.
Standing in the doorway was the boy he'd met in Diagon Alley when he was getting fitted for his robes. He hadn't caught his name, but he hadn't much cared for his attitude so, at the time, Harry hadn't given a damn to try to learn his name.
"Is it true?" he asked in a haughty tone of voice. Behind him stood two much larger boys, bracketing him like a set of book ends. They didn't appear to be overly intelligent and looked more like hired muscle than anything. "They're saying up and down the train that Harry Potter is in this compartment."
His eyes landed on Harry and narrowed into slits. "So it's you, is it?" he said.
It was then that they saw a different facet of Harry Potter. Up to that point he had seemed timid, shy, if quickly warming up to them. But if there was one thing Harry's life had taught him, it was that he absolutely hated bullies of any kind, and that hatred tended to make him act a bit more recklessly than he would otherwise behave.
"I'm Harry Potter," he said in the loudest tone any of them had heard him use as he rose to his feet and took a few steps toward the platinum blond. "Who's asking?" His right hand hovered near the pocket of his jeans.
The blond ponce smirked, his haughty demeanor getting even worse, if that was possible. "The names Malfoy," he said. "Draco Malfoy." He looked around the compartment at Hannah, Susan, and Neville, a sneer on his face that only got worse when his eyes landed on Hermione.
"Bones, Abott, and Longbottom," he said. "Old families, but blood traitors, all of them." Neville surged to his feet but sank back when Hannah grabbed his wrist and yanked him down as Malfoy turned his eyes onto Hermione. "And a Mudblood-"
"Shut it, Malfoy," Susan snapped. "I've heard all about your family from my Aunt. Dear old Daddy avoided prison by pretending he was under imperious during the war but everyone knows he's just a filthy murderer."
"You watch your mouth!" Malfoy snarled. "My father is a great man. The Malfoy name is honored in the highest reaches of our society and you should treat your betters with the proper respect."
"When I see someone better, I do treat them with respect," Harry hissed, vibrant green eyes boring into Malfoy's. "Usually though, those people command respect through their actions and their behavior. Not through posturing and demanding. If you have to demand respect, then you obviously aren't worthy of it."
"Why you-" Malfoys hand reached into his pocket and came up with a wand but Harry moved before anyone else could react. His left hand came up and slapped the other boys wrist, sending his wand flying from his hand before Harry reached forward and grabbed a fistful of the black robes he was wearing and yanked him closer until the two boys were practically nose to nose. His right hand snatched at his pocket and Hermione let out a short scream as he pulled his wand and pressed the tip of it against Malfoys throat.
"Don't move!" Malfoy shrieked to the muscle bound idiots behind him, his eyes wide in terror.
"Listen to me very closely you blond little piece of shite," Harry hissed. "I've never had many friends. I consider the people here my friends and I've known far too many people like you over the years to put up with any of your crap. I won't tolerate you treating my friends like that. You think you're the baddest fucker here because your daddy is some rich ponce, like you. Trust me, you're not the baddest. I've dealt with people that would chew you up and spit you out just for looking at them sideways and I'm still here. I'm still alive, despite their best efforts. Unless you want to show us what that pure blood of yours looks like I suggest you take your boyfriends and you go and stay the fuck away from me and my friends!"
By the time he'd finished his tirade he was practically screaming in the terrified boys face. With one quick shove he sent Malfoy stumbling back into his friends and held his left hand out toward Neville without even thinking. A second later he felt the smooth wood of a wand placed in his hand and with a negligent toss, threw the wand out into the hall. He reached out, grabbed the door, slammed it closed and locked it before turning around and pressing his upper back against the glass.
The compartment was completely silent.
Harry couldn't see them though as his eyes were closed. He carefully slid his wand back into his pocket and took a long, slow breath.
When he finally opened his eyes he almost cringed at the four gobsmacked expressions on the faces of Neville and the girls and grimaced.
"I… I'm sorry about that," he muttered dejectedly. "I really, really, don't like bullies. I'll understand if you want to leave."
"Leave?" Neville blurted out before a wide grin split his face. "Are you kidding me? That was bloody brilliant, mate. I've been wanting to see someone put that poncey git in his place for years. Every time I get dragged to some boring social function with my Gran he's always there, strutting around like he owns the damn place."
That made Harry feel a bit better. It wasn't like he was some angry psycho or something. His anger didn't often get the better of him like that but for some reason Malfoy had really rubbed him the wrong way. Hannah and Susan wore similar happy grins. Only Hermione looked worried, fidgeting and wringing her hands.
"Hermione?" he asked, feel a stabbing sensation in his chest at the thought that she might be afraid of him.
"Oh Harry," she breathed. "That was rather brilliant but… oh, you're going to get in so much trouble!" she said. "You know he's just going to go blabbing to a teacher. And the school year hasn't even started yet."
Without thinking he reached out and put one hand on her shoulder, not noticing how the sleeve of his shirt rode up slightly to show a thick scar starting just at his wrist that ran up and disappeared under his sleeve. Susan felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw it but didn't make a sound.
Hermione's hand came up and rested on his on her shoulder, looking up into his eyes.
"I'm sure it'll work out, one way or another. If I get in trouble, I get in trouble. I'll explain the situation. I'm sure threatening him wasn't my best move, but I couldn't let him talk to all of you like that. He's a bully. And if you don't push back at bullies they'll just assume they can get away with whatever they want and they'll just get worse and worse over time."
She nodded and gave him a weak smile and he squeezed her shoulder before he went and sat back in his corner, absently tugging at his shirt sleeve as he went.
It was an hour later after conversation had picked back up and they'd gotten back to the comfortable state they'd been in before being interrupted by Malfoy when a fifth year prefect knocked on the door to their compartment and let them know that they were almost to the station and should get into their robes.
Changing quickly they gathered their loose items, leaving pet carriers and trunks behind to be brought up to the castle for them and, as a group, the five of them stepped off the train and headed out to the carriages that would bring them to their new home for the next ten months.
