Train Stations & Platonic Accusations
By FeesleyForDraco
[Harry Potter; Non-canon couples/AU; Rated M for Language and Explicit Adult Themes. Not canon compliant. No horcruxes/no yearly confrontations/no Voldy resurrections, etc.]
"Oh, come on! You didn't have to fight so dirty, witch."
Hermione Granger spun around to find the source of the familiar voice that had rung out clearly over the hustle and bustle of Platform 9¾ on the 1st of September. The smoke near the front of the giant gleaming-red steam engine cleared and she was faced with a sixteen year old Harry Potter. The past several summers living with Sirius Black after he was exonerated had done wonders for the Boy-Who-Lived's physique, and his self confidence. Her best friend was a full-on heartthrob, from his artfully messy black hair all the way down his quidditch-hardened body to his converse-covered feet. His deep voice was loaded with equal parts frustration and humor. But, his vibrant green eyes were an absolute inferno. His stare alone sent shivers down her limbs and blazing heat to her core. Harry spoke clearly across the 8-foot gap between them, not caring at all who might overhear. Which was fortunate since quite a few people had stopped to listen, staring openly. Hermione could easily make out the Parkinson, Malfoy and Greengrass families to their left along with Sirius and Remus Lupin over Harry's shoulder. There was also a large group of intermixed gatherers stopped along the opposite side of the tracks and at least two different heads poking out of train windows.
"How the bloody hell is it fair that you look the way you do?" Hermione let out a ringing peal of laughter at his question, gathering herself quickly when the handsome wizard raised one dark eyebrow and crossed his toned arms over his equally toned chest, his wand held casually in his right hand.
"What do you mean, Harry? What way do I look? I'm still the same Hermione I was last spring." She smirked as she inched a bit closer to him, not able to help herself. She heard Draco Malfoy snort at her declaration, apparently amused.
"I'm still the same Hermione…" The Gryffindor Seeker repeated in a mocking tone, scrunching his nose in a way that was altogether adorable to her. "Bull. Shite. Not on a bet. Try again." His tone brooked no argument and the dampness in her panties was instantaneous. She should probably read more into that reaction, but chose to just ignore the implications for the moment.
"Perhaps I got a bit of sun while I was on holiday with my parents in France." She offered innocently as explanation, twisting the fingers on one hand in her short flowing floral skirt, bringing his attention to her tanned thighs. She could practically see the puffs of air in front of his gorgeous face as his breathing became the teensiest bit labored. Hermione twisted a bit on her toes, taking a small step forward without seeming too eager.
"Mhmm, sun." He repeated. "And the hair?" Harry pointed with his wand in her direction, a little swish up and down. His eyes followed, tracing her long tresses from roots to ends with his gaze. Hermione had gone to a salon in one of the wizarding districts in Paris shortly after they arrived. The stunning aestheticians wasted no time in informing her exactly what needed to be done to tame her frizzy curls into an unruly cascade of sleek honey-toned ringlets, and exactly how much it was going to cost her. A mild growth charm brought the caramel ends to somewhere around the bottom of her ribcage. She'd honestly never felt more attractive.
"Oh, you know… I might have gotten a couple new hair products here and there. It's amazing what you can find in Paris…" She offered vaguely, twisting a strand around her finger, and grinning when he took a step towards her, his gaze narrowing some.
"You might have? I see. And, the clothes?" Harry hid nothing as he looked her over from head to toe. Hermione felt a lot like a snake in the grass as she dropped her gaze to her own clothing. Her floral skirt was paired with a lightweight loose-knit white sweater that was a bit oversized, the neck of it hanging to the side to reveal a bare shoulder. Her feet were wrapped in brown leather sandals, shimmering red polish on her small toes. She lifted her chocolate eyes to meet his, an adorable pout on her lips.
"You don't like my clothes?" She asked, looking up at him from underneath her lashes and letting her bottom lip quiver a bit. His smirk was the hottest thing she had ever seen.
"You know damn well I never said anything like that. There isn't a single wizard on this platform who would claim such a vicious lie. I'm not about to start playing your games, Hermione Jane. You have not a single excuse for your behavior. None at all." Harry reprimanded her firmly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Potter." She teased, smiling widely at her best friend of over five years. At this point there was no denying the shrinking space between them.
"You broke the status quo! We were supposed to be friends. Platonic friends. I literally told Seamus not six months ago that you were like a sister to me. You've made me a liar, witch! What do you have to say for yourself?" He argued, but his intimidation tactics were weak since he looked extremely pleased, even as he advanced on her. Hermione could actually make out their Irish yearmate across the platform, grinning and shaking his head like he wasn't at all surprised.
"Oh! Ohh! You've no room to talk. Like you aren't a walking advertisement for contraceptive potions? Have you seen you?! You're gonna be wizard-catnip for bitches this entire year and I'm going to have to deal with that mess! And let's not even mention the looks you get when you're wearing your Quidditch gear. Face it, Harry James. You are just as much to blame as I am!" Hermione was looking up at his face now, closing the gap completely and poking him in the chest with one small finger, every bit the Lioness she knew he adored. She crossed her arms over her perky chest then spun around and gave him her back in an attempt to show him her imaginary displeasure, but the smirk she couldn't contain was fooling no one. Harry wasted no time in checking out her bum before reaching up behind her neck and confidently threading his fingers through her hair at the base of her scalp, spinning her around to face him and holding her steady while tilting her head back. She voiced not a single complaint, lifting her hands to rest her palms against his firm chest over his long-sleeved tee and arching her back a bit. "Which wonderful degenerate do I have to thank for teaching you that it's acceptable to manhandle your witch like this, hmm? I assume there is at least one Marauder to blame."
"Are you saying you don't like it?"
"I'd never be foolish enough to tell such an obvious untruth." Their eyes met and time froze for the space of one, two, three breaths before Harry spoke again. "Keeping all the randy gits at Hogwarts away from you is going to be so much trouble, Granger, I can already tell. I'm going to catch utter hell all year." His other arm reached to wrap around her waist and tug her closer. She let an endearing little snort of laughter escape before she could control herself, and her wizard watched intently as the resulting flush of embarrassment spread from her cheeks down her chest and under her sweater.
"You've earned some trouble, Potter. I've been entirely too easy on you the past couple school years. Letting you get away with saying I'm a sister to you should earn you heaps of trouble alone." She teased.
"Your letters changed." He murmured, his intense stare going soft as he mentioned their summer correspondence. It had only taken two or three exchanges via owl before the tone of their written relationship had noticeably shifted from that of summer's past. "You've been… different. More."
"I got tired of waiting for you to pull your head out of your arse and realize we were never going to be just friends." She whispered back.
"That much is obvious now. At first I was worried that I was reading too much into things, mistaking familiarity for flirting." His admission was unbelievably endearing. Was there no end to her feelings for this boy?
"I was going to have to get creative if you were still acting oblivious on the train today. Good thing you came to your senses. Who knew the way to your heart was through your eyes and straight to your dick." Sass was in heavy supply. He always liked her best when she was sassing him, though, so it worked.
"Yeah well, my eyes and my dick both think you look fucking incredible. But, you know you didn't have to change anything for me, right? You've always been beautiful."
"Bold of you to assume I did anything for your benefit. But, thank you for the compliments. Don't fool yourself into thinking it will get you out of the lecture I plan to give you for waiting so very long to finally kiss me."
"Good thing bossy witches really do it for me." He flashed her a cheeky grin before swooping in for the kiss she spoke of. He hummed deep in his chest as she sighed against his mouth. He turned his head to deepen the kiss and Hermione thought maybe being in his arms like this had been worth the wait. They were interrupted by a voice they knew well.
"Oi, Potter! What gives? You're just going to swagger in on the first day of term and snatch up the hottest witch in all of Gryffindor? Rude, mate. Very rude." Draco Malfoy smirked as he poked fun at the pair.
"Sorry, Malfoy. Us lions don't have the patience to spend six months plotting just to get a snog like you snakes do. Who knows how long it would take you to get a girlfriend at that rate... took me less than 10 minutes." Harry retorted. Draco grinned good-naturedly, holding his fist up for Harry to bump as he passed by to board the train.
"Not a drop of finesse in your whole body, eh Potter," drawled the Malfoy heir, but it was all in fun. The two Quidditch captains had easily vowed to leave any and all rivalries on the pitch after Malfoy had grown out of his bully-phase in second year.
"Yes. Merlin-forbid you not be a complete and total Gryffindor about the whole thing. Charging head-first into trouble, regardless of consequences." Hermione pointed out.
"I don't see any of these so-called consequences." Harry looked around them in fake innocence.
"Oh no? You definitely haven't thought this through, then. You could have spent your entire sixth year chasing anything in a skirt, instead you've foolishly saddled yourself with a girlfriend the first day back." Now it was Hermione's turn to smirk at her boyfriend.
"Bold of you to assume I'd be interested in chasing any skirt that isn't wrapped around your cute arse." And he pinched said arse for good measure.
"You're the worst sort. I don't know why I put up with you."
"Ooh, you said I've been saddled with a girlfriend. Does that mean there is going to be a ride in my near future?" Harry waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Harry James, your mouth is absolutely filthy. How dare you say such naughty things to your witch where anyone could hear. Who raised you?" Harry thumbed over his shoulder at Sirius smirking and waving behind him. Remus, on the other hand, was looking up in the air to avoid making eye contact while he blushed furiously. "I should have known the blame would fall on your godfathers for this too. And, look how you've repaid them for their efforts. They're probably already heartbroken that you're failing to follow in their philandering footsteps, wasting all their advice on just one little witch. Some Marauder you are."
"Actually, both James and Remus here spent most of sixth and seventh years in steady relationships. And Peter was absolutely hopeless so I was the only philanderer in the group."
"Really? Moony had a girlfriend? Why have I not heard about this before?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I did. I was totally gone on a witch named Marlene McKinnon in our year. She sorted into Hufflepuff. Her parents forced her to leave the country with them when the war started getting bad. After she left I was sent on several missions for the Order, then your parents were attacked and killed, Peter was supposedly dead too, Frank and Alice were in St. Mungo's, Sirius was in Azkaban and Dumbledore wouldn't tell me where you were. Our lives had imploded and I knew I had nothing to offer a witch as smart and beautiful as Marlie. I moved into the loft above my cousin's bookshop in France and wallowed in misery with no contact from anyone in Britain for over a decade before Sirius was released and found me. I don't know what happened to Marlene. She's probably married with children and blissfully happy."
"Marlene… that name sounds familiar. Who is it that has an aunt with that name, again? Wait! Where's Lavender? Lav!" Hermione called out while looking around the platform for her dorm mate. The blonde in question stuck her head from an open window a bit down the train.
"What's up, Mi? Looks like Potter finally got his head on straight."
"Took him an age, honestly. Is Ronald in there with you?"
"Of course not, you know his family is always rushing to get here at the last possible second."
"Typical. Hey, didn't you tell me last year that you have an aunt named Marlene?"
"Yes! Aunt Marlie is the best! She told me once that she was in the same year as your parents, Harry. It seemed hard for her to talk about so she must have at least been friendly with them."
"Makes sense. What's she doing now? Married? Kids?" Harry questioned.
"No, she never married. She got her heart broken just after graduating with her NEWTS and never really got over it. It's a sad story really. She told me my grandparents gave her and my mum an ultimatum, leave the country with them or be disowned. The wizard aunt Marlie was dating said he loved her, but felt that he wasn't able to provide for her and encouraged her to go temporarily, until he could get on his feet and send for her. But he never did, eventually he stopped writing and she lost touch with him. When aunt Marlie and her parents returned to Britain, her wizard had apparently moved to France. She never heard from him again as far as I know." Hermione and Harry both turned on Remus with frowns maring their faces. The Were put his hands up in submission.
"Hey! I was in a really bad place mentally when I left for France! My friends had all died or been accused of mass murder. I was a moody teenage werewolf with no career prospects! I definitely couldn't have provided for her then. She wanted to start an unpaid apprenticeship for her Mastery. She deserved the best opportunities in life. Going with her parents was the best choice she could have made as far as her safety was concerned. If I had selfishly kept her here, she could have been killed. Eventually, over time, it seemed easier and easier to convince myself she was better off without my condition weighing her down. Wizards with Lycanthropy were certainly not considered a good catch in the marriage market then, not that it's much better now. It never had anything to do with how I felt about her."
"Wait, you're telling me that Professor Lupin broke my aunt's heart? You realize you've been photographed in The Daily Prophet for years with Sirius and Harry. Which means she definitely knows you've returned to Britain. Poor aunt Marlie! She probably thinks you never really loved her like you said since you never bothered to reach out at all. No wonder she never got married. Boys suck!" And with that, the blonde Gryffindor disappeared back into the train car and the window snapped closed with a charm.
"I fucked up." Remus huffed, looking pained.
"And apparently took all boys down with you. Good job, mate." Harry quipped.
"You sure did fuck up, Moony. I've been telling you for the past three years to look that witch up and send her an owl. Now, she's going to be getting a letter from her niece telling her that everyone on the platform got to hear the story of her heartache and you still didn't care enough to contact her." Sirius pointed a tattooed finger at his lifelong friend.
"Fuck. What should I do?" The Were looked lost.
"What do you want to do?" Sirius volleyed back.
"I want to find my witch." His voice was resolute. Sirius whooped, punching the air.
"Then let's go, mate!" Just then, the train car window opened back up just enough for Lavender to throw a balled up piece of parchment at the pair of Marauders before closing it again with only a parting 'don't blow it' for their troubles. Sirius reached down for the paper, unfolding it to reveal the floo address for a shop a few lanes down from Diagon Alley in Wizarding London.
"Pup, I gotta go. Moony needs a wingman."
"I think Moony would probably prefer you stayed here out of sheer self-preservation, Padfoot. But, don't let me slow you guys down." There were hugs all around and Sirius managed to make Harry blush deeply while whispering some no-doubt last minute pointers in his godson's ear. Hermione swore she heard the phrase 'ladies finish first' along with the incantation for what she thought might be a lubrication charm. She tried to keep from hearing anything after that.
***Do we want lemons? Let me know!***