The following is a nonprofit fan-based parody all rights reserved to JK Rowling. Please support the official releases.
The drive from Surrey to London was a novel experience for Harry. Usually, any time he spent in a car was quite perilous. All it took was one wrong word to get his uncle upset then he spent the remainder of the time listening to all the threats spewed at him from the front seat. Worst of all was the fact that he was sitting next to Dudley who would spend the whole time pinching and prodding Harry so that he would cry out and get Vernon's attention. This time he was in a car filled with friends who were all jabbering away with excitement about their plans and he couldn't help but join in.
"So what have you guys seen in London before?" Nish asked,
"I went to Buckingham Palace once on a field trip in primary school." Travis said, "Never really had a reason to go back until now though."
"I have been to London a couple of times," Liam provided, "I saw some of the famous sites like the palace and big ben, and I even got to see the London Library." He said the last one with excitement that prompted an eye roll from Nish
"Of course you would be excited about that." Nish said exasperatedly before turning to Harry, "And you Harry?"
"The last time I went was right before first-year. My cousin wanted to visit the zoo and my aunt and uncle couldn't find a sitter so they ended up taking me with them. The whole thing got cut short when my uncle wouldn't stop banging on the glass in the reptile building and we were asked to leave by an attendant." Harry said, prompting his friends to chuckle as they pictured the fat man they had just seen making a fool of himself.
"Well, we have a week," Nish said, "So I am thinking we can go to the pool, visit an arcade, maybe see a movie."
"And who will be paying for all of that?" Nish's father interrupted from the driver seat, making Nish freeze.
"Well," Nish said hesitantly, "I suppose I assumed that…" he trailed off for a moment.
The moment then morphed into an awkward silence until finally, Liam spoke nervously.
"Um, I brought some money with me. It isn't a lot but I should be able to cover myself."
Suddenly Aarush chuckled lightheartedly,
"I'm sorry boys, I couldn't resist. As soon as Nish told us about your plans we started saving up so you four could enjoy yourselves. I just ask that you help us with some chores around the restaurant so that we can spare Nish." The man spoke in a friendly tone dispelling the awkward air that had developed.
"Dad, you can be such a jerk sometimes," Nish said, embarrassed by his father's behaviour.
This of course just made the man laugh heartily, which in turn got Harry, Travis and Liam chuckling as well. Eventually, after a little over an hour on the road, the car pulled into a small parking lot behind a building in the city and the boys all climbed out, Travis volunteering to help Harry carry his things. Harry thanked the other boy then looked at their destination. It was a two-story brick building situated on the corner of an intersection. The front had a large window with the words Tandoori Kitchen printed on it red around a graphic of a steaming bowl of curry. The back was bare with a few windows on the top floor and a door. When they entered the back door it led into a landing with a staircase up to the second floor and another door opposite that, if the smells and sounds were anything to go by, opened into a kitchen. Nish was the first inside and he immediately went upstairs calling as he went,
"Mom, we're home."
Harry was more hesitant at entering someone else's home. He had never been to a friend's house before so he wasn't familiar with the proper protocol. Aarush's voice coming from behind broke him out of his unease.
"Please go inside Harry. While you are here this is your home too."
The man's welcoming tone helped to ease Harry's mind and he made his way up following behind his friends. When he made it to the top of the stairs he saw Nish, Travis, and Liam being greeted by a middle-aged Indian woman wearing a sari, she was thin without being bony like his Aunt Petunia and had a mature elegance to her features. Her black hair was in a simple braid at the back of her head and she gave off a welcoming aura. When Harry reached the top of the stairs her eyes met him and a warm smile overcame her face and she spoke with a melodious alto voice that had a hint of an accent.
"Ah, this must be Harry. I hope that the boys didn't have to kidnap you like they were whispering about at breakfast."
Nish's eyes widened in surprise and Travis and Liam suddenly found the floor very interesting. Harry chuckled at their reactions, but felt his nervousness resurface as he spoke.
"No ma'am, your husband made a very good impression on my uncle so he let me go without any issues."
The comment made the woman smile, "That sounds like Aarush, he has always had a way with people."
Suddenly footsteps were heard on the stairs behind Harry followed by the voice of Nish's father.
"I heard my name and I have appeared," the man said as he reached the top of the stairs. Then, leaning against the bannister he said to his wife, "Sorry to interrupt Viti, but we have a very big lunch rush coming in so could you and Nish help Milana with waiting tables."
"But dad," Nish complained, "my friends just got here."
"I know, and I am sorry. You will be free from helping in the restaurant during the day all week. I just need you today." Aarush responded calmly yet firmly.
"Fine," Nish said, turning to his friends, "You guys can stay up here or…"
"Nonsense," Nish's mother, Viti, said, "have them come down and we will get them some lunch. I bet they are hungry."
"Yes, ma'am," Travis said enthusiastically, making the woman chuckle.
After quickly placing Harry's bag in Nish's room, they all made their way down to the restaurant below. As they passed through the kitchen, Harry's nose was assaulted by the delicious scents of curry simmering in pots and fresh naan baking in an oven, then they were quickly ushered into a medium-sized dining area. Harry, Travis, and Liam were seated in a corner booth near the service window and they watched curiously as the restaurant workers operated. They had seen two men in white coats and aprons working in the kitchen and Harry guessed that Aarush was also back there helping out. In the front of the building, going between tables, was a young Indian woman probably two or three years older than Harry and his friends wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a short apron. She carried a pad and pencil and was taking orders from the patrons. Harry assumed that this was the sister that Nish had mentioned when talking about his family, and judging from the conversation that had taken place just before they moved down here her name was Milana. A moment later Nish and Viti walked in each wearing a similar Apron and carrying a pad and pencil. In no time at all the dining area was packed with customers. Most of them appeared to be ordering food to go because their food was delivered to them in paper bags that they took and left with right away. A few customers, however, chose to dine in and they were served plain white bowls of steaming curry. At one point during the lunch rush, Viti took the time to drop by the booth Harry and his friends were occupying.
"Thanks for waiting," she said kindly, "Do you have anything, in particular, you would like?"
The menu for the restaurant was posted on the wall for all the patrons to see so Harry and his friends had been able to read through it while they sat. Harry didn't have an answer ready though because he had never tried curry before. Travis and Liam quickly made their choices but seeing Harry's hesitance Viti asked a few probing questions to help him along.
"How are you with spicy food?" Viti asked.
"I don't know I haven't really tried any," Harry said honestly.
The Dursley's mostly had British foodstuffs in their home so the spiciest thing he ever ate there were eggs with extra pepper. At Stonewall as well, most of the food was hearty stews, shepherd's pie, or the occasional meatloaf, which, while tasty, never had very strong spices.
"In that case, why don't I bring you a nice mild chicken curry, it is a great introduction for someone unfamiliar with Indian food and maybe, if you are a little daring, you can try one of the more exciting dishes later in the week."
"Thank you," Harry said sincerely.
After a few minutes, the three boys were served their steaming bowls of colourful curry, Harry's was a bright yellow, Liams was more orange, while Travis' was a deep red. Each bowl was also served with a side of rice and they were given a plate of piping hot naan bread to split. As Harry took his first bite he was shocked by the exotic flavour of the dish and he had to stop himself from eating it too quickly because it was still hot. It might have been because this was his first time trying it, but he could honestly say that it was the best curry that he had ever eaten.
As the three boys ate, they began to swap stories about how their summer breaks had been spent thus far. Liam was an only child with a single mother, so he said that most of his summer was spent at home reading while his mother was at work. He teased the other two boys with some knowledge about what plans he had for their next campaign when school started again but didn't give them any other hint than that he had become very interested in books by Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker. Travis in turn talked about how he spent his summer with his brother working on an old motorbike and trying to get it to run. Travis's brother was 5 years older than him and he planned to join the police academy the following year so they were using this opportunity to spend some time together before his brother got too busy. Harry then described his time at Stonewall during the summer. He mentioned the exercise he regularly did and added that Mr Atkins was very surprised about his rapid progress. He also told them about some of the other boys that were there for academic help starting to play football regularly in the evenings and how he had joined in. Other than that, however, most of his time was spent with Huan or reading in the library.
"There is one thing though," Harry said as he finished describing his time at the school, "I have decided that after graduating I want to enlist in the Air Force."
"What made you decide that?" Travis asked as he took another bite of naan.
"I don't know," Harry said, "I just think the idea of learning to fly sounds amazing."
"Of course," Liam said in agreement, "claiming the sky has always been one of man's greatest dreams."
"Whatever," Travis said, rolling his eyes at Liam's comment, "If that is what you want to do then good on you Harry."
Eventually, the busy atmosphere of the restaurant died down and Nish came to join them at their table, snatching the last bit of naan that hadn't been eaten yet as he sat.
"Phew," Nish said tiredly, "glad that's over. So what did I miss."
"Nothing much," Liam said, "We were just talking about what we did over the summer so far, basically the same stuff we talked about on the ride to pick up Harry."
"Cool," Nish said, "So what do you guys want to do today."
"Hey," a voice cut into the boy's conversation, making them all look up and see the young Indian woman who had been waiting tables with Nish and his mother approach, "don't forget Nish, you have clean up duty tonight after we close."
Now that Harry got a closer look at her it was easy to see the resemblance between her and her mother, removing all doubt that this was indeed Nish's sister.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember Milana," Nish said in a placating manner.
"Don't try to talk your way out of it either," Milana responded with a warning tone. "You may have friends visiting but it doesn't remove your responsibilities."
"We won't let him," Harry added, making her look at him. "Responsibility is important, we will make sure that he does it and even help out as repayment for your family welcoming us."
The young woman smiled slightly at Harry's declaration. "Well, it is good to see that my brother found a friend with a good head on his shoulders." She said back.
"Y-yeah," Travis suddenly interjected, "we all have good heads, we will make sure that Nish is on his best behaviour."
Harry looked to Travis curiously and saw that the other boy's eyes were glued to the older girl's face, a smitten expression on his face.
'Thanks," Milana said, slightly taken aback by the sudden intrusion, then moved off to continue serving the few remaining customers.
"Dude," Travis said, turning to Nish, "you never said your sister was so hot. We never got the chance to meet her last night because we arrived so late."
"First off, eww," Nish said in response, "I would never describe any of my family as hot and I ask that you back up. She is way out of your league."
"Nope," Travis said back, "It is decided, she and I are destined to be together. Say hello to your future brother-in-law Nish."
In answer, Nish pelted Travis in the forehead with the rest of the naan he had been eating. The four boys then made their way back upstairs and decided to get their sleeping situation figured out in Nish's room. There were still three beds from when Nish had to share the room with his brothers. There was a set of bunk beds that Nish and Harry decided to share. The third was given to Liam with Travis being banished to the pad on the floor for his inappropriate thoughts about Nish's sister. Once that had been figured out the remainder of the afternoon was spent with the group playing cards and chatting amiably until 8:00 when the restaurant started closing down. The door wouldn't be locked for a few more hours but they could begin cleaning now so that they didn't have to work so late. As they worked and laughed, Harry couldn't help but smile as his mind went back to that first day they had all met after he had come to Liam's defence, when they were all assigned detention for being late to class, and a smile crept its way onto his face
Hermione's cheeks were starting to sting from how widely she was smiling as she waited in her living room. Today was the day that she would get to meet up with her friends. They planned to spend two days at each of their homes starting with hers because Padma and Nevile were interested in spending some time in muggle London. They would then spend two days at Neville's home, then the final two days at Padma's. On the final day together they planned to do their shopping for the coming third year of Hogwarts.
Hermione's parents were almost as excited as she was. For all of the time that she had been in school, from primary school until now, Hermione had always struggled to make and keep friends. This was the first time that she would ever have friends over to their home for a visit and they had each heard so much about Padma and Neville that they could hardly wait to meet them in person. Even though they were excited, however, there was still a small amount of confusion regarding the specifics of the visit.
"So how are they getting here again? Shouldn't we be waiting by the door?" Hermione's father remarked.
"No Dad," Hermione said, slightly exasperated as she had explained this twice already. "Neville's grandmother was able to put in a request that our fireplace be attached to what is called the floo network. Think of it as similar to the wizard version of the underground, but instead of a train they magically allow you to travel from one fireplace to another."
"Ok," He responded slowly, "but why a fireplace, why not a closet or say... the back door."
"Well," Hermione said, her tone shifting to a more academic one that she usually used when discussing complex topics, "that is actually very interesting, you see the ritual of floo travel uses the natural occurring magical energy found in flames to establish the connection. Fire has long been known to hold powerful symbolic and magical significance so…"
"Thank you, Hermione," Mrs Granger suddenly interjected, "but, as interesting as that is, I am afraid that most of it will probably go over our heads."
Hermione flushed slightly at realizing she had been lecturing her parents about magic. It was always somewhat frustrating that she never had anyone at home to engage in such conversations with. It was one of the reasons she was so excited to see Padma and Neville again. Suddenly the attention of the Granger family was grabbed by a whooshing sound from their fireplace and they turned to see the empty space filled with bright green flames. They stared transfixed for a moment but were broken out of their amazement when a blond-haired youth stepped out of the dazzling fire, brushing soot from his shoulders. Neville was dressed in plain brown trousers and a blue button-up shirt. Hermione's smile came back and she walked up to her friend excitedly.
"Neville, I am so glad you made it ok."
As she got close she was slightly surprised to find that he had apparently grown in the few months that they had been separated as he was now at eye-level with her. He smiled as well at seeing her and responded.
"Hermione thank you so much for having me."
His greeting pulled Hermione back to the present and she quickly grabbed the boy's arm to pull him to her parents for introductions.
"Mom, Dad, I would like you to meet Neville. He was my first friend at school."
Hermione's mother smiled brightly at the boy, "Neville, a pleasure to meet you, my name is Jean."
They shook hands and then Neville turned to Hermione's father. The man inspected Neville for a moment before extending his hand in greeting.
"Daniel Granger," he said, "Now excuse me for fulfilling my fatherly duties, but you and Hermione are just friends, correct?"
Neville and Hermione's faces immediately bloomed with embarrassment.
"Dad!" Hermione said in shock.
Neville was silent before stammering out a response, "M-mr G-g-granger, as f-flattered as I w-would be, I d-d-do not have that k-kind of relationship with your d-daughter."
Daniel was stern for a moment more before his face morphed into a smile as he spoke again, "Good answer young man. I am grateful that Hermione was able to find a good friend such as yourself."
When he finished speaking Jean Granger gave him a swat on the arm. "Dan, that was a rather rude way to greet a guest in our home."
"What?" He replied, "It was a legitimate question, I mean the boy is going to be staying the night for Pete's sake."
Any further banter was silenced as a second whoosh filled the room, and Padma walked through the new green flames, peering around the house curiously. She was dressed in a skirt and blouse with a small bag slung across her chest.
"Padma, it's so good to see you again," Hermione said, running up to her other friend.
"Hi Hermione, thank you for having me in your home," Padma responded politely.
After a second round of introductions, the three friends were let loose to get situated and plan their time in muggle London.
"So what do you guys want to see while you are here?" Hermione asked. She was curious as to what would interest her pureblood friends about the muggle side of the world and how familiar they already were with it.
"Well honestly, I don't know anything about muggle London," Padma admitted. "While in England, my family stays mostly in the wizarding side of things, it is only in India that we spend any real time at muggle markets. I would love to get to see some museums and some of the more famous sights I have heard about."
"I have spent a little more time around the muggle side of things so I honestly would just like to walk about and see what there is to see, but I would be fine with anything," Neville admitted.
"Ok," Hermione said after thinking for a bit, "how about today we go visit a shopping centre I know of nearby, then tomorrow we can start early and head into central London for the big stuff like Big Ben and the Museums."
The two friends agreed, with the plan and prepared to go.
"Oh, I am sorry, it slipped my mind when you arrived, but where are your things?" Hermione asked as they were about to leave.
Both of her friends pulled shrunken trunks from their pocket and bag respectively.
"It has a shrinking and featherlight enchantment pre-installed that I can control with a keyword and a tap so that I don't set off the tracing charm put on underage wizard wands," Neville explained. Padma confirmed that hers was similarly capable. So leaving their things in the room, the trio of friends went back downstairs and told the adults of their plans and after a few minutes of clarifying everything they were set loose with a few bills for pocket money to explore the town.
"Come on," Hermione said, "we can catch a bus to Kentish Town. It is nearby and has a wonderful shopping centre for us to walk around in."
"All right lads," Nish said as he led the four friends down the street, "today you will be experiencing all the wonders that good old Kentish Town has to offer."
"Really?" Harry asked sceptically.
"Of course," Nish reassured, then he dropped his false bravado and spoke more normally, "ok no, but we will definitely have some fun and our first order of business involves you, Harry."
Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise as his three friends all focused on him.
"What did I do?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Well for starters," Travis began, "we wanted to wish you a happy birthday." As he said that Nish and Liam joined in as well. He also received a few pats on the back from each of them as they continued walking.
"We know it isn't actually your birthday," Liam explained, "but we figured that it is better late than never so we will be spending today celebrating it. The Heroes of Stonewall will never leave a member uncelebrated."
Harry was stunned slightly at the new experience. While with the Dursleys, Harry's birthday was never celebrated or even acknowledged. July 31st was just another day for him to do his chores and stay out of everyone's way. By the time he had started attending Stonewall his birthday never even entered into his thoughts. It wasn't until their second year together as friends that any of the other boys even brought up the issue, and he had explained his history with birthdays.
"Now," Nish said, grabbing everyone's attention once more, "to begin we will be getting you a present, and we figured that it is about time that you stopped bumming dice off of us whenever we play, so we have brought you here."
Nish presented the building they were in front of with a flourish and Harry looked up to see a sign that read, "Rivendell Comics and Games." What really caught Harry's attention however was the banner under the sign that said, "Come try the hottest new game Magic: The Gathering!"
"What is this?" Harry asked confusedly.
"This," Nish said as he put an arm around Harry's shoulders, "is a shop owned by someone even nerdier than Liam, if you can believe it." The other boy punched Nish's arm playfully at the jape and explained himself.
"Nish told us about this place when we were talking in the car yesterday about what we could get you for a present. He bought his own dice here last summer."
"Ok?" Harry said, "But what's with the banner, is it a magic shop."
"We have no idea," Travis said, "Let's go check it out."
Placing his hands on Harry's back, Travis pushed Harry forward into the store. Once inside Harry looked around to see the inside was papered with posters of movies and fantasy scenes. In one corner there was a cardboard cutout of someone in futuristic, green-painted armour with a t-shaped black visor. The roof was also covered with large graphics of different superheroes. Harry was unfamiliar with most of them, only able to vaguely identify some of the most popular like Superman and Batman. Looking to his friends to gauge their reactions Harry was unsurprised to see Liam looking around with sparkling eyes like a kid in a candy store. Nish and Travis on the other hand had much more muted excitement. Each of them looking around and occasionally locking onto something they must have been familiar with. Suddenly the boys heard a voice call out to them.
"Welcome to Rivendell Comics and Games, how can I help you," It said amiably.
Harry looked at who had addressed them and saw that a man was standing behind the front counter looking at them with a smile on his face. He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties and was slightly overweight with a scraggly beard. He was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt for what appeared to be a band of some sort.
"Yeah," Travis said in response, "we are tired of our friend here always needing to use our dice when we play D&D so we are going to get him a pair of his own."
"Great," the man said, "if you are looking for dice they are in our game section in the back. Up in the front here is where we keep the comics. Feel free to check them out for something that might interest you."
"Thanks," Travis responded, then once more began pushing Harry toward the back.
The movement broke Liam from his trance and as the group of friends moved through the store he started speaking excitedly.
"This place is amazing, I am so jealous that you live so close to it Nish."
"You don't have anything like this?" Nish asked back, "I figured that you did because you already had all the stuff for our games."
"No," Liam said, "the closest thing in my town is a book shop that carries some fantasy stuff. The shop owner had some catalogues so I was able to send away for the books and dice that I have."
"I had to do the same thing," Travis said as they walked.
"Well I guess there are some advantages to living in the big city then," Nish said.
Soon they arrived in the gaming section and found sets of dice hanging on the wall. The prices ranged from about five pounds up to twenty, and thinking about his friends spending so much on him made Harry start to feel uncomfortable. Seeming to sense his discomfort Nish clapped a hand on his shoulder and said.
"Pick whichever ones you want Harry, we are all chipping in for this so don't worry."
Harry almost couldn't hold in his joy at having such great friends. Turning to the wall he scanned through the available dice sets until he spotted one that he liked. They were grey with some speckles of brown and black. As he grabbed them Liam looked at them curiously, surprised that Harry hadn't picked one of the more eye-catching sets.
"Why those ones Harry?" He asked.
"They remind me of Stonewall. That was the place where I met all of you so I am hoping they can bring me the same luck the school has," Harry replied honestly and gave all of his friends a grateful smile. The three of them all returned it with smiles of their own.
"Well since those are one of the cheaper sets let's also get you this to carry them in," Nish said as he reached below the dice on the wall to where a pile of black drawstring bags were placed for carrying dice in. They were made of faux leather material with a cord as the string. Travis and Liam agreed and the group made their way back toward the counter to make their purchase. When the transaction was finalized Liam couldn't help but ask about the banner outside the store.
"So what is Magic: The Gathering?" he asked.
"I am so glad you asked." the store clerk said as his face lit up with excitement.
Reaching below the counter, he pulled out a small box and opened it to reveal a deck of cards with a brown background and the word "Magic" emblazoned across it. Spreading the cards out so that the boys could see they were amazed at the intricate artwork that each card showed.
"Magic is a brand new card game that was just released," the clerk explained. "Earlier this summer wizards of the coast revealed it at Gen Con in the states. I got to try it out and I had so much fun that I bought a few cases of starter decks." The store clerk explained the rules and demonstrated some of the features of the cards. The game seemed interesting to Harry and he would be willing to give it a shot. Before he could say anything though Travis spoke out.
"I don't get it. Isn't magic about casting spells, you know hocus pocus, abracadabra and all that. Why are there so many creature cards?"
"No, that isn't magic," Liam said in response. "That may be the system that characters in stories use to channel magic but if you look at the stories authors like Tolkien tell, magic is an ever-present aspect of the worlds that they create. All the creatures, people, and places in those stories are magic even the most humble of them. That is why magic is so great, you don't have to be a wizard to benefit from it, just living in a world where magic exists makes your life magical."
"Wow," a female voice suddenly said, "I have never read anything written by Tolkien. What an interesting philosophy. Could you tell me the name of his treatise?"
The four friends and the shop owner turned around startled. They had been so absorbed in the game and Liam's explanation that they hadn't noticed the door opening and three new people entering the shop. The new arrivals were two girls and a boy who all looked about the same age as Harry and his friends.
Hermione fought the impulse to cover her face in shame, both at Padma's question and at the fact that she was in this sort of store. She and her friends had been walking about the shopping district of Kentish Town and enjoying the sites. Her favourite thing about the day so far had been Padma and Neville's reaction to everything around them. Padma and she had engaged in a very spirited discussion about how uniform the buildings were. In most magical communities the buildings were much more organic and nonsensical in form and function. Padma had been amazed that merely with the use of maths and science muggles had been able to accomplish many feats that were once the sole result of magic.
Suddenly, her friends caught notice of a banner outside this shop proclaiming something to do with Magic. Hermione had been ready to just move on figuring that it was probably just some kind of illusion kit that was sold to children. But Neville and Padma had gotten excited about the prospect of seeing the muggle view of magic.
"I am going to be taking muggle studies next year Hermione," Padma had explained, "I would love to see how they portray us to get a contrast for how the muggle world is portrayed in wizard academia."
The argument had swayed Hermione to at least step into the shop and, as soon as she did, she felt embarrassed by what she saw. Hermione may love to read but she found fiction in all its forms pointless, particularly modern forms of fiction like comics. At least classical fiction had some substance, but she could not think of a single redeeming aspect of superhero stories. They were all childish and she was ashamed that people her age and older actually liked them. Regardless Padma was now apparently thinking that Tolkien was a scholar of magic, and while some would say that he was, Hermione felt she needed to step in to avoid a misunderstanding. Sidling up behind Padma, Hermione spoke quietly,
"Tolkien is an author of fiction he writes made up stories about magical worlds," Hermione explained.
Instead of calming Padma down, as Hermione had hoped, her comment made the other girl only get more animated about the issue.
"That sounds so interesting, I wonder if he got anything right," Padma whispered back before speaking more loudly to the boy who had been speaking at the counter. "Could you tell me more about the magic in the story you were talking about?"
Hermione sighed exasperatedly and turned to Neville only to find that he had wandered off into the store and was looking into the racks of comic books on display.
"I am guessing you were dragged in here against your will." A boy said to her, getting Hermoine's attention.
Turning, Hermione took stock of who had addressed her. It was a boy the same age as her, who stood slightly taller than she did. He had glasses that were in a rather poor condition, and his clothing, though clean, looked ill-fitting and worn. However, even though his outward appearance left much to be desired, he had an air of calm control that made him seem mature. He was thin but looked healthy with medium length, messy black hair that covered his forehead, and his eyes were a bright mesmerizing green colour, they honestly reminded Hermione of the magical green flames that her friends had come out of just this morning.
"Yes," Hermione answered hesitantly.
The youth smiled slightly and continued, "I am the same, my friends dragged me in here to get me a present."
"Are you not a fan of fiction?" Hermione asked suddenly confused at why his friends would force him in here if he didn't like it.
"I wouldn't say that," the boy said, "I am nowhere near as big of a fan as my friend Liam over there," he pointed to the boy by the desk who was nervously talking to Padma, "but he introduced me to some stories that I found interesting. He explained to me once that fantasy is good for helping us face the big problems in real life because it personifies those problems into creatures like dragons and evil wizards and shows that, if we have a strong enough character, we can overcome them."
Hermione's head cocked at that explanation. It was an interesting way to view fiction that she had never thought of before. She wasn't sure if she bought it, but it was a much better explanation for why you should like fiction than "it's fun."
"I am Harry by the way," the boy finally introduced himself.
"Hermione," Hermione responded.
"Pleasure to meet you," Harry offered.
"Hey Harry," one of the other boys at the counter suddenly said. There were two more that Hermione could see, one was a boy with brown hair who was taller and stockier than any of his friends and the other was about Harry's height but of Indian descent, like Padma. He was the one who spoke. "The clerk is offering to let us try the game out at some tables in the back. As the birthday boy, you can decide if we do or not."
Harry seemed to think about it for a bit then said, "Sure,"
In the next few minutes, Hermione found herself dragged along as well. Padma had wanted to give it a try, so Hermione and Neville followed along and now the newly formed group of seven was seated in pairs to play, except for Hermione. she had chosen to sit out, not feeling a desire to take part in the game. She did however have a deck of her own to look through. The rules of the game appeared complex so she took the time to read the included instruction sheet and perused the impressive art printed on the cards.
Harry looked over the cards at his disposal trying to calculate his best move. His current opponent was the boy named Neville who had come in with Hermione and Padma. After a few rotations between playing partners, Harry had been introduced to each of the three friends. Hermione had even joined in on the games after a while. He peeked over to the bushy-haired girl and saw her carefully reading the cards in her hand as she thought about her own next move. He was glad that he had spoken to her. She had obviously been uncomfortable, so he had tried to help her acclimate to the unfamiliar space by copying Mr Thomas' calm demeanour. It had been difficult but he had been able to ignore his usual nervousness at speaking with new people to help her out. Now she seemed to be getting along well with him and his friends just like her two companions.
Padma was a very outgoing and curious person, so she had been spending much of her time asking questions about the most random of things. It started with her interviewing Liam all about the fantasy genre. When she had faced off against Travis, however, he had mentioned that he was learning about mechanics by helping his brother fix a motorbike and she was now interrogating him all about how internal combustion engines worked. Travis did his best, but he wasn't able to answer all of her technical questions.
The final member of the trio, Neville, was a quiet boy. He reminded Harry somewhat of Liam when they had first met with his soft-spoken mannerisms. Harry did his best to engage him in conversation and they had surprisingly found common ground on the topic of gardening, something Harry was familiar with from his time doing chores for the Dursleys. Though while he had a passing knowledge of the topic, Neville was obviously very invested in horticulture if the amount of information he had about it was anything to go on. Harry quickly realized why he had chosen to play with a green-coloured deck. And unfortunately, his cards were a good counter to Harry's red deck. While Harry had a couple of strong monsters out on the field, Neville had a large number of weaker creatures that he could use to prevent himself from being damaged and thanks to the regeneration ability they kept getting put back on the field. Luckily for Harry, he had just drawn a card that would change the game for him.
"I spend a mana to play chaoslace, and I turn one of your lands red," Harry said, revealing the card.
With that done, Harry's creatures that had mountainwalk were now unblockable. The game went on a few more rounds, but in the end, Harry was just able to eke out a win thanks to that lucky draw. When that round of games ended the seven teens noticed the time and decided to part ways.
"Well, Harry," Neville said as the kids were packing the decks back into the boxes they had been stored in. "it was a pleasure meeting you and your friends, I wish you a happy birthday."
Harry blushed in embarrassment. Hermione, Neville and Padma had heard what Nish said at the front counter and they had assumed Harry's birthday was today. He didn't see a point in correcting them, it wasn't a lie because he and his friends were celebrating his birthday today even if the actual date had been a few weeks past.
"Thank you, Neville, I hope you and your friends enjoy the rest of your day as well."
With that, friendly farewells were shared all around and the two groups left the store. Harry was happy to have met the trio of friends. It was nice to know that there were pleasant people outside of Stonewall High School.
"What a pleasant group," Hermione said as she and her two friends left the store.
"Yes, I found them fascinating," Padma said as she placed two new decks of cards in her purse. She had brought along some muggle money just in case she wanted to make some purchases and she found the card game to be so novel that she had bought two decks so that she could show her family.
"Did either of you think that Harry seemed familiar?" Neville asked absentmindedly, surprising his friends.
"No," Hermione answered, "did you?"
"I don't know," Neville said, "there was just something about him that reminded me of something that I can't put my finger on."
"Who knows," Padma said in a mysterious voice, "maybe that was the long lost Harry Potter, living an unassuming life amongst the muggles."
The comment made the trio of friends chuckle as they walked down the street before they changed the topic to what they wanted to do for lunch.
After leaving the game shop Harry and his friends made their way to the local arcade where Nish used a portion of the money that his parents had saved up for the group to buy them all tokens for the games. They played for several hours, then as the light of the day started to fade they began the trek back to Nish's home.
"Guys," Harry said as they walked, "Thank you so much for today. I have always wondered what it would feel like for someone to celebrate the fact that I was born. You have finally given me that." Harry's friends were quiet for a moment after his earnest words, then each of them spoke sincerely.
"Harry, on that first day at school I was really nervous about what kind of people I would meet. You showed me that I could meet good people anywhere, I am so grateful that you became my friend." Nish said first.
"Yeah, you stood up for me when no one else in the cafeteria did," Liam added. "You proved from the first day that we met that I could count on you, and that means so much to me."
There was a moment of silence before, finally, Travis spoke, "Harry, before I met all of you, I am not proud to say it, but in a lot of ways I was as bad as Wiggins. That is why I ended up at Stonewall. You showed me that I could be a better person and that the ideas that the headmasters talked about at the opening ceremony could be followed. I owe you a whole lot more than you realize."
Harry, Nish, and Liam were slightly shocked by Travis's confession. All three of them had been the victim of bullying at one time or another and to hear that Travis had been a perpetrator was new information for them. But Harry recognized that Travis truly regretted his past so he stepped forward and clapped the other boy on the shoulder and the other two followed him soon after. They all shared a smile and came together in a group hug. When they separated Liam spoke again,
"Come on Harry, you are the whole reason the Heroes of Stonewall are a thing. There is no way we wouldn't celebrate you."
With that, the group of friends made it the rest of the way back to Nish's home where Harry was greeted by one more surprise in the form of a large dinner prepared by Nish's parent's and a cake with the words "Happy Birthday Harry" piped out on top. The remainder of the night was spent in jovial company with his friends and when the candles were lit and Harry was told to make a wish all Harry could think of was,
"How could I want anything more than this."
Special thanks to ACreativeMindAtWorkHere for being the beta reader.