Ron and Hermione had both been rather surprised to find that Harry was going home for break and decided they would as well. It had never really hit Harry that his two best friends had given up staying with their families for most holidays just because of him. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Still, it felt wonderful to walk by the list of people staying at Hogwarts for Christmas and not see his name. In fact, no student was staying this year. People wanted to be with their families during these hard times. Ron joked that it was for a different reason: that since he and Harry were leaving, nobody had a reason to stay.
"Oh come on, Harry, you know they're all thinking, 'Well, if those two prize Gryffindor stud-muffins aren't staying, then what's the point?'" Ron said with a grin.
"Should we send out apology notes? We are taking all the fun out of Hogwarts. And at Christmas too!" Harry joked.
"Nah, might just make 'em cry harder."
The two boys laughed happily as Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.
-
Harry had never left Hogwarts for Christmas since he was enrolled. He had never before felt the joy of packing only part of his belongings, knowing that he'd be back soon. Best of all, he wasn't going to the Dursleys.
The train ride home was filled with students chatting excitedly about their holiday plans. At one point, a group of rowdy Hufflepuffs started singing carols, mostly unfamiliar wizard ones, but Harry recognized a few Muggle ones as well and he and Hermione smiled at each other and started singing along. Ron and Ginny began singing the wizard ones until it dissolved into a silly battle of caroling.
Another departure from what Harry was used to was that many students were practicing magic to show their parents. Magic wasn't forbidden during winter vacation as it was during summer so students would have a small opportunity to show their parents what they had learned.
When they arrived at the station, Harry saw the Stensons at Platform 8, where he had told them to wait, thinking that seeing him appear from a wall might be too startling of a way to say "Guess what: I'm a wizard!"
He quickly ran over to them, saying something about a mix up in platform numbers. The Weasleys and Hermione came up to be introduced and, for once, Harry didn't have to be embarrassed by the people picking him up from the station.
Ron gave Harry a discreet nod to communicate that he had informed his family about the Stensons' ignorance of magic.
The introduction dissolved into awkward confusion far too quickly.
Mr. Stenson asked Mr. Weasley what he did for a living. Mr. Weasley couldn't exactly say he worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department, so he quickly turned to Harry and Hermione for support. Fortunately, both were on their toes and quickly blurted a Muggle job Mr. Weasley could call his own.Unfortunately, Hermione firmly stated, "dentist" while Harry simultaneously declared, "lawyer." It got worse when they both tried to fix it, Hermione saying he was a dentist for lawyers while Harry said he was a lawyer for dentists.
The Stensons laughed uncertainly, but seemed even more confused by the absolutely dumbfounded expression on Mr. Weasley's face. Everybody jumped in to try to save the mistakes, but as the Weasleys had no idea what dentists or lawyers were, things became very confusing very fast.
Things were getting to the point of insanity when Dakota gasped and grabbed her father's hand.
"Harry's uncle! He's here!" she squealed in panic.
Harry whipped his head around and, sure enough, his uncle was walking around Platform 9 3/4, no doubt searching for his nephew. He must have suspected he would try to stay with the Stensons and despite his loathing for Harry, his feud with the Stensons was apparently more important.
Everyone turned back around, looking on edge. Hermione and the Weasleys weren't aware of the seriousness of the circumstances, but definitely understood it was a bad situation.
Dakota kept yanking on her dad's hand anxiously. "Dad, dad? What do we do? What do we do?" she squeaked in an abnormally high voice under her breath.
Harry, on the other hand, froze like a deer caught in headlights. The deafening sound of his heart pounding against his ribcage was only slightly muffled by the screams in his head telling his disobedient legs to run. If his uncle saw him, he would spend two weeks back there. He couldn't go back. He didn't want to go back there!
Thankfully, Mr. Stenson kept his cool and snapped Harry out of his stupor with a firm hand on the shoulder. He shoved his car keys into Kota's hand and told her to get Harry out of there.
Harry shoved Hedwig's cage into Ron's hands and told him to send Hedwig to him when they got back to the Burrow. He looked up to see his uncle's head swivel in their direction. He ducked. He peeked through the crowd to see his Uncle Vernon's face well up in fury at seeing the Weasleys and the Stensons together. He began to stalk over, his face growing more purple with each step he took.
Kota grabbed his hand and pulled him into a small group of people walking by. The two hid among the taller adults.
When they were safely away from the turmoil that was sure to start, Harry grabbed Kota's arm and whispered that he wanted to see what was happening. She bit her lip and looked like she was going to protest, but then admitted that she did too. They slipped behind a pillar and peeked out, just close enough to see and hear what was happening.
"Don't tell me you didn't come here to pick up that boy, Stenson. Why else would you be talking to them?" he demanded, nodding at the Weasleys with a scowl.
"Oh crap, good question," whispered Kota.
Mr. Weasley looked at the Stensons with a look of surprise on his face. "Wait, you know Harry? Harry Potter?"
There was a pause and then the rest jumped in, playing along with gasps of, "Oh my goodness!" and "Talk about a small world!" along with another round of fake introductions.
Harry let out an incredulous breath of laughter. "Good save!" He felt a bit like a Quidditch commentator.
"Absolutely brilliant!" Kota replied excitedly.
"I don't buy that for one second! I know he's here somewhere. You're hiding him, aren't you?" He pointed a shaking finger at Mr. Stenson. "You know you're breaking the law if you have him in your home!" Realizing how stupid the comment was, Uncle Vernon immediately shut up. The Weasleys and Hermione seemed taken aback at that comment while the Stensons sported looks of tamed fury. Harry was swept with a wave of humiliation. He desperately hoped the conversation wouldn't turn down that road. He felt Kota cast a sympathetic glance in his direction, making his face burn even more.
"Dursley," Mr. Stenson started in a cold voice, "my family's business does not concern you. I suggest you leave or-"
"Or what?" Vernon barked.
"Or I'll punch you again, you son of a bitch."
Mrs. Stenson put a hand on her husband's arm. "Rick, don't."
"Don't you dare threaten me!" Vernon bellowed. "Your business concerns me if it has to do with the boy!"
"The boy?" Mr. Stenson repeated. "If you're going to try to play the act of caring guardian, you might want to work, on your story, Dursley."
This was going in a bad direction and fast. Harry looked desperately to Kota, who nodded and jogged over to her family, interrupting her father before he could say anything else incriminating.
"Uncle Dan's train was delayed," she invented. "The man said they got stuck in a snowstorm and will be staying the night. He said we should go home and come back tomorrow." She turned to Vernon as if noticing him for the first time. "Hello Mr. Dursley, are you picking up Dudley from school?"
Vernon merely glared angrily.
"Well, er, thank you for the directions and Ron will be sure to mention to Harry that we met you when he returns to school," Mr. Weasley said. The Weasleys looked reluctant to leave, but Mr. Weasley ushered them away nonetheless. Hermione caught sight of her parents and headed toward them, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the situation had cooled.
Uncle Vernon seemed to recognize his defeat.
"If I catch that boy in your house, there'll be hell to pay," he threatened and turned with an angry snort.
"You'll never step foot in our house, so you don't have to worry about that," Mrs. Stenson called.
The Stensons made a show of looking at a list of the next day's train schedules until Vernon was safely out of sight. Then, they all hurried to the car together, Mr. Stenson walking close to Harry as they all kept an eye out for Uncle Vernon.