pHermione Granger took her son's hand as they walked towards Platform 9 3/4. While Rose had stayed with Ron and Lavender, Hugo wanted to spend one last night at Mum's before they left for school. He was babbling excitedly about flying lessons as they went through the wall. Hermione cautioned him that he'd have to use a school broom his first year. She was telling him about her first lesson as a first year as they walked towards the train. Rose had taken after her and wasn't too fond of flying, while Hugo had taken after Ron and loved flying as fast as he could. Suddenly, they were jolted from behind as a big blond boy went rushing by. /p
p"Stryker! Watch where you're going! You almost ran them down!" A blonde girl, looking very similar to him, stopped beside them. "I'm so sorry for my INCONSIDERATE brother's actions. Please forgive him. I'm Freya, Freya Rowle. The big brute is my brother Stryker Rowle." She held her hand out to Hermione. Hermione smiled at her and shook her hand. She remembered Thorfinn Rowle from her own years at Hogwarts. This had to be his children. She'd heard that he'd raised them with the help of his parents. /p
p"Well, well. Gryffindor's princess, Hermione Granger. Long time, no see. You're looking good, sweetheart." A deep voice spoke next to her ear. She jerked back and frowned slightly at him. Thorfinn Rowle stared down at the witch he hadn't seen in years. /p
p"Well, if it isn't Slytherin's own Viking, Thorfinn Rowle. I'm going to assume that was meant as a compliment, not an insult. It's nice to see you, too." She returned politely. /p
p"Dad. You didn't tell us you knew Professor Granger! See, and you thought you wouldn't know anyone else." Freya giggled at him. He smiled as he pulled her close. It was only then that Hermione noticed the pink ribbons wound through his hair, holding it in a loose ponytail. Evidently, Freya liked playing hairdresser with him. It reminded her of Ron letting Rose put his hair up in ponytails. Speaking of whom, she spotted him as Lavender spotted her. /p
p"Hermione!" Lavender waved at her, hopping in excitement. Rose sped over to her mother and eyed Freya curiously. Hermione allowed the kids to pull her over to their father. Thorfinn and Freya watched her go until Stryker came racing back and jumped into his father's arms. /p
p"Lavender! How are you? Oh, you're looking good! How is the baby doing?" Hermione laid a gentle hand on the small barely visible baby bump Lavender was sporting. /p
p"He's doing well. Mary said everything is looking great. By the time the school year is over, we should have a new baby in the family." Lavender happily told her. Ron pulled both of them closer as he listened to them chatter. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was. Hermione and Lavender were the best of friends, and she was as excited about the new baby as the rest of them. /p
p"That's Rowle over there, isn't it?" He quietly asked Hermione. She glanced back at the family of blonds and nodded. "I heard from Pansy he's going to be the new flying instructor. Madam Hooch retired this past summer. They're also looking for another Potions teacher. Slughorn is only wanting to teach the lower grades. That's going to leave fifth year up without an instructor until they can find someone."/p
p"Surely Slughorn isn't going to leave them hanging, is he? He'll have to keep teaching until then, right?" Hermione frowned worriedly. Ron shrugged. Pansy had confided in them that she was hoping Rowle caught Hermione's eye as he'd liked her since her third year. /p
p"I think I heard that they're actually going to have some of the other teachers take a few turns a week, teaching the class until they get a new hire in. That means both you and Rowle could end up taking a turn teaching Potions. His kids are the same age as Rose and Hugo, aren't they? They could all wind up in the same house." Ron nudged her. "You could get to know him. I'd say both his kids will wind up in your class. Rose and Hugo will both be taking flying classes."/p
pHermione looked at her ex-husband. "Ron Weasley, are you trying to set me up with Thorfinn Rowle?!" Ron grinned slyly at her. "Did Pansy put you up to this?" She narrowed her eyes at him. /p
p"Well, hey, I can't spend too much time around Pansy and not pick up a few tricks, right? Besides that, Lavender also thinks you two would be cute together, so there!" Ron stuck his tongue out playfully. Rose and Hugo were listening and giggling quietly. Ron ushered the three of them onto the train and stood with Harry, Pansy and Lavender, waving the train out of sight. /p
pThorfinn walked down the narrow corridor, guiding his children into an empty compartment. Knowing he had to report in up front, he cautioned them to stay near their seats until he returned. No sooner had he left than Stryker jumped up and was hanging out the door, watching the other students. Freya was content to sit and look at some of her textbooks, specifically her Transfiguration book. She was thinking of how her father had greeted Professor Granger. It was the first time she could remember actually seeing her father flirt with someone right in front of her. Normally he waited until she and Stryker weren't in hearing range. She'd seen him flirting with women before, from a distance. /p
p"What do you think of Professor Granger, Stryker?" She asked her brother, wondering if he'd even paid attention to the woman he'd almost ran into. Stryker looked around at her and frowned. /p
p"Who? Is she one of our teachers? Why would I need to think about a teacher?" He asked, absently watching a pair of red heads approach with an older woman behind them. In typical Rowle fashion, he slumped down in the doorway and smiled his best charming smile at the red-haired girl. /p
pFreya rolled her eyes at him. "She's the woman you almost plowed into at the station. Dad likes her." Stryker curled his lip at her. "Well, I think they would be good together. And it would be nice having a mother."/p
p"Why? We have dad, nana and papa. That's all we need." Stryker told her. He turned back to watch the little redheaded girl come closer. /p
p"It looks like all the cars are full. You might have to go to the front with me." Hermione told Rose and Hugo. Up ahead of them, she saw Stryker Rowle in the doorway of a compartment. Hearing her words, Stryker perked up. Still looking at Rose, he said. "Excuse me. There's room in here, ma'am. Its only me, my sister and my father."/p
pHermione hesitated but she knew the train would be leaving any second and they were the last ones to board. There were no other cars available. "Thank you very much. Children, go on in and get settled. I have to go up front. I'll be back shortly." The kids darted inside, and Hermione went on. /p
pRose sat next to Freya as Hugo sat on the opposite side of the compartment. Stryker sat down beside him. "Hi, I'm Stryker. Who are you?" He stuck his hand out. Hugo shook it. /p
p"I'm Hugo. Are you going to try out for Quidditch? I'm going to, even though I'll have to use a school broom." Stryker's eyes lit up in delight. 'Finally! Someone he could talk Quidditch with! Freya hated Quidditch!' Rose and Freya watched, suppressing giggles as they launched into how much they hoped to be picked for their house teams. /p
pHermione reached the front car and opened the door. It looked like she was the last one. There was only one seat left and she sighed as she realized it was right beside Thorfinn. He looked up, smiled slyly and patted the seat. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was starting to look as if the whole universe was joining in on Pansy, Ron and Lavender's attempts to set her up with the big bruiser. She took the seat as Professor Flitwick began speaking./p
p"This year is going to be slightly different from previous years. First, you may have noticed a new face in the room. We have a new flying instructor as Madam Hooch retired at the start of summer." Flitwick gestured to Rowle as he stretched out his legs. Hermione noticed that one of them seemed to have a pronounced curve in it, as if he'd broken it at some point and it healed wrong. "Also, we are starting out one teacher short. You may or may not have heard that Professor Slughorn will now be teaching only fourth year and down of Potions. What this means is that a select few of you who had exceptional grades in Potions will be called on to make lesson plans and teach Potions so many times a week. I do hope you have no problems with this?" He looked around at them. They all shook their heads no. "Very well then. I do believe that's all until our first teachers meeting at the school. Now, I think at least two of you have children to check on? After that you will begin your patrol until we reach Hogsmeade."/p
pHermione stood up and opened the door. Thorfinn was right behind her. "How are your potion making skills, Granger?" He asked as they walked down the corridor./p
p"They're good enough that I'm almost halfway to being named a Potions Master. I already would be if I hadn't gone for Transfiguration first." She answered him smartly./p
p"That's great because I have to admit my skills are a bit rusty. Probably because I was obsessed with Quidditch." He admitted with a chuckle./p
p"Oh, by the way, our children are all in the same compartment. Your son invited us to join your group. I hope that's all right." Hermione told him. Thorfinn had to smile as they opened the door. Freya and Rose were talking about dresses and make-up as Stryker and Hugo continued their Quidditch talk. They quietly shut the door and began their patrol./p