A/N: Standard Disclaimer applies, I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N2: I would like to thank my beta, ellizilla, for being my beta, even if it is just a short time.
A/N3: I am again in need of a beta-reader. Interested parties may contact me through the private messaging system. Thank you
Finally: I apologize for not being able to update earlier, the pressures of graduation and work have gotten onto me
THIRTEEN
King's Cross Station
London, England
The black Jaguar XJ sedan pulled into the parking area of the station without much fanfare. Its driver easily found a parking space and took it, and once the car was parked, he helped his passengers grab their things, which they have placed at the trunk of their car.
Harry and Hermione both glanced towards the skies as they helped Dan and Al with their luggage. Up to their front, Emma watched as well, her eyes never leaving the young couple that she is now watching as the said young couple watched the steadily deteriorating weather condition.
Many things were going over the mind of Emma Granger as she watched her daughter and her son-in-law. She was of the opinion that the two of them should not return to their school, she might not be a witch, but she is aware of the dangers that her children are going to face when they reach their school. The knowledge that Al had placed some of Harry's men near the school was not enough to calm her nerves.
Harry and Hermione both turned towards their mother. Harry looked at her with reverence; Emma Granger might not be able to replace Lily Potter as Harry Potter's mother, but she had done a fine job in trying to fill that emptiness that Harry had felt since the death of his mother. He would be eternally thankful to her for that.
As Harry watched Emma Granger discreetly watch them, he felt her unease with this business. The Potter heir had known that Emma had been one of the most vocal critics of his and Hermione's decision to return to Hogwarts. Of course, she trusted them both enough to make their own decision. It was just that she does not think that the decision that they made is the correct one.
Harry opened her mouth to reassure her once again that he and Hermione would be fine, but he was spared from doing so when Harry saw Dan move towards her as he dragged Hermione's luggage. The two senior Granger's looked at each other, and then Emma nodded, she looked at Harry and smiled at him, before she turned towards her daughter and smiled towards her as well.
Al joined them, he dragged Harry's luggage, and then looked at both Harry and Hermione, he nodded once in approval of the clothes that they are wearing, before he motioned for them to head towards the station.
Both Harry and Hermione were wearing casual polo shirts and jeans. Both were also wearing jackets with long sleeves, this helped them conceal the fact that they are carrying concealed lethal weapons, which are their wands.
Al would have preferred sending them with a whole variety of concealed pistols hidden among their persons, but since they are entering a muggle public transportation terminal, the battle wizard forewent that. Aside from the fact that Harry and Hermione are already armed with their wands, being caught with a concealed pistol is more than enough to send someone to a six by six cell at the nearest police station. It, however, did not stop Al from magically concealing two SiG-Sauer P226 pistols, the preference of both Harry and Hermione, in both of their luggage.
At the barrier between Platform nine and ten, Dan and Emma hugged both Harry and Hermione goodbye. Since they are muggles, they would not be able to enter the magical platform, and for security reasons, Al had asked them to not enter the platform as well, even if they are able to. Obviously, the battle wizard was unsure if he can protect four people in the magical platform.
Harry made a discovery that morning, well, actually, two discoveries.
The first was that he liked Emma Granger's hugs. Externally, they are very similar to the hug of Molly Weasley, but Harry found that while the hugs of the Weasley matriarch was suffocating and demanding, the hugs of Emma were just the opposite. They are warm, and the hug gave him a fuzzy feeling that he is loved. It was a feeling that Harry only feels whenever Hermione would hug him, which, given the recent circumstances, happen every night.
The second thing that Harry had discovered was how much he and Dan Granger are alike. The only Granger male had hugged his daughter first, but since he has a reputation to maintain, refused to hug Harry openly and instead, shook hands with his son-in-law. As Dan let go of Harry's hand, he added to him, "Make sure that Hermione is safe at all times, she means the world to me"
Harry nodded, "She means the world to me as well, sir, I would not let anyone or anything harm her, you have my word" he replied.
After that, Harry and Hermione entered the magical platform together, Al following behind them.
Already, the platform was filled with people. Students were piling aboard the scarlet colored train, while parents offered last minute advice and a few hurried goodbyes to their children.
Harry and Hermione both blinked, as they allowed the familiar feeling of being in a magical platform envelop and consume them. True, Potter Island is magical, but it is not as magical as Platform 9 ¾, or Hogwarts itself.
"Harry, Hermione" Al said, the married couple turned towards him, and he said, "Hec and one of the galleons have now taken position below the Hogwarts lake, if you need any help, they would be more than willing to help you" he sighed once before he added, "the wards prevent my non-magical people from seeing the castle itself, but I have enough magical people in the company that I've sent to observe the castle"
Both Harry and Hermione nodded, "We'll be careful Al" Hermione replied for the two of them.
Al nodded, "See that you do" he replied, using a tone of voice that reminded Harry and Hermione of the drill sergeant that Al had unceremoniously dumped them on when they began their first day of training at Potter Island, "Use the mirror that Sirius had given you liberally, Harry, its untraceable magic, and Hermione" Al turned towards Hermione, "do watch over him as he watch over you, and once you have changed for your robes, get the guns, its on your trunks"
Both Harry and Hermione nodded, though both looked as if they would rather not have this conversation again, Al, however, had one final warning for the two of them, "Harry, Hermione, one last note" the battle wizard said, "Control your temper at all times, and always stay together, you cannot stay together if one of you is in detention"
Harry and Hermione were saved the need to reply when a red haired boy and girl made their way towards them. Al watched them from the distance and saw that their mother followed behind her two youngest children.
"Hey mate" Ronald Weasley said as he joined Harry, Al watched as the youngest Weasley boy turned a green shade of envy when he saw the clothes that Harry was wearing. They might be casual polo shirts, but even Ronald Weasley can tell that they were not cheap. The fact that both Harry and Hermione were wearing near identical shirts must have also added to the green shade that the boy was wearing, just as the fact that Al had been talking to the two of them had.
Ginny Weasley cringed involuntarily as she looked at Al. the battle wizard guessed that the youngest Weasley child can still remember how he nearly exposed her to be a love potion user, but then Ginny visibly brought herself up to full height and turned her attention towards Harry. Al decided that that was probably because they have been told that he is not Anton Rosseu after all.
Harry and Hermione held hands. They did not even bother trying to hide this fact from the two Weasley's. Harry and Hermione turned towards Ron and then Harry said, "Ron, we have news for you and Ginny" he looked at Hermione just as she looked at him, and then he turned back towards Ron, "Hermione and I are together now"
Ron blinked as his mind registered the words that Harry had used, and then he blinked again when his mind registered the words, and then he blinked again as he realized the implications of the words that Harry had used, "So" the boy, whose face had turned as red as his hair, said, he looked at Harry and Hermione and said, "You always get everything Potter" he snarled.
Ginny blinked as well, and then she blinked again, she let out a primeval cry and then extended her hands towards Hermione, with the probable intent of strangling her. Al, however, moved faster, and before Ginny can take a step forward, Al had already blocked her path, causing Ginny to stumble into the floor.
"How dare you!" Molly Weasley shouted after she watched her daughter stumble into the floor, "You attacked a pureblood, you insolent half-blood"
As Harry and Hermione have already been informed of the real Molly Weasley, neither reacted as the woman said things that neither had expected her to say, instead, Harry and Hermione merely watched on, bored. Both are aware that Al is more than capable of pulling the teeth off of Molly Weasley.
"How dare you call me a half-blood!" Al replied, his voice was a notch or two higher than that of Molly, "I am Alvin Charles York, heir to the York family, and you" he sneered at Molly Weasley, he pretended to examine the shocked woman, and then his sneer returned in full force, "obviously a Weasley, so that would make you lower than me on the social ladder" he looked at the two Weasley children, and then his eyes lingered on Ginny before he turned back towards Mrs. Weasley, "take care not to insult me further woman, your daughter has attacked me and I can legally claim her as compensation" he snorted, "Be thankful that I am not into redheads" and without saying anything else, he shepherded Harry and Hermione away from the stunned redheaded trio.
"Like I would touch her daughter even if she was not a redhead" Al muttered under his breath as he helped the equally stunned Harry and Hermione up the train carriages. Both had no idea that Al can act as if he brought the pureblood superiority doctrine so well, and both had no idea that Al's sneer can shame the one on Lucius Malfoy's face.
Harry and Hermione watched as Molly and her two youngest recovered from the dressing down that Al had given them. Al turned towards them, and Harry guessed that the battle wizard sneered at them, because he watched the Weasley matriarch cringe as Al watched them. Al turned towards Harry and Hermione and said, "Now that that is done, I do not think that those two red heads would bother you in the train," he smiled, "if they do, Harry, tell them that your guardian is now considering claiming Ginny," he nearly laughed as he added, "Let's see how Molly would handle that one"
"You're not seriously going to claim her are you Al?" Hermione asked.
Al smiled and shook his head, "Of course not" he replied, "I told you, I am not into red heads, I prefer combination brunettes and blonds," he smiled, "and I prefer them to be nearly the same age as me, of course"
Harry and Hermione nodded, and at the same time, a whistle sounded from somewhere, signaling that the train was about to depart, "Right you two" Al said, "Go find a compartment to share" he winked at them, "I doubt that you'll find a private compartment just for the two of you, but you might get lucky, so I guess that I would wish you some luck with that"
Harry and Hermione did not blush. They had grown used to the teasing of Al, Remus and Sirius. Even Dan and Emma would sometimes join in with the teasing and if Hermione's parents cannot get a reaction from her, then neither would Al get a reaction from her.
True to Al's predictions, Harry and Hermione failed to find a 'private' compartment that the two of them can share. They had searched from one end of the train to the other, and as they were coming back to see if they can find a compartment that they can share, they ran across Neville Longbottom. Apparently, the Longbottom heir was also looking for a compartment.
"We can share this one" Harry said as he looked at a compartment, "there is only one person inside."
Neville muttered something about not wanting to disturb anyone, but Harry and Hermione merely smiled. Harry opened the door, and then struck his head inside, "Excuse me" he said, "would you mind if we join you?"
The sole occupant of the room, a girl with waist length dirty blonde hair that gave off an aura of distinct dottiness, looked over at Harry and his companions, and then she shook her head, "Help yourselves" she said.
Harry and Hermione thanked her as they pulled their luggage into the compartment. Harry then helped Neville pull his luggage in, and once they were done, they took their seats, Harry and Hermione sat together, while Neville sat beside the girl. Hermione opened the cage that she was carrying, and a ginger colored cat slowly walked out of the cage. Crookshanks purred once before she rested on Hermione's lap, and she started to absently stroke him behind his ear.
"I'm Hermione" Hermione said, she turned towards their unknown companion as she said that, and then she pointed towards Harry and Neville, introducing the two of them.
"Pleased to meet you, Hermione, Harry and Neville" the girl said as she greeted each one of them in turn, "My name is Luna, Luna Lovegood"
"Pleased to meet you as well Luna" Harry replied with a smile. He looked the girl over and decided that he would want her as his friend. Beneath the weird and quirky aura, Harry can sense power. He just needed one look at her to know that she is a powerful witch.
Hermione gently nudged Harry at the ribs after she caught him staring at Luna for a few moments more than necessary, but both Harry and Hermione knew that it was nothing more but a good natured ribbing. The married couple knew that they would never look at another person the way that they look at each other.
Apparently, however, Harry was not the only one who was staring at Luna. In fact, Hermione nudged her husband in the ribs to divert his attention towards Neville, who was openly staring at Luna. His mouth might not be open, but he is giving the distinct impression that it is.
"Nev" Harry said, stealing the attention of the Longbottom scion. Neville turned towards them, Harry smiled and asked, "How was your summer?"
Neville brightened, he dug the hand that was not keeping a firm grip on Trevor, his toad, into his schoolbag, and after a little bit of rummaging, he pulled out what appeared to be a small gray cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with what looked like boils rather than spines.
"Mimbulus mimbletonia" Neville said proudly.
Hermione blinked, "they are supposed to be very, very rare" she said, her excitement showing as she continued to speak.
"Well, yeah" Neville replied, "my great-uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria, and I am going to see if I can breed from it"
Harry and Hermione nodded, the two were aware that Neville's favorite subject was Herbology, "Does it do anything Nev?" Harry asked.
At that precise moment, the door to their compartment slid open.
"Oh …hello Harry" a nervous voice said. Harry and Hermione turned towards the source of the voice and saw a very pretty girl with long, shiny black hair standing in the doorway, smiling at him: Cho Chang, the Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quiditch team.
"Hi" Harry said with a neutral tone. He would admit that he had a crush on the girl, but he was long gone pass that now, especially since a much more beautiful girl was seated beside him.
Cho noticed that, she blinked and then she turned toward Hermione, "Hello, Hermione" she said, "Aren't you supposed to be with the Prefects?"
Hermione shook her head and smiled. Only Harry was able to see that the smile on the face of his wife was predatory, "No" she said, "I turned down the badge because Harry did not get his"
"I see" Cho said darkly, he glanced at Harry and then said, "Well, I'll see you" she did not give anyone a chance to say their goodbyes because she closed the compartment door at the same time.
"What was that about?" Harry asked Hermione.
Luna opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, perhaps she realized that Neville had returned to staring at her, leaving Hermione to explain what had just happened to her husband, "She likes you"
Harry blinked, and then he started to laugh silently. After a few moments, Harry stopped laughing and turned towards his wife, "Too bad for her then" she said, "I was crushing on her when I was in third year, but now" he eyed Hermione and gave her a warm smile, "Why should I chose Cho Change over a witch who is as beautiful as she is smart?"
"Flatterer" Hermione replied, she gently pinched Harry's cheeks after she said that, causing both Neville and Luna to look at them with questioning looks. Hermione looked at the two of them with a confused expression, and then she blinked as she realized why the two are confused, "oh for heaven's sakes" Hermione said, "Harry and I are together now"
At that moment, the compartment doors opened again and Malfoy and his three goons struck their head in, "You and the mudblood Potter?" he asked.
Harry did not reply, he merely looked at Malfoy, smirked at the blond boy, and then started to laugh like there is no tomorrow. A few moments later, Hermione joined her husband in the laughter.
"What's so funny scarhead?" Malfoy asked, trying his best to control his temper and losing quite fast.
Harry and Hermione stopped laughing for a few moments, they took advantage of that time to study Malfoy and his goons again, but before anyone can say anything, Harry and Hermione started to laugh again.
A red faced Malfoy slammed the compartment door shut, but unfortunately for him, he forgot that his hand was in the way. When he slammed the door, his hand was still in the frame, and he yelped in pain as he felt the pain in his hand.
His girly scream made Harry and Hermione laughed harder, and to a lesser extent, Neville and Luna joined in with the laughter, the blond girl laughing harder than the three of them combined.
"Just like you said, love" Hermione said after they had stopped laughing.
Harry nodded, "I told you so dear" he replied as he wiped away the tears in his eyes that resulted from too much laughing, he looked at Luna and Neville and explained, "You see, Nev, Luna, I think that Malfoy is gay"
"He is in his fifth year, but all he has for companions are Crabbe and Goyle," Hermione explained, "It made us wonder why that is the case, and one of the conclusions that we came up is that Malfoy is gay"
Harry nodded, "I mean, he has been following me since first year" he said, "I do not want to break his heart, of course, but to tell you guys the truth, I do not swing that way" he looked at Hermione fondly, before he added to Neville and Luna, "I am with the most beautiful and smartest witch in our batch now, someone who understands me far better than I understand myself, so why should I entertain Malfoy and his gay buddies?"
The four started laughing again, until Neville brought Ron up, "Where is Ron?" he asked.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other darkly, before Harry turned towards Neville and explained, "Ron, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley did not take kindly to Hermione and I being together, Ron tried to assault us earlier in the platform, but Al was able to stop them"
"I always thought that it was wrong for the two of you to be friends with Ronald" Luna said in a sing-song voice, "He is always jealous of Harry, always complaining that Harry has everything without realizing that he has one thing that Harry does not have"
Harry nodded, "Parents" he replied sadly, "And a family" he brightened, however, as he added, "But I have a family now, Al, Remus, Dan, Emma" he smiled as he looked at Hermione fondly once more, "you"
Hermione smiled at her husband and nodded, without saying anything, she threw her hands over him, "And we would always be together" she said, "we would grow old together, we would have children, and we would watch them grow, and our children would have children, and we would watch their children grow, and…" she paused, and then looked at Harry with an unspoken happiness evident in her eyes.
Harry nodded, "You are my life now, Hermione" he declared in front of Luna and Neville, "my past, my present, my future, you are mine to protect and to care and to cherish, just as I am yours"
"What about Ginny?" Neville asked, he felt uncomfortable with the blatant show of affection between his two friends, so instead of going through it, he decided to interrupt, "I noticed that she is not with you as well"
Harry and Hermione sadly shook their heads, "Ginny did not take kindly with us" Harry repeated, he looked at Neville and said, "Nev, I know you liked Ginny, but I do not think that it would be advisable"
"Ginny is in love with the boy-who-lived" Luna stated matter-of-factly.
"Harry?" Neville asked.
Harry shook his head, "No, not me" he replied, "but with my legend," he sighed and elaborated, "If I was not the boy-who-lived, Ginny would not be in love with me," he glanced at his wife and smiled as he added, "the difference between her and Hermione, is that my love would love me even if I am not the freaking boy-who-lived"
"We always thought that that was the case" a voice from outside the compartment said, the compartment door slid open, revealing two identical red-haired men. Fred and George did not ask permission to walk into the compartment, they just invited themselves in.
"Guys" Harry said, his hand almost casually moved to his pocket where he kept his wand. On his peripheral vision, he saw Hermione do the same.
"None of that now" George said, he smiled at Harry and Hermione as Fred finished what his brother started, "We are not here to start a war with our largest investor"
"Why are you here then?" Hermione asked.
Fred sighed, George rolled his eyes. One of the twins retrieved a magazine from his robes and handed it to Hermione who instantly recognized it as a copy of the same Wizarding Times that Al had shown them.
"You do not honestly believe that our father was not infected y a love potion don't you?" George asked, "because if you do, then –"
" – we would be the only ones who do think so, you see – "
" – dad never made it to St. Mungo's, Dumbledore – "
" – rerouted the emergency portkey to the Burrow – "
" – we tried to convince the dingbat to send dad to St. Mungo's, but – "
" – Twinkle-eyes says that for the greater good, none must know, so – "
" – we are wondering if you two – "
" – would like to help us."
Harry nodded, "We suspected as much" he admitted, he motioned for the twins to take a seat, fortunately, both chose to sit beside Neville, "The man who cast the spell was convinced that something was wrong, but we cannot move without knowing what your dad has been infected with"
"What do you need us to do?" George asked.
Harry looked at Hermione who nodded, before he turned back towards Fred and George, "A way to get your mother out of the burrow for a good three hours"