King's Cross Station was a busy place to be, both because it was one of London's main train stations, and because of the families there to see their children off to whichever boarding school they went to.
And, among the hurried and flustered families, stood a father-son pair that looked rather out of place. The two of them looked rather calm compared to everyone else, their intense green eyes scanning the station for their platform, finding themselves lost as they looked between platforms nine and ten in frustration.
"So… that letter of yours? It didn't happen to say where we go next, did it?"
Pulling the letter out of his jacket pocket, the son peered down at it in confusion before shrugging. "Unless it's in code? I don't think so," he admitted, looking up at his father with an annoyed expression. "They didn't tell us how to reply to the letter either remember? Maybe we should have asked Aunt Kyra?" he added sheepishly.
As the father grimaced at the idea, he glanced down at his watch and thought for a moment. "Will you be okay here for a minute? I might have to go over and ask," he asked his son with a hesitant expression, not liking the idea of leaving the eleven year old in the station alone.
"Or Cole," a female voice drawled from behind them, "You could just turn around and ask me that way? Not that I'd answer of course," the beautiful brown-haired woman admitted innocently as they turned to face her, "Harry's going to meet his new best friend if he stands around here looking lost".
"New best friend?" Harry echoed curiously, jumping forward to hug his 'Aunt' tightly. "But what about Reid?" he asked with a frown, not liking the idea of leaving his best friend since he was in diapers for someone else.
"Reid will be fine," Kyra assured him, "He'll be making new friends of his own at Spencer Academy," she explained, exchanging a knowing look with Cole. "Now, are you looking forward to starting at Hogwarts little one?" she asked her honorary nephew, smiling gently at him in response to the grin that spread across his face at the question.
"Ex-excuse me?"
As the two males jumped (And Kyra smirked knowingly), Harry turned around to face a nervous-looking girl with wildly bushy hair. "Did… did you say 'Hogwarts'?" the girl asked cautiously, her eyes flicking to the trunk at Harry's feet and then to the letter still clutched in his hand.
Taking in the trunk in the trolley behind her, and then the letter that the girl pulled from her own pocket, Cole did his best to hide the groan that tried to force it's way out of his throat. Of course Kyra would 'forget' to mention that his son's new best friend was going to be a girl, and the smirk the Seer shot him when he glared at her proved his fears. If she had done this to him around a decade or two ago, he would have vanquished her for it, as it stood at the moment however he could only glower at her and mentally threaten to 'forget' to restock her favourite brand of chocolate.
Turning his attention back to his son, Cole inclined his head towards the couple that were obviously the girl's ('Hermione' he believed she'd introduced herself as) parents. As the couple nodded back to him, his eyes met those of the mother and felt the tell-tale 'ding' of his internal radar going off, annoyance flooding him as he realised something even worse.
Not only was Kyra setting his son up with a girl already, but she was setting Harry up with the daughter of a witch. Could things get any worse? The moment something nudged up against his mental shields, Cole realised that things could get even worse, the female Telepath's eyes widening in shock and then narrowing in disgust.
Glancing down to his son as he listened to the witch's daughter (Who was also a budding witch if his nose was correct) talking rapidly about the book called 'Hogwarts: A History', Cole quickly cleared his throat. "Excuse me?" he interrupted as the girl paused to take a breath, "Perhaps we should move this onto the Platform? I'd rather Harry not be late".
"Oh! Of course! You don't know where the Platform is do you?" Hermione remembered all in one long breath, "Follow me".
With that, Hermione had grabbed Harry's arm and started dragging him towards the signs for platforms nine and ten. Unable to hide his shock as he watched his son walking straight into and through the barrier between the platforms, Cole's mouth fell open slightly. "Huh… so that's where it is," he murmured, taking a step forward to follow them, only for Hermione's mother to jump in between him and the Platform.
"You keep your spawn away from our daughter," the witch demanded coldly, her husband blinking in confusion beside her as Cole rolled his eyes.
"Actually Harry is Cole's grandson," Kyra corrected innocently as she linked her arm with Cole's, stepping up beside him to smile warmly at the witch. "Cole's been raising him since Harry's mother, his daughter, was murdered," she continued before pausing. "And Harry's not a demon, he's a demonic witch. There's a difference".
"How?"
"She's a Seer," Cole ground out as the witch trailed off nervously, "She makes it a habit of answering your questions before you can even ask them".
As Kyra smiled innocently at them, she paused again before saying, "I was once a demonic Seer. I did a favour for the Charmed Ones a couple of years ago and they purified my demonic side, now I only offer my services to those of Good".
"It's annoying isn't it?" Cole asked bluntly as annoyance flickered across the witch's face. "And you? People like you are just as annoying," he growled as the witch turned back to him, "I've had enough of you stuck-up witches coming barging into my life and judging me for my past actions. I walked away from that life up decades ago, and I'm more than happy to leave it buried as long as you leave my son alone," he threatened calmly as he reached down to his jacket and pulled it to the side, "Or I'll make your life a living hell," he promised as the witch' eyes locked onto the handgun and police badge on his hip.
"You? You're a cop?" the witch blurted in disbelief.
"Gotta start repenting somewhere," Cole dead-panned, "I'm actually rather good at it".
"Fine. But I'll be watching you," the witch muttered darkly.
"Can't wait," Cole shot back with a roll of his eyes, stepping around her and striding towards the barrier as he heard the mortal husband asking 'What just happened?'
"Hermione won't care," Kyra whispered as she linked their arms together again, stepping through the barrier as one and shuddering at the feeling of the Arcane magic brushing against their own purer magic. "By the time she discovers his heritage, they'll be too close for anything to break them apart".
Hiding the relief that had bubbled up in his chest at her words, Cole looked around until he saw Harry flailing at him wildly from the windows of one of the compartments. As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad that Harry would have at least one witch friend who didn't care about his demonic ancestry. The only person Harry knew in England who hadn't cared about it had been half-warlock himself, so it would be good for Harry to have other friends who wouldn't judge him.
"Turner, I'm willing to… forget… about your past," the witch said as she and her husband joined them on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. "For Hermione's sake. She has trouble making friends, and your… son… seems to be able to match her thought for thought".
"Lily. Harry's mother. She was brilliant," Cole admitted softly, "I did all I could to help Harry follow in her footsteps".
For a moment the hard look on the witch's face fell, as she obviously heard the pride in his voice, before it rose again as he heard Hermione's voice calling for them. "Truce?" he asked simply, not moving as he smiled at where his son was talking rapidly to Hermione.
"Truce".
"Ah! Mister Potter! Please, do take a seat".
Eyeing the Headmaster with barely veiled suspicion, Harry slowly moved into the room and took a seat, ready to shimmer out in an instant.
"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered politely, making Harry glance at the bowl with disgust before shaking his head curtly. "Don't like lemons my boy? Ah well, more for me then," the Headmaster declared with a childish grin, one that only made Harry even more suspicious of the man's intentions.
"Relax, dear boy," Dumbledore said slowly after looking at Harry over his half-moon glasses. "You are not in trouble. I always run meetings towards the beginning of the year to see how our muggle-raised students are settling in".
"I'm settling in fine," Harry dismissed automatically, "Aside from some issues with the boys I'm sharing a dormitory with at least, Sir".
"Ah yes, I've heard about that," Dumbledore agreed before sending a disappointed look Harry's way. "Was it really necessary to put young Mister Weasley in the hospital wing over such a petty argument?"
"A petty argument?" Harry repeated, mouth almost falling open in shock. "That boy keeps stealing my things!" he exclaimed in annoyance, "He's going on about how we're 'best mates' when I hate him, he's constantly insulting my real friends, and then he thought he was allowed to help himself to the brownies my Aunt sent me!"
"To be fair, my boy," Dumbledore interrupted, "Sharing is caring".
"To be fair, Headmaster," Harry mimicked back, "I don't care. And I did share, with my friends, Neville and Hermione, but I'm not going to share with the boy who called Hermione a 'mudblood' to her face. I was raised better than that".
Dumbledore blinked at him in open shock, the old man glancing to the side with a pensive look on his face before shaking his head. "My apologies then, my boy, I was under the impression that it had just been a squabble that had gotten out of hand," the man confessed, perhaps raising Harry's opinion of him a little bit. "I assume this was the reason Mister Weasley found himself in detention, instead of you?"
"Yes sir," Harry agreed slowly, watching as the Headmaster scratched something down on the parchment in front of him. "Can I go now?" he blurted when the man didn't say anything else and just kept writing.
Blinking up at him, Harry couldn't help but get the idea that the man had forgotten about him. "Yes yes, of course my boy, go enjoy your weekend," Dumbledore allowed, making Harry slid off the armchair and start towards the door. "And may I confess, I am please to see Petunia has put aside past issues".
Freezing with his hand on the doorknob, Harry slowly turned to frown at the Headmaster. "I'm sorry, professor, but who?"
"Petunia," Dumbledore repeated simply, plucking a lemon drop from the bowl and plopping it into his mouth. "Your Aunt. That she sends you baked goods implies she's changed greatly from your mother's time at Hogwarts".
Blinking slowly at the old man, Harry could only tilt his head to the side. "My Aunt's name is Kyra," he corrected slowly, "And you don't mean Petunia Dursley do you?" he asked in disgust. "That hag who lives at fourteen Privet Drive?"
"Fourteen?" Dumbledore blurted, head snapping around to stare at Harry.
"Fourteen," Harry repeated hesitantly.
"But then who lives at four Privet Drive?" the Headmaster asked dumbly.
"My Dad," Harry said slowly, "Well actually he's my grandfather, but he adopted me when he found me on the doorstep. Not even he likes Petunia, says she was just like all three of the wicked step-sisters from Cinderella combined".
The Headmaster looked panicked for a moment before his eyes flicked over to the silver things littering the table by the door, the man relaxing when he saw whatever he was looking for.
Slowly opening the door and stepping out, Harry shut it behind him when Dumbledore didn't argue, instead turning and starting down the stairs. Why would he have been raised by the Dursleys? Petunia wasn't even related to him, all of the Evans kids were adopted, it wasn't exactly a family secret. Cole was his closest blood relation anyway, despite being his grandfather.
Shrugging it off, Harry cracked his neck as he vanished mid-step, shimmering away and appearing in the living room of four Privet Drive. "Hey Dad," he greeted happily, wrapping his arms around his Dad's waist in a hug even as he helped himself to one of the cookies his father was trying to bake.
"Kid. You're late," Cole countered as he tussled Harry's hair, making the young wizard scrunch up his face and try fix it.
"The Headmaster wanted to know how I was settling in," Harry dismissed, "Did you know I was supposed to be raised by Petunia Dursley of all people?" he asked slowly.
"Ew," Cole dead-panned before brushing it aside with a lazy wave of his hand, kindly ignoring the way Harry jumped up onto the kitchen counter behind him. "Well? Come on, I want to hear all about your first week".
Turner
Inspired by DZ2's Family Matters challenge.
It's so good to finally get this idea out there! I've had the first half of it written since the challenge was posted, I could just never find a second half I was happy with until the idea struck me in bed last night.
Anyway, the Undercover Operative cannot claim to own either Harry Potter or Charmed,