Chap. 47: Hangovers before school, being caught in flagrante delicto, Platform 9 - 3/4, Flint, jokes, and a long talk with Hermione.
Harry and Daphne woke on the morning of the 1st, a Monday, with a hangover, where they had been in London on New Years' Eve the night before. They had stayed at their own home after the celebrations at Black Manor. Both had taken a hangover potion, which had been fetched by Winky, and it had just worked as Daphne cuddled into his side.
Daphne didn't notice it, but Harry was reminiscing about his life as he stared up at the ceiling, or what little he remembered of it, that he enjoyed. One bit, was an old color television series that Vernon had enjoyed, which was the reruns of The Adventures of Long John Silver.
As Harry thought back to some of those episodes, along with the movie, The Black Swan, which was about Captain Morgan, he remembered certain risqué things that were slipped into it, such as the name of a pub called the "Porkers Sterne," (pork her stern), just when Daphne's womanhood was pressed against his hip after throwing her leg over him. This, of course, caused him to remember a line from Long John, who said to Purity Pinker about little Jim Hawkins, "The love a boy has for his first boat be beyond your understanding, why, it's like a dream come true," and, "why, that little boat will make a man of him." That was also when Harry remembered the euphemisms mentioned by Seamus and others, where they called a female's vulva a "boat with a little man in it." The little man being her clitoris, of course, and her open vulva and labia looking like a boat. The other euphemism he remembered, was, "I enjoy trying to knock that little man out of her boat," where using your tongue to do it was left unsaid. The more Harry thought about that, the funnier it became, so he snorted and chortled out loud.
"What has you in such a good mood, dear?" Daphne asked as she placed a quick kiss on Harry's chest.
"Just thinking of a show that I got to watch, sometimes, on the telly when just a tyke," Harry replied.
"Oh," Daphne inquired, "which one?"
"Long John Silver, the pirate," Harry explained; "filmed in the fifties in Australia and the US. It had that Robert what's-his-name in it, from Dorset, and it was very funny."
"So, my husband," Daphne purred as she raked her fingernails lightly over his chest, "you think of yourself as a swashbuckling pirate, do you?"
"Aargh, me do!" Harry gave out a gravelly pirate's drawl as he kissed the top of Daphne's head. "And me thinks it be time ta find me little boat ta set sail in."
"Little boat?" Daphne coyly inquired.
"Aye, me lass, you'll see," Harry said, while still in character, as he slid out of Daphne's clutch, and rolled on top of her, where he began to snog her senseless. Before long, he had kissed his way down her taught stomach, and then gave her womanhood a kiss. "Aargh, I've fount me little boat, but there be a man in it tha' needs oustin' overboard. I'll jus' be tossin' 'im out, now, an' inta th' sea!" Here, he parted his wife's vulva open and licked her womanhood from bottom to top.
"Oh, John, you scurvy little pirate, you!" Daphne purred out and then giggled. "Keep that up for a while, and then show me why they call you 'Long John!'"
Harry, when his head popped up over her mound, gave her a lop-sided pirate's smirk, and did just that. Yes, Purity, or Daphne, had finally obtained what she always wanted, she had her hooks thoroughly anchored into her own Long John Silver.
As Harry and Daphne were making their way down the stairs for breakfast, where Harry had his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulders, she said with a blush, "Oh, Harry, I'm so embarrassed!"
"What," Harry asked, "why?"
"Well," Daphne muttered, "Winky caught us in the act; she just apparated in."
Here, Harry couldn't help himself and chortled out loud. "She saw more of me than you, dear. It was my hairy arse that she saw, and only your beautiful legs wrapped around my lower back.
"Besides," Harry said as they stepped onto the first floor's landing where he kissed Daphne on the temple, "I don't think she noticed a thing. What was it she said? 'I'll be taking Master and Mistress's clothes to the laundry,' and 'Kreacher bes finishing breakfast?'"
"It was still embarrassing, Harry," Daphne said with a pout, "and we had both just reached our climax! Why, I was still shouting out in pleasure, for Merlin's sake!"
"Aargh, Mrs. Purity, tha' ye was," Harry said while mocking Long John again, "and this ol' pirate loved every minute of it when he was plunderin' ye hold."
Daphne couldn't help herself and snorted as she gave Harry's shoulder a light slap. "Hush, you!"
"Hmmm," Harry replied as they stepped from the last step into the entry hall, "that gives me an idea."
"What?" Daphne inquired.
"Oh, uh, something about our work at the Ministry, dear. Nothing to concern yourself with. Now, let's have a good breakfast, and we'll floo over to your parents to meet up with everyone before the train, yea?"
At Daphne's nod, the two headed into the kitchen.
"Daphne, Astoria, please take care of yourselves," Helen said as she hugged both, and then sniffed while wiping her tears away on the platform.
"Don't worry about them on the train, Helen," said Harry as he took his wife's hand, "I'll be riding with them all the way."
"You're a good son-in-law, Harry," Helen said with another sniff as Cyrus wrapped his arm around her.
"Protect them, Harry," Cyrus said.
"With my life, Cyrus," Harry replied. "Oh, look, here comes the Davises."
After the hellos and goodbyes with the Davises, Harry levitated Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey's trunks onto the train, where they found a compartment in the carriage next to the last. They hadn't been sitting very long, when the Weasleys appeared on the platform, along with Hermione, just as the warning whistle blew.
"Remember what you said you would do, love," Daphne said.
Harry glanced out the window at Hermione and gave out a long sigh. "I'm not going to enjoy this."
"Not going to enjoy what?" Tracey asked as Astoria lifted an inquisitive eyebrow.
"I promised Daph that I would have a long talk with Hermione," Harry said as he noticed Ron, Hermione, and Ginny making their way toward the carriage in front of them.
"Oh," Tracey muttered, "I do pity you, then."
Here, Harry gave Daphne a quick peck on the lips and stood where he withdrew his invisibility cloak.
"What's that for?" Daphne asked.
"Why, for you, dear," Harry replied as he handed his wife the cloak. "If you feel that something is off, I want you three to huddle under this, and make sure that it covers you. Then, draw your wands.
"Also, your watch, sweetheart, is charmed to contact me. Just place your index finger on its crystal, call out my name, and my ring will let me know to come. Now, I'm off to find those two."
"Be careful, honey," Daphne said as Harry made his way to the compartment's door.
"I will." Of course, Harry didn't fear anyone on the train, to be honest.
Just as Harry closed the compartment's door behind him, the train gave out the last whistle and gave a lurch, which caused Harry to have to grasp the long brass handrail along the corridor. Even though the three boarded the carriage in front of them, that didn't mean they sat there, but he knew that they hadn't passed their compartment.
Here, Harry started making his way down the corridor as the train rocked and built up speed, where he looked into every compartment through their door's window. He noticed several people in their compartments, who he gave a nod to, such as Blaise and the Carrow twins, who always said "Hello Harry" in unison, and in a melodious voice similar to the twin speak of Fred and George.
In the last compartment, he saw Ernie and Anthony, so he knocked up their door, and when Ernie motioned for him to enter, he slid the door open.
"Hello, ol' chap," Ernie said as he shook Harry's hand.
"What he said," mumbled Anthony, who had his nose buried in a history book before looking up. "Ah, caught up on your tan, I see."
"Yup," Harry replied with a bright smile. "Er, uh, listen, guys, I'm going to ride to Hogwarts with Daph, Astoria, and Tracey, but first, I'm heading to the next carriage to speak with Ron and Hermione. If, er, anything seems amiss, or if you hear a commotion, do check on the girls, yea? They're five compartments back."
"We will," Ernie said, "but Ron and Hermione have prefect duty, and so do I. I was just getting ready to head to the prefect's compartment."
"Well, come on then, and maybe I can catch them," Harry said before stepping back out into the corridor, where Ernie followed him.
They opened the door at the end and stepped through the short flexible gangway that sat above the couplers, where they opened the next and started making their way down the corridor while looking in the windows. Sure enough, about mid-way down, they found Ron and Hermione just standing up, where Neville and Luna were sitting with them.
"Here we are, ol' boy," Ernie said before sliding open the door and spooking both Ron and Hermione in the process.
"Ernie?" Hermione questioned.
"Hello, you lot," Ernie replied jovially before stepping inside, where they noticed Harry dressed in a black wool three-piece suit, and wearing a black wool trench coat, who entered behind him.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled before plowing into him and hugging him so hard he couldn't breathe.
When she let loose, Harry looked at everyone in the compartment.
"'Lo Ron," Harry said as he shook his hand, and "good day, mate," he said to Neville before shaking his hand as well.
"Hello, Luna, dear," Harry said as he bent over to give the slight blond witch a quick hug.
Once the pleasantries were through, Harry looked at his old friends. "I, er, forgot about you two being prefects until Ernie reminded me, so I hurried up here to tell you to join Daph, Astoria, Tracey, and I after your meeting. We'd like to speak with you."
"We will," Hermione said as she rushed out the door, "but we're about to be late. You two," she said while pointing at both Ron and Ernie, "come on before they start without us."
As Ernie followed Ron out the door, he conspiratorially whispered to Harry, "One could only hope."
This made Harry bellow out with a laugh before he took a seat as the door closed.
"Well, Neville," Harry said, "you look well."
Daphne and the other witches were reminiscing about their Barbados trip when something felt off to Daphne, and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Here, she whipped out Harry's cloak and motioned for Astoria and Tracey to squat low on the floor by the compartment's outer window, where she threw the cloak over them and disappeared.
"Wands out, witches," Daphne muttered as she made her finger ready over her watch. She had already locked and warded the door beforehand.
They stared at the door's window for what seemed like a few minutes before Flint's face came into view. He scanned their compartment over from the door's window, where he caught sight of their trunks resting overhead, which made him smile with a mouth full of crooked teeth. He tried to open the door but found it locked, though both Daphne and Astoria caught Marcus' surface thoughts before he left, and they were about molesting Daphne.
"Harry," Daphne said in a faint whisper after placing her finger on her watch.
Could Marcus be marked, Daphne wondered? She wouldn't doubt it.
"...And Daddy and I came back from Sweden just yesterday," Luna finished.
"So," Harry seriously asked, or as seriously as he could, and politely, "you found no Crumple-Horned Snorkacks while there?"
"No," Luna pouted, and then began reading her Quibbler, again, upside down, "but he and I did have a lot of fun searching for them."
"Well," Neville, who replied like a proper gentleman, said, "that made the trip well worthwhile, didn't it?"
Just as Harry started to ask another question in the same manner, his ring gave his finger a tingling sensation, which caused him to leap to his feet.
"I gotta go," Harry said as he quickly slid the compartment's door open, though Neville quickly stood to follow him.
"What's wrong?" Neville questioned as he followed Harry down the corridor at a fast pace.
"Daphne just called for me on my ring, which means something's up." Just as Harry stated this, he quickly made his way to the door leading to the other carriage, which suddenly opened, where Marcus Flint stepped out while muttering about getting into a witch's knickers before he left school.
"Potter," Marcus said with a sneer, "what are you doing on this train?"
"That is none of your concern, Flint, but one has to wonder," Harry snarked back, "why you are on it at your age?"
Marcus turned red at this and pushed Harry back against the corridor's wall with his right arm as Neville pulled his wand, which Flint ignored before he started to get in Harry's face. That was his big mistake.
Harry, as quick as lightning, grabbed Flint's little finger with his left hand, which he bent back at a severe angle, and then brought his fist down on Flint's right elbow making him cry out and fall to his knees. Neville lowered his wand and gawked at the scene.
Next, Harry quickly wrapped one hand around Flint's wrist, which he twisted, and then clamped his other hand around that, where he used both thumbs to bend Flint's wrist back, making him cry out again.
"Now, Flint," Harry growled out, "I could easily break your wrist right now," and here Harry gave it a good torquing, making Flint cry out, again. "First, because you dared to assault me, and second, I overheard you muttering something about getting into some witches' knickers before you leave Hogwarts.
"Now, I'm going to give you a warning, Flint," Harry said before torquing his wrist, again, "if I hear of you bothering my wife, my sister-in-law, or their cousin, Tracey, I'll come hunting for you, and you will find out why Voldemort fears me. Now, do I make myself clear?"
This time, Harry twisted his entire arm behind his back, making him beg.
"Answer me, Flint!"
"YES!" Flint shouted in a very high-pitched scream, which caused several to look out of their compartment doors at the scene. Harry noticed Marcus' teeth, which looked like a poorly made foot bridge, with the planks laying in every direction. Damn, didn't they ever try to have them straightened, he wondered? Madam Pomfrey did his teeth long ago.
"My wife has already warned me about how you've been grabby around her, and I warn you, now, that I've trained Daph to defend herself, but I'll also come calling as well, if she has to act, and believe me, you do not want that to happen."
Finally, Harry gave his entire arm a rather harsh torquing twist before dropping it, where he kicked the larger boy square on the bum with the sole of his polished oxford, which sent him sprawling out onto the floor of the corridor with a loud crash.
"Come on, Neville," Harry growled out before opening the carriage's door. Neville merely nodded, but he did smirk at the writhing and held-back Slytherin still on the floor, who was now babying his arm and wrist while glaring at Harry.
Harry made it back to their carriage where he noticed the wards. "Honey," Harry said loudly, "I'm home!" This made Neville snort and chortle out loud.
"Good one, mate," Neville said, and patted Harry on the shoulder.
Harry and Neville watched as Daphne withdrew her wand, and waved it about several times at the compartment's door, where Harry slid it open after it was unlocked.
"I've brought company, ladies," Harry remarked, "I hope you don't mind. Everyone, this is an old friend of mine, Neville Longbottom."
"Hello, Neville," both Daphne and Astoria said with a nod, but Tracey almost purred out the young wizard's name, and gave him a coy look, which made Neville blush.
"Have a seat, Nev," Harry said as he sat down beside Daphne, where Astoria was to his right, and Daphne to his left by the outer window. This left Neville sitting beside Tracey and across from them, where Tracey gave Neville a soft smile as she batted her eyelashes at him and scooted a little closer.
Harry and Daphne raised their right eyebrows up at the same time and gave each other a look, but Astoria snorted at Tracey's antics.
"Heir Longbottom," Astoria said, "I believe my cousin would like to get to know you better, wouldn't you, Tracey?"
When Tracey started spluttering, Harry nor Daphne could hold it in, so they both chortled out loud.
"Tracey's a fine witch, Nev," Harry finally said, "and it wouldn't hurt for you two to get to know each other more since Daph and I think you'd make a nice couple."
"Really, er, Harry," Neville said, who was now blushing and not looking at anyone in the compartment, "I've not really thought about speaking with any girls just yet."
"Neville," Daphne said, "we're in our sixth year, and I can tell you that Tracey has asked about you before."
"DAPHNE!" Tracey shouted, who was now highly embarrassed and scandalized.
"You did tell me something about that," Harry commented as he wrapped his arm around Daphne, and kissed her cheek.
"You lot are just too much," Astoria said with a huff and stood. "I'm going to find Michelle and visit with her. See you lot in a bit."
Before Astoria could make it out of the door, though, Harry spoke up. "Hey, Astoria, watch out for Marcus Flint, yea? I just had a slight altercation with him in the next carriage."
"Slight?" Neville questioned. "You almost ripped his bloody arm off, mate!"
"Yes," said Harry, "and he'll learn to never lay a hand on me again. Watch yourself around him, Astoria."
"I will, big brother dearest," Astoria said with a smirk before she left. She knew what kind of a wizard Flint was, and she would curse him if she had to.
"Now, honey," Harry asked, "why did you summon me? Was it Flint?"
Daphne nodded as she, along with Tracey, began telling Harry and Neville about what happened. Just as they finished, Luna joined them.
"Where are they?" Hermione wondered as they looked inside their compartment. Even Luna was gone.
"Luna is probably sitting with Ginny and her lot," Ron dismissively said. "Besides, we've got prefect's duty in the corridors."
"Yes, yes," Hermione said with a harumph. "Come on, then, they're in the next carriage."
"What was that about Flint?"
"I'm not sure," Hermione said, "but one of the 7th years was casting healing spells on his right arm."
It wasn't long before the two made their way to the next carriage, where Hermione stopped dead, and looked inside the fifth compartment down. What she saw, floored her, as there was Harry, Daphne, Tracey, Neville, and Luna all laughing about something Harry had said.
When Hermione slid the compartment door open, Harry kept going.
"...He said, he said..., she farted!" Here, everyone began laughing out loud, again.
"You know how all those old uppity witches are," Harry said, "what with their noses in the air as if they've smelled something foul. Well, I'm wondering if their husbands like giving them the Dirty Sanchez."
"Oh, no, Harry," Daphne said in an appalled but amused manner, "not that."
"What's that, Harry," Luna just had to ask.
"Well, you see," Harry said in a very conspiratorial manner as if he was revealing a huge state secret, "when their husbands are giving it to them from behind, the husband, see, sticks a finger up their wife's bum, and when they're ready to blow, they yank their finger out, and wipe it under their wife's nose!"
Both Tracey and Luna cackled out loud at that, and Neville chortled, though he was slightly embarrassed. Daphne, and though she snorted, whacked Harry lightly on the shoulder. "Harry, surely, you didn't have to tell her about that. By the way, Harry and I have never done that, and I'd curse him if he tried it!"
"Well, honey, those prudish witches do act that way!" Harry said in self-defense.
"Harry James Potter," Hermione scolded with her hands on her hips, "if you were a student, I'd give you a detention over that!"
Harry, who had just noticed the two, looked past Hermione, where Ron looked a little green over the subject at hand.
"It's just a joke, Hermione," Harry said, "and some of these old witches do act that way. Why, it makes one wonder what they get up to in their boudoirs!"
This, of course, caused Tracey and Luna to cackle out with more laughter, and Daphne did her best to hold hers in but failed.
"One wonders if they ever wash their upper lip!" Luna chimed in, and this made all of them laugh, except Hermione. She could not fathom how much Harry had changed, and she blamed Daphne for that. Plus, they were now corrupting poor Neville and Luna with tales of debauchery.
Ron, though, just shook his head, as this wasn't anything that Seamus and Dean hadn't spoken of before in their dorm, nor Fred and George.
"Come on, Ron," Hermione huffed, "we have patrol."
"Hey, Ron," Harry said as he quickly stood, "could you do me a favor, and watch over these fine witches with Neville for me? I'll do your patrol, and I'd like a prefect in here."
"Why sure, mate," Ron said, surprising Hermione as he sat down beside Neville. He did want to get something to eat off the trolley after all.
"You're not a student any longer," Hermione pointed out to Harry.
Harry, however, pulled out a thin leather billfold from inside his jacket, which he flipped open to show a badge. "I am an officer of our Wizengamot, Hermione, and I head the War Committee. I have the power to arrest and detain someone if need be."
Hermione gawked at the badge for a moment before she sniffed, and then left the compartment.
"I'll be back at the end of our first patrol," Harry said as he left as well.
Daphne pursed her lips since she knew that this talk would be a tough one.
As Harry and Hermione made their way toward the end carriage, where the Slytherins generally set, He wondered what happened to Flint.
"Er, Hermione, you didn't see Marcus Flint on the way back from your prefects meeting anywhere, did you?"
Hermione stopped and studied Harry for a moment.
"Ron and I did, Harry. What's this about, as Flint was having his right arm looked at by another seventh-year in Ravenclaw?"
"Oh, that arm was my doing," Harry replied as he started walking, making Hermione follow him. "He had the audacity to assault me in the corridor, and I roughed him up a bit."
"Assault you!" Hermione exclaimed. "He needs a detention, then, but Harry, you're no longer a student and could get in trouble over this."
"Hermione," Harry replied, "with the dark times we're in, I could have cut the man's head off, and I'd get by with it, though I'd never take it that far."
"Dark times? Harry," Hermione said in a highly pitched voice, "it seems as if nothing is happening!"
"Oh, they are, but Rufus and I keep a lid on it," Harry said at the end of the corridor. "Nothing bad, mind you, like hiding magical's deaths, but what we do to control Tom's lot is kept very quiet."
"But Harry," Hermione complained, "the public has a right to know!"
"No, Hermione," Harry replied, "quite frankly, they don't. His sympathizers read the papers and can carry back things they learn of. Plus, even though we did a cleanout at the ministry, we know that they're still some inside that we've missed. Those that know everything are only a small handful of witches and wizards."
"Like Neville's Gran?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Harry said, "and I'm sure that he's told you that she will not tell him anything."
Hermione huffed.
"My dear wife, though a Slytherin in nature, doesn't know everything, either," Harry said.
"Slytherins!" Hermione spat.
"Hermione," Harry asked as they were making their way down the last carriage, where Hermione noticed Harry nodding greetings at a few Slytherins, "why do you hate the Slytherins so? I don't; only those that have done me wrong."
"Harry, you've changed! I know that you used to hate all Slytherins!"
"No, Hermione, I did not," Harry replied. "Several have been very kind to me from the other years, where even Terence Higgs, their old seeker, is a good friend of mine who I just gave a nod to. I never hated him, nor several on their team; just a few. As a matter of fact, Cyrus and I are going on a hunting trip with Minister Scrimgeour and Bertie Higgs, and Terence will be there. Terence and I are both looking forward to it, as we've not been able to speak in a while.
"Plus, Daphne and I became close friends with Professor Slughorn, and he is the head of Slytherin House. He is also a pureblood, Hermione, and was a Slytherin, himself. I'm sure that you've noticed, he's not Snape, and he's unbiased with the houses. My goodness, mum was his favorite student!"
"Yes," Hermione argued, "but your wife and her best friend used to run with Parkinson!"
"Run with?" Harry questioned, and then stopped to stare at his friend. "More like traveled with, because they were witches in the same house and year. Guilt by association is not a good thing to use, Hermione.
"I've never seen my wife, nor her cousin, say one cross word to you nor the Weasleys. So, why do you seem to dislike them so much? Pansy and Millicent, yea, but not Daph and Tracey. Pansy was a follower of the Malfoys because her family wished them to wed. Two peas from the same pod, those two."
"Harry," Hermione said in a high-pitched and nasally sort of voice, "you can't expect me to believe that you fell in love with a witch after a betrothal contract!"
"Ah, I see," Harry muttered and shook his head. "The contract has nothing to do with what I and my wife actually feel for each other. No, when we first met, she was rather cool with me, but we sat down and talked. Plus, Cyrus and I changed many of the terms in that contract to Daphne and I's liking.
"Do you know why my wife was always cold and aloof with people?"
"Because she is a pureblood!" Hermione shouted.
Harry sadly shook his head. "No, Hermione, it was because of two factors. First, her family is wealthy, and the other families wished to marry into that, and secondly, since Daph started at Hogwarts, and because of her looks, almost every male student has made a pass at her and even groped her. That's what turned her that way, and I'm happy to say that she dropped that act after meeting me. I didn't want that from her, which is why she fell for me, and something similar was why I fell head-over-heels for her. We wanted very similar things.
"She doesn't want the 'Savior' or the 'Chosen One,' which are all myths that many believe and act on, she just wants me, Harry. She and I became very close, to where she not only became my best friend but the love of my life. That was why she wanted a permanent marriage bond, which we had. We can't divorce, and neither of us wants to. She, and her family, also accepted me, Hermione, with all of my baggage, and that's a lot to ask. Marrying her, after all the shite that I've been put through, was the best day of my miserable life.
"The Greengrasses and Davises are good People, Hermione, but yet, they're both Slytherins and purebloods."
"But, Harry..." Hermione started.
"Let's head back toward the front, yea?"
As Harry started making his way forward, Hermione had to catch up.
"I know things, Hermione, many very confidential things about many magicals, and I can tell you this; they're not as you see them or think them to be.
"What's in our history books is what the ministry has approved of. Dear old Bathilda wasn't allowed to publish everything, and this I know of as fact."
"You speak as if you know her," Hermione huffed.
"I do, Hermione, since she's an old family friend who not only helped mum with me but told mum about many hard truths in our world that weren't published. She was one of only a few that knew the Fidelius secret for our home at Godric's Hollow. My goodness, she lives just a few houses away!"
"You've met her?"
"Well, of course, Hermione," Harry replied, "and I help take care of her, just as she used to help with me. She's very old now, and her mind is starting to slip, so Daphne and I buy her potions to help with that. She's a dear friend to both of us."
"Well, you've never said..."
"Hermione," Harry stated, "my wife and I have our own private life, which we don't talk about. My goodness, we have a huge family, which is tied to Ernie and Anthony, as well as the Scamanders, and we have many friends, pureblood and not, from every Hogwarts house!
"The Hogwarts houses mean nothing, Hermione, but a place to study, rest, and lay your head. They mean nothing once you leave school. Haven't you heard what the Sorting Hat has been trying to relay to us for years?
"My goodness, I was supposed to be a Slytherin, myself, and if it hadn't been for Malfoy, I would have had!"
"WHAT?"
"Hermione," Harry explained, "during my sorting, the hat tried to advise me about how well I would do in Slytherin, even though I was thinking 'not Slytherin' over Malfoy. It said, 'Hmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?' Here, I started thinking, 'not Slytherin,' where it replied, 'You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Well, if you're sure – better be Gryffindor!'
"In my second year, it told me, in the Headmaster's Office, 'You've been wondering whether I put you in the right House. Yes... you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said before — you would have done well in Slytherin.' I actually had the good traits of several houses, but Slytherin stood out because I wanted to prove myself and be a winner."
"It wanted me in Ravenclaw," Hermione muttered out humbly, "but I asked for Gryffindor because you and Ron accepted me on the train."
"Hermione," Harry said as they made their way into the first carriage, "your problem is, you try a little too hard to prove yourself, and you bring with you many muggle beliefs. The purebloods and wizard-borns see you as a threat since they have a different culture. Dumbledore was this way."
Here, Hermione started to interrupt, but Harry held up his hand, silencing her.
"Dumbledore is not who he's made out to be by many, Hermione, which he admitted to me after I found out his family's history. We do still talk, you know."
"What family history?" Hermione demanded.
"That's his private life, Hermione, and it's up to him, or his brother, to speak of it. Let's just say that he's not as light as you think."
"Brother?"
"Yes," Harry replied, "his brother, Aberforth, who owns the Hog's Head Inn and pub."
"I had heard rumors...," Hermione muttered.
"Well," Harry replied, "some of them were probably true. My mum was sure surprised when she heard the entire sordid tale from Bathilda, who knew the Dumbledores very well."
"So that's who told you!"
"Hermione," Harry said, "everyone at Godric's Hollow knows, and so do many others, but they don't speak of it. I do go back to Godric's Hollow occasionally since I do represent them, and Bath, at the Wizengamot."
"Oh," muttered Hermione.
"I'm going to give you a piece of advice, Hermione, about the wizarding world, everywhere. Don't try to show them up, and don't try to inject muggle ideas into the wizarding society, because there's too much bad blood between them since the burnings. Plus, many of the once wealthy purebloods lost all their financial resources after the Statute of Secrecy, in the muggle world, and have been living off of what was in their vaults, which is why many once wealthy families had to seek other employment. Many are almost broke. Do it for the peace in our society if nothing else."
"But Harry, they're so backward!"
"Are they, now?" Harry questioned. "I don't think so, because having magic makes this culture completely different than the muggle's. When we came into this world, it's the same as an immigrant arriving from another nation, and demanding that Britain change its culture to suit them. That has never worked anywhere it's been tried, and it leads to war, Hermione."
Here, Harry spotted Flint in one of the front compartments, and he was leaning on the outer window, asleep.
"It's time we get back," said Harry, who turned back down the corridor, "as I promised to ride with my wife and sister-in-law in case anything nefarious occurred."
At Hermione's nod, the two made their way back to Harry and Daphne's carriage.
A/N: I tried to have this ready for yesterday, but I wanted to tweak Harry and Hermione's conversation a bit more.