As a reminder, you can find MORE of this on my SubStar (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted up past chapter 110 there... And if you guys haven't seen an update in at least a week, please let me know! I have a busy life, and I get distracted and forget things. This story(as well as ZpoW and PTaL) are supposed to be updated WEEKLY!

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A NOTE: There's 14 chapters left in FwB part one (Friends with Benefits). Rest assured, however, there IS PLENTY MORE. FwB2 (Family with Benefits) is past Ch. 20.

Chap. 97: King's Cross

Harry, like most of the students, kept a wary eye on his surroundings as he disembarked from the Hogwarts Express. Even the first years, who had only known two instances of Voldemort's insanity, were watchful and wary. There was good reason to be cautious, he knew, but Harry personally thought that Voldemort would be laying low for a time. The students, and even the public in general, had already proven they were now ready to stand and fight the next time he or his flunkies decided to do something stupid.

All the same, he kept his eyes moving over the crowd, thankfully a little easier since he seemed to have hit a second growth spurt during the year and now stood above at least two thirds of them. But there were no Giants, no Death Eaters, and no strange, singularity-causing magical phenomena, as Hermione had described the green spell that had opened the attack over the Christmas holidays.

Instead, though his cotierre were at the center of an unofficial, undiscussed phalanx of students more than ready to dispense violence if any such threats appeared, most of the crowd at King's Cross was, if a little tense, jovial and happy.

Harry could count the number of faces who weren't smiling, out of a crowd of at least three hundred people packing the platform, on his two hands. One by one, or even by the dozen, people he knew by sight or name or, occasionally, both left with their parents, family friends, or other relatives. The Creeveys, McLaggen (still a little glassy-eyed and behaving strangely from Lilith renewing his status as her Thrall that morning), Megan Jones, Antony Goldstein, and dozens of others made their way out into the Muggle side of the Station, used the bank of Floo fireplaces, or simply Apparated home.

There were a few who hit closer to home. First among them were Lavender Brown's parents, who gave Harry several highly critical looks as the pretty blonde pressed a long kiss to his mouth before leaving the group to join her relatives. The last thing she said to him as she left was spoken quietly, just audible as she held him close, "Write me... I'm going to need you long before the summer's out, Master."

"Count on it," Harry replied, leaning in for a quick, slightly more chaste last kiss before she skipped off, her trunk in tow, with a final wave toward the Patils.

Padma and Parvati were picked up by a shrewd-looking, tiny woman with skin the exact shade of brown of her daughters, and more than a few remnants of their beauty lingering in her own face and figure, though Harry thought Mrs. Patil must have been three decades or more older than her twins. That was not a quiet meeting either, though it was brief enough. Mrs. Patil had taken one look at her daughters as they hugged Harry, Hermione, and a few others of the group, then marched her way toward him.

Something in the tiny woman's posture and body language convinced even Ron and Neville to step aside, though Harry would have let her through anyway, "Mr. Harry Potter," the woman began, her voice cutting through the noise though she was not speaking loudly. It was a rich contralto, a little higher than Parvati's or Padma's, but reminiscent of them still.

"Mrs. Patil...?"

She nodded curtly, glancing to her left at her daughters for a moment, then back at Harry. She stared for several seconds while his anxiety rose. "Mother," Parvati began to complain, but was silenced by her mother raising a single finger upward.

When Mrs. Patil spoke again, she was oddly polite despite the measuring, judging gaze she kept locked on him as she gave a short, almost Victorian-age curtsey, "We, my husband's family, will have you for tea during the summer, yes? It appears we have things to discuss."

"Mother!" Padma cried, far more shrilly than her sister had tried.

Mrs. Patil reacted in exactly the same way, though this time she also glanced back toward her daughters for a moment. "Be silent, Padma. This is for your benefit."

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly, and he risked looking away from Mrs. Patil toward the twins themselves. Both looked mortified, and the shout had drawn even more attention their way, but most of Harry's group seemed more amused than anything else. Hermione was the only other one who looked a bit offended, possibly because her own parents were not far off, clearly watching too as they made their way closer. He couldn't read anything else from them, though, not with the chaos of mostly-happy emotions around him. Even Lilith, still in her appearance as Lyra Sendai despite most people now knowing there was a Succubus in his circle of friends, was closed off and unreadable.

But Mrs. Patil was not. She was guarded, but that was the emotion she was feeling. Questioning, but not hostile. Wondering, but not annoyed, frustrated, angry, or any other emotion that might cause his own guard to come up. She was... almost forcibly neutral, as if the woman was doing everything in her power not to exercise prejudice in some form.

So he smiled, gave her a probably deeper-than-necessary bow of his own, if a little clumsily, then reached for her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles, "Mrs. Patil, it's a pleasure to meet you at last. Your daughters both speak quite highly of you, but they've never mentioned your beauty. Now I see where they get it from!"

Ron coughed, and Harry glanced over Mrs. Patil's suddenly blushing face to see him turning red with barely restrained laughter. Perhaps he was laying it on a bit thick, but it seemed to be working, for the tiny woman was indeed blushing, and seemed quite surprised by the continued, "Of course, I'd be delighted to dine with you, or simply have afternoon tea if you prefer, whenever you wish. You and your husband are, of course, more than welcome at my home as well. In fact, I'd like to formally invite you. Why don't you, and your daughters as well of course, visit on the thirty-first of July? If you would prefer a more formal meeting before that party, I would gladly set one up. Your daughters know my owl, Hedwig, quite well and she would be overjoyed to relay a message."

"She's such a pretty owl, Mother," Parvati gushed quietly, oddly restrained for her given what Harry knew of her love for his familiar, "A beautiful Snowy. It's almost a pity Harry always sends her ahead."

"Harry," Hermione suddenly hissed, "You do know what she's asking you to visit for...?"

"I dare say I worked it out, Hermione, thank you," Harry replied, keeping a smile on his face even if he was incredibly nervous, "But this summer's as good a time as any to have that discussion, isn't it?"

"W- Well, I suppose," the bookworm answered, and uncharacteristically stayed silent on the matter after that. At least, for now.

Harry turned his attention back to the mother of his would-be lovers, "Of course, I'll do my best to make myself available whenever you and your husband choose, but it would probably be best to coordinate via owl, or perhaps Floo, at least a week in advance. I think I'm going to be rather busy this summer, given... well, everything that's going on."

Mrs. Patil seemed once again a little off-balance at the shift in topic, but she nodded after a moment, "That would be acceptable. Thank you for agreeing to visit with us, Mr. Potter. Go- Good afternoon. Girls, we should go. Your grandparents are visiting, but will need to leave this evening to return home."

"Nana?" Both twins gasped, their countenances lighting up. Parvati was the first to give Harry a hug goodbye, but it was Padma who, leaning up on her toes, whispered in his ear, "Nana's the only one who knows about Parv and I... so I'm sure she'll want some details. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," he laughed quietly, "Your mother's terrifying."

"Only sometimes," Padma replied back, more openly, no doubt to be sure her mother heard, "But if you think she's scary, wait until you see Nana upset. Bye, Harry! By Hermione, Lyra, Luna! Bye everyone else!"

For a moment, Harry expected Amelia Bones to be next, since Susan was looking not just antsy, but clearly fighting back tears as she stood near the edge of the group. However, it was Hannah's parents and Neville's grandmother who came next, the older witch wearing her familiar stuffed-vulture cap. While they were saying a round of goodbyes with hugs as well, Luna's father came to collect her with a wavery smile and a nod in Harry's direction, too. Once Hannah had gotten her good-byes from her friends in Hufflepuff and Harry's group, the blonde gathered up Susan's trunk and passed her own to her father, then took her friend's hand and led her away as well, doing her best to ignore Susan's tears.

Harry felt for her, but he knew there was nothing to be done about it yet. No doubt, Madame Bones had made arrangements for Susan if she were ever killed in the line of duty, and it made sense that the Abbotts, Susan's best friend's parents, would be the ones to take her in for the next months until her birthday. She left with a last look back not at the group, but at Harry himself, a note he had passed her clutched tightly in one hand. He knew Susan wouldn't have had a chance to read it, short though it was, but he knew it would be a lifeline. Its contents were simple: We care. I care. We'll all be there for you if you need us, especially Hannah and myself, but the others, too. This is where I live, now. You and Hannah are welcome any time - I mean any time - and if there's need, you can bring her whole family.

It had ended with his Muggle street address, and the Floo address Fleur had sent him after the service had been connected: The Crockery.

He appreciated the subtle play on words a lot more than The Doghouse, Sirius', place. It was, at least, up there with the Bones' residence, which he thought was named The Ossuary. As Hannah, Neville, and Susan left, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, and George appeared, late as always and laughing about it in the case of two out of the three. Before too long, Ginny and Ron were leaving too, the latter with a last hug and kiss from Hermione, and the former with a long set of both from Harry. More strange was the almost lost-looking Katie Bell as she was led along by Molly Weasley, "Write or Floo as early as tomorrow," Harry told his Pet quietly, "we might be able to have you - either all of you or just you and Ron for now - over to my new place. I'll be staying at Sirius' tonight to catch up, but by about ten I think we'll be at The Crockery."

"Alright, Harry," Ginny told him, then snuck one last kiss that made his toes curl and her mother blush. That might also have been the rather blunt cat-calling from Fred and George, though.

Just after that, Molly turned to Katie and said, "Well, dear? Shall we get going?"

"Er... What?"

"You're coming with us, at least for the night," Mrs. Weasley told the baffled girl, "Fred and George have something planned for you. A graduation present for the last of their Quidditch teammates."

"Mum, you weren't-" Fred started.

George finished, "-supposed to spoil it!"

"What'm I, the next door neighbor?" Harry laughed, turning one of the twins' jokes back on themselves, "Didn't we play together for four and, what, a quarter seasons?"

"Aww, Ickle Harrikins," George laughed, ruffling his already-messy hair, though he had to reach fairly high to do so, "don't feel left out. You just aren't as pretty as Miss Bell."

She blushed, but turned to Harry, "Um...is it... alright?"

"Of course," he told her, pulling the older witch aside for a moment amid more cat-calls from the Twins, "Listen... don't let them or Angelina pressure you, okay? But if you want to- if you truly want to- spend some more quality time with them, know you have my blessing, alright? It might be good for you. But again, no pressure. Do what's right for you, Katie."

"Okay," she agreed quietly, then turned toward the Weasleys, "Alright, for one night, I s'pose. I don't want to impose any longer."

"Perfect," Molly smiled, "Arthur will be happy to see you again, too." A few moments later, they were gone.

Tracey and Pansy left together with Milly and Warrington, the taller girl trying hard to be stoic though Harry saw her send a wistful glance his way before she vanished into the Floo toward... wherever they would be staying. He doubted that any of them would be back to Millicent's actual house, a gift from her family, until after Voldemort's defeat. It was kind of a shame, he thought, the Bulstrodes were neither fabulously wealthy nor large, yet the house had been quite nice when he had visited with Astoria.

Astoria gave him a quick, red-faced hug as well as the tall man and curvy, pretty woman who could only be her and Daphne's parents approached next. Daphne herself made a bit of a show of shaking Harry's hand coolly instead, though she sent him a wink as her back faced her parents, and hissed, "This is just to throw them off. I'll miss you. Write soon."

"You too," he replied while shaking her hand.

Mr. Greengrass gave a nod to the rest of the small group, but actually had words for Harry, "Mr. Potter. I hope you considered my request...?"

"I did, Mr. Greengrass," Harry answered, but gestured toward the girls, "But I think you should get my answer from them. I hope you considered mine...?"

The man smiled, "I did. And if at all possible, I'll do what I can to see it done. It's an admirable goal... one that I wish my wife and I had seen the wisdom of before we started down a path we cannot easily leave."

Harry nodded gravely as the man rested his hand on the lower sleeve of his left arm, just above where he knew the Dark Mark must rest, "We can only try and move forward," he said, and was surprised himself at how much he meant it, considering he knew the man was Marked by his own admission, "I see the efforts you and your wife make to protect your family. As they become mine, I swear, I will do the same and more if I'm at all able."

Mrs. Greengrass' smile faltered a little as he said it, but he thought it was still quite genuine as she reached out to shake his hand as well.

Soon, they were gone, and it was just him, Lyra, Hermione, and her parents left. He swallowed as he remembered the second time he had met the couple. While the meeting over Christmas had been pleasant enough while it lasted, the time before that, he had shagged Hermione's mother in front of Dan and Hermione both.

Now she was pregnant. He knew the child wasn't his, and not just because of the Runes, but because the timing didn't add up, but Hermione's squeal made it clear why the pair had hung back until Platform 9 3/4 was nearly empty, "Ooh, I'm so excited, Mum!"

"Me too, dear," Mrs. Granger said with a smile as wide as her daughter's as she returned the tight hug, "Me too. Your father's terrified, of course, but he was with you too."

"I was not terrified," Mr. Granger protested, "I was merely concerned as to whether I was fit to be a parent. And judging by our daughter, I think I did a fine job!"

"That you did, dear," his wife teased as she broke the hug to pat his arm condescendingly, "and it was all down to you, too. I had nothing to do with it."

"You've both done a fine job so far," Hermione interrupted what was sure to be a scathing, witty retort if Harry's limited experience with the dentists had taught him anything about them, "but we should get going. We've a long drive, don't we?"

"Longer than you think," Mr. Granger told her, most but not all of the humor dropping from his voice, "We aren't going home tonight."

"We- we aren't?" Hermione asked, sending a glance to Harry that showed a bit of concern.

"We're going to visit Harry's Godfather," she explained, "He insisted, at least for the night. Seems like he doesn't want to deprive himself of Harry's company, or Harry of yours, little one."

"Mum," Hermione whined, "I haven't been your little one since I was thirteen."

"You'll always be her little one, darling," Mr. Granger teased too, "just like Harry here is now 'son'. I suppose that's still on, then...?"

Harry turned brilliant, burning scarlet as Hermione shouted, "Daddy!" loud enough to send pigeons over on the Muggle side of the station room into flight.

"Er, w- w-we haven't, um... d- discussed anything formal... s- Sir."

Mr. Granger's eyes narrowed, and even Mrs. Granger scowled, shushing her daughter's spluttering protests, "You mean to tell me," he started, "you've been shagging my daughter for more than a year, and haven't had the decency to even formalize your relationship?"

"Daddy, stop that, right now!" Hermione tried again, physically interposing herself between her parents and Harry.

But Harry understood, as he thought back to brief visions of the imagined future he might have with several of his lovers. The blush vanished, and he rested a hand on Hermione's shoulder, gently nudging her to the side, "It's alright, Hermione."

"It's not alright! They've got no right to interrogate you- interrogate us! I won't stand-"

"Hermione," Harry interrupted, turning her around with the second hand on her other shoulder to face him, "It's alright. Trust me. Trust your parents."

He watched as her furious brown eyes moved to him slowly from where she was still trying to glare daggers into her father, then as they softened. Finally, she relented, "Alright."

He smiled, and turned back to Mr. Granger, "I think I may have mis-spoke, or there may have been some miscommunication in some other way, Mr. Granger. I don't personally feel this is the best venue for this conversation, but let me lay your fears to rest. We actually have had a discussion of our future together, Hermione and I. Both formally and informally. We have not settled on a name for it. I have not issued a proposal, or even asked for her hand... yet. But you can rest assured, sir, that I love Hermione Granger very much, and I will not see her hurt. Not even by her own parents. You can also rest assured that our relationship is in a place we both want it to be, for now. When one of us wants something different, I believe both of us are secure enough, in ourselves and each other, to speak openly to each other about it.

"Right now, she is my girlfriend. Right now, she is also Ron Weasley's girlfriend. That may change... or it may not. Frankly, as she is now of the age of Majority in our world, it's not really your concern anymore... but I understand you are her parents, and I wouldn't want you cut from her life. The reason I have not done more to talk to her about it is because I don't want to force her to choose before she is ready, and come to regret that decision later. I won't ever make her choose. But I know Hermione well, and I know she would feel pressured to do so if I brought it up more than occasionally. When she's ready, we'll discuss it, and not a moment before. I hope- I believe- that she knows I am ready when she is."

The Grangers, and the few lingering parents and students that were left, were silent for a long time. Then Mr. Granger smiled, "Well said, Harry. I knew I liked you. Come on, Sirius is waiting. You and your, er, other friend might have to squeeze in tightly in the back of the SUV, but it should be comfortable enough all the same even with your trunks."

"Oh," Hermione blinked, seeming quite surprised by the sudden disappearance of any sort of anger or animosity either from her boyfriend or her father, "I am of age, now, so... Reducio."

With a tap and a word, all three of their trunks shrank to a fraction of their normal size, barely larger than a tackle box, "I think they'll fit in the boot well enough now, Daddy."

The Grangers were no longer strangers to magic, but seeing their daughter casually perform what many Muggles might consider an honest miracle still left them wide-eyed.

"Er, R- Right," Mrs. Granger murmured as she stared at the trio of boxes Lyra stacked into Harry's waiting arms with a smile, "Let's, er, go, then. Dan...? Are you coming?"

"One moment," the dentist replied, gesturing for her to go ahead, "You three go ahead. I need a quick word with Harry. Yes, Hermione, just a word. You'll get him back intact in just a minute."

"Go on," Harry told her with a chuckle as the girl sent him a worried look, "I'll be fine."

"Come on, dear," Mrs. Granger urged, "and you too, Miss... Sendai? Right?"

"For now," Lilith told her, "I might be someone different tomorrow. We'll have to see."

"R- Right. Succubus... I still can't believe all of that's real."

As the girls walked toward the barrier, they kept up a running conversation as Hermione explained some of what Lilith could do amid some demonstrations. Once they were out of earshot, Mr. Granger turned to Harry seriously, then said, "I hope you don't mind the test. I'm not normally the combative type, but when it comes to Hermione... I had to be sure you'd stand up for her."

Harry nodded, his expression just as grave as the father's, "It took me a moment to catch on, but I did by the time I took Hermione's shoulders. Sir, I..."

"You can call me Dan, son," the older man urged.

"Harry, then," he answered with a glance toward his girlfriend and Succubus, "I... I meant what I said. I will die before some asshole lays another hand on her, or casts to hurt her again. At least, if it's at all within my power."

"Was she... hurt, this year?" Dan asked.

Harry shook his head quickly, "No, thank Merlin. One... well, a few, of our friends were, but not Hermione. Not this year. And... well, can you keep a secret? Even from your wife and Hermione? It relates to your question."

"I suppose," the father answered carefully, "though I reserve the right to rescind that if I think it'll put any of my family in danger. That includes you."

Harry smiled at the not-so-subtle vote of confidence and approval, reveling in how warm it felt to be included in Hermione's family even by her parents, even if he privately wondered if that would continue if the man remembered what he'd done with his wife the previous summer, "About the... future. I have talked to Hermione. I want her to be the mother of... well, given my situation I hope you understand when I say this, but the mother of at least one of my children. I truly love her. I want to marry her. She... she isn't the only one I love. But I do love her."

"Youth," Dan Granger snorted, "Sometimes I envy it... but I do know you're more mature than most boys your age. So maybe you really are. I don't think I'm in your head, so I can't say accurately. Just don't break her heart, please?"

"Never."

"Good. Come on, son. We should get going, they'll start to think we're trying to dismember each other, instead of discussing things like civilized men."

"Probably," Harry laughed, "So, how long is the drive...?"

"Oh, about..."