A/N: (it's long and probably contains irrelevant information for most of you, but read it if you'd like!)
Hello readers! I've been reading your reviews and comments and decided I would address some things here.
Firstly, I would like to highlight the fact that I am writing this for my own amusement. I'm a fresh college student studying Music Education and like to write sometimes when I'm bored. If the story not being very authentically "British" or perfectly in line with canon bothers you, I'm sorry, but I am not British and I don't really have the time nor do I care enough to fact check everything I write for this story. It's fanfiction, it's not that serious I fear.
Secondly, as I said, I am a freshman in college in a degree program that is very demanding of my time. Updates will be, at best, irregular. This month should see several though, as we are on break :) I really like this story, and I really like writing, so I would love to be updating constantly, but that's just not feasible for me.
Lastly, I have several original works that are in progress. I wrote this story because I'm trying to determine if my writing style will be received well. I like my own writing of course, but I'm interested to know what others think. So, if anyone is interested in giving constructive criticism on that in particular, I would be incredibly grateful. I would love to publish an original work one day, but we'll just have to see how life goes I suppose.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I appreciate all of your lovely reviews!! Onto the story...
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The announcement of Nick and Elise's wedding was well received on all accounts. Though, to be fair, it hadn't come as a surprise to anyone. They had, after all, been together for the last five years. With a date saved for the winter of the coming year, Harry excitedly told anyone who would listen about it.
That's how they ended up in the situation they were currently in actually. Elise rubbed circles in her temples in an attempt to calm herself. Harry was excitedly telling the woman at the front desk of his new school about the wedding and Elise could not have been more embarrassed. Talking about it was fine she supposed, it was just that this was the fourth person he had stopped to tell this morning.
"And mummy said I get to be the ring bearer!" Harry finished his explanation with the usual announcement of his role in the wedding.
"Wonderful, Harry. Tell Miss Franklin good morning and we'll be on our way then, I'm sure she has lots of work to do." Elise said through gritted teeth.
"Oh…sorry Miss Franklin. Good morning!" Harry rushed past her through the office doors and into the main hallway.
"Good morning to you dear." She had called after him, shooting Elise a knowing smile.
"So sorry." Elise smiled back before hurrying after him.
It was the first day of term and Elise was not at all worried about how Harry would fare. Since she was a teacher here herself, she had started bringing him in to help her set up her classroom for the new year and he had grown quite accustomed to the building and its staff. There wasn't an adult on campus who didn't adore the boy, and he had put his connections to good use so far.
Even now, he rushed down the hall, waving to passing teachers and shouting greetings. Elise shook her head and followed. None of the other students would be arriving for another hour, and she planned to use this time to try and calm him down.
"Little man," She called once the door to her own classroom shut behind her. "Do you remember what we talked about last night?"
"I am to be on my best behavior all day today!" Harry parroted her instruction back to her.
"Right. And…?"
"I…can't be too excited, I need to take a breath." Harry decided after some thought. "It's okay to be excited as long as I am respectful."
Elise nodded and ruffled his hair, as unkempt as always. "Good." She considered him for a moment. "Remember to be careful about your magic too. A lot of your magic is still accidental, so we need to make sure we aren't acting rashly. As wonderful as your magic is, it's best kept a secret, right?" She poked his nose playfully.
Harry nodded, a wide smile on his face. "Mum, can you believe it? I get to see Hermione again!"
Elise laughed. "You know, I think I can. I mean, it's not like you haven't stopped talking about her for the past three weeks or anything."
Harry huffed, smiling good naturedly. "I haven't seen her since the library, and I have lots of questions I want to ask her!"
Elise had moved to her desk, taking time to set up her daily planner. She listened to him talk about a wide variety of things before deciding to walk down to his classroom for the official drop off. Through the halls they went, until they reached the one labeled "Kindergarten".
A woman at the entrance of the hall sat at a table with a stack of papers, she smiled brightly at Harry and beckoned him over. "Mister Clarke, are you ready for your first day?"
"Yes!" He said, clutching the straps of his backpack expectantly.
"Well, I'm glad. Here's your schedule, dear." She handed him a piece of paper with his name on it.
Harry glanced down at the sheet, reading its contents carefully. At the very top of the page in bolded ink was his teacher's name. "Mrs. Cooper" it said. Harry glanced down the hall, noticing the sign about halfway down with the matching name. He hurried there, peeking his head in to see the classroom.
"Hello!" Came a cheery sounding voice from inside.
Harry stepped in cautiously, looking at his new teacher. "Hello."
"What's your name, young man?" Mrs. Cooper asked, walking up and extending her hand out to him.
"Harry." He responded, looking at her hand questioningly.
"It's a handshake Harry, she'll show you how to do it properly if you hold out your hand." Elise said quietly.
He did so, and Mrs. Cooper gave him a gentle handshake before pointing him in the direction of his new seat. He followed her over to a table with four seats, each one with a colored name tag in front of it. He found his own name tag quickly and sat down.
Elise gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Alright, it's time for me to go. Have a good day little man!"
"Okay mummy, bye!" Harry waved, frowning slightly.
Mrs. Cooper had moved on to greet another student that walked in the door, and Harry had taken to looking around the room. Colorful posters with fun reminders of rules and expectations covered the walls, along with pictures of landscapes and animals. Harry was studying a painted image of a lion very closely when he heard his name again.
"Harry!" A high pitched squeal came from the door.
Harry glanced over to the voice, knowing immediately who it was. "Hermione!"
Sure enough, the small girl he'd met in the library was hurtling toward him, a brilliant smile on her face. Harry stood to intercept her, practically falling over when she hugged him.
Mrs. Cooper raised an eyebrow at the two, remembering only bits and pieces of a conversation with Elise about this girl. She had sat them together based on her request, and only time would tell if she would come to regret that decision.
"Hermione, let the poor boy go." Hermione's mother had walked in close behind her, shaking her head in mock disappointment.
"Sorry!" Hermione said, jumping back slightly.
"It's alright." Harry chuckled. "Where is your seat?"
"Right next to yours, silly! Look, the name tags even match colors." Hermione pointed at the table he was sitting at.
"Yay!" Harry smiled, sitting back in his chair. "I'm so excited to finally be in school now, I hope that one day I'll be as smart as you, Hermione."
Hermione giggled at that, sitting in her own seat. The two carried on conversation, waving off Hermione's parents after they had said their goodbyes.
As more and more students began trickling in, Harry and Hermione had become somewhat acquainted with the thirteen other children in their class. A boy with brown hair and dark eyes sat on Hermione's other side, next to a girl with black hair and amber eyes. The girl's name was Emily, and she was incredibly talkative. They listened as she told them about her morning in great detail.
The boy's name was Roger, and he had yet to say a word to any of them, despite being asked questions and prompted to join in on the conversation. Instead, he stared sullenly at the table and gave them strange glances.
As soon as the last student arrived, Mrs. Cooper began with an introduction. She told them her name and a few fun facts about herself, before asking each student to do the same.
"We won't be doing too much work, so don't worry about that; today is about learning who your classmates are." She had said.
The day had continued on with more activities of similar nature. They did crafts and read a story together, and soon it was time for lunch.
Lunchtime passed smoothly and they were given a 30 minute recess before they had to return. Harry found himself playing with chalk on the patio, Hermione by his side drawing pictures of flowers and animals. He drew a big red dragon, making sure to portray it breathing fire away from Hermione's drawings. He smiled at his work.
"Hey!" A voice called from nearby.
Harry looked up, dusting his hands off.
"Is that supposed to be a dragon?" A boy from another class stood above him, a frown on his face.
Harry noticed the boy was big for their age. He was quite a bit taller than the other kids, and chubbier too. He stalked closer to Harry when he didn't respond.
"It's ugly!" He dragged his foot on the ground, smearing the chalk.
"Hey- my dragon!" Harry said, looking back at the boy in confused offense.
"That was rude!" Hermione had stood up to stand behind Harry, her arms crossed over her chest.
Harry stood too, looking at the boy helplessly. "What did you do that for?"
The bigger boy looked between the two of them and rolled his eyes. He kicked the ground again, smearing the drawing even more, then stepped on the red chalk piece Harry had been using, smashing it to bits.
Harry glanced back at Hermione, moving to stand beside her. She shook her head and shrugged, she couldn't make sense of his behavior either.
"Your drawing was ugly, so I got rid of it." He spat, smirking at Harry.
"But…why?" Harry sighed. "I don't even know you."
"I'm Dudley. Dudley Dursley." He puffed his chest confidently as if that was supposed to mean something to them.
Hermione scoffed and turned to go back to her own drawing. Harry turned to follow her too, knowing the best course of action was just to ignore the bully.
Dudley didn't take this well. They were not reacting as they should. He had expected tears or a meltdown, something he could make fun of them for, and all he got was ignored.
"Maybe you can draw a green dragon over here." Her mind said, pointing to a space next to her drawing and a piece of green chalk nearby.
Heavy stomps made them pause to look back, Dudley was stalking towards them, his face red with anger. He got close and threw out his hands, pushing Hermione down hard.
She yelped as his hands made contact, flailing backwards. Harry threw out his hand to catch her, barely grabbing her wrist before she hit the ground.
"What is wrong with you?!" Harry exclaimed, looking at him incredulously.
Dudley just laughed, pointing at Hermione on the ground. "She screamed like a girl!"
Harry blinked. "She is a girl."
He frowned. "Well…I bet you scream like a girl too!"
Dudley threw out his arms again, aiming to push Harry this time. Harry saw it coming though, and stepped back, evading the attack. He pulled Hermione up quickly and started walking away from the situation.
"Let's tell Mrs. Cooper." Hermione said, wincing slightly.
"Alright." Harry sighed, walking faster as he heard the boy's footsteps behind them.
They saw her standing across the playground, holding a clipboard.
"Mrs. Cooper!" Harry called.
She turned at her name, seeing three kids walking toward her very quickly. "Yes, Harry?"
"Dudley pushed Hermione and she got hurt!" He said when they got close enough.
"That's not true!" Dudley scoffed, face perhaps even redder than before.
"Yes it is true, and you messed up Harry's drawing on purpose!" Hermione added.
The two kids started bickering, Dudley claiming innocence and Hermione demanding an apology for his behavior. Harry stood there, looking between Mrs. Cooper and them.
"Alright, alright children. It sounds like you all need a break." Mrs. Cooper sighed. "And perfect timing too, recess just ended."
She led them back inside, sending Dudley back to his class and asking Harry to lead the line back to the classroom. On his way back, he noticed Dudley in his own classroom, picking on a different kid. He sighed.
"That boy is going to cause lots of trouble." Hermione whispered. "We better avoid him."
Harry nodded. "I don't want to see him ever again. He pushed you over for no reason!"
Hermione hummed in agreement. "Some people just don't have manners it seems."
The two sat at their table once more, continuing on without issues for the rest of the day. And, by the time parents arrived to pick up their children, they had already forgotten about the incident.
Dudley hadn't though. As he climbed into his mum's car to leave, he caught them saying goodbye to each other. A frown etched its way into his face as he saw them hug. His mum was talking to him, but he wasn't listening, a decision was being made. He would get them back, one way or another.