Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Harry had been dropped off by the Dursleys at 9am. Mr. Dursley (He insisted on being called Mr. as he was not related to a freak!) told Harry he had arranged to move his London meetings to Sept 1, so as not to waste the petrol. However, that meant he had to drop Harry off at 9 to get to his first meeting on time.
Harry dragged his school dorm trunk to a cargo dolly and loaded it up, with Hedwig’s cage. Hedwig didn’t like being in the cage, but if the bobbies called Mr. Dursley about a ruckus at the station, it would mean another beating, and a special one at that. 'Platform, 7…8…9…10. Wait-a-minute! Where was platform 9 ¾?' Harry looked at the ticket again, sure it said 9 ¾. 'Well, I am really early, so I will wait here at this bench between 9 and 10 to see what happens.'
Around 9:30 another family came up. Many had come by, but most had no children his age, too many suitcases, or no children at all. Here now, was a girl his age, and also has a school dorm trunk. That may be the answer! He then watched as the girl looked around furtively and walked up to an ordinary brick wall a few feet away. She pushes on the wall walking along, until she finds a place where her hand sinks in. “Here it is!” she exclaimed.
The man pushed on the same spot and nothing. Solid brick. “Astonishing!” he said.
Harry took a long look at her. She was fair skinned, light complexioned, with the craziest nest of unruly hair Harry had ever seen on a girl without the notable kinky hair of African descent. Now that he thought about it, she was magical as the hair practically crackled with magic depending on her emotion. She also had the most striking and magnetic brown eyes, which lit up when she discovered something. By looking at her parents, they were professionals, upper middle-class, and she was dressed the same. She was walking along carrying the largest book Harry had ever seen and holding it like it was her most prized possession.
Taking a chance, Harry walked up to her. The girl looked at him with concern, but seeing the school trunk, and more importantly the owl in a cage, visibly relaxed. She quietly asked, in the most melodious voice Harry had ever heard, “Hogwarts?”
Harry with a big grin of relief, replied, “Hogwarts! Can I join you miss…”
Hermione then gasped, “Oh! Where are my manners.” She then shifted her book to her left hand while putting out her right for a shake like she was making a business deal. “Hermione Granger at your service!”
Harry still lost in her eyes and voice, replied bashfully, “Harry Potter, at your service!” While taking and shaking her hand.
At his name, Hermione’s eyes lit up again, “Harry Potter really? I have read ever so much about you! Did you know at least three text books I have read talk about you and what your parents did? They said you have been training for years already while living in a castle in Wales! The magic you must know!”
Harry looked ashamed, “I…I only found out I was a wizard a month ago on my birthday. I don’t live in a castle. I live with my relatives the Dursleys, wh-“
Mr. Granger interrupted, “Dursley? So, you are his nephew? He has mentioned…you.” And he frowned looking at the boy in the obvious hand-me-down clothes, broken glasses, and ruined trainers.
Harry went white at mention of Mr. Dursley, “Please don’t mention to him you saw me, Sir. He will be…angry. Please!” Harry all-but-begged.
With a kind voice, Mrs. Granger calmed the young lad, “My husband is entirely too busy to speak to Mr. Dursley today, and this meeting wasn’t important enough to mention on another day. He will not say anything.” She then gave a sharp look at her husband. He just stood there looking troubled.
Hermione getting a hector tone in her voice, “But the books said, th-“
Mrs. Granger sternly interrupted her with a warning in her voice, “Hermione! What have we told you about books being no more reliable than an MP on campaign? Critical thinking! Trust but verify! Are you really surprised the books mislead, or outright lied about things?”
Hermione whined almost coming to tears, “But I was hoping this world was different! I was hoping books and professors were honest and the bullying would not occur! Am I going to be bullied here too?!” she all but wailed.
Harry growled with a violence unfamiliar to everyone, including himself, “Not if I have anything to say about it! You are my first friend, Hermione! I will thump anyone who thinks of bullying you!”
Mr. Granger snorted, to hear this scrawny little kid threatening to thump someone. Then he looked in his eyes and saw something he hadn’t seen since the war. Pure conviction. He truly meant it! “Well, with your new-found champion, princess, I think we can feel more comfortable about you leaving.” He then turned to Harry and with a half-joking smile, “Mr. Potter, you will protect my princess, won’t you?”
Hermione groaned, “Daaaad!”
Harry still having that green fire almost blazing in his eyes, “Yes SIR! You can count on me! SIR!”
Mr. Granger then with a smile dropped his hand on Harry’s shoulder and gave it a friendly shake. Harry had never had an adult give him such a warm greeting. He liked it. Turning back to his daughter, “Give us a hug goodbye, princess. Don’t forget to write!”
Hermione then launched herself into her father’s arms and they gave each other a bone-crushing hug. She then gave her mother a hug and the parents shooed them through the wall.
Harry and Hermione gawked at the train, but then giggled at the old technology. They soon boarded it to find a car. After finding one toward the back of the train, they work together to get their trunks in the overhead bins.
Harry and Hermione are soon talking, and Hermione shows Harry the references to him in one of her books. It does say he is living with a distant pair of cousins who own a castle in Wales. It informs everyone Harry is happy, healthy and looking to rejoin the magical world at Hogwarts. Hermione said, “I just can’t believe this is a lie.” She then gasped at realizing she all but called him a liar. Hermione looked at Harry to see if he will drop her as a friend. It wouldn’t be the first time a book came between her and a new friend.
Harry looked at her sadly and replied, “If you stay calm, can I show you something? Can I trust you?”
Hermione looked confused, “What?”
Harry blushed furiously, “My back. I am regularly beaten by my wonderful relatives. They treat me as a slave. I have been working in the kitchen, gardens, and doing much of the cleaning since I was five. I am spanked and whipped if I fail in the slightest way.”
Hermione holding a hand over her face with tears in her eyes, “It can’t be true! It CAN’T!” she asserted.
Harry with a sigh, pulls off his loose shirt. He had already removed the ratty coat which really didn’t protect him from the weather. As he pulled off his shirt, Harry turned around with a blush. Sure enough, there were bruises on top of bruises. The kind that spoke of continuous beatings. There were also numerous scars as evidence of whippings by something which cut the skin. Hermione couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Is this all of it?”
Harry rapidly pulling his shirt back on in embarrassment, glared at her, “Would you like me to drop my skivvies and show you my bum too? I am sure you have an idea how that looks now!”
Hermione was mortified at the implication she had tried to make Harry strip bare for her…despite the sex education lectures her mother gave her, she was not ready for that! She quickly shook her hands in front of her, “NO! Sorry Harry! I just can’t believe people would do something so cruel. How did you end up with them if they so obviously don’t want you?”
Harry was putting on his shirt again when Hermione said, “Why don’t you change into your uniform? You don’t want people to see you dressed like that, they would make mistakes and demand explanations.” Harry nodded and they struggled down his trunk. Once down, he stripped off, ignoring her to Hermione’s squeak as she spun around. As Harry changed clothes, and Hermione was mortified that her first boy friend (not boy-friend!) was bare behind her, she tried to distract herself and caught a reflection of him in the shuttered window.
“Oh Harry!” She quietly sobbed. His bottom and thighs were worse than his back. The pain tolerance he must have, to sit still on such a bruised bottom. Trying to distract herself and keep her from catching more reflections, she desperately asked, “You were saying about your relatives?”
Harry replied, “I once snuck a glance at a letter. Evidently a Mister Dumbledore put me there and said keeping me would keep the Dursley’s safe…it sure didn’t keep me safe!”
Hermione turned around in surprise, fortunately Harry was pulling on his slacks over his shorts. “Hermione!” Harry bellowed.
Hermione blushed again, "Sorry Harry!" and moved to turn back around but stopped herself, “Oh bother! You are already covering the important stuff, just keep getting dressed. Now what was that about Headmaster Dumbledore? You did know he is our Headmaster at Hogwarts?”
“Figures.” Harry grumbled. “He’s the one who placed me with the Dursleys. Over the years I have heard of numerous arguments with and about him to get me gone, but he always says they have no choice. They really resent it…as you can now attest.”
Harry had now finished getting dressed and was pulling on his over-robe. “Your turn.” And Harry stood there looking at her.
Hermione blushed at the implication. “Um…aren’t you going to leave while I change?”
Harry calmly looked back at her, “When you change your undergarments I will turn my back, but as I saw you peaking at my bottom, I think we have a debt between us now, yes?”
Hermione then blushed to her roots. “I’m not changing my undergarments!”
Harry then shrugged and said, “Well then, what’s the problem? Bra and panties are like the bikini you would wear to the beach, right?”
Hermione whined, “But I didn’t mean to look at your bum.”
Harry with a smile replied, “I believe you…the first time, but what about the second…and the third?”
Hermione blushed realizing she was true and wholly caught, whined again and huffed, “You really aren’t letting this go, are you?”
Harry replied, “The chance to look at a beautiful girl like you? Someone who actually cares about me? It is a dream come true.” Harry’s face then clouded over, “Don’t you trust me? I wasn’t lying to your father. I will protect you from everything I can. I would not let anything happen to you. I would certainly not harm you!”
Hermione whined, “Fine!” and yanked off her jumper quickly working her blouse loose. On seeing Harry intently watching her, “Could you stop staring at me while I undress? It is very uncomfortable.”
Harry with a smile turned around, and she continued to undress, but did notice his occasional glance in the reflection. Hermione grumbled, “boys!” and changed as fast as she could.
When she was down to bra and panties, Hermione exclaimed, “One quick look, so move it, buster!”
Harry spun around and drank in the site of her. She was at the cusp of puberty as a 12-year-old girl with her bra being more about the practice than actually hiding or supporting anything. However, Harry thought she was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. “Beautiful, mine.”
Hermione melted at having a boy call her beautiful, and so obviously mean it. Honestly her father didn’t call her mother beautiful with that much conviction, and he loved her dearly. She had rapidly pulled on her skirt when she stopped after picking up her blouse. “Wait, did you call me mine?”
Harry gulped and said, “yes?”
Hermione now holding her blouse and shaking it at Harry with some irritation, “Mine as in yours…mine?”
Harry watching Hermione’s flashing eyes as she shook her blouse at him in just her trainer bra replied again, “Um…yes?”
Hermione stood there for a second, then blushed realizing her state of undress. She quickly put on her blouse not looking at him. Finally with the last button done up and the blouse tucked into her skirt, she said, “Well you are my friend too, and don’t you forget it!”
Hermione then started working on tying her tie. Harry watched for a minute, noticing Hermione knew what she was doing. “Mine?”
Hermione glanced back at Harry while working on her tie. She was expecting…well anything! She had stripped near bare for this boy! “What Harry?” she asked with some exasperation.
Slightly embarrassed Harry beseeched, “Can you teach me to tie my tie. I never learned.”
“Oh Harry! Of course I can!” and Hermione spent the next half-hour teaching Harry how to tie a tie. By the end, he had a rough one, but good enough under the circumstances.
Harry had never had a friend before, and there was something about Hermione. He couldn’t help but trust her. Before long, he was telling her everything. All his fears, his dreams, how he hoped to have a family someday. Nothing like the Dursley’s however. They were disgusting. After a while Hermione got up to go.
Harry with some trepidation asked, “Where are you going?”
Hermione blushed, “To the loo.” She then gave him a look, “It is OK with you that I don’t want to share this just yet?”
Harry blushed to his roots too. “Ahhh…yes. If you don’t mind, can we wait until we are formally engaged before witnessing anything of that sort in the bathroom?”
Hermione smiled, “So formal engagement? Is that your plan, Mr. Potter?”
Harry looked down and back up at Hermione, “Would it scare you if I said yes?”
Hermione smiled even more, “No, it would honor me. I will say you would need my parent’s permission, and you aren’t likely to get it before my 17th birthday!”
Harry sighed, “Good! It will give us time to get to know each other, but I’m not kidding mine. Not kidding at all.”
Hermione with a gentle smile, “I know Harry. It’s sweet. Be back in a bit.”
Hermione returned from the bathroom and the two of them started reading Hogwarts: A History together. Shortly thereafter, a red-haired boy their age came barging in. “Can I sit with you, everywhere else is full.”
Hermione frowned, “No its not! There are two empty cabins on this car alone! What are you on about?”
The boy blushed and his ears turned red, “How would you know? I just walked down the hall!”
Hermione continued, “Well, I was just out there 5 minutes ago, and there is no way the car filled up that quickly. Should I go outside and look?” she challenged.
The boy tried to force the situation, “Butt out, beaver face! I want to talk to my new mate here!”
Harry didn’t say anything, not knowing what to say in this situation. This boy was acting like Dudley. He hated bullies. Finally, Harry said, “If you wish to join us, you may.” Pointing to the empty bench across from the two of them, he said “Sit over there!”
The boy didn’t say anything though his ears stayed red in embarrassment. Harry went back to discussing the different houses with Hermione as they were reading the pertinent synopsis in the book. Harry looked at Hermione, “What do you think about Slytherin? Wanting to make something of yourself seems like a worthy goal.”
The boy yelled, “All Slytherins are evil! The boy-who-lived can’t go there! That was He-who-shall-not-be-named’ house!”
Hermione went into her hectoring mode again, “All Slytherin’s are evil? What rubbish! Merlin was a Slytherin! So, you came into this cabin to become friends with the boy-who-lived? You are just another fanboy trying to become famous because of what he suffered! You make me sick! Are you even going to introduce yourself? Pathetic!”
Ron blushed to his roots with his ears glowing now. “I’m Ron Weasley and Harry and I are going to be best mates. My mother said so!”
Harry going cold looked at him, “And why would your mother make you be friends with me? How do you know I want to be friends with you?”
Ron looked confused by the possibility, still replied, “You have to be! We will be in Gryffindor like the rest of my family, and become the best of friends. We will help you fight the death-eaters in Slytherin!”
Harry looked at Hermione for clarification, “The Death-Eaters was the name for Voldemort’s supporters. Since you supposedly killed him, everyone assumes you will take up the battle like a good soldier.”
Ron exploded, “What do you mean supposedly? Dumbledore said he did, so he did!”
Hermione sneered at Ron, “Harry was 15 months old at the time. What did he do, hit him in the face with a full set of nappies? No, his mother must have done a ritual which trapped and defeated Voldemort. That is the only thing which makes sense…or someone else was there to do it. That works too.”
Hermione looked astutely at Ron. “Let me guess. Headmaster Dumbledore told your mother to have you befriend Harry like a good little Gryffindor. How…predictable.”
Harry looked at Hermione with open admiration, “You really are brilliant. Did you know that?” quickly changing the subject, Harry asked Hermione “What happened to believing everything you hear and read?”
Hermione blushed at his open admiration, then answered the question with a shy grin, “I am rapidly realizing what my parents were trying to tell me. People are people, be they wizard or no-mag.” She sighed. “I had so hoped I could find utopia, but alas the last 4 treatise on the subject insisted such was impossible for the human condition. I didn’t want to believe, but now I think I do.”
Ron just looked confused, “What are you barking about?”
Hermione just looked at him deciding Ron was not honest, intelligent, or worth any of her time. “I’m sure I don’t know. Go ask someone else.”
Ron shrugged, “Whatever.” Turning to Harry, “Hey can I see your scar?”
Harry looked angry and Hermione quietly said, “Show him your back. If you show everyone what Dumbledore did to you, maybe we can do something about those horrible books.”
Harry with a look of conviction in his eyes, “Look all you want.” And he pulled off his robe and pulled up his shirt.
Ron yelled, “What is that?!” on seeing the bruises and scars all over his back.
Harry coldly replied, “Those are the scars the Dursleys have given me whipping my as their slave. Dumbledore left me in that house. So, someone who worships Dumbledore, is not my friend. GET OUT!”
Ron flushed with anger, “Go ahead, be a Slytherin! See if I care!” and he stormed off.
Shortly there was a knock at the door. A blond boy their age who wore impeccable clothes opened it. He had two overt bodyguards at his back. Looking around the cabin he stated, “The word on the train is that Harry Potter is in here.”
Hermione was sitting next to Harry, quietly whispered to him “I have read on customs and usages. Don’t say anything until he introduces himself.” Harry sat there saying nothing.
After an appropriate time, the boy nodded and said, “I am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Heir of Malfoy and Black. These are my fellows Crabb and Goyle.” He said looking over each shoulder. He then looked at Harry and said, “I can help you meet the right families and make the best connections. I would be willing to help with that.” And he held out his hand.
Hermione again whispered in his ear, “You must shake his hand as not doing so is akin to a declaration of war. However, do not agree to anything. Take everything under advisement and promise to get back to him.”
Harry stood up and clasped hands with Draco. “Pleased to meet you, Heir Malfoy. I am Harry Potter. This is my best friend and soon betrothed Hermione Granger. Well once I can convince her father. I am honored by your offer of assistance. Please understand I mean you no disrespect, but must consider all my options before committing to an arrangement.”
Draco nodded in agreement, and said “It seems the Potter Foible is alive and well.”
Harry asked, “The Potter Foible?”
Draco turned to Hermione, “Have your advisor look into it if you lack the knowledge. It isn’t for me to say. We will talk soon. Good day to you.” Draco then nodded at Harry and left with his two guards.
Harry let out a big breath, “Boy! They play for keeps here!” He turned to Hermione, “I could not have done that without your help.” He grabbed her hands, “Thank you, Mine. For everything.”
Hermione blushed again, “Your welcome, Harry. Hey! You said we were betrothed! How dare you!” suddenly very angry.
Harry looked at her in confusion, “You agreed to it when we talked about a formal engagement. You said it would not be official until your father allowed it. Exactly as I told Draco.”
Hermione looked at Harry with an open mouth realizing he was correct. She grumbled, “I think you are a Slytherin.”
Harry looking slightly hurt, “Aww! Don’t be that way, Mine! Now he won’t bother you as it would insult me, thereby dishonoring him since we are in negotiations. I said I would protect you, and I will. Don’t think I wasn’t paying attention to the things you are teaching me. I would think you should know ignorance, is not the same as low intelligence.”
Hermione looked at Harry and nodded her acquiesce. She was gratified he wasn’t a dullard at all. Harry was actually very sharp, just extremely ignorant. An ignorance he appeared to be rapidly correcting. She thought to herself, ‘this might actually work…’