MetaFic

1 Sep 1991

“You're Harry Potter!”

“Er, yeah,” Harry said, looking at the girl who stood in the doorway to their compartment. “And?” Seamus was chuckling, while Michael and Neville both grimaced.

“I've read all about you! You're in -”

“Oi, he knows, already!” Seamus spoke up to head off what could only become a confrontation. “His wife read every book that talks about it to him!”

“She's not my wife!” Harry shot back, shaking his fist at his Foster brother. “It was her birthday! I wasn't going to say no!”

Seamus ignored Harry and continued on as though Harry was not even there. “He just can't say no to the ladies, see? They ask to marry him, he says yes! How many wives do you have now? I stopped counting after three!”

Michael and Neville were also now laughing openly at Harry, and he could feel his face flush with embarrassment. “Why do you always bring this up? Your sister was lonely!”

Neville rose to Seamus' defence. “Come on, Harry, you have to admit it is funny. You married a four-year-old on her birthday.” Harry's good friend turned back to the girl in the doorway, a smile still on his face. “Can we help you?Or would you like to marry Harry, perhaps?”

“What?! No!” she spluttered, obviously still shocked. “No, I . . . err, I found this toad in the corridor . . .” she paused to hold it up. “I wondered if it might belong to anyone here?”

“Nah,” Neville said. “We aren't toad types.”

“Oh.” She seemed almost at a loss for what to do.

Harry finally took pity on her, despite the flaming cheeks he knew he still had. Married, honestly. “Look, you're a Muggle-born, right? No magical parents?” When she nodded her head tentatively, he waved at the corridor behind her. “Let the toad go.It'll find its owner when it wants to. Magic, right?”

The girl clearly did not believe him. “What Harry means,” Michael said from the corner, “is that you don't bring non-magical animals to Hogwarts. You get magical ones or have normal ones charmed, and one part of that magic is that they know to whom they belong. So P.D., here," he pointed to the wicker cage on the seat next to Harry, "will always be able to find Harry if she wants to.Just let the toad go; it will be fine.”

“Oh,” she said after a moment before turning and gently placing the toad back into the corridor. “That wasn't in any of the books I read.”

“Probably not,” Michael agreed. “Why don't you join us? I have a book that might help explain it to you.”

“Yeah,” Seamus chimed in. “He's got a book for everything.”

“May I?” she asked brightly. “I'd love to learn more.”

The four boys exchanged shrugs before Michael announced, “There, it's settled, you're welcome with us. You know Harry, obviously. That's Seamus, Neville, and I'm Michael. You are?”

“Hermione Granger.” She made eye contact with each of them, the smile on her face so large that it had to be painful. “It's nice to meet you all.” She sat gingerly on the bench between Michael and Neville before turning back to Harry. “I'm sorry about that, Harry. I didn't expect to meet someone from my books so quickly.”

Harry waved her off and had a sinking feeling her reaction was just going to be the first of many he would have to adjust to. “It's all right, really,” he said. “I haven't been around others a lot, not when they knew my name, so I guess I should expect that kind of thing at first.”

“Still,” Hermione said, “I hope I'm the worst you have to deal with.”

Harry shrugged briefly. “So what was it like for you to find out you're a witch?”

Hermione's eyes lit up, and she looked at all of them. “It was wonderful! There was this little man that came to our house. He said he was a Professor at Hogwarts. It took some time, but he finally convinced me that I really was a witch and could do magic. My parents are still sort of in shock over it, but it explains so many things. They're happy for me, I know, but uncertain about what it might mean later. They weren't very happy with the classes offered.”

“What?” Michael asked. “Why not?”

“Well, there's no maths, no literature, no physical program,” Hermione offered. “They thought it was a bit too narrowly focused. I had to compromise and agree to spend my summers reading up, plus do something physical like swimming lessons.”

Seamus shuddered. “Eww, that sounds like too much like real work. Better you than -”

He was cut off as the door to the compartment opened again and a pale blond boy stepped in. Silence settled over everyone, as if the air itself had become oppressive. The newcomer nodded briefly at Michael and Neville before his gaze settled on Harry. “So, it's true. Harry Potter is on the train.” The boy glanced over Seamus and Hermione but clearly dismissed them as unimportant. “I'm Draco Malfoy,” he said while extending one hand for Harry to take.

Harry slowly shook the boy's hand, fighting down the urge to launch a thousand questions at him. “I know of you,” Harry said quietly as he released the handshake. “Or rather, your father.”

“Of course you do,” the blond almost gloated. “We're a very influential family. My father's also on the Board of Governors.”

“Yes, I heard he joined a lot of groups back in his school days.” Harry kept his gaze on the blond and could tell the double meaning was fully understood.

“Some groups are better than others,” Malfoy said after a moment.

“That depends on what you want, now doesn't it?” Harry offered an empty smile in return. “Don't forget your toad when you leave.”

“What?”

Harry pointed down at the floor, where the toad from the corridor had come back in to sit on Malfoy's feet. “Your toad. You wouldn't want to lose it, now would you?” With that, Harry sat back down and ignored the blond, returning his attention to their wanted guest. “So, Hermione, how will you arrange extra tutoring during the summer?”

She was obviously uncertain of what was going on, but she answered him anyway. “I won't, my parents will. They said they know someone who could line up the right people and -” She jumped slightly when the door to the compartment slammed hard.

Seamus began laughing openly, and Neville whistled. “I can't believe you did that, Harry. He's not going to forget that anytime soon.”

“Eh,” Harry offered. “He wasn't interested in being a friend. I think I can tell the right sort out for that. Michael, do you agree with Hermione's parents? Should we be learning that other stuff, too? I hadn't much thought about it, now that we're out of Muggle schools.”

Michael shrugged slightly. “Probably, especially with general maths. But Hogwarts will never teach it. Do you want to learn it?”

“Maybe,” Harry offered. “Maybe.”