“Oh, drat! Not now, dammit! Of all the days this useless thing refuses to start, it clearly had to be today!” Mr. Granger grumbled. “…We’re already late, too.”

Jean Granger giggled as her husband stomped over to check what was going on with the engine this time. She watched him disappear behind the car bonnet, after a few clunks, clacks and choice words later, his face emerged to look at her with wide, puppy-dog eyes. She rolled her eyes and got out of the car.

“What’s the problem, Dr. Granger? Can’t fix it?” She smirked at him.

He laughed openly. “Sorry to trouble you, Dr. Granger. I just need a second opinion.”

She snorted. “Yes, I suppose that I’m the one to call when my esteemed colleague can’t figure out when a car battery is dead.”

He looked bemused. “Is it? Huh. What do you know… A slight oversight on my part, I’m afraid.”

“What is the world coming to when our college grads are so ignorant?” She sighed wistfully.

“That’s why I keep you around, darling.” He cackled dramatically before pecking her on the lips. “Now let’s go pick our daughter up from wizard school.”

 --------

Harry stretched his legs and let out a long, tired sigh as soon as he finally stepped foot onto the platform. Truth be told, he’s been dreading this day more than anything. Hogwarts was his first real home, more than Privet Drive ever was, and leaving it tore him up inside in a way that he’s never felt before. You should be grateful the Dursley’s even let you come back. His mind spat out sharply. Yeah, I guess so… Maybe he was just getting too spoiled. Well, there’s a whole summer of humbling to get through, so why not lament while he still can?

“Hey, Harry, ‘Mione, I think I see my family over there…” He gestured over towards the far wall by a few fireplaces “You should come along, mum’s been asking about you two.” Said Ron.

Hermione, however, was preoccupied, standing on the tips of her toes looking through the crowd.

“’Mione?”

“What? Oh, sorry Ron, I was just looking for my parents... They said that they’d be here early…” She looked slightly worried.

Ron just shook his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye out. C’mon! You haven’t met them yet, have you?”

“Hm... I guess so...” She contemplated.

He gave her a pleading look.

“Oh… why not?” 

Ron smiled brightly and he took her and Harry by their hands.

“Ron, hey, wait!” Harry protested. “I need to meet my uncle at the nor-- er-- Muggle station.” 

His friends paused in their quest across the platform to look at him oddly.

“Uhh, Harry, your muggle relatives are allowed here, you know?” Hermione told him.

“What? Oh, yeah, well they just... they don’t have the time?” 

Ron shrugged “Well, I guess you’d better-- Augh-- Fred! George!” 

Fred and George were in the process of giving their brother a big, exaggerated hug.

“Aw... is ickle Ronnikins going to introduce us to his widdle girlfriend, Gred?” 

“I feel quite honored, Forge.”

Ron blushed as red as a beet. “This was a mistake, actually. Go! Run! Find your families while you still can!” 

Harry and Hermione would soon regret not heeding Ron’s warning, as The Twins’ eyes glinted with a chaotic energy, and suddenly they were scooped up like toddlers and transported near a familiar clan of red-heads.

“Harry, dear, is that you? Where on earth did you come from...” Molly Weasley scanned him up and down, seemingly looking for injuries. She then noticed Hermione wondering how she got there too. “Oh? And who might you be, sweetie?”

“That’s Hermione, mum.” Said Fred(?).

“Ron’s girlfriend.” Said George(?).

“Boys! Don’t be rude!” She chided. Turning back to Hermione, she smiled brightly. “Hello, dearie, I’m Ron’s mother, Molly. He’s told me so much about you in his letters, so it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”

“Oh! Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Weasley.” Hermione blushed.

“And Harry, it’s great to see you again. I trust you boys had a fun year.” Molly said, knowingly.

“Of course, Mrs. Weasley.” And he meant it.

She pulled them both into a brief hug before scouring the crowd. “Now where is Ron… Ah!” Ron spotted. He gave the twins a hard glare and gave his friends an apologetic glance. Molly ignored this and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “Oh, There you are, darling. How was your first year at Hogwarts?” She fixed him with one of those looks. “Didn’t get into any trouble, I hope.”

Fred and George unfortunately answered for them in rapid secession.

“Other than battling a Cerberus.--”

“--Besting a patch of Devil’s snare.--”

“--Death defying stunts chasing after flying keys.--”

“--Nearly getting killed by a life-sized wizard’s chess set--”

“--Facing off a troll--”

“--Dealing with deadly poisons--”

“--And fighting against a crazy DADA professor who would have most definitely murdered them, if given the chance.--”

“--Then, no. I don’t think they got into much trouble at all, mum.”

With each consecutive offense listed, Molly’s face went through several stages of shock and horror until ultimately landing on murderous.

Ron looked ready to bolt, but was cut off by his brothers standing behind him. He looked to Harry with terror in his eyes.

“Harry, when I die, please take care of Scabbers for me.” He whimpered. His mum’s face was slightly flushed and she boxed the boy in question on the ear.
 “Ronald Billius Weasley! I was hoping you would be better than this! I did not raise you to be a hooligan!” You could practically see the steam coming from her ears. “It’s one thing to make trouble, but a whole other thing to make life-threatening trouble. But that wasn’t the worst of it, oh Merlin… The worst of it! Not one owl from the school, the headmaster, you, or the twins, or even Percy--!”

“Yes, mother?”
As if summoned, Percy appeared from the crowd with a little red-head girl in tow. Ginny, right? Harry thought idly. Molly seemed to deflate a little upon seeing the family prefect. She let go of Ron’s ear and smiled ominously at her son.

“Percy… Were you aware of Ron’s little adventure this year?”

Percy winced. “Well… I was…”

“...And you saw fit not to inform me of this?”

“T-The school--”

“--Told us nothing, I swear, Dumbledore, fantastic wizard that he is, doesn’t have the decency to even send one letter, no floo calls either!”

Molly Weasley looked at her youngest boy. As she did so, her hell-bent and icy exterior thawed to reveal the picture of vulnerability and concern. Her bottom lip trembled and she pulled Ron into a warm hug.

“Oh…. My baby boy… Don’t you ever do something like that again, do you understand me? Don’t scare your poor ol’ mother like that.”

She kissed his forehead, and Ron blushed something fierce.

“Yeah sure, mum.” He huffed.
This didn’t go unnoticed, as she gently smacked his head for that. Ron wiggled his way out of his mother’s embrace and gave her a lopsided grin.

Molly proceeded to coo and bicker with Ron, while Harry watched this entire exchange feeling like some sort of intruder. This is such an intimate scene, it felt rude to just stand here like this. He turned to Hermione, now on the balls of her feet and biting her lip looking towards the barrier into muggle King’s Cross station. She sighed. Turning to Harry with a worried expression. “Harry, I don’t see my parents yet. It’s been a while, and they should be here by now, they’re never late and--”

Harry put his hand on her shoulder.“Hermione, breathe. They’ll probably be here any minute.”

She took a deep breath.

“... You’re right. I’m sure they’re just stuck in traffic, or something.”

Harry smiled at his friend, and held her hand. She smiled back at him and squeezed it back. They took their trolleys and sauntered closer towards the wall and sat on a nearby bench. Harry noted that while she was trying her best not to show it, his friend was still tense. It was about half an hour since they arrived, so the platform was slightly more empty than it was before. With each passing second, the worry on Hermione’s face became more and more apparent. Her eyes darted around. It was almost like she thought that if she blinked for too long, she would miss her parents’ arrival.

“What do your parents look like? I’ll help you look for them.”

 She gave him a grateful smile and relaxed a little.

“Thank you, Harry.” Hermione continued on to describe what they’d look like.

A few minutes of looking and making small talk later, Ron separated from his family to where they were.

“There you are! You two disappeared on me there… Is everything okay?”

“We’re just looking out for Hermione’s parents.” Harry supplied.

“Oh.” Ron nodded in understanding. “They’ll get here, don’t worry.”

She beamed at him. “Thanks, you two.” The tension she had a few seconds prior was completely gone.

“Ron? There you are--” Molly noticed the two on the bench. “Ah! Hello again, are you still waiting on your family?”

Harry and Hermione nodded.

She gave them a warm smile. “Well, we’ve got to get going, but just know that you two are always welcome to come to the Burrow whenever you like.” She looked at Ron. “You be sure to invite them over sometime, alright?”

He sighed. “Of course, mum.”

“Alright then, dearies. It was lovely meeting you two.” She smothered them in a brief hug. Harry realized that he’s never actually been hugged this many times in a row before. He decided that he quite enjoyed it.

As soon as he thought this, the hug ended, and Molly was already leaving.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley.” he said.

“Bye, Mrs. Weasley!” added Hermione.

“Goodbye, dearies.” She left to head back towards the sea of red hair once more.

Ron sniffed. “Alright, well. I reckon I better get going too, then.”

“Oh… Come here, you!” Hermione sniffed back, and got up to give him a tight hug of her own. Harry laughed at how red Ron was getting.

Hermione let go of Ron, who turned to Harry with a playfully vengeful look on his face. Harry made to get up before getting cut off by Ron.

“Oh, no you don’t! Don’t think that you’re getting out of this one, Potter!” He snickered, and tackled Harry in his embrace.

They all laughed together one last time, and said their goodbyes. The trio promising to owl each other every day, from the most mundane of reasons to the furthering of their little “project”. Thus leaving Harry and Hermione back to their own devices.

For a brief second, Harry wondered if he should get going soon, as well. One look towards his nervous friend swayed the notion entirely. A few more minutes of waiting can’t be too bad. He buried his unease and uncertainty under the comfortable layers of conversation, hidden deep within his thoughts.

After about 20 minutes, A mousy man with big, chunky brown glasses and a sweater vest along with a confident looking woman with bushy hair emerged from the barrier.

Hermione immediately made a happy sounding squeak and dashed over to the couple. Harry watched as she was hugged tightly by the two. He had to laugh at how he could already see her mouth moving a mile a minute, probably talking about all the things she did at Hogwarts. She dragged them over towards where he was sitting.

“Oh, oh! Mum, Dad, this is Harry! He’s one of my best friends at Hogwarts! Did you know that he’s also famous? He was mentioned in a few of those history books we got a while back at Diagon Alley!” She raved.

The two were a kindly couple with intelligent eyes and bright smiles.

Mr. Granger raised his eyebrow inquisitively. “Oh? Which ones? Maybe I’ve heard of him.”

Hermione looked like she was a puppy given a bone. “He’s in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century!”

Mr. Granger looked quite impressed, and turned to Harry with a hint of wonder in his smile. “Well I’ll be! Looks like we’ve got a bonafide wizard celebrity on our hands!”

Mrs. Granger smacked her husband playfully. “Oi! Let the boy introduce himself to us first, dear!”

He snorted. “Right, sorry about that, son.” He held out his hand towards Harry. “Joseph Granger, Mr…?”

Harry was slightly taken off guard over their playful dynamic, but snapped out of it to answer. “Um, right. I’m Harry Potter, sir and-- er ma’am. Nice to meet you.” He shook Joseph’s hand.

Mrs. Granger smirked. “How polite! But you don’t have to be so formal with us, Harry. Hermione’s already told us so much about you and that Ron kid… We’ve met you all but in person.” She then held out her own hand. “Jean Granger.”

He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”

The conversation seemed to kick off from there. Hermione describing to her parents in detail about the kind of work they did in each class, starting with Charms. Jean Granger nodded along, listening intently, while her husband looked like he wanted to take notes.

Harry supplied what little information he could when asked, but mostly just watched their conversation with interest. The Grangers meshed with each other quite well, Harry mused. They bantered back and forth with one another, keeping the mood light and comfortable. They encouraged their daughter to regale them with her tales, and took in every word she spoke with pride. He wondered to himself if his parents would have listened to him gush about Hogwarts like this, too.

The conversation shifted quickly and seamlessly from Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Astronomy, History of Magic, DADA… and finally, Potions, which seemed to spark some recognition in the Grangers’ eyes.

“Potions, huh? That’s the one with that nasty teacher, right?” Joseph asked. “Professor Snape, was it?”

 Hermione nodded. “Yeah, He’s also the resident Potions Master and head of Slytherin house.”

Jean made a strained noise. “What?! He does all that? That seems like a lot of work for one guy.” She grimaced. “All that on top of teaching a group of adolescents… I’d be pretty nasty too.”

Her husband raised his brow. “Hm? What does a resident Potions Master do, again?”

Hermione puffed up. “Didn’t you read Hogwarts a History, Dad?”

Harry had to suppress a laugh hearing those familiar words aimed at her own father.

Joseph stuttered for a moment before turning to his wife for help.

Jean rolled her eyes at his antics. “The resident Potions Master is the one who supplies all of the potions for the infirmary, and any potion that the school needs in general… Aren’t you supposed to be the book-smart one in this relationship?”

He huffed and crossed his arms.“I knew that... I was just giving you an excuse to show off how book-smart you can be.”

The Grangers collectively laughed at that.

Joseph cleared his throat. “But still, he’s the adult. He should know better than to be so… acidic.”

Jean nodded. “Exactly! From what I’ve heard of him last winter, wasn’t he constantly degrading his students? That’s not a very healthy environment for learning.”

He nodded back fiercely. “Exactly! It’s not a healthy environment, period. I mean, who could possibly be mean to our cute widdle Hermione??” He pinched his daughter’s cheeks. “ Look at her!! Does the man not have a working brain?!”

Hermione, herself, blushed and tittered nervously. “Daa-d.”

Harry and Jean laughed openly at his antics.

“Anyway” Hermione said through lightly grit teeth, still red in the face. “Harry, Ron and I were thinking about getting better at potions, maybe, so the Professor doesn’t have to stress out as much during class.”

Jean blinked. “I thought you did well in Potions, honey?”

She shook her head. “Well, technically I’m just going to be the one tutoring them…” She frowned. “But I do admit I need to work on my classroom etiquette.”

Joseph hugged his daughter. “Aw… Wow, my baby girl is growing up so fast!” He then scowled. “This Professor Snape guy better be grateful.”

  Harry grinned along with the others. He felt odd. Not in a bad way, just-- he’s never felt this way before. He first noticed it while talking with the Weasleys, and now he feels it again here with the Grangers too. It felt… safe here. It was hard to describe what was happening. It was like, even though he wasn’t the most active participant in the conversation, there wasn’t any pressure to be active. There wasn’t any pressure to prove himself worthy of this conversation-- they were perfectly happy for him to listen and answer at his own pace. It wasn’t as if they just talked at him expecting him to just shut up and listen. He could say whatever he liked and his thoughts were accepted and-- get this-- appreciated. It was so nice. Something about this just made him feel warm and soft inside. He felt like the luckiest kid in Hogwarts to make such kind friends who have kind families. He could even ignore the dull and hollow ache, locked away and forgotten within the small cupboard of his heart.

“So, Harry.” Jean started. “When do your relatives get here?”

Unfortunately not everything lasts forever. With one simple question, any and all warm feelings he had moments prior came to an abrupt halt.

He took a short breath. “I… What time is it now?”

Joseph looked at his watch. “About… 12:15.”

Harry bristled. Has it been that long already? His mind compiled a short, but horrifying list of the possible consequences for being so late.

He quickly grabbed his trolley. “I should--” Hedwig hoots angrily for the rude awakening. “--get going now.”

Jean and Joseph stared at him incredulously, and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder.

“Er… Harry, did you want to… maybe, stay a little longer?” She glanced at her parents. “I mean… If that’s okay?”

The duo merely looked at her as if she should already know the answer, and she brightened a little more.

Harry’s thoughts came to a shuddering halt.

… He wanted to indulge in that warmth again. He was so cold-- he just wanted….

He cut himself off.

That was selfish of him. That wasn’t what they were offering him.

Even though his very soul was screaming for something more…

“Thank you, but I shouldn’t worry my uncle and aunt like this.” He smiled.

He threw any and all other answers back into that cupboard where it belonged. Locked away, pushed aside.

Stop being so dramatic. This isn’t that big of a deal. Just be grateful for what you have.

Hermione furrowed her brows. “Well… Keep in touch, okay?”

Harry grinned. “Of course, ‘Mione.”

She looked at him, as if searching for something. Instead of saying anything, she hugged him.

“I’ll miss you.” She broke the hug and smirked. “If you forget to study extra hard in Potions this summer, as your official tutor I’ll be forced to assign you a whole essay on the proper usage of frog guts.”

He laughed. “Of course, Professor Granger.”

They walked through the magical barrier and Harry waved at them as he watched their backs disappear into the crowd. He absolutely did not feel any regret seeing them leave.

He turned his thoughts to where his uncle could possibly be. He figured his best bet would to be to check the car park for any familiar looking vehicles.

He wheeled his trolley in that direction, passing by the people going about their day.

Once he finally reached his destination, he looked around.
Uncle Vernon’s car was nowhere to be found.

He figured that he was just late, and found a nice bench by the building to sit on with a good vantage point for watching the various cars entering and exiting.

He’ll be here.

 --------

Hermione was quiet during the drive home. Her mind wandered to the last interaction she had with her best friend.

He looked so worried. She could tell he didn’t want to leave yet. Admittedly, she didn’t want him to go, either.

“Er… Harry, did you want to… maybe, stay a little longer?” She glanced at her parents. “I mean… If that’s okay?” 

She barely had to look at their response, as she already knew mum and dad would agree, but she always asked, just in case.

Harry paused. His face blank. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

A beat, then he smiled a perfect smile.

“Thank you, but I shouldn’t worry my uncle and aunt like this.”

Looking at him, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. There wasn’t anything off about what he said. It was a perfectly reasonable answer, and from anyone else were to say it the same exact way he did, she’d think nothing of it. But for some reason, it just felt… strange. A part of her wanted to wave the answer away with a laugh and force him to go with them to a restaurant or something anyway. She wanted to ask if he could stay over for the summer. They could even invite Ron, and start their tutoring sessions much earlier. She wanted to but she knew it wouldn’t make any sense. Hermione prided herself in thinking logically, and this just wasn’t… logical.

So she did the next best thing.

“Well… Keep in touch, okay?”

He kept smiling. “Of course, ‘Mione.”

She should have said something, but she didn’t. Not knowing what to do, she hugged him.

Her heart stung a bit from that, and she told herself this was one of those normal ‘sad-that-the-year-is-over’ feelings.

With promise of the future, she left him there.

She did not feel any regret leaving him behind.

None at all.

Hermione shook herself out of her thoughts. It’s too late now. Nothing she can do about it now…

He’ll be fine.

He’ll be fine.

He’ll be fine.

This mantra repeated constantly in the back of her thoughts even as she prattled on and on to her parents about her classes and time at Hogwarts.

And so, the car whirred away from the station, away from her regrets, away from Harry.