Ron considered his options as he ate his evening meal. On the one hand, real professional training would be invaluable if he wanted to get into the pros, could even shave a year or two off his time in the second string. On the other hand, Hooch expected him to do a lot of bloody useless work carving brooms before she'd let him do any flying. Ron sighed, he really had no choice in the matter. The opportunity was just too good to miss.
The boy gathered up his things and walked down to the Quidditch pitch to meet his friend, telling himself that a bit of useless hard work would pay off when he made it to the league and imagining the laughter he'd get when he told the story during a speech accepting an MVP award in the not so distant future.
IIIIIIIIII
A grin blossomed on Harry's face when he saw Ron approach. Truth be told, he was starting to feel a bit lonely since he begun spending the majority of his time with the Professors and since Hermione's obsession with mixing technology and magic had precluded her from attending more then the occasional extra class with him.
"Decided to come along then?" Hooch asked mildly, mentally evaluating the boy and wondering if she'd have to bar him from her supplemental lessons based on what she'd heard of his attitude.
"Bit of extra work is worth it to get into the pros early," Ron replied seriously. "Let's get the boring part out of the way first."
"Boring part?" she raised an eyebrow, a gesture both boys would later regard as one of the most terrifying things they'd ever seen.
"The bloody carving," Ron explained. "Harry said you wouldn't let me fly without doing that."
"I see." An evil grin bloomed on the instructor's face, she'd intended to put them through a couple simple drills, but the little Weasley had inspired her to new levels of sadism. Little snot thought flying was the fun part? Well, let's just see how much he enjoyed flying after one of the Harpies 'lost game' work outs.
"Damn it," Harry cursed. Harry sometimes wondered why Ron had to be so thick.
"I think you're correct, Mr. Weasley. It would be best get the 'boring part' out of the way first," Hooch said with a horrific grin. "Don't you think so, Harry?"
"Yes, Professor," Harry sighed. He really hated his life sometimes. "In fact, I'm suddenly not feeling well, could I be excused from today's flying? I think I might have . . ." he frantically tried to think of something. "Uh . . . stress related ulcers?"
"A quick run around the field is just the thing to occupy your mind," she said firmly. "That should clear the stress right out of you, shouldn't it, Mr. Potter." Her tone brooked no argument.
"Understood, Professor," Harry said glumly. Damn it, why did his friend have to be so bloody thick?! "May I just state for the record that I find carving to be quite relaxing and not at all boring and would be quite happy to skip today's flying in favor of more carving?"
"I'll take that under consideration," Hooch said calmly. "Maybe we start off with something my old coach used to run us through after she had a particularly rough night of drinking the night before we had an early practice and then move on to the things she used to put us through when she was in a bad mood, shall we? But I'm getting ahead of myself, we decided we were going to get the boring part out of the way first, didn't we? Which should give me plenty of time to think about just what today's session should include."
"Sounds good, professor," Ron said cheerfully, apparently unaware of just how deeply he'd stepped into it. "I can't wait to see what real professional training is like."
IIIIIIIIII
Hermione and Luna looked down at the motorbike with twin looks of accomplishment. It hadn't been easy, but they'd managed to assemble a complete bike from the jumble of parts that Remus had delivered.
"Do you think Harry will be pleased?" Luna asked eagerly.
"I'm sure he will be," Hermione agreed, "I already told you that."
"I know," Luna agreed. "It's just . . . I'm . . ."
"It's okay, calm down, Luna." Hermione put an arm on the younger girl's shoulder.
"I've never had friends before and I'm not sure how to act," Luna confessed. "I'm worried I'll make some horrible mistake."
"I understand," Hermione assured the nervous girl. "I didn't have any friends before I got to Hogwarts either."
IIIIIIIIII
Ron glanced over as Harry leapt to his feet and presented something to Professor Hooch. Looked like the wand Harry had spent most of his time working on. With a sigh and only a clenched jaw to betray his sense of frustration, Ron turned back to his work.
"Which one is that?" Hooch asked as Harry proudly held up his mostly completed wand.
"Owl feather core with a Nimbus body," Harry replied.
The Professor watched as Harry gave the newly constructed wand an experimental wave and for a second, the world seemed to turn inside out and Hooch would have sworn that she could see the odor of freshly cut wood, taste the sound the wand made as it cut through the air, and hear the light bouncing off the Weasley boy's hair.
"What in the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked between dry heaves. It was by far simultaneously the worst, most boring, not too bad, and most interesting experience of his young life. He doubted the words needed to describe it existed in anyone's vocabulary save possibly Luna Lovegood's and there was no chance of him asking Harry to try to repeat the experience for the girl in order to find out. All he wanted to do was forget the unforgettable and unsee the unseeable, something that should be doable with just a bit of hard work he figured.
"That was a particularly strong reaction to a wand choosing a wizard," the flight instructor choked, hitting her mouth with a breath freshening charm to remove the taste of vomit. She had clearly not been any better prepared for the experience than Ron had been.
"Is that bad?" Harry asked nervously.
"Not as such," Hooch said dryly, "it does mean that my uncle is going to hound you until he figures out what happened though."
"Another class?" Harry asked sickly.
"I wouldn't worry about it till you get out for summer," she replied The world had finally stopped spinning and she was beginning to see color again. "He's going to be spending most of his time collecting raw materials and constructing wands until early July." Though he might persuade himself to make a short side trip after she described what she'd just seen.
"Oh," Harry sighed in relief, dodged that bullet. Well, put it off for a bit anyway.
"Now let's see yours," Hooch said to Ron, she held out her hand.
"Er, I'm not quite as far along as Harry is," Ron demurred.
"He started yesterday. Let's see what you've got so far," she ordered.
"Alright," Ron agreed. He handed her the wand he'd been carving.
"Did you do this free hand?" she asked as she examined the half done wand.
"Couldn't figure out how to get the details right with the lathe," Ron admitted. Well, he told himself, if it's that bad then maybe she'll just let me skip all this wood carving stuff and go straight to flying, hopefully without the sadism.
"You ever carve anything before this?"
"Da taught us how to make our own toys when I was a kid," Ron admitted. "I used to make dolls for my sister, well parts of dolls mum would make the clothes and the body. Used to make other things for around the house too. Haven't done it so much since I came to Hogwarts." Just a couple sets of chessmen out of pine as practice for when he got skilled enough to transfigure wood to stone and his best effort at a guardian gargoyle for his trunk.
"Hmmm." She turned the half finished blank over in her hands. "Why'd you carve this indent into the handle?" she demanded.
"That's so I have a place to rest my thumb," Ron replied.
"Doesn't feel very comfortable to me," she commented.
"Your thumb is smaller then mine," Ron replied patiently, trying to hide his annoyance at having to explain something he thought was perfectly obvious. "I'd have done it different if I were carving it for you."
"Hmmm." She pursed her lips and handed the wand back. "Let's get back to flying."
"Right," Harry agreed as he reached for his Firebolt.
"School brooms for both of you," she said sharply.
"Yes, Professor," Harry agreed with considerably less enthusiasm. Why couldn't she be content to prove her point to Ron and leave him out of it?
The next two hours were grueling. Harry would have laughed if he had enough energy, he'd thought Wood was bad. Hooch had taught him that there were levels that Wood had never dreamed of.
"Three more passes!" Hooch ordered. "You have enough energy to smile, you have enough energy to keep going!"
"Yes, Professor," Harry agreed weakly. Lesson learned, he was never going to smile again.
"Weasley!" Hooch bellowed."What in the hell do you think you're doing? Cover that bloody goal post!"
"Yes, Professor," Ron agreed. To think, he'd once thought that Quidditch was fun.
"That's enough!" she bellowed after a few more minutes. "On the ground, both of you!"
"How'd we do?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Gather your things," Hooch said, ignoring Ron's question. "Harry, I want you to take some sandpaper with you to finish up your wand during the holidays. I doubt we're going to have time to do it while you're still at Hogwarts. I want you to get progressively smoother until you get to the ray skin, buff it after that and rub bees wax into it."
"Yes, Professor," Harry agreed.
"Ron, stay behind a bit. I have something I need to talk to you about."
"Yes, Professor," Ron agreed with a sigh. He'd thought he had skills until he had a chance to play against Harry. Even on a school broom and in an unfamiliar position, Harry was still able to fly rings around him. Wasn't it enough that Harry was the greatest seeker Gryffindor had seen in god knows how long, bloody prat had to be a decent chaser too? Bloody unfair.
"Wait for him outside, Mr. Potter," Hooch ordered. She sighed at the look on his face. "Outside, Harry," she repeated.
"I . . . yes, Professor." Harry shot his friend a look of sympathy as he walked out of the professor's office.
"What do you want, Professor?" Ron asked in a defeated tone of voice. He steeled himself for what he knew was coming.
"Kid, I've got good and bad news for you." Hooch said seriously. "The bad is that you're never going pro, just don't have the reflexes. I'm sorry I had to be the one to break it to you, I really am. But better to find out now than to keep hoping till one of the league scouts tells you in a couple years. Least this way you're not counting on a career that'll never come."
"But . . . I . . . " Ron felt like his whole world had collapsed. This was even worse then what he'd expected.
"The good is that your carving is top notch," she continued, ignoring the tears forming in the corners of the boy's eyes. "Not pro level but I think that the potential is there. If you're willing to devote the time and effort, then some day people are going to be talking about your brooms in the same breath they use to talk about Firebolt and Nimbus."
"R . . . really?" Ron looked like a drowning man that had just caught a life preserver. A bit of color returned to his cheeks. "You're not joking, are you?"
"I never joke about brooms," she said seriously.
"I, would it be alright to talk with you about this some more?" Ron asked hopefully.
"When?"
"Tonight if possible," Ron said quickly. "I . . . I'd like to be able to work on carving during holidays, professor."
Hooch pursed her lips. "Potter!" she called out.
"Yes, Professor?" Harry stuck his head back in the woman's office. He caught a glimpse of Ron's smiling face out of the corner of his eye, maybe Hooch had seen something in Ron's flying that he hadn't?
"Your friend will be a while, head back to the castle." She had a couple weeks to try to drill the basics into the boy's thick skull, time to see if he had the followthrough.
"Yes, Professor," Harry agreed reluctantly.
Hooch waited until the boy was out of sight before returning her attention to the youngest male Weasley. "One question before we begin."
"Yes, professor?"
"Why did you call carving 'the boring part' if you're already so bloody good at it?"
"Harry's never done it before, professor," Ron said reasonably. "I didn't want to have to sit through a bunch of beginner stuff. Plus I never thought it would be useful for anything aside from making toys and chessmen and stuff like that."
"I see." Which neatly laid every one of her possible reservations to rest. "Alright, Mr. Weasley. The first thing I need you to demonstrate is-"
IIIIIIIIII
The last Potter was deep in thought as he made his way back to the castle to steal a quick shower before his next 'research session.'
"Harry!" Luna called out. The two girls ambushed their messy haired friend just before he got to the main entrance.
"What is it?" he asked, glad to see his friends but to exhausted to sounds like it.
"We've got something to show you," Luna said breathlessly. "Right, Hermione?"
"Right," Hermione agreed.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"It's a surprise," Hermione said. "Right, Luna?"
"Right," Luna agreed. She was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "It's a good one, I promise," the girl added.
"Okay, lead the way." The two girls each took possession of one of his arms and dragged him down an unfamiliar path and into the enormous shed that housed the Hogwarts express.
"It's over here," Luna said as she dragged him past one of the massive engines. The girl flung open the door to reveal a beat up motorbike sitting in the middle of a large empty room. There wasn't much Harry could tell about it based on his limited to almost non-existent knowledge of motorcycles, just that it seemed to have been well used and bore a strong resemblance to one of his earliest memories and several of his fondest dreams.
Harry took several stumbling steps until he was within touching distance of the machine. "Is this?" Harry stared down at the motorcycle with an unreadable look on his face, his hand dropping to caress the fuel tank.
"It's not the one he made for himself," Hermione said softly. She was beginning to get nervous over Harry's lack of reaction. "It's one of the ones he took apart so see how they worked. Remus found it and we . . . that is to say Luna and I put it together."
"But it was his, yes?" Harry took a couple steps forward and ran his hand over the tank, letting his fingers find every dent and ding.
"Yes," Hermione agreed.
"Thank you," Harry whispered. "I used to have dreams about his motorbike you know," he continued softly. "I always wanted one of my own, used to fantasize about it taking me away from the Dursleys forever."
"And now you have one," Luna said quickly. "Does that make you happy?" She bit her lower lip as she waited for his reply.
"More then you'll ever know, much more than I can ever express with mere words," Harry agreed hoarsely. "Thank you."
"You said that, Harry," Hermione teased.
"So I did and so I likely will again," Harry agreed. His hand reached out to caress the fuel tank again. "Does it run?"
"We haven't gotten to that stage yet," Hermione demurred. Why in the hell hadn't they thought of that? She locked eyes with Luna who nodded by way of reply.
"We wanted to show you right away," Luna added. "We thought it best to not delay the time it would take to get it running again."
"It's wonderful," Harry said slowly. "Wonderful." He gave one last regretful caress before turning away. "I have to get to my extra classes."
"You can always come back to it later," Hermione assured her friend. "It's not going anywhere so you can come down to see it whenever you have a moment to spare."
With a last smile for each of the girls and a last look at the motorcycle, Harry turned and walked out of the room.
"I'm glad we were able to do that for him, he really seemed to enjoy it, didn't he?" Hermione said with a wide smile.
"Hermione," Luna said suddenly.
"Yeah, Luna?"
"If seeing one motorcycle assembled made Harry happy, how happy do you think he will be after we assemble all of them?"
"I . . ." she trailed off when she noticed the look of hopeful expectation in the blonde's eyes. "Why don't we find out, Luna?"
The little blonde's smile nearly split her face upon hearing her friend's reply. "I was hoping you would say that, Hermione."
IIIIIIIIII
Harry pulled himself out of bed the next morning and met Ron and Hermione in the common room. The three of them stared dully at each other for several seconds, until Harry decided to break the silence.
"Why do you two look so tired this morning?" Harry asked his friends. After all, he was the only one being tortured by the Professors.
"I was up all night doing something with Luna," Hermione replied with a yawn.
"I spent most of the night working on my carving after I finished another talk with Hooch," Ron replied.
"Breakfast?" Hermione suggested.
"Let's go," Harry agreed.
"Can't wait," Ron pitched in.
The 'golden trio' walked into the Great Hall, past the other house tables, and towards their house table for their morning meal.
"Save me two seats," Hermione requested as she broke off from her friends and started walking towards a blonde mop taking a seat towards the isolated end of the Ravenclaw table reserved for loners and those that were otherwise excluded socially from the house.
"Luna! Over here!" Hermione called out, getting her friend's attention.
The blonde cheerfully bounced over to her friend's side. "Yes, Hermione?"
"How can you look so awake?" Hermione demanded.
"I got almost four whole hours of sleep in a solid block last night, Hermione. Why wouldn't I look awake?" Luna asked happily.
"That's one less then I got," Hermione moaned.
"I wanted to get all my packing done before my roommates woke up," Luna explained. "What is it you wanted, Hermione?"
"Oh, uh, would you like to have breakfast with us today, Luna?"
"I would be delighted to, thank you, Hermione."
"After that, the four of us can take the carriages to the Hogwarts Express together," Hermione continued.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. But I was hoping to get down to help them warm up the engine," Luna said regretfully. "But I would love to sit with you on the train if that's alright with you? I should be by shortly after the train leaves the station if that is acceptable."
Hermione noticed the way her friend stiffened up while waiting for the reply. "Of course, Luna. And if you don't mind, I'd like to go with you to help with the Engine."
"I'll wait for you to finish packing," Luna agreed.
"I got all that done two days ago," Hermione said quickly. "Just let me arrange for my trunk to get brought down and I'll join you in a minute."
"Aren't we going to have breakfast first?" Luna asked innocently.
"Oh . . . right." Hermione blushed. "I forgot all about that."
The two girls walked over to the Gryffindor tables and took their places next to Harry and Ron on the bench.
"Morning, Luna," Harry greeted the girl.
"Good morning, Harry," Luna replied with a dazzling smile.
"Mumph, L'na," Ron said with a wave.
"Good morning, Ronald," Luna said. It was so nice to be accepted.
"Thank you for saving us a couple of seats, Harry," Hermione said.
"Anything for a friend," Harry replied.
"Hey, Lav. Do you mind doing me a favor?" Hermione asked her roommate across the table to her dormmate.
"What is it?" Lavender replied.
"Could you bring Crookshanks and my trunk down to the common room, please?" Hermione asked. "Luna and I are going to go help the Express crew with the Engine."
"Sure, no problem," Lavender agreed. "Anything else?"
"That's all, thank you, Lavender."
"Happy to help."
"Harry?" Hermione turned to the boy on her left with a hopeful look on her face. "If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask you."
"Yeah, I can get it all on the train for you."
"Thank you, Harry."
"What are friends for?"
"If it's not too much trouble, could you find a compartment at the front of the train?" Luna asked nervously, surprising herself with how bold she'd gotten in the short time since her friendship with Hermione had bloomed. "As far forward as possible anyway."
"Sure, why?"
"Hermione and I are going to be in the Engine compartment when the train pulls up to the station and it would be nice to have a short walk," Luna explained.
"Ah, okay, Luna."
"Thank you, Harry," Luna said sweetly.
"Ah, Mister Potter." McGonagall's voice caused the students to jump. "Just the person I wanted to see on this fine morning."
"Yes, Professor?"
"I was just musing the other day about how it's a shame that you can't practice magic while you're away from the castle," McGonagall began. "Severely limits the amount of practical assignments I can give you to complete anyway."
"Yes, Professor," Harry agreed neutrally. A chill went down his spine as he waited for the other shoe to drop.
"Happily, I have a solution."
"I'm going to be permitted to use magic?" Harry asked hopefully. Granted, he had his newly constructed wand that Madame Hooch had 'forgotten' to charm, it would still be nice to be able to do things legally.
"I'm afraid not," Minerva replied. "This way, please."
"See you on the train," Harry said over his shoulder as he followed his head of house out of the Great Hall.
McGonagall led Harry back to her office and handed him a long rectangular wand shaped box. "Here you are, Mr. Potter."
"What's this, Professor?"
"It's a weighted training wand," Minerva explained. "Filius tells me that Professional Duelists use them to practice wand movements."
He opened the box to find a metal object about the same size and shape of his normal wand but noticeably heavier.
"It's heavy."
"According to Filius, so that the weight helps one train for a normal duel," Minerva continued. "The tip will light up when you make a successful movement, nothing will happen if you make an unsuccessful movement."
"Thanks, Professor."
"You are very welcome, Mr. Potter."
IIIIIIIIII
Hermione and Luna walked in to find the train shed a hive of activity. The fireman was throwing shovels full of coal through the hatch to keep the steam up while engineer checked and double checked every gauge to ensure that everything was correct, beside them the crew on the backup engine replicated every one of their actions. On the train itself the crew made their last checks as they got ready for their run to London.
"Dinna expect ta see yew garls 'ere t'day," one of the firemen said loudly, giving the two a half toothless grin. All activity halted as the men noticed the two girls. "Woulda tha' tha' yewd be wif yer mates."
"We are," Luna replied. "Right, Hermione?"
"Right, Luna. And besides, we'll be with our other friends on the ride down. We're just here to say goodbye and help you prepare the Express for the run to London."
"An' wer happy ta 'ave it," the fireman replied with a grin. "Why don yew start th' inspection? It'd be a big 'elp." Granted the Express had already been inspected and re-inspected, but it wouldn't hurt anything to do it again and it would keep the two girls from getting underfoot.
"Right," Hermione agreed. "Come on, Luna."
The two girls spent the next few minutes going over every inch of the massive machine, checking and rechecking every critical part to ensure that there would be no problems on the run to London. The Hogwarts express had an unmatched reputation for reliability and the girls promised themselves that they would not miss the slightest thing which might mar that reputation.
"All finished then?" The Engineer asked.
"Neither of us found any critical problems," Hermione reported. "But you might want to have a close look at the steam gauge siphoning pipe."
"We couldn't find anything wrong, but there's something off about it," Luna added.
"Good job," he said. He tossed each of the girls a bundle of clothing. "I'll take a look at it while you change into these coveralls and stow your good clothes," he advised. "Gonna get real dirty in a few minutes."
"Right," Hermione agreed. The two girls retired to the privacy of the office to change into their new outfits.
IIIIIIIIII
Hermione's father sighed in frustration as he put down the phone. Of all the bloody times for something to come up. A part of him wished his wife wasn't such a soft touch, the rest of him realized that she wouldn't be the woman he'd fallen in love with if she wasn't.
"Thomas," he called out.
"Yes, sir?" The driver replied.
"I'm afraid that we will not be able to pick up Hermione ourselves," Philip said with a look of distaste. His fists balled up in frustration. "Please tell her that her mother has an emergency surgery and that we will see her when she gets home."
"Both of you, sir?"
Phil snorted. "They want to ensure that everyone in the room has the proper clearances in case the idiot spills something while under and they say that no one else with the proper skills and clearances is available. I suspect the bastard doesn't want someone of the wrong class in the room and he's willing to overlook my lack of title due to my net worth and the fact that I attended Eton."
"I see, sir."
"Remind me to pad the bill quite a bit more than normal, enough to make it hurt, and to do something particularly nasty in response to this newest bit of stupidity if my suspicions should prove to be founded." An unpleasant thought formed; It was just likely someone thought they were important and wanted to show off just how important they were by forcing his wife to attend and him to be present. If that were the case then Phil would need to make an example that would ensure that such behavior would not repeat itself.
"Very good, sir. Should I take Ms. Hermione and her young gentleman to get something to eat on the way here?"
"Take her wherever she likes if she asks. I'd like to have a meal with her, but not if it means she goes without if she's hungry."
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you, Thomas, that will be all."
"Yes, sir."
IIIIIIIIII
Hermione and Luna watched in fascination as the crew of the Hogwarts Express went about their task of running the engine.
"Nothing exciting from here on," the Engineer said loudly. He smiled down at the two soot covered girls. "Why don't you two clean up a bit and then go see your friends?"
"Thank you for the ride," Luna said sweetly.
"It was very educational," Hermione added.
"Come on," Hermione said as she dragged the younger girl into the washroom. "Let's get some of this soot off."
"Alright, Hermione."
Several thorough cleaning charms and a bit of soap and water made them presentable enough for polite company and they stepped out of the small crew rest area and across the gap into the first passenger car in search of their friends.
IIIIIIIIII
Thomas went over the necessary changes with the rest of the staff as they prepared to pick up their employer's daughter from the train station.
"No changes for the first half," he said in a slow measured tone. "I want the first group to be in place and keeping an eye out for trouble four hours before the train comes in."
IIIIIIIIII
The snack cart lady was preparing to make her rounds when she saw the normally closed door at the head of the car open to admit the two girls.
"Looking for your friends?" she asked.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Do you know where they are?"
"I do indeed, lass. The Conductor put them in the second compartment of the first car just behind the prefects," the woman said helpfully. "This car, that is."
"Thank you very much," Hermione said quickly. "Come on, Luna."
It didn't take long for the two girls to join their friends, but after about fifteen minutes of socializing, the lack of sleep began to catch up with them. Harry and Hermione were both sound asleep and leaning on each other for support and Ron was looking down longingly.
"Would you like to lay down on the bench, Ronald?" Luna asked.
"Yeah," Ron agreed gratefully. "But where will you go?"
"I shall sit next to Hermione," Luna replied. She walked to the other side of the car, took a seat, and laid her head on the other girl's shoulder. "Have a pleasant sleep, Ronald."
"Night, Luna."
The four of them slept quietly through the next hundred miles or so until they were discovered by two of Gryffindors' biggest gossips.
"Fetch Colin," Lavender whispered. "Or at the very least, fetch his camera."
"Right," Parvati agreed.
Lavender stifled a giggle as she watched her roommate drool on 'the-boy-who-lived' while the blonde Ravenclaw drooled on her. Oh, they were going to tease Hermione so much.
"Got it," Parvati whispered. "Rather, got him."
"Good work," Lavender whispered back. "Colin, do your stuff."
"Right," Colin agreed.
To the dismay of the two gossips, the flashes woke their sleeping classmates before more than a couple pictures could be taken.
"I suggest we leave," Lavender said as she darted out of the compartment.
"Quickly," Parvati giggled.
"What was that?" Harry asked with a yawn.
"A pair of loud mouthed, nosy, gossiping twits," Hermione replied with a sniff. "Did you get a good rest, Harry?"
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "How about you, Luna?"
"Marvelous, how was yours, Ronald?"
"Wish it was longer, but I got work to do, 'eh, Hermione?"
"I really should revise my homework schedule," Hermione mused. Hermione glanced at Harry and Luna out of the corner of her eye. "But I can always do that later," she said firmly. "Care for a game to pass the time?"
"Sure," Harry agreed.
"I'd love to," Luna said happily.
"You guys go ahead," Ron sighed. "I really do need to take care of this." Ron pulled out what looked like twelve inches of cut off broomstick out of his bag along with a carving knife and a bit of sandpaper.
"Plenty of time for you to join us later, Mate," Harry said quickly.
Ron broke the silence a few minutes later. "Hey, Hermione, could you hold this and tell me how it feels?" He asked hopefully. Ron handed the girl the twisted and oddly carved foot long length of broomstick.
"Sure, Ron," Hermione agreed. She awkwardly took the stick away from him. "It feels, weird."
"You're holding it wrong," Ron said patiently.
"How should I hold it then?" Hermione asked with a huff.
"Follow the twist with your thumb," Ron advised.
"Ah," Hermione said happily, "that's much better."
"What are you trying to do, Ronald?" Luna asked.
"Trying to make a custom grip sample to send to the Harpies," Ron explained. "Could you try it now, Luna?"
"Of course, Ronald. I'd be happy to help," Luna agreed. She held the grip expertly for a few seconds. "A bit large for me, but comfortable."
"Thanks, Luna."
"What do you mean, send it to the Harpies?" Hermione asked.
"Madame Hooch is using her connections to get it looked at," Ron explained. "She says that there's big money in doing aftermarket customizations of factory brooms and that most of the players like to have their broomsticks fitted."
"Isn't there a lot of competition?" Hermione asked with a worried frown.
"Not as much as you'd think," Ron said cheerfully. "Most of the companies hate to bother with this sort of thing. Takes a lot of time and they figure the real money is in selling the mass produced stuff to the public. Quidditch players are just there to advertise."
"And where there's a market for something and a lack of competition, there's money to be made," Hermione agreed. "Let me take a look at your business plan later, okay, Ron?"
"Business plan?"
"Dad taught me a little about them," Hermione explained. She normally hated to have anything to do with it, but was willing to dirty her hands to help a friend. "Said it was something every Granger had to understand." Even if it cut into her reading time.
"Errr."
"I'll help you write one up later, okay?"
"Thanks, Hermione."
The Children shucked their robes as the train pulled into the Station . "Don't forget to charm them to be lighter before we get off the train," Hermione advised. She pulled out her wand and hit her trunk with a couple of spells.
"Would you mind too much doing mine as well, Hermione?" Luna asked with a faint blush. "I'm not very proficient with that charm yet."
"Of course, Luna." Hermione cast a couple more charms. "I'm always happy to help."
They stepped off the train and Harry suddenly found himself enveloped by a pair of arms."Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said happily.
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley."
"Hermione." Molly released her captive and grabbed another. "I hear you're planning to stay together this holiday."
"My parents wanted a chance to meet him," Hermione explained. "Luna's coming over later too," she added.
"Well . . . just be sure that you don't do anything scandalous," Molly advised sternly.
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley."
"It's not that I don't understand what it's like to be your age or how fascinating the opposite sex can be. I certainly wouldn't have so many children of my own if I didn't, would I?" Molly continued her lecture. "Just remember that you've got plenty of time to explore things later, no need to rush into things that you aren't ready for."
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley." The two red faced teens agreed.
"Leave them alone, Molly," Arthur said gently. "Unless you want me to tell the story of the second floor classroom."
"Arthur please," Molly exclaimed, blushing a deep red. "Not in front of the children." She leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Though maybe we can reenact it later tonight?"
"Sorry that had to happen to you guys," Ron whispered to his friends. "But now you know what I have to live with." Ron said with a note being resign in his voice.
"Mum says that embarrassing your children is one of the major benefits of being a parent," Hermione sighed. "Guess that's one thing that's the same in both worlds."
Arthur finished his conversation with his wife and turned back to the two children. "Are you two going to be alright? It's no trouble to wait with you until your parents get here."
"They should be waiting on the other side of the barrier, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said. "I can call them and wait in the station office if they're not there."
"If you're sure," Arthur said slowly.
"It'll be fine, Mr. Weasley," Harry assured the man. "Hermione and I both grew up in the muggle world."
"Well . . . if anything happens or your parents aren't there, I want the two of you to come back to the platform and floo me immediately."
"We will, Mr. Weasley," Hermione agreed quickly.
"Alright." He sighed. "Just remember that 'you-know-who' is back and-"
"We understand, Mr. Weasley," Harry said quickly. "We'll be careful."
Hermione and Harry said their goodbyes to their friends and walked through the barrier to the proper side of Kings Cross.
"Thomas," Hermione squealed. She ran up to an imposing man with close cropped grey hair and threw her arms around him. "Did you miss me?"
"We all did, Ms. Hermione."
"Harry, this is my mother's driver, Thomas."
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Harry said politely.
"Thomas, this is my best friend, Harry Potter."
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Harry."
"Where are mum and dad?" Hermione asked.
"Your parents had to do an emergency surgery," the grey haired driver explained. "They'll meet you at Matchingham Hall."
"Just leave your trunk here, Harry," Hermione said to her friend. "Someone in the other car will take care of it."
"Other car?" Harry asked dumbly.
"One for people, the other for the trunks," Hermione agreed. Actually, there were two other cars one for chase and the other to lead but security was never something that Hermione ever concerned herself with or even noticed the majority of the time.
Hermione grabbed Harry by the wrist and dragged him out of the station without a further thought to their luggage. "Where's the car, Thomas?"
"It's the S-Class, Ms. Hermione," the burly driver replied.
"Daddy bought another car?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, Ms. Hermione." The driver opened the back door for his charges and helped them into the back seat of the roomy sedan.
"Hermione," Harry whispered as the car pulled away from the curb.
She shot him an odd look. "What is it?" Hermione whispered back.
"Is he a wizard," Harry whispered. He fingered his wand.
"I don't think so," Hermione replied, "why?"
"Cause he's got something hidden up his sleeve," Harry replied in a low dangerous voice. Hermione was surprised to see her best friend's wand appear in his hand as he focused on a point at the base of the driver's neck. "How sure are you that he hasn't been replaced?"
"Thomas," Hermione called out.
"Yes, Ms. Hermione?"
"What do you have hidden up your sleeve?"
"You noticed that?" he asked with a grin. He stopped the car and pulled up his sleeve to reveal a wicked looking double edged dagger strapped to his forearm. "Like to keep it on hand to open letters and such for your dad."
"Thank you, Thomas."
"Not at all, Ms. Hermione."
"Satisfied?" Hermione whispered.
"Yeah," Harry agreed sheepishly. "I just noticed that he had something that looked like a wand and I started thinking about Polyjuice and . . . well . . ."
"I understand." She patted him on the leg. "It must be terrible for you, what with 'you-know-who' back."