Post by Tathrin on Mar 13, 2012 17:06:40 GMT -8
Title: Hart's Reflection
Changing Canon Challenge[/b]
Summary: When Harry looked into the Mirror of Erised, he saw his parents standing behind him. But in this world, that is no mere reflection...
Rating: PG-13 (language, some violence)
Word Count: 1741
Part Two
Harry Potter squeezed his eyes shut and ran forward. He reached the point where, if he was going to run into them, he would have felt the painful impact of bricks against his face, and kept going. He slowed to a stop and opened his eyes.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Smoke from the engine drifted over the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
Harry gaped at everything with wonder. The crowd on the other side of the magical barrier had been nothing compared to the beautiful chaos that teemed beyond the enchanted bricks. He grinned. He was on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at last and nothing could make him happier than the sight of that scarlet engine parked against the kerb. Harry Potter had been waiting for this day all his life.
He started forward, grinning eagerly, wanting to see absolutely everything.
"Harry James Potter! You get back here right now, young man!"
Harry jerked to a stop and turned around with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, mum," he said.
From the archway behind him emerged a tall woman with shoulder-length red hair. She had bright green eyes and a friendly mouth that was currently twisted into the sort of half-smile common to mothers everywhere when they have ceased to be surprised by their offspring's irrepressible behavior.
"Uh-huh," she said drily. "Well you'll be able to run wild across the school grounds soon enough," Lily Potter told her son, "until then you're stuck with us."
"Okay, mum," said Harry, rolling his eyes.
He let his family catch up with him: his mother gripped his little sister tightly by the hand so that she couldn't run off the way Harry nearly had; his father came behind them, pushing a trolley carrying Harry's school trunk and a large cage inhabited by a rather sleepy-looking owl.
"Been a while, hasn't it?" James Potter said, grinning around at the crowded platform. "Looks the same, though, don't you think?"
Lily snorted. "Sure," she said, "in that it's still a train station, and there's still a train, and people getting on it. I don't know what you expected, James..."
He shrugged cheerfully. "Dunno," he said. "What do you think, Harry?"
"I think it's brilliant," Harry answered at once. "Can I go find a seat?"
"Mum, it's not fair," Harry's sister interrupted. "Why does Harry get to go off to school?"
"Because he's eleven," Lily explained patiently, as she had a good hundred times already. "Which you will be soon enough, and then the both of you can terrorize Hogwarts together. But you had the misfortune to be born the second child, so you'll just have to wait your turn like everyone else does."
"Don't worry," James said, dropping a hand from the trolley to tweak his daughter's long black pigtail, "you'll have so much fun with your mum and I while Harry's gone, you won't even notice he's missing."
"Hmph," said Marigold Potter. "Like I'd miss him anyway," she muttered, "the big stupid-head." She stuck her tongue out, to which Harry replied in kind.
"Children," Lily said warningly.
She was answered with a quick chorus of "sorry, mum!" from the both of them, as well as two identically innocent smiles. The Potter children, with their lanky frames and black hair, looked almost nothing like their red-headed mother; except for their eyes, which were all bright, almond-shaped green pools.
"Whatever," Lily muttered, then quickly added, "James, the trolley!"
"Oh!" James Potter lunged forward, catching the runaway by the handle just before it plowed into a cluster of people with hair every bit as bright and flaming as Lily's. "Sorry!" James said, grinning sheepishly.
The leader of the group -- a short, plump woman with bright red curls -- looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, don't worry about it, dear," she chattered, "always so crowded, the platform, isn't it? No harm done, anyway."
The Potters nodded politely. "Well, it doesn't help that James here sometimes forgets he's not still a schoolboy himself," Lily said wryly. She held out a hand. "Lily Potter," she said.
"Molly Weasley," the shorter red-head replied, shaking Lily's hand firmly. "And I'm pretty sure two of mine aren't going to be growing out of that stage either, so I'll hardly hold that against your James."
The two mothers grinned at each other.
"This is Harry and Marigold," Lily said, nudging her children forward to be introduced.
"Oh, what lovely little ones!" Molly exclaimed. "Well that's my Percy there -- a Prefect this year, we're so proud! -- and those are Fred and George, no way to tell which one's which, really; just keep an eye on them both -- and this is Ron, he'll be starting his first year at Hogwarts, and this is my daughter, Ginny. She's my youngest," Molly beamed proudly.
"And she looks every bit as disappointed to be stuck at home as Marigold is," Lily observed.
Molly laughed and both little girls blushed. "That she is," Molly replied, hugging her daughter.
"Hang on," James said, nudging the trolley aside so he could get closer to the impromptu gathering in the middle of the crowd. "You wouldn't be Arthur Weasley's family, would you?"
Molly nodded. "Yes indeed," she said. "Afraid he couldn't get away from work today -- some emergency about a disappearing phone box -- do you know him?"
"I've run into him a few times at the Ministry," James replied. "I work in the Auror Department so we don't have all that much to do with one another, generally, but I've certainly seen him around. Don't you have another son, if I remember right?"
"Two, actually," Molly replied proudly. "Bill's doing curse-breaking for Gringotts, and Charlie's off in Romania studying dragons."
"You're a brave woman," Lily said.
"Oh, well, I don't have anything to do with dragons," Molly replied.
"Oh I didn't mean the dragons," Lily said. "I meant the kids. Seven children, and six of them boys? I can't even imagine how you manage. I have enough trouble with just these two."
The parents all laughed until one of the identical twins interrupted. "Mum, we'll be running off, okay? Lee's got something really cool he wants to show us."
"Something he says is really cool," the other boy corrected his brother. "I mean, we didn't help him find it, so how cool could it be, really?"
"True enough," said the first twin. "Still, best to check it out, yeah?"
"Yeah," his brother agreed. "So anyway, mum, we'll see you later, all right?"
Molly let them go with hurried hugs and several admonishments towards amending their behavior which Fred and George waved off distractedly.
"A toilet seat, huh?" Lily said, grimly amused. "Sounds like your twins and my husband are part of a set."
"Oh, they're quite the pair," Molly said, grimacing affectionately, before the oldest boy distracted her with a rather long-winded explanation of his new duties as a Prefect.
James grinned at his wife, his attempt at looking abashed and contrite not succeeding in any way. Harry snickered, and so did the red-haired Weasley boy his age, the one named Ron.
Lily shook her head. "You'd just better not take after your dad too much, Harry. I want to go at least a week without any teachers having to write me about your nonsense, you hear me?"
"Sure, mum," Harry agreed cheerfully. He crossed his fingers behind his back though, just in case. "Hey, Ron and I are going to go find seats on the train, all right?"
Lily nodded. "Okay, sweetheart. Don't forget to say hi to Severus from us, and mind your manners."
James grimaced habitually at the mention of his former nemesis, but Lily ignored him.
"And keep your eyes open for Neville, he should be around somewhere..."
"We wouldn't be able to find the Longbottoms in all this mess even if we had firecrackers and a siren," James said.
"You wish," Lily muttered, and caught her son by the arm before he could dart away. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she hinted.
"Oh, right," said Harry. He rolled his eyes and gave quick hugs to both his parents, and one to Marigold -- although he yanked her braid at the end of it, and had to dart out of reach before she smacked him -- and then he jumped up onto the Hogwarts Express with Ron Weasley.
The two boys waited impatiently for their trunks to be handed up, endured sloppy final kisses from their respective mothers, and then, with a last wave for nervous parents and teary-eyed sisters, they set off down the corridor together, on their way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at long last.
Changing Canon Challenge[/b]
Summary: When Harry looked into the Mirror of Erised, he saw his parents standing behind him. But in this world, that is no mere reflection...
Rating: PG-13 (language, some violence)
Word Count: 1741
Part Two
Harry Potter squeezed his eyes shut and ran forward. He reached the point where, if he was going to run into them, he would have felt the painful impact of bricks against his face, and kept going. He slowed to a stop and opened his eyes.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Smoke from the engine drifted over the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
Harry gaped at everything with wonder. The crowd on the other side of the magical barrier had been nothing compared to the beautiful chaos that teemed beyond the enchanted bricks. He grinned. He was on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at last and nothing could make him happier than the sight of that scarlet engine parked against the kerb. Harry Potter had been waiting for this day all his life.
He started forward, grinning eagerly, wanting to see absolutely everything.
"Harry James Potter! You get back here right now, young man!"
Harry jerked to a stop and turned around with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, mum," he said.
From the archway behind him emerged a tall woman with shoulder-length red hair. She had bright green eyes and a friendly mouth that was currently twisted into the sort of half-smile common to mothers everywhere when they have ceased to be surprised by their offspring's irrepressible behavior.
"Uh-huh," she said drily. "Well you'll be able to run wild across the school grounds soon enough," Lily Potter told her son, "until then you're stuck with us."
"Okay, mum," said Harry, rolling his eyes.
He let his family catch up with him: his mother gripped his little sister tightly by the hand so that she couldn't run off the way Harry nearly had; his father came behind them, pushing a trolley carrying Harry's school trunk and a large cage inhabited by a rather sleepy-looking owl.
"Been a while, hasn't it?" James Potter said, grinning around at the crowded platform. "Looks the same, though, don't you think?"
Lily snorted. "Sure," she said, "in that it's still a train station, and there's still a train, and people getting on it. I don't know what you expected, James..."
He shrugged cheerfully. "Dunno," he said. "What do you think, Harry?"
"I think it's brilliant," Harry answered at once. "Can I go find a seat?"
"Mum, it's not fair," Harry's sister interrupted. "Why does Harry get to go off to school?"
"Because he's eleven," Lily explained patiently, as she had a good hundred times already. "Which you will be soon enough, and then the both of you can terrorize Hogwarts together. But you had the misfortune to be born the second child, so you'll just have to wait your turn like everyone else does."
"Don't worry," James said, dropping a hand from the trolley to tweak his daughter's long black pigtail, "you'll have so much fun with your mum and I while Harry's gone, you won't even notice he's missing."
"Hmph," said Marigold Potter. "Like I'd miss him anyway," she muttered, "the big stupid-head." She stuck her tongue out, to which Harry replied in kind.
"Children," Lily said warningly.
She was answered with a quick chorus of "sorry, mum!" from the both of them, as well as two identically innocent smiles. The Potter children, with their lanky frames and black hair, looked almost nothing like their red-headed mother; except for their eyes, which were all bright, almond-shaped green pools.
"Whatever," Lily muttered, then quickly added, "James, the trolley!"
"Oh!" James Potter lunged forward, catching the runaway by the handle just before it plowed into a cluster of people with hair every bit as bright and flaming as Lily's. "Sorry!" James said, grinning sheepishly.
The leader of the group -- a short, plump woman with bright red curls -- looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, don't worry about it, dear," she chattered, "always so crowded, the platform, isn't it? No harm done, anyway."
The Potters nodded politely. "Well, it doesn't help that James here sometimes forgets he's not still a schoolboy himself," Lily said wryly. She held out a hand. "Lily Potter," she said.
"Molly Weasley," the shorter red-head replied, shaking Lily's hand firmly. "And I'm pretty sure two of mine aren't going to be growing out of that stage either, so I'll hardly hold that against your James."
The two mothers grinned at each other.
"This is Harry and Marigold," Lily said, nudging her children forward to be introduced.
"Oh, what lovely little ones!" Molly exclaimed. "Well that's my Percy there -- a Prefect this year, we're so proud! -- and those are Fred and George, no way to tell which one's which, really; just keep an eye on them both -- and this is Ron, he'll be starting his first year at Hogwarts, and this is my daughter, Ginny. She's my youngest," Molly beamed proudly.
"And she looks every bit as disappointed to be stuck at home as Marigold is," Lily observed.
Molly laughed and both little girls blushed. "That she is," Molly replied, hugging her daughter.
"Hang on," James said, nudging the trolley aside so he could get closer to the impromptu gathering in the middle of the crowd. "You wouldn't be Arthur Weasley's family, would you?"
Molly nodded. "Yes indeed," she said. "Afraid he couldn't get away from work today -- some emergency about a disappearing phone box -- do you know him?"
"I've run into him a few times at the Ministry," James replied. "I work in the Auror Department so we don't have all that much to do with one another, generally, but I've certainly seen him around. Don't you have another son, if I remember right?"
"Two, actually," Molly replied proudly. "Bill's doing curse-breaking for Gringotts, and Charlie's off in Romania studying dragons."
"You're a brave woman," Lily said.
"Oh, well, I don't have anything to do with dragons," Molly replied.
"Oh I didn't mean the dragons," Lily said. "I meant the kids. Seven children, and six of them boys? I can't even imagine how you manage. I have enough trouble with just these two."
The parents all laughed until one of the identical twins interrupted. "Mum, we'll be running off, okay? Lee's got something really cool he wants to show us."
"Something he says is really cool," the other boy corrected his brother. "I mean, we didn't help him find it, so how cool could it be, really?"
"True enough," said the first twin. "Still, best to check it out, yeah?"
"Yeah," his brother agreed. "So anyway, mum, we'll see you later, all right?"
Molly let them go with hurried hugs and several admonishments towards amending their behavior which Fred and George waved off distractedly.
"A toilet seat, huh?" Lily said, grimly amused. "Sounds like your twins and my husband are part of a set."
"Oh, they're quite the pair," Molly said, grimacing affectionately, before the oldest boy distracted her with a rather long-winded explanation of his new duties as a Prefect.
James grinned at his wife, his attempt at looking abashed and contrite not succeeding in any way. Harry snickered, and so did the red-haired Weasley boy his age, the one named Ron.
Lily shook her head. "You'd just better not take after your dad too much, Harry. I want to go at least a week without any teachers having to write me about your nonsense, you hear me?"
"Sure, mum," Harry agreed cheerfully. He crossed his fingers behind his back though, just in case. "Hey, Ron and I are going to go find seats on the train, all right?"
Lily nodded. "Okay, sweetheart. Don't forget to say hi to Severus from us, and mind your manners."
James grimaced habitually at the mention of his former nemesis, but Lily ignored him.
"And keep your eyes open for Neville, he should be around somewhere..."
"We wouldn't be able to find the Longbottoms in all this mess even if we had firecrackers and a siren," James said.
"You wish," Lily muttered, and caught her son by the arm before he could dart away. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she hinted.
"Oh, right," said Harry. He rolled his eyes and gave quick hugs to both his parents, and one to Marigold -- although he yanked her braid at the end of it, and had to dart out of reach before she smacked him -- and then he jumped up onto the Hogwarts Express with Ron Weasley.
The two boys waited impatiently for their trunks to be handed up, endured sloppy final kisses from their respective mothers, and then, with a last wave for nervous parents and teary-eyed sisters, they set off down the corridor together, on their way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at long last.