"Welcome home, Henry."
Father's hug was strong and desperate. Harry leaned against him for a moment, hugging him back, and then turned and waved at Ron and Hermione, who were both joining their families. Hermione nodded at him, looked at Father without a hint of an expression, and then turned and walked away.
Father let go of Harry and turned to hug Draco, bowing his head and speaking words too quiet to hear. Harry took a step back so that they could have privacy, and winked at Tonks as she got off the train. She'd spent the term exploring the secrets of Hogwarts, and now and then acting as a "bodyguard" for Harry when he had to go into a part of the castle where he might have to see Dumbledore.
Professor McGonagall had been shocked at the news that the new Defense professor was Sirius Black, and had promised Harry that she would be with him during any conversation he might have to have with the Headmaster. Harry mostly trusted her to keep that promise, but he didn't trust Dumbledore not to trick his way past her.
"See you on Christmas!" Tonks said, and waved jauntily, and moved away to one of the points where people could Apparate or Floo out.
"Still not all the way reconciled with your Muggleborn friend?"
Harry was a little surprised at first that Father had noticed, in the middle of his hug with Draco, but then he remembered how strong Father's survival instincts were, and smiled ruefully to himself. It was probably one of those instincts that had made him notice when Hermione had walked away without a word.
"Not completely," Harry agreed, letting Father cast a charm that would tug Harry's trunk after them, and Father and Draco get on either side of him. He might not be in much danger here in King's Cross, but one could never disregard the notion after Sirius Black appearing out of nowhere more than once. "She still finds your past hard to swallow, and we disagreed about things like how important it is to study for OWLS instead of for regular classes."
"What happened when you disagreed?"
"Granger sulked," Draco said, obviously relishing the words.
"Draco. She did not."
"Yes, she did! She was upset that you didn't just roll over and tell her what she wanted to placate her. She sat at another table in the library and emitted this cloud of sulkiness that rolled along the floor like smoke."
Harry scowled at his brother, but he did have to admit that it was sort of an accurate description of Hermione's reaction. "I never used to just placate her."
"Yes, you did. You didn't want to argue with her, so you would sit there and sort of tune out the lecture, or you would pretend to ignore the issue until she dropped it of her own accord because she assumed you agreed with her."
Harry scowled harder, but…
Yeah, that sort of was the way it worked. The times he had disagreed with his friends had been so awful that he did want to avoid big fights, if he could. And he still remembered that it had been a fight with Ron that had put Hermione in danger from the troll during first year.
"We will have a quiet Christmas," Father said, breaking in. "We will invite your aunt and uncle and cousin over, of course, but no one else will come to visit on Christmas Day itself. We shall drink mulled wine and open gifts and discuss certain ideas your aunt has come up with."
Harry nodded. It sounded wonderful.
"Lucius!"
The voice rang so loudly that Harry was half-convinced for a second either Black or Dumbledore had come to King's Cross and decided to confront Father here. But Father whirled around and ducked into a crouch, raising a thick shield that settled over them like a dome, and a curse that would turn someone to stone deflected off the shield. People scattered, screaming.
Harry didn't think either Black or Dumbledore would have used a curse like that.
Father straightened up, staring. Harry peered around him, despite the way that he was pressed backwards with the shield, and recognized the man standing in the middle of the train station by his silver hands.
Barty Crouch, Jr.
"Traitor," Crouch said softly, but it was enough to make his voice echo from the walls in the sudden silence. "I'm here to make sure you pay."
Father smiled. It was a terrible smile. Harry felt even Draco gasp and fall back towards him. He reached out for his brother without thinking, and they clung together inside the dome that Father had raised.
"I think," Father said, "that I shall enjoy this."
He spun his wand in a few motions that looked expert, and which Harry had never seen before. The dome shield shuddered and pushed outwards, and Harry found himself able to stand up in it, which he hadn't before. At the same time, a section of it swung upwards like a door, and Father stepped out and through.
Harry started to scramble after him without thinking. He didn't want Father to face Crouch alone. What if—
....
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