Chapter 1
“Hey, have you seen the latest news about You-Know-Who?” His friend whispered conspiratorially, causing him to roll his eyes while he gave a soft scoff.
“Please Ron, there’s no need to whisper like we’re a bunch of villains colluding. I bet the news got out by now and by that I mean literally everybody knows. But to answer your question, yes I have.” Harry turned to give his exasperated friend a cheeky grin.
“Come on,” said friend remarked, “you know that’s not what I wanted to hear.” He looked at Ron with wide innocent eyes, fluttering his lashes. “Really,” he cocked his head slightly, “it wasn’t?” The redhead grinned, pouncing on him, ruffling up his hair.
“Come here you little shit.”
“Hey! Hey! Stop!” Harry shouted out indignantly all the while laughing along, “ok, ok, I concede. Gosh, my hair’s already a mess without you messing it up more, thank you very much.” He shoved the ginger away as he tried to fix his hair in some semblance of order although it was a fruitless endeavor.
“Are you guys done?” The newcomer’s voice caused his unsuspecting friend to yelp in a very unflattering way and for all his effort he got a laugh in return.
“Sorry, Ron.”
“Mione,” the redhead whined out, trying to scowl at Hermione while fighting back a deepening blush and utterly failing at both.
“Heya, Jean,” he greeted his other longtime friend, giving her a teasing grin. For which he got a hit on the arm, “how many times are you still going to keep calling me that?”
“I mean I don’t know Jean, I’ve only been calling you that, hmm,” he made a mock thinking gesture, “ohh, I don’t know since we were four and seeing how we’re seventeen now. I think you’re smart enough to do the calculations, but by all means, if it’s too hard, don’t be afraid to ask for help.” He and Ron snickered while Hermione pinched him in the cheeks only causing him to laugh more.
He still remembered the day he first met Hermione, he had been four then. It was at the opening day for his nursery school, with his parents making introductions with the teachers and fellow parents. He was wandering around after his dad told him to go make some friends. The man was too excited, more so than himself at the prospect of making lifelong friends as his dad did with his godfathers. Yet, he was too shy and nervous at the idea of having to talk with strangers and it was nerve-wracking, he wasn’t much of a social butterfly, all he knew was his parents and godparents and that was basically his whole world.
Only for that to change when he bumped into someone while nervously looking around but at the same time not paying attention to his surroundings. The next thing that happened was him and the other person falling. Only for his glass to also fall out in the process, not being able to see correctly made him afraid and angry that he was forced to go out and make friends instead of being in the comforts of his own home.
He remembers how valiantly he tried to fight back his tears but he was just not valiant enough as his eyes started to water and threatened to spill.
“Here,” one moment it was all just a blur and the next he could make out a figure in front of him with hair just as unruly and messy as his. He sniffled trying to wipe away at his watery eyes, getting rid of that blur.
“Are you okay?” To his ears, the voice sounded demanding and harsh. He looked up at the girl who helped him find his glasses and meekly nodded, only for her to huff.
The girl crossed her arms, “you know it’s rude to not say thank you when someone helps you.” One of his hands clenched at the front of his shirt, he wanted to find his mom and dad already, the girl before him sounded mean. But, he remembered his mom telling him to always thank people if they help him so he unsurely reached out his hand.
“Thank you, uhh,” his face scrunched up in confusion, the girl in front of him must have noticed since she straightened herself more, glaring at him with a scowl she reached out her own hand, “Hermione Jean Granger and you are?”
He weakly took her hand, “Harry Potter, nice to meet you, Hermione Je-Jean Granger.” Right when he said that, he could feel her hand tighten around his hand a bit, she narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s Jean, not jeans as in the pants you would wear.”
He tilted his head, frowning, “Jean?”
“No, Jean like John.” After which he tried to repeat it several times and each was no better than before. The girl gave a sigh, telling him that it’s fine if he couldn’t say it. Although after the handshake, she did not let go of his hand except shifting her hand so she could hold his hand better and started to walk. He could only follow along and he decided that she was not so mean and can be a part of his world.
Only sometime later did he realize that Hermione was just as nervous and shy when she was also left to go make new friends. She didn’t quite fit in with the other kids since she was a bookworm, afraid that she would be alone. Until of course, she came across him, determined to make him her friend. Only she was so terrified and anxious causing her to come across rather a bit rude as she tried to hide her nervousness so that it wouldn’t chase him away. She, just like him, was socially inept and they got along well from that day onwards, practically conjoined at the hips.
The duo became a trio when they met Ron in elementary school. He fit right in from the start even with only knowing each other for a few hours. Ever since then they have done everything together, mostly in the form of trouble always finding him and Ron trying to help him while Hermione actually got them out of it one way or another.
He was broken out of his musings when Hermione practically dragged him while she and Ron started running towards their class before the bell. Now don’t let it be said that Hermione would not break rules just to uphold another one. They were able to make it into the class with extra minutes to spare. After taking a breather, he followed his two friends as they made their way to sit towards the windows near the back.
“Hey guys,” Dean greeted while Neville looked up with a smile and gave them a wave with a hello.
“So you’ve seen the news right?” Seamus didn’t wait for a second to delve right into the topic of discussion. Ron easily matched his excitement as he slid right into his seat, arms crossing over the top back of his chair as he faced Seamus.
“Yes! Did you see the fight between Blaze and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? It was fucking epic, glorious!” Seamus received a smack behind the back of his head by Dean, “no romanticizing villains.” With the latter rolling his eyes.
“You cannot tell me that Vol-” Seamus choked on the name as it left his mouth, clearing his throat with a nervous chuckle, “I mean You-Know-Who, he literally mopped the floor with Blaze and he was literally able to get the Sphere of Prophecies. I heard that things can foretell the future, like imagine all that you could do with it.”
“Like foretell when that bat would give us one of his god awful pop-quiz based on a chapter that we won’t be going over till like next month,” Ron stated with as much outrage as he could, a sneer that would make even the Malfoys proud which they would never outright state of course.
“Say,” Seamus started, eyeing them from one to another, “you think I’d be a good hero or a really badass villain?” To which Harry snorted with his friend glaring at him. “What, you think you could do better?” The other huffed as he crossed his arms only to slouch back into his chair.
Harry shook his head, “no, I’m saying we all wouldn’t even be superheroes or villains, forget about if we’re even gonna be good or bad at it.” Dean grinned at him as he leaned forward with his elbow on the desk, curiously he asked “why’d you say that?”
“Well, it’s simple really,” Ron gave him all his attention as he perched his head on his hand, upper body fully turned his way. Seamus himself was on the edge of his seat which was tipped on its front legs. It seems even Neville and Hermione were listening in on them as well.
Harry smiled serenely at them, waiting a few minutes to build up some suspense before actually answering. When it seemed they were at the height of it, he finally conceded, “we all have both our parents and a decent or even a great family.”
There was a loud clang as Seamus sat back, tipping his chair back against the floor. “Bullocks Harry, simply bullocks.”
“That’s quite the observation Harry, really astute,” Dean added with a tone that said he didn't buy it at all as he slumped down on his desk, arms crossed on top of the desk to rest his head.
“Yeah mate, you’ll have to give us more than that.” Ron leaned back, tipping his chair back on its hind legs.
“That was so anti-climatic.”
Harry waved away their responses, “Well, just look at Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Joker, Mystique, Penguin, Darth Vader, Magneto, Deadpool, Lex Luthor, The Runaways, and really I could continue on and we’ll be here for a long ass time. You know what they all have in common?”
“That they’re all fictional,” Seamus deadpanned.
Harry raised an amused eyebrow at the group, “come on enlighten me. Get those dead brains recharged, up and running. Even zombies could do better than this and they literally have dead rotting brains.”
“Ugh, Harry. No, no brains. Brain be dead. Brain no work.” Ron grunted and moaned like a zombie. Making the whole group snicker and laugh.
“Well, they are all different, some heroes, others villains, and those in-between, the vigilantes. Most of them were orphans who had dead parents or had shitty parents causing them to have an even shittier childhood with unresolved mommy and daddy issues. This is basically all their origin stories, origins that none of us have so therefore none of us would have been heroes or villains or even vigilantes. We lack the main ingredient, the drive or whatever. I bet even Blaze or Voldemort,” there was a round of sharp gasps of shock but he continued on nonetheless, not even a bit phased, “checked one of those boxes.”
Seamus hissed, “what the fuck Potter! Are you fucking nuts, using hi-his name. Are you trying to summon him and have us fucking murdered?”
Harry rested his chin on his folded fingers, only smiling at Seamus, making the other teen's eyebrow twitch in irritation. “I’d say I’m in the grey but if you asked anyone else they’ll say I’m beyond nuts. Do you want me to summon him is more of the question, seeing how you’re the one swooning over him like some fair maiden. Which by the way is all swell because not many can pull off that starstruck maiden look that you have going on. And I wouldn’t say murder per se, you’re like our mascot, it’d be such a shame to lose you. So the chances are low…but never zero.”
Harry looked at Seamus’ incredulous face, it seemed to be stuck between offense, irritation, and slight amusement. “Harry that’s rather rude,” Dean added, consoling Seamus by patting his back, only for a full devious grin to take place on his face, “can’t have ya offending our mascot that much now can we, whatever shall we do if he runs away? Who’ll be our mascot then?” Seamus huffed loudly, slapping away Dean’s hand on his back.
“You guys are fucking assholes, I hope you choke on your lunches today.”
“Aww,” Harry had mock adoration on his face, with a hand on his cheek, he proclaimed just as adoringly, “I love you too.”
Harry decided to turn around and get his materials before Professor Flitwick came in, but not before hearing Seamus grumble about what he did wrong for the universe to give him such pricks as friends.
“That was some good analysis Harry,” Hermione stated, making Harry look up at her from his book. Giving her a toothy grin, “why, the pleasure is all mine.” She leveled him with a look, “if only you would use that skill for actual schoolwork, imagine all that would go right in the world.” She bemoaned only to fix the same look to Ron who had laughed at him, serves him right.
“You as well Ron, have you even done the homework due today for Professor Flitwick’s class?”
Ron dropped the pencil he was idly twirling around in his hand, “We had homework?!”