Chapter Text
Lily and James Potter were murdered by Lord Voldemort on October 31st, 1981. In wake of their deaths, their infant son, Harry J. Potter, was placed with his magic hating, muggle aunt until his godfather and James’ best friend, Sirius Black, was cleared of suspicion in the Potters’ murders.
The real traitor, Peter Pettigrew, was found hiding as the Weasley family’s pet rat after a bout of accidental magic from the demon twins forced him to revert to human form. The pitiful excuse for a wizard was quickly subdued by the ferocious she-wolf known as Molly Weasley and so Sirius’ name was cleared, and he was granted custody of Harry. Relieved to finally have his beloved little godson safe in his arms, Sirius took him home to Number 12, Grimmauld Place to be raised by him and his husband Remus, as a Black.
Harry had a rather unorthodox upbringing in the House of Black, by both wizard and muggle standards. Though magic was an everyday occurrence in their home, Harry’s guardians or uncles as he called them, sent him to a nearby muggle primary school until he received his Hogwarts letter at eleven. Sirius had not wanted to let the little boy out of his sight, but Remus convinced him that it would be a good for Harry to be make friends his age, and that it would be beneficial for Harry to be able to function in both the wizard and muggle worlds when he grew up.
Unfortunately, being raised by a pair of doting master pranksters with magic at their disposal left Harry with somewhat unconventional ideas of what was fun. As such, he was branded ‘odd’ by his classmates and left to fend for himself with the rest of the outcasts. By the end of the first week of school he had made only one friend, a kind bookworm by the name of Hermione Jean Granger, who would stalwartly stand by his side for many years to come. Their friendship was an unlikely one, brought about by a chance encounter with a particular brutish boy named Dudley Dursley.
His neurotic, perfectionist parents had taught Dudley that he was the most handsome and smart little boy around, and as such deserved whatever he wanted. So when that bushy haired know-it-all, Hermione Granger, beat him at the spelling bee during the first week of school, Dudley did not take it well and cornered her during recess to “rectify” the issue. You see, even with the small amount of brain cells Dudley possessed, he knew he could not hurt Hermione without getting in trouble; so he would settle with taking her prize instead. Unfortunately for Dudley, Harry spotted him trying to wrestle Hermione’s new rainbow slinky from her while his gang of neighbourhood kids blocked her escape from their overweight ringleader.
While Harry might be a prankster by birth, but the one thing he would not stand for was bullies. A little joke at a person’s expense was one thing, but actually harming someone was a completely different ball game, one Harry was determined never to play. So when he saw Dudley picking on the pretty, helpful girl who sat in front of him in class, he just reacted.
Pushing his way through Dudley’s gang, Harry planted himself in front of a scuffed up Hermione and told Dudley to leave her alone. He ended up with a bloody nose and a recess detention for his pains, but in the end, Hermione was able to keep her prize, so it was worth it in Harry’s books. The two had been thick as thieves ever since. Harry gained a deep appreciation for books and reading thanks to his little bookworm while he brought out the prankster and adventurous spirit out in Hermione.
Harry finally managed to convince his Uncles to let Hermione stay over for the weekend when they were in second grade. Harry had been to her house many times over the past year, but Hermione had yet to step foot in the Marauder household due to Sirius and Remus’ worries over her being a muggle.
Remus frantically tried to make their thoroughly magical home seem more ‘normal’ while Sirius was banned from pranking during the weekend due to the magical nature of the majority of them. Despite the adults’ worries, the sleepover went without incident until breakfast the next morning. Sirius had promised the pair blueberry pancakes for breakfast, but Hermione pulled too hard while getting a mixing bowl down for him and threw herself off balance; falling off the step stool she was using and taking the rest of the pots on the shelf down with her as she fell. Terrified, she acted on reflex and froze the pots in mid-air in an impressive show of accidental magic. Standing gingerly, Hermione turned to see the three Blacks staring at her, wide eyed. Misinterpreting their shocked silence for fear, she darted out of the room, the pots falling with a clatter as she ran.
Slamming into the front door at full speed, Hermione found the handle would not budge and was about to try to force it, when Remus caught up with her and explained in a calm voice, that they were not afraid of her and what she did was perfectly normal. Once he got the little girl calmed down, he led her into the living room before calling her parents to come over so he and Sirius could explain things. Harry hugged *tackled* Hermione as soon as she walked in, ecstatic that he no longer had to lie to his best friend. He didn’t let go of her until her parents showed up and his Uncles began explaining about the wizarding world and Hermione’s place in it as a muggleborn witch.
Over the next four years, the Blacks and Grangers gradually integrated into each other’s lives until it was as though they had never lived apart. The Grangers eventually sold their house across town and moved into the many empty rooms of Grimmauld Place. Hermione had her own room on the same floor as her parents, though she slept in Harry’s more often than not, and had converted most of her room into a personal library with a comfortable futon for the rare nights the pair slept apart. Her parents did not mind the odd sleeping arrangements; they trusted their little girl and were more than happy to spend their evenings chatting about anything and everything under the sun with Remus and Sirius while the children slept. The years passed and Hermione bloomed in an environment that nurtured her differences rather than belittling them, while Harry came on par with his other half academically.
Both of the children’s Hogwarts letters arrived on Harry’s eleventh birthday, heralding a monumental shopping trip to Diagon Alley. Potion kits, school robes and textbooks were purchased in quick succession, along with extra reference material, wands and familiars for both children.
Harry picked a startlingly aware snowy owl that he named Hedwig while Hermione bonded with a bandy-legged, half-kneazel called Crookshanks that bore a marked resemblance to the taciturn, fluffy orange kitten seen toddling around in many photos of Harry’s baby photos. The ginger cat had taken an unusual liking to Sirius, and would follow the dog animagus around the house whenever his mistress was occupied, brushing up against him and demanding attention.
September came quickly after that and soon Harry and Hermione were grinning at each other, bursting with energy and excitement as the scarlet Hogwarts Express chugged its way out of London and far up into the Scottish Highlands. After crossing the Black Lake, Harry helped Hermione out of their boat and pair proceeded into the castle, going straight to the waiting room as though they had walked the aged stone halls a thousand times, baffling Professor McGonagall and earning a hearty chuckle from Hagrid who was a frequent visitor at the House of Black and as such, was rather used to Harry and Hermione’s shenanigans.
A few minutes later Harry and Hermione strode confidently, hand in hand, into the Great Hall at the head of the column of anxious first years. Both beamed at the head table and all the teachers who had taught or attended Hogwarts during the Marauder’s reign gaped and stared at those oh so familiar grins, each thinking to themselves in various states of panic, “Here we go again.”