Assault on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

The morning of September First was a bright one. Matt had gotten up early and since it was before dawn, he decided to read by candlelight for a bit. He had his trunk packed the previous evening but left out a couple of sparing reading books, just in case. Even though it was not academic reading, there was nothing wrong with reading for entertainment. It was one of his preferred methods of reading. He enjoyed getting lost in a good story and wrapped up in the characters.

As the morning brightened, he decided it was time to get a move on. Matt hauled his trunk down to the bar and ordered a light breakfast. Once again, speaking in clipped sentences and one-word phrases. If he had to keep this up for much longer, he might get in the habit of not talking much at all. He did not like the idea of speaking little. Not that he liked the sound of his own voice but doing it this way felt unnatural to him.

Thankfully, the morning was warm as he made his way down the streets of London. Dragging the trunk along behind him earned him some unusual glances from the various No-Maj residents of the city. Matt hoped he had not attracted too much attention to himself as he hauled himself to the station. He sat down twice on his trunk to rest. He cursed his bad leg but was glad he had turned his wand into a cane.

Thankfully, even though his cane looked weird as he hobbled along the sidewalks, no one really minded that. Canes, even in the No-Maj world came in every shape and size imaginable. His trunk is what drew the most curious looks. Matt sighed with relief by the time he got to the station. He saw Harry and Hermione looking around, but they did not see him right away. Matt attempted to sneak up on them, but his trunk and cane gave him away.

"Matt! You made it!" Hermione said, a lot of joy in her voice.

"Told you I would!" Matt said with a smile. "And to think you were worried about nothing!"

"Well, you did get lost just yesterday." Hermione reminded him.

"My greatest failure." Matt quipped.

"We're really early but we should get onto the platform." Hermione said.

"How exactly does this work again?" Matt asked.

"You just walk straight at the barrier between the two platforms." Harry said effortlessly.

"Like this." Hermione said and held her head high, hauling her trunk right behind her, she marched through the barrier and disappeared.

"Huh." Matt said. Even though he was a part of the wizarding world the concept was different.

"Take a run at it if you're nervous." Harry said.

"No, I get the concept." Matt said and casually tried to lean into the barrier but instead fell through, his trunk flying in behind him.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked as Matt hauled himself up off the floor of the station.

"I'm fine." he said as Harry appeared, shaking his head.

"Do Americans not have a school transport?" Hermione asked.

"No, nothing like this. Ilvermorny takes in everyone between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It's very spread out with no centralized transportation." Matt explained.

"So, then there's no…"

"Nope."

"That means everyone has to…"

"Yup." Matt said, finishing her thought. "It's as bad as you think." Matt Hermione and Harry all turned to see the scarlet steam engine pull into the station and stop. Matt let out a long whistle. "I'm comin' off the rails on a crazy train…" Matt sang.

"Really? That's the best you can come up with?" Hermione scoffed.

"What? I like the song!" Matt defended.

"Harry! Hermione! The interloper!" came a voice. Harry grinned and gave his girlfriend a hug and a quick kiss.

"Hello Ginny!" Hermione greeted her friend with a hug as well.

"Interloper? Really? You wound me!" Matt said to Ginny. She stuck her tongue out at Matt playfully. "I'll remember that!" he teased.

"Oh Harry! You're looking good dear!" said a plump woman who was following behind Ginny.

"Good to see you, Harry. Hermione." Said a tall thin man with balding red hair.

"Hello Arthur, Molly." Hermione said although she looked a little bashful.

"Oh Hermione! I'm sorry about Ron. Well, you know how he gets sometimes. You'll make up, you always do, don't you?" Molly Weasley said.

"I suppose it's possible…" Hermione said. Matt could hear the apprehension in her voice.

"Oh, and you must be Matt!" Molly said and Matt tried to back away, but his arm was hooked by Hermione, and he was drug back before he could make it more than a step. "Ginny's told us all about you. All the way from America?"

"Yes, well, it was all very sudden." Matt admitted. He was not lying, but he was not giving the full story either. "Ginny's wonderful though. She's helped get me back up to Hogwarts standards."

"That's wonderful to hear!" Molly said smiling. She turned back to Harry and Ginny and the latter moved off with Arthur to speak privately. Matt took a moment to step away from the group, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Matt?" Hermione asked, having stepped away herself.

"I'm fine. It just feels like I'm hearing things I'm not supposed to, you know? About family and your relationship. That's 'you' stuff. I shouldn't be knowing about that!" Matt said, feeling very self-conscious. Hermione smiled at him.

"It's alright. That's in the past." She replied.

"Hey." Came a voice. Matt looked over her shoulder to see Ron standing on the platform.

"Ronald?" Hermione was shocked. "What are you doing here?" There was a weird sound of hope in her voice.

"I came to see Ginny off and…well…see you." Ron replied.

"Oh? Why to see me?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I thought, you know, we could talk? In private." Ron said, his voice grew dark as he shot Matt a displeased look.

"Ronald, whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Matt." Hermione held her head high, defiant.

"No, I really can't." Ron said and took a step towards Hermione.

"It's ok, Hermione, I'll just be over here." Matt said and took a step back. She shot Ron a dangerous glare.

"Yeah, you do that. Go on. Tosser." Ron said, glaring at Matt. Matt wanted to shoot a reply but thought better of it, for Hermione's sake.

"Well, what do you want to say?" Hermione asked, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Look, back at Hogwarts…I wasn't…I just thought it'd be better…" Ron started.

"What? That I leave the school and go home? Stay in the kitchen all day with your mum and learn to cook and clean the house? Stay at The Burrow day in and day out, barefoot, and pregnant? Is that what you wanted?" Hermione asked angrily.

"Well…does that sound so bad?" Ron asked.

"Yes!" Hermione shouted. Matt kept his distance, staying near a support barrier but their argument was drawing attention from the others. "What about what I want? What about my life? I want a career! I want to make a difference! I can't do that sitting at home and knitting! We've been over this Ronald. You're not making my life decisions for me! I'm making them. And being at home all day long may be fine for Molly, but it isn't for me! I can't!"

"What about me? What about what I want?" Ron shouted back. "I want you to be safe. We went through hell during the war, wasn't that enough for you? You made a bloody difference already, haven't you? Isn't that enough! Don't you care about me? Don't you love me?"

"I did Ronald. I used to. But you were the one who changed that. You hurt me and you want to keep doing it. I can't keep doing this and living like this with you!" Hermione shot back.

"Fine then! Hermione, I'm done with you! We're over!" Ron bellowed. They must have heard him all the way back at Hogwarts.

"Oh, now you're the one breaking up with me? That's rich. I thought I made it clear to you that we were over when you grabbed my wrist and hurt me back at Hogwarts!" Hermione replied. She turned to move towards the train, but Ron clamped down on her left wrist.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet. I've still got loads more to say!" Ron said squeezing her wrist in a vice grip. Tears welled in Hermione's eyes alongside anger. It had become apparent that she was going to have to drive the point home again. Hermione raised her right arm to strike Ron again to break his hold on her.

Suddenly, Ron's other hand shot out and gripped her wrist in mid motion. Hermione gasped in pain as Ron held both her wrists, squeezing her hard. She let out a pained cry as tears slipped down her cheeks.

"You're not trying that one again. Since you like to fight so much, Hermione…" Ron said savagely. He twisted her left wrist and let go. Hermione let out a yelp as pain shot up her arm. Ron raised his fist and brought it down hard on her face in a punch. Hermione saw stars and the world spun as her cheek exploded with pain. Ron let go of her as she stumbled. She braced herself for the painful impact with the cement of the platform.

It never came. Her fall was stopped by something solid but not hard. Arms were holding her up and helping her regain her balance.

"It's ok. I've got you." Came a voice. Hermione looked up and saw Matt standing there, holding onto her as she rebalanced herself against the stone barrier. He did not let go until he was sure she was standing on her own again.

"So! You like to hit women huh? I would have thought more of the great Ronald Weasley." Matt spat sarcastically at Ron, who looked furious that Matt had stepped in to help Hermione.

"What's it to you?" Ron said drawing his wand and advancing on Matt. Matt slowly took a few steps back.

"Maybe something ought to be done about that. You really should learn better manners. Your sister sure does know better." Matt said, drawing Ron closer. Ron was now becoming blind with rage.

"Don't talk about my sister!" he shouted.

"You know you've got a real problem. Really bad attitude." Matt said and stopped backing up as Ron closed in on him.

"So what?" Ron said darkly. "You gonna do something about it?"

"No, no I'm not gonna do anything," Matt said, with a smirk. "But she is." Matt looked past Ron's shoulder and pointed. Ron turned to see a livid Hermione behind him. Before he could do anything, she leveled a punch right into his nose. His head snapped back and there was a distinct crack from the impact. Hermione did not stop; her left fist came up and hit his jaw on the right.

Ron stumbled to his left from the impact. Another crack came from behind this time. Matt's wand cane came across the back of both of Ron's knees and he fell backwards. His right arm was flailing for balance as Matt grabbed onto it. He used the momentum of the fall to force Ron right into the brick support column.

"Told ya, she was gonna do something. Now it's my turn." He said, both hands still gripped Ron's right arm. Matt twisted and pulled it backwards and up. "And just a bit more…" Matt said almost nonchalantly, as if he were coaxing a screw out of a socket. There was a sudden pop and Ron screamed in pain. "There we go! Nice and dislocated." Matt said as he let go of Ron's right arm, grabbed his left and flung him around and down onto the floor of the platform. "He's all yours!" Matt said to Hermione.

Hermione wasted no time, walked up to the downed Ron, and kicked him right between his outspread legs. She let out a satisfied sigh as she and Matt walked back to the platform. Hermione felt herself become weak and Matt immediately grabbed onto her. The adrenaline rush was subsiding, and her face was hurting. He slowly eased her onto a bench on the platform.

"Oh, Hermione dear! I can't believe what happened to you." Molly said and knelt beside Hermione. She pulled out her wand and cast a few spells on Hermione's cheek.

"I am so disgusted with Ronald. I never raised him to be that way! I don't understand it. It's appalling!" Arthur was shaking his head in disgust.

Matt gave Hermione a reassuring, albeit gentle, squeeze to her shoulder before moving off so Molly could tend to her. He looked over to Ron, Harry was hauling him off his feet but shook his head and let go once Ron was standing. He stalked off towards Matt. He felt his stomach drop. He just realized he had assaulted an Auror in front of a bunch of witnesses, most of whom were said Auror's family.

"You're going to arrest me now, aren't you?" Matt said to Harry.

"What? Oh. Uh. No, not really." Harry said. "Ron started the whole thing by coming here in the first place. And after he hit Hermione, anything after that is his own fault. And it did look like he was threatening you with his wand, so…"

"Claim self-defense on both Hermione's and my parts, give us a stern warning not to do it again and you don't even have to fill out the paperwork." Matt said amusedly.

"Pretty much." Harry replied. Matt turned to see Hermione climbing onto the train after waving goodbye to Molly and Arthur. Ron was nowhere to be seen.

"I should probably leave her alone for a bit." Matt said as he went to grab his trunk, only to see Molly Weasley floating it onto the train for him.

"Actually, I think Hermione does need some company, she'll appreciate it after all that." Harry said. Matt nodded and climbed aboard himself.