"Bertie Bott's is a type of sweet that comes in every flavour, that describes me perfectly. My mum was like you, muggleborn while my dad was a pureblood. Both gave their lives to save mine when I was just a toddler. I can't remember anything about them and now my adoptive father is a goblin. As I said, the goblin leader named me Old Crow, due to the way I ended up in Gringotts. My father calls me Harry Crow but my mum and dad named their new born baby Harry James Potter..." He couldn't miss the gasp that came from Hermione at that revelation.
"So, as you can imagine, I have a foot in many camps but don't know which one I belong to... I had hoped to honour my mother's memory by dressing like this today but it looks like that's gone now." Hermione couldn't help herself, without even thinking about her actions, she had moved across the carriage to sit beside Harry and already had him in a hug. "Oh Harry, you know I'll help you any way I can."
He was as stiff as a board, goblins didn't do hugs. As Hermione offered her assurance of assistance, Harry began to relax and think that the goblins had got at least one thing wrong - this was nice. For some reason he trusted this girl, his first real friend, and began to tell her more than he'd intended to reveal.
"When my parents were murdered, I was dumped on the doorstep of my mother's muggle sister. They didn't want me so did a deal with Gringotts where the goblins will look after me until I'm old enough to take up the responsibilities of heading House Potter. I have this weird mixed heritage and soon I'll be forced to make a decision, just where does my future lie."
Hermione was holding him close and thinking this was something she could get used to. She needed to help her first friend. "I read accounts of Harry Potter in a few reference books, all of them speculated on what had happened to you after that Halloween. Looks like none of them were even close."
This drew a slight laugh from Harry, and allowed Hermione to release her hug before it became embarrassing. She still continued to sit closely beside him though.
"You should have seen some of the Harry Potter books they tried to publish as true stories of my life, they would certainly have entertained your mum as much as those history books. My father soon put a stop to it, making it illegal for anyone to make a profit off my name."
Hermione was puzzled about a million different things concerning Harry but didn't want to push, she hoped he would tell her in his own time. One thing in particular bothered her though, and she thought it wouldn't cause any major secrets to be revealed, so asked Harry about it. "I started getting the wizarding newspaper, to try and prepare myself for Hogwarts, and they have been promoting the boy-who-lives going to Hogwarts angle for months. The drawings they published of Harry Potter look nothing like you though, you've no scar or glasses." "Apparently I had a scar when I first went to Gringotts but the healers dealt with it. As for the glasses, I can only assume they thought because my dad wore them that I would need them too. The books featured the same type of drawings, and also had my father asking where they got their information. None of them would say anything."
Just then, they endured the first of many visits from people wanting to know if they'd seen Harry Potter. Boy-who-lived fever was breaking out all over the express, with search parties hunting along the train for a sight of their elusive prey. Hermione noticed Harry's personality would change anytime someone else entered the compartment, quickly reverting back as soon as they were alone again. She didn't want to ask him about it and ended up biting her bottom lip so as not to blurt something out. Harry must have seen the question in her expression though and answered her.
"The goblins claim to have three faces, the one the public sees, and then there is their true self. Their true self is reserved for family and friends."
Harry smiled at her to ensure she knew he now counted her in this group. "The final face is the last thing their enemies see just before they die. They may be bankers now but goblins are really warriors at heart."
Hermione's curiosity got the better of her and another question slipped out before she could catch it. "What was it like growing up with the goblins?"
Harry was enjoying talking about his life with someone else, this was not something usually available to him. "I actually grew up as a goblin, though clearly I knew I was different. That goblins and wizards barely tolerate each other didn't help me any, I got into a lot of fights when I was younger." Hermione had her arms around him again, encouraging Harry to speak of things he never had before.
"Some of the adults weren't too pleased about the situation either, my dad is a powerful goblin who legally adopted me as his son. There were a couple of goblins who strongly objected, my father fought two duels to the death over me." Harry was drawing comfort from being held in his friend's arms, he found that once he began talking about this that he couldn't stop. He'd never had anyone to talk to about his life before. "Had my father been defeated, I really don't know what would have happened to me. I needed to learn to stand on my own two feet as quickly as possible, and my father provided me with all the training I could handle. Being different actually worked in my favour for once. By the time I was six, I towered over all of the children in my classes. Now I'm taller than my father, though he can still kick my arse when we duel."
"He sounds like a wonderful man sorry, goblin." That slip had Harry smiling again, allowing Hermione to reluctantly end their latest hug. "I just call him father, and I'm sorry for unloading all this onto you. We've only just met today yet I feel I can trust you, please don't ask me to explain why."
Hermione understood the amount of trust Harry was placing in her, and decided to reciprocate with some revelations of her own. "I understand about being different Harry, I've been bullied since my first day of school because I was seen as different. I thought it was because I was a witch, only to discover today that I'm still different. Those witches that I spoke to wanted nothing to do with me, I'll be twelve in a few weeks and you are the first person whose ever wanted to be friends with me."
Harry now had first hand experience of how a hug could make you feel better, he decided his friend needed one so that's what he did.