Well, it's half past eleven. I barely made my Monday deadline!
So this is a new fic...it's something quite different from what I usually write. For one thing, it's my first shot at a Harry Potter fic, and also my first shot at writing something that isn't sickeningly sappy romance. In fact, as it is now, this isn't a romance story at all (so keep that in mind). For some reason I can't mess with the HP canon relationships. I think Ginny is perfect for Harry and though Hermione could do much better than Ron, I think they're a good couple too. So...here's my latest fic. I hope you enjoy it!
The noises in the house always bothered her. The clinking of the spoon as it hit the side of her teacup and the slow blubbering of the teakettle in the early morning silence may as well have been gunshots. A dog barking outside nearly made her jump out of her skin. She was never accustomed to noise of any kind. Not as a child and certainly not now.
At nearly thirty-three, Hermione Granger was a mess. She lived on her own in one of the few cottages that dotted the countryside of northern Ireland, far away from the noise of the city. As she looked out her kitchen window, she could see fields upon fields of bright green grass, dotted with puffy white sheep. It was peaceful and pleasant. Hermione had fallen in love with her home and how it left her to her reading and magic practice without the prying eyes of curious muggles and pitying glances of fellow witches and wizards.
Crookshanks jumped lithely onto the table in front of her, purring contentedly as he drank milk out of Hermione's saucer. This had become a habit. Hermione only used milk while cooking – she never drank it or put it in her tea – but she had started this routine of pouring her own tea, then filling her saucer with milk, and then sitting down at the kitchen table with both to read the latest "news" from The Quibbler. After a few moments, her (now elderly) cat would jump up on the table and drink his milk just as solemnly as his owner drank her morning tea and with the same decorum as one about to have a nice chat with the Queen.
Mid-way through an article about the origins of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks by our very own Luna Lovegood, there was an ear-splitting crack outside the door and shortly thereafter Hermione's teacup shattered in her surprised grip. Crookshanks mewled and jumped off the table and hid under the couch in order to avoid any more china-related mishaps.
"Hermione? Hermione dear, are you home?" came a female voice from the porch. "I'm sorry to apparate so close to the house but I didn't want to walk all the way up the drive! Not with your neighbor's herding dogs running about, at least."
Hermione shuffled to the door in a zombie-like state, not caring about the state of her tangled hair or her pajamas that hung too loosely on her skinny body.
"Ah, there you are! I thought you'd be home!" Not one to be deterred easily by anything, Ginny Potter merrily skipped into the house past Hermione and sat on the loveseat by the fire.
"Oh, do come in, Ginny," Hermione said rather distractedly.
"Hermione, you're starting to act like our dear old Xenophilius. I should get Luna to grow you one of those dirigible plum things for a Christmas gift..." Ginny said, trailing off in thought. "You're looking a little worse for wear, there 'Mione," Ginny commented after a moment of taking in the brunette's appearance. No response came and Ginny frowned slightly, looking about the living room. "Where's Crookshanks?" As if on cue, the cat crawled out from under the sofa and jumped on Ginny's lap, rubbing his face on her neck. Hermione looked at her hands – one of which was still holding the door open. She closed it and walked into the living room, sitting on the sofa across from Ginny.
"This house looks more and more like the Burrow every time I visit," Ginny said, smiling and looking around the corner of the room to inspect the newest wing of the house. "In fact, you might have out-done us on the staircase," she continued, squinting at it slightly trying to see how in the world it was standing.
"Have- have you seen them lately, Gin?" Hermione asked so quietly that Ginny almost didn't hear her. Ginny went and sat on the couch next to Hermione, taking one of the older girl's worn hands in her own.
"Of course, 'Mione," she said in a tone just as quiet as her friend's. "They're both doing well. Hugo's in his second year – he's quite the charmer too. All the girls seem to be after him. He gets three or four owls a day when he's at ours!" Ginny smiled, coaxing a small smile out of Hermione as well. "And Rose takes after you. I can't get the girl out of her room to do anything but eat, it seems. She just stays up there, holed up with her parchment and books. It's positively infuriating," Ginny said, frustrated. Hermione nearly laughed at that. Nearly. "She's in her fifth year now, which I'm sure you know. And she's a prefect. It's not going to her head like it went to Percy's, thankfully. Somehow, I think she managed to weed out the Weasley stupidity. She's got his – er – our red hair though," Ginny awkwardly stumbled around the last part of her little speech. She narrowly missed mentioning his name. And that was a definite taboo in Hermione's cottage.
"It was a mistake, you know," Hermione started. Ginny nodded, knowing exactly how the rest of her visit would go. They were always the same. First Ginny would make an attempt at small talk and then, after moments of getting nowhere with that, she'd fall silent and Hermione would inquire about her children, and then continue on about how it was all a mistake before she'd talk about the Accident. "We were so young to have children. Not even nineteen yet. Rose was such a good girl, and then she and Hugo got their letters. They had such good first years at school, don't you think?" Hermione asked, staring at the floor. Ginny nodded, giving her friend a pitying look. "And then I got promoted at The Ministry. And then the Accident happened-" her throat closed up and she couldn't continue. She didn't want to spend yet another day crying over the past.
"I know, 'Mione, I know," Ginny said, patting her arm sympathetically, racking her brains for a way to change the subject. "Harry wanted to visit with me but Lily is too young to apparate yet (the kids are home for the holidays, you know) and we didn't want to have to take a portkey-"
"You can't bring them to see me!" Hermione exclaimed, standing up as if the idea was the most outrageous one in the world. "I haven't even seen my own children in two years!" she said her voice cracking, and tears seemed unavoidable at this point.
"Shh, shh, alright, Hermione, just sit," Ginny whispered, trying to calm the older woman down. "C'mon," she said, patting the space next to her on the couch when Hermione didn't budge. After a moment of sniffling, Hermione didn't so much sit down on the sofa as she did collapse on it - and Ginny. "What have you eaten lately, 'Mione dear?" Ginny asked with concern to rival her mother's while stroking the brunette's unruly hair.
"Toast," Hermione said but didn't seem quite sure.
"Why don't I make you something proper to eat then?" Ginny asked, worried about Hermione's ever-frequent dizzy spells. The brunette only nodded weakly and lay back on the couch as Ginny got up and went into the kitchen.
"Crookshanks! Here, kitty!" Ginny called. The cat in question leapt up on the counter and walked over to the windowsill where he started giving himself a bath. Ginny chuckled. "Few things change around this place, hmm?" she muttered. With a wave of her wand she cleaned up the shattered teacup and threw it in the trash. With that task out of the way, the redhead looked around searching for a stereo. After a moment of searching in vain, she waved her wand and music began playing out of nowhere, but it was contained in the kitchen so the brunette on the couch couldn't hear it. Ginny's hips started moving to the beat as she walked around the kitchen, getting plates out of the cupboard and levitating them to the table as she set kitchen knives to work chopping vegetables. After getting a pan started on the stove, Ginny put her hair up in a ponytail to get her red locks out of her face. She continued to dance around the room, twirling in circles and making small circles with her wand in the air at the same time in order to stir the vegetables in the pan on the stove.
"It's so hard to cook without music, Crooks!" Ginny said over the music and then started to sing along. Crookshanks darted out of the kitchen at the noise. Ginny shouted after him, "How can you not like this song?" After a moment, she added, "And why am I talking to the cat?" With a shake of her head, she continued cooking. Once everything was done and set on the table, she turned to go get Hermione from the living room but was surprised to see Hermione about to cross the threshold of the kitchen. Knowing that the music would probably put her friend into hysterics, the redhead moved to stop her, but with no success. Hermione stepped into the kitchen and immediately covered her ears and it took everything she had not to cower back into the living room. Ginny quickly silenced the music and put her arms around Hermione.
"Sorry, 'Mione! I was going to turn it off before you got in-"
"Ginevra Weasley, what in Merlin's sake were you even listening to?" Hermione asked, standing quickly – nearly knocking Ginny over in the process – and moving her hands from her ears to her hips in mere seconds.
"Muggle rap?" Ginny said tentatively, straightening and letting go of Hermione.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. Ginny gave her a very blank stare, thinking that she had already answered that question. "Who is it, I mean," Hermione asked after a moment.
"Oh, Wiz Khalifa. Um...Black and Yellow."
"It's abominable."
"Thanks, 'Mione. I quite like it," Ginny responded with a small smile and a roll of her eyes.
"Did I hear something about lesbians in there?"
"Ummmm..." Ginny laughed lightly. "Yes?"
"Yes, you have quite the taste in music, Gin," Hermione said, surveying the food on the table. "You made all that?"
"Yeah."
"Goodness, I didn't think I had that much food in the house."
"I just threw stuff together, it's nothing spectacular," Ginny said. The two girls sat down and ate. After a while, Ginny noticed that Hermione kept glancing at her with an odd expression on her face. After a moment she spoke...
Sorry to leave you all hanging...sort of. ;)
I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!
