Disclaimer: Mr. and Mrs. Granger and Hermione belong to J.K. Rowling. This story is based upon the Harry Potter series. No money is being made from this story, and no infringement is intended. This story was intended for fanfiction.net only.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HERMIONE

Mr. and Mrs. Granger liked Lilah Johnson. She didn't have any cavities, and she was a responsible baby-sitter. But they were worried about her.

Last Saturday they had attended a seminar on tooth extraction in London. Mrs. Granger decided it would be best for Hermione to stay home, since, at thirteen months, she had begun to teethe and was extremely irritable and fussy. Mrs. Granger had telephoned Lilah Johnson and asked her to baby-sit Hermione.

Lilah agreed, and Mrs. Granger assumed she would have no great troubles with Hermione. When Mr. and Mrs. Granger returned home, Mrs. Granger inquired how the day had gone.

Lilah smiled nervously. "Oh," she said in a high voice, "pretty good."

"Hermione wasn't too fussy, was she?"

"No, no, not too fussy."

"Did she eat all of her mashed carrots?"

"Yes. I think she liked them."

"Good! Carrots are natural toothbrushes, you know." Mrs. Granger opened her purse and pulled out a twenty-pound note for Lilah. "Do you need a ride home, Lilah?"

"Yes--but Mrs. Granger, you have to know." Lilah looked around nervously. "I'm not making this up. This afternoon, thephonerangwhileHermioneandIwereplay--"

"Slow down!" laughed Mrs. Granger.

Lilah took a deep breath and began again. "This afternoon, the phone rang while Hermione and I were playing in the living room. I picked her up, planning to carry her out to the kitchen with me." She paused. "Halfway there, Hermione started to cry because she had to leave her stuffed duck behind. I tried to quiet her, but..."

"But what?" prompted Mr. Granger, joining the conversation.

"She kept crying louder."

"Temper tantrum?" Mrs. Granger asked. "Don't worry, Lilah, she does that to me, too."

"N-not quite," Lilah continued. "Y'see, I went to pick up the receiver. Before I could say hello, Hermione vanished."

"She's gone?!" Mrs. Granger said.

Lilah shook her head furiously. "She's in her crib right now."

Relieved, Mrs. Granger sighed. "Where did she go?"

"Well, I dropped the receiver and ran back to the living room. Hermione was sitting on the sofa, squeezing her duck. Mrs. Granger, she was in my arms only a moment before. She didn't wiggle away from me. She just--" Lilah struggled to find the words--"disappeared and reappeared. That's what happened! It's true. She couldn't have gotten on the sofa by herself. It was like magic."

Mrs. Granger exchanged a glance with Mr. Granger. "How unusual. Did you ever find out who called?"

Lilah shrugged. "It was a wrong number."

Mr. Granger wrinkled his nose. "Probably those Beaton boys, crank calling again."

"I don't know what you want to make of what Hermione did," Lilah said. "I just thought you should know."

"Thank you for telling us." Mrs. Granger smiled. She turned to Mr. Granger. "Dear, why don't you drive Lilah home? I'll check in on Hermie."

"Good idea," Mr. Granger said, motioning for Lilah to follow him out to the car.

Mrs. Granger hurried up to the nursery. There Hermione slept in her crib, unaware of her mother's presence.

There couldn't have been any truth to what Lilah said, Mrs. Granger assured herself. She probably imagined the whole thing. Sweet girl, but...she most likely saw something on the television...

Hermione stirred and whimpered.

"Shh, shh, little one," Mrs. Granger said, stroking her daughter's cheek. Lilah had an overactive imagination, a penchant for seeing things differently than they were. Hermione using magic, indeed!

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