A/N: Okay, so this is basically a story about Hermione's home life. It's a total crossover between Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, though not really shown until later chapters. Hopefully. If I get reviews… They encourage me! Oh, and I'm sorry about the whole Veteran thing. I'm going to pull that in later. Just keep it in the back of your head!
Disclaimer:
I do NOT NOT NOT own Harry Potter, Percy Jackson nor am I Taylor Swift who wrote this amazing song! I love y'all! I also don't own Sir Cumference. DON'T SUE ME!
I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home
I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you're not scared of anything at all
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today
I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop 'til I've forgotten all their names
I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school
But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you
Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay
[From: . ]
But I know I had the best day with you today
I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he's better than I am
I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run
And I had the best days with you
There is a video I found from back when I was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me
It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world
And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
For staying back and watching me shine
And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm takin' this chance to say
That I had the best day with you today
Central Park had always been Hermione's favorite part of New York. Her daddy would take her there the moment he picked her up from day care, swooping her up into his arms and running down the street, laughing like a mad man. Well, he would have been laughing like a mad man except for the fact that he was surrounded by security guards and interns. He ran the most important publishing businesses on the east coast, was friends with the Dares, and some kind of bajillionare.
But to Hermione, none of it mattered. He was the smartest, most wonderful man in the world; why? Because he was hers. Her Papa, her daddy, and, as far as she was concerned, that was all he ever needed to be; he could have lived in a box and she still would have worshipped him. His stories of princesses and princes, witches and wizards, undying hate and true love. To her, he could do no wrong,
Even when he sent her away to summer camp on Long Island, he still wrote every day. So, when he took her to the park, it was like a field day. No one to bother him except other park parents. True, a security guard was always lurking in the shadows, but as long as he was unknown, Hermione thought nothing of it. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. She was glad her dad had her Aunt Sally; she was one of the only people he would tell anything. Other than her mother, that is.
He was a retired war veteran, an ex-pilot with the repertoire of a general. They had met at boot camp and fallen instantly in love. She was a deprived Venezuelan with eyes like milk chocolate. He was a small town boy from Texas whose parents immigrated from Ireland and spent his day's acting out Shakespeare with his best friend, Sally Jackson.
Maria Javez was his glimmer of hope. Then, right before his deportation, they had decided to get married. It was what kept him going through that cold war. The moment he returned they were wed, only a few months after they decided to adopt. After searching and searching they turned up empty handed, no child seemed to fit them the way they wanted, the way they needed. And then the newlyweds struck gold. The found an orphanage on the outskirts of London, but strangely no one had heard of it.
When they finally got up the nerve to go, they found her, a two year old girl who could read. AT TWO! Instantly they were entranced, who could have ever imagined it? Her name was Hermione, a last unknown. The moment Andrew (Mr. Granger) heard it; he was brought back to his childhood filled with dramatic arts. The three people seemed to work perfectly together. Both parents swore never to leave again.
But, a year and a half ago, Maria had been deported to fight in the Middle East. She had only returned once for a week during that long period, barely getting back to her normal life before returning. By choice.
Hermione didn't understand why. Wasn't she happy here? Apparently neither did her father, since he moped about for a week after she went back. But either way, they'd adapted. A schedule had been in place and life returned to an eerie and awkward normal.
Each day went essentially like this,
7:30
Wake up. Daddy comes rushing in, jumping onto her bed and swooping the blankets off her. "Good Morning my lovely Hermione!" he would always say in his perfect English accent. "Up you get! The sun waits for no man!" After a glare from Hermione, he would add with a sly smile "Or woman. Breakfast shall be on the patio in 5, and I suggest you be there. Otherwise," he would say with a smirk "the Harpies will come up and eat you! RARRRRRR!" Then she would shriek and hop up out of bed, while he darted downstairs.
7:32
Panic. "Da-da-daddy! Wh-where's Mr. Snufflekins?" And Mr. Granger would dash back upstairs, and, like any good father, wipe away the tears and magically find whatever keepsake somewhere deep under the covers.
7:42
Breakfast. Hermione would skip downstairs and immediately try to be fed some exotic new dish by whatever cook they had, only to be rescued by her father's "Let's have pie this morning." And the cook would storm off muttering something about unhealthiness and the exclusive lifestyle being taken advantage of.
7:59
Time to leave. A dishwasher would scoop up the plates and out the door they would go, instantly being mobbed by security guards. The pair would slip into the silver Suburban and disappear behind tinted windows.
8:01
The license plate game. Their eyes would scan they city streets, looking for anything from Missouri to Mississippi.
8:17
Drop off."Dr." Granger would drop Hermione off at the day care center, a.k.a the library at the bottom of the building. "So, pudding pop, let's say we meet Aunt Sally and your cousin at the park in 449 minutes?" And, as always, Hermione would nod vigorously and hug her daddy goodbye. Then he would disappear up the elevator and she would prepare for 4 hours and 5 minutes of complete and utter boredom. Being the child who went there was probably the worst thing about her day.
8:24
Waiting. After scanning the shelves again, of which the center had many, Hermione would hopelessly give up and flop down on one of the chairs, only to be bombarded by Stacey, the perkiest and most hyper day care provider Hermione had had yet. "Want to draw with crayons? Grrrreat!" No, I don't, she would think. I'm 5 and I've already read Saki twice, and you want me to color. But she would reluctantly sit down and listen to Stacey talk about why coloring was so important to a child's mind. "You and me, we're such great friends!" You and I, idiot.
8:56
"So, what do you want to do now?" I want to be out of your perky little life! "How about dress up?" Stacey's suggestion. "Yay! We can act out Hamlet! And Mr. Snuffles can play the king!" "Ooo, sounds like fun! A king in a story with a ham omelet! These things get more exotic day by day!"
10:08
Snack time. After the painstaking event of acting out a play with a ham omelet, it was time to eat. All the food, naturally, had to be good for a "young growing mind". This meant Arugula and Rutabaga, cooked, and that was when she was lucky. Most of the time, burned would be a better adjective to describe it.
10:24
Nap time. After gagging down the vegetables, it was time to go to sleep. Or play Hermione's favorite game, "Try-to-sneak-past-whatever-nanny-was-in-charge-at-the-moment-to-get-to-the-library". This involved quick maneuvers, hiding behind chairs, and running like the wind. The she would roam the shelves for hours, desperate to find any intellectual reading material at all.
11:43
Sneak back. Hermione would slip past Stacey, dive under the covers and wait approximately 2 minutes to be "woken up"
11:45
"Oooookay Hermione! Time to get up now!" God, you really are stupid, aren't you? Today I got back late, am lying stiff under the covers, and you're trying to wake up me up. Whichever parent dropped you on your head as a child really owes you an apology.
11:59
The light at the end of the tunnel. "Hey Kidlet! How was work today?" and somehow, after hours of torture, her father would come and rescue her from the dark dungeons of Stacey-ville. "You ready to go?" then she would no grab her bag and tackle hug him.
12:02
The elevator game. The pair would see who could jump the highest when the elevator was going down. BEST. GAME. EVER.
12:07
Aunt Sally and Percy. "Hi Percy!" "Hi'ya 'Mione!" "Want to go play in the sandbox ?" "Sure!" and off the 'dynamic duo' would skip, carefree to anything in their worlds being disrupted.
12:22
Swing time. After becoming utterly bored at the sandbox, Percy and Hermione would run over to Sally and Andrew, who were enjoying their conversation, and demand to be pushed on the swing set.
12:41
Lunch. "Where do y'all want to eat?" Hermione's Aunt Sally's Texas accent still hadn't faded after the 11 years of her life. Their response would always be the same: "CONCORDIA!" Concordia was a cute little restaurant right adjacent to the Empire State Building, and was forever packed. Somehow, the owners, Helen and Hugo Scott, constantly managed to find a table for their two most loyal customers, Hermione and Percy.
12:55
Concordia. "Hermione, Percy! How are our two little advertisers doing today?" "Fantastic!" "Great!" "What will we be having today?" "The usual." The usual was a dish on the menu, designed specifically for the pair of them. Grilled cheese with some kind of sausage, varying daily, always paired with some kind of cabinet. Simple, yet effective.
12:57
Conversation. "So, Andrew, any news from Maria?" "None so far. On the bright side though, we are working on this brand new masterpiece by an Englishwoman named Jo Rowling. A real rags to riches story!" this was the normal banter between the two adults: "And the one from, who was it, Ralf Riordan?" "Rick. His is just as good, but more focused on kids, still very well written." But for the two youngens', this was extremely boring. So, as all smart kids do, they made up a game. And the signal to begin was a wink.
12:58
A wink. To play this game you had to find the strangest thing on the menu and then get the other person to guess it without being too obvious. No need for a wink, really, but it made it feel more real. "Category, down two stanza's, up a line, over left by 4." Hermione would glance down and decipher the word problem. "Turtle soup with baked bao and roasted duck?"
1:49
Departure. The two groups would leave the restaurant separate, each returning to their own lives. Sally and Percy would go to their apartment, Andrew and Hermione to their flat.
1:57
Arrival. Hermione and Andrew would arrive home, closely preceded by-
1:58
Nap time. After a long day Hermione would crash on one of the couches, barely even setting down her daycare things.
4:04
Reveille. After a rejuvenating sleep, Hermione would open her eyes to their splendor of a home, and decide what ways to get at her at-home-afternoon nanny, whoever this may be. Fortunately, her father trusted very few people with his daughter, and they were always chosen with care. Unfortunately, none of them were as dumb as Stacey.
4:15
TV. Hermione would watch something "age-appropriate", otherwise known as Dora. When the nanny who vindicated this left the room, Hermione had free roam to be cynical. "Hola!" "Ciao!" or "Where's Swiper?" "Behind the tree smart one. You can very bluntly see him!" "Swiper no swiping!" "WHY ON EARTH WOULD A FOX THINK TO LISTEN TO A STUPID LITTLE GIRL WHO NEEDED THE HELP OF IMANGINARY FRIENDS TO FIND HIM!"
4:36
Story time. Unlike in the morning, she would read something like Sir Cumference and the Round Table, which had slight educational value. Much more entertaining.
5:05
Daddy would arrive home again after leaving a few minutes after she fell asleep. "Good nap?" "Mmm-hmm." "Good story?" "Mmm-hmm." "Good 'age appropriate' TV?" "Mmm-mmm." This continued for a while.
5:34
Dinner. Tortellini with mushroom and avocado sauce, cooked by the most amazing chefs in New York; the daydream of all foodies. Naturally, Hermione refused to eat it. Tomato soup with oyster crackers? That was more her thing.
6:17
Reading. Hermione and her daddy would gather in the living room each with their respective books. A Most Dangerous Game for her, Eat Pray Love for him.
7:00
Cuckoo. When the German grandfather clock struck at 7:00, her father determined that it was time for all good little girls to go to bed. So, she would head up.
7:01
Brush her teeth,
7:03
Wash her face,
7:06
Wash her hands,
7:07
Get on her nightgown,
7:11
And crawl into bed for a story. Every night the story was different. Weather it was a small change, like carriage to car, or big, like Cinderella to Cinderfella.
7:24
The story, half over, would be told to a sleeping girl. Mr. Granger would tuck her in, adjust her pillow, and kiss her goodnight.
7:30
The end to an impossibly long day was filled with gentle sighs and a stuffed bunny named Mr. Snuffles.
In case you're wondering, and have never been to Rhode Island, a cabinet is a milkshake, only better. There is coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. THERE MUST BE A BRAIN FREEZE! Oh, and Sir Cumference is a real story. Remember, this is my first chapter, so my point is to set you up, not give you anything worthwhile. Please R&R! I know it's weird, but it'll get better!