Hi everyone,
back with Chapter 2, hope you enjoy it.
Sirius xoxo
Chapter 2
Sirius heard Harry arrive home and called out to him, that he was in the kitchen. Harry walked in and Sirius took one look at him and knew something good had happened.
"OK spill it mate, who is she or what did you do?" Sirius was stirring his food but had dropped his spoon to get the information out of Harry.
"No idea what your talking about, Old Man."
Harry had a smug look on his face and he knew Sirius would not let him off the hook so easily.
"Well, my dear Godson, it's been a while since you have had a smile on your face that lights up the whole room, so I am thinking, it must be a lady, so, who is she?"
Sirius felt quite happy with himself, but was more pleased to see his godson was happy.
Harry had a very hard upbringing and between living with a family that did not want him, and watching his godfather go through prison and then finally be cleared of all charges, as well as fighting the worst lord to ever grace the wizarding world.
Harry hadn't had any time for himself. He was always very cautious with women, as most girls were only after the name associated with dating the 'Harry Potter'.
Harry had a few, very close friends, but mostly spent his time with his Godfather at their house, or at work, which was a Professor at Hogwarts for Defence against the Dark Arts.
Harry sat down and Sirius came to sit in front of him. As he passed the fridge, he took out two butter beers and sat down and waited for Harry to begin at his own pace.
"Ok Sirius, a few months ago, I was riding Julius and I saw a lady driving along the main road, she overtook me but then she pulled up outside 'Rosewood'. She got out and took down the number. Next thing I know, there was a removalist truck there, and she was moving in."
Harry was looking at his butter beer and Sirius was watching him carefully, he decided not to say anything, he just let Harry continue on his own accord.
"Well I waited for a while, mainly to see how many people moved in, you know the house is large, 4 bedrooms and such," Harry was looking at Sirius and was checking to see if Sirius was listening.
"Well, go on, is anyone else there with her, is she married, does she have kids, or what?" Sirius was getting impatient now that Harry was keeping him in suspense.
"Ok, old man, hold on to your horses," Harry laughed, but at least Sirius was listening.
"Well, I went over there this morning, and she was home, alone, and to answer your questions, she does not have kids, but she is Mrs Smith," Sirius' face fell, poor Harry he never got a break.
"But, she isn't married any more, and no kids either, she's all alone, in that huge house."
Sirius threw his tea towel at him knowing he was stirring him up.
"The only thing that is confusing is, she doesn't seem to be magical, at all!" Sirius raised his eyebrows at this,
"It doesn't make a difference if she is a muggle Harry, wizards and witches have had quite successful relationships with muggles." Sirius was really reaching, but in all honesty he hadn't seen Harry like this and knew she must be special.
"She saw Julius!" realisation dawned on Sirius' face, he knew Harry never ever, went out with out the charms, but thought he had better ask anyway.
"You did place the charms, didn't you?" Harry gave Sirius a look,
"Ok, Ok, I had to ask," Sirius nodded and started to realise the enormity of the problem.
"That's not all, Julius let her ride him."
Harry watched Sirius' face change and the disbelief on his face, mirrored Harry's.
"Are you absolutely sure, you're not taking me for a ride?" Sirius was shocked as Harry knew he would be, Harry had been going over all this information himself, and still he didn't have any answers.
"Harry, is it possible that she doesn't know she's a witch?" Sirius was walking around the kitchen running a hand through his hair, thinking this through very carefully.
"Her name is Hermione, Hermione Granger, it doesn't sound like a magical name but it's worth checking up."
Harry could see the cogs turning in Sirius' brain and he laughed.
"Sirius, don't think too much, she might just be a muggle, that's it." Harry didn't quite believe what he had just said, but he knew his Godfather and knew he wouldn't let up.
"Well, you get to meet her. I invited her over for dinner on Saturday night!" Sirius stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his Godson. Harry had never, ever, ever invited someone to their house, he had dates, but he always took them to a restaurant. Wow! this was serious.
Harry walked out of the kitchen and left Sirius in shock. Sirius continued with cooking dinner and thought that maybe, he would have to do some investigating into this Miss Hermione Granger.
********
Hermione spent the next few days doing her lounge room, there was a lot of work to do. She had repaired the holes in the wall and had spent the last three days sanding the floors. She sat down for a five minute break and thought about she wished she had a drink of cold water. She closed her eyes and relaxed for a few minutes, then decided to go to the kitchen to grab that drink. As she stood up she noticed a glass of water on the side table. She stared at it but decided it was only her imagination and walked out into the kitchen. She tried to think of something else to take her mind off the appearing glass of water, when she thought of Harry and his invitation.
She was really excited but didn't want to come across too eager. She had received a note from him telling her to come by at 7pm and if she had any problems to give him a call on his number. Lucky for Harry, he had convinced Sirius to have a muggle phone installed.
She didn't need a lot of time to get ready, Hermione wasn't a real frilly, girl, she was very natural. She had a few hours left, but when she looked at the work that still needed to be done, she decided to have a nice hot bath instead.
Hermione slipped in to her bath and soaked her aching muscles. She could see herself walking down a long, walkway towards a huge, imposing castle. As she approached the huge double doors, an old man with a white beard opened the doors,
"Welcome Miss Granger, I have been waiting for you, for a very long time."
The old man moved to the side to allow Hermione to enter. She stepped towards him and asked him who he was? All he did, was point towards the hallway, so she would enter the castle. Hermione turned and was about to take a step when she was jolted awake. The water was freezing, now that she had dozed off in her bath. She had been having this reoccurring dream and each time she reached the same point in her dream. It seemed so familiar but also so far away.
After adding some hot water and washing her hair, she got out of her bath, and dressed in some jeans and a shirt.
She decided not to think about her dream again. She had remembered seeing a small village further up the lane, so she decided to drop in and get some wine and a cake for Harry's dinner. She headed out to find the shops and once she had her goods, she went to follow Harry's directions to his home. She pulled up outside his house and was amazed to see how beautiful his home was.
It was a very grand home and had manicured gardens and beautiful lighting which accented the features of the home. As Hermione walked up the staircase to the front door she wondered whether Harry was married, she didn't really ask, but decided it was a bit late to worry now, so she rang the bell. Harry answered the door, and Hermione felt nervous all of a sudden.
"Hi Hermione, I've been waiting for you, please come in," Harry looked at Hermione and realised how beautiful she was, he stepped aside to make room for her to walk in. Hermione had a brief flashback to her dream, but shook her head to clear it.
"Thanks, Harry, your home is so beautiful," Hermione was looking around the entrance hall, and was admiring the photos and paintings that decorated it. Sirius came out from a room off to the left and introduced himself to Hermione.
"Hi welcome to our home, I am Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black."
Hermione took his outstretched hand and thanked him for inviting her into their home.
"Well, I will leave you two, to have a lovely evening," Sirius looked at Harry and Hermione while he said this.
"Oh you don't have to leave on my account, please?" Hermione looked to Harry for support.
"Yeah, Sirius you know I have cooked plenty of food." Harry was looking at him genuinely, so Sirius did not feel as if he was intruding, maybe it would be a good idea to get to know Miss Granger.
The three of them chatted over dinner and had a lovely time, Hermione told them about her parents and Harry told her that his parents were killed when he was young, and all he had was Sirius. They covered lots of subjects and when Harry brought up her books, she was genuinely interested to know what he thought. They were interrupted by a couple who walked into the dining room, Hermione was a bit shocked as she did not hear the door bell.
"Hi Harry, Sirius, oh sorry, you have company?" the tall red head was holding hands with a blonde lady who was obviously very pregnant. While they were talking, three little red headed children ran into the dining room and jumped onto Harry.
Harry pretended that they were killing him and the children laughed and laughed. It was very contagious listening to children laughing, and before long they were all giggling with the kids. There were twin boys and a little girl. Hermione made out there names to be Arthur, Brian and Betty.
While the kids were playing, Hermione saw Sirius walk over to hug the two new people and whispered something in their ear. They seemed to be shocked by what Sirius had said, but then covered it up well. Hermione felt a bit self conscience and thought that maybe she should excuse herself and say goodnight. She stood up and reached for her bag but Harry noticed what she was doing and stopped her straight away.
"You're not leaving yet, Hermione?" Harry was struggling with the three kids hanging off him while he tried to stand up.
"I had better get going, you've got visitors, so thank you for a lovely meal," she turned to Sirius and went to say bye to him, but he would not have any of it.
"No, sorry Hermione, you can't leave yet, we haven't eaten your lovely dessert and you haven't met Harry's dearest friends." Sirius took her hand bag from her and placed it back onto the chair.
"I don't want to intrude," Hermione looked to Harry and he smiled,
"You're not intruding at all, please sit. This is my best friend, Ron Weasley and his wife Luna and these are my three Godchildren, twins Arthur & Brian and little Beatrice"
"Uncle Harry, it'th Betty, only Grandma callth me Beatrice when I am in twoble," Betty was as cute as a button with her lisp.
"Sorry, Hermione, my God daughter's name is Betty," Harry was being very serious when he told Hermione this, and Ron and Sirius were trying to keep a straight face.
"Hi there Betty, how are you today?"
"Good, are you my going to be my Godmother?" Hermione had a shocked look on her face but responded quickly, Luna and Ron had jumped in to correct their daughter, but Hermione handled it.
"No, sorry Betty, I am not your new Godmother but I would like to be your friend?"
Hermione was crouching down so she could look Betty in the eyes. The little red head was beautiful and couldn't have been older than 2 and her twin brothers looked about 4. She had rich red hair with a tiny splattering of freckles across her nose, she also had rich blue eyes which were huge and seemed to pierce through you.
Betty watched Hermione carefully, as if she looking into her soul to see if she was lying. All of a sudden, she seemed to make up her mind.
"That's Ok, you can be my friend until Uncle Harry marries you."
Betty ran off and left Harry staring after his God daughter and Sirius choking on his drink with Luna and Ron smiling at their daughter. Hermione didn't know which way too look, and since she was a vivid shade of red, she couldn't really hide.
After the children were off playing in a playroom Harry had set up for them, the adults were continuing their talk. They all decided silently that the subject of Betty's discussion would not be brought up again.
Hermione discovered that Ron and Luna went to school with Harry and which school they attended, she couldn't really make sense off. Hermione was really pleased to have come tonight though, she didn't have many friends, and actually no one from the area, so it was good to not sit alone every night.
Ron and Luna didn't stay long because of the kids and a while later Sirius had bid them goodnight. Harry was sitting with Hermione in the sitting room with a huge fire roaring in the fireplace. They were chatting and when the conversation stopped, Harry brought up the books she had written.
"Hermione, I've read your books," Hermione looked at him and was waiting for a comment.
"I really enjoyed them, you write really well. What gave you the idea to write about witches, wizards and that magical place?" Harry hoped he wasn't looking suspicious.
"I don't know. Half of those stories have been in my head since I was a little girl, I asked my mum about it one day and she forbade me to talk about magic, especially in front of dad."
"Do you know why?"
"No, I never really asked, once I started getting serious about writing, I approached her about it again. She said to me one day, when the time was right, we would have a good talk," Hermione was quiet for a while and Harry waited for her to continue.
"That day never came, I have been writing for 5 years and she never brought up the subject. Dad read my books but he always said it wasn't good to put too much into fairy tales." Hermione was reminiscing about her parents, so Harry did not disturb her. She was quiet for quite a while and then she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Sorry Harry, I got lost in my thoughts there for a minute, you know the funny thing, I had a dream once, many, many years ago about this old lady who came to visit my family, she was dressed really oddly, a huge dark emerald robe and a pointy hat. I remember Dad yelling at the poor lady about magic being nonsense and she left, but not before she said, you can't keep your daughter away from her fate, it will happen and she won't know what to do with her power."
Hermione stopped talking and looked at Harry, expecting him to be on the verge of laughing, but he was looking at her with such interest, she was surprised.
"Silly dream hey?" Hermione was worried she had said too much, and then Harry looked at her and smiled.
"No Hermione, it's not silly, not silly at all."
"I only had that dream once, but I have reoccurring ones about a huge castle and this old man with a long white beard," Hermione looked at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room and saw the time was past midnight. She stood and thanked Harry for a lovely night and apologised for staying so long.
"You're most welcome to stay as long as you like, Hermione, it's nice to have someone else to talk too, I only have Sirius and this time of the year it gets a bit lonely,"
"What do you mean, this time of the year?" Hermione was putting on her jacket, while Harry walked her out.
"I am a teacher, and I am off for the summer." Hermione's eyebrows raised up,
"Wow Harry, you didn't say you were a teacher, that's great, which school?" Harry looked at her and thought really hard about how to answer that question. Could he tell her that everything she had written about is true and could he tell her she was a witch and that he was a wizard.
"It's a private school up in the North Scotland, you probably haven't heard of it." Harry decided not to tell her yet, but he would, he definitely would.
Ok so what do you think ?
As usual read and review if you like !!
Sirius
xoxo
