Just Being Neighborly- Chapter 2
The next morning, Ron popped in to have breakfast with Hermione and visit a little before his practice. She made a hearty meal for the two of them. Ron scarfed happily, mumbling something at her occasionally. Hermione ate what she thought was a reasonable amount. After breakfast, he stood in the kitchen with her as she cleaned up.
"I'm glad you've settled in so well. It makes me feel better about having to leave." Ron said as he dried the last dish. Hermione had just finished recounting her last couple of days.
"Where are you going now?" she asked.
"We're going on a tour of the Americas, scrimmaging with some different teams and doing a lot of training. Coach says we need to play someone different. We mostly play European teams, so we can use some new techniques and strategies against them." Ron said excitedly.
"How long will you be gone?" Hermione asked, bracing herself for the number.
"Four months." he replied, waiting for her reaction.
"Four MONTHS! That's so long!" she shouted.
"I know, love, but if it helps us win more games, it's a good thing, isn't it?"
"I'm not happy about this, but there's not really anything I can do about it, is there?" Hermione grumbled.
"Not really. If it helps, I can promise to write you every day and not have any fun." Ron teased.
"That means you'll only have one week back before fall training starts." Hermione said, doing the math in her head.
"I know. You could come with us, you know. Lots of the other guy's girlfriends follow us when we go on the road." Ron suggested.
"You know I can't do that. I can't be off of work that long. Plus, the only thing I would like would be seeing you. Those women are horrible; it's bad enough to see them on the games I go to." Hermione said, pulling a face.
"Let's just enjoy the time that we have left." Ron said, pulling her close to him and wrapping his long, strong arms around her. Hermione calmed down after a moment or two and suggested that they move to the living room.
Just a couple of minutes later, the couple were sitting curled up on the living room couch. Hermione was still in her pajamas, while Ron was wearing sweats for his workout later. They just looked like a cozy couple.
"I guess the bonus of going away is that it pulls you out from under Molly's thumb for longer," Hermione suggested.
"Yeah, that's kind of an added bonus. She's been particularly bad lately." Ron admitted.
"Ginny told me that she was bugging you about when we were going to get engaged." Hermione said.
"Don't worry. I know we're not ready to take that step yet. Maybe someday, but neither of us is ready for it right now. It's hard enough leaving my girlfriend for so long. I would hate to be leaving my fiancée or wife." Ron said.
"If you want, I could talk to Molly. Maybe if she knows neither one of us is ready she'll back off." Hermione suggested.
"No, she doesn't care what we think. It's all time related to her. Just like Harry and Ginny have now been married for long enough that they need to have children, we have been dating for two years, so we're late on getting married. It makes no sense. That's the downside of my mum. She gets something in her head and she just can't let it go." Ron explained.
Just then, the cuckoo clock started its 10 o'clock ringing. Ron groaned, and Hermione sighed. They obediently started getting up. Ron had to get to practice.
"By, love. I'll see you tomorrow." Ron said, hugging her.
"Have a good practice; I love you." Hermione said. They kissed at the front door.
"I love you too." Ron said, before he left.
Hermione still had a couple of vacation days left before she had to go back to work. After she got ready for the day, she puttered around the house for a while, doing laundry and tidying up. Then she saw Holmes lying on the chaise in the library and decided to join him. She read for a while, while lying there with Holmes.
That afternoon, a knock at the door surprised her. Hermione wasn't expecting anyone, and no one besides her closest friends and family had this address yet. She opened the door to find a slightly dowdy upper-middle-aged housewife bearing a basket.
"Hello dear! My name is Marjory Pattington, and I live just two houses down the street. I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood." she said cheerily, holding out the basket. "I brought you some of my famous muffins."
"Umm, thank you. Would you like to come in for some tea, Mrs. Pattington?" Hermione asked, gesturing into the house.
"That would be lovely dear, but please call me Margie. Everyone else does. It's wonderful to have you in the neighborhood. Makes me feel much safer." she said, shuffling through the house after Hermione. "I'm sorry I didn't make it out here sooner. My oldest son, Henry, is due back from Hogwarts this weekend. I've been cleaning and cooking up a storm. I want to have a clean house and all his favorite foods ready for my boy when he gets home. It's just so hard when your babies start going off to school. You don't have any babies, do you Hermione?" she chattered.
"No, I don't." Hermione said, serving tea at the kitchen table. She took two large muffins out of the basket and placed them on small plates.
"Oh just you wait. Children are such a blessing. I've got four of them- Henry, of course, then Anthony, Margaret, and Sophia. The youngest three aren't in Hogwarts yet, but it's still such a loss to have Henry gone from the house for several months. I stay busy with the housework and teaching the little ones about reading and writing and all that, but it's just not the same. You'll understand some day when you have your own little cherubs. Such a blessing, they are. Don't you worry though, dear, you're still young. You've still got several years left before you really need to start getting to a family. You've got a lovely looking beau, though. I saw him leave this morning. You'll be waddling happily soon enough, with a belly full of that man's ginger babies. Yes, then it will seem like no time at all until your children start at Hogwarts. You'll see, the little angels. I'm sure yours will be just perfect, with your intelligence and your beau's looks. My Anthony is athletic like that. He just runs around the house all day, pretending to play Quidditch and all that. He's not terribly bright though. Don't get me wrong; he does all right, but he's not going to get the best of grades. Margaret is my reader. She just sits all day and reads- doesn't want to play with dollies, dance, or help me around the house at all. Henry is the quiet one. He does anything I need him to do, including occupy the little ones. They're all so different even though they've all got just the same parents, the little cherubs. You'll see, one day when you have your own." Margie paused to take a drink of her tea.
"Now I hear that you work for the Ministry. That's a very good job. I never had much interest is taking on a job. I married my Randolph, that's Mr. Pattington, right after Hogwarts. It wasn't too long after that that I had Henry. Since then, with the other little ones, there just hasn't been time for any extra working. My Randolph works enough to keep us all fed and keep all the bills paid, so I don't really have anything to worry about. I was an okay student at Hogwarts, but I just never got that interested in school. After I met Randolph I just knew that I wanted to marry him and raise his children. I never gave it a second thought; there just weren't any other jobs that I wanted. Randolph doesn't mind that I stay home with the children either. He is glad not to have to send them off so that someone else can raise them. He also likes coming home to a clean house and a hot meal on the table. Oh you'll have to come over one evening and meet my family."
"Yes, I work a lot, though, so it might be difficult to arrange." Hermione said. The tea was over and Hermione was trying to push this irritating woman out the door. She had talked non-stop for half an hour about nothing. Hermione knew that her toes would freeze on the Equator in July before she would go to that woman's house.
"Thank you for coming by, and thank you for the muffins." Hermione said when she got the woman out onto the front porch.
"You're very welcome, dear. It has been a lovely visit, we'll have to do it again sometime." she said. Hermione smiled and closed the door. Enough was enough. She shook her head and walked back into the house. She hoped Marjory Pattington wouldn't be a regular visitor. If that was the case, she might have to arrange a way to make the house, at least the front of it, appear as if there was no one home.
That evening, Hermione was a little stir-crazy from being inside all day, so she decided to go for a run. She put on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, strapped on her iPod, and headed out the door, but not before checking for any signs of Marjory Pattington. She had a wonderful run around the neighborhood before she headed back to her house. There was an old man outside the neighboring house, with a small dog on a leash. He waved to her as she walked past and started down the steps.
"Hello, young lady. Out for some exercise, are you?" he asked.
"Yes, I've been cooped up in the house the last couple of days." she responded.
"I noticed you started moving in a few days ago. I'm Basil by the way, Basil Roy." he said, extending a hand. Hermione wiped the sweat from her hand before shaking his.
"Hermione Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Roy."
"Oh please, Mr. Roy is my son. I'm just Basil. This is Odie." he said, gesturing down at the dog. Hermione knelt to scratch Odie behind the ears.
"I saw Marjory knocking on your door today, so I though I'd leave you alone for a while. Right crazy one, she is." Basil said. Hermione got the feeling she might like him a lot better.
"She seems alright, just far too chatty. I don't think we had anything in common anyway." Hermione said, making sure she didn't say anything too bad. She didn't know yet how information traveled in this neighborhood, but she figured Marjory might just be Grand Central Station.
"Her boy, Henry, is a good lad. He comes over about once a week when he's in town. Sometimes more when she's really driving him crazy. The lad likes quiet and calm. He comes over to read at my house. Do you read?" Basil asked.
"Almost incessantly. It's by far my favorite hobby." Hermione said.
"Well you'll have to come over and check out my library sometimes. Severus has an impressive collection too. My house is the unofficial intellectual center of this neighborhood, since Severus isn't a year long resident. He's got the house on the other side of yours, you know. Potions Master at Hogwarts, he is. Brilliant." Basil said.
"Do you mean Severus Snape? He owns the house next to mine?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. I take it you know him?" Basil asked.
"I studied under him at Hogwarts." she responded.
"Well, I would imagine he's rather different here than at Hogwarts. From what Henry tells me, he's quite different. It gave him a nasty shock when he entered his first Potions lesson. Anyway, you're welcome to come over any time, my dear. I'm an old man, so I'm almost always here." Basil said.
"Thank you. I may pop by tomorrow, if that's all right. I've got to get back to work next week."
"Where do you work?" he asked.
"Oh, I work at the Ministry." she replied dismissively, hoping to deter him from further questioning.
"Oh I used to work there. I was on the Wizengamot for forty-five years, but that's a story for another time. I'll see you tomorrow, Hermione," he said, turning back towards his house and walking towards it in the manner customary of old men.
AN: I love these neighbors for Hermione. It took me days to develop them. Basil will, I hope, become an important character. Marjory is mostly there for comic relief. She also provides a back-story for Henry Pattington, who you haven't yet met.
