CHAPTER THREE
Summary: After completing her Masters in Potions and Herbology and adopting her godson, Teddy Lupin, in the wake of his Grandmother's death, Hermione decides a change is in order. She packs up their belongings, says goodbye to their loved ones and moves across the pond to Forks, where she meets a handsome man and his strange friends.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and Stephenie Meyers. I am not making a profit from writing and posting this fanfic. As for the descriptions of appearances for the Twilight characters, all my research is based on the books and not the movies.
Sunday 30th October 2005
Ten days later and the house was well on its way to being fixed up. Hermione had spent quite a bit of time with the three contractors and they had quickly become fast friends, and learned a lot about each other.
She observed that Sam was the leader of their little group, at twenty-two, he was older were Jared and Paul were both eighteen. Sam was the serious one, keeping the other two in line, keeping them on task. But he was kinder with her, he gave her soft expressions and laughed at her when she told him stories.
Jared was the calm one, the joker, the amount of pranks he had tried to play on her was ridiculous and he had failed every time, after all, she had grown up with The Weasley Twins, and they taught her a few things. She only wished she could whip out some of the joke products from Weasley Wizard Wheezes, that George had gifted her, stating it was, "to keep away the many guys that would try to jump her bones." She had laughed at him.
And Paul, Hermione immediately knew he was the ladies man, the womanizer, the flirt. He would attempt to flirt with her and she would laugh at him. Sam would growl at Paul and Jared would laugh at her ability to, "poke and prod until it deflated his massive ego," as he called it.
She liked them, she felt comfortable around them. So comfortable they quickly slipped into a routine.
Hermione would wake and make breakfast and she would put a plate aside for Teddy, since he was usually still asleep. The boys arrived early and there would be a cup of coffee waiting for them in the now complete kitchen. They were surprised at how quickly Hermione had decorated the house by herself, they couldn't understand how she got it done so fast. The day after they had fixed up the kitchen, they walked in to see it decorated. Everything but the floor was done. The walls painted a soft blue, working perfectly with the light countertops, cupboard doors and the kitchen island and all the appliances were silver.
The day after they completed the living room, they walked in to find the walls painted red with gold accents and cushions placed on the seating areas, a large and soft white rug sat in front of the fireplace and there were a few white beanbags. Once again, the floor hadn't been done. Large framed photos covered the walls, photos they could only assume were of her friends back home, the people Hermione had told them about. Jared would've sworn he saw one of the pictures moving. Two laughing red headed twins, being chased around by an angry Hermione, with snowballs flying through the air, but when he blinked and looked at the photo again, it was ordinary. He had thought he was going crazy.
The day after they finished the dining room, they walked in to see the same soft blue walls as the kitchen and more photos lining the walls. A large, light solid oak table that seated ten people was in the middle of the room, with ten matching chairs and with blue cushions.
They had done the media room for her and when they saw it the next day, it too had been decorated. The walls were a majestic purple with silver accents. It had a small game table with matching chairs, two large soft couches against two walls in an L shape and they were facing the fifty inch flat-screen TV that now hung on the wall, with several game consoles and controllers on the shelf underneath and games to match. A soft grey carpet had been put down, much to their surprise.
They were always on the lookout for any more decorated rooms, but that wasn't until they finished their breakfast.
So after their coffee, they would eat any leftover food Hermione had left from breakfast, but she had started making more than enough for everyone, and they would move onto the next room, leaving the outside for last. When they did that, Hermione would take breakfast upstairs since Teddy would wake around that time and she would feed him, clean up him and dress him for the day. They would play together or he would play as she decorated one of the newly completed rooms.
She would put Teddy down for a nap and make lunch for them all, the boys stopping their tasks and eating and teasing her, before they all went back to what they were doing and Hermione woke Teddy from his nap for lunch. A few hours later, Teddy would likely be asleep again and she would say goodbye to the boys, now hugging them and kissing their cheeks since they had grown so close, they didn't even bother knocking, just waltzing in, Paul calling out a, "Honey, I'm home," and she would hear Sam growl and Jared laughing.
She would send them on their way and she would continue to decorate before making dinner, spending time with Teddy and then going to bed herself, to wake up and do it all again.
The boys had never seen Teddy, they didn't even know he existed. It wasn't that she was keeping Teddy a secret, because she wasn't, she loved him and was very proud to be his Godmother. The problem was Teddy, he didn't like people he had never met before, that's just the way it was. And he was still learning to control his Metamorphmagus abilities and she couldn't risk him using his abilities in front of the boys. Although, she was beginning to think that she wasn't the only one to be keeping secrets.
She had noticed things about her three friends.
One, their temperature wasn't normal, it was far too high to be normal, she had once told them to go see a healer, they looked at her confused before she realised her mistake and backpedalled, telling them to see a doctor, they laughed at her. The outdoor temperature didn't seem to affect them either, most of the time they walked around shirtless, sweat caused by hard work glinted on their muscled forms and for the first three days, she had openly gawked and blushed, she avoided them and they would tease her, but she had gotten over it now, she was used to them walking around shirtless.
Two, they ate an obscene amount of food; in the ten days since they met her, she had to go food shopping three times. She thought The Weasleys could put it away, but those three boys alone weren't far behind.
Three, she had heard them arguing, more specifically, Paul and Sam. Sam's voice would suddenly deepen, almost echoing and Paul would be silenced immediately, looking away from Sam in submission. It was odd.
Four, they smelled strangely, not bad, but just odd. There was something familiar about their scent, the more time she spent with them, the stronger it got, and sooner or later she would be able to identify it.
Five, she was drawn to them. There was something about them that she craved the need to be around them, to protect them, mother them, she wanted to see them happy and she wanted them to be safe. The thought of them getting hurt in any way scared her. She almost had a fit when Jared had sliced his hand open on the hand saw, he covered it with a tea towel and waved off her mothering tendencies, sending her back inside and laughing at her.
Six, they healed quickly, she had seen each of them with a cut on their bodies somewhere, and the next day they would be healed, they only way that was possible was if they had access to magical potions, which of course they didn't.
Seven, they were fast, they had fast reflexes, faster than normal and she had witnessed it on several occasions.
Eight, Sam. She was drawn to all of them, but she was drawn to Sam in a different way. When Sam was outside getting equipment from the truck, she found herself looking out of one of her windows, staring at him, unable to take her eyes off him. He had a strange effect on her. When he was around she felt relaxed, content. When he touched her, her heart fluttered and he stomach dropped, her magic tingled and her breath hitched. She knew he had noticed because he always looked pleased with himself, he was finding excuses to touch her more frequently. She always caught him staring at her and he never looked embarrassed, his gaze would darken and he would look at her hungrily and she would feel the urge to shiver and run and jump into his arms, but she never did.
Nine, they were strong, she had seen them carrying support beams that would've needed ten men to carry, they managed between the three of them alone.
They were definitely hiding something from her.
That morning as she stood turning the bacon over in the pan, the three contractors walked into the house, as usual, without knocking.
"Honey, I'm home," she chuckled as Paul waltzed past her, kissing her on the cheek and picking up the mug that was now his, and sitting down at the breakfast bar.
Jared greeted her the same way, kissing her cheek and grabbing his mug, before sitting down. Sam walked over to her and kissed her cheek, except his kiss was closer to her ear, and his lips lingered a little longer than Paul and Jared's had, her breath hitched and she heard him chuckle lowly in her ear.
"Morning, Beautiful," his voice rumbled in her ear, causing goose bumps to erupt all over her body. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together.
"Morning, Sammy," she grinned at him and he chuckled, he only allowed her to call him that. Paul had tried once, he ended up with a broken arm.
He grabbed his mug and sat at the breakfast bar and she placed the food in front of them as she started to eat herself.
Things were different that morning, they were different because through the house echoed cries, the cries of a child.
Everyone stopped eating and they looked around confused.
"What's that?"
Hermione knew it was time to introduce them to the little man in her life.
"Teddy," she replied. They looked at her confused and she smiled apologetically. "I'll be right back," she stood from her seat and made her way out of the kitchen and up to Teddy's room.
"Hey, Teddy," she grinned at him and his cries died down.
"Mia, Mia," he spoke and he put his arms up for her and she chuckled and picked him up, placing little kisses to his face and he laughed and squealed.
"Listen, Teddy," she got his attention. "Mia has some very good friends down stairs, they're helping to make our new house pretty, they are special to Mia," she spoke and he kept his attention on her. "Would you like to meet them?" he looked hesitant but nodded at her. "They don't know about magic, so you can't do any of your special tricks, like you do for your Aunts and Uncles, okay? We have to be careful."
"I be goo'," he squealed and she laughed at him.
"That's my Teddy Bear," she kissed his cheek and then left the room, walking down the stairs and through to the kitchen.
She heard everyone make a noise of shock at seeing the little boy in her arms.
"Fuck! She has a kid!" Paul whispered, their mouths all open wide and eyes the same.
"Everyone," she said nervously, stopping in front of their shocked forms, Sam more shocked than the rest of them. "This is Teddy."
"You have a kid?" Sam asked slowly, looking at the sandy blonde hair and grass green eyes of the boy that clung to Hermione, frightened. He looked nothing like her.
"Technically."
"He doesn't look like you," Jared observed.
"He's my Godson," everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the news.
"Godson?" Sam asked, looking less like her was going to be sick.
"Yes, Harry and I are his Godparents."
"Where are his parents?" Paul asked.
Her expression darkened and anger filled her features, they had never seen her that way and recoiled in shock, it was terrifying.
"They were murdered," they made noises of surprise. "When they died, his Grandmother, Andromeda, became his carer, Harry and I helped her as much as we could, I more so than Harry. Andromeda died of cancer not long ago, we didn't even know she was ill," they stared in shock. "Teddy has no family other than myself and Harry. As much as Harry loves him, his work schedule doesn't accommodate for a child, mine, however, does. I work from home anyway, so I can be with him at all times. I adopted Teddy a few weeks before moving here," they didn't say anything. "Please say something," she whispered.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Jared asked her, it wasn't judgemental, more curious and she sighed in relief.
"I'm not ashamed of Teddy, I could never be ashamed of him, but he doesn't like meeting new people, he gets scared and goes in on himself, he goes quiet and clings to me. Also, I didn't want you to judge me, I don't care what people think of me, but I do care what my family thinks of me. We've become really close since my moving here, I consider you to be family and I care what you think."
"We wouldn't have judged you."
"But you did," she said softly, seeing the shame on their faces at the truth in her words. "I heard you, I saw your reactions. You all assumed that I was knocked up at the age of seventeen, because that's the age I would've been; Teddy is nineteen months old," they genuinely looked disgusted with themselves and it hurt her to see them that way. "It's okay," she said quietly, pushing Teddy's long and messy hair away from his eyes.
"It's not though, we judged you without even knowing your story," Paul said sadly, Sam hadn't spoken, he looked worse than the others, his reaction obviously affecting him more.
"It's a natural human reaction, it's completely understandable," she said with a soft smile.
"We're sorry," they whispered.
"I know and I forgive you," she looked at Sam and he looked at her sadly and she smiled at him.
"That room next to yours, you didn't show it to us," Paul mused.
She nodded. "It's Teddy's bedroom, he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him. We only arrived here that morning and the travel took a lot out of him. I had to wake him to eat, he slept most of the day. I told you I picked this place on the map, actually, Teddy picked it, didn't you?"
"Ted-dy do it," he clapped and they chuckled.
"So, do you boys think there's room for the best Godson in the world?" Hermione said as she tickled Teddy and he squealed and laughed loudly, pulling an automatic smile from the three boys.
"Of course, we need a new member of the pack," Paul winked at Sam and he glared at him.
"Teddy," she spoke. "These are Mia's very special friends, Paul, Jared and Sam," she pointed to them and he looked at them shyly and they grinned goofily and waved at him.
"Hiya Teddy, I'm Uncle Jared," he spoke grinning, standing up and moving over to her. He held his hands out to Teddy and to Hermione's complete and utter shock, he willingly went into Jared's arms.
Laughing loudly as Jared spun him in circles and then put him on his shoulders and moved around the room. Teddy was clapping and squealing.
"What's the matter?" Sam asked her, she turned her head to look at him, her mouth still open in shock.
"He's never done that before, the only people he'll allow to hold him are myself and Harry, he gets nervous around The Weasleys and he's known them since the day he was born, what he's allowing Jared to do is not normal," she had to sit down in shock.
"Let's see," Paul mused. He stood and made his way over to Jared, who saw this and removed Teddy from his shoulders, throwing him in the air and Paul caught him without incidence and started tickling him, Teddy squealed happily.
"Bloody hell," Hermione muttered.
"Your turn," Paul grinned at Sam, giving him a knowing look. Sam looked at Hermione from the corner of his eye, to see that she was looking at him expectantly.
He slowly held his arms out for the little boy and Paul deposited Teddy in his arms, Sam held him awkwardly before bringing him closer to him so he didn't drop him, Teddy standing on his lap.
Teddy stared at Sam, their eyes locking before he leaned forward and wrapped his small arms around Sam's neck, burying his head in his shoulder and hugging him.
Hermione gasped in shock and awe, her eyes shining with unshed tears, Sam looked at her reaction and felt his wolf purring in pride, that he was the cause of her undoubted happiness and he carefully rubbed Teddy's back. Paul and Jared shared a smirk and a quick fist bump.
Teddy pulled back and looked at Sam.
"S... S... Sa... Sam," he got out and Sam nodded with a grin.
Teddy beamed and Hermione laughed wiping away a stray tear.
"He has trouble with his S'" she told him.
Teddy then turned to look at Paul.
"Ball," he said, causing the others to laugh.
"Close enough," he grinned and took Teddy from Sam, throwing him up in the air and catching him with Teddy squealing in delight. After the third one, Jared caught him and grinned at Teddy.
"J..J... Ja... Ed."
They laughed at Jared's goofy smile. "That's right, Uncle Jared," he ruffled Teddy's hair.
"He's a cute little guy," Paul mused, "going to break a few hearts when he gets older."
"No!" Hermione said darkly and they all turned to her in shock. "Teddy is not going to get older, he's going to stay my Teddy Bear forever, aren't you, Teddy?"
"I be goo'," Teddy nodded seriously, before going crossed eyed from the action and they laughed at him.
"Are you hungry, Teddy?"
"Hu...n...ry," he tried to repeat and she smiled at him.
She got up from her seat and retrieved his plate, with the cut up food and she placed it on the island, taking Teddy from Paul she sat him on her lap and gave him the fork, watching as he tried to feed himself, clapping and praising him when he managed to put a bit of sausage in his mouth by himself.
The others sat back down and proceeded to eat their own breakfast, also helping Hermione to praise Teddy as he ate by himself, not only did it make Teddy happy, but Hermione and they beamed in pride.
Hermione had quickly become an important person in their lives. She was their friend, mother and sister wrapped into one, she was a part of the pack, and now, so was Teddy. They felt awful when they had judged her, they could see that it hurt her, and they vowed they would make it up to her.
Hermione caught Teddy eyeing the boys and she knew what was about to happen. She noticed the tips of his hair beginning to darken and his skin tone too, she quickly started placing kisses against his cheeks and tickling him to distract him, thankfully it worked and he squealed in laughter, no one had noticed. It was going to be hard work.
Paul and Jared caught Sam staring at Hermione adoringly, a smile tugging at his mouth.
"So, are you ready to be a father?" Jared mumbled quietly, but he knew Sam's hearing would pick up on it.
Sam looked up at him, Jared and Paul could see a hint of fear in his eyes, but he answered. "Whatever they need me to be," he said quietly in response.
They finished with breakfast and Hermione stood to leave and take Teddy to get dressed.
"We'll do that," Jared said, nudging Paul.
"What? Oh, yeah, we'll get the little guy ready for you," Paul said quickly.
They stood and took Teddy from Hermione, heading out of the kitchen and up the stairs, she could hear Teddy squealing and she smiled to herself. The boys would be good for him.
She started clearing up the breakfast bar when she felt Sam's presence behind her. She put the dishes in the sink and then turned around to face him.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said sadly, a pained look on his face.
"It's okay."
"No, it's not, I hurt you and..." she stopped his speech by standing up on her tip toes and wrapping her arms around him, his arms immediately went around her and pulled her closer to him. He ducked down and his head went to her neck, his nose ran the length of her neck and he inhaled her scent, sighing.
"I really am sorry."
"I forgive you; you're my boys after all."
He pulled back from her and looked down at her amused.
"Your boys?" he questioned with a smirk.
"Of course," she nodded. "I wasn't just the school swot."
"No?"
"No, I was the school's mother hen too," he laughed at her. "There was not one thing that Harry and Ron did that I didn't know about," she said proudly and he laughed at her again, before his expression softened.
"I'll help you in any way I can, with Teddy I mean, as will Jared and Paul," he promised her.
"You don't have to do that," she said softly.
"But I want to, my mother was a single mother, granted, she was a lot older than you, but I know she struggled. She struggled every day, right up until her death a few years ago, I did what I could to help her and I will do whatever I can to help you."
She stared at him softly after his admission, before once more hugging him again, he didn't stop her, holding her tightly to him.
"What about you? Why did your parents let you move to another country by yourself? And with a child? Are they going to visit?"
When he pulled away he saw a look of sadness and pain fill her face.
"No, they won't be visiting, they disowned me last year." she said quietly.
"What?" he growled, his hold on her tightening.
"They disowned me; I did something they didn't agree with. They said a Granger, their daughter, would never do what I did."
"What was it that you did?"
"I protected them, I said I've had a hard few years, I wasn't kidding. I protected my parents and they didn't agree with my methods. They were disgusted with me, I could see it on their faces, they kicked me out of the house and said they never wanted to see me again," tears leaked out of her eyes and his heart clenched, he wiped away her tears with his thumbs and cupped her face, she leaned into his touch.
"It's their loss, you are an amazing person."
She smiled sadly. "I'm not, I've done some things in my life that I'm not proud of, but they were necessary for survival," he stiffened at her words. "And now, I'm just trying to find a way out of the darkness, from it all. That's why I moved here."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked her.
"I'm not ready to tell you, but when I am, I promise, we'll talk about my past, but some things should be kept locked away forever."
She noticed Paul and Jared stood by the breakfast bar and they looked worried, a frown on their faces. She pulled away from Sam and wiped away the rest of her tears.
"What is it, boys?" she asked with a happy tone and smile.
They eyed her carefully. "We're not exactly sure how to change him," Jared pointed to Teddy's nappy and Hermione started laughing.
"I'll take care of it, we'll be starting potty training before long, that'll be fun," she sighed and then she walked over to them and took Teddy from them, heading out of the room.
"I didn't like the sound of that conversation," Jared spoke and Paul nodded in agreement, a frown marring his features.
"No, me either," Sam spoke.
