25 Years On: Still Heroes In Their Everyday Lives
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling or all the big fancy high-up people who make money from Harry Potter. How do I know this? I have little to no money!
Contains some fluff
A/N: I'm sorry to have taken so long to update. I'd like to thank all the wonderful wonderful people who over the last couple of months have added this to their favourite or alert list. I d appreciate it. I hope you like the final instalment. Yes this story is COMPLETE. It is my first officially completed story that I didn't write all at one go. So I'm very proud. I'm sorry to those of you who have especially asked for George's I don't feel comfortable writing characters beyond the Fab 4 and I'll probably muck it up. So I'd like to leave it this story as it is.
I have to give a shout-out to winterlude whose fic 'interview with the quibbler' is what sparked this off and to the wonderful reviewers. 44 reviews before posting this means a lot to me :)
Also to HungarianWitch22... so faithful... thank you :)
To Hela... the dearest friend in the world. Happy Birthday Lovely One :D Only you could get me to update :P
Hope you enjoy :)
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Fran: Fran, the interviewer
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In our final instalment of'25 Years On: Still Heroes In Their Everyday Lives' series, we interview Hermione Granger Weasley. The woman behind the intellectual and assertive speeches, you will find she is demure and sophisticated, a true woman of grace. One might say that she is indeed the most public of all the persons we've interviewed. Constantly at the mercy of the press and politicians for her hand in policy-making decisions, we see her subtle and kind nature shining through in this interview. To say, ladies and gentlemen, that I was overwhelmed to meet this woman of class is a gross understatement. Is there anything this young woman hasn't accomplished? I believe her sister-in-law, Angelina Weasley, beautifully summed up Ms. Granger-Weasley's allure when she said "She's the true Gryfinndorian Weasley, our Hermione. There's an unspoken agreement between us that's she's our official representative. She embodies it all, spunk, wit, charm... hard-headedness and loyalty to boot. A good honest dye job's the only thing left."
Fran Blake has made use of a reliable and honest Quick Quotes Quill with the express permission of Hermione Granger-Weasley, Hugo and Ron Weasley. She has also chosen to add certain observations which would not have been noticeable to a Quick Quotes Quill.
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Hermione: So Fran where shall we start?
Fran: Hermione, I think you are the only interviewee to ask me that question.
Hermione: Oh well, you know me.
Fran: I cannot tell you how pleased I am to be here in your lovely home, actually conducting this interview. You are one difficult woman to sit down and talk to.
Hermione: Yes. Honestly I really do apologise for having to re-schedule so many times. I was very interested in doing this from the start.
Fran: Well thank you. But I can't believe that of all people, yours is the last interview I'm conducting. I started off with Harry way back in October and now it's July. But I guess it's all in the line of duty and I must say you have done a grand job with the new amendments to the Magical Creatures Rights Act passed last month. I'm sure this month has been filled with congratulatory benefits and pats on the back but I want to say it myself. Congratulations.
Hermione: (Blushing) Thank you Fran. Several talented and hard-working people have been working on that act for over a few years now. I was involved when it was first passed in fact but each legislature tries to improve it further. We really have something to be proud of. I'm constantly approached by foreign Ministers who'd like to discuss it.
Fran: Comfortable amongst the leaders of the world aren't you?
Hermione: It's not so much comfortableas accustomed to. I'm comfortable with my family who I have said time and time again, I wouldn't be able to do this without. I am perfectly aware that this is not Ron's ideal, despite his feeble attempt at not voicing it in his interview... yes I read it Fran. I read them all. Wanted to see what to expect.
Fran: Stillalways the prepared one I see.
Hermione: (Smirks) Well of course Fran. I wouldn't be 'Know-It-All Hermione' if I wasn't prepared.
Fran: I remember that in Hogwarts.
Hermione: (Laughs) Merlin that must be my longest running nickname. Let's see there's 'Bookworm'. That's pretty close,. 'Buckteeth' from good old Draco, the 'Woman Who Married the Emotional Range of a Teaspoon Man' ever since I got married, Mum, Aunt Hermione – which is of course the most frequently used – and.... oh well there's a couple of others that I won't divulge.
Fran: Oh come on Hermione. "Enlightening interview of heroes in their everyday lives remember"? How else am I supposed to sell magazines?
Hermione: (Laughs) You've never had trouble before Fran.
(At this point in the interview, a sudden and very loud crash is heard from downstairs. Hermione takes only a split second to jump up and hurry to the direction of the noise, justifiably worried. We make our way down to the basement where we find, what can only accurately be described as: the inside of a cauldron, with a fluorescent pink goo illuminating off every article, including the walls, tables, renegade Dungbombs on the floor and Ronald Weasley himself)
Hermione: (Looks wide-eyed around the room) Ron?
Ron: (Desperately trying to unstick his way through the concoction and fumbling with his wand) Don't worry hen. I've got it all under control.
Hermione: Ron, are you insane? The basement is entirely PINK! And there are Dungbombs EVERYWHERE!
Ron: I'll clean it up. Everything will be good as new as soon as I cast a Scourgify.
(We look on as Ron continues to try to unstick his feet from the ground. He manages, only to find that his arm is now stuck to a table and he continues to yank his way through.)
Hermione: (Folds her arms and taps her foot, still on the stairs leading to the basement)
Ron: (Looks up) I'm getting there. I'm getting there. It's just going to take me (yank) a bit of time (pull) to reach a wand-handling (here he accidentally hits his head with his own arm from the fierce pull) position.
Hermione: (Rubs her temple gently) Ron, when you voiced your wish to start inventing for the shop here at the house, who was the most person who encouraged you?
Ron: (He seemed to stop at this question, looking down at his feet, as a young boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar would) You were hen.
Hermione: And what tiny, miniscule, almost insignificant condition did I make?
Ron: (mumbles)I am not allowed to blow the house to smithereens.
Hermione: Yes I believe those were my exact words. Soo... WHAT IN MERLIN'S SAGGY BOTTOMS DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?
Hugo: Wow, I didn't even think Mum knew that expression.
(Hugo Weasley, youngest child of Ron and Hermione, appeared at the doorway, grinning in the way only a child who has realised one of his parents is involved in some kind of debauchery can.)
Ron: Son. Great. I'm up to my ears in Dungbombs here, literally and figuratively. Be a mate and go get your mother's wand before I'm sleeping on the sofa till you graduate.
Hermione: There's no need Ronald. I brought my wand. I, unlike you, come prepared.
Ron: Yes dear.
(In a fine example of brisk wandwork, Hermione has the basement clean and spotless in only a few minutes. Left standing in the middle of the room, Ron looks around, seemingly contemplating his next move while Hermione raises her eyebrows in expectation.)
Ron: Erm... thanks.
Hermione: (her eyebrows only shoot up further).
Ron: And I promise not to blow the house up. Even though technically it wasn't bad as all that.
Hermione: (She gives what can only be described as a ladylike snort, as far as snorts go).
Ron: (Grins) Oh come on hen. If it weren't for me, you'd go through life bored. All those conferences about laws and whatnot, you need to come home to a big bang. (Smirks and quirks his eyebrows playfully)
Hermione: (Seems to fight off a smirk while her stance considerably unstiffens.) Yes well, I'd love to come back to an actual home as well.
Ron: Don't mind her Fran. She makes it sound a lot worse than it is. (He makes his way over to Hermione and very naturally wraps his hand around her waist).
Hermione: (Pulls back slightly but not enough to be removed from his subtle embrace). Last Need I remind you of the time I came home to find our roof entirely missing? I mean honestly Ron, you have to be careful. What if you get hurt?...
(With the express permission of Hermione, I am allowed to say that Ron, at this point, silenced her with a small kiss. I also felt that it was only appropriate to give them a few minutes of privacy. I simply felt the need to insert this tiny episode with my readers, both male and female, well... I don't really think I need to explain to any good old-fashioned Ron and Hermione fan. Some of us have been fans since the Hogwarts days! Editorial note from Luna Lovegood: Please note the absence of any Nargles ;) )
(A few short moments and murmurs later, Hermione politely makes a reappearance, apologising profusely, babbling apologies so quickly my QuickQuotes Quill couldn't keep up)
Fran: Hermione?
Hermione: Yes?
Fran: Take a seat dear.
Hermione: Oh yes well. Right.
Fran: Hermione I hope you don't take this the wrong way but somehow I thought I would find you more riled up, maybe a residue of the political stress you've just been through still showing. Instead you're very well... relaxed. I know I make it sound like it's an insult but...
Hermione: But from what you knew about me from Hogwarts, I was a high-strung sort of girl. No I don't take any offence Fran. I get that a lot from people who haven't seen me in years and sometimes from the people who see me every other day. Harry sometimes stops and stares at me when I don't panic if something isn't handed in on time at the Ministry. I think he stills sees me as the girl who told him to get his homework done at school. Mind you I still am. Ginny definitely won't remind him to hand in a report, says she has better things to tell her husband. So it's up to me. I'm still a bit of a perfectionist. I expect hard work from people in my department. But I understand leniency is not such a bad thing. I think that's the first thing you learn when you become a mother. Things will not always go exactly as planned. You'd think I would have learnt that from the war but my children shock me more than any Dark wizard ever has.
Fran: And there's my cover quote!
Hermione: (Laughs) So there you have it, the calmer more relaxed me, the 'positive influence of Ron' me as Ron smugly likes to say. I think it's because I've been around such a comfortable environment for so long. I can't emphasise how grateful I am for that every day.
Fran: Oh well now Hermione. From what I've heard throughout the interviews, the Weasley-Potters are quite smitten with you too.
Hermione: (Smiles thoughtfully for a moment) The thing is... and I've never told anyone this so specifically... is that I always tease Ron about having the emotional range of a teaspoon when really, I wasn't that far off myself. Once things started to settle and I started to realise how much more important it is to enjoy little things in life, I learnt that although work needs to be done well, and I never desist saying that, it can be done well in a balanced stride.
Fran: Hmm.
Hermione: What?
Fran: Oh nothing, just finally understanding all those Hermione fan clubs still going strong.
Hermione: Oh dear. They worry me sometimes. I hope they don't have a too idealistic picture of me. I have my flaws. I'll still lose my temper like a Hippogriff sometimes and I'll admit I do boss people around. I know why occasionally the Prophet prints a very unflattering story about me. I just tend to get carried away by ideas, standards and possible achievements.
Fran: That right there Hermione is why the fan clubs still exist and probably will for a long time.
Hermione: (Laughs) If that were true, then the others' fan clubs will last just as long.
Fran: Indubitably, Hermione, indubitably. (I stand up to shake her hand but remember something). One last thing Hermione, if you don't mind.
Hermione: (She smiles up angelically at me from her seat).
Fran: It's an utterance really... Lav-lav.
Hermione: (Blinks up at me, turns her head around to face the basement) RONAAAAAALDDDDD!
(The sound of cauldrons falling and vials breaking resounds throughout the house)
It has indeed been an honour and a privilege to have conducted these informative and exciting interviews with so many of Wizarding Britain's most loved faces.
I would like to end this course of interviews by thanking each and every single interviewee for being an inspiration to my generation and to the ones that came after. I would also like to thank them, if my boldness will be obliged for a moment, for making my job easier by thoroughly and consistently taking the interview in their own hands and making it far more interesting than I ever planned. For the past nine months, I have had excited four year-olds, crying mothers, proud grandfathers, fond friends and so many other individuals feeling compelled to comment on the inspiring insight into these heroes' minds.
These true heroes' humility and grandeur lives in every fond memory they have, in every endearing term they use for their loved ones and especially and most memorably in the 'regular' (often humorous) anecdotes we have seen throughout the interviews.
The immense popularity of these interviews across Britain (and even abroad) has been surprising, gratifying but surely one cannot say incomprehensible.
Thank you to them and to the readers.
Fran Blake.
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A/N: Ta-da! :D I hope you liked it. I admit this Hermione is different. The feel of the chapter is a little different (but I had in fact written most of this way back). But I like to think that she's changed. You can still see the remnants of the one we know and love from what she says and especially in the very last things she says :P
Anywho, please drop a line :D
Thank you once again! Xoxo
