Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Chapter 7:
~ A Summer With You ~
"Hermione! Honey!"
"Coming mom!"
Hermione put her shirt on and went down to the kitchen. They were leaving for France today. Hermione told her parents that five of her friends were coming with them, but what she didn't tell them was that they were all boys. They all agreed to meet at her house and go to the airport together. Right now, she was waiting for them.
When she heard the doorbell, she jumped off her chair and ran to the front door. "I'll get it!" she shouted. She opened the door and Draco and the rest stood in front of her with big smiles on their faces.
"Hi guys!" she gave each of them a hug. After greeting them she saw that Mrs Malfoy came with them. "Oh! Hi, Mrs Malfoy."
"Hello dear. Please call me Narcissa." She said.
"Oh… Ok, Narcissa. Uhm—I know it was a long time ago but I didn't get to thank you in person. So, thank you very much for the gift you sent me last Christmas, I love it."
"Your welcome, Hermione." She smiled at her and gave the girl a hug.
"Hermione, are your friends here?" called Mrs Granger.
"Yes mom, they're here!" she shouted back. "Uhm—please come in," she stepped out of the way to let them enter and showed them the way to the living room where her parents were.
Mr and Mrs Granger stood up to greet their guests but were glued to the floor when they saw five boys following their daughter. They were speechless. They didn't know what to do or what to say.
"Uhm—Mom, Dad these are my friends: Theo Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Draco Malfoy. You already know Ron and Harry," she said, introducing her three Slytherin friends. "And this is Draco's mom, Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa, boys these are my parents, Jane and David Granger."
"Uhm—Nice to meet you, boys… Uhm… Nice to meet you too Mrs. Malfoy." Hermione's mom stepped forward to give a welcome hug to Narcissa.
"Please, call me Narcissa," Narcissa said after shaking Mr Granger's hand. "Thank you for inviting my son to spend some time with your family and their other friends, it's really nice of you. I know that five boys are too much, but don't worry I'll pay for them."
"Oh, no! Really, it's fine…" started David, but was cut off by Narcissa.
"Please, it's the least I could do." Insisted Narcissa.
"Uhm—well, okay, if you don't mind. Thank you."
"No, thank you. Ever since my Draco came back from school, this vacation is the only thing he's been talking about."
"Yes, Hermione couldn't stop talking about it too. Saying how this holiday would be the best." Chuckled Jane.
"Oh my! I have to go. Blaise and Theo's mother are expecting me soon. It was really nice meeting you and I hope to see you soon." Narcissa said, giving one last hug to the Granger family and the boys. "Have fun! And don't forget to owl me!"
When Narcissa left, the room fell completely silent, but luckily, Hermione cut it off before it would get too awkward.
"Mom, dad I'm just going to give the boys a small tour of the house and then we can go." Without waiting for an answer, Hermione pushed the boys up the stairs.
In the living room, the two parents were still in a shock.
"Should I be worried?" Mr Granger asked his wife, his gaze following his only daughter and her male friends.
"Well… I, honestly, don't know what to say."
"They're boys Jean! And five of them!"
"I can see that! But Hermione's happy, they make her happy. Who cares if they're boys,"
"But Jean!" whined Mr Granger.
"You can just welcome them to the family. They can be the brothers Hermione always wanted. But if she is to marry one of them, I would prefer that blond boy, Draco, as my son-in-law…"
"JEAN!"
"I'm just kidding!" chuckled Jean. "Come on, let's prepare the van and check if everything's alright before we go."
"Hermione, how do we get to the airport?" asked Theo.
"We're taking a minivan because we can't fit in the car…"
"Does it fly? The one of my dad does." Intervened Ron.
"No, Ron. Muggle cars can't fly." Hermione said rolling slightly her eyes.
"Where are we going?" asked Blaise.
"We're going to Nice, a city in the South of France…"
"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER! Hurry up or we'll be late!" came the voice of her father from downstairs.
"Come on guys let's go!"
The boys were awe-stricken when they arrived at the airport. They have never seen a place like this before. It was their first time, even for Harry, to see an aeroplane. While waiting for their plane, the boys were stuck to the windows looking at the planes who were landing or taking off. When they entered the plane, the boys fought for the window seat but at the end, Mr Granger told them to follow the seat number that was written on their plane tickets. At the end, Mrs Granger had a window seat on the left side and was sitting next to her husband. Hermione had the window seat on the right side and was seated next to Draco, while the other four had the seats in the middle row. During their two-hour and a half flight, Draco and Hermione were talking quietly, the boys were playing Muggle card games and Mr Granger was still whining to his wife about their daughter being surrounded by boys. The landing was a very scary experience for the five wizards and when they finally landed, Ron and Theo were green and were about to throw up on the floor.
"Okay… That was great, but the landing…" started Ron.
"Was horrible!" finished Theo.
"You'll get used to it, don't worry," Hermione assured them.
"Hermione," David called his daughter. "Go with your mom and take the boys with you. We rented a minivan and your mom has to go and look for it. I'll go get our bags."
"Okay, dad. But let Harry, Blaise, and Draco help you with the bags." She told him before leaving.
After they finally got the minivan and put the luggage inside, they took off.
"Does your dad know where to go?" Blaise sceptically asked Hermione.
"Yes. We know how to speak French too. We're not fluent but we know how to hold a good long conversation. I was born here, so my parents bought a summer house and we usually come here every summer holidays."
"Wow…" said Ron in awe.
"Awesome," said Theo at the same time with the same tone.
After about twenty minutes they arrived at a private beach house. It was not as big as a Mansion, course but it was big enough to fit a big family. The kitchen, the living room, the dining room and two bedrooms with their own personal bathrooms can be found on the first floor. There were five bedrooms and three bathrooms on the second floor. There was also an attic with a glass roof; for them to be able to see the stars at night. Behind the house, there was a big garden with a huge pool and a barbecue pit. In front, by the driveway, was the start of their private beach.
"Wow! This…" started Ron.
"Is amazing!" Finished Theo in amazement.
"Isn't it a bit big for only the three of you?" asked Blaise.
"Oh, no. Sometimes the whole Granger family or the family on my mom's side join us, that's why my parents bought such a big house," answered Hermione.
"What happens when you're not using the house?" Draco asked.
"We rent it. Other families who come during other holiday seasons can rent it. That way we can earn money too."
"But what if you decided to spend Christmas here instead of summer?"
"Well, we're the real owners of the house so we have the priority. I think we can make them cancel their rent before they come here…"
"This is amazing Hermione." Harry finally and excitedly said. "Really, thanks for inviting us."
"Your welcome." She told her friends with a big smile. "So, there are enough rooms for us to get one individually, but mom said there's enough space for all of us to sleep in the attic. If you want, we can all sleep there. The roof is made from glass so it's really pretty at night. There's also a telly there with a movie projector, so we can watch movies every night."
When Hermione finished giving them a tour of the house, they set their bags and trunks on the attic and changed to their swimming wears. Hermione was wearing a bikini but nobody noticed yet since she put a dress on top.
When everybody was dressed, the eight of them went to the beach. The boys knew that it was a private beach and were surprised to see other people there. Blaise and Draco asked Jane if it was normal for those people to be there.
"Oh, yes! They are our neighbours, the Dubois family. They live in the next house. They're a family with three children. Their oldest is a boy, Peter, who is fifteen years old, the second is also a boy, Anthony, who is the same age as you and the youngest is a little girl called Anna who is about seven, I think," answered Mrs Granger. "Oh and it seems that the two boys invited some of their male friends over too. If you want, you can join them, they're half French, half English so they can speak English fluently."
"Oh! Look who have here! If it isn't the Grangers!" said a tall man, who they assumed to be Mr Dubois.
Mr Granger shook the man's hand and Mrs Dubois kissed each side of Mrs Granger's cheeks.
"When did you arrive?" Mrs Dubois asked Jean.
"Not long ago. Where's Anna?"
"Oh, she's staying with her grandparents and the boys invited some of their friends over so they stayed with us. And Hermione? Where is she?" When Mrs Dubois spotted Hermione, she was enveloped in a big hug and was kissed on the cheeks too.
"Boys! Come here and say hello!" Mr Dubois called the boys who were playing volleyball. There were six of them; three who looked older and other three who were about the same age as them.
"Peter, Anthony, I hope you didn't forget the Grangers." The two boys shook their heads and greeted the Grangers by kissing them on the cheeks. When Anthony kissed Hermione's cheeks, his face flushed light pink, which didn't go unnoticed by the five wizards and David Granger.
"These boys are also spending the holidays with us: Harry, Ron, Theo, Blaise, and Draco." Said David, introducing the boys to the Dubois family. The men nodded at them in acknowledgement while the wife gave them hugs and kisses.
The parents started talking to each other and walked towards the beach.
"Is it normal for them to kiss people's cheeks?" Draco whispered to Hermione so that only her can hear him.
"Yes, it's the way they greet each other here in France, kind of the same concept when Pansy Parkinson give air kisses to her girlfriends."
"You know 'Mi, I've become—well, I think all the five of us—have become really protective of you. And I don't really know if we're okay with these boys kissing you on the cheeks." Theo said seriously, but the small smile on his face showed that he was a bit teasing her.
"Oh hush! It's normal for them to that, okay?"
The 'Double Golden Trio' took a space under the shade. The boys took their shirts off and joined the others to play volleyball except for Draco, who stayed with Hermione. Draco noticed that the boys were looking at where he was. He turned around and froze. Hermione took off her dressed and she was now wearing a simple white with blue stripes bikini that was showing her curves and growing body.
"What the hell are you wearing?!" demanded Draco.
"It's my swim wear…"
"They're under garments!" Draco shouted.
"It's a bikini Draco! I don't know what witches wear when they swim but here, the women wear bikinis!"
"How about your mother? She's wearing a more appropriate swimming wear!" he pointed at Jean who was wearing a one-piece bathing suit.
"Well I chose these, so I'm going to wear these!" retorted Hermione, who stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.
For the rest of the afternoon, Draco had a silent agreement with the other four wizards that they would keep the other boys away from Hermione while he stayed with her. Around five-thirty in the afternoon, they started heading back to the house.
"Meet us in the garden by the barbecue pit in an hour. The Dubois will be joining us for dinner so dress up," Mrs Granger happily said.
The five boys used the three bathrooms on the second floor while Hermione used the one on the first floor. The boys finished first, of course, and waited for Hermione in the living room. At exactly six-thirty, Hermione entered the living room. The way she looked slightly took Draco's breath away. She was wearing a yellow spaghetti strapped sundress that stopped mid-thighs paired with a pair of simple shoes with small heels. Her face had light makeup with only mascara, light blush, and lipgloss. Her hair was in a ponytail which left her neck bare.
"You're beautiful 'Mi!" Theo told her, voicing Draco's thoughts.
Hermione's blush made her cheeks redder and said small thanks to him. They heard new voices in the garden and assumed that their visitors have arrived. They walked towards their visitors to greet them one more time but the boys were restrained by Mr Granger.
"Okay, boys. You saw how those boys were looking at our Hermione right?" he asked them and they nodded. "Okay, so if we're really allies, you're going to help me. Ron, Theo your job is to make sure that they don't get too near my daughter."
"Yes, sir!" The two boys saluted and marched towards Hermione like a military.
"The three of you, your job is the same as their mom but it's mostly to make sure that those two don't ridicule themselves," the three boys bit their lips to hold their laughter and muttered a 'yes, sir' before walking normally towards Hermione too.
The dinner was a happy and loud one. The five wizards did a good job preventing the other boys to get too close to Hermione. During dinner, the six Muggle boys were sitting on the opposite side of the table while Hermione was sitting between Harry and Draco and the rest on the other side.
After eating, Ron, Theo, Blaise, and Harry distracted the boys by playing Monopoly and other board games. Hermione went to the pool to put her feet in the water and Draco joined her.
"Were you close to the Dubois boys?" Draco asked her.
Hermione shrugged and said, "Mom said we were when we were younger."
"And now?"
"I guess not anymore. I stopped having friends when I was eight."
"Why?"
"My magic started to show. I would accidentally use it and people would call me a freak. I didn't know that I was a witch yet, so I accepted the fact that I was one. That's when I started to read. Books helped to comfort me and make me forget. So, I started to pull myself away from the kids my age and I think that's how I stopped being close to the Dubois boys."
"Oh. How did it feel like when you got your Hogwarts Letter?"
"It was a shock, for all of us, of course. If Professor McGonagall wasn't there to give the letter personally and explain the wizarding world to me, I would've thought that it was all a joke. My parents didn't want me to go at first. They didn't want me to leave, but I pleaded and told them that I had to be with other people that have the same abilities as me, a place where people won't call me a freak, so at the end, they agreed. Professor McGonagall brought me to Diagon Alley to buy my school things and she even helped me get my own Gringott's account. I also bought a lot of books about magic, witches, and wizards and by the time we started school I've already read all of them even the school books."
"Of course, that's not surprising." snorted Draco.
"When I came back home after First Year, I only talked about the things that I've learned and weren't very happy when I told them about the things that happened. They tried to make me stop going back to Hogwarts after the Second Year when they heard that I got petrified but I told them that I can't leave because Hogwarts has become a home for me and that I belong with the Wizards. They were still reluctant to let me go back, but they finally understood and knew that nothing can make me leave the wizarding world."
"Your parents love you very much…"
"Yes, they do. They're just scared that I might get hurt or die..."
"That's what parents do Hermione, they worry for their children,"
"I guess. Your mum loves you very much too, you know. I can't say the same for your dad because I don't really know him. But you were right, he kind of changed again."
"Yeah, my mum loves me a lot and I know that. As for my dad, he was a great dad, up until I got my Hogwarts Letter since then he changed. I saw the old him again last year, but, I don't know what happened, but he's back to his 'mean' self again."
"Oh, Draco I'm sorry…"
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"You know when I arrived at Hogwarts, Neville was my first friend and it changed when you saved me from the troll. I became best friends with Ron and Harry afterwards and now I have you, Theo and Blaise, too. I never thought I'd earn five best friends…"
"Well, honestly, I never thought I'd be best friends with Gryffindors, Weasley and THE Harry Potter."
Hermione giggled and said, "You know what surprises me the most? The fact that Ron and Theo are so alike and even have the same birthday!"
"I know! It was a shock for me too! If Theo had red hair, he could pass as a Weasley- as Ron's twin." They both laughed for a while until they both ran out of breath.
They sat by the pool in a comfortable silence. Hermione laid her head on Draco's shoulder while he put an arm around her, a friendly gesture. Sometime later they finally said goodbye to their guests and went to bed. Jean laid out some thin mattresses and sleeping bags in the attic for them to sleep on and they fell asleep watching the starry sky.
They spent two weeks in the south of France swimming, touring and eating various types of French foods (which were Ron and Theo's favourite part). Then, they took the train to Paris and stayed there for a week. They visited museums – much to Ron and Theo's dismay –, the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral.
They were walking by the Seine river when Draco finally got another 'alone time' with Hermione and he reminded himself to thank Mrs Granger later for distracting the others. They walked slower and made sure that they were far enough so that they won't hear them.
"Are you having fun?" Hermione asked Draco with a smile.
Draco returned the smile. "Yeah. I think this is one of the best summers in life. I never thought that spending three weeks of my summer as a muggle would be so much fun."
Hermione chuckled at her friend. "It's so beautiful here, especially at night. Look at all the lights They said Paris is the 'City of Light',"
"They also call that Paris the 'City of Love'" whispered Draco. Hermione blushed when her eyes met Draco's and hoped that he didn't see it.
Before going back to London, they visited the newly built Disneyland Paris. They rode all the rides and shop for souvenirs. By the end of the day, when they took a plane to go back, they were all exhausted. They slept until the next day when Mrs Malfoy came to pick them up.
Harry and Hermione were invited by Mr Weasley to join him, Ron, Ginny, the twins- Fred and George – Charlie and Bill to the Quidditch World Cup. He was now leading them to the Prime Seats where Cornelius Fudge and Percy Weasley were waiting for them.
When they arrived in their seats, Fudge greeted Harry like an old friend and introduced him to the Bulgarian Minister.
"I hope he understands me." Said Fudge. "Now that I've introduced you lot to him, we just need to wait for someone… Ah! There he is – Lucius!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to three still-empty seats right behind Mr Weasley were the three Malfoys. Draco was wearing a look that matched his father's and they were surprised to see Mrs Malfoy wearing a cold look and who seemed to snob everyone around her.
"Ah, Fudge," said Mr Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. He introduced his wife and son while he was introduced to the Bulgarian Minister then, Fudge turned around to greet someone.
Mr Malfoy's cold grey eyes swept over Mr Weasley, and then up and down the row. Then his eyes turned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him and noticed something strange. His lips curled and were ready to say something to Arthur, another nasty comment I presumed, but stopped when the Minister turned around and told them to sit.
"Why don't the children take the seats behind while the adults stay in front to talk." Suggested Mrs Malfoy.
"What a wonderful idea! If you don't mind children, please take the seats behind us." Fudge told them. When they passed Narcissa, she gave them a small smile and winked.
Draco and Ron, being big fans of the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, were cheering for the Bulgarian team alongside Hermione and Harry. The twins, Ginny, Bill and Charlie were cheering for Ireland.
"That was a great game." Said Harry.
"Yeah. I bet people will be talking about this game for some time." Said Ginny. Hermione and Ron nodded their heads in agreement. They were now in their tent getting ready for bed after their little celebration. The game ended up with Ireland winning but Krum still caught the snitch. Even if the Bulgarian ended the game, the Irish had 10 points ahead which made them the winners. Charlie, Bill, and Percy were talking with Mr Weasley while the twins were still jumping and dancing around the tent.
Suddenly Mr Weasley got up and went outside but wasn't seen by the others. Fred and George suddenly stopped their little celebration when they heard screams and people running.
"Everybody out! Now!" Mr Weasley shouted at them.
Everybody took their jackets and hurried out of the tent. They saw people running into the wood, fleeing something that was moving across the field towards them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire. They didn't seem to have faces but the group realized that they were hooded and their faces masked. The masked group was getting nearer and nearer. Charlie and Bill pushed everyone away from them and ordered them to run as fast as they could. They stopped for a minute to breathe and hid behind a tent.
"You've got to go. Go to the wood and stick together. Be careful and take care of each other, but, Fred, George, you must keep Ginny with you the whole time. We've got to go help the Ministry with dad." Charlie told them between breaths.
"Go, now. We'll come and get you when we've sorted this out." Bill pushed them towards the wood before running with Charlie and Percy towards the oncoming marchers and the rest of the Ministry.
Once in the wood, dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying, anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air. The group continued to run further but Harry and Hermione lost track of the twins and Ginny when they heard Ron yell in pain.
"What happened?" asked Hermione, running back to Ron who was sprawled on the ground.
" Tripped over a tree root." He answered angrily, trying to get on his feet again.
"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a voice behind them.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply, hoping it was not one of the masked people. The sighed in relief when they saw Draco standing alone nearby them, leaning against a tree.
"Shut up and help me up will you." Draco walked towards his friend. Harry and he helped the redhead up.
"Where's Narcissa?" Hermione asked.
"She went back to the Manor when the game finished, said she had something to finish." He answered. "What's happening?"
"You don't know what's happening?" Ron asked bewildered. Draco shook his head and he explained, "There has been an attack. People with masked face started attacking and a lot of muggles were victimized too. And where were you?"
"I was looking for my father because I couldn't find him after the game but I gave up and stayed here. Then I heard people screaming and running so I started looking for you."
They nodded at him. Ron pulled out his wand and lighting it like Hermione and Draco. Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his wand – but it wasn't there.
"Ah, no, I don't believe it… I've lost my wand!"
"You're kidding?"
His three friends raised their wands high enough to spread the narrow beams of light further on the ground; Harry looked all around him, but his wand was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe it's back in the tent," said Ron, but before he could finish his sentence Harry started running back to where their tent was.
Harry could hear his friends calling him but he needed to get his wand back. He was very near there when he saw a dark figure standing just outside their tent. He stepped back and hid.
"What?" Draco asked.
"There's someone there. I think he's got my wand."
There was silence. And then without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they heard in the wood; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.
"MORSMORDRE!"
And something vast, green and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness.
"What the –?" gasped Ron, staring up at the thing that had appeared in the sky.
For a split second, Harry thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then he realized that it was a colossal skull, composed of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. Hermione and Draco's eyes widened before the wood all around them erupted with screams again. Harry didn't understand why, but the only possible cause was the sudden appearance of the skull.
"You've got to go, now!" Draco shouted at him.
"Why?"
"That mark," he pointed at the sky, "that's the Dark Mark. And those hooded and masked people they're Death Eaters."
"Your father…" said Hermione slowly.
"I don't know… I don't know if he's one of them. I just hope not." He looked at her. Hermione's hair was messy and twice as bushy because of the running and only had a small cardigan over her nightdress. He took off his cloak and wrapped it around her and put the hood over her head. "Let's go."
"But my wand…"
"The Ministry can get your wand back Harry. But we have to go now! If one of the Death Eaters sees us, especially Hermione, they'll kill her!" without waiting for his friend to follow, he put an arm around Hermione's shoulder and ran with her, again, towards the wood. Behind him, he saw Ron dragging Harry.
After running in the Wood, Harry, Ron, Draco, and Hermione found the twins and Ginny. When they did, the twins pushed Hermione towards Ginny and started to shout at the boys for being idiots and making them scared when they couldn't find them. The twins' faces were so red because of anger and they were very serious. The five younger wizards didn't know whether to laugh or to be scared at their, faces. When the twins finished their ranting, Mr Weasley came back with Bill and Charlie. He told them that they didn't catch any of the hooded men and that Percy stayed with the Minister. He gave Harry his wand back and advised him to be careful with it.
When they arrived at the Burrow, Mrs Weasley was there waiting for them. She heard about what happened and hugged her children, husband, and the three others. Draco came with them and owled his mother to tell her to cover for him and not tell his father where he was. Mrs Weasley gave them a lot of food – which made Ron very happy – and made them rest.
The next day, Theo and Blaise joined them in the Burrow. The four of them explained what happened – Ron explained to Theo more about the game than the attack – and what they saw.
"Do you think that our parents…" trailed Theo.
"I don't think your parents were part of it, Theo. Your father is not a Death Eater and your family doesn't support You-Know-Who and Blaise's mom despise him, so, no. But I have a feeling that my father was one of the masked men." Said Draco.
"Talking about your father. Have you noticed anything weird about him?" Hermione asked him.
"Well, I've noticed that he's back to his git self. But other than that, no. Why?"
"Oh. Uhm, nothing. It's just that during the game when he looked at me in the eyes I saw something that I didn't see last year. His eyes were not the same…"
"Maybe it was just because of the lights." Suggested Ron.
"Yeah, maybe." But Hermione wasn't convinced and made a note to herself to search makeup it.
"Well, sorry to burst your optimistic bubbles, but I think this year is going to be a hell of a year, another abnormal year,"
"Tell me, Theo, when did we ever have a normal year?" Ron asked him.
"Well, we pretty had a normal first year. Except for Draco who got detention with the three of you in the Forbidden Forest."
"Oh, you mean the time when he screamed like a girl when he saw that thing that was drinking unicorn blood?" Ron asked again, laughing this time.
"Go to hell, both of you," Draco told them, throwing pillows at them. The six of them ended up in a pillow fight and laughing on the floor.
A/N: So? How was this chapter? I hoped you like it. Please review!
So, next chapter will be the beginning of Fourth Year with The Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball (my favourite part!). Things will be different from the book of course but sadly Cedric still has to die… sorry.
Thanks for reading! Sorry for any grammatical or/and spelling errors…
Ok, ok. See you guys soon and PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
