Author's Note: Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! Please keep them coming, they really do mean a lot! And, I'm so sorry for the long wait! Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.
Also, I would like to thank my anonymous reviewers: Jess, Light, and taragrint!
*** I've changed the theme from Romance/Adventure to Drama/Romance since a lot more dramatic moments are going to start coming in. I hope you guys stay around to see the plot thicken ***
I also apoligise in advance, this chapter isn't as long as usual, but I'm going to be introducing a lot of important things, and people that will be really important later in the story, and I didn't want it to be squished together.
*** As a final end note before you begin the story … my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who was affected in the riots happening in England. I myself have been personally affected by them, and I can't even imagine how terrible it must have been to see fighting like that.
The Car Driver
Jean Granger looked absently through the window of the speeding car. The scenery of the English countryside flashed past her, quick as lightning. Usually, she enjoyed taking in the fast paced scenery, but today, all she could think about was Hermione. Had they made the right decision to leave her at the hotel by herself? Should she have tried to persuade her harder to come with them?
The feeling of her husband's fingers stroking hers softly snapped Jean out of her thoughts, but did little to comfort or distract her.
"Do you think we did the right thing?" She asked softly. "Leaving Hermione by herself for a month?"
"We told her that we trusted her." Darrel said simply. "It's good practise for when she goes off to school in the fall." He shot Jean a small smile. "Good practise for all three of us I reckon."
Jean sighed and shifted her body so that she could get a better view out the window. It was no good. She thought to herself, she would have to tell him.
"She knows Darrel," she said quietly after a few minutes of silence. "She knows him."
Darrel Granger looked puzzled at his wife's sudden statement. "Are you talking about McLaggen's nephew?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because if you are, I understand why you've seemed so tense. The stories I've heard about that boy from the other Parliament members …the stories I've heard about the way he treats women …" He shook his head, "shameful indeed."
Jean shook her head, and Darrel could detect a trace of gleam in her eyes. "Oh, she knows him alright." She said, thinking back to the story Hermione had told her about the night of the inaugural party. "You have nothing to worry about Darrel, she thinks he's scum." She let off a small smirk, "less then scum actually, she's thinks he's vile, she can't stand him."
Darrel shook his head and laughed softly. "She's always been smart that girl," he murmured, "since the day that she was born."
His chuckling stopped immediately, however, when he saw his wife looking more tense then she had before. "What is it Jean?" He asked slowly. His eyebrows began to crease in worry; he could tell that something was very wrong. Why else would she look so worried?
"She knows him Darrel!" She said more urgently, almost as if she thought adding emphasis on the word him would help her husband decipher who him was, just by hearing the word.
"Who is him Jean?" David asked while impatiently drumming his fingers against the tiny table that held the couples' champagne bottle. It was written plainly on his face that he was getting impatient and irritated waiting for his wife to disclose her piece of information.
"Ron Weasley." Jean said the name slowly and clearly, trying to get the name stuck clearly in her husband's brain.
The fingers that Darrel had been drumming against the table froze almost immediately. The fingers that were stroking his wife's clenched tightly. He slowly turned to face her fully, his face was ashen, and his features were blank. "A-are you sure it's … Ron Weasley?" He stammered.
Jean nodded. "Quite sure," she remarked. "It's the name she's been repeating to me over and over for the last few days …"
Darrel raised his hand, cutting of his wife's statement. "I beg your pardon?" He asked in a deathly quiet voice. "The last few days ..? You've known about this? And you didn't think that it was be … convenient to-to tell me this?" He spluttered.
By this time, his voice had grown considerably, and he had managed to attract the attention of their driver.
He lowered the driver's window, "alright there Prime Minister?" He shouted from the driver's box. "No troubles I hope."
"No problems at all." Darrel said briskly with an absent wave of his hand. "Please, continue driving, we're due to arrive home soon."
"Whatever you say sir." The driver said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
Once the driver had closed back up the window, separating him from the Grangers, and putting them out of earshot, Jean turned to her husband and scowled. "Honestly Darrel!" She hissed. "Don't be so loud, and don't be so dramatic!"
"I will be as loud, and as dramatic as I see fit!" Darrel said in a loud and dangerous tone. "My little girl, my only daughter, she's … and with someone like …" He cut off his statement immediately. His eyes suddenly became wide as a dangerous thought flashed through his mind. "Y-you don't think he would … tell her … do you?"
Jean paled slightly. "Well," she said slowly, "if the relationship becomes serious, I reckon he will have to, maybe even feel the need to. And, when revealing his … ability to her, in turn … he will have to reveal … to her … that she …"
Darrel sighed loudly and ran a hand through his receding hairline. "When we first found out about her … ability … we decided it would be best for her not to pursue it. She never needed another added stress in her life. She's been the most watched child in the United Kingdom since the day she was born!" He said while sharply japing a finger at his wife.
"So what do we do then?" Jean asked softly.
Darrel's features softened considerably when posed with the new question. What was there to do? "How much does she fancy him?" He asked hesitantly.
Jean pursed her lips. "She's only known him for a few days Darrel," she said stiffly. Her features also considerably softened when she remembered how intently Hermione had talked about the time she had spent with Ron Weasley. How her eyes lit up, how much she had smiled. "She likes him." Jean said finally with a weak smile. "She really fancies him, even after a few days. In time, I reckon that she will want to pursue a legitimate relationship with him. And from what she's told me about him …" she sighed, "it sounds like he really fancies her too."
Darrel sighed, even deeper than before; a low rumbling sound could be heard coming from his throat, almost like a groan. He slouched lower in his seat. "Of all the blokes she could have met …" he thought to himself. "What do we do now?" He asked wearily, echoing his wife's question from before.
"I want what's best for her, and I want her to be happy." Jean answered quietly. "Isn't there a way we could do both?"
Darrel intertwined his fingers with his wife's and began to stroke her fingers absently. His expression was almost apologetic. "I wish there was a way to achieve both Jeanie," he said sadly, almost wistfully. "I wish there was a way to achieve both."
The car suddenly gave a sharp lurch, narrowly missing a sharp corner. Jean's head was spinning, and she felt like being sick. One main though was swimming through her head: this could ruin everything.
Johnny Lowe smiled. He bore dirty and unkempt teeth, it would be obvious to any wizard that he was dangerous, a dark wizard. The unsuspecting muggles he was chauffeuring around however, had no clue as to his real identity.
His smile grew wider. The plan was working perfectly already; the muggles had no idea that anything was wrong, and were in no way suspicious.
He quickly made a sharp turn with the car, narrowly missing a collision with the curb. He took a deep breath and tried to contain himself. He would like nothing more than for something foul to spring up upon the bigheaded muggles. He took another deep breath. No. That wasn't part of the plan … not yet anyway.
"Everything is going according to plan sir." Johnny murmured in a soft voice. "They don't suspect anything, and," he added for extra emphasis "they know about Weasley," he concluded with satisfaction coloured in his voice.
A tiny portrait of a man on the dashboard moved slowly. The man in the picture sprang to life suddenly and looked up at Johnny, the portrait chuckled softly. "Very good Johnny. If everything keeps up like this, the plan could very well be completed in a few short months." The portrait crowed gleefully.
"Yes yes that would be wonderful." Johnny agreed in a slightly absent manner, "but sir, remind me again," he continued with a smirk. "What would it matter if just a tiny bit of harm were to come to the Prime Minister and his wife? Surely it wouldn't affect the mission in any way?"
The man in the photograph began to laugh heartily. "Johnny, Johnny, I respect and applaud your need to be ambitious, and your enthusiasm, but, we need to keep both of the Grangers – and Weasley for that matter – completely unscathed, for the time being that is. It is crucial for the plan."
"I do hope that I receiver a hefty reward for going through all of this trouble," he said smoothly with a smirk playing at his lips.
"I believe one thousand galleons should suffice." The man in the portrait said with a smile. "And, when I run out of uses for her, I will certainly not begrudge you the girl. When I'm done with her, you may do whatever you please with her."
Johnny's smile grew with ease. "Thank you sir," he said with evident relish in his voice. "That sounds perfect."
"I thought it would be," the man in the portrait said with a smirk. "I trust it's enough to keep you motivated?"
"Definitely," Johnny said with satisfaction.
When the man in the portrait had frozen again Johnny chanced a look in the rearview mirror and saw Mr. and Mrs. Granger chatting underhandedly. "Probably about Weasley," he murmured to himself. Johnny grinned evilly. "Poor unsuspecting muggles." He thought. Knowing nothing of the danger their poor little Hermione has been entered into …"
Author's Note: Ahh! More characters to help stir the drama pot! Much more character introductions in the next few chapters. And unless I change my mind, I can reveal now that within the next ten chapters or so, Hermione will find out about magic.
I really enjoyed writing from The Granger's point of view since not a lot of people actually bother to do it. But, in this particular story her parents may seem a bit out of character. I'm sure in cannon they were very supportive of her being a witch, and about Ron. Don't worry, it will all be explained soon enough
On a side note, how did everyone like Deathly Hallows Part Two? I can honestly say that I've seen it twice, and I was bawling like a baby both times!
As always, please review! I really want to know what you guys think, and if you like the direction I'm going in with this story. I'm going to start adding a lot of dramatic moments, so I really want to know what you guys are thinking.
Until next time,
Cheers!
