Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, never has been, never will be. All characters you recognize belong to JKR, all that you don't and the plotline are mine.

A/N: Sorry for delay, I had Lasik and it was hard to go on the computer for longer than an hour for a while! But, I can see! Also, I got distracted with another story idea- check out my as of now, untitled, new fic (and let me know if you have a suggestion for the title)! Many thanks to my beta MarauderishMischiefMaker!

Currently reading The Connected by Bloody Phantom- great story, really well written, I really like it so far! Check it out!

I like writing an AU fic, but there is no way I could go as far as to break up the Golden Trio! Hope you like it!

Chapter 9 Meet the Grangers

Petunia sat twirling a pen against the corner of her mouth as she read lesson plan suggestions from one of the books she had selected off of the shelf of Exeter's library. She'd been willing to try out the small library in Ottery St Catchpole, but Remus had insisted they go to a larger library, at least initially, for her to find suitable lesson plans. A small commotion two tables away soon caught her attention, and she could see from the corner of her eye that Remus was watching as well.

"But Mummy." The little brunette girl stomped her foot. "You said I could get eight books, this is only six!" She seemed to be close to Harry and Ron's age, judging from speech, but Petunia thought she looked physically closer in age to Ginny. As she watched, she saw the little girl's eyes fill with tears as the older woman looked on a bit exasperated. "I know, 'Mione, but those three are much thicker than I had imagined, and we won't be able to fit them all in the bicycle basket."

Petunia glanced away hiding a smile, but quickly looked back when she saw Remus' eyes widen. The girl was staring at the books in frustration, and as they watched the three books in question began to shrink rapidly, until they were no larger than Petunia's hand. "Well then, that was a bit unexpected," Remus spoke under his breath.

"Hermione!" The mother hissed, before looking around frantically. "What have we told you about changing things!" Remus watched carefully, alert for any signs of the woman to get too angry with her young daughter. Judging from her reaction, he figured the young witch must have been doing 'accidental' magic like this for the past few years.

"I'm sorry. Mum, but now we can take all of the books!" Hermione looked up at her mother with a sunny smile, before it slid off her face at her mother's expression. Emma was currently looking at Remus and Petunia who had obviously seen her daughter's show. Emma was used to 'Mione's 'tricks' now, but this was the first time she'd ever done anything in front of anyone other than herself and Dan, her husband.

Remus stood, and gestured for Petunia to follow. "Don't worry, ma'am. We just wanted to explain a bit about what we just saw. I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Petunia Evans."


"So anyway, after we talked for an hour or so, we invited the Grangers to meet us for dinner tonight." Remus spoke, as he poured glasses of apple lemonade for all of the Applewood residents. "I thought Hermione would be a great addition to our school, and we can give Dan and Emma a crash course into our world before they're bombarded with it in six years."

Severus hummed his agreement. "I remember Lily and Petunia's parents being so surprised. I had spilled the beans to the girls already, but they were pretty shocked when they found out a few years later. Where are we set to meet?"

"There's a nice Italian place in Exeter, Giovanni's. I didn't bother telling them we had Apparated for the day, and weren't actually from there. I figured we could introduce them slowly. I was going to go grab one of my books for them, I just got it back from the printer." Remus jumped up to get the book in question. He had finally just finished the adult version of the book he'd given Harry when they'd brought him home two weeks prior. Two weeks already! It had flown by, what with Petunia's hospitalization and getting the school house set up. Remus shook his head at how time was flying by. They were to start school the following Monday, and Bill and Charlie were leaving to Hogwarts the next day. He came back out of his study with two of the books in hand. They were substantially thicker than the one he'd given Harry; he figured he'd give a copy to each of the adult Grangers, so they wouldn't have to wait for one another to finish. On that thought, he doubled back and grabbed a younger version for Hermione herself.

"So how do you reckon we get there? Should we Apparate?" Sirius looked around. Harry looked a bit green at the suggestion, and Sirius smiled gently and patted his shoulder. "We could give you something for the motion sickness before we leave, alright mate?" Harry nodded in relief.

"Probably our best bet. How long until we get the car back?" Severus directed his question towards Sirius.

"The bloke I spoke to said it would probably be sometime next week. What time is it now?"

Remus rolled his eyes before casting the Tempus spell into the air, looking pointedly at Sirius the entire time. "It's four thirty, so we have an hour and a half before we need to meet them. What do you say we all get cleaned up a bit, and we'll meet down here in an hour?" All nodded, before Petunia took Charlotte back to their suite, and Sirius led Harry upstairs, Remus and Severus trailing behind.

"We have reservations under the name Lupin, for nine." Sirius looked around quickly, trying to not show his discomfort. He still had moments of being overwhelmed when he was in a new or difficult situation, and he thought having to explain the entire magical world to three Muggles could be classified as difficult. He didn't ever want Minerva McGonagall's job, he reminded himself.

The wizards allowed the two young children to lead, as they followed the maître-de to their table. Dan Granger looked middle-aged, with some gray around his temples. He had on a gray plaid sport coat, and looked smartly dressed, appropriate for that restaurant. Emma Granger had on a yellow sundress, and her voluminous brown hair was tied up on top of her head. Sirius grinned at who he assumed was Hermione. Her head was on a swivel. He assumed she was looking for them. His suspicion was proven correct when her face lit up as she recognized Remus and Petunia. She sat up even straighter (if that was possible), and waved eagerly at them. Sirius traded a smirk with Remus, as the latter led them all to the table.

"Dan, Emma. This is Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Petunia Evans and her daughter Charlotte, and this here is Harry." Remus rested his hand on Harry's dark head for a moment, before giving the suddenly shy boy a light nudge forward to sit down.

"Pleased to meet you all. I'm Dan Granger, this is my wife Emma, and our daughter Hermione." There were handshakes all around, as the parties met and sat down. "So. I'd hoped to be able to discuss more of our situation, but I'm afraid this restaurant is much more crowded than I expected," Dan frowned apologetically.

"That's not a problem at all." Remus pulled just the tip of his wand out, and with a muttered spell turned and grinned at the man. "There. It will appear we're just talking about trivial matters about an upcoming vacation if anyone happens to listen in. Now, before we get started, I wanted to give the three of you these books. I wrote them exactly for families like you, who are, shall we say, thrown in to our world." Remus quickly grabbed the three books from Petunia's bag and handed them to the Grangers. Hermione grabbed hers eagerly and began flipping through it, while her parents showed more restraint and set theirs in Emma's handbag.

"Well, where would you like to begin?" Remus looked expectantly at the Grangers, in what Sirius called 'full-professor mode'. He cracked a grin when he remembered himself and James making fun of Remus at Hogwarts, when he would begin lecturing them about what they needed to study next.

Dan and Emma traded a quick glance before Emma spoke up. "Our main questions and concerns revolve around what this will mean for Hermione. How will she learn? Is it normal that she can control it sometimes- like with the books today? But then sometime it just happens, like when she'd sad or mad. Is that how all children with magic are? Is it safe?" Emma stopped to take a deep breath, but before she could launch into more questions the server approached their table.

After putting in drink and food orders, Remus turned to both muggle adults. "I'll try and answer all of your questions, though these two may have some more input on certain aspects," he gestured towards Sirius and Severus. "In the magical world, all children in most of the primarily English speaking countries of Europe attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from ages eleven to seventeen. It's a boarding school in Scotland, and sessions last from the first of September through the end of June, with breaks for Christmas and Easter. After graduation they can either attend your universities, or go to work for the magical world." He paused at Emma's obvious need to ask a question, and gestured for her to go ahead.

"What do the children do prior to this Hogwarts? Are they in regular schools? Is it possible that Hermione's classmates are magical as well?" She looked at her daughter, who was listening with rapt attention.

"As far as other Muggle-borns, that is to say, magical children born from non magical people, or Muggles, yes, they may be in her class. Hermione, however, has shown exceptional control over her magical abilities." The girl in question grinned and sat up ever straighter if that was possible.

Harry glanced uncertainly at Severus, who just leaned close and whispered, "She's a sweet girl, Harry. Give her a chance. She's just proud." Harry smiled –though his eyes were still questioning this seemingly almost stuck-up girl—and continued listening to his Uncle Remus explain.

"Any Muggle-born wizards or witches who are her age are most likely showing very little control of their magic, and other than witnessing them use unintentional magic, like in times of fear or excitement, you'd never know they were magical. Children born into our world are usually either privately tutored if their families can afford it, or home-schooled. The magical world can be a bit old-fashioned compared to yours. Women typically take the role of homemaker and teach their children until they're old enough for Hogwarts."

"Doesn't that make the children a bit unprepared? Especially if they want to go to a Muggle university?"

Remus directed his answer at Dan, while Sirius turned and whispered to Harry, "A bit boring, don't you think?" Harry grinned at Sirius, and the two tuned the rest of the conversation out, as Sirius described stories of his youth to Harry until their dinner arrived


"Will you sit still?" Petunia looked grumpy as she straightened her desk one more time. Remus had been fidgeting for the past fifteen minutes, ever since Harry and Charlotte had gone outside the classroom to greet the students for the first day of class.

"I apologize," Remus looked irritated at Petunia's attitude. "I'm just excited to have a lifelong dream of educating young ones, that I thought would never happen, come true."

Petunia sighed. "I'm sorry Remus." She stepped closer and gave his a one-armed hug. "I'm excited too, just nervous. Are you sure all of the parents are really alright that I'm a Muggle?" Ever since she'd heard Draco Malfoy would be attending, and had briefly met his mother, she'd been nervous. While the woman had been perfectly polite, she had come off as a bit cold, and Petunia didn't want there to be problems so early in the school session.

Remus smiled warmly at the woman who was quickly becoming a close friend and confidant. "It will be fine, Petunia. The Malfoys are perfectly aware of who you are, and what you are and are not. They may be a bit…prickly, but they will be a good support against Dumbledore, and later, Voldemort." Petunia winced at the names. "Let's not talk about that so close to the children arriving, hmm?" She smiled a nervous half-smile at Remus, before starting as a series of pops announced the arrival of their students.

"Hi Harry, hi Charlie." Hermione appeared on the arm of Severus. The adults had agreed it may be easiest if she was picked up and dropped off by someone until they were able to connect the Grangers' fireplace with the schoolhouse's fireplace. No one had been aware of how difficult it would be to connect a muggle home to a wizarding one.

"Hi Hermione," the two children said politely, before both turned to warmly greet the Weasleys, who had also been dropped of by their parents and Sirius. Only the adults noticed her face fall, as she stood quietly by herself, watching the other children begin to run around and begin a game of chase.

Severus had started forward before the Weasley matriarch beat him to it. "Excuse me!" Her stern voice brought all children screeching to a halt, each trying to figure out what they'd done wrong. "I would like to think that no children of mine would ignore a new student who doesn't know anyone, hmm?"

She raised a red eyebrow, and Petunia stepped forward as well. "And Harry. If you are the only one besides Charlie who knows Hermione, don't you think it would be polite to introduce her?"

Harry ducked his head, his cheeks flaming. Truthfully he'd known he was being a bit rude, but Hermione had been annoying at dinner! He sighed, knowing how it felt to be the odd one out with Dudley and his friends.

"I'm sorry Aunt Petunia. Sorry Hermione," he stepped towards the girl, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders like he would Charlie's. "Hermione, these are the Weasleys. They live a little ways over there," he gestured over past the orchard. "The twins are Fred and George, but you'll never be able to tell them apart." The twins grinned and slapped each other high fives at their accomplishment. "Percy is the oldest, he'll go to Hogwarts in two years. Next is Ron, he's our age." Hermione smiled at being grouped with her classmates. "Ginny is the only girl, she's a year younger than us. Then there's Bill and Charlie, but they're older and are both at Hogwarts."

Hermione's eyes grew wide as Harry kept introducing them, and she silently mouthed, "Seven!?" Harry continued on, not acknowledging her surprise. "There's also another boy who's our age, his name is Draco. He just isn't here yet." Harry stepped away a bit. "And that's everybody."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you for the introductions, Harry."

Just then Ron ran forward, "Tag! You're it!"

Harry groaned, "Quick, Hermione, run from me or I'll tag and you'll be it!" Hermione yelped, before dropping her bag and ran away, giggling like mad on the way.

"Good intervention, ladies", Severus smiled slightly. "Now, I'll be off. I'll come 'round about two to take Hermione home." He turned and started towards the barn. He'd just signed a contract to supply another magical hospital, in Switzerland of all places, and was itching to brew. With so many new distractions occurring at Applewood (especially a brunette Muggle one!), it had been awhile and he was quite behind.

"I guess that's my cue as well. Molly, you need help taking these ones home?" Sirius gestured at her children. He'd offered to help Apparate them over, as between the growing sizes of Fred, George and Percy, they were too much for the two parents to do themselves. Molly looked at her brood appraisingly. "No, I think we'll walk. Unless it's raining, then would you please?" Sirius nodded, before Apparating to the main road's entrance to Applewood. Filius Flitwick was coming to help charm the estate, as well at the vehicle that was due to be delivered today, and Sirius was fairly sure he had charmed the home too well for the small professor to find it without help, at least if it was to be done today.

"Well. You two have fun. Remus, full moon is next week, right?" Molly turned to Remus with a slightly pitying look. Remus had decided it was only fair that the Weasleys know about him, especially since Molly would have to cover the days around the full moon. He grimaced and nodded. She patted his arm and just like that, the two teachers were alone with almost all of their students.

"What do you say we let them run off some steam until Mr. Malfoy arrives?" Petunia nodded quickly, and both adults took a seat to wait.


"Well, Hermione. How did it go?" The Grangers were sitting down to dinner, and both parents were anxious to hear their beloved daughter's report of her new school. They had been saddened to see her ostracized over the last few years, since she'd started pre-school. They were aware children could be cruel, but neither had been prepared for the amount of cruelty Hermione faced everyday. Her glowing face made their hearts melt, and any reservations they'd had melted away as she launched excitedly into her day.

"It was so fun! We got to play until all of the kids got there, and then we went in and split up. I get to be with Ron and Harry and Ginny and Charlie and Draco! We got to color, and then Ron and Ginny—they're brother and sister—got into a fight, and Ron made boogers come out of her nose!" Hermione giggled and covered her face with her hand. "Remus—he told us to call him that, isn't that neat?—Remus got kind of mad, and made Ron sit in the corner for a little bit. Then we all made little books about ourselves. I brought mine home with me, and we had a snack, and Draco shared his with me. He's really great, and really smart, like me!"

Dan and Emma exchanged an amused glance at their daughters blabbering, but couldn't help but be impressed with the Wizarding school. Their daughter was not one to go on and on like this, and they enjoyed seeing the more childlike side of her appear.

"Then we read books, and it was about three brothers who get a stone, and a cloak and a wand! Then Remus made it into a puppet show, and I got to be one of the brothers! Then we ate lunch, and played for a while. Ginny and Charlie had to take a nap, but since Ron and Harry and Draco and me are too big for a nap, we got to play Scrabble! Only Harry and me had played so we were the teachers and it was so fun! And then it was done and I get to go back tomorrow! Thank you so much, I love it so much! And I love Remus and Ginny and Draco the most!"

Dan raised an eyebrow at the young male classmate being included and opened his mouth to comment before abruptly shutting it as his wife's elbow hit his side. He smiled instead, "We're glad you liked it honey. Chicken?"

I know this was a bit short and slow, but next chapter will start to shake things up a bit! Again, shameless plug to read my new story inserted here. Always love reviews, and I'll try to respond to them!