If anyone had told Hermione three days ago that she would be glaring at
Lord Voldemort after he caused her already frizzy hair to end up looking
like a rat's nest, she would have bought them a one way ticket to St.
Mungo's. As it was...
Tom smiled sheepishly at his daughter.
"Uh... Whoops?" he offered, only to be rewarded with a ball of flying teenager bent on tickling him to death.
"Whoops, Papa?!" Hermione shrieked, attacking her father's ribs for all she was worth. They fell to the carpet, rolling over and over, Tom trying to escape his daughter's wrath. "I'll show you 'whoops'!"
Hermione, however good her first wave of attack was, was getting tired. And her Papa was gaining enough strength to actually start tickling back.
Tom pinned her to the floor and tickled her mercilessly... again! Panicked, she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks and stomach hurting. Frantically, she wished that she had a whole slew of feathers to tickle him with.
Suddenly, he was gone.
Opening her eyes cautiously, she was surprised to see several fathers tickling him just like in her mental wish. He was rolling around and around, trying to avoid their feathery punishment.
Just like in her wish!
The feathers disappeared with a 'Poof!' and her father stood up, shaking his head and trying to wipe the goofy grin off his face.
"Wha-What was THAT?!"
Brushing off his pants to get any lingering dust off, Tom looked at Hermione through his messy brown hair.
"THAT, my dearest daughter, was YOU doing wandless magic. And on your dear old Papa no less!" he said wryly.
Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth opened, no doubt to exclaim frantically that there was no WAY she was powerful enough to be able to do THAT, when Rowena cleared her throat. Father and daughter turned to look at her.
"If we're all done rolling around the floor like children? Well, seeing as how we're all up... why don't we enjoy a nice QUIET breakfast?" she suggested. Hermione and Tom nodded sheepishly, feeling like a couple of first years caught by the Headmistress... Rowena took Hermione's hand and tucked it into the crook of her arm, leading them down a white marble staircase and a bright corridor with doors on the right and large windows letting the sunlight in on the right. Cream curtains billowed with the slight wind as they walked past. Finally, she stopped in front of an archway leading to a balcony.
Hermione was impressed and her breath caught at the beauty around her. The balcony overlooked the most beautiful gardens she'd ever seen! And seeing as how she was studying at Hogwarts... That was saying something. Rolling lawns as far as she could see before they blurred into a canopy of large trees.
"This is the central garden dear," Rowena said, leading her to the right where a small round table was shielded from the sun by a light orange umbrella. There were three seats and three sets of utensils... the white china shining in the soft light let through by the umbrella's light cloth. But no food...
"Every thing you can see belongs to us. Just a warning though... See the trees in the distance?" Rowena asked, taking a seat and seating Hermione beside her. Hermione looked and saw that she really couldn't see the trees properly. It was...blurry, for lack of a better word.
"Yes but I can't see them properly. It's like a veil was covering that part of the gardens... But that doesn't make sense!"
Looking at the horizon, she noticed that it too was covered in the veil like substance.
"On the contrary, my sweet... it makes perfect sense. Nothing in the garden can be seen from the air after a certain point. Now, think of some spells that could cause this effect," Tom said, snapping his fingers. A few seconds later and a house elf appeared, bowing deeply to all three of them.
"What is Master and Mistress wanting? And the Little Miss?" the house elf asked politely.
"I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed, making the house elf jump in surprise. Tom and Rowena turned to their daughter who had a very pleased smile on her face.
"The center of the garden is protected by various shielding charms. And I bet that there's a Fidelius charm set on it as well!"
Tom nodded.
"Very good dear. The whole manor is covered by the Fidelius in fact..."
Tom smiled sheepishly at his daughter.
"Uh... Whoops?" he offered, only to be rewarded with a ball of flying teenager bent on tickling him to death.
"Whoops, Papa?!" Hermione shrieked, attacking her father's ribs for all she was worth. They fell to the carpet, rolling over and over, Tom trying to escape his daughter's wrath. "I'll show you 'whoops'!"
Hermione, however good her first wave of attack was, was getting tired. And her Papa was gaining enough strength to actually start tickling back.
Tom pinned her to the floor and tickled her mercilessly... again! Panicked, she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks and stomach hurting. Frantically, she wished that she had a whole slew of feathers to tickle him with.
Suddenly, he was gone.
Opening her eyes cautiously, she was surprised to see several fathers tickling him just like in her mental wish. He was rolling around and around, trying to avoid their feathery punishment.
Just like in her wish!
The feathers disappeared with a 'Poof!' and her father stood up, shaking his head and trying to wipe the goofy grin off his face.
"Wha-What was THAT?!"
Brushing off his pants to get any lingering dust off, Tom looked at Hermione through his messy brown hair.
"THAT, my dearest daughter, was YOU doing wandless magic. And on your dear old Papa no less!" he said wryly.
Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth opened, no doubt to exclaim frantically that there was no WAY she was powerful enough to be able to do THAT, when Rowena cleared her throat. Father and daughter turned to look at her.
"If we're all done rolling around the floor like children? Well, seeing as how we're all up... why don't we enjoy a nice QUIET breakfast?" she suggested. Hermione and Tom nodded sheepishly, feeling like a couple of first years caught by the Headmistress... Rowena took Hermione's hand and tucked it into the crook of her arm, leading them down a white marble staircase and a bright corridor with doors on the right and large windows letting the sunlight in on the right. Cream curtains billowed with the slight wind as they walked past. Finally, she stopped in front of an archway leading to a balcony.
Hermione was impressed and her breath caught at the beauty around her. The balcony overlooked the most beautiful gardens she'd ever seen! And seeing as how she was studying at Hogwarts... That was saying something. Rolling lawns as far as she could see before they blurred into a canopy of large trees.
"This is the central garden dear," Rowena said, leading her to the right where a small round table was shielded from the sun by a light orange umbrella. There were three seats and three sets of utensils... the white china shining in the soft light let through by the umbrella's light cloth. But no food...
"Every thing you can see belongs to us. Just a warning though... See the trees in the distance?" Rowena asked, taking a seat and seating Hermione beside her. Hermione looked and saw that she really couldn't see the trees properly. It was...blurry, for lack of a better word.
"Yes but I can't see them properly. It's like a veil was covering that part of the gardens... But that doesn't make sense!"
Looking at the horizon, she noticed that it too was covered in the veil like substance.
"On the contrary, my sweet... it makes perfect sense. Nothing in the garden can be seen from the air after a certain point. Now, think of some spells that could cause this effect," Tom said, snapping his fingers. A few seconds later and a house elf appeared, bowing deeply to all three of them.
"What is Master and Mistress wanting? And the Little Miss?" the house elf asked politely.
"I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed, making the house elf jump in surprise. Tom and Rowena turned to their daughter who had a very pleased smile on her face.
"The center of the garden is protected by various shielding charms. And I bet that there's a Fidelius charm set on it as well!"
Tom nodded.
"Very good dear. The whole manor is covered by the Fidelius in fact..."