A/N: I know, I know, it's been so long since I've updated this story, but I got so busy with so many things, and I kind of forgot to edit more chapters. But I thank you all who have replied and have been patiently waiting for this new update. I hope that this New Year is a less busy for me and I can get back to writing a little more often.
For the Disclaimer see previous chapters (I already got tired of posting it at every chapter)
Chapter 10 A Dinner Party
Hermione awoke from her nap feeling refreshed and alert. The trip had truly tired her, and a sleepless night had taken their toll.
At first, a disconcerting fear had taken hold of her as she found herself in an unfamiliar room. But it lasted only seconds, as memories of the past hours returned instantly. She was in England, she thought, she was at her parents' house. Mrs. Milbourne and the others were a thing of the past.
The sun was setting and she knew that her mother would call her soon for dinner. She had slept most of the day and had not been awaken for lunch. Her stomach was now complaining over this oversight.
She could hear her parents talking in another room. Their muffled voices gave her a sense of relief and joy. For many months, after she had awoken after the attack, there had been moments when she thought that she would never hear these voices. She smiled. But that was over and she could look toward the future.
She got up from the bed with care. Her body was still tired, and she knew it would take some more hours of rest before she felt better. Her back was sore, and so were here arms. She stretched as she had been taught to do when she was doing physical therapy at the hospital to relieve the pain from her body after her attack.
She walked quietly toward the kitchen, where she heard her parents' voices coming from.
"I'm sure we should do so. They have been great friends these past months." She heard her mother say as she moved around the kitchen preparing dinner.
"They have indeed." Mr. Granger replied from behind the newspaper he was reading.
"Hello." Hermione said as she entered the kitchen.
"Hello, dear. Feeling much better?" Asked Mrs. Granger as she turned to look at her daughter.
Hermione nodded.
"Come, sit down." Said Mr. Granger putting his newspaper aside. "Dinner is going to be done in a minute."
Hermione took one of the empty seats around the table and looked around. The kitchen was neat and clean. The pots were arranged on a rack over a counter a few feet from the stove. Several appliances stood on the surface of the counters around the kitchen. A coffee maker, a toaster oven, a microwave oven, and several other things were neatly placed and covered. The tiled floor was shining and the table around which she sat had been waxed.
"You better take advantage of tonight and tomorrow to rest." His father was saying. "There is an appointment to the hospital the day after tomorrow."
"What sort of a hospital is it?" Hermione asked. "Is it a big one?"
"Well." Said Mr. Granger thoughtfully. "I suppose it is large. I'm not entirely sure."
Hermione looked at him with surprise. "Don't you use this hospital?"
"Well, no." Said Mr. Granger with care. "Your mother and I don't use it, we're too used to our own doctor to go anywhere else. But you have, and your friends have used it in the past as well." He quickly added.
Hermione didn't say anything against this response, but it was clear she was not completely satisfied by it either.
"We were just talking about having a welcome home dinner." Her mother interjected.
Hermione turned to look at her mother with worry. She didn't think she was up to seeing a lot of people at once. She knew she would have to eventually, but not so soon.
"Just the Weasleys and us." Her mother added. "They have been very supportive in the last few months, and I'm sure they are eager to see you."
Hermione breathed a little easier. She didn't think she would mind meeting the Weasleys at all, she was, after all, a little curious about them after all the things Ginny had said about her family.
She nodded. "I would like to meet them." She finally said.
"I'll send them a note. I know I have some parchment around." Mrs. Granger said. "I think we can do it tomorrow. I will have to see if Molly is free. I know she'd like to help."
"Molly?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Mrs. Weasley. Ronald's mother." Clarified Mr. Granger, putting his paper aside as his wife placed a platter of food in the middle of the table.
Hermione walked over to one of the counters, and unconsciously, started to pull plates and silverware from the drawers. Once she had what they would need, she walked back to the table and set the table.
Her parents didn't say anything, but they were happy to note their daughter's actions. Setting the table was something Hermione always did when she was at home. They looked at each other with pleasure. Mrs. Granger quickly dashed the tears that were quickly sliding from her eyes. Fortunately, Hermione was still occupied setting the table and didn't notice her parents' reactions.
"Well." Said Mrs. Granger brightly. "Tuck in."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Ron and Harry were back at their desk in Auror's Headquarters the day after their arrival.
"How did you sleep?" Asked Harry the moment Ron arrived.
"I slept." Ron grunted as he started to pull the files in his inbox drawer.
Harry looked at his friend closely. There were dark circles around his eyes, and his face looked drawn and tired, he was sure Ron had slept fitfully if he slept at all.
"I got an owl from Mrs. Granger this morning." Harry said without preamble.
Ron didn't say anything for a moment. "I got one too." He finally said.
"You going then?" Harry asked.
"Yeah." Ron replied.
"Ron!" A voice called through the hall. People turned to look around. Ron turned as well and smiled at the sight of his father crossing the room toward him.
"Hello, dad." Ron said as Mr. Weasley neared their desk.
"Nice to see you my boy." Said Mr. Weasley, taking Ron into a tight embrace. "You didn't come to the Burrow last night, we were sure you were exhausted."
"I was a bit tired, yeah." Said Ron as he eased back from her father's hug.
"Hello, Harry. Nice to see you back." Said Mr. Weasley looking at the young man standing across the desk from him.
"Nice to be back, Mr. Weasley." Harry said, shaking Mr. Weasley's hand.
"Molly wanted me to tell you to be at the Burrow for lunch. She wants to see you both." Mr. Weasley said.
Ron nodded.
"We'll do that." Replied Harry.
"Well, I'll see you later, shall I?" Mr. Weasley said. "I'm sure there is a lot of paperwork you two must catch up to."
"See you dad." Ron watched his father weave through the throng of people around the room toward his own office.
"I wonder what Ginny said when she got home last night." He said thoughtfully.
Harry knew it had been a rhetorical statement and his friend was not expecting a response from him.
"It will be good to see your mother again." Said Harry, trying to distract his friend. "I miss her cooking if I don't eat at the Burrow often."
"Yeah, mum is a good cook." Said Ron taking his seat once more. "Will you look at this?" He exclaimed with a groan. "How could my inbox drawer get so full in a couple of days?"
"No field cases so far, though." Said Harry rifling through the files on his desk.
"Hmmm." Grunted Ron as he put the files in order.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Ginny was setting the table in the Burrow's kitchen table.
"I'm telling you mum, Ron can be such a git sometimes."
"Ginny! Really, such language." Chided Mrs. Weasley from the stove, where several pots were simmering in the fire.
"Sorry." Replied Ginny, not sounding repentant at all.
"But really Ginny, I'm sure your brother was just tired. He does get sulky after stressed situations." Mrs. Weasley said.
"I think it's more than that. I think it is about Hermione." Ginny said. "He had been fine until Shacklebolt met us at the airport."
"That's another thing. We have to warn Ron and Harry not to mention planes and airports to your father." Mrs. Weasley said. "I don't think I can manage another night like last night."
Ginny giggled. "He was eager to hear about them, wasn't he?"
"He went to bed rhapsodizing about them. Honestly." Mrs. Weasley complained.
Ginny giggled in amusement. Her father had spent the whole dinner questioning her about the airplane and the airport. He wanted to know how it worked, why something was done the way it was done, and how it felt to fly in such enormous machines. She had only escaped after her mother had chided her father and asked about Hermione and the trip.
"They should be coming any minute now." Said Mrs. Weasley. "Your father said that they would be coming together."
Just as she said it, there were three sharp pops in the next room.
"I'm home, and look at who I brought with me." Called Mr. Weasley.
Mr. Weasley walked into the kitchen followed closely by Ron and Harry.
Mrs. Weasley kissed her husband quickly before embracing her son and Harry. "Oh, my dears, you don't know how worried I was about you." She exclaimed.
"We're all right, mum." Said Ron, trying to escape his mother's tight embrace.
"I've never had any of my children so far away." Mrs. Weasley was saying as she prepared the food platters. "I was really worried, you never know what could happen when you have to pretend you're a Muggle for such a long time."
"Four days is not such a long time, mum." Said Ron sharing an amused glance with Harry. "It was not so hard as it is made out to be."
"Nevertheless, you never know what could happen." Mrs. Weasley said as she placed the platters in the middle of the table.
"Is anybody else coming?" Asked Harry as he noticed the many places set along the table.
"Fred and George said they might drop by, and maybe even Percy." Said Mrs. Weasley as she urged the others to take their seats. "Come on, sit. I'm sure you're all hungry."
"Mum thinks that we didn't get enough food while we were away." Ginny whispered to Ron and Harry from her seat across the table.
Ron shook his head and Harry chuckled, but neither said a word as they started to serve themselves.
"I got an owl from Jane." Said Mrs. Weasley as she joined her family at the table. "She and John have decided to have a dinner tonight to welcome Hermione home."
"Harry and I already got an owl." Said Ron. "We said we would be there."
"Oh, good." Mrs. Weasley replied happily. "I was sure you'd agree."
"I didn't receive one." Said Ginny.
"I'm sure you were included in mum's." Said Ron. "You still live here, we don't."
It galled Ginny that she was still living with her parents. All her brothers now had their own place and lived in or around London, while she had stayed behind. Every time she even mentioned the idea of getting her own place, there was an uproar from the rest of her family, especially from her brothers. It was her brothers' conclusion that as the youngest and only girl in the family, she should continue living with their parents until such time when she was ready to get married. No matter how much she argued, or how good her arguments were for getting her own place, the fact remained that she was still living with her parents and she was the only one among her siblings who tried to help the old couple as much as she could. But that was the problem, she thought, her parents were getting old, and a time would come when they would need help and she wanted to be there when it happened. Thus, she remained at home, and her dreams of having her own place were kept to herself, only to be thought of in the middle of the night, when her parents were sleeping and she had time to herself.
Two sharp pops brought Ginny out of her musings and heard the sound of her twin brothers' voice.
"We're home!"
"We wanted to see how the little people got along on their trip." Said Fred as they walked into the kitchen.
Ron snorted with amusement. The youngest son had long ago become the tallest of the six brothers, something that amused him and his friends to no end.
Ginny glared at her older brothers. She had grown up with her brothers teasing her all the time, something that had continued on even after they all left to live on their own. Her height was a constant source of teasing from her brothers, a characteristic she had inherited from her mother along with her temper.
"It was nice." Said Harry after greeting the twins.
"Nice? Just nice?" Asked George with curiosity.
Ron shrugged. "Yeah, we didn't do much."
"Leave it to these three to go to across the ocean and do nothing." Fred said to his twin with disgust.
George shook his head sadly.
"Seat you two." Ordered Mrs. Weasley. "Your food is going to get cold."
"Yes, mum." The twins said in unison.
"What were you talking about when we came in?" George asked as he and his brother started piling food on their plates.
"About the Grangers' dinner party tonight." Said Ginny.
"Oh. We got an owl this morning." Fred said. "Angie and Katie are coming along."
"So Ronnikins, how was your first night back like?" Asked George wiggling his eyebrows as his youngest brother.
Ron glared at him. "I rested, I don't know what she did, but I assume she was doing the same."
"You went to bed and left her on her own, what kind or a boyfriend are you?" Asked Fred with a feigned scandalized look.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "She's staying with her parents." She said.
"Oh. Why?" Asked Fred.
"Because." Muttered Ron as he kept his eyes on his plate.
"Don't be thick." Snapped Ginny. "You weren't expecting her to go and live with Ron, were you?"
"Why not? She did before." Said George.
"That was before. She doesn't remember anything. It would be weird of her to live with somebody she doesn't remember, even if he was supposed to be her fiancé. It's different with her parents, she'd feel naturally comfortable with them." Ginny said. "Honestly."
"All right. That's enough." Said Mrs. Weasley. "Ginny is right. Hermione needs to be with her family for the moment, once she has been treated and recuperated a little, she can think about her relationship with Ron. I'm sure Ron is in no hurry and wants what's best for her. Don't you Ron?"
Ron shifted uneasily on his seat. His mother and sister had just explained what Shacklebolt had tried telling him the day before. He had not been happy about it, but he had accepted it, and here was his family arguing about it.
He sighed. "Yeah."
His mother smiled at him and shifted the conversation to something else.
Ginny glanced at her brother. It seemed that the conversation had gotten to be too much for her brother.
She wished he would trust her and confide in her, as they had done when they were little and their older brothers teased them constantly. That had changed after Ron had gone to Hogwarts and had met Harry and Hermione. But there were still times when they were as close as they had once had been.
The twins' laughter got everyone's attention and they listed as the two entrepreneurs regaled their family about the latest items designed exclusively for their shop.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Hermione woke up that morning feeling refreshed and a little nervous. Her parents had decided to have a dinner party that night and had invited Ron and Ginny's family to welcome her home.
She was eager to meet this family she had heard so much of. But she was also a little apprehensive about seeing them. From what she had heard, this family had seen her grow up since she had met Harry and Ron at school. They were bound to notice any change that had taken place in her since they last saw her. And that worried her.
"Good morning, dear." Mrs. Granger said as Hermione walked into the kitchen. "Come and have some breakfast."
Mrs. Granger placed a plate with eggs, sausages and toast on the table, and Hermione sat promptly before it.
"Where's father?" Hermione asked as she noted that her father was not sitting around the table as she had expected him to be.
"He had to go to the clinic. One of his long standing patients was scheduled to be in this morning, so he left early." Mrs. Granger said.
"Do you both work?" Asked Hermione with a frown. It didn't make her feel good that she had to ask her mother if she worked. She was more frustrated than ever that her memory had not returned. There were glimpses of scenes that she could only assumed had been dreams.
The latest one she had the night before had been of a boy flying on a broom past a dragon to get a golden egg. She had also seen some sort of game played on a large grassy area, the players flying around on brooms at high speeds. They were fanciful dreams, nothing more, she told herself. They were just fancies of her imagination seeking to fill the gaps that her memory had left behind.
But there had been glimpses of occasions she only hoped were part of memories. She had seen herself sitting on a library table in front of large books. She had also glimpsed short scenes were she had clearly been in a classroom. She couldn't remember what she had been reading, or studying on these scenes, she only hoped that they had been true memories of her time at school.
She had not told anybody about these dreams or visions. She kept them to herself and hoped they meant her case was not as hopeless as she had thought it to be.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Mrs. Granger had been in a constant state of agitation the whole afternoon as she and Hermione prepared the meal and the house for their guests that evening. Mr. Granger had returned from the clinic in early afternoon, carrying flowers and vases his wife had asked him to bring to adorn the house.
"The Weasleys are not too fussy about these things." Mr. Granger said as he spied his wife hurrying to finish the housecleaning.
"But that doesn't mean we should not do our best to get this place in shape for their visit." Replied Mrs. Granger. "They're almost family."
"Exactly, which is why they won't care if the house is not totally organized." Said Mr. Granger.
"I'm done." Said Hermione coming into the living room, where her parents had been cleaning.
"Thank you, dear. Well, that's the bathrooms done. The kitchen is all clean and I'm just finishing here, so we only have the dinning room to put in order." Mrs. Granger said as she went over her list.
"I'll start on it." Said Hermione.
Mr. Granger continued with the vacuuming as Mrs. Granger finished her dusting.
"We got an owl this morning. I saw it as I was leaving." Mr. Granger said as soon as Hermione was out of sight.
"And? What did it say?" Asked Mrs. Granger stopping her dusting for a moment.
"Only a confirmation note for the appointment tomorrow at St. Mungo's." Mr. Granger said.
Mrs. Granger bit her lip as she turned back to finish her dusting. "Do you think they can help her?" She asked.
"We must hope they can. She had the care of a Muggle hospital for the past three months, if they had something that could help her, they would've done it. They did their best, now it's St. Mungo's turn." Mr. Granger said. "But as it was all caused by spells and such, they must be able to find a way to relieve the damage done."
Mrs. Granger sighed and nodded. There was nothing else for them to do, and they were putting all their hopes in the experienced hands of the St. Mungo's healers.
It was starting to get dark by the time the Grangers retired to change for dinner. The meal had been prepared and was placed in the oven to keep warm, the dinning room table had been set and readied and the flowers Mr. Granger had brought that afternoon had been arranged in large vases and placed around the dinning room and living room to bring color to the house.
They had just returned to the living room when the doorbell rang.
"Oh, that must be them." Exclaimed Mrs. Granger as she hurried to open the door.
Ron and Harry were the first to arrive. They were closely followed by Fred and George, who were accompanied by their girlfriends, Angelina and Katie. Bill and Fleur were the next to arrive. Ginny accompanied her parents, and Charlie was the last to arrive just after Percy and his girlfriend Penelope had made their way to the Grangers' house.
Hermione was overwhelmed by the sight of the large redheaded family. She was glad that it had been Ron and Harry who had arrived first. They had stood by her as Ron made the introductions to his family. They had been happy to see her. Mrs. Weasley had exclaimed happily when she saw her and had hugged Hermione tightly as she told her how much she had been missed and how happy they all were to have her back home. It was nice to feel so appreciated. No matter how much the Milbournes, Detective Rivas and all her friends had made her feel welcomed, being among family and long time friends was better.
Harry had been happy to note that all Weasleys had worn appropriate Muggle clothing, he had been worried that they wouldn't, and no matter that Hermione couldn't remember her past, she was bound to have noticed if any of the Weasleys had worn something that was out of place with the others. As it were, they all looked handsome and formal, and were clearly enjoying spending time together now that Hermione was back.
The meal was a loud one. Hermione didn't know how they all could fit comfortably around the table. They had seventeen people sitting around the table and they all sat talking animatedly as the platters were passed around.
Eventually, the subject of Hermione's appointment for the next day came into the conversation.
"The confirmation for her appointment came this morning." Mr. Granger had replied to a question from Mr. Weasley.
"Yes, they would send one." Mr. Wealsey said. "They usually do for serious cases. Unless they kept you in the hospital, that is."
"I don't know about this Molly." Mrs. Granger said. "I don't like the idea of her going on her own."
"Oh, she won't be on her own, Jane." Mrs. Weasley replied. "Ginny will come for her."
"That's a relief." Mrs. Granger said, feeling a lot better about her daughter's appointment.
"Will you?" Hermione asked to Ginny after listening to their parents' conversation.
"Will I what?" Asked Ginny, who had been trying to listen to the twins' hushed conversation at the other end of the table.
"Be with me for my appointment tomorrow?" Hermione asked.
"Of course. I work there. So I volunteered to take you." Ginny said.
"Can't my parents come?" Hermione asked as some apprehension returned about the idea of going to the hospital.
"I think they have something to do that they couldn't cancel." Ginny said carefully. The Grangers and she had talked about this before she had left with Ron and Harry to find Hermione. She had assured the Grangers that St. Mungo's was the only place that could help Hermione if the damage done had been caused by spells. Unfortunately, because the Grangers were Muggles, they would not be able to accompany their daughter to her first appointment. They had not been happy about it, but they understood that it would have to be done. "But don't worry." Ginny continued. "They'll be here when we return, and hopefully we'll know what treatment to follow."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Ron didn't say much during the meal. He kept his eyes constantly on Hermione who was sitting beside Ginny at the other end of the table. It was hard for him seeing her so far from him. Since the time they first came together, they had been sitting side by side in meals, meetings, or any other venue they assisted together. This was the first time in years that they sat at separate sides of the table from each other. Even during those times they had been angered at each other, they still kept close. She might as well have stayed across the ocean, he thought with disgust. How was he supposed to remind her of the love they had for each other if there were others around all the time. He hadn't had a moment alone with her since her return, and it didn't seem like there would be any soon.
He had volunteered to take Hermione to St. Mungos' for her first appointment, but the healers and Shacklebolt had agreed that it would be better if Ginny did so. She would be more comfortable with a woman, they said, he was still a virtual stranger to her and she would feel self-conscious with a man present. He had not agreed with them, but he had stepped aside and now he would have to see his sister take Hermione to her first appointment to the healers.
He felt as if he was being pushed aside from the life that should have been his. He had been her partner; if she fell ill, he had been there to take care of her; if she had trouble at work, he had been there to give her a shoulder to cry on. He had always been there, one way or another, since they had first become friends. Now he was looking in from the outside, as if their relationship had never happened.
Harry and Ginny told him to wait, that the right time would arrive when he could stand by her once again. His parents wanted him to be patient, they said that after her treatment things could go back to how they had once been. Even Shaklebolt called for fortitude, to allow her to recuperate at her own pace. But he was not a patient man, he had never been and this was trying his patience to the limit.
But he remained silent as to his feelings. He was not a man who liked to share his emotions to anybody. The only person who had been able to get him to share what he was feeling had been Hermione. But that was out of the question now, and he had to learn to deal with his feelings on his own.
Hermione's laughter reached his ear and he looked up. She was laughing at something Ginny had said. She was happy, he knew that just by looking at her, by the glow in her eyes. And he knew he should be happy for her, but his feeling of isolation was stronger than ever.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Hermione lay on her bed thinking about the day's events. She was really glad her mother had invited the Weasleys. They seemed like a fun and loving family. Mrs. and Mr. Weasley had been very kind to her. Harry and Ron had stood by her throughout the first half of the evening introducing her to the others she had not met. The two were obviously protective of her, just as two friends would be. Ginny had entertained her during the meal, telling her about each of her brothers. The Twins, Fred and George, took it upon themselves to keep the company entertained after dinner. She liked the two young men, they were funny and obviously loved their family very much.
She smiled in the darkness. It had been a great evening, she thought, great indeed.
A/N: There you go, another chapter done, hope you liked it. Things are going to be a little slow for Ron and Hermione, but eventually, the pace will pick up and things are going to get better for our little couple. The next chapters will deal more with Hermione's treatment and less about their feelings, first, I think you all must agree with me, Hermione must find out about the magical world. Thank you all for replying, please don't forget to do so now.
Happy Reading!