Chapter 20

Bound To You

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Remus took his time walking through the picturesque muggle neighborhood wishing that he had transfigured his clothing into a slightly more modern and professional outfit. Not that he looked terrible, wearing a pair of tan pants, a moss green dress shirt and a lightweight jacket, paired with oxfords. Severus had appreciated his efforts, But he hadn't realized that Hermione Granger lived in such an affluent neighborhood, she certainly did not act like a privileged girl. Well educated, yes. But not bloody rich. The times that they had spent together at Hogwarts, discussing magical theory as well as the letters that they had exchanged, gave no clue as to her background as she did not act like the purebloods would in her position.

He was meeting her at her request in order to deliver a package to Harry from him, Severus and Sirius. It wasn't an extravagant gift by any means and of course, no one could know that Severus had contributed to the gift which was a belated birthday gift and Fourth-year gift from the three of them. However, they were all extremely proud of their contribution and hoped that he liked it.

He was also extremely curious as to what her theory was regarding the fact that Harry was still not receiving any letters from Remus but had received them from Sirius.

As he was turning the corner onto her street he saw a Mercedes pull into the long driveway of a home three houses from where he stood. As the car was parked he saw a petite young lady emerge from the passenger side of the car talking a mile a minute to the driver of the car. She was dressed in a blue and white paisley sleeveless dress and impossibly small white heels with a little white sweater tied around her shoulders. She carried a small white purse across her body and reached into the back seat and grabbed a satchel and threw it over her other shoulder. He noticed how carefree she seemed to talk to her mother that she seemed to favor greatly with her curly, slightly bushy chocolate brown hair with caramel highlights and upturned nose, but where her eyes were a chocolate brown with amber flecks in them, her mother's eyes were a vibrant blue.

All of a sudden he saw her stiffen and slowly turn around. He didn't know what had caused her to pause but the smile on her face conveyed how very happy she was to see him.

Hermione turned to her mother and beckoned her closer before introducing them. "Mum, I would like to introduce you to my favorite ex-professor of Defense and friend who is helping me navigate the crazy magical world that I have found myself to live in ten months out of the year, Mr. Remus Lupin. Remus this is my mother Gwendolyn Jean Granger."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Granger, I have heard so much about you from your daughter this year." Said Remus taking her mother's hand and shaking it as he knew muggles were apt to do. "

"Smiling in return, Hermione's mother knew this man to be a Werewolf and the evidence of the scars on his face gave testament to the horrors that he had survived in his youth. But he still projected a warmth and she could understand how that would appeal to her often lonely daughter. "Mr. Lupin it is wonderful to finally meet you. Please call me Gwen, Hermione has spoken so well of you in her letters home this year as well as mentions over the summer while regaling myself and her father with her new knowledge of the magical world."

"She has been called The Brightest Witch of Her Age by many in the wizarding world" replied Remus smiling indulgently at Hermione.

"I've also been called an Insufferable Know it All as well sir" A bit red in the face she looked up at him through her eyelashes and smirked at him.

"Yes well darling you'll have days like that", replied her mother, looking at how her daughter interacted with the gentleman in front of her and thought it sweet. She didn't see him reacting in any other way than that of a friend.

"Mr. Lupin, would you like to join us in the house for tea?" I'm afraid that with Hermione's lessons and the errands that we had to run today before she leaves for the Weasleys' home, we've missed lunch as well as tea."

"I would be happy to join you for tea madam, as long as it wouldn't be any trouble and please call me Remus." Replied Remus

"No trouble at all Remus." Smiled Mrs. Granger "Hermione can you please let Elena know that we are ready for Tea? I called her while you were finishing your lesson, but I am unsure if she heard the car drive up."

"Of course mum, I'll meet you and mum in the parlor in just a few moments Remus." Replied Hermione smiling back at the friend she had gained over the course of the past year.

Leading Remus into the parlor, Gwen invited him to sit on the settee while she made herself comfortable in the chair across from him.

"So Mr. Weasley's parents invited Hermione to their home for the remainder of the summer?" asked Remus while waiting for Hermione to return.

"Yes, they have invited her to join them at the Quidditch World cup and then to spend the remainder of the break at their home. I must say that if I didn't know that Mr. Potter would be visiting there as well at the same time and going to this meet, I might have tried harder to have her remain at home the remainder of the summer."

"If it is a concern over parental supervision, I can assure you that Molly Weasley is a most attentive parent to her brood of seven." Replied Remus confused by her concern.

"Oh no, I've met both Weasley parents and while they both seemed a bit befuddled over some of I guess you would call muggle ideas or professions they seemed sincere in their attention to both Hermione and Mr. Potter or Harry as I hear from Hermione all year, with the exception of this year of course." Said Gwen looking critically at Remus. "I was concerned that their friendship was in jeopardy when I did not hear so much about either boy this year."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, but now understanding her concern better he leaned forward to speak with her, while occasionally looking through the doorway waiting for Hermione to return, hearing her speaking softly to Elena in French, another surprise although it shouldn't have been, Remus turned back to her mother. "Gwen, I must admit I was a bit disappointed in both of the boys this year. Harry, if you weren't aware was not raised in the magical world and from what I understand and what I have learned from Hermione, he was not treated well by his guardians and I know it is not a sufficient excuse, but I believe that he is afraid to choose between friends or get between them when they are arguing. From what I have observed Mr. Weasley is much more vocal in his displeasure at perceived injustices. Hermione explained to me that there was an issue over their familiars which I believe resolved itself recently."

"And the broomstick issue Remus, I believe that it was an issue for both of them, though Hermione did not go into too much of an explanation regarding that."

"Yes, the broomstick issue, I did have words with Harry in regards to that once I finally got the information about it from another professor." Remembering how Severus had seemed to gloat regarding the supposed breakup of the trio of friends, he was concerned enough about Hermione or Remus's Kia to be the first professor to point out the rift in friendship. "I would like to explain that a Wizards first vehicle in that comparison is a broomstick, so he was very excited about the gift of a new one. It was however received during a time of uncertainty of intent and Hermione was correct that it did need to be thoroughly investigated before test driving it."

Reluctantly Gwen smiled at Remus, not happy with the explanation, but a bit more accepting of the reason behind the argument. "Remus I hope that you know that I can appreciate that Harry has had a difficult life and if there is anything that I can do, to get him out of the environment that has made his life difficult, I will do so, but I do need to think of Hermione first and foremost. I spent years seeing how difficult of a time she had at the schools that she has attended in the past. I have a very intelligent child that is much more intelligent than her classmates. She has been ridiculed and bullied for this very knowledge and has been bullied by this Mr. Weasley, but still claims to be best friends with this character, but I hope that if he continues to be a bore, that she will cut her losses and make friends that appreciate her for who she is and not what she can do for them."

Understanding her need to protect Hermione but not feeling it was his place to say that he agreed or interject more on the subject, he leaned back on the settee. Hearing Hermione returning to the parlor along with Elena, still speaking softly in French, he stood up to greet the young witch, along with her companion who appeared to be a very treasured au pair of some sort to the young woman before him. He offered to assist with the tea but was waved off by the older woman and retook his seat upon the settee. Sitting beside him in a most proper manner was Hermione who looked over to her mother silently and when given permission was asked to serve. Watching her silently, she served him first as he was the guest, though her mother was older and was pleased and surprised to see that she remembered how he took his tea. She then served her mother and asked Elena if she would be joining them as well. Elena just smiled and said no, she was going to finish cleaning up the kitchen and would leave their dinner in the fridge to be heated when Mr. Granger returned. Looking to Mrs. Granger and then to Remus she nodded her head and left the room to resume cleaning the kitchen that Hermione had been helping her with.

"Now Hermione, your mother mentioned that you were taking lessons this summer, do you mind letting me know which classes and if I may be of any assistance?"

"Of course Remus," replied Hermione with a smile. " I am currently taking a class in the Russian language, I also take piano lessons and a martial arts class that I participate in twice a week." Once completed with her recitation, Hermione looked down into her teacup before taking a sip.

His eyebrows rising almost comically, he had to set down his own teacup before he dropped it. "I didn't realize that you had a full curriculum even during the summer Hermione. I hope that our correspondence didn't interfere with your studies."

Giggling lightly Hermione shook her head quickly. "Our letters didn't interfere with anything Remus. I like to keep busy during the summer. My parents like me to keep busy during the summer."

Looking to Gwen, he caught the slightly worried look on her face. Clearing her throat she explained. "When Hermione was younger, if she had too much idle time, she became restless and seemed to exhibit more accidental magic as a result. We didn't know what was happening at the time when she would levitate books that had been put out of her reach or when she would come home from daycare and say that one of the children's hair turned frizzy just like hers after she had been insulted of course. We weren't positive it was her until we tried to get her to her daily lesson and we couldn't open any of the doors. She was so adamant that she not have to go to daycare that we couldn't leave the house. At this point, she was four years old and we were at our wit's end."

Looking over at a blushing ball of Hermione, Remus huffed a bit of a chuckle. "So little witchling Hermione put down her foot?"

"And then some," replied her mother smiling indulgently. "We didn't understand what was going on, we just knew that we loved our daughter and we didn't want anything to happen to her or anyone to question her abilities. It would have been so much easier if we had been approached by someone in the magical world to help us understand her better." finished Gwen with a frown on her face.

Remus looked over at the two women and saw that there was a little bit of contention between the both of them. Her parents may have understood but it might have taken longer than it warranted.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you understand all of this?

"Well we tried to think of it scientifically, we have known that there are people out there in the world that have certain abilities that cannot be explained. We did as much research as we could to try and narrow down her gifts, but not everything fit into little boxes so we improvised. It wasn't until she was around nine that we knew that she was a witch."

"May I ask what happened?," Inquired Remus still considering the blushing young woman beside him.

"I disapparated," replied Hermione quietly.

Shocked once again Remus studied Hermione carefully before asking "How did you come to find out that Hermione was a witch?"

"We were visited by the Headmaster of Hogwarts… that was after a team was sent out to make sure that Hermione's teacher and classmates did not remember that she disappeared from class."

"Headmaster Dumbledore visited you, Hermione, before you received your Hogwarts letter?" asked Remus incredulously.

Looking up at him and seeing the height of his previously tempered eyebrows, Hermione replied: "I suppose he did, my mother and father told me he did; however I didn't remember meeting him, prior to receiving my Hogwarts letter."

Feeling befuddled by her answer, he had to mention. "But you were nine and I know what an incredible memory you have."

"He made her forget," said Gwen, letting her anger bleed into her voice. "Before speaking to either me or my husband, he said some type of spell and rushed her off to her room. We were quite upset until he advised us that he knew children were notoriously unable to keep secrets and the fate of The Wizarding world depended on secrecy. He then advised us that Hermione was a witch and that she was a very special girl and very powerful for one so young. Of course we made him prove to us that he was who he said he was, not trusting that he hadn't hypnotized Hermione into leaving the room or intimidated her He showed us a bit of magic, explained that all of the children received their invitations to Hogwarts at age eleven and assured us that Hermione would receive her letter. He left behind a small book with information about the school, the subjects offered and helpful hints for curbing accidental magics. We didn't hear from him or anyone else until Hermione's eleventh Birthday."

"Of course I myself have never been involved in instances of accidental magic of muggleborn children, but I was not aware that the Headmaster himself visited," Said Remus sounding vaguely confused.

"I wasn't aware before that he did either, none of my classmates have ever mentioned it, however, if he made them forget like he did me, it really isn't a wonder," Replied Hermione, also allowing a bit of tension to bleedinto her voice.

Looking up quickly at Hermione and Gwen, he reached for his now cool teacup and proceeded to change the subject, asking Hermione how she liked her summer lessons. If she felt proficient in her language studies and how her martial arts training was going? She enthusiastically spoke of her lessons, offering a few phrases in Russian and Remus being a pretty proficient linguist responded to her, in turn, surprising both her and her mother, who also knew Russian. As the day grew later and their tea was finished he reluctantly noticed the time and started making noises to leave. Hermione invited him to stay for dinner after putting the Lasagna that Elena had made into the oven, but he had to decline as he already had plans for that evening with his snarky Potions Master and his Marauder friend to discuss the issue of Harry.

Realizing that he hadn't handed the box to Hermione, he did so and smiled at her confused expression as the box was only five inches by five inches in size, but quite heavy. She looked up to him, this time her eyebrow arched almost in imitation of Severus until he explained that all she or Harry need to do to enlarge the box was to tap it once with their wand and say Engorgio. He said that he would do it here, but as this was a muggle neighborhood and he was not sure what the monitoring spells were in this area, so he recommended waiting until she reached the Weasley's.

As they made their way to the back door so that Remus might disapparate, her mother stayed behind to work on completing their dinner preparations. Remus turned to Hermione and asked, "Have you come to any conclusions as to why Harry and I have been unable to communicate this summer?"

Looking up at him as he was quite a bit taller than her and biting her lower lip just a bit before replying "I actually have a few theories, but I am not positive on the correct one. Before our second year, all of Harry's mail was being intercepted by a house elf, hoping to keep him from returning to the school where potential danger awaited. I don't believe that to be the case this time as he has received mail from me, Ron and Sirius this holiday. There are other ideas I have come up with but there is a bit more research that I would like to do, before speculating completely," she said looking down at her feet, feeling a bit unprepared for the interest in her ideas.

"Is there a particular book that you need, I could send it to you?"

"Actually I was waiting for my visit the Weasley's to complete my research," replied Hermione uncertainly.

"And they have something at their home that would be helpful?" questioned Remus bemusedly.

"Well Ron has told me that they have had visitors this summer in response to this big Quidditch match, so I am hoping to speak to the source directly." She replied with a bigger grin, enjoying the bit of mystery she was invoking.

"So someone that the Weasley's know may be helpful?"

"Someone related, that is knowledgeable in charms and hexes and how to identify them, a Mr. William Weasley," said Hermione giving up the game.

"Ah, Bill. Good lad, always pleasant when I spoke to him. I haven't seen him of course since he was a young boy."

"Well, this will be the first time that I will be meeting him and Ron's other brother Charles."

"Why do you believe that Bill will be able to assist with your research," he asked questioningly, unsure of the correlation.

"Ron informed me that his brother Charles is a dragon keeper and that his brother William or Bill as you call him is a curse breaker. I figure that if anyone could verify my theories it would be him," looking a bit uncertain and embarrassed "And you of course or maybe professor Snape, but as I have several theories and limited time with you and no time with Professor Snape, I figured as long as I didn't make a nuisance of myself that perhaps he would be willing to assist me.." she finished quickly a little flushed realizing that she had been babbling.

"Hermione, don't fret over this, I am sure that we will come up with a solution to this dilemma and hopefully until then, we will come up with another way for Harry and me to communicate. I am just happy that he is as interested in getting to know an old family friend as I am to get to know the young man he has become. Thank you, Hermione, for assistance with this, I am indebted to you," Said Remus with a slight bow.

"There is no debt owed Remus, you are both my friends and I am always happy to help my friends," Hermione replied flushing again at leaving herself so vulnerable.

Realizing he had embarrassed her bit Remus was quick to respond "Of course we are friends Hermione and I do thank you. I best be going, as I have an old dog to take out and some planning to do," Thinking that he had the next two nights available to him and his boyfriend for lack of a better word. Stopping to rest a hand lightly on her shoulder and feeling his wolf hum at the brief contact; he smiled at her once again before bowing briefly and turning with a muffled crack, disapparating before her eyes.