Chapter 4

I suddenly work up with a strong urge to pee. My last memory was getting into the back seat of a sleek town car. 'How did I get here?' I asked myself.

"Papa had trouble waking you. Robert carried you to your room," Aunt Jean answered.

"I really must control speaking my thoughts. Where's the bathroom?" I asked as I did the infamous pee pee dance.

She directed me to the room next to the dresser. I quickly took care of my urgent needs before brushing my teeth and redoing my ponytail. "Thanks Auntie. I have something important to tell you."

"So do I," she said. "I'll go first. After I turned 10, Principal Foster visited my parents to offer me placement at Ilvermorny. He explained that I was gifted and required proper training. When Mama asked what did he mean by gifted, he answered, 'Jean is displaying magic abilities. Ilvermorny is a school of Wizardry.' He explained the custom of the Principal visiting the nomag, households to invite their magically gifted children placement within their school. We call nonmagical people muggles here. My parents couldn't afford the tuition. The Principal assured them there was a financial aid program. I was excited to attend. Two years later, my brother joined me. Unfortunately he wasn't able to complete his studies. Papa had a heart attack and died. Mama needed your father to come home and run the shop."

"What did Daddy decide?" I knew he would do everything possible to help his family.

"He relinquished his wand to avoid using magic underaged. You started showing magical abilities just after you turned 3. I knew you'd be accepted at Ilvermorny. When you continued to attend the Catholic elementary school, your mother said you refused to go away for school. I accepted what I was told was your decision. When your father decided to keep you home, Mr Foster and I worked together to bind your magic. Binding magic comes at a huge risk. If you're bound for too long, you could get a build up of excess magic that could manifest into an overactive libido. Using your mother's snide comments as a guide, we quickly discovered this was your affliction. Your father and his friends orchestrated a conversation to discuss how to release an extreme build up of 'sexual tension' without penetration. That is no fingers or penis insertion to break a girl's hymen. At first I was furious, but if you didn't get help from friends you trust, a few local boys were vying for position. We wanted to prevent any chance of you becoming pregnant."

"Which boys?" I demanded, suspecting the ring leader to be none other than Joe Morelli. Aunt Jean wasted no time confirming my suspicion.

"Joe Morelli and his brother Anthony were leading the charge. Once your hormone level stabilized, they took a step back to wait for your next surge." I remembered the first surge I experienced. My dreams were vivid. I was massaging my clit attempting to have my body release. Mom heard the moans and interrupted my ministrations. The following night, I had an impromptu movie night with my friend Eddie. It was the first time he helped me release. I completely trusted Eddie to do only as I asked. He proved to be extremely trustworthy. "It took a while for your friend to finally offer to help you. He was afraid you'd take things too far. You suggested adding Denzel to movie night to ensure nobody took advantage of you during a vulnerable moment. Over the last 3 years, you, Eddie and Denzel would have a weekly movie night. The more you released in a night, the longer it took for the next surge. Eddie and Denzel became experts in reading your nonverbal cues. As long as you didn't have romantic feelings of love for Eddie and Denzel, they were able to get you to release multiple times to drain your energy surge. I assume they underestimated your quick romantic connection with Carl. When they added him to the mix, I imagine they were unable to circumvent what happened later that night."

She hit that nail directly on the head. "Is that why I craved a more intimate connection with Carl?"

"Exactly. I have a feeling you're here because you are in trouble of sorts." Aunt Jean must know or suspect I'm pregnant. I should just rip off that bandaid.

"When Carl and I were intimate, we forgot to use protection. We only had sex that one time because I was too afraid of getting pregnant and ruining his life. The first pregnancy test I took came back negative. I must have become complacent. Sabrina, Carl's mom, gave me an extra test in case I needed it. I wrote my last exam when I started to feel nauseous. As I walked to the washroom, I realized my period was a few days late. I quickly took the test in my backpack and shoved it into an empty plastic sandwich bag." I reached for my bag to hand Aunt Jean the test. "Sabrina said if the tip is blue, it means I'm pregnant. I wrote Carl a 'Dear John' letter. Oh no! I forgot to quit my job at Tasty Pastry."

"It's 6 am in New Jersey. If you call now, you wouldn't be interrupting their busy morning shift," she said as she handed me a secure phone. "Untraceable."

I nodded as I placed the call. "Hi Mrs Capelli, It's Stephanie Plum. I'm apologize for the last minute notice, but I was accepted into an early placement University program overseas. I need to terminate my employment effective immediately." "Yes, I realize I was supposed to work this evening." "Classes start tomorrow." "It completely slipped my mind. I applied just after Christmas. I wasn't expecting to be accepted." "Thank you. I'm sure I would enjoy the program." "Oh, can you give it to my Dad?" "Thank you for understanding. I'll see you when I return. Bye."

Handing Aunt Jean the phone, I started to cry. "Why did you say you're attending University overseas?"

"It was the excuse Dad and I decided to use. If I talk to anyone back home, I need to use the same story or they'll become suspicious."

"You haven't exactly lied. I enrolled you into a program to teach a young witch or wizard who were either home schooled or had their magic bound. Classes begin tomorrow. While you were sleeping, Robert, Will and I unbound your Magic. After breakfast, we'll get you a wand and textbooks. Since you're still underage, you can't practice magic outside the classroom setting," she explained. "Your name change will take effect later today. We could have used magic, but your Dad asked for your name to be legal with both the Muggle and Magic governments."

We continued our conversation over brunch. She explained all the rules I'm expected to follow in the magical world. My eyes glazed over when she described how the Ministry of Magic works. I hope this little one I'm carrying has a better attention span.

After spending a few hours in Diagon Alley, I have every supply a young witch or wizard requires to begin their studies. We spent a few more hours shopping for clothes. I didn't want maternity clothes until I could no longer wear my regular size. Aunt Jean ignored my wishes and selected a few items anyways.

School was so much fun. I met several students my age. Twins Emily and Ebony had their magic bound when they started kindergarten. Their father, a muggle, died in a car accident last month their mom, a witch, had the bond removed. We were already becoming close friends.

I started showing a baby bump when Christmas arrived. Now that I'm no longer classified as an underaged witch, I decided to continue my studies at home. To avoid complicated or embarrassing explanations, I started calling my Aunt and Uncle, Mama and Papa.

My ultrasound was scheduled for later today and I was beyond excited to see if my little peanut was a boy or girl. I was comfortably sitting on the couch reading to my baby. "Why are you reading your book on Transfiguration textbook to the baby?" Mama asked.

"For some strange reason it calms the baby when it becomes overactive," I explained.

"Ah... it's already taking after its mother." I was confused so she continued, "Your father used to read various textbooks to calm you too. While Helen was pregnant, she tried to emulate your father by reading a cookbook to calm you, but it never worked."

"So I've always been adverse about learning to cook," I wisely stated. We dissolved into laughter. Grandpa Granger, aka William, arrived as our laughter dissipated. "Give me a few minutes to change," I told Grandpa. He was accompanying me for my appointment. Mama had an important meeting to attend and didn't want me to go alone.

Too many rumblings about an evil wizard and his band of Death Eaters was circulating throughout the region. They were attempting to recruit young wizards and witches. It wasn't safe for a young witch to be travelling alone. After discovering I was having a girl, I decided to contact Carl to tell him about our baby.

I dialled his phone number and received a message the number had been disconnected. Shrugging off the sensation of something being wrong, I called Dad instead. Luckily Mama had his mobile number programmed into the phone.

"Hi Daddy," I said when he answered.

"How are you feeling Pumpkin?"

"Great. School is amazing and I'm learning a lot. Do you have Carl's phone number? His old one is disconnected." I could hear him take some deep breaths to calm himself. "What did Carl do?" I asked.

"He met someone during his camping trip. When he arrived home, I made arrangements to give him your letter. Before I could hand it over, he told me about the girl he'd been sleeping with on the camping trip. He was intending to break up with you upon his return."

"I thought he loved me," I cried. "I'm not going to tell him about his daughter."

"I wasn't planning to force you to tell him anything. Do what you think is best for you and your daughter, Pumpkin. Nobody will hear about your daughter from me. I'm glad you left Trenton when you did."

"Thanks Daddy. I just made my decision. I'll stay in Manchester until she's 10 years old then move back to Trenton. If she's a witch, she'll attend Hogwarts. I can always return to Manchester during the summer and for holidays." A deep feeling was telling me I would find my future once I return. When I tried to focus on Trenton, a hazy image disappeared as quick as it appeared. There was no way for me to see who was in the image.

"I'll be sure to call every couple of weeks. I almost to tell you, Morelli raped the young girl who covered your shift. He left for the Navy early the following morning. Before he left, he wrote some inappropriate things about their encounter." We quickly ended our conversation. It was getting late in Trenton. Dad had an early morning shift at the post office.

I poured myself into my studies to get over Carl's betrayal. The silver lining? I didn't have to break up with him using the 'Dear John' letter.

Even though I didn't attend Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore insisted we are sorted into houses. He said it wasn't a common practice, but he asked for us to 'humour an old man.' How could we possibly deny his request? If the students had a parent attend Hogwarts in the past, it was assumed they would be in the same house. Dumbledore, however, made no such assumptions. One of his students was placed in Gryffindor while the rest of his family was in Slytherin. The sorting hat took a long time to place me. I displayed qualities of both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Ultimately I was placed in Ravenclaw, the same house as Papa Robert.

Transfiguration was my favourite class. Potions was fun, but I had the propensity of blowing things up. With assistance from Mama and Papa, I eventually caught on and stopped exploding too many cauldrons. Not to say I haven't exploded any at all... one cauldron every month instead of one or two every day. An improvement of sorts. Not perfect, but mastering potions was not my top priority. My specialty was Transfiguration. It was very easy, almost like second nature. Mama told me Dad also excelled in Transfiguration.

I completed my training and received Outstanding for all courses except the Exceeds Expectations in Potions for my OWLS and NEWTS. I worked extremely hard to graduate before I had my baby. My job as liaison between the muggle and magic worlds will start after my daughter reaches 6 months. The ministry was hoping I would begin immediately, but my due date is less than 1 week away.

On Saturday March 1, 2003 at 1:35 am, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter Hermione Jean Granger. Mama mentioned if Hermione had magic capabilities, the Ministry and Hogwarts would have her name on a list.

I waited until 2 pm before I grabbed my phone to place a call. "Hi Daddy," I greeted. "Hermione was born today. She's beautiful."

"Does she have your curly hair?" he asked.

"Not at the moment. She only has a bit of blond peach fuzz. I think she'll have brown eyes like her daddy. Speaking of her dad, how is he?" I was curious how his life was progressing.

"He's been asking about you. Don't worry, Pumpkin, he doesn't know about Hermione. His relationship with that other girl ended a few weeks after Christmas. She dumped him when he refused to propose. I told him you weren't planning to return to Trenton. He's been sniffing around Joyce Barnhardt and Tina Rosolli. Eddie caught him having sex with Joyce under the bleachers. If you do come home, I want you to stay far away from Carl."

"No worries there Dad. I refuse to date any man who had relations with that slut. She's been around the block too many times to count. I'm surprised she didn't need reconstruction surgery on her vagina." I could hear his booming laugh.

"Thanks for the laugh Pumpkin. I plan to visit during the summer. I'll fly into Italy then have my buddy fly to Manchester in his Cessna. We'll throw off the trail this way," he explained before I could form my question. "Take care of your little Pumpkin. I love you Steph."

"I love you too Daddy," I said through tears.