Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it's characters, or the universe. Nor do I make any claim to any copyrighted material in this story. The rights to any intellectual property are reserved to their respective parties. The rights to Harry Potter are reserved to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, and Levine Books. "Queen" and "Queen" songs are reserved to the respective band members and Hollywood Records.
All characters in this story are fictional. Any likeness to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A Corruo Story
Edited by inVale
Killing Time
Prologue
Heaven for Everyone
August 30, 2011
8:03 AM
Covingham, Swindon, U.K.
The morning sun crested the roofs of the homes that lined Baskerville Road in the quaint suburb of Covingham in Swindon as the morning commute began for so many of the neighborhood's residents. Once again, cars began to pull out of their respective driveways to begin their dutiful trek across the country, carrying their masters into the business world once more. The freshly mown lawns and immaculately trimmed hedges of the neighborhood belied the fact that the weekend had just passed and that, for the second time that week, Covingham was going to work.
But even as the adults of each household were making their daily trek away from home, their children continued to sleep; tucked safely away in their beds, wasting away the dying days of summer. Under the roof of number thirty seven, things were no different, as two teens slept peacefully in separate rooms, their dreams consumed with thoughts of each other as well as apprehension over the impending school year.
In the small, second floor guest room just at the top of the stairs, sixteen year old Harry Potter turned over in his sleep, trying with all his might to keep from waking up. For the fourth night in a row he had tossed and turned, his mind wandering as he tried to find a comfortable position in the unfamiliar bed. Still, he was grateful to the Grangers for providing it for him at Hermione's behest.
It had only been a few short months since their friendship turned upside-down by a chaste kiss on the cheek by Hermione late one night. Harry took to asking his godfather for advice through his mirrors on the matter, though he quickly realized that Sirius was not the best person to ask for advice on girls. In the following weeks Harry had accompanied the Grangers and a few others to Las Vegas during their summer vac to investigate a casino owned by Lucius Malfoy, which was allegedly housing one of Voldemort's horcruxes. After several trying days, the group had managed to steal the object and hide it safely in Harry's Gringotts vault while at the same time capturing Peter Pettigrew.
Following their return from Las Vegas, Harry had returned to Grimmauld Place, accompanied by his godfather's best friend Remus Lupin, as they awaited the long overdue trial of Sirius Black. However, a week after arriving back at Number 12, Sirius had turned up, unannounced, his name cleared without a trial. In a small story that was buried in the bottom corner of the back page of The Daily Prophet it was announced that the Ministry had held a small, closed trial for Peter Pettigrew and had convicted him based entirely on his own interrogation under Veritaserum as well as the testimony of Sirius. Consequently, Sirius's name was cleared; an announcement that was made, without apology, in the same article in the Prophet. Despite the announcement, little was done in the way of reparations for Sirius's imprisonment, and no apology, formal or informal, was issued. This fact, coupled with the lack of trial in the first place, had led Sirius to retain legal counsel as he prepped a legal suit against the Ministry of Magic.
However, free from the stigma that had relentlessly dogged his name for over a decade, Sirius returned to Grimmauld Place with a new lease on life. Immediately he had set to work renovating his family's house; tearing out the old, tired, and dark décor and replacing it with a vibrant, more modern look that was, for the first time, welcoming to guests. Gone were the age-old house-elf heads that had lined the staircase, replaced with charmed sconces that brightened the space considerably. The Black family tree, which had previously taken up an entire wall, was gone, replaced with a fresh coat of warm, off-white paint. In total, Sirius had become a new man, shaken both by his experiences in Las Vegas, as well as his newfound freedom; and his cheerful exuberance had begun to seep into every facet of his life, starting with his home.
Despite the fact that the renovations of Number 12 were still incomplete and debris littered the floor, Sirius had thrown a party for the entire Order of the Phoenix with the exception of Severus Snape, who had declined his invitation. The Grangers had even been invited as well. Following their holiday to America, Sirius had grown much closer to the Grangers, especially the adults, and this culminated in him extending an invitation for them to visit his home once again.
It was during this visit, on August 24th, that Hermione had invited her new boyfriend to spend the last few days of the summer holiday at her home in Swindon. Although both Richard and Ellen had approved of the idea, Harry was somewhat reticent as he was afraid that he would be leaving Sirius alone, hurting the Marauder's feelings. However, just as when Harry had first asked to accompany the Grangers to Florida earlier in the summer, Sirius was insistent that Harry take advantage of the opportunity. And so, two days later, Harry found himself in the Grangers' spacious two-story stone home, waiting out the rest of summer.
Turning over once more in his bed, Harry grumbled incoherently as he finally opened his eyes. The early morning sunlight streamed through the window to his right, temporarily blinding Harry as he struggled to wake up fully. Stretching languidly as he closed his eyes once more, Harry waited for the inevitable pop of his sternum to signify that he was, indeed, ready to face the day. Ever since he had arrived four days before, he had had trouble growing accustomed to the unfamiliar bed and as a result had spent most nights tossing and turning, which was interspersed short naps throughout the night.
This particular morning, the most recent of those short naps had been interrupted by the departure of Richard and Ellen. Even though they had made a conscious effort to remain quiet, Harry's still-unfamiliar surroundings made him hypersensitive to any disturbances.
Throwing his legs over the side of the bed Harry stood and padded his way across the carpeted floor toward the door. Opening the door, he glanced across the hall and down to his left to find that Hermione's door was still closed. Taking this as a clue to stay quiet, Harry crept down the stairs to his immediate right and down the hall at their base before entering the kitchen.
The Grangers' kitchen, like the rest of the house, was modestly spacious with an adjoining dining room which overlooked the adjacent seating room. The three areas formed a sort of great room with a two meter long bar separating the kitchen from the dining area. The soft eggshell white of the walls helped to ease Harry into the brightness of the morning, eliminating any jarring contrast between the sunlight and dark walls.
Quietly opening the refrigerator, Harry pulled out eggs and bacon, intent on making a simple breakfast. Cracking three eggs into a cast-iron skillet he had found in the cupboard, Harry pulled out another pan and began to fry up the bacon. As he set about cooking breakfast, his mind wandered back to his budding relationship with the only other person in the house, Hermione.
Following their date in Las Vegas, Hermione's parents had changed the rooming arrangements, having her spend the final night in Vegas sharing a room with them as opposed to Harry. Harry had agreed with this move and had told Hermione as much, feeling that her parents were simply looking out for her. The next day however, the two had spent the entire flight sitting next to each other in the same way that they had on the flight from Britain. This timehowever, the journey had been much more intimate, as the armrest between the seats was discarded in favor of sitting closer. While they were not so blatant as to engage in outright snogging, Harry and Hermione were content to simply revel in each other's presence, enjoying their newfound relationship.
When they had arrived home however that intimacy vanished in a second, as within hours Hermione was spirited away by her parents with only a goodbye kiss and a promise to write. For the next three weeks Harry and Hermione exchanged letters on a daily basis, giving Hedwig a chanceto finally stretch her wings after sitting dormant while her owner was out of the country. This back and forth had allowed the teens to keep in touch, though the change was a bit jarring after spending so much time in each other's company over the previous weeks. It was then no surprise that Hermione had literally leapt into Harry's arms when she first arrived at Grimmauld Place for Sirius's party and had invited him to spend the remainder of summer at her house.
The first four days of Harry's stay with the Grangers had been spent in relative quiet as Harry had arrived on a Friday while the adult Grangers were at their practice. As Harry and Hermione were alone for much of that day she had shown him around the neighborhood, even taking him to the nearby school that she had attended prior to Hogwarts. The weekend had been spent mainly in Swindon with the Grangers and Harry making the occasional visit to the grocer or local parks in an attempt to get out of the house for a short time. When Monday arrived Richard had seemed somewhat reluctant to leave Harry and Hermione alone in the house, but Ellen had convinced him that nothing untoward would happen in their absence.
"What are you thinking about?" a voice asked suddenly, shaking Harry out of his thoughts. He spun around to see Hermione standing in the kitchen door, clad in a tight white tee and pink and white polka dot pajama shorts.
"Morning," he croaked, his mouth suddenly dry.
Hermione giggled as she walked over to him and pecked him on the cheek. "Good morning," she replied.
"What're you doing up so early?" he asked as he turned his attention back to the food.
"This is early?" she asked. "How long have you been up?"
"I asked you first!" he protested, turning to shoot her a grin.
She shrugged. "Well, I thought that since you were up I might as well get up too."
"I didn't wake you up, did I?" Harry asked in concern.
"No, of course not!" she replied emphatically. "Well, unless you're talking about the smell of bacon and eggs… then the answer is yes."
"Well I wasn't, but do you want some?"
"Sure! But I can make it myself," she added, stepping alongside Harry.
"No! I can do it!" he laughed, nudging her aside playfully as he continued to scramble the eggs.
"But it's my breakfast too!" she argued, laughing all the while.
"But I wanna do it! I wanna make you breakfast!" Harry maintained, stretching his arm out to block Hermione's access to the stove.
"Oh, stop being a baby!" Hermione barked lightly. She threw her entire weight against Harry, shoving him to the side and into the counter behind him. Hermione took up his position in front of the range, spreading her feet on the floor to block Harry's access.
"You think that's gonna stop me?" Harry taunted, stepping behind Hermione and wrapping his arms around her to grab the spatula from her hand.
Hermione giggled as Harry pressed himself against her back. "Harry! Stop it!" she commanded with a chuckle. "You can't make breakfast for me every day! I want to carry my weight at least once while you're here!"
"Then what am I supposed to do?" he pouted, releasing his hold on her arm.
"You could turn on the telly," she suggested helpfully. "Let's see what kind of bad news there is today."
"Don't be so positive about it," Harry suggested as he walked into the sitting room.
The sitting room was taken up by a sofa and smaller loveseat that were arranged perpendicular to each other to frame the room and separate it from the adjacent dining space. Both pieces of furniture faced a large, flat screen television which rested on a stand in the opposite corner. Between the sofa and loveseat and the television was a large ottoman upon which the television remote usually rested.
"Where's the remote?" Harry called as he searched next to the television and on the arms of the sofa and loveseat. He had not found it in its usual home on the ottoman.
"It's not on the ottoman?" Hermione replied, not turning away from her task in the kitchen.
"Nope."
"Ugh, don't tell me it fell between the cushions again!" she groaned.
"Just a second," Harry said as he turned his attention to the cushions. He stuck his hand between each one before finally finding it between the two cushions of the brown loveseat. "Found it!"
"I don't know what it is about those things that makes them disappear," Hermione grumbled.
"Just nature I guess," Harry responded with a shrug as he pressed the power button. As the screen flashed to the morning news program, Hermione pulled the skillet from the burner and turned to face the television.
"Ugh," she grunted as she watched the images flash on the screen, "not that again."
"Hm? What do you mean?" Harry asked, paying more attention to her than to the television.
"The riots," she replied, nodding at the screen. "The stupid pricks-"
"Hermione!"
"What? That's what they are! The stupid pricks ran around breaking things just because they weren't given free money! Man wasn't meant to live on the dole, so what do these people think they are doing?"
"I hardly think that's the whole story," Harry responded. "I'm sure there's more to it than that."
"Oh, there is. I've just been paying a bit of attention to the riots over the past few weeks and I can't help but think that most of the people are just big babies."
Harry shrugged. He had not heard anything about the issue, so he could not form an opinion. As a result, he simply deferred to Hermione's judgment on the situation.
"So then what do you want to do today?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"That's up to you," she replied as she carried a pair of plates to the dining room table. "But the food's ready," she added.
"No, it's up to you," he countered as he took on the other side of the rectangular table, opposite Hermione. "It's your house; you know the area better than I do, so whatever you want to do is fine with me."
"Oh, honestly, Harry! You're the guest here; you can choose what to do sometimes!"
"Well, we've got all day to ourselves," he reasoned. "So what's to say that we can't both choose what to do?"
"Fine then," Hermione nodded in agreement. "What's your plan for your part of the day?" she asked, automatically organizing the day into two sections.
Harry shook his head. "I'm not saying that we should split up the day, just pick and choose things that we think might be fun for both of us. I think we could go for a walk or something this morning before it gets too hot, then we can do whatever you want afterwards. If you want, I'll even spend time doing homework with you!"
"No you will not!" she declared. "This is summer, and we're supposed to have fun, not spend it cooped up with our noses in books!"
"What? Are you the same Hermione I've known all these years?" Harry asked playfully.
Hermione kicked him under the table in response. "Oh, come off it!" she laughed. "I'm serious! Besides, I already finished my homework..."
"And I was being serious too! Of course, it doesn't really surprise me that you're already done, but I have no problem doing homework-"
"Oh, how I long to hear that back at Hogwarts," she muttered. "You have no idea how refreshing it is to hear somebody say that!"
"Are you sure you aren't talking about Ron? I've always been willing to study when needed." He was stopped in his tracks by the skeptical look on Hermione's face. "Sometimes…" he added quietly, averting his gaze.
"Right…" Hermione trailed off. "I'll admit that you're not as bad as Ronald, but trust me, you've never been that willing to sit down for an evening and spend time revising."
"But I am now," he supplied cheerfully. "So long as I get to do it with you!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it," she said. "Fluffy little comments like that are not going to earn you any points in my-"
"They're not?"
"No! Because if you're just saying it to butter me up, then it doesn't really mean the same thing! Now, I like hearing those things as much as the next girl but they have to mean something."
"I did mean it," he murmured to the table before looking up at Hermione once again. "Things have changed between the two of us since the last time we were in school. I honestly meant that I'd like studying more now because I'd get to spend it with you. That doesn't mean I want to actually do the studying though… just that I want to spend the time with you."
"You really should have asked me out a long time ago then," she reasoned. "Your marks might've improved if you did."
"Yeah, but hindsight's twenty twenty," he retorted playfully. "Even though I probably would have had more fun at the Yule Ball if I had asked you instead of Parvarti. But then again I think that was when I started to think about you differently. That dress… Merlin!"
Hermione blushed prettily but rolled her eyes in dismissal. "So a walk then?" she asked, changing the subject.
Harry chuckled at her transparent attempt at changing the subject. "You really did look great that night," he reinforced. "But yeah, we can do a walk. Then we can do whatever you want."
Suddenly Hermione snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot!"
"What?"
"I was going to show you The Wizard of Oz! Remember? When we were at the MGM, I told you I had to show it to you! We could do that today!"
Harry shrugged. "Sure, why not? Gives us something to do at the very least."
"Trust me," she added, "you'll like it. It's a classic! Nobody can hate a classic!"
"Is that a law you read somewhere or something?" he joked. "The way you say it sounds pretty firm to me!"
"It might as well be!" she argued as she rose from her seat and took both of their empty plates back into the kitchen.
"Hey! I can do that!" Harry cried as he shoved his chair back from the table and rushed to her side. But he was too late, as she placed them in the sink just as he reached her. "Cheater," he breathed as she turned to face him, a broad smile on her face.
"You're the guest," she reminded him with a shrug. "You shouldn't be doing anything while you're here!"
"Nothing at all? Then what am I here for?" he retorted with a grin. Hermione rolled her eyes as she pushed past him. Harry turned and ran after her as she made a move toward the stairs. "You didn't answer my question!" he pressed.
"Oh, shut up and go get ready!" she laughed as she spanked him lightly to get him moving.
The light push forced Harry forward toward the stairs. "Hey! Watch the hands, 'cause if you break it, you buy it!"
"I'm your girlfriend, remember? I already own it."
Harry let out a loud laugh as he grabbed the banister and whipped himself around the railing and onto the stairs. "True," he admitted loudly as he began to climb the stairs to shower for the day.
August 30, 2011
10:18 AM
Harry wrapped his right arm around Hermione's waist as the two stepped out of the Granger's front door. Hermione spun to lock the door even as Harry maintained his grip, then stuck the key in the front pocket of her jean shorts as the two departed.
"So where to?" Harry asked.
"Do we have to go somewhere in particular?" Hermione asked in response.
Harry shrugged. "Well, no. I just didn't know if you wanted to go somewhere in particular. We can just walk around if you want."
"Yes, that's kinda what I was thinking." She paused and inhaled deeply as they walked. "You know, I like this," she added.
"Hmm?"
"This. Us. Together," she explained slowly as though he was daft.
Instantly, Harry was transported back to Las Vegas, when Hermione had uttered those exact same words just before their incident in the book store. "You know, I distinctly remember you saying that same thing a few weeks ago," he told her. "But I completely botched the response last time-"
"Yep," she chirped.
"So let's try this again; I like this too," he replied, pulling her tighter against his side. "I shouldn't have waited so long… especially since the signs were right in front of me during our entire holiday. I guess I was just a bit thick."
"Well, if I'm honest, I wasn't completely transparent about things either before the holiday," Hermione admitted. "But that's neither here nor there. Let's just forget about all that and go from there, alright?"
"Right," Harry nodded.
"The question is how do we break it to Ronald?"
"What do you mean? What's wrong with just telling him?"
"'What's wrong with just telling him?' Harry, he's been our friend for five years! How would you feel if he and I suddenly took up together and left you behind?"
"A bit jealous, actually," Harry replied. "Since you were supposed to be my girlfriend and not his."
"That's not what I meant!" she exclaimed as she kicked his nearby shin gently. "I meant if we were never together and suddenly he and I got together, how would you feel?"
"Do I have to imagine something like that?" he whined jokingly. "Alright, I guess I'd feel kinda left out. But that still doesn't make any sense! What does he expect? A ménage-a-trois? There's only room for two in a relationship, so it only makes sense that the third person is left out a bit."
"But that's it exactly! And nice use of the term 'ménage-a-trois' by the way. Anyway, we can't leave him out; if anything, we have to work to include him a bit more in everything from now on."
Harry shrugged in acceptance. "Right, I can go with that," he said. "So long as he doesn't get jealous at me."
"Why would he get jealous at you?"
"Because I would if he was in my position right now," Harry replied flirtatiously.
The pair walked in companionable silence, passing house after house, each flanked by well manicured lawns and hedges. They had turned off of Hermione's street and were now walking on the sidewalk along a much larger thoroughfare that acted as the major arterial for the neighborhood. Traffic along this road was much greater than on the side roads that Hermione lived on, limiting the two teens to walking only on the sidewalk.
However, the comfortable silence was soon broken by Hermione, "There is one thing that I do need need to warn you about," she said.
"Uh, oh." Harry groaned jokingly. "What's it this time?"
"Oh, nothing bad. Just… well… Daddy's been planning this barbeque for the end of summer ever since we got back from the States-"
"And going to America had nothing to do with that?"
"He'll deny it till the day he dies," Hermione replied. "But it's going to be tomorrow and my entire family's going to be there. Actually, my mum and dad invited Sirius too."
"What? Why?"
"Now, you didn't hear this from me," she prefaced. "But the whole thing is kind of an end of summer party and something of a birthday for both of us since mine is in a few weeks and yours was a few weeks ago."
"But we went out to dinner for my birthday in Vegas!"
"Yes but it's just kind of a combined party. But you didn't hear this from me, remember? If my parents say something tonight about it, act surprised."
"Act surprised about what?" Harry asked slyly.
"Exactly. Now, I'm not sure what they have planned, except for I know that my grandparents on my mum's side and her sister are coming. And Sirius too. But besides that, I'm not sure what's going to happen."
"I'll keep that in mind," Harry chuckled. "But it can't be too bad. That's one of the benefits of living in a neighborhood like this; the neighbors will be able to see if there's any abuse going on!"
Hermione laughed as the pair reached the small park near her house. Immediately, Hermione spotted the swings in the distance, across a vast, empty, grassy expanse. "Come on!" she squealed, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him along as she ran toward the swings.
Harry took off after his girlfriend, laughing all the way as she dragged him to the swings in the distance. "Hey! Slow down!" he yelled as they ran.
"Slow down? What, you can't keep up?" she yelled back.
"Is that a challenge?" he laughed as he picked up the pace. With a burst of acceleration, Harry overtook Hermione and began to pull her along. With Harry's newfound speed, the pair reached the swings a moment later.
"Cheater!" Hermione cried, beating against Harry's chest as they stopped. "You're a boy!"
"Thanks for noticing!" he chuckled.
"But you have longer legs! That's hardly fair!"
"Then we'll just say we got here at the same time, alright?"
"Right."
"And what was that anyway? They're just swings! What's so exciting about some swings?"
"They're swings!" she replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yes, I saw that," Harry sniggered.
"They're fun!" she added excitedly.
"Where has this Hermione come from? I've never seen you like this!"
"Well then get used to it, because this is the real me," she explained. "With no school, nothing to worry about; this is who I am."
"Well, I like it."
"Good. But enough of the mushy stuff, there are swings to be played with!" She took off toward the swings, rushing to the closest one. The entire set was empty, as was the rest of the park, due to the early hour. But just as Hermione reached her swing, Harry grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, spinning her around and placing her on his lap as he took a seat on the swing. "What are you doing?" Hermione shrieked happily.
"Swinging," he said simply.
"With two of us on the same swing?"
"Why not? If a swing can hold Dudley's weight, I think it could hold both of ours… plus that of a killer whale, too."
To prove his point, he kicked off of the ground, wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist as she held the chains. She squealed as Harry launched them toward the sky, her knuckles white from gripping the chains.
"Isn't this fun?" Harry laughed as he leaned back to gain momentum once more. The swing rocketed forward, gaining speed and height as Harry used his weight to push them higher.
"I don't think these swings were meant for this!"
"Bollocks! If they weren't meant for this, there would've been a warning on them!"
"I think there was if you had just looked!"
"Then it was a stupid warning, since we're obviously doing just fine!" he argued.
"Maybe you are, but I'm scared out of my wits!" she cried.
Immediately, Harry slowed down, allowing the swing to come to an eventual stop. "That scared you?" he asked, his voice tinted with remorse.
"A bit," she replied honestly. "But nothing too bad. After all, spending a few days with you can desensitize anyone instantly."
"Gee, thanks," he said. "But sorry about that," he added. "I just thought it might be fun, but I guess it didn't turn out that way, did it?"
Hermione shook her head. "It was fun," she reassured him. "I just think we went a bit too high too fast. If we just sat like this," she gestured to their current position, with her resting comfortably in his lap, "and swung gently, then it would be perfect. Going that high… I don't think it works with two people on the same swing."
"Alright," Harry replied sheepishly. "Let's try this again, then, shall we?" He moved to push off once again, but was stopped by Hermione.
"Wait!" she called, jumping off of his lap.
"What?"
Instead of replying, Hermione hopped back onto his lap, now facing toward him, and threw her legs on either side of his waist. "Let's try it this way," she chirped gaily.
"By your command, my lady!" Harry responded happily as he grabbed the chains and pushed off.
This time, Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry's torso and buried her face in his shoulder as the swing slowly inched its way higher.
"If you're afraid we can stop," he offered, taking note of Hermione's position.
"Who said I was afraid?" she asked, lifting her head.
"Well… just the way you're sitting. You're sitting close-"
"Harry Potter, I hardly need an excuse to sit on your lap like this anymore!"
"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds terrible."
"I don't want to remind you, Harry," Hermione began, "but I can sit like this with you now. And I can do things I never used to be able to do."
"Like-" he began but was silenced by Hermione's lips on his.
August 30, 2011
12:23 PM
"Do you have a tomato around here anywhere?" Harry called, his head and shoulders hiding inside the Grangers' pantry.
"Did you check in the produce basket on the table?" she yelled back, on her hands and knees in the adjacent sitting room, changing videos below the television.
"Yeah," he lied, as he closed the pantry and walked over to the dining room table. Sure enough, resting in the large, black, decorative basket, was a trio of ripe tomatoes, resting on a bed of other assorted produce. "Found one," he called, grabbing one.
"Where did you find it?"
"Ummm… I can't remember," he replied unconvincingly.
"It was in the basket, wasn't it?"
"You'll never get me to admit it!"
"You just did!" she retorted as she rose from the floor. "Did you find the lettuce?"
"In the refrigerator! That was the first thing I found, 'cause I remember seeing it this morning when I put away the extra bacon. Besides, you can't have BLTs without lettuce!"
"Well, you can," she argued, "but they'd be BTs, not BLTs."
"Why do you have to be so smart?" Harry asked as he finished washing the tomato and set about slicing it.
A few moments later, and armed with two plates with complete sandwiches, Harry sat down on the sofa next to Hermione as she grabbed the remote control and began the movie.
"What's this?" he asked, nodding at the screen as he handed a plate to Hermione.
"Wizard of Oz!" she said. "I told you that this morning!"
"Just wanted to make sure," he replied, lifting his sandwich. But just as it reached his mouth, he stopped. "Don't tell me this isn't in color," he whined.
"What do you mean?"
"It looks like a ruddy hundred-year-old muggle photo!"
Hermione shrugged. "Actually," she began. "It's almost a hundred years old. But trust me, you'll like it. And not everything is what it seems; And bear in mind that not everything comes in a pretty package."
"Oh, so just you then?" he flirted as he once again lifted his sandwich and turned his attention back to the screen.
Just shy of two hours later, the movie ended, however neither Harry nor Hermione had noticed. As the credits rolled, the two teens found themselves stretched out on the sofa, fast asleep, with Hermione lying on top of Harry, her head tucked under his chin. Harry's arm was wrapped snugly around Hermione's waist as her head rose and fall with his steady breathing, both of them exhausted after their physical activity that morning.
As the two slept, the door from the adjoining garage opened and Richard and Ellen stepped through. However, as he crossed the threshold, Richard stopped short.
"I'm never leaving again," he announced upon seeing Harry and Hermione.
"What are you on about now?" Ellen asked, rolling her eyes.
"This!" he declared quietly, gesturing toward the sleeping teens. "If this is what they get up to while we're away, then I'm never leaving again! Who knows what would have happened if we didn't have so few appointments today?"
"Do you honestly think they'd be rolling around in bed upstairs right now having the shag of their life if we hadn't come home early?"
Richard shrugged. "Well it was just a thought. Besides, could you really put it past them?"
"Well, it was a stupid thought at that. Honestly, Richard, you worry too much. You know Harry's far too noble for that sort of thing, especially considering how little time they've been together. Look at the telly; obviously, they were watching a film and fell asleep. How many times has that happened to us… did that happen to us?"
"So?" Richard grumbled childishly. "I'm a father of a teenage girl! It's my job to read more into things than I should!"
"And you're doing a brilliant job of it. Just let it go and trust them, alright? From what I've seen, you've got nothing to worry about, so actually, there's not even a reason to have to put your trust in them."
"Should I wake them up?" he asked, ignoring her remarks.
"What for? Just so that you can get them away from each other? Let them sleep; they can get up later."
"Too late," a voice came from the sofa. "I'm already awake," Hermione said sleepily, not moving an inch.
"Morning dear," Ellen joked from the kitchen as she stored her purse away for the night.
"Morning mum," Harry replied.
"She was talking to me, you dolt!" Hermione chastised him playfully as she climbed off of his chest.
"Well excuse me for greeting my hosts!"
"You don't have to get up on our account," Ellen told him, noticing that Harry, too, had risen from the sofa.
"But there's no point in lying around if I'm already awake," he reasoned. "Besides, it's getting a bit late for a nap, so I might as well get up. Maybe see what's for supper."
"Well, we just got home, so I haven't had a chance to figure that out," she responded.
"No! That's not what I meant!" Harry said violently.
"Of course I know that, Harry! Lighten up! We'll figure it out, don't worry!"
Harry shook his head. "That's still not what I meant. I meant that I would figure out what's for supper. Might as well, really, since you lot are hosting me. I might as well pay you back somehow."
"What did you have in mind?" Hermione asked.
"Pizza, naturally," Harry replied easily. "Nothing simpler than that, really."
"Where'd you want to order it from?" Richard asked as he took a seat on one of the stools behind against the bar. He swiveled to face Harry and the others as he leaned back in the chair.
"Here."
"Here? You mean make pizza here? Won't that take too long?" Richard inquired. "I was hoping to eat today, if I'm honest."
"Ha, ha, Richard," Ellen groaned as she rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard to make pizza from scratch, so long as we start it early-"
"You mean so long as I start it early," Harry corrected. "You lot aren't gonna make anything, I'm gonna do it all."
"You have to be kidding me!" Hermione cried. "There's no way I'm going to let you do all of the work. At the very least I'll help. It would give me something to do!"
Harry shrugged at her insistence. "Fine by me," he said. "But we might as well get going, since I've gotta get all of the ingredients I want."
Ellen nodded. "I'll get the keys," she said. "And I'll drop you two off at the grocer if you want… or I can come in and help you-"
"I think I… erm, we can handle it," Harry replied.
"Suit yourself," she responded with a shrug. "But go get in the car and I'll be out there in a moment, alright?"
Harry and Hermione nodded before grabbing their shoes. As he stood from tying his shoes, Harry made a half-hearted attempt at flatting his untamable hair, which had only managed to become wilder as a result of his and Hermione's nap. The pair then made their way to the adjoining garage, leaving Richard and Ellen alone in the kitchen.
"So, are you gonna tell him about the party tomorrow?" Richard asked as Ellen retrieved the car keys after only recently depositing them on the counter.
"Not quite yet," she replied. "But we should tell him tonight at least… maybe around supper. I still think he should have been the one to invite Sirius. Granted, we already told Hermione we had invited him, but I think it would have meant a bit more if Harry did it himself, especially since Harry's the one who's staying over here away from his godfather in the first place. That, and I think it would have been a bit easier if it was Harry telling him that he needed to get cleaned up. You know how awkward that was! And Sirius didn't even take it badly!"
"You're still going through with that?"
"Why not?" Ellen asked. "It'll be good for him… and Christine. But we'll talk about it later. I don't want the kids getting suspicious or anything that I'm taking too long in here." She pecked her husband on the lips before rushing out the door to the waiting teens.
August 30, 2011
10:12 PM
"Well, I think I'm gonna call it a night," Richard announced, rising from his seat on the sofa next to his wife.
"Already?" Hermione balked.
"What? I was up before the sun, young lady," he retorted playfully.
"And you have to realize that when you get to be his age, you get tired easily," Ellen interjected.
"Hey!" Richard cried as Harry and Hermione chuckled. "I'll have you know that I'm just as energetic as I was twenty years ago! It's just been a long day, that's all!"
"Excuses, excuses," Ellen laughed as she too rose from the sofa. "Oh! And before I forget," she added suddenly, "we're gonna have some people over to visit tomorrow Harry."
"Okay..." he trailed off, already knowing what she was going to say.
"Oh, don't make it sound so bad!" Ellen chided. "It's just my parents and my sister. Richard's parents are spending their summer down on the French Riviera so they won't be able to come this year. But we invited Sirius to come too. It's kind of an end of summer party combined with both yours and Hermione's birthday. We figured that it would help if there was actually someone there you knew, especially since both of my parents want to meet you."
"Meet me?" Harry gulped. Meeting and getting to know Richard had been intimidating enough, but now Harry was faced with the prospect of meeting more adults.
"They're not so bad," Hermione comforted.
"Right," Ellen agreed. "They're just interested because this is the first time Hermione's brought anyone home, let alone a boy."
"That's actually not that comforting," he grumbled. "That'll make me the center of attention."
"Hopefully not entirely," Richard replied. "Ellen here has some crazy idea to help with that."
"Like?"
"That's a surprise," Ellen said cryptically. "But not to worry; it's nothing bad."
"You know, that's not all that comforting."
"Oh, stop being so dramatic!" Hermione ordered with a roll of her eyes.
"You know that Drama is my middle name."
"I thought you said it was Perfection?" she reminded him, bringing his mind back to their trip to Las Vegas.
"Didn't I ever tell you I had two middle names?"
"Yeah, and I thought the other one was James," she pointed out logically.
"Details, details," Harry responded dismissively.
"Hey! You're the one who said it! I'm just pointing out that it's wrong!"
"Oh, so you're admitting that my middle name is Perfection?"
"Ugh, you're hopeless!" Hermione cried, throwing her hands into the air.
Richard and Ellen chuckled at the two teens as they moved toward the stairs. "Goodnight you two," Ellen said. "Don't stay up too late; we've got plans tomorrow."
"We know mum," Hermione said. "We'll be going to bed soon."
"In separate beds," Richard reminded. Hermione rolled her eyes once more as her parents took to the stairs leaving her and Harry alone in the sitting room.
August 31, 2011
8:08 AM
Harry was jolted awake by the sudden, rough landing of a weight on his midsection. Cracking open an eye, he saw Hermione's face inches away from his own, a broad smile plastered on her face as she sat on his waist.
"Morning sleepyhead," she said brightly.
"Ugh, it's too early for you to be this awake," Harry grumbled as he attempted to turn over and bury his head in his pillow. But with Hermione pinning him down, that was impossible.
"No, it's too late for you to be this tired," she chirped back. "Now get up!" she ordered as she reached to pull his pillow away from him, squirming on his lap as she did so.
Harry froze. "You might want to stop that."
Hermione looked at him curiously. "Why?" she asked, then stopped suddenly squirming. "Oh," she squeaked, instantly flustered.
Harry felt a flush creep up the back of his neck. "Or," he said with a grin, trying to hide his embarassment, "you could keep squirming?"
"Harry Potter!" Hermione cried. "We've only been together for a few weeks and here you are trying to get me to jump in bed with you!" At my parents', no less!"
"Aren't you already in bed with me?"
"That's wholly beside the point!"
"No it's not. You're the one who started it! And aren't you the one who was squirming around on my lap? You know a bloke could get ideas from that."
"Harry Potter, you randy little cretin!" Hermione laughed boistrously.
However, Hermione's laughter dropped off as the door creaked open to Ellen's shocked face.
"I'll come back later, then." She stammered before closing the door and rushing down the hall noisily.
"Look what you just did!" Hermione shrieked as Ellen left. "Now she's gonna think we were... shagging like rabbits or something!"
Harry quirked an eyebrow "What I did? You're the one in my bed. And no, this time it's not beside the point!"
"Boys," she muttered, "everything has to come down to sex." She watched as Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "But now my parents must think that we're in here joined at the hips."
Harry snorted at her comment. "Don't you mean joined by the hips?" he joked, but the grin quickly dropped from his face as he saw Hermione's glare. "Sorry."
"I just don't want my parents to think I've jumped into bed with somebody the first chance I got," she explained. "Remember how I said I wanted my first kiss to be on my first proper date?" Harry nodded. "Well this is no different. I fully intend to wait a while for my first time."
"Hey," Harry began as he reached up and pulled Hermione closer and into his chest, "I was just joking with you. I understand what you mean completely. And don't think I was trying to pressure you into anything."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she melted into his chest. "Thanks Harry," she whispered.
Harry held her close for a few moments, reveling in the sensation of clutching her to his chest. But as he did so, he kept trying to push a nagging question back into the recesses of his mind. However, no matter how hard he tried, he just could not do it. "So how long is a while?" he asked with a grin.
Hermione sat up quickly. "Prat!" she laughed as she slapped him on the side of his arm.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"Now you are going to go down there and explain to my parents that it wasn't what they look like," she ordered smugly.
"Why me? You're the one who was screaming and carrying on the whole time! Why does it have to be me?"
"Because you're the one with smut on the brain, that's why."
"That doesn't even make any sense."
"It doesn't have to make sense to you. As long as it makes sense to me, that's good enough," she explained logically as she climbed off of the bed.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry padded down the stairs to find Richard and Ellen in the kitchen trading hushed whispers. However, those whispers immediately ceased as soon as Harry stepped into the room as both adults turned their attention, and slitted eyes, toward him.
"Good morning Harry," Ellen greeted curtly.
"Erm... good morning," Harry replied, reaching around to scratch the back of his head in nervousness. "Um..."
"Yes?" Ellen asked expectantly.
"Hermione wanted me to let you know-"
"Hermione wanted you to let us know?" Richard interrupted. "Oh, this is gonna be good. She sent you like a lamb to the slaughter then, did she?" Harry nodded. Richard leaned back in his chair at the table as a smile crept onto his face. "By all means then, continue. I can't wait to see what she's come up with."
"It wasn't what it looked like," Harry continued, his eyes fixed on Ellen. "We were just messing around."
"It certainly sounded like you were messing around," Richard muttered good-naturedly. "And how much am I supposed to read into that Harry? That Hermione is just someone you mess around with for fun? That your relationship is nothing serious?" he asked with a grin.
"No! I didn't mean..."
"Oh, so you weren't just messing around with Hermione upstairs then? I thought that's what you said you were doing though."
"No! I mean yes! I mean-"
"Relax, Harry," Ellen cut him off. "Richard's just being a right berk. If you say that nothing was going on up there, then that's good enough for us. Isn't it Richard?"
"Sure. Whatever you say dear," her husband replied.
"That's right-"
"Spoilsport," Richard added under his breath, still grinning.
"How did it go?" Hermione asked, walking into the kitchen. Three sets of eyes turned to her and the bright smile on her face.
"'How did it go?'" Harry repeated. "Next time I'll send you to do the dirty work. I'd rather face a hundred Basilisks... or some other unbeatable magical creature-"
"You mean like a chimera?" she supplied helpfully.
"Sure... I guess."
"A what?" Richard asked.
"A chimera. It actually goes back to an ancient mythical beast," she replied, launching into a lecture, "that is said to have a lion's head, a goat's body, the wings of a giant bird, and the head of a snake on its tail."
"Sounds lovely," Ellen remarked sarcastically. "Richard, can we get one? I've always wanted an exotic pet."
Hermione ignored her mother's sarcasm and pressed on. "At any rate, a chimera is said to be impossible to defeat... except in one instance. But the wizard who defeated it was killed when he fell to his death afterwards."
"And you keep these at your school?" Richard balked.
"No! But we learn about them in class. Although I'm sure Hagrid would jump at the chance to bring one to class if he could."
"He did try to raise a baby dragon," Harry muttered. "I wouldn't put it past him."
"What was that?" Richard asked.
"Nothing!" Harry answered quickly.
"Didn't sound like nothing."
"Anyway..." Harry said loudly, trying to change the subject. "What time is everybody coming over?"
"Around eleven," Ellen replied. "Lets us have a bit of time to talk and enjoy ourselves before eating."
"And you've already talked to Sirius about it?"
"Trust me Harry," Ellen began with a sly smile, "inviting him was one of the first things on my mind."
"I don't like the sound of that," Harry groaned.
"It's not that bad, honest!"
"Like I said last night, she has some crazy plan worked in her head," Richard explained.
"Which is?" Harry asked.
"For us to know and you to find out later," Ellen responded smugly. "Just take it as a surprise and move on."
"I don't like surprises. They always bring danger and possible death for me," Harry complained. "The Triwizard Tournament was a 'surprise.' Fighting a basilisk was a 'surprise.' Dementors chasing Dudley and me was a 'surprise.' So forgive me if I don't like surprises."
"Oh stop being so dramatic, Harry. It just sounds like you're grasping at straws for something to complain about!" Hermione chastised.
"What? It's true!"
"But this is a good surprise, trust me!" Ellen maintained. "And it's not really targeted at you, so you don't have anything to worry about."
11:11 AM
Sirius Black stumbled out of the fireplace into the Granger's sitting room and brushed the soot off of his shirt and trousers. Per Ellen's suggestion, he had dressed casually yet nicely, choosing a lightly pinstriped shirt set against a simple pair of jeans and had cut his hair much shorter. However, as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace, Harry was already needling him about his attire.
"Stripes Sirius?" he asked. "I thought you would have been tired of stripes after all those years in Azkaban."
"Har har, Harry," Sirius bit back. "All this time with the Grangers has made your wit slip. You didn't take advantage of that joke nearly as well as you could have."
"And how could I have done it better?"
"A Marauder never gives out his secrets Harry."
"In other words, I did a bloody good job but you just can't admit it, right?"
"Oh, Sirius must be here," Hermione called as she walked into the room. "I heard childish bickering, so that could only mean one thing."
"Mental, that one," Sirius muttered.
"What was that?" Hermione asked sweetly.
"I said your mental skills never cease to amaze me Hermione," he replied innocently.
"That's what I thought you said."
Harry and Sirius exchanged a knowing look as Hermione plowed on.
"Come on, everybody's in the back," she said.
"Everybody?" Sirius whispered to Harry as Hermione led the way through the kitchen toward the back door.
"Sirius," Harry began, "whatever you do, don't blame me for this."
"Uh oh. Harry I wasn't planning on blaming anything on you. But now that you said that, I can't help but blame you for whatever terrible thing is about to happen."
"Hey! I don't even know what they're planning. But the fact that Richard and Ellen are keeping it a surprise from me means it can't be anything good. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was in on anything they were planning."
"Harry, I know you couldn't plan a good prank on your own anyway, so why would I think you were in on one?" Sirius joked.
Harry rolled his eyes as the three stepped through the door and into the Granger's spacious back yard. At about twenty meters square, the Grangers had been blessed with a remarkably large yard for the area, and had taken advantage of that by putting in a full lawn and swing toward the back fence with a gravel path leading from the house to the swing. The rest of the fully fenced yard was taken up by well-manicured grass and small flower beds in each corner.
A concrete pad extended out from the Granger home about five meters and stretched the length of the house. This is where Richard and Ellen were currently seated on a pair of wicker chairs, talking amicably with an older couple that bore striking resemblance to Ellen.
As Harry and Sirius stepped out of the house, Ellen's attention was drawn away from her conversation.
"Sirius, thanks for coming," she greeted. "Harry, Sirius, these are my parents Darlene and Basil Nethridge. They only just got here while Harry was waiting for you inside. Mum, dad, this is Hermione's boyfriend Harry Potter and his godfather Sirius Black."
"Oh, so this is the Harry we've heard so much about from Hermione ever since she went away to school," Darlene exclaimed, rising from her seat to hug Harry. Harry stood just taller than her five foot, six inch frame as she squeezed him tightly, reminding him of Molly Weasley. Harry's chin was buried in her slightly bushy silver hair as she hugged him, watching as her husband rose from his seat behind her.
"I think he's had quite enough," he told his wife as he stepped over. Basil Nethridge reminded Harry a bit of Richard, at least with regards to his imposing presence. However, he was slightly shorter than Richard but his piercing brown eyes intimidated Harry as they seemed to bore right down to his very soul. "So Harry, eh?" Harry nodded nervously. "Oh relax kid, I'm not gonna eat you!" He glanced over his shoulder at Richard and shook his head. "What've you done to this kid Richard? I haven't even done anything to him and he's already afraid of me!" He grasped Harry's hand tightly and shook it. "He must've really done a number on you to make you that nervous."
"It wasn't that bad, sir," Harry replied.
"Harry? Don't call me sir. He doesn't have you doing that too, does he? I knew there was something wrong with him from the moment Ellen brought him home years ago-"
"Hey!" Richard and Ellen cried at the same time.
"Relax you two! I was just joking. But in all seriousness Harry, welcome to the family. Any friend of Hermione's is sure welcome."
Releasing Harry's hand, Basil turned his attention to Sirius. "And then there's you," he said.
"And then there's me," Sirius repeated.
"I see you've got that prankster glint in your eye. Either that or my little speech to Harry here brought a tear to your eye. I can't decide which it is."
"Now that's kinda creepy that you're staring into my eyes," Sirius joked.
"Eh, my wife's gotten used to it," Basil said with a laugh, with which Sirius joined in.
"I like this guy!" he told Harry, gesturing to Basil. "Is that why you invited me here?" he asked Ellen. "To rub elbows with your dad?"
"If only..." Richard muttered in response. "But no," he added louder. "We're still waiting for that 'surprise.'"
"Oh, mysterious. I'm not too sure I should stick around if Richard here's afraid of what's coming."
"Oh stop being such a baby," Ellen chided. "It's not so bad. In fact, I really think you'll like what we're planning."
"We?" Richard balked. "I don't recall a 'we' coming up in any conversation!"
"Then your memory's faulty because you were just as involved in this as I was!"
"Um," Sirius interrupted, "as interesting as this conversation is to follow, it doesn't really make much sense to those of us who have no idea what you're talking about."
"Trust me, you'll find out soon..." Ellen trailed off as her eyes focused behind Sirius. "Actually, you'll find out right about... now."
Sirius spun around to see a woman step through the back door of the house and into the yard. Slightly taller than Ellen, she sported chestnut locks that just reached her jumper-clad shoulders. As she approached Ellen, she was engulfed by a tight hug.
"Christine! How's it going?" Ellen asked, hugging the newcomer.
"Like usual," Christine replied. "Looks like a lively party you've got here," she added sarcastically as she parted from Ellen and turned to survey the others.
"Hey Aunt Christine," Hermione greeted, waving slightly.
"'Aunt Christine?'" Sirius asked, eyeing Christine carefully.
"I know," Christine replied. "It's kinda hard to mistake me for my much uglier older sister here. But we don't get to choose our relatives, do we? And who might you be?"
"Black, Sirius Black," Sirius answered in a suave tone. "My godson-"
"Harry," Harry interrupted.
"Harry here, is seeing Hermione," Sirius continued undeterred.
"Harry?" Christine asked, glancing at Hermione. "You mean Harry, Harry?" Hermione nodded. "Well it's about time then! With how much you talked about the boy every summer I would've thought you'd jump the boy years ago!"
"Christine!" Ellen cried.
"What? I'm just telling it like it is!" She turned her attention back to Sirius. "She's been obsessed with him for years," she told him.
"Oh don't I know it?" Sirius responded. "Harry was the same way; never could figure her out completely until I eventually shoved them together."
"You shoved us together?" Harry balked. "Now that's a bit of a lie if I've ever heard one."
"But it sure sounded good, didn't it?" Christine asked.
"Absolutely!" Sirius exclaimed. "Sounded mighty impressive if I do say so myself."
"Anyway," Ellen interrupted loudly. "Should we eat? Richard's been slaving over a hot barbecue for hours-"
"I'd hardly call it 'slaving' dear," he chimed in. "And if I recall, it hasn't really been hours either."
"Ignore him. Anyway everyone, the food's inside, but we can eat out here." As the guests moved to walk into the house, Ellen stopped them. "Wait!" she called. "Richard come here." Confused, her husband heeded her request. "And mum," Ellen added, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing her camera, "can you take a picture of us? We have entire too few pictures of us as a family with Hermione gone for most of the year."
"Oh of course dear," Darlene replied, taking the camera from her daughter. "Now everyone scoot together," she said, putting the camera to her eye and training it on Richard, Ellen, and Hermione.
"Harry," Ellen began, "you get over here too."
"Huh?" he asked. "Me?"
"Yes you. I don't remember having any other Harrys over here today."
"But I'm not in the family..."
"Rubbish. I know Hermione thinks you are, what with all she's talked about you over the years. So if it's good enough for her it's good enough for us. Now get your lazy bones over here!" she commanded with a chuckle.
Harry did as he was told and walked over to the trio, standing next to Hermione on the end. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled for the camera as Darlene fiddled with the controls.
"How do you work this bloody thing?" she cursed.
"It's simple mum," Ellen groaned, rolling her eyes. "All you have to do is push the button. You're making it more complicated than it needs to be."
An instant later, a flash erupted from the camera as the picture was taken. Harry moved to break away from the others but was stopped by Darlene. "One more," she said, forcing Harry back into his pose. After another flash, Darlene pulled the camera away from her eyes. "Looks good."
Ellen took the camera away from her mother and glanced at the screen appreciatively. "Thanks mum," she said. "Now go inside and get something to eat before Sirius and Christine eat it all!"
Darlene followed Richard into the house to get something to eat, while Harry hung back near Ellen. Hermione, by default, stayed by Harry's side as he watched Sirius and Christine in the house.
"Don't tell me you're trying to set them up," Harry whispered to Ellen, still watching.
"What makes you think I'd do anything like that?" Ellen asked slyly.
"Because you tried to pull the same thing with Hermione and me. And there's also the fact that you just asked me a question in response to my question. I'm old enough to know that people do that when they don't want to lie, but don't want to admit something either."
"Looks like I've taught him well," Hermione observed, earning an eye roll from Harry. "Now he's smart enough to see through your ploys."
"Is it so wrong that I think he needs someone in his life?" Ellen asked.
"No," Harry answered. "But your sister?"
"Why not? Honestly I wouldn't normally have considered it, but if you really get to know her, you'll realize that she's not much different from him."
"You mean a smug womanizer?"
"Not quite, unless there's something that Christine's been hiding from me all these years. I'm talking about her entire demeanor. It's not much different from his, meaning that she's pretty sarcastic and a bit of a prankster. Lord knows I had plenty of experiences with that growing up."
"And you think that'd be a good fit for Sirius? I can just imagine two people like that getting into prank wars with each other and bantering to no end!" Harry argued.
"Which is why I think it's perfect," Ellen retorted.
"She's right Harry," Hermione opined. "I'm not sure that, after spending all those years in Azkaban, that Sirius would know how to handle a regular relationship well. If it's someone who's kind of similar to him then... well, it might work."
"Yes but that's only half the equation. She'dl be the Gred to his Forge. Can you really risk them turning their talents against us?"Harry asked, receiving a confused look from Ellen.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Sirius was helping himself to one of the handful of steaks that Richard had spent the morning preparing and grilling. As he hefted one onto a plate, he turned to the person waiting next to him.
"So Christine, what is it that you do?" he asked in an attempt to strike up a conversation as he moved to allow her access to the food.
"Forensic examiner," she replied instantly, popping a small slice of tomato in her mouth as she piled toppings onto her burger.
Richard glanced up to see the confused look on Sirius's face, which Christine had not noticed. Realizing that Sirius had no idea what a forensic examiner was, Richard leapt to the rescue. "Yeah," he began, "she really likes digging around crime scenes, trying to find that one little piece of evidence that could solve the entire case."
Christine shrugged at his comment. "Pays the bills," she said offhandedly.
"So it just sounds fun?" Sirius asked, playing along with Richard's explanation.
"You know, ever since they started showing television shows about forensics, people have this grand idea that it's all fun and games and that cases are solved in an hour or less. But that's not the case. It's not bad, but it can get tiring after a while of hitting nothing but dead ends over and over again. But you know how that is, don't you?"
"Erm... yeah," Sirius replied pathetically. "Actually," he corrected himself, "I can't really say that."
"Why?" she asked as the pair walked out the door and into the yard once again before each took a seat in one of the four patio chairs. "What do you do?"
"I'm... um... actually between jobs right now."
"With the way the economy is right now, doesn't surprise me. What did you use to do?"
"I was... in the prison business," Sirius said, congratulating himself silently at his cleverness. "Spent about thirteen years there before I finally managed to escape."
"Sounds wretched."
"Oh believe me, it was. Some of the guards there can almost suck the soul right out of you."
"Yeah, I get the same feeling from some of the people I work with too."
"Oh, but in this place you really felt like you were living out your worst nightmare day after day after day."
"So it was your choice to leave them then? I thought with all the budget cuts they it would have been the other way around."
Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, I just got tired of it after a while and had to break free."
"Makes sense. So then what have you been spending all your free time on since then?"
"Eh, just working around the house. I had kinda let it go over the last few years, so it needs some work. But I did go on holiday with Richard, Ellen, Harry and Hermione earlier in the summer-"
"Yeah, they told me about that. Vegas, wasn't it?"
"Quite a bit of fun that was. But now I realize that taking a couple of teens to Las Vegas isn't the best idea. There just isn't anything there for them to do normally. Of course, I still think they had a magical time, but I don't want to speak for them. I do know however that we managed to actually come back with more money than we left. The whole holiday was a real steal."
"But at least it was something different for Harry and Hermione to see, wasn't it? They still got to do things they've never done before, right?"
"Oh, absolutely," Sirius chuckled to himself. "They were really able to do things they'd never imagined doing before. In fact," he added, "Harry took Hermione to an opera for their first date. I never thought he had it in him, but it just goes to show that I don't really know him half as well as I'd like."
2:39 PM
"Do we really have to go back tomorrow?" Harry whined as he and Hermione sat on the grass next to each other, watching the adults converse on the terrace. After everybody had eaten, gifts had been exchanged, with Hermione's parents giving her a framed copy of the photograph they had taken of her and Harry before their first date.
Hermione looked at her wrist, feigning a glance at the watch that she was not wearing. "Well, you're certainly starting your complaining early," she observed, chuckling.
"Hey, I can't help it if I don't want to go back. Umbridge is still there; I want to stay as far away from her as possible. But what I'm talking about is that this summer has been the best of my life so far. I just don't want it to end."
"Mmm..." she agreed, scooting into his side, "it has been rather nice hasn't it?"
Harry snorted. "I think it's been a bit better than 'rather nice.' We went on holiday, had a bit of fun screwing over Lucius Malfoy, and even..."
"Realized we were stupid for not realizing what was right in front of us?" she supplied helpfully.
"Well..." Harry began with a smile, "I was gonna put it a different way, but that works too."
As he finished speaking, Harry glanced over at Sirius and Christine, who were still seated next to each other, deep in conversation. The pair had not moved from the seats that they had taken hours before, and their empty plates still rested on their laps. Never good a lip reading, Harry was unable to make out what they were talking about. However, Sirius's exaggerated hand motions indicated that he was heavily involved in whatever he was talking about.
"She doesn't know about the magical world you know," Hermione pointed out.
"Huh?" Harry asked, jolted out of his observations.
"Aunt Christine. She doesn't know about the magical world. And neither do my grandparents. We kinda kept that a secret from the rest of the family since we weren't sure how they would take it. They just assume I go to some private school for the gifted-"
"You do. You're about as gifted as they come."
"And who was it who drove off a hundred Dementors with a single patronus?"
"Eh, that's not important," Harry replied, brushing his nails on his shirt. "I'm talking about you being smarter than the rest of our class put together."
"Oh, so you're only interested in my brain?"
"Bugger, you figured it out!" Harry joked, snapping his fingers in mock disappointment.
"That's my brain at work."
"Your big, sexy brain," he corrected. "But honestly, that's not the entire reason-"
"I know that! I was just joking with you!" Hermione laughed. But her laugh was cut short as she turned her attention back to Sirius and Christine. "Oh no," she groaned. "Don't tell me..."
"What?" Harry asked, as he followed her gaze. He watched as Sirius and Christine rose from their seats and moved toward the side gate. "You've gotta be kidding me..." He jumped to his feet and bolted after Sirius and Christine, catching up to them in an instant. "Where're you going?" he asked.
"Just... out," Sirius replied. "It's starting to get late, so we thought that we wouldn't force Richard and Ellen to feed us again-"
"Sirius," Harry interrupted, "it's not even three o'clock. It's not getting late. You've always been a terrible liar, at least as long as I've known you. So come on; where are you going?"
"Like I said cub, we're going out. Didn't think it would be right to burden Richard and Ellen by staying for supper-"
"Which is a couple of hours away yet," Harry pointed out with a grin.
"Well... we just..."
"Sirius?"
"Yes Harry?"
"Have fun." With that, he turned and left the pair alone, a smile plastered on his face. He returned to Hermione who had stayed on the grass, watching as Harry had confronted his godfather.
"So?" she asked as he sat back down next to her.
"They're going 'out.'" Harry told her, using finger quotes on the last word.
"Blast," Hermione cursed under her breath. "Mum managed to pull it off."
"What was that?"
"Oh, I was just cursing my mum for managing to put those two together."
"Hey! They're not together yet!" Harry cried. "They're just getting to know each other!"
Hermione laughed. "Do you really have that little faith in Sirius?" she asked. "You've seen how suave he tries to act. Knowing Aunt Christine, she's gonna be eating out of the palm of his hand by the end of the day."
"Well, at least I won't have to see that," Harry replied. "We'll be at Hogwarts by this time tomorrow. But I'd almost rather watch Sirius stumble around with her than go back and face The Umbitch."
Hermione wrapped her arm around him and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Hey, it's not that bad," she reassured him. "A lot of great stuff happened this summer, so I'm sure some of that will carry over into this school term too."
"I'm sorry if I don't share your optimism."
"What do I have to do to convince you? Trust me Harry; I think this year is going to be a nice, quiet year."
End of Prologue
A/N: I want to welcome all of you to Killing Time. This story is a direct sequel to Stealing Time, but reading that story is not required. While I do recommend it for several reasons, including that it provides better background for Killing Time than this prologue, it is not necessary to read it. This prologue serves as a bridge between Stealing Time and Killing Time, providing a back story that links the two together. In fact, it was originally developed as its own one-shot to be posted between the two stories. In that respect, it is not entirely linked to the rest of Killing Time, but does provide a good introduction to the characters and universe. What I can promise you is an interesting ride as we explore the consequences of the events of Stealing Time. I hope all of you will join us on that ride.
One thing that I do want to mention to those of you who have not read Stealing Time is that the dates in both stories are current dates. For several plot reasons (including some that were discarded during the writing process) all canon dates were moved forward 15 years. I will be able to lay out the full picture for why this is the case at the end of this story, when I discuss the entirety of the plot of this series. But for now, rest assured that I am aware that this point in canon takes place in 1996. These two stories however, do not.
Many of you who read this chapter are returning readers; readers who read Stealing Time and have come back for the sequel. But I also realize that many of you are also new to this story. For you, I do want to mention that there is a running theme with the titles of the chapters. In both Stealing Time and Killing Time, every chapter is named after a Queen song. Because this theme allows chapter names to be somewhat predictable, we played a game in the last story. At the end of every chapter, I will post a hint as to the title of the next chapter, with the intention that each reader will hazard a guess about the title in a review. Correct guesses will be recognized in the next chapter, and scores will be kept and posted at the end of the story. We did this with Stealing Time, and luvsanime02 was the winner, guessing 15 out of the 21 chapter titles correctly. So... how many can you guess?
I do want to congratulate the following members who correctly guessed the title of this prologue in their review at the end of Stealing Time: osc630, luvsanime02, Nodoka Miyazawa, Victoria LeRoux, and acam. Thank you all for your reviews and guesses. Remember, if you want to see your name here in the next chapter, all you have to do is review and leave your best guess!
Chapter Title Hint: This song, off of the Made in Heaven album, is simply a collection of singer Freddie Mercury's practice sessions on the piano. It is also one of only a handful of songs in the Queen catalog whose title appears as the title of two songs, and its title serves as a nice beginning to the story proper.
Once again, I must thank all of you for reading this story. At this point in the story, I do not have much to say with regards to the plot itself, other than that it will take a different tone from this prologue. But that is all in the future. For now, please leave us a review and let us know what you think of this first chapter. As of this point in time, Stealing Time has received approximately 176,000 hits, for which I have you to thank. It has also received 370 reviews, and my goal is to knock that out of the park with Killing Time. If you would like to receive updates regarding the future of this story, especially as we start to get moving, please add it to your Story Alerts or Favorite Story list. At any rate, barring any unforeseen circumstances, inVale and I are planning to post new material on Fridays. So my friend inVale hope you enjoyed the prologue to this story and hope you enjoy the rest of the story as it unfolds.