MAGI INTERNATIONALE Important Notes!
First off I should note that Hogwarts starts later than in canon. They're a couple years older than in canon. Also, I bumped up what year all these events happened in. 2014 for the Tournament instead of 1994. Finally Tonks is younger than in canon. Instead being the same age (roughly) as Harry and Hermione. She's very distantly related to Harry, but honestly it's so distant it's hardly worth mentioning.
DISCLAIMER: As ever, I own nothing. Or rather I do not own anything you recognize from JKR's Harry Potter series. Unique events are technically mine, however I make absolutely NO money from this.
August 24th, 2014
Granger Household,
Just Outside London
Thu-thump
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Thump…thump…
Hermione Granger, 16 years old, kept up a steady tempo of blows to the punching bag as she danced around it, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet.
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It would probably have shocked many people who thought they knew her, that Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire, was into kickboxing.
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In fact there were only a handful of people out there who did know she was into it and the reason why.
Thu-thump, thump…
Her parents knew, she'd first hit a punching bag as a child, simply imitating her father who had it set up in this same garage after he'd left the Military and started working as a dentist alongside her mother.
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She wanted so much to be like her dad, to be close to him. No matter the fact he wasn't her biological parent.
She smirked a little to herself in amusement as she hit the bag with a good solid kick. Thud! Of course, she'd sprained her wrist that first time, and bruised her thumb really well. It had all worked out though. Her father had taught her how to throw a proper punch, and she'd been more cautious in hitting the bag after that. At least until she'd gotten better at it.
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In the years that followed, she had learned a lot more about fighting. Partially in the interest of burning off steam, pain and the frustration which came from entering school. It seemed to be the fate of many intelligent children that they would struggle socially, but also so she could handle some of the more physically inclined bullies when they came at her. Or, god forbid, so she could fight off a would-be abductor should the need arise.
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As she grew older, she had figured out that it wasn't the similarity in actions that made her feel closer to her father. After all, she couldn't really match his level of experience yet, and true combat tended to mark people in ways that a child could never have understood. It was the time spent together.
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They'd considered taking her to a proper trainer, in the hopes of encouraging more socialization. Ultimately neither of them had wanted to give up that oh so important father- daughter bonding though.
The steady, almost metronomic sound of her strikes against the bag fell away as she worked, and reflected on her life.
Then of course had come her 13th birthday and the odd letter which had come to their window via owl post…
Magic!
A mixed blessing and curse. Which was appropriate all things considered.
She, Hermione Granger, had magic. It went a long way to explaining some of the…odd occurrences that had happened around her as a child. And to explaining the otherness that had sometimes set her apart from her peers even more than her intellect had.
And, God be praised there was a school, just for children like her, children with magic. Perhaps naively she'd believed all her problems were solved. After all, what problem couldn't be solved by magic?
Well, those rose coloured glasses had taken a bit of a hit, even before heading to the school itself just before her 14th birthday.
First, because she'd need to leave her parents for nine months out of every year, for the next seven years…And second because she'd soon learned that newcomers, muggleborn like her, were not always considered terribly welcome in the world of magic.
Though even those things could only dent, not smother her enthusiasm at that time.
She paused, steadying the bag as it swayed gently on its chain.
The first couple months had been hard…very hard. She'd made some friendly acquaintances of course. Harry Potter and Dora Tonks being the first. Though they hadn't been very close in those early days…
She'd missed her parents terribly.
They'd been the bedrock of her existence for the first 13 or so years of her existence after all. Being without them was like missing a limb.
It hadn't helped that her fitness routines fell apart without a place to exercise. She'd done well in classes. Unfortunately, as in muggle primary school, this had set her apart from her peers. A fact which had finally become painfully apparent on Halloween.
Ron Weasley, prat that he was, had loudly declared her 'a nightmare' and had mocked her for lacking any friends. And she hadn't heard anyone challenge him on it. It had been the straw that had broken the camel's back. She'd fled, running to the nearest bathroom to have a good cry.
Where a Troll had found her a while later.
Of course, she'd never gotten a satisfactory explanation as to how that Troll had gotten into the school. Headmaster Dumbledore had brushed it off with empty platitudes and vague statements about a defence against the dark arts class for the upper years.
She'd thought at the time that this was it, the end of Hermione Granger. After all, what could her meagre skills at kickboxing, and very new skills at magic do against a mountain of magically resistant muscle like a Troll?
The Troll had smashed its way through the bathroom in an effort to get at her, and she'd finally been cornered against the back wall when help had at long last arrived. Not in the form of teachers or beast handlers, or even the Magical Police force known as Aurors…but in the form of a pair of fellow students.
Harry Potter and Dora Tonks had come to warn her about the Troll. Only to find her cornered by the beast itself. They'd defeated the troll, through a goodly helping of guts, ingenuity and as Professor McGonagall had later put it 'Sheer Dumb Luck'!
The trio had been thick as thieves after that.
She'd later learned that Ron had gotten a split lip from Harry for bullying her. The redhead steered clear of them after that. Though he seemed to resent her a great deal, blaming her for the way he'd torpedoed his chances of becoming friends with Harry Potter.
They'd gotten up to all manner of trouble together after that. She'd set a teacher's robes on fire when she'd thought he was jinxing Harry's broom during a Quidditch game. They found out later he was actually casting a counter jinx against the efforts of the real culprit. Oops.
They'd snuck about the school under an invisibility cloak…
They'd watched a baby dragon being hatched. Helped raise it, at least a little, and then subsequently helped smuggle it out of the school when it grew too large. Had been chased by a shadowy monster which had been preying on Unicorns in the forest…And finally thwarted a possessed teacher's attempt to steal a magical artifact from the school.
Of courses…somewhat foolishly, she'd thought she could keep this all from her parents. Lord or Merlin alone knew how the Potters had found out. Harry swore up and down that he'd never breathed a word of it to his parents. Which had in turn earned him quite the tongue lashing when he'd gotten home.
Regardless, somehow the Potters had found out, and so had her parents and Dora's.
There had been an almighty uproar about it all. The press had caught word…likely from the Potters, and so had the Ministry.
Turned out there were quite a few people who were less than pleased that the Headmaster had used the school as an elaborate combination of vault and trap set up around the magical artifact in question.
The artifact's owner had loudly ripped the Headmaster to shreds in front of the whole school for trying to keep the artifact from them after it was all done.
Something which had not endeared Dumbledore to Harry as the Headmaster had claimed that the artifact had been destroyed when they'd spoken after the incident.
The Headmaster, who she had at the time foolishly idolized, had been rather spectacularly knocked from his pedestal.
The media and political firestorm had raged for months, all through the summer holidays.
Her parents had debated not allowing her to return to the school the following year.
She'd been grounded for the entire summer vacation for failing to notify them of what she'd gotten up to.
They had finally relented when it became clear just what the consequences of her not attending Hogwarts would be.
Obliviations lent a whole other level of horror to magic all on their own after all.
That had just been her first year.
In the end Dumbledore had held onto his spot as Headmaster…barely, though he'd lost his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and his position as Chief Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Something which had no doubt galled the vain wizard.
She paused in her rumination, grabbing a swig of water from her bottle before returning to beating up the punching bag.
Second year…
What a gong show that had been!
It had started…oddly.
They'd gotten on the train, though only with difficulty. The floos and barriers to the platform had been sabotaged, but the Potter elves had come to everyone's rescue and popped them all aboard the train in time to leave.
Well, everyone except Ron Weasley that is, who had driven to Hogwarts in his Father's flying car.
She'd made a new friend. Luna Lovegood, the daughter of one of Lily Potter's best friends.
Things had gone…relatively smoothly.
She'd been happy at first with their defence against the dark arts teacher, only to figure out very quickly the man was a fraud.
Things had gone from bad to worse when a mysterious beast had been unleashed on the school, petrifying students!
Somehow, seemingly inexplicably it had remained a secret from the public at large until around Christmas time.
At which point the truth had come out, once again thanks to the Potters—
The door to the garage opened, and her mother poked her head in, so Hermione stopped the slow easy swaying of the bag with her hands.
"Oh, there you are Hermione, I was wondering where you'd gotten to," Her mother said.
"It's almost time to head over to the Potter's dear. You'll want to get washed up—you're all sweaty—but could you take the garbage out first?" Emma Granger requested.
Hermione huffed a sigh, then nodded. "Yeah—yeah, mum, I can do that,"
Her mother gives her a worried look. "You okay darling? Feeling alright?" Her mother asked, eyeing her uncertainly.
Hermione made a face. "Yeah, I'm fine, just—tense, I don't know why…"
Her mother looked uncertain, but nodded slowly. "Well, okay. I'll see you in a bit then, I have to get your father and I ready too."
Her mother pulled back and left.
Hermione grabbed another swig of water before sealing the bottle again. She tucked it under one arm and started unwrapping the fighter's tape from around her hands.
She winced a little as tape pulled a bit at a couple of her barked knuckles. She'd been tense a lot lately, and had come out here often to burn off some of the nervous energy.
She chucked the used tape into the bin by the door, before heading into the house.
She deposited the water bottle in the fridge before gathering the various trash cans from around the house and depositing it all into one bag to be taken to the curb.
It was oddly soothing actually, going through the weekly motions of gathering up the garbage for disposal…The normalcy of it all.
She paused at the sidewalk after dropping the bag at the curb. She took a deep breath. The sun was getting lower, the air was getting cooler. Which was soothing on her skin…
"Well, look who we have here? It's little Hermione isn't it?"
She gave a small jolt of surprise before catching herself when she saw who was speaking to her. It was just Mrs. Devonshire. Their elderly neighbour. Nice lady, if a bit nosey.
"Oh, hello Mrs Devonshire. Sorry, I didn't see you there. How are you?" Hermione asked.
The old woman smiled at her as she eased her walker along the sidewalk toward her. "Oh, I'm fine dear, just fine. Haven't seen you around much recently. Then again you were away for most of the year again. That private school up north, yes?" The elderly woman asked curiously.
"Yes Mrs Devonshire. Sorry I haven't been around for a chat yet, just seemed to be so much to do this summer. My parents took us to France for a while." Hermione explained.
"Oh that's lovely dear, just lovely. You found yourself a nice young man up at that school of yours dear?" The woman asked, slyly.
Like she'd said. Nice, but nosey.
She blushed slightly.
"Not yet Mrs Devonshire, I've been focusing on my studies, but maybe this year?" She speculated.
The elderly woman gave her a slightly gap toothed grin. "Ah, got your eye on a likely lad then, have you?"
She blushed even deeper, thinking of her male best friend. "Maybe, I don't know. We've been friends for years…"
The little old lady cackled—in a fair approximation of a stereotypical witch actually—"Ah, but those are the best ones dear! No use putting your shoes under the bed of some lad you aren't friends with!" She said
"Or worse, some lad you argue with all the time. Works for some, not for most that one." Mrs Devonshire confided sagely.
Hermione smiled back at the old woman. "I always liked that image. Just something funny about imagining a pair of shoes under someone's bed as a colloquialism." She admitted.
The old woman waggled her eyebrows at her then chuckled. "Indeed, indeed. Ah well, I'd best not keep you dear. I'm just on my daily walk about."
The woman stopped and quirked a brow at her. "Will I see you again this summer? You leave in a few days I imagine?"
She bobbed her head agreeably.
"Yes. I'm afraid I do. Unfortunately I won't be here for the next few days. Some friends are having me over for the last couple days of summer." Hermione admitted regretfully. She did like Mrs Devonshire.
The old lady shook her head, still smiling. "Oh well. Maybe next year you can stop by for another chat. You take care of yourself dear."
It was a few minutes later, as she stepped out of the shower, that she heard her mother knocking at the door.
"Just a moment mum!"
She wrapped a towel around herself and cautiously opened the door. Her mum was there with a pile of clothing for her. Normally she'd just change in her room, however her mum clearly wanted to talk about something.
"Mind if I come in for a minute?" Her mother asked.
She shook her head and stepped back to let her mother into the bathroom. Her mother bustled inside and she closed the door behind her.
"I know you can handle dressing yourself dear, but I thought you might want to make an impression today…" Emma suggested, with a small smirk.
Hermione blushed. "Honestly mum, it's just Harry and Dora…"
Her mother shot her a look, "I know, and don't think I haven't seen the looks you've been shooting his way."
Hermione, if anything, blushed harder.
"As I was saying, you want to make an impression. So I picked out some things from your closet. However, I also bought you these the other day."
Hermione didn't think she could blush more if she tried as she looked at the underwear her mother was presenting to her.
They were…well considering it was her mother who had gone shopping for them, they were surprisingly sexy!
A pair of lacy boy-short panties and a matching lacy bra. Black too!
"Mum, I—" She sighed in defeat. "Thank you, I'll wear them."
Her mother beamed at her. "Good, now, just because you have those, doesn't mean I want you showing them off to Harry, or Dora for that matter."
"I'll try mum, you know that I share a dorm with Dora." Hermione said reasonably. After all she'd seen a hell of a lot more than just underwear from her dorm mates. Dora included.
Her mother nods. "Fair enough. And knowing Harry, those underwear would likely cause the poor lad's brains to melt."
Hermione snorted in amusement. Only to look up sharply at the telltale double chime of the doorbell downstairs.
Emma gave a small start too.
"You get ready. I'll go greet them."
Hermione found her guests waiting on them in the living room. She smiled brightly upon seeing a familiar head of unruly black hair standing next to Mrs Potter.
Oh, it could have been Mr Potter she supposed. After all he shared his son's hair, but there was no mistaking the slightly gangly figure of Harry Potter for that of his father.
"Harry!" Hermione cheered, hurrying down the stairs and grabbing Harry in a hug.
Harry chuckled and returned the hug warmly. "Hey 'Mione. Having a good summer?"
She blushed when she saw the knowing look his mother gave her over his shoulder. Instead of reacting to that she released him and pulled back to examine him.
"I think you've grown a bit over the summer. I'm sorry I couldn't come visit before now, the vacation was nice though." Hermione confessed.
He blushed very slightly and rubbed ruefully at the back of his head. "You look like you've grown a bit too. Are you looking forward to tomorrow?"
She shrugged, smiling happily. "Yes, I suppose I am. More because it means I get to have fun with you and Dora than because of the Quidditch."
A cough interrupted her, and she turned to see her parents standing there looking amused.
"Honey, how about you and Harry go and grab your things, then we'll be off. You and Harry can talk more once we get there." Emma chided.
Hermione flushed slightly and nodded.
"Of course, come on Harry. It's up in my room." He nodded and followed her up the stairs and into her room. He paused momentarily in the door, having never actually seen her room before, before joining her by her trunk.
"Nice, it suits you." He murmured.
"Hmmm?" Was her oh so eloquent response.
"Your room, it suits you." Harry elaborated, looking fondly amused.
She cast a glance around as they hauled the trunk towards the door. She liked her room, but she acknowledged she was biased. It wasn't overly girly like some girl's rooms, had a couple bookshelves of course, and a desk over by the window. It was…modest.
Nevertheless she blushed. Cursing herself for being so easy to please as she gathered Crookshanks into his carrier. Avoiding his claws carefully as they stuffed the struggling feline within and closed the door. Such a drama queen.
"You like it?" She asked, looking for confirmation. He simply nodded and she fought down another blush. They hauled the trunk and the now occupied cat carrier down the stairs and into the living room where they placed it next to her parent's luggage.
Lily, Harry's mother, smiled at her. "All ready to go then?"
She nodded to the older witch "Yes, Mrs. Potter."
The beautiful redhead smirked, "Just Lily dear. I don't mind."
"Okay, Lily." Hermione allowed shyly.
Lily smiled slightly before returning her attention to the others present. "Alright, let's not dawdle then shall we? Dobby?"
There was a pop and the energetic little House Elf appeared beside her. Once upon a time Hermione had been horrified to learn the Potters owned elves. It smacked of slavery to her. It had taken a long, and very serious conversation between her, Lily and the head Potter elf to calm her down and get her to realize the reality of the situation.
Elves needed a 'master', their chosen form of address for a bond-partner. Why? Because in order for them to reap the benefits of their work they needed a steady flow of magic from said partner.
Some less charitable people might term them 'magical parasites'; this wasn't even close to true. Were they to take the bond and NOT work, that term might hold some veracity, but House Elves felt an instinctive need to repay the gift of magical power.
Dobby had come into their service when the Potters had snapped him up following the arrest of Lucius Malfoy after the events of second year. His wife and son had been selling off assets to cover his many debts.
"Yes, Mistress Flowers?" Dobby said, as Lily smiled down at the little guy in his mismatched set of clothing.
"Dobby, could you please take all the luggage to Potter House? Hustle back once you're done please. I'll need some help getting everyone there once you're done." Lily requested.
"Dobby will do Mistress!" He said happily, then clicked his fingers and he and the luggage all disappeared.
They only had to wait a moment before Dobby reappeared with another pop.
"Dobby be ready to go Mistress!" He said, snapping off an enthusiastic beaming salute which had them all chuckling.
Lily shook her head fondly. "Dobby, if you could take Harry and Hermione I'll side along Emma and Dan."
Dobby nodded spastically, causing his ears to flap and he toddled over to the pair of teenagers and offered his hands to them, which they took.
House Elf 'popping' wasn't much like apparition at all it had to be said. In fact it was the most painless method of magical travel she'd ever experienced. One moment you were where you started, and the next you were where you desired to be. So, it was only mildly disorienting to find herself suddenly standing out front the Potter family home.
As always she was struck by just how lovely the home was.
An odd combination of 'craftsman' style with wooden shakes and stonework, and contemporary. It was also interesting in that it had a small 'portal-like driveway through one section of the house leading out back to where the family garage/stable was. Hermione had been intrigued to learn that Lily had helped design the place.
"Thanks Dobby, we're good for now. If you need anything just come see us." Harry said to the elf, causing Dobby to bow low.
"Master Harry Potter sirs is too good to Dobby! Dobby will do!" Dobby said, before he popped away, likely to tend to some housework.
"Come on 'Mione Dora and her parents are already here." Harry said, leading the way up the walkway to the house.
Hermione perked up upon hearing that their other friend was already present and followed him towards the house.
She heard Lily and her parents appear on the walk behind them with a crack, but was prevented from turning to acknowledge them by the front door bursting open and a pink haired ball of energy coming boiling out of it.
She and Harry found themselves flat on their bums as Dora tackle-hugged the pair of them. Causing the three teens to find themselves in a laughing heap on the ground.
"Dora! Careful! You could have hurt someone!" Andromeda Tonks scolded, as the woman hurried out the door behind her daughter.
Nymphadora (Dora) Tonks just beamed at her friends, hair and eye colour cycling wildly in excitement. "Wotcher you two! I missed you both so much this summer!" Dora gushed.
"Hey Dora, I missed you too! Hello Mrs Tonks, how are you today?" Hermione asked, as she staggered to her feet leaning on Harry who was just shaking his head fondly.
"Oh, I'm fine dear. Been a bit of a rough summer, but holding together. And you, how was your vacation, I hear you went to France!"
"It was lovely, the French Riviera is wonderful. Spent a lot of time on the beach." Hermione reported happily.
"Glad to hear it. Though all this reminds me, I wanted to thank you again. You and Harry both." Andromeda said, sobering.
Hermione sobered slightly too. She could understand why the other woman's summer has been difficult. At the end of the previous year, they had been confronted by Mrs Tonks' sister, the infamous Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, who had escaped Azkaban prison.
Third year had been somewhat hellish as a result actually. Due mostly to the Dementors some Ministry idiot had unleashed on the school to keep the mad woman at bay.
Of course, that night, the night that Bellatrix had kidnapped Dora had been full of surprises. Bellatrix was clearly dangerously unhinged. There was no question of that, but every once in a while during her rantings and ravings she'd become somewhat coherent. And, dare they say it, almost…remorseful.
They'd managed to overpower the madwoman during the confrontation though it'd been a near thing. Considering the woman's admittedly diminished skill with her stolen wand.
Bellatrix had been captured. And had it not been for her having one of her rare moments of remorse in front of her cousin Sirius Black, she might well have been hauled off and executed by the Ministry.
Instead she found herself imprisoned in the secure section of the mental illness ward of Saint Mungo's.
"You don't need to thank us, Mrs Tonks…" Harry started, causing Hermione to nod solemn agreement.
Andromeda just shook her head. "On the contrary, I think I do. You saved Dora from my sister. You also helped subdue my sister when anyone else would have tried to kill her for her crimes. You also helped us see that some of who my sister used to be remained in there. For all of that, I can never hope to repay you."
Hermione smiled shyly at the praise, then sobered again. "How is your sister?"
Andromeda sighed. "She has her good days and her bad days. Though even on her bad ones she no longer attacks everyone on sight. They're not sure what V-Voldemort did to her all those years ago, but…well, on her good days she spends most of her time crying."
Hermione nodded sadly. "Well, I hope she gets better. I'm sorry she's having such a rough time of it right now."
Andromeda inclined her head at her, before turning her attention to the others coming up the walkway.
"Hello again Dan, Emma. I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as your daughter?"
Her parents smiled kindly at the witch.
"We did. Maybe next year we can see about bringing your families along?" Dan suggested. He said this while looking between Andromeda and Lily.
Harry perked up beside her. Try as he might, he'd seldom been outside of Britain.
Lily smiled and shook her head. "That sounds lovely, I'll speak to James about it. We could use to finally get away for a while."
Hermione knew that James' work as an Auror often made taking a vacation hard.
"And I'll speak with Ted. I've never been to the Riviera." Andromeda admitted, as the group slowly made their way inside the house.
"If you don't mind my asking, will James be around soon? I understand he was at work today? I ask because there were some things I'd like to discuss with him."
Lily nodded, as she toed off her shoes. "Yes, he'll be back in about an hour. Just finishing up the last of his paperwork according to what he said when I mirrored him last."
Hermione was deadly jealous of the mirrors the adult Potters and Harry's 'uncles' used. Though she understood why Mrs Potter was reticent to let teenagers have access to what were effectively video cell phones during school.
Her father nodded his thanks.
Lily turned then to the teens. "Why don't you three go find something to do. Dobby's just cleaned the pool if you want, or you can talk some more. Dinner will be ready in about an hour."
Harry nodded to her. "Okay mum. So, what do you two want to do?" He asked, turning his attention to his friends.
"Hey Andy, has Narcissa visited Bellatrix in the hospital?" Lily asked.
Emma looked up from a curio she was examining, curious about the answer to that as well. She knew that Andromeda had two sisters she was estranged from. Bellatrix and the former wife of Lucius Malfoy.
Andy was nodding. "She visits every Saturday, why?"
Lily sighed. "Mostly I was just curious, but I suppose it's somewhat ironic that Narcissa and you will visit your sister, no matter the state of your relationship—all the while I can't get Petunia to answer a letter."
Emma winced, she'd heard about Petunia. The woman sounded like a petty, small minded shrew, but she wasn't about to say that to the woman's sister.
Andromeda shot her friend a commiserating look. They were distracted by a small commotion as their teenage children bolted out of the house in their swimming clothes and hopped into the pool. Dan and Ted followed them out and sat themselves down on the loungers by the pool and started chatting.
She watched their children for a while, with an eye specifically to Hermione and Harry.
She approved of the match, assuming Hermione could get him on board. Harry was a good lad, hardworking and loyal to a fault. Just the sort she wanted for her daughter.
However, there was something she'd noticed…
"Lily, is it just me or does Harry look rather tired? I don't think Hermione noticed, but…"Emma ventured.
Lily sighed again, and nodded. "Yes, he does, he's been having nightmares. We worry about what they could mean…"
Emma gave her a questioning look, before glancing at Andromeda who merely grimaced.
"Meaning? Do magical's dreams mean more than a mundane person's?" She asked, honestly curious.
Lily shrugged, grimacing. "No, not usually, however Harry has been having dreams about Voldemort and some unknown Death Eater. A night or so ago he had a nightmare in which they murdered a muggle together…"
Emma shivered "Well, I hope they're nothing more than nightmares, but…"
Lily nods. Likely thinking of the events of the last three years. "Yeah, but…"
The adults lapsed into silence for a few minutes, just watching their children. "Hermione's growing into a beautiful young lady, you must be proud." Andromeda offered after a bit.
Emma smiled at the compliment to her daughter. Then frowned. "She is, at least I think so, ummm, can I ask you girls something?"
"Of course, oh wait, is this one of those talks?" Lily asked slyly. She was referring to some of the more difficult conversations they'd had which had followed the theme of 'is this normal?'
Emma sighed, and nodded. "Yes, I think it might be."
Lily smirked slightly and then nodded. "Dobby?" There was a pop.
"Yes, Mistress Flowers?" Dobby asked, staring at her attentively.
"Could you get each of us a glass of wine, please, Dobby?"
The Elf nodded, then, after taking their preferences, popped away only to reappear shortly thereafter with their glasses. Emma took a sip of wine as Dobby popped away again.
"Girls can develop fast, it happens, it's just…It seems like Hermione's developing faster than normal. You know physically. She's gone through two bra sizes this summer and her figure has really sorted itself out…"
She hesitated then continued. "Also…She's tense. She spends a lot of time in the little gym we set up in the garage…And…maybe I'm crazy here, but I could swear her hair is a little darker…"
Lily and Andromeda shared an amused look. Andromeda took the lead. "It's not unheard of for such changes to occur in a maturing witch. You sure she's not er…padding things out with her magic?"
Emma shot her a dry look. "We live in a muggle house, remember? She'd need her wand and she's not a metamorph like your daughter. We'd have a letter from the ministry if she had."
Andromeda laughed, but nodded, conceding the point. "You should count your lucky stars for that. Her not being a metamorphmagus like Dora, I mean. I have had to tell her to shrink her breasts to an acceptable size more times than I can count."
Lily snorted, "Teenagers, so eager to grow up…"
Emma nods. I know what you mean. And it's not like they're not growing up faster than we'd like as it is. I helped Hermione pick out a dress for whatever it is that's going on this year at Hogwarts, and I found myself wondering 'where did all that time go, my daughter's a young woman now…"
Lily and Andromeda smiled at her. Emma took another sip from her glass. "What is going on at Hogwarts this year, do we know?"
Lily shared another look with Andromeda. "We know, we just can't share it with the kids, it's supposed to be a surprise…"
Emma nodded, understanding.
"Can you tell me? I suspect there's some sort of formal dance involved." Emma explained, thinking of the lovely dress she'd helped Hermione pick out.
It was Lily's turn to nod. "Of course, well…where to start? It's called the Magi Internationale—"
Hermione concealed a small smile behind her hand before splashing Dora with a grin. She dodged a retaliatory splash.
Harry was blushing an awful lot. She couldn't help but think it likely had to do with the two girls in bikinis near him.
"So, what do you two reckon…" Harry started, after a small nervous laugh. "Ireland or Bulgaria?"
Hermione sighed fondly. She was doomed to be the friend of two Quidditch fanatics.
"I don't know, but it'll be interesting that's for sure!" Dora declared. "Ireland has the best chasers, but Bulgaria's got a better seeker!"
Hermione groaned in mock despair. "Please no, we'll have plenty of Quidditch talk tomorrow!"
The other two chuckled, and shook their heads. Hermione knew she was just as well known for her apathy towards Quidditch, she'd only be attending the Cup tomorrow to spend time with her friends.
"Awww, you're no fun Hermione." Dora mock pouted, inflating her lower lip outrageously for a moment, before returning it to normal and smiling. "Fine, what do you figure is going on at Hogwarts this year?"
"Hogwarts?" Harry asked, sounding confused.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly Harry, we had dress robes on our lists and the Prophet's been hinting at it all summer long!"
He blushed. "Oh, I hadn't noticed. I uh—well I mostly avoid the Prophet, you know how it is."
She smiled wanly at him. Harry did seem to be the Daily Prophet's favourite punching bag. They never missed an opportunity to speculate, often erroneously on his life. Particularly his love life, or lack thereof.
She shakes her head fondly. "Well, given the dress robes I suppose it's likely there'll be some sort of dance or ball…"
She paused, considering that. "Actually, are balls very common in the Wizarding World?"
Dora shrugged, but Harry nodded. "The Ministry has a ball every year, and some of the more affluent families like to host them around Christmas time." He explained.
She frowned. "Not that unusual then. So why would they be promoting it so much in the paper? And why is it such a secret?"
Dora shrugged again. "Who knows, you know how the Prophet is, they like to sensationalize everything. Knowing them they'll likely attend the ball just to make as big a deal out of it as possible."
Harry made a face at that. "I normally don't mind dancing, but with the prophet there?"
Hermione shared a sympathetic look with him. "Something tells me that this is about something bigger than a ball, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see…"
The door to the house opened and Lily poked her head out. "Alright kiddos, Dinner is just about ready. Come in and get changed!"
They noted Dan and Ted were heading inside as well…so the teens started getting out of the pool, and heading towards the towels, where Ted and Dan had put them on one of the loungers.
"Hey, Hermione, got a moment?"
Harry looked at them curiously, but Dora just waved him off.
"Nothing that'll interest you, girl stuff."
Harry made a face, but then nodded and headed inside after towelling off.
Hermione looks at Dora expectantly.
"Kickboxing. How hard is it to learn?" Dora asked.
Hermione blinked in surprise. Needless to say that hadn't been what she'd been expecting. "Not too hard, it just takes time and patience, why?"
Dora sighed. "After that run in with Aunt Bellatrix last year, I kinda want to learn how to protect myself when I don't have my wand. I figure it'll be handy if I go in to be an Auror after Hogwarts. And…well it would probably help get me in shape, right?" Dora speculated.
Hermione nodded. She wasn't sure how this qualified as 'girl stuff', but wasn't about to argue. "Would you be willing to teach me?" Dora asked.
Hermione paused, considering that, as they started to make their way towards the door. "I can try, assuming we can find somewhere to practice."
Dora beamed at her and gave her a fist bump.
"Thanks Hermione, you're the best! Now come on, let's grab some food before Harry mows through it all."
Dinner was excellent, as usual. The Potter elves really knew their way around the kitchen. Even by House Elf standards.
Tonight it was a standing rib roast, with seasoned baked potatoes, cauliflower and cheese sauce with Yorkshire puddings drowned in gravy which had the drippings from the roast added to it.
The teens were stuck enjoying this with a side of butterbeer or juice. While the adults had their choices of light wines or beer. Not that the teens were complaining much.
"So, honey, how was work today?" Lily asked.
James shrugged noncommittally, making a face. "I've had better days, but I've had worse."
"Anything you can discuss?" Lily prodded.
James grimaced. It was always a delicate balance with such things, especially considering their guests. DMLE confidentiality laws prohibited talking about active cases.
That said, there was often enough leeway to allow general discussion while at home.
"Nothing much. There'll be another case coming through to the courts soon. Elf trafficking. At least we got the bastards this time." James said, stoically.
Lily made a face, but nodded.
She changed the subject. "Will Sirius and Amy be there tomorrow?"
James smirked. "Like Sirius Black would allow anything short of the apocalypse stopping him from attending the cup?"
Lily shook her head ruefully as she cut into her meal. "True. I just wasn't sure if Amy would be able to get away. Considering her job I mean."
Amelia Black neé Bones was Director of the DMLE. She'd be very busy around the time of the World Cup.
James nodded. "Amelia will be on the job the next couple days. You know how she is. Sirius, Susan and the girls will be attending though."
Despite some people's expectation to the contrary, Sirius Black was an excellent father and husband, he spent lots of time with his children and adored his wife. He had three daughters, Susan (who they'd adopted after the deaths of her parents), as well as the twins, Lyra and Marlene. It was looking like Sirius might well be the last Black. Unless he went through with his plans to pass off control of the family magic to Harry.
Susan was in the same year as Harry, Hermione and Dora. Bit of a wild child she'd been told. Red hair, died with streaks of black. She was friendly with the trio, but tends to hang out with Hannah and Neville more.
"Sirius actually got a slot right near ours on the camp ground. So we'll be able to spend some time together prior to the match." James explained.
"Good," She said, simply.
"James," Dan interrupted politely. "I've been meaning to ask. Hermione has explained Quidditch in the past but I figured I should ask a real Quidditch nut how it works."
Hermione sighed as Harry and Dora got in on the action with James and Ted to explain Quidditch one more time.
It might be a long evening at this rate…Oh well. Such was life when you had quidditch fanatics for family and friends.
Author's Endnote: As ever, I really hope you enjoyed this plot bunny. I actually have more planning for this, so it's more likely to go somewhere. If you feel like it, feel free to review if it tickles your fancy.