The Parent Trap
Chapter Five
-dutchtulips-
As Holly's grandfather was a Muggle - his dentist's office that sat on the other side of the Granger home - of course it contained a telephone. Holly, who had made sure to show Amy how to use the telephone, was quite certain that there wouldn't be any problems if Holly had to make an emergency call home to her sister.
And now was one of those times. It was past the supper hour at the Weasley home, just beginning to get dark, when Holly had crept quietly out of the house and rushed down the countryside road until a red phone box was visible. Practically flinging herself inside, Holly snatched the receiver off the hook and quickly dialed her grandfather's office number.
"Doctor Granger, D.D.S.," the voice on the other line answered.
"Er. . ." She stammered for a moment, and then quickly disguised her voice so that she wouldn't be detected. "Is Holly home?"
The voice seemed confused for a moment, and then replied, "Why, why yes. Hold on for a moment."
Holly tapped her sneakered foot impatiently as she waited for Amy to pick up on the other line. Finally, "Hello?"
"Amy!" Holly exclaimed, changing back to her regular voice. "Thank God, I've got to talk to you!"
"Uh hu." There was a bit of shuffling on Amy's side of the phone for a minute or two, and then she came back on the line. "Sorry. I just had to duck into the other room."
"Okay, so -"
Amy's voice burst on the line. "Oh my gosh, Holly, Mum's incredible! I can't believe I've lived all of my life without knowing her! She's funny, and beautiful and smart, and I love the castles she designs! And, I had her talking about how she and Dad first met, and if you ask me -"
"Amy, stop!" Holly said urgently. "We've got a major problem! You're going to have to bring Mum out here immediately!"
"What?" Her sister exclaimed. "I've only had one day with her! I'm just getting to know her! I can't do it, Holly!"
"But this is an emergency," she replied, trying to calm down a bit. "Dad's in love!"
"What are you playing at? Dad doesn't fall in love!" Amy said incredulously, and then as an afterthought, "At least not seriously."
Holly chuckled wryly. "Well, he's serious about this one. He's always holding her hand and walking with her - and kissing her - through the orchards, and waiting on her hand and foot! It's revolting."
"Well, just sabotage her. Break them up. Do something! Anything!" Amy said quickly.
Holly's dropped her shoulders in exasperation. "I'm trying, but you know, I'm at a small disadvantage. I only met the man a few hours ago! We're going to have to move into plan 'B' -"
Amy's voice cut in. "Holly, I won't. I want more time with Mum." On her side of the phone, Amy had tapped her wand to the receiver, which created static to crackle over the line. "Holly? Are you still there? I can't barely hear you."
"I'm here, I'm here!" She replied, but the next moment, they were cut off.
Frustrated, Holly slammed down the receiver. "Gee, thanks for all the help, Ames."
On the other line, after Amy had hung up, she was just replacing the phone back in her grandfather's office when she turned around and Hermione and Dr. Granger were standing in front of her, looking at her strangely.
"Oh, er, that was a friend of mine from school," Amy explained. "Her parents are Muggles, that's why she called me on the telephone." She paused. "So, er, dinner for anyone?"
* * *
It was the next morning at the Weasley home and Holly was sitting alone at the kitchen table, watching as her aunt magicked some plates to levitate over to were her niece was sitting, dropping lightly to the tabletop.
Ginny pocketed her wand and stepped towards the table, picking up the plates by hand, extending them one by one in Holly's direction. "Okay, here we are, Ames. Most important meal of the day. Fried eggs, smoked ham, side of toast. . ." The dishes slid in front of Holly, ". . .And in case you're really hungry, a stack of blueberry pancakes which smell scrumptious, if I do say so myself." She smiled.
"Thanks, Ginny," Holly said softly.
She looked at her niece for a moment, and then felt her forehead. "You hardly touched your casserole yesterday, your favorite food in the world, and now you don't want breakfast? Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine!" She said brightly, reassuring her aunt. "Where's Dad?"
"Oh, he and Miss 'I'll-Just-Have-Half-A-Tangerine, thank you'," Ginny rolled her eyes, "left a little while ago. He had early Quidditch practice and you were still sleeping and he didn't want to wake you." And then, as an afterthought, said, "But maybe I might sleep late too if I were sneaking out at night to run to the Muggle phone box down the road."
Holly choked on her goblet of pumpkin juice. "Oh, oh, that. Well, er, a friend of mine from Hogwarts has Muggle parents so they have a phone. She doesn't have her own owl yet."
"Well. . ." Ginny replied slowly, and then, referring to the family owl, "couldn't you just use Odin?"
"Er, well, no, because. . .my friend's mum is really afraid of birds and everything, so it might be awhile before her parents will let her have an owl in the house anyways. . ." Holly stammered.
Ginny looked sideways at her. "Very smooth." Getting up to pour herself some pumpkin juice, she said, "Hey, Ames, your dad wants you to meet him down in the orchard when you're done with breakfast."
"He does?" She asked, and then picked up a piece of toast and took a bite from it. "I'm done." Holly left the kitchen and started out through the dining room, where the glass doors out to the back porch were. But halfway there, Patches appeared, hissing at her.
Looking over at Ginny, she said, "That cat has gotten so weird!"
When her aunt just looked strangely from Patches to Holly, she turned around back for the doors again. Holly struggled with them for a moment, trying to get them to open, when from behind her, Ginny's voice rang out.
"Push, Ames!"
Slowly, Holly turned the handle and pushed, and the door creaked open. "Sorry," she said, looking back at her aunt. "I. . .forgot!" And with that, she slipped through the door and was gone.
* * *
Ron was still in his red British Quidditch robes as he and Holly strolled up through the apple trees together, his arm around her. They'd been walking in silence for the last few minutes, but now Ron was trying to break the ice.
"Er. . .Ames, I'm really glad you're here. . .because there's something really important I want to talk to you about," he said slowly.
"What a coincidence!" Holly replied. "Because there's something really important I want to talk to you about."
"Really? Well, you go first." Ron smiled.
She shook her head. "No, you go."
"Okay. . ." He took a deep breath. "I want to talk to you about. . .Parvati."
Holly was prepared. "And I want to talk to you about my mother." She paused, and looked up at him. "What about Parvati?"
Ron had seemed to freeze in his tracks at his daughter's words. "Well, er, what about your mother?"
She sighed. "Dad, I'm almost a teenager. How long do you expect to me to believe that story that the stork dropped me on your doorstep?"
"Oh, Ames," he sort of groaned, "we've talked about your mum."
"No, we haven't," Holly answered. "Not really. A girl needs more in life than half of and old photograph. I'm getting older, I'm twelve. . .face it, I need a mum."
Ron blinked, and then nodded out of nowhere. "You know, you're right. You're absolutely right. You do need a mother. Which brings me to -"
The pair rounded a corner, bringing into sight Parvati, who was lofting on a broom along with a blond haired woman accompanying her on another broom.
" - Parvati," Ron finished lamely, looking at her.
"Hey there!" She exclaimed, lowering herself to the ground and taking the broom in her hands, as the other woman behind her did the same. "Amy, this is my co-worker Lavender. Lavender, this is Ron's daughter, the one I've been telling you so much about?"
She looked over at Holly, and smiled. "Well, hello."
" 'Lo," she replied, not knowing what else to say.
Parvati turned to Ron. "Hey, if you're free later, why don't we have lunch in Hogsmeade?"
He shook his head. "Can't. I promised Ames we'd hang out today, just the two of us."
"Oh, no problem, I've got lots to do back at my store. I'm perfecting a new crystal ball that changes colors when you're not using it. They're going to sell themselves." Parvati and Lavender clambered back on their brooms, which lifted back up in the air. "See you for dinner, Ronnie. 'Bye Ames!"
As the two women sped back up the orchard, Parvati looked over at her friend and said nastily, "The first change I make is to transfer that little brat to Beauxbatons all year round."
Lavender laughed. "Ice woman!"
"Proud of it." Parvati smirked.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Ron and Holly were on brooms of their own, playing Quidditch in the orchard. He was defending one of the tall hoops while she was trying to lob the Quaffle past him and score.
"C'mon, Ames, gimme your best shot!" He called out, waving his arms wildly out in front of himself and the hoop, making his daughter laugh.
Holly bit down on her lip in concentration. She was never the athletic type, but because Amy surely was, she'd made the effort to try and be interested in it, and because she was pretending to be her.
Though she threw the red ball with all her might, Holly failed to make it reach any of the hoops at all. As the Quaffle dropped down below them, thunking against the grass, Ron looked incredulously over at her. "What's up with ya, Ames? You're usually wicked at this!"
"Yeah, well, er. . .guess I'm just a little tired," Holly stammered. "C'mon, let's just go for a ride!"
Ron smiled at her, and the pair let their broomsticks soar off and around the hoops, and then down through the apple trees. After a long while of broom flying, Ron stopped and let himself hover for a moment, and Holly raced over to join him.
"So, you excited about the picnic?" He asked.
Holly looked blank. "What picnic?"
"What picnic!" Ron repeated, surprised. "The Quidditch picnic the team has every year nearing the end of summer."
"Oh, right!" She laughed. "That picnic. I can't wait!"
It was quiet again for a few moments, and then Ron spoke up yet again. "So, Ames, tell me, what do you think of Parvati?"
"As what, Dad?" Holly asked. "Your old schoolmate, your -"
"Just - what do you think of her. . .as a person?" He prompted.
"Well. . .she's cute. She has nice hair, nice eyes. . .she likes crystal balls. . ." Holly paused. "Honestly, the woman's a complete stranger to me. Why do you want my opinion anyways?"
"Well, Ames," Ron started to smile, "because believe it or not, I'm -"
Out of nowhere, Holly exclaimed, before her dad could finish, "Race you back to the house, Dad!" And she put on a burst of speed and took off up through the orchard on her broom.
Ron's shoulders dropped. "Amy, wait! I'm trying to tell you something!" After a minute, he took off on his broom after her, but Holly was already way ahead of him. She'd pushed the Nimbus faster and faster after every yard, and soon enough, she'd left her Dad way behind.
Finally, she'd reached the back porch and, completely abandoning her broom there, Holly bolted into the house. Pacing up and down the den, she murmured to herself. "I'm in way over my head here. . .I can't handle this, I just can't. . .I'm only one girl!"
She collapsed against the back of an armchair, and to her surprise, found her aunt Ginny sitting in it. "You've got something you want to share with everyone there, Ames?"
"Ginny!" Holly clutched her heart. "You scared me!"
Getting up from her chair, Ginny gave her niece a look of concern. "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to talk to me about, Ames?" She asked gently.
"Like what?" Holly replied, trying to sound innocent.
Ginny sighed and tilted her head sideways to look at Holly. "Like. . .why Patches never comes near you anymore, or why you're appetite's changed. . .or why all of a sudden you're prim and neat and somehow lost all ability at playing Quidditch with your dad?"
"I, uh, I just. . ." She searched for words. "I just changed a lot over the school term, that's all."
Her aunt shrugged. "Well, okay. But if I didn't know better I'd almost say it's like you were -" She cut herself off, staring down at her niece. "Forget it. It's impossible." Ginny started to walk away.
"Almost as if I were who, Ginny?"
She looked back. "Nobody, nobody, Forget I mentioned it." She turned back around.
"Almost as if I were. . .Holly?" She asked poignantly.
Ginny stopped dead in her tracks as she turned back to Holly a second time. "You. . .you know about Holly?" She asked softly, incredulously.
A long breath escaped her. "I am Holly."
Her aunt's eyes grew wide and she gasped, scarcely daring to believe the young girl's words - just as Ron came in through the glass doors, spotting Holly.
"Ames, why did you take off on me like that? I had something I -" The redhead stopped in mid-sentence as he looked up at his sister. "Ginny, why are you looking at her like that?"
Holly shot her aunt a glance.
"Like what?" She asked. "I'm not looking at her in any certain way. I'm looking at her like I have for twelve years. Since she came home from the hospital." Ginny's voice started to break. "Seven pounds, twelve ounces. . .twenty-three inches long. . .this is how I look at her!"
Suddenly she came forward and wrapped Holly up in a hug. "Oh, she's so beautiful, and so-grown up!" Ginny cried. Holly returned the hug gratefully, and as her aunt broke away, Ginny said, "I'm going to make you something special to eat. Some pumpkin pasties and juice? Treacle tarts? You know, it doesn't matter, I'm just going to go fix up everything." Wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her robes, Ginny trotted off for the kitchen.
Ron shrugged and shook his head, and then turned to Holly. "Ames, come'ere." He had her sit down on the sofa while he perched on the coffee table in front of her. "I want to know what you think about making Parvati. . .part of our family."
"Oh, is she Ginny's friend? Is she moving in with us?" Holly exclaimed, pretending to get the wrong idea.
"No, no. I'm. . .I'm going to marry her," Ron said slowly, watching his daughter closely.
"Marry her!" Holly jumped up. "That's insane! Comment pouvez-vous l'épouser?! C'est entretien fol. . ."
Ron leapt from the coffee table to grab onto a thrashing Holly. "Ames, calm down! Calm -" He paused. "Are you speaking French?"
Holly's eyes went wide, not even realizing what she'd done until he'd mentioned. Her mum often had to meet with foreign ambassadors at the Ministry, so she'd picked it up without even thinking about it. "Uh, er. . .I learnt it from a friend at school."
Ron merely stared at her, puzzlement filling in his face.
"Okay," Holly said, taking a deep breath. "Let's just discuss this calmly and rationally."
"And, in English, if you don't mind," Ron said wryly. "Ames, what's gotten into you?"
"Nothing, nothing! It's just. . .you can't get married, Dad! It will totally wreck everything!" Holly exclaimed, rushing out the back porch doors and disappearing.
"Amy!" Ron called after her. "Amy! Where are you going?" With no answer, the redhead sighed and dropped his shoulders. Noticing Ginny looking in from the kitchen, he gave her a questionable look.
"Don't look at me, I don't know anything!" She exclaimed before disappearing.
Before Ron could say anything more, he heard a horn honk up front. Stepping outside and onto the porch, he saw a Ministry car pulling up, and Parvati getting out. He looked confusedly at her, and then at the car as it drove away.
"What're you doing in a Ministry car?" He asked as she mounted the porch steps.
Ron dropped down in a chair as Parvati leaned over and put her arms around his shoulders. "Had some business in London." She paused. "You look stressed, Ronnie. How about a rum?"
"How 'bout a double?" Ron said wearily.
"Coming right up." Parvati pulled out her wand and said, "Resonanate!" Which immediately produced a loud ring from her wand. "Ginny!"
A moment passed and Ginny finally appeared on the porch, hastily flipping her braid over her shoulder, saying, "You rang?"
"Can you bring us two scotches, please, Gin? And make Ron's a double." Parvati leaned over and kissed Ron's forehead.
Ginny looked amusedly at her brother, but didn't say anything.
"Please, Gin?" He asked. "I'm getting a headache."
She sighed, turning back around and going into the house.
After she'd gone, Ron looked over at Parvati and said, "I told Amy."
She shot him a look. "You did?"
He nodded wearily. "She went mad. She even started yelling in French. Since when can she speak French?"
Parvati squeezed his shoulders. "Oh, Ronnie, this reaction is completely classic. Daddy's getting remarried. I'd be worried if she didn't act this way." She paused. "Why don't I talk to her? You know, witch-to-witch?"
"I don't know. . ." Ron said skeptically. "I think Amy's a little sensitive about you right now. . ."
"That's why I've got to do it. I've got to break the ice sometime, you know." She kissed his jawline, fiddling with the buttons on his robes. "There. Wear your robes like this. I like your collar open like that."
Ron just stared down at his robes as Parvati strolled off.
* * *
Spotting Holly on the swing down by the orchard, Parvati smirked to herself as she approached the young girl, who was sitting quietly and looking at her feet.
"Hey there," she said. "Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead," Holly replied aimlessly, watching Parvati in her clinging pink robes, sit down across from her on the swing.
"I guess the news about the engagement came as a bit of a shock, hmm?" She said, breaking the silence.
"Basically."
"You know, I remember what it was like to be twelve. You're first starting to feel like a woman, and getting to learn your witchcraft. . .and believe it or not, pretty soon you'll know what it's like to be in love," Parvati replied.
"No, I don't think so," Holly replied.
"Believe me, you will. Being in love takes a man and a woman on a fantastic journey, that -" She started to say, but was interrupted.
"I don't mean to be surly when you're trying to be romantic and everything, but I know what my dad sees in you," Holly said. "You're young and beautiful and hey, he's only human. But if you ask me, I think marriage should be based on something more than just. . .physical attraction, right?"
Parvati stared at her, a strange look glittering in her eyes. "You know, being beautiful isn't a crime. And for your information, I adore your father. He's exactly the kind of wizard I've always wanted to marry. This is the real thing, Amy, and nothing you do is going to come between us."
Holly leaned forward, a smirk breaking the corners of her mouth. "If it really is the real thing, then my dad's money has nothing to do with your wanting to marry him. Am I correct?"
"All right." Parvati was extremely annoyed by now. "You listen, and you listen good. I am marrying your father in two weeks whether you like it or not, so I suggest you do not tangle with me anymore! You are in way over your head. Is that clear?"
The smirk on Holly's face was still there. "Crystal."
* * *
To Be Continued