Summer~ Part XIII
When Harry came downstairs the following morning, he wasn't surprised to find Ivy and Hermione sitting at the breakfast table, laughing.
" You wouldn't happen to be talking about Uncle Vernon, would you?"
"You know us too well, Harry. Have something to eat and come help us with the plan," said Ivy. Harry made himself a plate of what he found on the stove and counter and came over to sit with them, grinning in anticipation.
" I can see you're ready to put this plan into action."
"I think I've spent most of my life waiting for this, if you want the truth. He has made my life miserable as long as I can remember."
Hermione had that look on her face again, he noticed, the one that was a cross between ready to cry and ready to really hurt someone.
"I hope you never have that look on your face when you're thinking about me, Hermione. You can save that one for the next time we run into a Dementor."
Hermione laughed, but also shuddered a little, "Don't remind me Harry. I still can remember that feeling, having them bending over us!"
Harry looked at Ivy then back at Hermione. He couldn't help wishing he had someone to feel the way about him that he could tell Ivy felt, thinking of the narrow escape her daughter had.
As he was thinking that, he felt Ivy put her hand on his back and he felt that feeling begin to recede and a happy anticipation for the day return. Nothing was said, but he could tell she knew he was OK again.
"I won't be hurting Vernon, Harry, but he won't be very comfortable either. Hermione has told you that tonight when you get back to their house, you should be able to make some changes?"
"He's still expecting an owl from the Ministry tonight Mom! You'll have to reassure him too." Hermione said, laughing.
"There hasn't been a summer since I started Hogwarts when I didn't hear from them in some way. It'll be great if it doesn't happen this year." Even as he said this, Harry had his doubts. Maybe Hermione and Ivy wouldn't be in any trouble but it always found him.
About an hour later, Hermione and Harry were finishing some things in Chris's lab. Hermione had been showing Harry the way models of people's teeth were made.
"This could be done a lot easier if we could use magic," Harry told her as they washed all the utensils they'd used. "Do you think your mom will change the way she works now, all the time?"
"I don't know, Harry. She hasn't told me but I think it will depend on how things work out with your family. I really wonder how my dad is feeling. He probably never expected her to return to the wizarding world."
"Do you think it's a problem? Chris seemed fine at the Leaky Cauldron yesterday, and no one acted like he shouldn't be there. Maybe you're the one looking for trouble now, Hermione...... and maybe I shouldn't really be here. I'm the one who's causing things to change."
"No, I am looking for trouble, and I'm stopping right now ! This should be a lot of fun, if anyone ever needed to be changed, it's your Uncle Vernon. Mom is really looking forward to today!" Hermione looked cheerful and excited again as she said this, Harry was relieved to see. He really didn't want to leave the Granger's house, they had already made him so comfortable.
"I wonder what my room looks like at my aunt and uncle's house. If Dudley really did get his old, broken junk out, it's going to look pretty bare. I hope he didn't get into my trunk. Usually they lock it up as soon as I get back from Hogwarts for the summer." Harry had a sudden, horrible thought. " Hermione, I've forgotten Hedwig. She was away when I left."
Ivy walked into the room as Harry said this, and immediately made him feel a lot better.
"Hedwig is fine, Harry. In fact she's upstairs here now, you might want to go up soon. There are some other things there too."
Ivy was looking very happy, Harry noticed. Apparently Hermione did too.
" Mom, what have you been doing? You look pretty pleased about something," Hermione said, going up and hugging her mom.
"Harry will find out soon, but I may as well let you both know. I've been on a quick visit to the Dursley's. Things are pretty interesting there, Vernon doesn't know why Petunia and Dudley have become so pleasant, and it's nearly driving him mad. He's not going to be in a very good mood when he gets here, so I want you two well away from the room, until I let know the Charm has worked."
" How did you get there and back so.....," Harry broke into a big grin. "I guess you enjoyed Apparating again!"
"I'd forgotten how convenient things can be, going back to magic. In a way though, I'm pretty proud of being able to having done things the hard way for the past years. I really appreciate what I learned at Hogwarts and after more than ever. Your trunk is there too Harry. You may want to check to see that nothing has been disturbed."
Summer~ Part XIV
Harry and Hermione went through Harry's trunk, carefully and found that nothing had been disturbed. Even his Pocket Sneakoscope was there, and his broomstick care kit. As they went downstairs, Harry couldn't help wondering how this day would end. It had been a lot of fun staying there with the Grangers, and watching Hermione becoming more..... well, she was really pretty now. He looked over at her, and felt a strange lurch in his stomach. Would they wind up in that dark Xray room again. He shook his head, and made himself focus on the outcome of the afternoon.
Hermione looked at him and grinned. " I don't know which of us is looking forward to this most, but I'm sure you'll be happiest if things turn out well."
They wandered into the area where Ivy and Chris were and found them working on a strange chair. They were both smiling, especially Ivy.
"Where did THAT come from?" Hermione asked, walking around it and looking at it from all angles.
" I just finished putting it together." said Chris. "We took parts of several older chairs and made this one. Don't touch it though, we haven't completely stabilized it." He bent down and tapped the bottom of the chair, where some bolts were sticking out. Harry was amazed they'd go to so much trouble to make things more pleasant for him on Privet Drive, even if he DIDN'T want to go back there. Then he grinned, remembering that Uncle Vernon had probably made a pretty obnoxious impression on the Grangers before he'd been around. He seemed to make a habit of infuriating people who had any sense or decency.
"What do you think Harry? Can you tell what we're going to do?' asked Ivy with a twinkle in her eyes.
"No, not really but I can tell it won't be very comfortable, and that's enough for me. It's shaped like an X though isn't it?" answered Harry, looking at the narrow seat, and picturing Vernon's fat bottom hanging off. He couldn't even see how he'd manage to stay on the seat, and laughed aloud at the picture it brought to his mind.
"It's an X and when I've finished with Vernon Dursley, all four ends of the X will have been used. Oh, you'll see some changes and he isn't going to like them. But he'll have no choice in the matter!" Ivy said this with a laugh and a look of great satisfaction.
" And not only that, you're going to make him pay you for all the misery the changes are going to cause, right Mom?" Hermione chuckled. "if he only knew what he's going to find when he gets here, I guess he'd be leaving the country right now. But... how are you going to make him get into the chair to start with?"
"Oh that's no problem, Hermione, your mother has gone into her old Potions textbooks." Chris said, looking at Ivy proudly. Harry couldn't help wondering if his dad had looked at his mom that way, but remembering the tape he had, and the letters he'd read, he felt sure his dad had been very proud of both of them. He could hear it in his voice. He felt Ivy's eyes on him and he nodded. Apparently she noticed he was having a lot of emotions to deal with and didn't intend for any of them to cause him any more pain than absolutely necessary. He felt a strange shiver go through him and realized he felt really safe, in a way he never felt unless he was talking to Dumbledore. Could this really be happening to him? Then he felt a hand on his arm and looked to see Hermione smiling at him. " Why don't we go start doing some things in another part of the office. I know Mom, and she's going to feel a lot better if we're nowhere within hearing distance."
"Right!" said Harry although a bit regretfully. He would have liked to see his uncle when Ivy gave him that potion. He bet Vernon wouldn't like it nearly as much as that wine he was so fond of.
"If things go as well as I anticipate, I'll be calling you in soon. I can work the charm while you're in here, in fact you'll need to be here so that we don't miss anything," Ivy told them. " Now, disappear for a while., there's lots for you to do. And the time will go quickly if you're busy."
So Harry and Hermione went into another area at the back of the house, and Hermione began again to sort out the instruments her parent used, organizing them in a a way that was a mystery to him. Knowing Hermione though, she had probably memorized all of her parents' medical books before she was seven years old. He found that he was smiling in a way that would have made Ron laugh until he cried.
Somehow a lot of those things he and Ron had always found annoying and sometimes obnoxious about Hermione seemed perfectly normal and right. Maybe even a little...... time to get to work, he told himself ! He turned back to the boxes on the floor and continued to unpack them, so that he could place the various things on the counters. Harry was sure he would have to ask Hermione to tell him where to put things, but if he could judge by the smile on her face, he didn't think she'd mind.
TO BE CONTINUED...