The Parent Trap

Chapter Seven

-dutchtulips-

The Leaky Cauldron was its usual busy place that evening, crowded with witches and wizards who were sitting around tables, mingling, and throwing back drinks. Even up at the bar, there was a queue of people there sitting, enjoying their drinks and talking to Tom, the bartender.

Among the throng of them all was Parvati, who was glancing at the clock on the wall every so often and standing with two older people, a witch and a wizard. Adjusting the collar on her clinging silk robes, Parvati turned to the pair, saying, "All right. They'll be here any minute.

"Now, be nice, Daddy. He's every witch's dream, plus a vaultful of galleons more." She smirked.

"Then of course I'll be friendly," Mr. Patil replied, and chuckled.

Parvati joined in as well, but the laughter fell away as she said, "Oh, okay. Here they are."

Emerging from the courtyard door came Ron, Holly, and Ginny, who was toting Patches the cat, all dressed in their finery and making their way for Parvati and her parents. Quickly changing her expression to look pleasantly happy, Parvati met them halfway, hugging and kissing Ron hello.

"Hi, Ronnie, darling," she said sweetly, and then turned to the others. "Hey there, Amy, Ginny. And Patches, what are you doing here?"

"Amy and Ginny wanted to bring him. You know how much my sister loves cats," Ron replied, smiling.

Parvati extended her hand to stroke Patches, but he reared away, hissing. She rolled her eyes at the cat, and then turned back to her parents, waving them over. "Mum, Dad. At last you finally get to meet my fiancé, Ron Weasley. And Ron, these are my parents."

Looking over at Holly, she then said, "And this is Ron's darling daughter, Amy."

Mr. and Mrs. Patil greeted her with wide smiles. "Isn't she just the most precious girl?" Parvati's mother said. "You've got such pretty hair! Wouldn't it be lovely if we did it up in those cutesy little pigtails?"

Holly groaned inwardly, knowing that there would be much more headache ahead.

* * *

If any Muggles had been paying attention at all, which they usually weren't, they might have seen three people and their luggage suddenly pop out of nowhere at the end of the street, for some interesting reason, holding an old soup can between them. But as usual, no one had any cares about this at all, and Hermione, Harry, and Amy were basically ignored as they gathered themselves and started up the street with their trunks. The Leaky Cauldron was just up ahead.

"As soon as I get in there, I'm going to get the tallest glass of rum known to humanity," Hermione said aimlessly, pushing her trunk along. "Because this day could use with some shaping up."

Harry and Amy exchanged a glance, and then Harry said, "I don't think that'd be the best idea there, Herm. After seeing Ron for the first time in all these years, I don't think being drunk is the kind of hope you'd have for yourself."

"Perhaps you're right," she replied. "I should get. . .two glasses, then."

Harry scratched his head. "Er, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

Amy spoke up. "How about we just get inside, get on the lift and take our trunks upstairs, and then go meet up with Dad?"

"Yes, now that's a good idea." Harry gently took hold of Hermione's arm. "Why don't we do that, and. . .steer clear of the bar. . .?"

"May I at least have a gillywater, then?" She asked sardonically.

"I'm not letting you get a twist with it," he told her as they got closer to the Leaky Cauldron.

Amy sighed as she followed along. "This is just fantastic."

* * *

Meanwhile, Parvati, her parents, Ron, Holly and Ginny were just walking out of the courtyard door after a quick visit to Diagon Alley, and back into the Leaky Cauldron and the throng of witches and wizards.

While everyone was following her, Parvati was doing the talking. "Ronnie, dear, I think Madame Burnadette's Banquet Hall is the perfect place to have our wedding at! I mean, getting married back at the orchard is lovely indeed, but I just think that Diagon Alley is the most wonderful place!" She giggled to try and smooth everything over.

Ron bought it, putting an arm around Parvati and pulling her close as they stopped suddenly to talk with her parents. However, Holly and Ginny walked on by, keeping their eyes sharp for a few very particular individuals.

Parvati turned to her mum and dad. "Okay, so I've checked out rooms upstairs for us. Why don't we go up and unpack, and then we can meet for supper?"

"Sounds great," Mr. Patil said, and then, "Is eight-thirty a good time?"

"Fab!" She replied, joining Ron again as her parents headed in the other direction, cuddling closer to him. "Ronnie, that sounds lovely. . .why don't we, go on. . .upstairs?"

He smiled back at her, wrapping an arm round her waist.

Meanwhile, not too very far from them, Hermione, Harry, and Amy had finally gotten inside the Leaky Cauldron, trekking towards the lift - which Tom had put in after adding another floor of rooms - to go up to theirs. They had just gotten inside when Hermione slipped back out again, having forgotten her handbag at the bar where they'd checked in.

That's where Holly and Ginny popped in, the latter still carrying Patches. Through the opened doors of the lift, Holly spotted Amy and Harry, and involuntarily, she gasped in surprise. Ginny saw as well, and as did Patches the cat, he leapt clear from his master's arms and across the floor towards Amy, who scooped him up happily. Before Holly or Amy could exchange any words, the door closed, cutting them off from view.

"Ames, you didn't have to wait on me, I could have gotten upstairs to the room by myself," a voice behind her proclaimed.

Immediately Holly and Ginny looked behind them, revealing none-other-than Hermione herself, making her way towards them. Ginny quickly turned around so that Hermione wouldn't see her.

"Mum, er. . ." Holly didn't know what to say, but Hermione continued on.

"Besides, I think I need a little pick-me-up at the bar. Go on and I'll meet you upstairs later on." She smiled at her daughter and then started for the courtyard door.

Holly turned back to Ginny. "Wonderful. Now what do we do?"

Her aunt smiled as they started for the lift. "Well, I guess just meet her upstairs!"

A few minutes later, Ron and Parvati appeared, holding hands. The door to the lift opened to admit them, and playfully they pushed each other inside, and she embraced him closely, her back facing the door.

And then it happened.

Hermione, tossing the handle of her handbag up over her shoulder, she walked past the lift door as it progressed to close, and then looked up to wait for the lift's return. Her eyes grew twice their normal size as they locked into a pair of blue ones, whose own emotions reflected hers.

Ron's embrace on Parvati loosened immediately and, as the door proceeded to slide to a close, he did so as well, leaning all the way to the other side of the lift as to not loose sight of Hermione, or the fusion of her cinnamon brown eyes staring into his.

But the door eventually did come to a close, completely cutting off their vision of each other and, Hermione, who still remained, had yet torn her eyes from the lift's door, as if Ron's were still there.

* * *

After resorting to take the stairs, Hermione wearily trudged up them to the next floor and called out, as she approached her room, "Amy Weasley!"

A moment later, both girls appeared in the same doorway, looking innocently up at their mother, who's shoulders dropped and she moaned. "Oh, please don't do this, I'm already stressed out as it is."

Holly smiled at her mum, stepping forward. "Mum, it's me, Holly!"

Hermione returned the smile and hugged her daughter. "It's so wonderful to see you, love," she said softly. "And you, too, Amy!" She reached out her other arm to embrace Amy. "It's lovely to see you two together at last.

"But how could you do this to me?" Hermione sighed, letting them go. "Meeting up with your father for the first time in so long feels like more than I can take right now."

Suddenly, from the same door that the girls had came out of, Ginny appeared. "Might I ask that we continue this inside?"

The girls filed into the room behind Ginny, and Hermione was just about to follow when she was stopped. "It's good to see you again, Hermione. I wish we'd kind of stayed in touch, you know?" She smiled.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, me too, Gin."

After she'd walked in and Ginny'd closed the door, Hermione looked over at her twin daughters, who were seated across from each other on the sofa, looking nervously at their mother.

She started in right away. "One of you told me that your father knew I was arriving here today!" Hermione paced up and down the floor in front of them. "And I'll have you know that the man I saw downstairs in the tavern had, it appears to be, no idea that he and I were on the same continent, not to mention in the same inn!"

Both girls cringed and Amy said, "You've already seen Dad?"

Hermione dropped down into an armchair near the fireplace. "I sure did." She sighed. "He just stood there and stared at me as if I were an escapee from Azkaban!"

Amy and Holly looked uneasily at each other, and then back at their mum as she continued speaking. "I reckon I've thought about what it would be like to see him again, but in a stuffy tavern with Ron's arms wrapped round some woman is not exactly what I had been thinking of, you know."

The three of them and Ginny, who'd been standing in the doorway, were quiet for a time before the silence was broken by Harry, who'd just walked in from the other room. "Well," he said with a sigh, his arms crossed, "How's it going in here?"

"Harry!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed, stepping into the room from the doorway. Her eyes were wide with an emotion that Amy nor Holly couldn't quite identify.

His bright green eyes stared right back at her. "Ginny, it's you. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" He smiled.

"Too long," she said abruptly.

"You look great," Harry complimented her. "Really great."

She smiled bashfully, and said, "So do you."

Hermione grinned at this, but immediately remembered herself and turned to Amy and Holly, and got up to start pacing again. "Girls, might you please enlighten me on why you brought me here without telling your dad?"

"Will they?" Ginny said quickly. "Okay, well, then I'm going to just go back downstairs and, er, have a butterbeer, or two. . .or six. . ."

"I'll come along!" Harry exclaimed, rushing alongside after her.

Hermione held up her hands. "Hold it one minute, there!" She called, and the pair immediately halted in their tracks. "Does. . .everyone here know something that I don't?"

All was quiet for several moments before someone spoke up again, who turned out to be Holly. "Mum. . .Dad's engaged to be married. And. . .she's so horrid, and. . .so terribly the wrong person from him to marry!"

She didn't know why, but Hermione felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her, and she collapsed into the armchair once more, finding that all she could do was stare at her daughter.

Amy spoke up then. "We just can't let him marry her! She's only after him because Dad's a famous Quidditch player! And we know one way he won't go through with it, and it's. . .if he sees you again."

Hermione was dumbfounded. "Wait a moment. . .you're-you're not trying to get your father and I together again!"

Holly nodded vigorously. "To be honest, Mum, yes, we are. You're perfect for each other!"

She rubbed her forehead with her hand for a moment, murmuring, "Oh, I've got a headache." Raising her gaze over towards Harry and Ginny, she saw they were trying to sneak away again. Pointing, she exclaimed, "Halt there, you two! You knew about this?"

They turned around guiltily to look at Hermione. "Well, er," Ginny stammered, looking at Harry. "May-maybe just an inkling. . ."

Harry merely smirked. "Well, the girls are right, Madam. . ."

Hermione sighed loudly, getting to her feet. "All right. Listen to me close, everyone. Ronald Weasley and I have absolutely nothing in common. . .anymore! By the way, just in case you hadn't noticed, he seems extremely content with his skintight robe wearing bride-to-be!"

" - Parvati," Ginny put in.

She shot her a long. "You're kidding me."

Ginny shook her head disdainfully. "I kid you not, Herm."

Hermione hastily ruffled her hair. "Well, looking beyond that. I want the two of you -" She looked back at Amy and Holly, " - To tell your dad that I am here only for one reason, and that's to get Amy back with him and Holly with me. So, let's do what we have to do and be done with it. Have you got me?"

* * *

On the uppermost level - the third floor - Ron was just slipping out of his room, adjusting the collar on his navy blue robes. As he rushed quickly down the corridor, he saw Holly making her way towards him. "Hey Ames, what's going on?"

"Not much." she replied, and then smiled. "Where're you going?"

"Oh, uh, er," he stammered, flustered. "Just down to the tavern for a bit. Oh, and can you do me a favor? Just, er, stay with Parvati for a little while?"

"Sure!" Holly replied a little too brightly.

"Oh, wait! Ames, do I look all right?" Ron looked down at his robes. "All the buttons in the right holes?"

"You look nice, Dad!" She started back up the hallway again, as Ron turned and rushed as fast as he could the other way, stepping into the lift going back down to the tavern.

Once it had stopped and opened its door to let him off, Ron got out and darted his gaze all around, as if trying to desperately to find something - or someone. While he was looking, someone else approached him.

"Dad!"

He turned around and Amy (still in her Holly masquerade) appeared into his sight. The redhead's brow furrowed. "I thought you were staying upstairs with Parvati."

"I was? Oh, oh that's right!" Amy replied, pretending. "I guess I'll be off looking for her." Suddenly she launched herself forward to hug him. "I sure am glad to see you, Dad!"

Ron awkwardly hugged back, not quite understanding what was going on. "Well, I'm glad to see you, too." After a moment, he let go of her saying, "Well, go on and get up there!"

She obliged, strolling over to the lift and standing nearby, waiting for its door to open and let her on. But before it could, the lift opened letting out someone else, who turned out to be, of course, Parvati herself.

She was adjusting the hem of her silk robes as she stepped out of the lift and then, upon seeing Amy, promptly asked, "Have you seen your father?"

"You're talking to me?"

Parvati rolled her eyes. "Who else would I be talking to? You're standing right there," she snapped.

"Oh, oh. . .Parvati," Amy realized. "He, er, went that way -" She pointed behind her, across the tavern, unknowingly gesturing at the courtyard door. " - I think."

She sighed impatiently. "Diagon Alley. Wonderful. What in the blazes did he go there for?" Parvati pulled her handbag up higher on her shoulder, and started for another side of the bar. "If you see your father, tell him he's late for dinner, and I'm waiting."

Amy watched her go. "Whatever you say," she responded sardonically.

* * *

In fact, Diagon Alley was actually where Ron had ended up going, after being unsuccessful at finding Hermione anywhere in the Leaky Cauldron. As it was nighttime there, the streets weren't as crowded, but a few of the shops were still open.

One in point was Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, whose outdoor tables and Chinese-style lanterns often brought crowds both days and nights. Stopping by now, Ron glanced from table to table, hoping that maybe Hermione was sitting among one of them. He hadn't much time to look so far, because the moment he turned around, Mr. and Mrs. Patil were at his heels.

"Hey there, Ron, we've been looking all over for you!" Parvati's mother said, bubbly. "We've just been by the banquet hall again, and I think it's perfect for the wedding. I just love everything I see!"

He nodded his head in agreement, distracted. Looking ahead of him, Ron could see the bricks of a brick wall slowly shifting themselves from side to side, and then moments later, out slipped Hermione, pulling her chestnut hair back with a taffeta ribbon, and then he breathed, in response to Mrs. Patil, "Absolutely."

She was speaking again, but Ron was only half-listening. "Now tell me, dear, because we'll have to know how big we might need to be expanding the banquet hall. Are all your brothers and sisters planning on attending the wedding?"

Ron's eyes were still dead-locked on Hermione, as she straightened her lilac robes and swept gracefully up the street. Turning halfway to Mrs. Patil, he said, "Er, I'm not completely sure yet. . .I'll have to owl them and, uh, let you know soon."

With that, he started away from them and up through the outdoor ice cream parlor, never taking his eyes away from Hermione as he made his way towards her. Except that Ron wasn't the most graceful person in the world, and he kept tripping over things as he walked, and just happened to knock into a table where Harry, Ginny, and Amy were seated, with Holly (whom he had not spotted yet) making her way there now.

"Ron, are you all right?" Ginny exclaimed as her brother knocked a chair askew, bumping his shin and cursing loudly.

"Yeah, I'm just bloody fine," he muttered, managing to dodge the next table. Except that his luck was short-lived, as he turned around and crashed right into a busboy, falling over and colliding with an empty table, the edge of it hitting his forehead.

Hermione, hearing the loud noise, looked across the street and, upon seeing Ron getting wearily up from the ground, could not help but let a small smile play on her lips.

As he helped the busboy turn the table and chairs erect again, Ron glanced to the side and saw Hermione slowly stepping towards him, and involuntarily, he did the same, giving her yet another of his classic lopsided smiles.

An awkward moment passed between them and finally he said, "Hello, 'Mione."

She sort of wrapped her arms around herself, but managed a smile for him. "H-hello there, Ron."

He stepped even closer to her, causing her heart to beat even faster than it already was. "Well, my stars, here you are," Hermione murmured, and then slowly sat down at the empty table.

Ron joined her, a confused look now passing over his face. "Is there, er, something I should know? I mean, I'm blow away to see you, but. . .you don't exactly be seeming to share that sentiment."

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, Holly appeared. "Um, Dad? I can. . .I can tell you why she's here."

Ron's brow furrowed as he looked at his daughter. "Amy? You-you know who she is?"

"Yes. I do," Holly replied. "And something else. . .I'm not Amy."

As if on cue (though perhaps it probably was) the subject matter herself appeared next to her sister. "Though I am."

Now it was Ron's turn to be dumbfounded. "The both of them are. . .here?" His eyes flickered from one girl to the other. "Holly? Amy?"

Holly smiled. "I, uh, I guess you and Mum both thought the other would send us to a different school because we met there and are in the same House and everything, so it didn't take us long to figure it out."

Hermione looked over at Ron. "They switched places on us."

The surprise in his eyes changed as they flickered back to his daughters. "I've-I've had Holly with me all this time?"

She nodded. "Uh hu. I really wanted to know what you were like, and Amy felt the same way about Mum so, we just. . ." Holly cut herself off. "You're not upset, are you?"

"Heavens, no!" Ron reassured her. "I just can't believe it's you!" He came forward and embraced Holly tightly. "Look at you, you're so grown up now!"

"Yeah," she agreed, slipping from her dad's hug. "But I could do better with a father."

Amy jumped in, smiling. "And I'm an aspiring young witch without a mum to teach me everything she knows!"

Ron shot a glance at her. "Amy, you've been in Bristol all this time?"

She nodded.

He grinned, holding his arms out to her. "C'mere, kid."

Amy smiled back, embracing her dad extra-close. "Mum is wonderful, Dad. I don't how you ever let her get away."

Ron gave her a sheepish look, not knowing what to say as Amy loosened her hug on him and rejoined her sister.

That was when Hermione jumped back into the conversation, saying, "Girls, why don't you go back to the inn and let your dad and I talk alone for a few minutes, okay?"

"Sure, that's all right," Amy said, and then she and Holly proclaimed in unison, "Take your time."

As the twins, Harry and Ginny strolled off for the brick wall, Ron sat down wearily, mumbling, "This is mad. Seeing everyone here today. . .my mind's reeling." He touched his hand to his forehead and winced as he touched a fresh cut on his brow. "Ouch."

Hermione dropped into the chair across from him and slipped her wand out of her pocket. "Here, let me help you with that," she said gently, pointing her wand at the cut and murmuring a simple healing spell.

As the skin knitted itself back together, he said, making conversation, "So, how are you, 'Mione? Or would you rather me call you Hermione, now?"

She shook her head. "Oh, no. 'Mione's fine. It's what you've always called me." Suddenly she smiled. "So why stop now?"

"Good reasoning." Ron's lopsided beam was back on his face. "You know, you haven't changed at all."

Before she could reply, a new voice cut in to their conversation.

"Well, here you are! It's about time!" Parvati's voice rang out as she appeared in front of their table. Suddenly her eyebrows drew up. "Oh, Hermione. Well, hello."

"Yeah," she said stiffly, the tension increasing. "So it seems you and Ron are engaged?"

"Yes." She smiled, though Hermione didn't find it to be an entirely friendly one. "Next week." Suddenly Parvati looked confused. "I thought you lived somewhere around Wales, Hermione. It's a. . .surprise. . .to see you in London."

Ron shifted uncomfortably, the tension thick enough to be cut with a knife. "You know, you can just bump into anyone in Diagon Alley!"

"Oh, can you?"

Holly suddenly appeared next to her, saying brightly, "Hi, Parvati!"

"Oh, hello," she said simply, looking back at Ron.

Amy, without missing a beat, followed suit, flanking Parvati's other side. "What's going on?"

She abruptly yelped, looking from girl to girl. "Goodness, there's two of you!"

Sheepishly Ron said, "Er, dear, I reckon I forgot to tell you. . .Amy's a twin."

"Yes, you did forget to tell me!" Parvati exclaimed, almost accusingly. She glanced over at Hermione, and then said, her voice calm once more, "But isn't this so lovely that we're all here staying at the Leaky Cauldron on the same vacation? Why, I think that's just cunning!"

Amy and Holly merely smiled amusedly at their parents.

* * *

To Be Continued