Elisabeth rolled out of bed and glanced at her alarm clock. 3:52 p.m.
She changed quickly and went downstairs where she was met with the
delicious smells of french toast, bacon, coffee and all sorts of fruits.
She dropped onto a chair and grabbed an orange.
"Good afternoon Hermione."
"Good afternoon sweetheart, did you have a good sleep?"
Elisabeth nodded, "Where's everyone else?"
"Ron took the kids back home, he had to work today, Oliver dragged himself off to Quidditch practice, Fred and George had to get in a shipment of Dr. Filibusters' and Neville and Lavender went to start looking for a house for you and your dad. I have no idea where Remus and Sirius are and I have a feeling I don't want to."
Harry came bounding down the stairs, more like a nine-year-old than a twenty-nine year old.
"What on Earth are you doing Hermione?" he bent to kiss Elisabeth, and then grabbed an orange and started to peel it.
"I'm making breakfast, I had to go out and buy groceries, all you had in the fridge were mustard and pickles." She paused to set down a plate of food in front of Elisabeth and hen continued her tirade. "You ate better when you were living in the flat with Ron. And you have an eleven-year-old daughter with you."
Harry shrugged, "Elisabeth is happy, aren't you Lis?"
"Sure she's happy, but only because she has no real memories of a decent meal."
"She does so, my grocery day is Saturday, that's all."
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down with a cup of coffee, "When you," she looked pointedly at Harry and paused for effect, "finish breakfast I want you to go have a shower and get dressed. Then we'll figure out what you're going to pack and what you're going to sell."
"My bid is on the shag rug and the velvet chesterfield." Elisabeth piped up.
"We are not selling the rug! Or the chesterfield. That's final."
"No, you're right, we won't sell them, we'll burn them."
Elisabeth wrinkled her nose, "We can't burn them, Greenpeace will be after our necks, we should pour salicylic acid over them and let them melt quietly away."
Hermione laughed.
"Do you two know how much I paid for that sofa?" Harry demanded.
"You didn't pay anything for it, you and Ron stole it from the Slytherin common room."
"We did not! We stole a chair from the Hufflepuff common room."
"Ohhh, big difference."
"There is, there's a lot more dignity in stealing something from Hufflepuffs then Slytherins."
"There was absolutely no dignity at all in what you two did," she turned and looked at Elisabeth. "It was the middle of the war that basically hinged on the entire existence of man kind and you looked off the front lines and there were two guys running away with this chair, trying to outrun this little Hufflepuff kid that they beat up so they could get the chair."
"What were we supposed to do? We just finished school, we both had pregnant wives and I'll be damned if we could afford furniture."
Hermione shook her head, "You shouldn't have gone out and got us knocked up then." She muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Harry wolfed down the rest of his breakfast, muttering about women and how they always blame men for everything and men should just move to another planet.
Hermione said that it sounded very well but couldn't they wait until the kids were grown?
He finally finished his breakfast and raced back upstairs for a shower, shouting praises at Hermione for the delicious breakfast.
Elisabeth helped Hermione clear the table but the older woman did not need Elisabeth's help in washing the dishes as she opted to do it with magic.
When they were sitting down again Elisabeth tossed caution into the wind and asked Hermione the question that had been tearing at her mind since the previous day. "Why didn't people like my mother?"
Hermione did not look surprised by the question but she took her time answering it. "People, liked Susan well enough when she wasn't dating Harry. He and I were the popular couple, we were Head Boy and Girl, and we were favourites to win the war. Harry and I did date for a time, to please the people. But it didn't work; you can't date the person who you tell all your secrets to. At least we couldn't. So we broke up, still friends of course, the only thing different was that we didn't, well, you know." She glanced at Elisabeth who nodded. "Well, when your father started dating Susie, there was an uproar. She wasn't a bad person, she wasn't a mean person, she was in fact very pretty and very smart. When she got pregnant out of wedlock, people saw this as a final blow; they overlooked the fact that I was pregnant too. They married of course, but nobody ever really got over it." She smiled, "your dad is just being a prat, no one will bother you at Hogwarts, unless you end up in Slytherin, then your dad will disown you." She laughed, Elisabeth liked her laugh, her face brightened, like she was happy just because there was something so wonderful to laugh at.
"What-what happened to her, my mother, I mean?"
We don't know for sure," she sighed, "Half of those casualties, nobody who killed whom. Susan was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Well, we were all in the wrong place at the wrong time, it was a bloody war for crying out loud, it's just that the rest of us weren't killed."
"Why don't they all hate Ron too?"
"Because Ron is mentally challenged and they all probably figured that the only reason I married him was so that he didn't have to live with his mother the rest of his life. That or so I could live off his social security."
Elisabeth laughed, "Seriously?"
"Well, that is probably what everyone thinks, and Ron is retarded, just not enough to collect social security."
Harry came down the stairs and poured himself a cup of coffee, "How are my two favorite ladies?" he kissed both of them on the top of the head and dropped into a chair.
"It's a good thing I'm not Lavender," Hermione said, "Neville would think that I'd fallen in love with you, he'd feel bad because he thinks he isn't adequate."
"Yeah, well, it's a little late for Ron to be worrying."
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not think about that." Elisabeth said.
"Well, how do you think you came about?"
"K-mart. I was a blue light special. Some assembly required."
"We never put your brain in, I kept it for myself."
"Thanks dad, that's encouraging."
"If it makes any difference, you wouldn't be much smarter even with the brain, Harry sure isn't."
"Jerk."
"You're eating again?" Harry had just grabbed another apple.
"I'm a growing man."
"Growing my ass," Hermione said, "You've been the same height since fourth year."
"Come off it. The only reason you think I'm short is because-"
"Because you are short."
"No, because you're married to Ron who has been seven feet tall since he was six."
"Anyway, do you think we can start figuring out what to pack."
"The chesterfield, everything else can be replaced."
"No dad, we will be keeping everything else, the chesterfield can be replaced, I am planning on having friends."
"Real friends won't care about your dad's furniture."
"Then I don't suppose I'll have any real friends."
"Destrua!" Herman's voice carried from the front room.
"You didn't!" Harry cried, racing to the front room.
He threw the door open, "You did! How could you?
Elisabeth peered out from around her father's legs. It appeared Hermione had taken her wand to the chesterfield. No there was an empty, smoldering patch in the middle of the front room.
"You needed a new one anyway." Hermione said, observing the empty area.
Harry shook his head. "That thing had so many memories."
"The dungeons have lots of memories too. Doesn't mean they should still be in existence."
Harry shook his head and laughed. "What do you think we're going to sit on until we move?"
"You have a floor. And chairs. Make do, you slept on the kitchen table for three months after school ended."
"Seriously?" Elisabeth asked.
"Yes and you and the other two slept in dresser drawers."
"You're kidding."
"Wouldn't count on it." Harry looked at her over the tops of his glasses.
"Oh. My. God. You have GOT to be kidding me."
"Give four seventeen year olds three kids and a war, you're lucky you didn't sleep in the cupboards."
Elisabeth shook her head and Hermione smiled.
"Come on you guys, I want to get packed up before next Thursday."
Elisabeth cast one last despairing glance at her father and went up stairs to decide what she needed.
"Good afternoon Hermione."
"Good afternoon sweetheart, did you have a good sleep?"
Elisabeth nodded, "Where's everyone else?"
"Ron took the kids back home, he had to work today, Oliver dragged himself off to Quidditch practice, Fred and George had to get in a shipment of Dr. Filibusters' and Neville and Lavender went to start looking for a house for you and your dad. I have no idea where Remus and Sirius are and I have a feeling I don't want to."
Harry came bounding down the stairs, more like a nine-year-old than a twenty-nine year old.
"What on Earth are you doing Hermione?" he bent to kiss Elisabeth, and then grabbed an orange and started to peel it.
"I'm making breakfast, I had to go out and buy groceries, all you had in the fridge were mustard and pickles." She paused to set down a plate of food in front of Elisabeth and hen continued her tirade. "You ate better when you were living in the flat with Ron. And you have an eleven-year-old daughter with you."
Harry shrugged, "Elisabeth is happy, aren't you Lis?"
"Sure she's happy, but only because she has no real memories of a decent meal."
"She does so, my grocery day is Saturday, that's all."
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down with a cup of coffee, "When you," she looked pointedly at Harry and paused for effect, "finish breakfast I want you to go have a shower and get dressed. Then we'll figure out what you're going to pack and what you're going to sell."
"My bid is on the shag rug and the velvet chesterfield." Elisabeth piped up.
"We are not selling the rug! Or the chesterfield. That's final."
"No, you're right, we won't sell them, we'll burn them."
Elisabeth wrinkled her nose, "We can't burn them, Greenpeace will be after our necks, we should pour salicylic acid over them and let them melt quietly away."
Hermione laughed.
"Do you two know how much I paid for that sofa?" Harry demanded.
"You didn't pay anything for it, you and Ron stole it from the Slytherin common room."
"We did not! We stole a chair from the Hufflepuff common room."
"Ohhh, big difference."
"There is, there's a lot more dignity in stealing something from Hufflepuffs then Slytherins."
"There was absolutely no dignity at all in what you two did," she turned and looked at Elisabeth. "It was the middle of the war that basically hinged on the entire existence of man kind and you looked off the front lines and there were two guys running away with this chair, trying to outrun this little Hufflepuff kid that they beat up so they could get the chair."
"What were we supposed to do? We just finished school, we both had pregnant wives and I'll be damned if we could afford furniture."
Hermione shook her head, "You shouldn't have gone out and got us knocked up then." She muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Harry wolfed down the rest of his breakfast, muttering about women and how they always blame men for everything and men should just move to another planet.
Hermione said that it sounded very well but couldn't they wait until the kids were grown?
He finally finished his breakfast and raced back upstairs for a shower, shouting praises at Hermione for the delicious breakfast.
Elisabeth helped Hermione clear the table but the older woman did not need Elisabeth's help in washing the dishes as she opted to do it with magic.
When they were sitting down again Elisabeth tossed caution into the wind and asked Hermione the question that had been tearing at her mind since the previous day. "Why didn't people like my mother?"
Hermione did not look surprised by the question but she took her time answering it. "People, liked Susan well enough when she wasn't dating Harry. He and I were the popular couple, we were Head Boy and Girl, and we were favourites to win the war. Harry and I did date for a time, to please the people. But it didn't work; you can't date the person who you tell all your secrets to. At least we couldn't. So we broke up, still friends of course, the only thing different was that we didn't, well, you know." She glanced at Elisabeth who nodded. "Well, when your father started dating Susie, there was an uproar. She wasn't a bad person, she wasn't a mean person, she was in fact very pretty and very smart. When she got pregnant out of wedlock, people saw this as a final blow; they overlooked the fact that I was pregnant too. They married of course, but nobody ever really got over it." She smiled, "your dad is just being a prat, no one will bother you at Hogwarts, unless you end up in Slytherin, then your dad will disown you." She laughed, Elisabeth liked her laugh, her face brightened, like she was happy just because there was something so wonderful to laugh at.
"What-what happened to her, my mother, I mean?"
We don't know for sure," she sighed, "Half of those casualties, nobody who killed whom. Susan was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Well, we were all in the wrong place at the wrong time, it was a bloody war for crying out loud, it's just that the rest of us weren't killed."
"Why don't they all hate Ron too?"
"Because Ron is mentally challenged and they all probably figured that the only reason I married him was so that he didn't have to live with his mother the rest of his life. That or so I could live off his social security."
Elisabeth laughed, "Seriously?"
"Well, that is probably what everyone thinks, and Ron is retarded, just not enough to collect social security."
Harry came down the stairs and poured himself a cup of coffee, "How are my two favorite ladies?" he kissed both of them on the top of the head and dropped into a chair.
"It's a good thing I'm not Lavender," Hermione said, "Neville would think that I'd fallen in love with you, he'd feel bad because he thinks he isn't adequate."
"Yeah, well, it's a little late for Ron to be worrying."
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not think about that." Elisabeth said.
"Well, how do you think you came about?"
"K-mart. I was a blue light special. Some assembly required."
"We never put your brain in, I kept it for myself."
"Thanks dad, that's encouraging."
"If it makes any difference, you wouldn't be much smarter even with the brain, Harry sure isn't."
"Jerk."
"You're eating again?" Harry had just grabbed another apple.
"I'm a growing man."
"Growing my ass," Hermione said, "You've been the same height since fourth year."
"Come off it. The only reason you think I'm short is because-"
"Because you are short."
"No, because you're married to Ron who has been seven feet tall since he was six."
"Anyway, do you think we can start figuring out what to pack."
"The chesterfield, everything else can be replaced."
"No dad, we will be keeping everything else, the chesterfield can be replaced, I am planning on having friends."
"Real friends won't care about your dad's furniture."
"Then I don't suppose I'll have any real friends."
"Destrua!" Herman's voice carried from the front room.
"You didn't!" Harry cried, racing to the front room.
He threw the door open, "You did! How could you?
Elisabeth peered out from around her father's legs. It appeared Hermione had taken her wand to the chesterfield. No there was an empty, smoldering patch in the middle of the front room.
"You needed a new one anyway." Hermione said, observing the empty area.
Harry shook his head. "That thing had so many memories."
"The dungeons have lots of memories too. Doesn't mean they should still be in existence."
Harry shook his head and laughed. "What do you think we're going to sit on until we move?"
"You have a floor. And chairs. Make do, you slept on the kitchen table for three months after school ended."
"Seriously?" Elisabeth asked.
"Yes and you and the other two slept in dresser drawers."
"You're kidding."
"Wouldn't count on it." Harry looked at her over the tops of his glasses.
"Oh. My. God. You have GOT to be kidding me."
"Give four seventeen year olds three kids and a war, you're lucky you didn't sleep in the cupboards."
Elisabeth shook her head and Hermione smiled.
"Come on you guys, I want to get packed up before next Thursday."
Elisabeth cast one last despairing glance at her father and went up stairs to decide what she needed.