A/N: Okay, okay! I know it's been more than a week since I've posted, but for some reason, this chapter was really hard for me to write. Maybe cause as I was trying to write it, I kept thinking of fun ideas for later chapters and I couldn't concentrate on this one. Argh, well, I hope it turned out okay. I had a lot of ideas for this chapter, but when I'm writing I just try and go with the flow and this is what it got me. Please tell me if it's confusing, I always feel like my writing is confusing... Thanks for all of your encouraging reviews, I think reviews are like a fanfiction writer's air, it just keeps them going and if they didn't get them, they'd die! Anyway, THANKS A MILLION 'CAUSE Y'ALL ARE ONE IN A MILLION! Corney, eh?
REVIEWER CORNER: Sorry if last chapter seemed a bit OOC, I just figure, that by the time their all about to enter seventh year the three will be able to joke around and tease each other more without worrying, I dunno, sorry! And YES Hermione does need to punch Samantha, but I'm afraid she's going to hassle Hermione a bit more before she cracks and smacks her. Haven't really got the details worked out yet, but Hermione wouldn't hit her to defend herself, it's just not what she does. I'm glad y'all are enjoying my story and that I could make someone's day! All the enthusiastic reviews are great!!
Chapter 8
Hermione walked a few steps in front of Harry and Ron. She didn't want them to see the nervousness reflecting in her eyes. Her hands were clenched at her sides; she just knew that something was going to go wrong.
Hermione ran her fingers quickly through her hair. She thought she looked fine, she had a silver chain around her neck with a small 'H' hanging crookedly from it, she didn't think she looked gorgeous, but she was content in her dress casual attire and she hoped her family would be as well.
Ron's opinion however, was that she looked better than gorgeous, she looked... well, better than gorgeous. Harry, though he thought both his friends looked nice, was more occupied with the house. It was huge. Ron's house was big, yes, but these houses were two entirely different types of big. Ron's was big and cozy and full of obviously used furniture and objects. Hermione's house was huge and though it was filled with objects and furniture, Harry was quite scared to touch or sit on anything in fear of breaking it or getting it dirty.
Harry and Ron had only once before been to Hermione's house, but that was only for a short time before sixth year when they picked her up to take her to the Burrow. Harry smiled slightly as he looked at the polished wooden floors, perhaps Hermione's house would feel a bit more welcoming if it didn't contain a bunch of horrid old relatives.
Hermione quickly ran her fingers through her hair again as they approached the kitchen door. Was it stupid of her to try and straighten her hair, it looked awful, didn't it? She thought furiously.
"Hermione," Ron said, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts as he grabbed hold of her hand, just as she was about to run it through her hair once more. "Your hair looks wonderful, if you don't stop doing that, you're going to go bald. What are you so stressed out for?"
Hermione shook her head in reply, "I'm not stressed out." And with that, she pushed the door open and was greeted with the appraising looks of her family and an understanding look from Harry. Outwardly, she put on a smile, but on the inside she was panicking. She had successfully avoided being anywhere near her aunts and uncles so far, but she couldn't avoid them any longer. Here they were and Hermione couldn't have felt more helpless.
"Mum?" Hermione asked as she approached her mother, who was taking the chicken out of the oven.
"Yes dear?" Tabitha Granger responded, looking curiously at her daughter and noting the forced look of cheerfulness on her face.
"Do you need any help setting the table?" Hermione asked, wondering if her mum knew how horrible this whole situation was making her feel. Even though Mrs. Granger wasn't her real mother, she could read Hermione like a book. Ironic, don't you think?
"Yes, thank you." Mrs. Granger said as she handed Hermione a stack of plates and gave the boys some eating utensils to set out.
Soon the entire Granger family was sitting formally around the table. Samantha had come in after everyone else and when asked where she had been, she answered, "Just resting in Hermione's room." Hermione's father had made a quick 'welcome to the 20th annual Granger reunion' speech before dinner, but it didn't last long and soon everyone was eating.
The family quietly talked to one another while they ate. Hermione, who was sitting in between Ron and Harry, stayed quiet though. She seemed to be thinking hard about something, or perhaps she was just patiently waiting for the inevitable. The inevitable finally came when her aunt Chelsea finally decided to speak up.
"So, Ronald and Harry is it?" Chelsea asked the two boys in a sickeningly polite voice.
"Yes Ma'am." They replied. Both felt more than a little out of place at the dinner table, but neither felt as unwanted as Hermione. This fact seemed to be more and more tangible as dinner progressed. "You can just call me Ron though." Ron added.
"Yes, Ron," Chelsea emphasized his name, making it sound common and ugly. "How well do you enjoy that boys school you attend, it must get rather lonely there?" Ron furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Not really, I have Harry and a bunch of other boys to keep me company." Ron said after he swallowed the bite of food in his mouth and he jabbed his fork in Harry's direction.
"You must desire a females company though, correct? I mean, it is only natural." Chelsea asked with a wide grin plastered on her face.
"A females company?" Ron muttered, he was just trying to politely eat his dinner and this lady kept asking him stupid questions. "That's what I've got Hermione for isn't it?"
"Yes, of course, but you aren't able to see her during school are you?" Chelsea asked. Hermione stopped eating and stared at her aunt, she knew what she was up to.
"We get to see each other on occasion." Hermione said before Ron could slip up. "Our schools are rather close and we have dances occasionally and then we get to go visit a local town together every so often."
"Ron and I are just friends though, we aren't dating." Hermione said, before adding. "Harry and I aren't dating either." Chelsea looked at the three of them with smirk as she nodded. Ron furrowed his brow and began eating once more.
"Your hair looks nice Hermione." Samantha said with a smirk so that only Hermione and her friends could hear. "Well, nice compared to how it usually looks anyway. I guess you inherited looks as well as that criminal personality of yours from your parents, huh?" Hermione simply concentrated on her food as Ron and Harry glared hard at the arrogant blonde.
Silence overcame their side of the table as they all focused on eating. When most of the table was quiet, little six year old Bradley took this as his opportunity to speak up.
"Hermione?" He asked timidly.
"Yes Bradley?" Hermione asked, giving the boy an encouraging smile.
"Are you pregnant?" Bradley asked curiously. Hermione dropped her fork, eyes wide and smile fading, Ron and Harry were choking on their food beside her and the entire table stopped talking.
"Wha-what?" Hermione asked, he couldn't possibly have just asked her that, could he?
"Mum says that when a girl has boys spend the night with her, she always ends up pregnant." Bradley explained.
"Kids these days!" Bradley's mother, Susan, exclaimed with a short chuckle. "He must have overheard his father and me talking about something that happened on the news and misinterpreted it."
"But Mum, you said that Hermi-" Bradley started but was cut off by his mother clasping a hand quickly over his mouth. Tabitha Granger coughed and everyone slowly began eating once more. The awkward silence was deafening. Everyone was too afraid to speak, even Bradley remained unnaturally quiet, they all knew that Bradley's mum and dad had been bad talking Hermione, but no one seemed to want to point out their lie.
The soft scraping of forks against plates was all that could be heard. Ron and Harry were rather upset. Weren't Hermione's parents going to stand up for her? Why were they and Hermione acting as if they believed the load of crap that her aunt was dishing out, 'misinterpreted' that was bull.
Ron angrily began shoving loads of food in his mouth in order to prevent himself from saying something. He knew it would only make Hermione upset and that was the only thing that kept him from pulling out his wand and cursing the whole lot of them.
Dinner passed by silently and until Tabitha Granger began to bring out the dessert, no one seemed comfortable speaking at all. Aunt Chelsea however, was the first to once again resume a 'normal' conversation.
"Thank you Tabitha dear, it looks delicious." Aunt Chelsea said with a smile too big to be sincere and a little too much emphasis on the word 'looks'. "Have I mentioned that my beautiful Samantha graduated first in her class?" Everyone at the table smiled politely at her and nodded. In actuality she had mentioned that fact numerous times to the adults already.
Chelsea however, only seemed encouraged by the nods and she continued, "She was also Captain of her football team!" ((that's soccer for all you stupid Americans out there!! Oh... wait... that's me... d'oh!)) Several people replied with, 'that's great' and 'how wonderful' before Chelsea continued once more.
"Hermione, do you play any sports at your school?" Chelsea asked, already knowing the answer. Hermione inwardly grimaced; she knew it was only a matter of time before someone spoke to her directly.
"No, I don't, I prefer to focus on my studies." Hermione said, taking a bite of her desert. Ron, who was sitting to Hermione's left, had just finished his dessert and was reaching for seconds when he noticed Hermione's left hand clenched under the table.
"Of course, that after all is the most important thing. Not everyone can do and excel in both like my Samantha can." Chelsea glowed with pride and when Hermione chanced a look at Samantha, she couldn't have looked smugger. Hermione stared once again down at her dessert.
Suddenly, something warm was covering her fist and she looked down at her hand in shock. Ron's hand was comfortingly lying on top of hers. Her heart started beating rapidly and she looked up at Ron's face to discover the meaning behind this action. When she looked up at him though, she was met with the site of Ron, clumsily stuffing his face, eating utensil awkwardly clutched by his left hand. Hermione smiled softly at her best friend, he certainly wasn't ambidextrous.
Harry glanced curiously over at his two best friends. He laughed at how clumsily Ron was eating with his left hand before he noticed his right was under the table, as well was Hermione's left. Harry raised his eyebrows in curiosity as he continued to eat his desert. Mrs. Granger was a fabulous cook and he decided it would be polite to tell her so.
"Mrs. Granger," Harry said awkwardly, "Dinner was delicious and this chocolate stuff is great. You're a wonderful cook." Sure it wasn't the most elegant way to say it, but he got his point across and Mrs. Granger smiled brightly at his compliment.
"Thank you Harry, that's very sweet of you." Mrs. Granger smiled, "However, I can't take full credit, after all Hermione taught me how to make the dessert. I usually don't make it a habit to meddle with cooking desserts, but when Hermione made this for her father and I one night; I simply fell in love with it!"
Ron and Harry looked surprised at Hermione, she had never mentioned her interest in cooking before, but she avoided making eye contact with them as her cheeks began to tint a darker shade of pink.
"You make it better than I do though." Hermione admitted as she took another bite. Her mother frowned at her though, "Nonsense!" Mrs. Granger remarked as her and Hermione's eyes connected and Hermione gave her a grateful smile.
Chelsea looked back and forth between Hermione and Tabitha. There was an obvious connection there; one that Chelsea didn't believe existed between Samantha and herself. Jealousy taking over, she felt the need to speak up again. "Cooking is such a lovely talent to have, you know, a couple weeks ago, Samantha made us the most beautiful five course meal I have ever seen."
Hermione merely smiled and this time, it wasn't just for show. Her mother put on a good face for her husbands family just as much as Hermione did, they both despised the Granger relatives but put up with them for the sake of her dad. Ron was holding her hand... well, sort of, and her mother, though discretely, stood up for her and all was right with the world, if only for a moment.
This however, brought up a totally new concern. Why did Ron sort of holding her hand make her so happy? She certainly didn't fancy the tall, red headed boy, with broad shoulders, blue eyes that were deeper than the ocean itself, that endearing crooked smile, his muscular arms... whoa... what was she thinking? Her cheeks burned red.
Why didn't she want Ron to know why her family despised her so? She knew how sorry Ron felt for Harry. After all, he expressed it to her all the time in letters and such. She also knew how insecure Ron felt about himself, being the youngest of so many other Weasley boys. She was supposed to be the normal one in the group. Sure she had the whole 'Muggle-born' thing, but besides that, she was stable. She was secure with who she was, being an only child, she had no one to live up to but herself. She also didn't want Ron's pitying blue eyes, so often aimed at Harry, pointed at her. She didn't want pity.
No, she certainly didn't want pity. Hermione looked down at Ron's hand, still firmly situated on top of hers. Harry could offer her understanding, he knew what it was like to have a family that hated you, but comfort, he could try, but for some reason Ron's hand provided more comfort than a hug or anything from Harry ever had. Pity she didn't want, but comfort, she could live with that.
A/N: Questions, comments, concerns?? Please let me know!! Also! I got some questions about where I'm taking this story again... Actually, I know where I'm going with it; I'm just not sure about some of the details concerning it. Do y'all know what I'm talking about?? Some of these details include, punching Samantha, a car, R/Hr relationship and Hermione's real parents. I guess I really just want to explain what I'm sortta planning on doing with someone and see if it all makes sense and connects and all that jazz. Some of it is very minor, but for some reason, I just can't make up my mind. So, if you wanna listen to my summary and give a girl some help I would appreciate it, just let me know, I won't give out too much detail cause I don't wanna ruin everything but truthfully I'm not even sure about everything yet myself, it's a surprise to me still too!! So, thanks for reading!!
REVIEWER CORNER: Sorry if last chapter seemed a bit OOC, I just figure, that by the time their all about to enter seventh year the three will be able to joke around and tease each other more without worrying, I dunno, sorry! And YES Hermione does need to punch Samantha, but I'm afraid she's going to hassle Hermione a bit more before she cracks and smacks her. Haven't really got the details worked out yet, but Hermione wouldn't hit her to defend herself, it's just not what she does. I'm glad y'all are enjoying my story and that I could make someone's day! All the enthusiastic reviews are great!!
Chapter 8
Hermione walked a few steps in front of Harry and Ron. She didn't want them to see the nervousness reflecting in her eyes. Her hands were clenched at her sides; she just knew that something was going to go wrong.
Hermione ran her fingers quickly through her hair. She thought she looked fine, she had a silver chain around her neck with a small 'H' hanging crookedly from it, she didn't think she looked gorgeous, but she was content in her dress casual attire and she hoped her family would be as well.
Ron's opinion however, was that she looked better than gorgeous, she looked... well, better than gorgeous. Harry, though he thought both his friends looked nice, was more occupied with the house. It was huge. Ron's house was big, yes, but these houses were two entirely different types of big. Ron's was big and cozy and full of obviously used furniture and objects. Hermione's house was huge and though it was filled with objects and furniture, Harry was quite scared to touch or sit on anything in fear of breaking it or getting it dirty.
Harry and Ron had only once before been to Hermione's house, but that was only for a short time before sixth year when they picked her up to take her to the Burrow. Harry smiled slightly as he looked at the polished wooden floors, perhaps Hermione's house would feel a bit more welcoming if it didn't contain a bunch of horrid old relatives.
Hermione quickly ran her fingers through her hair again as they approached the kitchen door. Was it stupid of her to try and straighten her hair, it looked awful, didn't it? She thought furiously.
"Hermione," Ron said, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts as he grabbed hold of her hand, just as she was about to run it through her hair once more. "Your hair looks wonderful, if you don't stop doing that, you're going to go bald. What are you so stressed out for?"
Hermione shook her head in reply, "I'm not stressed out." And with that, she pushed the door open and was greeted with the appraising looks of her family and an understanding look from Harry. Outwardly, she put on a smile, but on the inside she was panicking. She had successfully avoided being anywhere near her aunts and uncles so far, but she couldn't avoid them any longer. Here they were and Hermione couldn't have felt more helpless.
"Mum?" Hermione asked as she approached her mother, who was taking the chicken out of the oven.
"Yes dear?" Tabitha Granger responded, looking curiously at her daughter and noting the forced look of cheerfulness on her face.
"Do you need any help setting the table?" Hermione asked, wondering if her mum knew how horrible this whole situation was making her feel. Even though Mrs. Granger wasn't her real mother, she could read Hermione like a book. Ironic, don't you think?
"Yes, thank you." Mrs. Granger said as she handed Hermione a stack of plates and gave the boys some eating utensils to set out.
Soon the entire Granger family was sitting formally around the table. Samantha had come in after everyone else and when asked where she had been, she answered, "Just resting in Hermione's room." Hermione's father had made a quick 'welcome to the 20th annual Granger reunion' speech before dinner, but it didn't last long and soon everyone was eating.
The family quietly talked to one another while they ate. Hermione, who was sitting in between Ron and Harry, stayed quiet though. She seemed to be thinking hard about something, or perhaps she was just patiently waiting for the inevitable. The inevitable finally came when her aunt Chelsea finally decided to speak up.
"So, Ronald and Harry is it?" Chelsea asked the two boys in a sickeningly polite voice.
"Yes Ma'am." They replied. Both felt more than a little out of place at the dinner table, but neither felt as unwanted as Hermione. This fact seemed to be more and more tangible as dinner progressed. "You can just call me Ron though." Ron added.
"Yes, Ron," Chelsea emphasized his name, making it sound common and ugly. "How well do you enjoy that boys school you attend, it must get rather lonely there?" Ron furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Not really, I have Harry and a bunch of other boys to keep me company." Ron said after he swallowed the bite of food in his mouth and he jabbed his fork in Harry's direction.
"You must desire a females company though, correct? I mean, it is only natural." Chelsea asked with a wide grin plastered on her face.
"A females company?" Ron muttered, he was just trying to politely eat his dinner and this lady kept asking him stupid questions. "That's what I've got Hermione for isn't it?"
"Yes, of course, but you aren't able to see her during school are you?" Chelsea asked. Hermione stopped eating and stared at her aunt, she knew what she was up to.
"We get to see each other on occasion." Hermione said before Ron could slip up. "Our schools are rather close and we have dances occasionally and then we get to go visit a local town together every so often."
"Ron and I are just friends though, we aren't dating." Hermione said, before adding. "Harry and I aren't dating either." Chelsea looked at the three of them with smirk as she nodded. Ron furrowed his brow and began eating once more.
"Your hair looks nice Hermione." Samantha said with a smirk so that only Hermione and her friends could hear. "Well, nice compared to how it usually looks anyway. I guess you inherited looks as well as that criminal personality of yours from your parents, huh?" Hermione simply concentrated on her food as Ron and Harry glared hard at the arrogant blonde.
Silence overcame their side of the table as they all focused on eating. When most of the table was quiet, little six year old Bradley took this as his opportunity to speak up.
"Hermione?" He asked timidly.
"Yes Bradley?" Hermione asked, giving the boy an encouraging smile.
"Are you pregnant?" Bradley asked curiously. Hermione dropped her fork, eyes wide and smile fading, Ron and Harry were choking on their food beside her and the entire table stopped talking.
"Wha-what?" Hermione asked, he couldn't possibly have just asked her that, could he?
"Mum says that when a girl has boys spend the night with her, she always ends up pregnant." Bradley explained.
"Kids these days!" Bradley's mother, Susan, exclaimed with a short chuckle. "He must have overheard his father and me talking about something that happened on the news and misinterpreted it."
"But Mum, you said that Hermi-" Bradley started but was cut off by his mother clasping a hand quickly over his mouth. Tabitha Granger coughed and everyone slowly began eating once more. The awkward silence was deafening. Everyone was too afraid to speak, even Bradley remained unnaturally quiet, they all knew that Bradley's mum and dad had been bad talking Hermione, but no one seemed to want to point out their lie.
The soft scraping of forks against plates was all that could be heard. Ron and Harry were rather upset. Weren't Hermione's parents going to stand up for her? Why were they and Hermione acting as if they believed the load of crap that her aunt was dishing out, 'misinterpreted' that was bull.
Ron angrily began shoving loads of food in his mouth in order to prevent himself from saying something. He knew it would only make Hermione upset and that was the only thing that kept him from pulling out his wand and cursing the whole lot of them.
Dinner passed by silently and until Tabitha Granger began to bring out the dessert, no one seemed comfortable speaking at all. Aunt Chelsea however, was the first to once again resume a 'normal' conversation.
"Thank you Tabitha dear, it looks delicious." Aunt Chelsea said with a smile too big to be sincere and a little too much emphasis on the word 'looks'. "Have I mentioned that my beautiful Samantha graduated first in her class?" Everyone at the table smiled politely at her and nodded. In actuality she had mentioned that fact numerous times to the adults already.
Chelsea however, only seemed encouraged by the nods and she continued, "She was also Captain of her football team!" ((that's soccer for all you stupid Americans out there!! Oh... wait... that's me... d'oh!)) Several people replied with, 'that's great' and 'how wonderful' before Chelsea continued once more.
"Hermione, do you play any sports at your school?" Chelsea asked, already knowing the answer. Hermione inwardly grimaced; she knew it was only a matter of time before someone spoke to her directly.
"No, I don't, I prefer to focus on my studies." Hermione said, taking a bite of her desert. Ron, who was sitting to Hermione's left, had just finished his dessert and was reaching for seconds when he noticed Hermione's left hand clenched under the table.
"Of course, that after all is the most important thing. Not everyone can do and excel in both like my Samantha can." Chelsea glowed with pride and when Hermione chanced a look at Samantha, she couldn't have looked smugger. Hermione stared once again down at her dessert.
Suddenly, something warm was covering her fist and she looked down at her hand in shock. Ron's hand was comfortingly lying on top of hers. Her heart started beating rapidly and she looked up at Ron's face to discover the meaning behind this action. When she looked up at him though, she was met with the site of Ron, clumsily stuffing his face, eating utensil awkwardly clutched by his left hand. Hermione smiled softly at her best friend, he certainly wasn't ambidextrous.
Harry glanced curiously over at his two best friends. He laughed at how clumsily Ron was eating with his left hand before he noticed his right was under the table, as well was Hermione's left. Harry raised his eyebrows in curiosity as he continued to eat his desert. Mrs. Granger was a fabulous cook and he decided it would be polite to tell her so.
"Mrs. Granger," Harry said awkwardly, "Dinner was delicious and this chocolate stuff is great. You're a wonderful cook." Sure it wasn't the most elegant way to say it, but he got his point across and Mrs. Granger smiled brightly at his compliment.
"Thank you Harry, that's very sweet of you." Mrs. Granger smiled, "However, I can't take full credit, after all Hermione taught me how to make the dessert. I usually don't make it a habit to meddle with cooking desserts, but when Hermione made this for her father and I one night; I simply fell in love with it!"
Ron and Harry looked surprised at Hermione, she had never mentioned her interest in cooking before, but she avoided making eye contact with them as her cheeks began to tint a darker shade of pink.
"You make it better than I do though." Hermione admitted as she took another bite. Her mother frowned at her though, "Nonsense!" Mrs. Granger remarked as her and Hermione's eyes connected and Hermione gave her a grateful smile.
Chelsea looked back and forth between Hermione and Tabitha. There was an obvious connection there; one that Chelsea didn't believe existed between Samantha and herself. Jealousy taking over, she felt the need to speak up again. "Cooking is such a lovely talent to have, you know, a couple weeks ago, Samantha made us the most beautiful five course meal I have ever seen."
Hermione merely smiled and this time, it wasn't just for show. Her mother put on a good face for her husbands family just as much as Hermione did, they both despised the Granger relatives but put up with them for the sake of her dad. Ron was holding her hand... well, sort of, and her mother, though discretely, stood up for her and all was right with the world, if only for a moment.
This however, brought up a totally new concern. Why did Ron sort of holding her hand make her so happy? She certainly didn't fancy the tall, red headed boy, with broad shoulders, blue eyes that were deeper than the ocean itself, that endearing crooked smile, his muscular arms... whoa... what was she thinking? Her cheeks burned red.
Why didn't she want Ron to know why her family despised her so? She knew how sorry Ron felt for Harry. After all, he expressed it to her all the time in letters and such. She also knew how insecure Ron felt about himself, being the youngest of so many other Weasley boys. She was supposed to be the normal one in the group. Sure she had the whole 'Muggle-born' thing, but besides that, she was stable. She was secure with who she was, being an only child, she had no one to live up to but herself. She also didn't want Ron's pitying blue eyes, so often aimed at Harry, pointed at her. She didn't want pity.
No, she certainly didn't want pity. Hermione looked down at Ron's hand, still firmly situated on top of hers. Harry could offer her understanding, he knew what it was like to have a family that hated you, but comfort, he could try, but for some reason Ron's hand provided more comfort than a hug or anything from Harry ever had. Pity she didn't want, but comfort, she could live with that.
A/N: Questions, comments, concerns?? Please let me know!! Also! I got some questions about where I'm taking this story again... Actually, I know where I'm going with it; I'm just not sure about some of the details concerning it. Do y'all know what I'm talking about?? Some of these details include, punching Samantha, a car, R/Hr relationship and Hermione's real parents. I guess I really just want to explain what I'm sortta planning on doing with someone and see if it all makes sense and connects and all that jazz. Some of it is very minor, but for some reason, I just can't make up my mind. So, if you wanna listen to my summary and give a girl some help I would appreciate it, just let me know, I won't give out too much detail cause I don't wanna ruin everything but truthfully I'm not even sure about everything yet myself, it's a surprise to me still too!! So, thanks for reading!!