Chapter 7

Hermione was on a plane to Newark, New Jersey. I asked for the day off so I could meet her at the airport. Carl asked to pick her up, but Hermione wasn't comfortable travelling with a stranger, even if it was her father. She will be here for three weeks. Arrangements got made for her to spend Christmas Eve with Carl and his parents. When she called from the airport, she sounded extremely nervous. I reassured her as much as possible. Carl and I had communicated almost daily since I told him about Hermione. I sent him several photographs of her award ceremonies.

I dreaded our discussion about her encounter with the troll on Halloween. Her letter was multiple pages long. I know she still must be having nightmares. The only positive outcome from the event was gaining Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley as trusted and loyal friends. Those two boys manage to find themselves in all types of trouble. More often than I was comfortable with, Hermione was always along for the ride. In a way, I was afraid of something terrible happening to her, but I was also jealous of her adventures. Being best friends with Harry Potter will definitely keep her life exciting.

She flew into my arms as soon as she arrived at the baggage claim. "I missed you so much, Mom," she said as tears streamed down her face.

"I missed you too, sweetie. Carl, your father, would like to meet you right away. He's still at work filing paperwork. Are you alright with meeting him at work, or would you like somewhere more private?" I asked, giving her a choice. I reached into my purse for a thick hair tie and gently pulled her hair off her face.

"Thanks, Mom. About meeting Dad, we should just rip off the bandaid. It's best to get it out of the way," she wisely said. I nearly laughed. It was almost exactly what she said about new school assignments. Her approach is completely opposite to mine. I procrastinate for as long as possible. Maybe I should re-evaluate my approach.

I noticed she wore the clothes we bought during our last shopping trip; loose-fit jeans and an olive green button-up long sleeve shirt. Her winter coat was a neutral light brown. Hermione's hair got cut to shoulder length and extremely curly. "My hair tie broke on the plane," she muttered as I attempted to smooth down the flyaway locks. I wore tight jeans and a blue wrap shirt that perfectly matched my eye colour. My thick, curly hair got contained in my standard ponytail. I had traded my heels for a pair of sneakers, comfort being more important than fashion.

Winter boots really didn't fit into the comfortable shoe category. Fortunately, there wasn't too much snow covering the ground, so winter boots weren't necessary. Hermione snickered as she put on her coat. It had been too bulky to wear during the flight. I always stressed the importance of dressing appropriately for the weather. "My boots aren't too comfortable." She just smiled and shook her head as she pointed towards the ice cream counter.

We held hands as I carefully maneuvered through the airport to the parking garage. I dragged the luggage behind me as Hermione ate the ice cream cone I had purchased from the airport shop. There were a few inches of snow covering the ground made the surface slippery. But my sneaker treads prevented me from slipping. Hermione wisely remained silent.

I sent Carl a message, telling him Hermione had arrived. We are heading towards Trenton and the TPD. We caught up with events since our last correspondence. "I don't like your story about the troll. When Professor McGonagall sent the owl, I nearly had a heart attack. She said it was a twelve-foot-tall mountain troll. What were you thinking?" Hermione barely mentioned the troll from her adventures.

"Well, Harry and Ron didn't know I was already in that washroom when they locked the troll in with me. Luckily they unlocked the door and came in when they heard me scream. They already got warned by McGonagall, and I didn't want them to get suspended. I lied to keep them from further trouble," she confessed. She proceeded to tell me the entire story as I listened without interrupting her once.

"It was incredibly stupid, but I couldn't be more proud of you. Facing the troll must have been terrifying. Helping Ron with the spell to knock it out with its own club was pure genius. Harry was extremely brave to distract the troll as you worked with Ron. If you have ever questioned why you got sorted into Gryffindor, think about the bravery in facing the troll. I hope you could stay out of trouble, Hermione, but you are my daughter, so I should just hope your smarts help keep you safe." She sat up straight, clearly pleased with my praise. I could hear her mumbling different things to do and spells to learn. It wouldn't surprise me if she ordered books to learn defensive spells. Her charms professor, Filius Flitwick, sent me an owl notifying me of Hermione's ability to learn spells faster than any student he had the pleasure to teach. All her grades were the highest among her peers, except for defence against the dark arts. Harry Potter was the top student in that class. I wasn't surprised Hermione was quite alright with him having the highest grade. After all, Harry had defeated Voldemort, the greatest but most evil wizard of all time.

"How are you sleeping, sweetheart?" I asked once her mumbling subsided.

"I had nightmares for a few weeks, but Madam Pomfrey gave me a sleeping potion to ward off the dreams. Natural sleep is best, but whenever I found it difficult to concentrate from lack of sleep, I asked her for help." I was pleased she asked for help when needed. She was very independent and wasn't known to ask for help. Hermione told me about the three-headed dog Harry, Ron, and she encountered. Needless to say, I was not impressed they were in a forbidden area of the castle. Even though it was an accident, I could tell she was keen to discover what the dog protected beneath the trap door. "Harry and Ron are staying at Hogwarts. I asked Harry to research Nicolas Flamel. His name got mentioned when we asked Hagrid about his three-headed dog, Fluffy." Oh boy, I thought as she quietly added, "In the restricted section of the library."

Nicolas Flamel was a name I heard over the last few years. He was the creator and owner of the Philosopher's stone. It got rumoured to give the owner a wealth of money and an elixir to extend his life. I wanted to share my knowledge on the matter, but I feared it would cause more harm. One could only hope they don't discover who he is. I was afraid she would use her excellent deduction skills and look for whatever that dog protected. "Please don't go looking for trouble, Hermione," I practically begged.

"I won't, Mom, I promise. If trouble happens to find Harry, I'll do anything to help keep him safe." She was obviously loyal to her new friends. I also knew she was quite fond of Harry Potter. My Hermione makes me proud, but I still worry about her safety. I listened as she rambled on about Harry.

Our drive to Trenton seemed faster than usual. I found a spot close to the TPD entrance. My parking karma seemed to be better with Hermione in the car. We exited the car and walked towards the entrance. Hermione grabbed my hand when she saw a tall, muscular Italian man blocking the door.

"Well, look who finally decided to visit me," he leered. I saw the lust on his face as he first checked out Hermione, then me. I found it disgusting when he was visibly affected by my appearance. My fitted winter coat failed to hide my appealing figure.

"We're not here to see you, Morelli. I'm bringing her to see Carl Costanza," I stated as we attempted to move around his bulky mass.

"Who is Carl to you?" he sneered at my daughter. His eyes kept moving between the two of us, attempting to connect us. Realization hit when Hermione stood taller and stood directly in front of him.

She tipped up her chin and stared into his eyes. "He is my father. Now get out of my way, you big hairy troll." He immediately stepped back, surprised to hear Carl and I had a child together. Fear, sadness and another expression passed across his face. The last impression was truly hilarious. In all the years I've known him, he never looked completely lost or ashamed.

I started laughing after seeing the expression on his face. He looked lost and ashamed to have a little girl cause him to back down. Several officers, including Eddie, came to see who told off Joe Morelli. "Hi, I'm Eddie, a friend of your mother. You must be Hermione?"

She smiled when she recognized the man from the photo at home. "Pleasure to meet you, Eddie," she sweetly said. "And you are?" she snidely asked Joe as she looked towards him.

"Joe Morelli. I grew up with your mother," he attempted civility. Hermione was not impressed with his complete one-eighty in his attitude. It obviously rubbed her the wrong way.

She snorted before saying, "Mom, you forgot to mention he was a big hairy troll. I've heard a lot of stories about you. Stay away from me. I don't want to catch any diseases from you. Nobody knows where you have been." A shudder ran through her as Joe reached out to touch her.

I saw Joe raise his hand to grab her arm. "If you touch my daughter, it would be the last thing you ever do." Hatred flashed through my eyes. He wisely stepped farther back to allow us entry into the police station. As though he got summoned, Carl appeared when we moved past Morelli. He was wearing his uniform, but we didn't find it intimidating as most people would. I still found him to be attractive, but the pull I used to feel was long gone.

"Follow me to my office, ladies." We quickly followed Carl until we reached the room he shared with Eddie, Big Dog and Robin. Fortunately, we were the only people in the office. "Hi, I'm Carl," he said as he held his hand out to his daughter. I was shocked he didn't introduce himself as her father. He was tactfully giving her the option to accept him into her life.

"I'm Hermione, your daughter," she bravely said. My timid, shy girl is starting to grow up and be brave. She has always been fearless when standing up to strangers, but she was more apprehensive in front of her family. We sat in the chairs while we talked. I learned Hermione and Carl exchanged correspondence every few weeks. It certainly made this conversation more comfortable. Once Hermione visibly relaxed, Carl offered to show us around the precinct.

After our many introductions, Carl invited us to Pino's for dinner. He readily agreed to keep our secret. It would be dangerous for people to discover our daughter is a close friend of Harry Potter. She admitted to having a crush on him but felt Ron Weasley had a crush on her. I wasn't impressed to learn how much she helped them with homework. It didn't take me long to express my concerns.

"I'm not letting them copy my work, Mom," she argued as she began pulling textbooks from the backpack I had never noticed before. Nice way to be aware of your surroundings, Stephanie. Her books got carefully concealed.

"Not technically, but you are correcting their mistakes which, in my opinion, is almost the same as doing their homework for them," I attempted to reason.

Carl picked up a textbook and asked, "Advanced Mathematics?" He was obviously confused about how Math related to magic. I was trying hard not to laugh.

"It's really my Charms textbook, Dad. I can't do my homework in a highly-populated Muggle area without having concealment charms on my books," she patiently explained. We continued discussing her need to assist Harry and Ron with their homework.

"Harry and Ron are smart. They're just a little lazy and leave their homework to the last possible second," she said as she defended her friends. I noticed her eyes sparkled when she had uttered Harry's name.

Our safe sex talk needs to happen sooner than I expected. We already had the puberty discussion. Or should I say Hermione researched and told me everything that will be changing in her body? She is well versed in puberty. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if she had already researched safe sex methods.

"Why on earth would you confront a fully grown troll?" Carl asked. I obviously missed her story while lost in my thoughts. Thankfully, I cast the muffliato charm when we sat down, preventing others from overhearing our conversation.

"I didn't exactly confront him. It was more like being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Hermione explained. "After I lied to Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress, to protect Harry and Ron, we became best friends."

"You shouldn't lie to your teachers or other authoritative people. I'm a cop. I expect my daughter to follow the rules," he sternly stated. I had to roll my eyes. Hermione has always been a rule follower. This incident was the first time she had not followed the rules.

"That's a bit rich coming from you, Carl. At least I didn't break into the high school computer system to change my grades. I get excellent grades from studying and hard work," she snapped. Oh boy. Apparently, my daughter researched her father. Hermione was mumbling under her breath as she gathered her notebooks.

His jaw nearly hit the table. I watched as Hermione packed the small backpack she always carried. "How did she know? My juvie record got permanently sealed," he whispered.

"We have an extremely intelligent daughter. I imagine she dug into your school transcript and discovered your final grades didn't align with your midterm or assignment grades." I was rudely interrupted by a high-pitched angry voice.