One Fine Day

BACKGROUND: Set seven and a half years after their final year at Hogwarts. With flashbacks to mainly just the end of the school year and times after it. In my special mind, only up to book 5 has happened, so disregard all the horrible stuff that happened in HBP. Harry defeated Voldemort just after the 6th year. But this story's not about Harry. It's about Hermione and her daughter Marli-Jane. Most everything else should be answered in the story eventually. This sentence makes it the same number of wordsas chapter3.

Chapter 1: The Letter

"Angel, it's time to get up! You have school in an hour! Breakfast is almost ready!" Hermione Granger walked into her seven-year-old daughter's bedroom to wake her up for school. Harmony looked at her daughter, Marli-Jane, and wondered the same thing she had been thinking since the day she'd found out she was pregnant...

"Honey! Could you come down here? We need to talk about something I found!" A slender woman stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up hoping her daughter would come down. She stepped back as a head of brown stumbled quite un-gracefully down the last few steps.

Hermione sat on the bar stool and looked at her mom.

"Yeah? Whadya need?"

"Well, I was cleaning the house today, and I got to the bathroom. I was looking in the cabinet for some cleaning solution, and well, I found something." Hermione's face paled and she nodded. When her mom realized her theory was true, she reached for her only daughter and hugged her with all her might. "Hermione, we'll get through this. I'll help you. Your dad will help you. We'll all help you."

"No! Mom, you don't understand. You can't help me. I have to leave. I have to go somewhere far away. America maybe. I can't stay here. I've seen the test. I know it was blue." Hermione let out another sob and continued to talk to her mother.

"Mom, I just can't face staying here. You can come and visit me, but I can't stay here in London." Mrs. Granger tried to stop her from talking but Hermione put her hand up. "No, mom. Don't try and stop me. I've contacted the Ministry of Magic in America, they've offered me a job. But I have to go soon. They're expecting me there in no later than a month, or they'll give the job to someone else. Do you remember Amanda Shiver? The girl who used to live next door? Well, she moved to America with her family a long time ago. I believe it was before I even left for Hogwarts. Well, I've contacted her, she's living in New York at the moment. That's actually where the Ministry is. So, she said that I could live with her. But she's a Muggle, so I'd have to keep my job a secret. Mom, I've got everything worked out."

Hermione's mother began to sob just as she had been doing previously.

"Mom, don't-"

"No, Hermione. You do what you've got to do. I can always come visit you. You gave me some of that fly powder for Christmas last year."

"Mom, it's floo powder. And you can't just use it and come. I'll be staying with a muggle. I'll let you know when it's safe to come and by which method. But for now, just stay here. I have so many unanswered questions about this..."

"Do you know the father?"

"What?"

"Hermione, when you conceived this child, around that time... how many did you do it with?"

"Just one."

"Okay, well that makes it easier. Now who was it? We need to know who the father is."

"Mom, I don't know. We had a masquerade ball that night. It was right after graduation. Professor Dumbledore cast a charm to where we couldn't find out who we were dancing with and it was impossible to figure it out. I don't know who it was..."

"Oh. Well, if you have to do this, as you say, I'm not going to stop you. But I want letters. Updates. Phone calls. Let me know everything."

"Yes mom."

Who was the father? From the time she stepped on the plane, to the time she got off, to the seven years she lived with a muggle and managed to keep her job a secret, she always wondered who the father was. That was all she wanted to know. She wanted her daughter to be raised with a father as well as a mother.

Hermione remembered all the dances they'd danced, and the way he looked at her with absolute adoration and pure love. Even if it was just one night, she knew that it was the man she wanted to marry. Of course, he was gone by the time she woke up the next morning. So it could have been any Seventh year boy, or maybe a Sixth year that had been there with a Seventh year. But there were only two that she knew of. And the one she danced with had the most beautiful eyes ever.

His eyes. Marli-Jane had her father's eyes. She just didn't know who they belonged to. They were so mesmerizing and captivating. She remembered staring at his eyes the entire night.

"Okay, Hermione... Push!" Hermione decided to have the baby the muggle way so she wouldn't cause very much suspicion from her roommate, Amanda. The two had been living together since she'd arrived eight months previous, and they'd instantly become best friends again.

After a few more pushes, the baby was out and she had a healthy baby girl. The nurses cleaned her off and handed her back to her mother. Hermione held the baby in her arm and looked at the eyes. She stared at the eyes and started to feel tears well up in her eyes.

"Hermione? Do you know who the father is?"

"Um... No. I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't apologize child."

Hermione and Marli-Jane sat in the hospital bed for only five minutes before Amanda came rushing through the door.

"Did I miss it? Oh, I did. Oh my God Hermione! She's beautiful!" The two fawned over the new baby and all Hermione did was notice her eyes...

"Mom! Guess what! We're going to the Zoo today! Yay!" Marli-Jane came bounding down the stairs of their little town house outside of New York City and made it to the kitchen with out falling.

"Yup, angel. You are. But Mommy can't go. I have to work today. I'll check with my boss and see if I can meet you there later though."

"Okay!" Marli-Jane looked pretty close to identical to her mother. She had the bushy brown head, but it had strands of a lighter color in it. Her teeth, yes. They were starting to look like she was going to be buck-toothed. She loved to read, but she loved taking trips on airplanes too, even though she was only seven. Hermione knew it wasn't the plane she loved, but the flying.

This helped her narrow her search down. Hermione couldn't remember who in her class had those eyes, but she knew almost everything else about everyone. She knew it couldn't be the guys that didn't fly very much, because she too didn't like to fly. She didn't notice much else about her daughter that could link her to the guys in her class, but as she thought about it, it got less and less appealing...

TWO YEARS LATER

Hermione sat in the living room with her now ten year old daughter. The two were watching CSI: Miami, as they do every Monday night. Amanda walked in and joined them halfway through and kept asking questions, so the shooed her out. When it was over, Hermione told her daughter it was time to go to sleep.

"But MOM! I'm not tired."

"I know, sweetie, but you have school in the morning. You need to go to sleep."

"But MOM! I'm almost eleven! I should be allowed to stay up later!"

"Marli, you won't be eleven for another year. You just turned ten!"

Hermione won this battle and the two of them walked to Marli-Jane's room. Marli changed into her pajamas and slipped into her bed. Just as her mom came to tuck her in, the two heard a tap tap coming from the window. Marli looked at the window and let out a little scream. Hermione turned her head and gasped.

Hermione looked at the snowy white bird and opened the window.

"Mom! What are you doing? Birds are gross!" Hermione didn't listen, just let the owl in and closed the window behind it. There was a letter attached to the leg. Hermione took the letter off and rushed to the kitchen to find something for the bird to eat. As she walked back up the stairs, it hit her.

Hermione looked more closely at the bird and said to it, "Hedwig? Is that you?" She recieved a hoot back in reply, confirming her suspicions.

Hermione took the letter from Hedwig and noticed a Hogwarts seal on it.

"Mom, why is there an owl in my room... and with a letter?" Hermione opened the letter and read it.

Dear Hermione,

Wow, I never could have imagined writing that again. I thought we'd lost you for good. Your mother never told us where you'd gone or even why. Well, I guess I have some news. Well, quite a bit. The first news is that I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore finally retired and asked me to. Professor McGonagall refused the position, for she was retiring as well. This will be both of their last years. Only three more months with Professor Dumbledore as the official Headmaster. I'm doing most of the work now as a sort of apprentice.

So, my first order of business is that I would like to ask you to return to Hogwarts to be the new Transfiguration teacher. You would be a great asset to the staff. You were in fact, 'the brightest witch of our age.' And you know it too! Please let me know of your choice by the First of August.

Now the second order of business is much more personal. If you haven't thought about it, this June will be exactly ten years since we graduated from Hogwarts. A few people, Dumbledore, Draco (yes, Malfoy. We're friends now. He's quite pleasant to be around. And single!), my wife, Mandy (Brocklehurst, do you remember her?) and I decided to put together a little reunion party. We want to invite you to come to the party. Bring a date if you ever married. If you have children, bring them. It's the whole point. Catch up with everyone and see how everyone's changed. We would love it if you came. Please send this reply by the First of May. The Reunion will be the Third of June, the day after the students leave. So there will be no students in the castle. We will take care of accomodations, we just need to know for how many. This reunion will be a week of fun! So I encourage you to come.

Now, much more personal than that, I would like to meet you somewhere. Of course, I just sent Hedwig to find you. If you are living anywhere near the Leaky Cauldron, or have access to a Floo network connected to the Leaky Cauldron, please meet me there next Tuesday, March the 4th at 4. I have something urgent I need to talk to you about. Quite important to you. If you can't meet me then, please let me know before hand, so I can arrange to meet you another time. I hope life has been well for you!

Your dear friend,

Harry James Potter, Order of Merlin, First Class,
Headmaster-in-training of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hermione stood still staring at the suspcicious letter. (A/N: Yeah! Alliteration!)

She walked to the chair across from Marli-Jane's bed and sat down with a look of shock on her face.

"Mommy? What's the matter? Who was the letter from? And why were they so stupid as to send it by an owl?" Hermione stood and took her daughter's hand.

"Mar, it's time that you learn the truth. I don't exactly work with the American government. I'm kinda, well, on a different level. You know how I've never taken you to work with me? Well, this letter is a reason." Hermione stopped and looked at her watch. Today is the third! Oh my! I have to meet him tomorrow! Hermione shot up and grabbed her daughter's other hand.

"Marli-Jane. I need you to understand something, okay?" After she recieved a nod from her daughter she continued. "Marli, I am not the most normal person in this world. You know I grew up in England, right? Well, you need to understand, that there are some things that I haven't told you about my past. And it's for what I saw as a good reason. I just recieved a letter from an old school friend. Now, would you like to go to London and see your grandparents tomorrow?"

"Yeah! I only see them every other year! But, how are we going to get to London by tomorrow? Isn't it like on another continent?"

"Yes, Marli. But that's one of the things you're going to learn about me. Now, if I tell you this, you have to promise you will never ever tell anyone else about this here in America, okay? Even Amanda. She doesn't know. Now. Sit down. Oh, you're still in bed. Okay. I'll sit down. Marli, I'm a witch. No, not a bad witch, and not one of those mean people that you call witches. I am a real witch. I went to a school when I was eleven through seventeen and I learned how to control my magic. You will also be a witch. You have extraordinary powers. You just can't control them yet. That's what I went to school for. I learned all sorts of things. Have you ever done anything you couldn't explain?"

"Yeah... today actually. In class, I was sitting behind Sarah Smith and she turned around and stuck her tongue out at me. I got mad. So when she got up to leave the class, her backpack fell open and all her books fell out." Marli-Jane looked off in the distance when she was remembering the afore mentioned scene.

"Well, you see. That didn't happen for no reason. It happened because you got angry. Now, sweetie, I must return to London for a school reunion. And I want you to come with me. I'll be letting Amanda know that I'm going to visit my parents. You can't tell anyone about this. No one in your school can no. Not even Amanda. I don't know what will happen at the reunion. And maybe..." Hermione looked confused as a thought struck her.

"And maybe what Mommy?" Marli-Jane looked at her lost-in-thought mother.

"Well maybe... Maybe I'll find out who your father is."