Chapter 5: Reproaches

"Thank you so much, Ms. Peekins, truly, sorry for any inconvenience," Archie gushed while Addie stood across the kitchen, arms crossed over her chest, lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line. "We honestly never would have expected this from our daughter, though I don't think we're too surprised—"

Violet held her hand up, effectively cutting off Archie's embarrassed babbling. "It was no inconvenience at all, really, Archie. If anything it was nice to see Hermione again. I was pretty sure after your visit that I'd see her soon." She smiled and seemed to shrink down to a less imposing size. "The important thing is she's safe, you know."

"I know, but... to run off into London? Skiving off of school? On the last day?" He shook his head, flashed a glance in Hermione's direction, and then turned back to Violet. "I'm sorry, again, for her behaviours. I assure you it won't happen again."

"Da, you sound like you're talking to the police," Hermione said glumly, hands in the pockets of her hooded jumper, gingerly fingering the parchment letter still tucked away there. She wondered when would be the best opportunity to broach the letter: once Violet left, or with her still here, to explain things to her parents the way she'd explained them to Hermione.

"Hermione, please stay out of this," Addie said quietly. "Really, I don't think now is the best time."

Violet looked between the Grangers. The parents were both livid and obviously at wits' end. Hermione slumped in a kitchen chair looking pale and weary and far older than eleven years of age. "I'll leave you all to talk," she said, giving a surreptitious nod of encouragement to Hermione, who looked up, brown eyes wide with sudden panic. "I think you will all have a lot to talk about, and decisions to make." Violet bowed slightly and took her leave, leaving the Grangers alone in the kitchen.

"Archie..." Addie began. "I don't know what to do now."

"Neither do I, Add. Neither do I."

Hermione listened to her parents and looked between them, trying to read their expressions. She felt the way she felt when she heard Beethoven, felt the shaking of emotions vibrating within her heart and mind and out into her limbs. She clenched her hands into fists in her jumper pockets, feeling the crumpled parchment in her trembling left hand. "Stop," she finally said in a quiet voice that betrayed her seething rage.

"You're really in no position to be telling us what to do, young lady!" Addie snapped. "When your teachers phone about things like this we try to defend you. We try to explain your behaviour. We back you up, and then you go and do something like this? Running off to London without permission, on a school day no less! Bothering that Peekins woman! Worrying us sick!"

"Stop talking about me!" Hermione finally shouted, leaping out of her seat. "You always talk about me, you never talk to me! It's like I'm bloody invisible!"

"Don't you dare speak to your mum that way!" Archie broke in. "She's right. What you did was irresponsible and thoughtless. You're always thinking, why didn't you think this time!"

Hermione found herself so angry she couldn't even find words to speak if she'd wanted to. Instead she yanked her hands out of her pockets and slammed the crumpled, yet still pristine and unsmudged parchment on the table.

"What's this?" Addie said darkly.

"It was with the post, on the front table," Hermione choked out. "Were you trying to hide it from me?"

"I don't even remember seeing it." Addie snatched up the letter, and Archie moved over beside his wife and read over her shoulder. The kitchen table now served as a barrier between Hermione and her parents, making them appear as if in a battle. "You said it was with the post?" she asked, only this time her voice was softer, and almost more gentle. "Our post?"

"Yes. I came home from school early. I didn't intend to skive off. I got there and my project... it was gone," Hermione said, hardly believing that had happened earlier today. Her day felt so long already. "I didn't think," she finished. "I just couldn't stay."

"You should have talked to somebody about it."

"No one listens," Hermione said softly. "No one. Ever. Not even you two."

"Hermione–"

"No, please, let me finish," she implored. "I came home, and when I opened the door a breeze blew the post off the table and this was there. I thought it was all a joke, but at the same time I didn't and no one else could help me decipher it so I just went to Violet's," she finished. "I needed to talk to someone about it," she added.

"Why didn't you wait for one of us to get home?" Addie asked, sinking back into a chair, looking pale, but not with anger.

"I couldn't wait. I had to know."

"Hermione, your mother and I will have to talk about this," Archie said, rubbing his forehead. "We'll all talk tomorrow, but for now..." His voice trailed off expectantly.

"You want me to leave so you can talk about me," Hermione stated. "No! I want to be part of the discussion for once!"

"You may be a genius, but I am still your father, and I am telling you to go to your room," Archie boomed, startling both Addie and Hermione. "Whether you needed to or not, you acted irresponsibly and you need to go think about that. Think about the fact that genius or not, you are still our daughter and you are still only eleven years old. Go." He glowered at his daughter.

"But—"

"Go now!"

Hermione shoved her chair back so hard it tipped backward and clattered to the floor. She ran up the stairs, her feet pounding loudly even through the carpeting. She was all the way up to her room before she remembered she'd left Hogwarts: A History at the kitchen table.


"To tell the truth, I'm surprised to see you again," Quincy Briar, child psychologist, said, trying to hide his dismay as he looked between the weary parents and their sullen prodigy daughter. No more bright precocious commentary from Hermione this time! He found himself slightly glad for this, but was a bit wary of why the Granger family had returned to him. "What brings you back?"

"We went to visit Violet Peekins," Archie said, "at your recommendation."

"Ah yes. How was Vi? Was she helpful?"

"We're not sure, because she didn't involve us in her discussion with Hermione," Archie said. "But she showed up at our door a fortnight ago with Hermione, who had skived off of school to go into London and see her."

Dr. Briar nodded slowly. "I see," he said, when in fact, he didn't. "What brings you back?" I thought I was pretty clear last time I couldn't help, he thought, but instead of voicing those thoughts he pasted on a smile.

"Hermione thinks she's... well, we think Hermione's losing it, to be honest," Addie said, reaching over and taking her husband's hand. "She claims she got a letter in the post from this... magic school. There was a book list and everything! It was on parchment with green ink and a wax seal on the envelope..." she shrugged helplessly.

"We think it's an elaborate scheme she's cooked up," Archie added. "Some sort of attention cry or something. Blaming her antics on a letter from a false school. School for magic, at that!" he added, forcing a guffaw.

Dr. Briar nodded again. "It certainly sounds like something a child would do, particularly one who is as clever as your daughter. What do you have to say about it, Hermione?"

Hermione started to answer, but Archie jumped in. "She denies it, of course."

At that moment there was a commotion at the door of the conference room, and Violet Peekins burst in, followed by Dr. Briar's harried-looking secretary. "I'm sorry, doctor, I told her you were in a conference," huffed the secretary.

"Let the girl speak!" Violet exclaimed. "Let her speak for herself instead of you being her voice!"

"Violet!" Dr. Briar squeaked, leaping out of his seat. "You can't barge in on this—what's the meaning of—wait, why are you here?"

"Something told me they'd come back to you, so I closed the shop for the day and hurried here as quickly as I could," Violet said. "Come now, Quincy, where are your manners? Aren't you going to offer me a seat?"

Dr. Briar looked, bewildered and nervous, between Violet and the Grangers. Adeline and Archibald looked furious, but for the first time Hermione seemed more like the precocious and excited child he remembered. "I... I... I'm not sure what to say," he said finally.

"I don't want that woman in here, filling our daughter's head with more ridiculous ideas about wizarding schools and—and—enabling her quest for attention!" Archie exclaimed, and Addie nodded furiously in agreement.

"She's not enabling me!" Hermione finally said, sitting up straighter.

"Stay out of this, Hermione," Addie said.

"Has Hermione ever lied to you before?" Violet asked, before anyone could say anything else. "Has she ever played you false?"

Archie and Addie looked at one another and shrugged, forgetting for a moment to be angry and defensive. "No, this would probably be the first time."

"Then why is it so hard to believe that just maybe she's telling the truth?" Violet reproached. "She's a sweet girl, if a bit overwhelming to be around." She winked at Hermione, who smiled in spite of herself. "If she's never lied to you before, or played attention games before, why would she start now?" She turned on Dr. Briar. "And you, Quincy, mister child psychologist, siding with her parents."

"Violet... Vi... This is... not the way I'd like this to go..." he stammered, but couldn't meet Violet's eyes.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Violet began, her voice softer and less reproachful. "We all should talk, your daughter included. There are things you need to know and accept for your daughter to ever be happy in this life."

"What makes you so certain you know what's best for our daughter?" snapped Addie. "You're a–a—spiritualist!"

"I prefer Witch, with specialties in Divination and Muggle Studies," Violet said, her deep blue eyes sparkling with mischief at the blank looks everyone, everyone except Hermione, that was, flashed at her. "Please, trust me and trust your daughter in this. You have nothing to lose by trusting in this matter," she advised.

"Please, Mum. Please, Da," Hermione said softly. "She's right."

Archie and Addie both looked on the verge of tears, clearly out of options and reduced once again to desperation. "What do we have to do?"

"Come back to my shop in a fortnight and all will be revealed. Until then, go home. Rest, try to be a family. Come on, let's go." She gestured for the Grangers to follow her out the door of Dr. Briar's conference room. Why they obeyed they would never quite understand, but there was a definite release of tensions when the exited the confines of the small conference room. Hermione mouthed a 'thank you' at Violet, who smiled back reassuringly.

Once the Grangers had left Violet turned back to Dr. Briar. "I'm truly sorry for that, Quincy, but you must admit, you weren't getting anywhere with them."

"That was beyond unorthodox, Violet. Do you know what trouble I could be in with the boards? It violates everything to do with confidentiality—"

"Oh, calm down, Quincy, they seemed to think things had resolved themselves quite nicely."

"You call that resolved? They left because you told them to! They were probably scared of you when you said you were a witch! What was that about, anyway? I can just kiss my practice, my whole career, goodbye—"

Violet sighed and reached into a flap on her lavender velvet robe. She extracted her hand. "Quincy." Dr. Briar looked over at her. She smiled. "Obliviate."