By Ange Black
Disclaimer: I own don't Harry Potter or Phantom of the Opera.
"Fear can turn to love - you'll learn to see,
to find the man behind the monster: this ...
repulsive carcass, who seems a beast, but secretly dreams of beauty, secretly, secretly…"
-I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt it
Phantom of the Opera
Chapter Two:
Hermione woke up to the blaring sounds of Coldplay, Teddy's favorite band. Although Hermione didn't recognize the music at first, because Ted had been singing along with his awful singing voice, Hermione smiled when she heard him and got up to take a shower and change out of her clothes.
Ted had other plans. He swooped Hermione off her feet and began to dance with her. Hermione giggled and agreed to dance along with him until the song changed. When it ended, Hermione wrenched herself away from him and made her way to the bathroom. She undressed and took the longest shower of her life.
Hermione had forgotten all about the events of last night until she reached into her jeans pocket to find the letters she had received last night. She groaned and wondered how she was going to tell Teddy, who was so obviously in love with her. She took her mind off it and worked on Veronica's report, which was about a few Death-Eaters who had recently burned a group of Muggles alive. It pained her to do it, considering that Hermione's grandmother had been killed by Death Eaters before the War of Vodemort had ended.
Ted left for work at 10 o'clock, leaving Hermione with the house to herself. She let Crookshanks in (Ted didn't like Crookshanks very much, the feeling was mutual.), and laid down with him until it was time to get ready for the get-together at Harry and Ginny's. She put on a pair of jeans and her Chudly Cannons T-shirt that Ron had gotten her for last Christmas. She assumed that he had gotten them for free, considering that he was the choch for the Jr. team, which consisted of young teenagers who had just graduated from their schools.
Hermione pictured 227 Godric's Way doorstep and was there in two seconds. The location of the house was actually where Harry had lived for his first year of life. Harry and Ginny had bought the land when they found out that Ginny was pregnant with their first two children. Harry had the house rebuilt with the money that had been given to him for his Order of Merlin.
She rang the doorbell and was greeted by a long, red-headed woman with a small black haired baby in her arms. The woman, who was Ginny Potter, gave Hermione a hug the best she could with one arm.
"Hermione! How wonderful to see you!" she exclaimed. "Harry, dear! Hermione's here!"
Hermione was welcomed in to the home and then given a hug by Remus and Nymphadora Lupin. Both of which were dear friends to Hermione, Remus had also been Hermione's third year teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Remus's hair was graying with age and Nymphadora (called Tonks) was still as pink as the day Hermione had met her.
"Hermione!" exclaimed Tonks. "How are you!"
"Pretty good. How's Jaime, is he liking school?"
"He loves it!" said a more-contained Remus. "Although he's getting in to lots of trouble because he can impersonate people."
Jaime, like his mother, was a Metamorphmagi. A Matamorphmagus was a very rare thing to be, and it was even rarer that Jaime took on the trait of his mother, Tonks. None of the other Lupin children (Hannah and Loki) had taken to this power. Jaime currently attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a First year in Gryffindor House. His younger siblings were too young to go to Hogwarts, being eight and three years old.
Hermione then found herself being hugged by three more people, her friend Harry, and his twin children Molly and Lilly, both of which had flaming red hair. Both girls looked like their namesake grandmothers.
"Daddy," said three-year old Lilly. "Can we stay up late tonight?"
Harry smiled at his daughter and shook his head, which resulted in an "awwww" from both girls. Ginny gave Harry Jr. to her husband and took both daughters hands and led them up the stairs.
"Come on girls, it's late…"
Harry invited his guests to sit down the kitchen table, which was covered with random snacks, glasses and a bottle of white wine. He pulled the cork out of the wine bottle and poured some in to each person's glass.
"So Hermione," Harry started. "How's work?"
Hermione took a slip of her wine and savored it before saying anything.
"It's okay, I guess." Replied Hermione. "I mean; I did have to do Veronica's paper again, but overwise, it's okay." She didn't mention the letter that had been sent to her by the Minstry, although she had brought it along.
After the table discussed Veronica and her antics, Ginny come back downstairs to rejoin the group because the girls were asleep.
"I'm so glad their at this age now, it's so much easier to get them to go to bed." Said a wet Ginny.
"Why are you wet?" Tonks asked. Ginny laughed and explained.
"I had to give them a bath, that's why it took so long. While they were in the tub, Hedwig came in through the window. I ducked to avoid being hit in the head and fell face-first in to the tub." She then showed the table a letter of chastisement from her mother about not coming to the family function at Percy's house, it was passed around with great interest.
"Knowing Molly, I'm surprised it wasn't a Howler." Said Lupin.
"Yeah," said Ginny. "Me too. But I think she doesn't want to send one and have her grandchildren hear it. She'll think that it'll give them a bad impression of her."
"They already have one, kind of." Harry cut in. "You should hear the stories that Fred and George tell them! They'll absolutely mad!"
"The last one had them running from her for weeks! I've asked them to stop, but Harry keeps encouraging my brothers." Ginny then gave her husband a playful punch.
It took another hour for the table to get to talking without interruption. Harry had to put his son to bed ten minutes after Ginny came downstairs. The talk was basically griping about their jobs. Lupin was a teacher at a special Werewolf school, Tonks was still an Auror and Ginny was a homemaker with still enough complaints about her job. Harry was actually Tonks's boss, so he complained joke fully about his "worst employee".
Hermione became really uncomfortable when the subject reached the letters that the Minstry had sent to girls aged 17-30. Remus talked about the turmoil it was causing at the school he worked at.
"I mean, some of the kids who got the letters weren't even seventeen yet! One was a fourth year! Rufus Scrimgeour has gone way too far with this law! You know what? I heard a rumor in the office that one girl had been paired with Greyback! A dead man, and the most dangerous Werewolf ever! I mean, the girl was a Werewolf, but still, ya know. It's also really unorganized." Remus complained.
"Yeah," Chimed in Harry. "Ron got one too, even though he's engaged to a witch."
Hermione cleared her throat and pulled out the letter that had been sent to her yesterday. It was passed around the table with varying results. Ginny opened her eyes the widest Hermione had ever seen them. Remus shook his head rather sadly and Tonks turned in to an older version of herself, then laid her head in her hands. Harry was the worst, however.
"What the fuck is does this ass think he's playing at?"
