Chapter 3 – A Girls' Day Out
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The girls were up early but stayed in bed talking until Hermione's mum called them down for breakfast. She had made her famous oatmeal pancakes and they were munching on them excitingly. When Katie took her last bite of her fourth pancake, Hermione's mother ushered them to get a shower and get ready. So, after they got ready, they were sitting in the garden as Hermione went over her extra schoolwork and Katie went over quidditch plays, making notes in her book.
"Hey, girls." The voice of her mother came from behind them as she peaked her head out the door. "They should be here any minute."
Katie tossed her book on the table as Hermione put her papers neatly in her folder before they both hurried inside. When they just skidded to a halt in front of the fireplace, it roared to life, two young girls stepped into the living room. The girls all looked at each other smiling before they all fell into each other's arms, hugging. They all talked over each other, greeting each other, asking how their first weeks of summer went. They were interrupted when her mother gently cleared her throat.
"Welcome girls. You must be Angelina and Alicia." She smiled at the two girls who were now dusting of the soot from their clothes.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Granger." The girls said in unison.
"Do you want to go into town right away, or want to catch up first?" She asked the four girls.
"Maybe a quick tour around the house, I want to see Hermione's room." Alicia grinned, bouncing on her heels.
"Alright, I'll be down here when you girls are ready."
Hermione gestured them to follow her up the stairs and when the girls disappeared, Jean smiled as she lowered herself to the couch, watching the stairs they disappeared on.
HG
Hermione and her mum were showing the girls around town, and with the help of Angelina they explained all the muggle things Katie and Alicia never saw before. They went to some muggle clothing shops and a cute little jewellery shop before they stopped at the diner on South St.
"So, what do your parents do?" Her mum asked all the girls after they placed their order, and she gave the menu's back to the waiter.
"My dad is a muggle, he's an accountant. My mum works as a quidditch journalist after she retired a couple years ago." Angelina started.
"From what Katie told me, quidditch is quite intense." She smiled at Katie before looking back to Angelina. Ever since Katie had arrived, she's been talking nonstop about quidditch.
"Yeah, she had to stop when she shattered her leg after a collision." Almost everyone at the table gasped and shuddered at the thought and the pain Angelina's mum must've felt. It looked like no one knew, not even Alicia. "She's fine now, but after the accident she decided to retire from it."
"I can only imagine." Her mother said quietly. She figured out the subject was closed so moved on to the girl next to her, Alicia. "So, Alicia... what about your parents?"
"My dad works at the ministry as an analyst of exotic symbols; he investigates new and old symbols to determine their meaning, use and purpose. My mum was an historian, but she stopped working when me and my sister came along."
"I can certainly understand that." Jean nodded her head. "I stopped working after Hermione came along, I started again when she went to primary school."
"Primary school?" The three young girls asked confused.
Hermione smiled before she answered. "Here in the muggle world, you start school around the age of five. First there is primary school from the age of 5 to 10, then there is secondary school, that is divided in three parts-" She stopped when the girls looked even more confused, making her chuckle. "Never mind, we just have a lot more school than you guys."
"Your parents told me they were both healers." Jean turned to Katie.
"Yes, they work in St. Mungo's in London. They both work in the poisoning department, that's where they met." She smiled to herself as she recounted the stories her parents had told her, how they met and fell in love. Before anyone could ask anymore the waiter brought of their lunch and they all started eating as they talked about the start of the new school year.
After lunch, Jean escorted the girls to the arcade hall. It wasn't Hermione's first choice of an outing, but she couldn't deny the other girls this opportunity. She knew the three of them would have a blast in the loud and crowded place. When they stopped in front of the arcade, they all glanced inside, pressing their heads against the window, seeing the flashes of light come through it. Even Angelina, who had a muggle father, didn't seem like she knew about this place.
"Want to keep staring through the window or want to go inside?" Hermione chuckled at her friends. They all tore their heads from the windows and grinned at her sheepishly. "Let's go." She waved her hand and walked in as her mother held the door open. When they were all inside the girls looked around wide-eyed as Jean went to get coins for them to play.
"Alright girls." Jean came back with four plastic cups with coins in them. "Here are your coins, if you want to play one of the games, just put the right number of coins in it and it will start. You'll learn the game along the way or watch some of the other kids do it first." She smiled as she handed out the cups. With a quick thanks the three girls scattered around the arcade. Hermione bit her lip nervously as she glanced around, holding her cup tightly. "Hermione, sweetheart. Just go look around, you mind find something you like."
Hermione nodded her head slowly as she glanced around and started exploring the arcade. She saw Angelina and Katie laughing loudly as they raced with a car simulator, a little further Alicia was trying her hand at pac-man, but her frustration grew when the ghosts got to her, again and again. There were a lot of fighting and shooting games, which she passed without a second glance. She saw a claw machine, basketball hoops, a foosball table, whack a mole and many more. She finally stopped at a pinball machine in a quieter and more secluded corner of the arcade. She placed her cup on the pinball machine and put her first coin in. She didn't know how long she had been playing there but the number of coins in her cup, had reduced greatly. It was when she heard someone giggle, not far from her, she turned around. Angelia and Alicia were standing around the foosball table with a couple of older boys, giggling and twirling their hair as the boys explained the game. Her eyes sought out for her best friend and when they found Katie, she walked over to her. Katie too, was looking at the two other girls.
"I think things will be quiet different next year." Katie said as Hermione stopped next to her.
"Yeah, to be expected, I guess. They turn fourteen this year." Hermione shrugged as she still watched the girls, but still something ached in her that she couldn't quite place. "Won't be too long before it's your turn."
"Maybe." Katie said absently as she tore her eyes away from the girls and down to her plastic cup. Hermione noticed the change in her behaviour and changed the subject. Whatever it was, Katie will tell her when she's ready.
"Want to try your hand at air hockey?" Hermione grinned, nudging her head to the table on her left.
"You're on!" Katie smiled again and they headed to the hockey table.
After a couple of games of air hockey, Angelina and Alicia joined them and they switched places so that everyone could play against each other. When all their coins were gone, they walked back to Jean, who had made herself comfortable at a quiet table in the corner with a book and a cup of tea.
HG
When they arrived home, they went to the garden and sat on the lounge chairs together as her mother gave them some alcohol-free cocktails. Hermione was sipping on hers when Angelina looked at her with a Cheshire grin.
"The twins are going to be sooo jealous!" Angelina said grinning behind her glass.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked confused
"She's right." Alicia agreed and even Katie nodded her head. "The twins, kind of took you under their wing last year. They get jealous when you want to hang out with us, or Cedric. Even with their own brother, Charlie." She chuckled. "The only one they don't mind is Katie."
Hermione snorted at them. "What are you three on about?"
"They even taunted us at the end of the schoolyear, that they would be the first ones to see you during the summer. And now you took us to a muggle town and even that arcade. The twins would go mad about that, that was just the place for them." Angelina laughed.
"I think you're overreacting." She waved them off. "Besides I can hang out with whoever I want. And I'm studying with Cedric all summer, so they certainly wouldn't be the first ones I saw." She saw the two oldest girls share a glance, but she chose to ignore it. "Speaking about boys..."
"Yeah." Katie jumped in, grinning. "You two were getting cosy with a couple of them at the arcade."
"They were just explaining the game." Alicia said, but a blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Uh-hu." Katie and Hermione said simultaneously both sporting a big grin.
"Well, they asked us to go to the movies, whatever that is." Alicia frowned. "But we're not going to leave our best friends behind, especially for boys we just met."
"Besides what are the chances we ever going to see them again." Angelina shrugged swirling her drink.
"I think you're going to be quite busy this year at Hogwarts." Hermione chuckled. "With all the boys hanging over you two."
"Boys." Angelina put up one hand. "Or quidditch." Lifting the other, weighing her options. "I think quidditch will take priority." She said with a grin.
"I think Oliver will be glad to hear that." Katie laughed. "He's Captain this year, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he fire called us both last week, already wanting to go over strategies for this year." Alicia rolled her eyes and they all started to laugh.
"You'll need two new players, right?" Hermione asked when the laughter calmed down.
"Yeah, a chaser and a seeker." Angelina nodded her head. "We already have a good option for a chaser." Angelina winked at Katie. "Maybe you can try out for a seeker, Hermione."
"No, no." Hermione laughed nervously.
"Come on, we saw your race against Cedric, I really think you would be great at it." She said sincerely and the others agreed.
"I think there will be better people then me but thank you." She smiled shyly.
HG
After all the girls had gone home, Hermione had changed into her pyjamas and was sitting on the dresser in the bathroom looking in the mirror. Hermione wasn't vain, not in the slightest, but after today she felt even more insecure than she normally was. The only thing she could see in the mirror was her big front teeth who stood a little too far forward and her bushy brown hair, where she had no control over. She thought about Angelina, Alicia, Katie... They all had their naturally beauty, with perfect teeth and beautiful hair. Even in the few weeks she hasn't seen Angelina and Alicia, they both had changed. Both had started to physically change, their hips wider, their breasts fuller, ...
She sighed as a tear rolled down her cheek. When she heard someone knock on the door, she quickly wiped the tear away with the back of her hand. "Come in." She said, her voice a bit unsteady. The door opened slowly, and her dad walked in.
"Hey, sweetheart. Did you have a good time?" He asked as he studied her face.
"Hm." She hummed, nodding her head. "I had a great time, thanks again for letting them come over."
Her father walked closer and leaned against the dresser she was sitting on. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his chest. "Any time, sweety. Any time." They sat there in silence for a moment before he spoke up again. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She said as she straightened, but the look on her father's face told her, he didn't believe a word. "Okay, it's just... I know you told me no, but can you please reconsider for letting me get braces. It doesn't have to be the magical way..." Tears started to form in her eyes again. Her father watched as his daughter started to cry, his heart broke once again for his little girl.
"You know you are beautiful just the way you are." He started but Hermione just looked down, shaking her head. "But if you really want to, I'll talk with mum about it."
"Really?" Hermione's head shot up, her smile wide. When he nodded his head, she jumped of the dresses and hugged him tight. "Thanks, dad."
Daniel smiled as he held his daughter close to his chest, his hand going over bushy hair. Just like Jean, he would do anything for his one and only little girl.
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