A/N I know we are moving murderously slow here but I promise it will pick up soon. Thank you for all the follows and faves, this has gotten way more response than I thought it would as my first story and I really appreciate the support.
The next morning dawned with a chill in the air. Hermione woke refreshed and quickly dressed before heading downstairs with a quill and some parchment in hand.
The rest of the house was still soundly sleeping it seemed as she quickly busied herself making tea and enjoying the silence.
She poured herself a cup of tea and grabbed a muffin from the counter in the kitchen before heading to the living room. She sat cross legged on the floor in front of the couch and started hastily sketching and writing down her thoughts.
When Harry woke and took in the sight of her - hair pulled back, hands covered in ink, and a fiercely determined look on her face, he couldn't help but smile. He'd seen her like this countless times in school studying for exams or on the run researching horcruxes or other of the countless perils they had faced. This was the Hermione he knew. He silently poured another cup of tea and handed it to her, careful not to disturb the various papers arranged around where she sat.
She nodded her thanks to him as he took a seat on the couch above her, leaning forward to get a better look.
"What are they?" he asked, gesturing towards the papers.
They're ideas I have. Products for George's shop. He hasn't seen them yet, but I'm hoping he'll at least consider them once he does.
Harry picked up one of the drawings closest to him. It was an intricately drawn rendering of what looked like an extendable ear. He looked at Hermione with a confused expression and so she started to explain.
"The extendable ears were always one of my favorite of the twins' inventions. I was thinking that we could design a new model. This one wouldn't extend necessarily, but instead would translate other languages in real time into your ear. I'm using the muggle hearing aid and the extendable ear as a starting point for the design." She handed him another drawing of a modified hearing aid and continued as he looked it over.
"I really think it could help us combine knowledge with other magical communities." she said, "It would also help next year when some of the Hogwarts students go abroad for the next Triwizard Tournament in France. I was hoping to get Fleur to help me with the translating, French could be the first language we test it with"
Sometime during her passionate explaination George and Charlie had appeared. Seizing the opportunity George approached the pair with his hand outstretched.
"It sounds brilliant," he said "Do you mind if I take a look?"
With a nod from Hermione, Harry handed over the drawings. They watched as George started pacing while studying the drawings and muttering to himself.
Charlie walked over to where Hermione was still positioned on the floor and sat down beside her. He gently picked up a drawing of a coin.
"What's this one?" he asked.
"It's the same concept I used to make the DA coins. The combination of enchantments is simple enough, but we'd need a reliable way to receive or make our own coins on a large scale." She explained, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"What would people use them for?" Harry asked.
"Well, I have a few ideas. Most of which involve using them as a sort of invitation for parties, weddings, or other gatherings. You could also use them as commemorative coins with an image or saying that could be set at the time of purchase."
"You could use them to cheat on exams" George said, not looking up from the papers he still held.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"I said you could use them to..."
"Oh I heard you. I just can't believe that is your first thought about them. I should've known though." Her words sounded harsh but the sassy smirk on her face softened the insult. She rolled her eyes when Charlie chimed in.
"He's right though you know. If we can make them so the text is easily changeable we would have our next best seller. What are they going to do, ban money in the school? It's genius!"
"How much text do you think you could fit on one coin without looking suspicious?" Harry asked.
"Harry!"
"Sorry 'Mione, they have a point. I'd have killed for something like that in school. "
With an overly exaggerated sigh Hermione threw her hands up in defeat.
"Alright, alright. I'll admit it's a good idea. And it has a market. That doesn't mean I like it though." Laughing she turned to George.
"What do you think?" She asked.
"Does this mean you're going to help at the shop?" he fired back, looking up from the drawings for the first time.
It was impossible to say no at this point she realized. She needed this and he needed her help.
"I suppose it does" Hermione said, standing up and stretching.
She was interrupted though as suddenly she was in the air, being spun around as George thanked her profusely.
"I knew you'd come through for me. I could kiss you I love you so much right now!"
"Please don't" She laughed as he set her down.
"What, scared I'd ruin all other men for you? I knew you couldn't resist my charms" He said playfully with a wink. He pecked her on the cheek and then ran from the room, just dodging her hand as she reached to smack him away.
She stood there blushing, wondering how to recover her dignity as Harry slipped from the room chuckling. Charlie remained sitting, holding the last of the drawings and reading it intently.
"Oh, that one isn't finished," Hermione said, reaching out for the parchment.
"What would you call it?" he asked, his eyes finding hers. She paused for a moment before responding.
"Forget-Me-Nots." she said, still unable to tear her eyes away from his intense gaze.
"Is this for your parents?" His eyes held an emotion she couldn't quite place. Sympathy maybe? Or pity? She didn't know him well enough to say for sure. Instead, she just nodded.
The thought of her failed attempt to restore their memories brought reality crashing down for her. She sat back down heavily, all the energy drained from her.
"I want to create something that reverses memory charms. An object you could easily gift someone without looking like a lunatic. Fresh flowers maybe. I'd like to think one day with something like this I might be able to get my parents back."
"I think you will," he replied, putting one arm around her shoulders in a friendly hug.
"They don't call you the brightest witch of our age for nothing, I'm sure you'll figure it out."
His words were reassuring but Hermione wasn't so confident these days. Her failure had broken what little resolve she had left after the battle and propelled her into a depression.
That combined with the rest of the wizarding world's obsession with thanking her as well as the Prophet's plastering of her, Harry, and Ron's faces all over the front page for months made her want to retreat from the world for a while.
Leaning into his warmth her thoughts wandered to the specifics of how to create such an item. She wasn't well versed with memory charms and her research hadn't been much help. Maybe Arthur would be able to get some more books for her from the ministry she thought, mentally making note to ask him before he left for work.
Molly cleared her throat with one eyebrow raised at the pair.
"Breakfast is ready," She said, eyeing them both before returning to the kitchen.
Hermione sat up suddenly, embarrassed that she was practically laying in his lap at this point.
"I'm sorry," She stammered, "You should have told me to move, I didn't mean to..."
"It's quite alright Hermione," He chuckled, "it's not every day a beautiful girl lands in your arms" His blue eyes twinkled mischieviously as he picked himself up from the floor.
Finding herself blushing for the second time today, Hermione busied herself arranging the pieces of parchment on the floor. As soon as Charlie was gone from the room she sighed and shook her head. These Weasley men were going to be the death of her she decided.
She wasn't sure she liked this new attention but she also didn't know if she wanted it to stop. With her papers gathered and neatly stored on the bookshelf she left to join the others.
