I don't own the story or the characters of Harry Potter, this work is entirely fan-made. The rights to everything Harry Potter belong to J.K Rowling. I also have no beta or proof-reader (at least not a human one) so expect some mistakes from time to time.
Dear reviewer 'Magnus TNT'. Umm. What? This is a story, NOT a list of ideas. A story uses paragraphs, not bullet points. Sorry to disappoint, but I will not switch to using bullet points as I know at least basic syntax and paragraph structure. Seriously, read any book, fan fiction or essay: they never use bullet points. If they do, they're either actually listing something, or you're reading the wrong stuff. I have more self-respect than to do that.
Seriously, search up 'bullet points in fanfiction' verbatim and look at the first reddit link that comes up. Nuff said.
She nearly started to cry with glee at being more than just a friend. Even if she was just a- 'a what', she wondered. 'A loved one', 'a date', 'a fling'? She nearly shook her head with Harry still there, but refused the action quickly, just wanting to be in his presence. 'How could he think of us like that? He doesn't, simple.' Her mind was always betraying her like this, but she wanted to control it this time, and this time, she had it. Once the music had receded to gentle hums again, Hermione took her head off Harry's shoulder and saw his face. It showed a wide smile, almost an evil grin, but somehow showed that he was so undeniably sincere in asking her out. All in all, the night was perfect. Dancing ensued and with renewed confidence, the pair waltzed around, looking stupidly silly, but still being spurred on by Neville and Hannah, who were turning in early, given their equal states of fullness. When the clock reached 11:30, most students had decided to leave, though Harry and Hermione were still awake from the adrenaline flowing through their veins, which dancing seemed to provoke. "Harry, as much as I would like to stay, I think Ron and Lavender would rather we got going. Would it hassle you to drop me off at my house on your way back though? It's just that I would have to call my parents to pick me up and they, uh, wanted to meet the person I wanted to see tonight." Harry furrowed his brows and looked at her curiously as if delving into her mind. "Alright, as long as I can get these two home first." He nodded and lead her to Ron's car and told the other two to follow. Ron was far too tired to drive and Lavender was hanging off him like a loose piece of clothing, so Harry drove back and made sure that they were in his flat before he left for the car again.
The air had warmed throughout the prom, so they no longer had to shiver and gain pseudo-frostbite when out of the vehicle. Nonetheless, Harry gave Hermione his jacket to drape around her shoulders before they got to her house. Harry marvelled at it. His Aunt and Uncle's house and his flat paled in comparison to this one. It wasn't quite a mansion but was indeed very large and made Harry feel a familiar sense of inadequacy. Harry had just parked by the pavement, taking the keys out of the ignition and leaned back in the leather seat. It felt as if tonight was all that mattered. Hermione had a similar look of contentedness on her face as she stared at Harry, who rubbed his eyes with the sleep that had finally caught up to him. "Are you alright?" She asked with a short yawn. At his weary nod, she pressed again. "You don't have to come in and meet them tonight, especially since you were just my best friend until 2 hours ago. We can do it another time." Despite her insistence on him not needing to carry on tonight, Harry shook his head and steeled himself to meet his best friend and now date's parents. A gesture he knew she was unable to reciprocate. Thinking one last time before he left the car about his parents, and how they thought of him now that he was grown up, without them, he got out of the car, shut the door and opened Hermione's before she could react. "My lady. Your castle awaits." He didn't mean it to sound so stupidly cliché, but it did, and Hermione giggled a distinctly unusual reaction. His eyes showed his surprise with it, and she winked, garnering a cute splutter from the normally closed-off man. Shaking his head, he helped her out of the car and shut the door, letting her nearly drag him up the drive to the front steps. 'I could always make a run for it.' He thought in trepidation. Then the door opened and the opportunity had passed.
"Oh, Hermione. We thought you were going to call us when you wanted to be picked up. We wouldn't have minded, sweetie. And you are..?" Sarah asked, quickly addressing the man who was holding Hermione's hand. Seeing that she wasn't entirely certain, Harry let go and shook Sarah's hand. "I'm Harry, Mrs Granger. Harry Potter. Hermione's friend." Hermione pouted for a moment and then brightened up when she saw her dad behind her mother in the porch. "Stop it, Mum. I've already told you that Harry is my best friend and has been for nearly 7 years. I thought it was well past time you got acquainted with one another." Hermione stepped over the doorframe and led Harry by the hand into her house. Her mum shot a dirty glare at Harry's turned back which David saw and moved in front of. With a low whisper, he told his wife: "Listen, that boy is the one person she has talked about more than anything else at college and in high school. Don't try to deny her happiness just because you don't like him. Besides, unless you have some reason for not liking him, why interfere? It isn't our business who Hermione dates." Sarah grimaced and wandered over to him. "I'm sorry for being a bit antsy tonight, I wasn't being fair. Just for curiosity's sake, why has Hermione never brought you over here before if you're such great friends?" Hermione was making a slashing motion at her neck, indicating that she wanted her mother to stop talking immediately.
Harry wasn't one to be intimidated easily by bullies and adversaries, but this woman had an air about her that exuded intimidation. It was as if she was interrogating him, not simply meeting her daughter's best friend. He nearly quivered under her glare, until Hermione stepped in and told her mother off. "You need to stop, now, Mum! You can't do this with every person who comes home with me, and for your information, I brought him here because he has never met you." Her daughter's admonishing visage was enough to make anyone crumble and it was no different for her, so she stayed quiet, as was wise. "Well, I think that since introductions are done, maybe you could stay for a while and tell us about yourself, Harry. I, for one, am eager to learn about your catering course that Hermione might have mentioned and told us a bit about. If you're as good as she says, you can stay here forever and get paid to cook for me!" He said with a laugh. Harry took David's offer but gave Hermione a smile of surprise as he walked to the living room.
With the men gone, Hermione stayed in the hallway to interrogate her mother. "Alright, what was that, hm? Trying to get me to lose another friend like you nearly succeeded in with Parvati?" Hermione made to speak again but was cut off this time. "Firstly, Hermione, you will not talk to your mother that way and secondly, I don't want to lose you to some inane way of life that doesn't benefit you. Imagine how you would have been if I had actually separated you from that girl. You wouldn't be trying to change yourself or become something you are not. You are my daughter, before anything else, and I think that you need to get your priorities in order, not flinging around with some airhead that you stumbled upon as a naïve eleven-year-old." She wasn't shouting, but the tone used was sharper than a sword and twice as painful to Hermione. Her daughter's lip trembled. "How could you say that?! I am not just your daughter, but my own woman who wants to find someone who doesn't think like everyone else in the family. The only outlier in three generations has been Dad, as he doesn't want to change me. Your parents were dentists, so are you. And whilst I love you both, I don't think that it is a coincidence that Dad is also a dentist. That's what you want for me. To be an award-winning and recognised prodigy in the dental field like everyone else. Guess I have a rebellious streak in me because I want to do more than just correct teeth for a living. I want more out of my life. And right now, I want to date Harry. He is kind, sweet, compassionate, smart and my best friend." She spat, then tried to walk off into the living room to be with Harry and her father, but Sarah grabbed her shoulder and didn't relinquish her grip until Hermione turned around, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Do not walk away from your responsibilities. You can't work at a library forever, and you certainly can't get into medical school with those current A-levels. Don't throw away your life." Hermione wiped at her eyes and pried her mother's hand from her shoulder. "If you want to stay in my life when I leave, let me live it." She walked off, leaving her disappointed mother to silently fume and walk upstairs with strides of purpose.
Upon entering the living room, David Granger was slapping Harry on the back and laughing uproariously. 'At least they are getting along.' Hermione thought. Moving past the sofa and the boys, she went to get a drink with shaky hands to calm her nerves. "Oh, Hermione, sweetie? Could you get us both that recipe notepad from by the stove, please whilst you're in there?" She nodded with her back to them and went for a glass and the notepad. As the water from the tap slowly filled her glass, she shook with a sob, muffled by her sleeve that was wiping away her tears. She never knew why she got so heated with her mum about her life, but somehow it always happened. "When are you going to get a job?" She would ask. Once she had found work at the local library, more ensued. "Why aren't you taking the sciences and medicine for your college options?" She pestered. When Hermione had relented and taken biology and physics, her mum still wasn't satisfied. "Don't throw away your life." She had growled. That was the breaking point.
"Hermione, are you alright in there?" Hermione shook her head at her dad's question and noticed with a start that her glass was overflowing into the sink with a loud gurgling sound. She twisted the tap handle to stop the water and towelled off the outside of her hands, grabbing the notepad on her way back to them. "Here you go, Dad." She tossed the book onto the cushion next to him and he passed it to Harry as Hermione watched them with curiosity. Harry started to scribble in his usual scrawl, not taking his eyes off the writing and after a few minutes, ones filled with silence, interest and the occasional sip of water taken by Hermione. He was fun to watch work; he would always hold the paper at an angle, even if it made him have to strain his neck to write constantly. Without fail, he would punctuate every pause he took with a tap of the pen on a blank part of the note. Intriguing was the only word for what he was, but deep down, Hermione knew that none of it was negative, at least not to her. That is why she would fall asleep every night with at least one dream of this man. She was too far gone, but she didn't care.
"Alright, that's what I would normally use, but you can substitute… And the rise becomes… The browning is divine." Hermione almost dozed off she was so confused but each time he started a sentence, she would perk up and stare out of the window until another point came up. "So, what is the… nature of your relationship Hermione?" Her name snapped her back into reality from the dark skies outside with a jolt. "Uh.. well … you see…" She stumbled every time she tried to answer, so Harry picked up her words. "At the Prom, we were just dancing and getting frankly worn out and I asked if your daughter would accompany me to dinner next week. I hope that I don't have to fight you or her mum on this, because I- I know what it's like to not have your parents there for you and it sucks, to be blunt. I don't want Hermione to lose you or her mum, it wouldn't be fair. But if you're okay with it…" He turned to Hermione "Hang on, we never discussed any plans, did we? Huh. I think I got caught up in there." David nodded and smiled. "Well, if your skills with cooking are any indication of your worth, you might as well get knighted in my eyes." They shared a laugh and Hermione looked on in fondness. This was what her parents meeting Harry should be like. Not like a lecture on how your life should be lived.
That night, after saying goodbye to Harry, getting a daring goodnight kiss on the cheek, Hermione lay on her bed, thinking about the evening. First, her thoughts wandered to the dance, and how, after 6 and a half years of friendship, she and Harry were only just starting to notice each other differently. After all, they'd spent their teenage years seeing one another every single day without fail. Then her mind strayed to her mother as she drifted off to sleep, then she saw her mum screaming words of admonishment at her. "Disappointment! Lazy and ungrateful! Failure!" Then who should come and save her from this witch in her dreams: Harry. He was always saving her in one way or another. Recognising a spelling error, or helping to set up a fundraiser that otherwise would have failed and tonight. Tonight, he had rescued her from a reality that she didn't want to live in any longer: that her mother was a kind woman, when she clearly cared only about reputation.
Meanwhile, in the dining room downstairs, David Granger was trying his absolute damnedest not to shout for fear of waking his sleeping daughter. "You had and have no right to decide who Hermione sees and what she does with her life! You can't expect her to just blindly follow every word you feed her. She's going to be nineteen in just a few months and then, she'll realise that she doesn't need or want us to decide anything for her. Her decisions are her own. And for the record, I like Harry, he's a good man, with a kind heart and he clearly cares a lot about Hermione, enough to make sure that she got home alright when she had been drinking and enough to ask her out to dinner." His blood was boiling quicker by the second. Sarah Granger was stubborn though, enough to pass some of it onto her daughter. "What?! She's actually going to date that boy?! He isn't a medical- or any kind of professional and certainly not good enough for my daughter. She is not going to go. That is final!" She tried to put her foot down, but she was already on uneven ground with her husband and daughter, so it would take a lot more forcing to get her way. She realised it too. "You can't stop them, normally this would be my job, the intimidating, disapproving father, but the trouble is, there is not a single thing wrong with that boy. Have you seen him around here for more than five minutes? He's practically already protecting her before they've been on a single date! You need to sort this out." He was not on board with her ideas at all and made it known. Sarah was still somehow confused though. "Me? Sort what out? Hermione is the one deliberately trying to ruin her life and her career. She borderline spat at me when I told her she was going to be a dentist, so I told her off." She stood firmly rooted in her stance. David sighed. "Every time you speak, instead of using those words to apologise or agree, you make it worse for yourself. Hermione can be and do and see what and who she wants. And you aren't being fair to her by controlling her as you have." He wiped at his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't deal with this tonight. I'm sleeping on the sofa. Think about what you are doing to Hermione. And think what it does to us."
So, normally, Mr Granger is the 'disapproving father with good intentions but a terrible demeanour when in the couple's presence' and Mrs Granger is almost the exact opposite. Now I was personally slightly... tired of this trope, though I still don't mind it either way and I haven't read too many fics with Hermione's parents being the way I have portrayed them here.
Mr Granger here is more of the Harry type, a little slow to the draw compared with their significant other, witty but unafraid to do and say the right things. Mrs Granger amplifies the unlikeable aspects of Hermione's personality by being overbearing, controlling and unable to hold back emotions at the worst of times. I think this could lead to interesting places in the story, so I will stick with these characters for now.