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.
When Harry woke up the next morning, he spotted the alarm clock next to his bed which said in bright red letters, 09:46. He had been asleep for only eight hours after he arrived back at the flat. So, with a yawn and a grunt, he reluctantly rolled out of bed and slipped on a jumper over his shirt. His limbs felt lighter, though his head had yet to catch up with his body and he nearly walked into his bedroom door before he found the brass handle. Tugging it open, he saw Ron at the kitchen table and noticed Lavender at the counter. "Morning." He said with raised eyebrows at his flatmate. "So, how was the party after you got back?" He asked with a short snigger, seeing Lavender in Ron's dress shirt, buttoned wrongly up and Ron glancing worriedly at the sofa. "You two need to work on cleaning up before you next have a… sleepover?" Harry had noticed that both Lavender and Ron's underwear were draped over the armrest of the sofa, prompting him to give them five minutes to get presentable and changed. From his desk in his room, Harry could hear them scurrying about, desperately trying to remove their various items of clothing from the floor, sofa and somehow, the lights. They were insatiable together, a supposed reason for them to stay in a relationship, but all he ever saw them do together was kiss, grope and eat. 'Maybe Hermione was onto something last night, I could do with letting Ron and Lavender have their space after all. And if this date goes well, maybe I could move in with Hermione soon.' His thoughts came to a halt. Why was he already thinking of moving in with Hermione, they hadn't even been on a single date yet, still a wild notion after everything they had been through. Little did he know, just under a mile away, Hermione was contemplating the exact same thing.
She rested her head on her hands after reading yet another chapter of her fantasy novel. 'She's lucky she doesn't have an overbearing mum.' Hermione complained to herself. Even after being protected by the thought of Harry in her dreams, she was still frightened of her mother being like this forever. She shook off the feeling, despite her obvious focus on that instead of the task at hand, getting some lunch. She thought that she might try to make something herself, but the chance of her mother being in the kitchen was too great, so she grabbed her purse and handbag and left her bedroom. She heard the telltale sign of her dad watching the weekly Sunday movies and told him where she was going. However, before she could get out the word "goodbye", her mother noticed her bag hanging off her shoulder and rushed into the living room from the kitchen, leaving her eggs in the pan on the hob. "And just where do you think you're going? You aren't going to that boy again, are you?" Hermione felt the piercing gaze in her chest and muttered: "No, I was just going out to get lunch and I might go and see Parvati and Padma afterwards." She knew from the moment that she had mentioned her friends' names that she would be in trouble, but stood defiantly, still angled toward the front door. Her mother let out a frustrated grunt of "No, you are going to come straight back after you get something to eat, do you understand me?" Hermione started to crumble under the cruel and overbearing words, letting her grip on her phone waver for a moment and it clattered to the carpeted lounge floor not a second later. "Oh, whoops. Thanks, Dad." She said as David handed her the phone and told her to get on her way. He walked her to the door and whispered to her: "Stay out as long as you need, I know that neither of us wants to be around your mother when she's like this. Oh, and if you do go and see the Patil's, tell them I said "hello", they've always been quite nice to you." Hermione nodded and accepted a kiss on the cheek, turning around and walking down the driveway to the street.
"I can't believe you, David! You need to back me up on this, Hermione is going to become one of those people, who care more about their friends and relationships than their jobs. She is-,"
"Just Stop it, Sarah! Hermione is not your toy to be controlled. She, believe it or not, is our daughter. Not your project to work on and perfect in your own eyes. She is 18 for Christ's sake! She hasn't had a single relationship that lasted more than a week, because she wants to find someone right for her. And you aren't letting her be herself and live. She told me what you said to her last night. I am appalled. 'Throwing away her life'?! Is that seriously what you think Hermione is doing by dating a nice guy that respects her and not doing everything exactly as you did. She is not you, and you are not acting like her mother! I am going with her. You still haven't tried to change, have you?" He grabbed his coat and turned Casino Royale off the TV. As he left and slammed the door, Sarah was left more confused, angry and sad than she had felt in a long time.
Just a minute later, David Granger had caught up with his daughter and walked with her to the local bakery for lunch. They had avoided talking about her mother as it wasn't a particularly nice subject to discuss over a meal. Despite the slightly sullen mood, father and daughter both smelled the delicious aromas wafting over from Gerrard's bakery in town. "Fancy a pasty Dad?" Hermione asked with a smile. "Come on, we're not animals, make it two sausage rolls." He smiled back. After ordering, they walked down to the local park and finished their lunch, which disappeared quickly. "Hermione. Listen, I don't want you to pay attention to your mother on all of this… nonsense. The reason that she doesn't like Harry is clearly not something she plans on telling us. At least, it better not be the case that she simply doesn't approve. I know that she can be stubborn too, but we all make mistakes. Just… don't let your mother get between you and Harry. On another note, here he comes now." David pointed over Hermione's shoulder to a rather annoyed looking Harry Potter muttering to himself. He obviously wasn't looking where he was going and nearly bumped straight into them, apologising quickly after realising who they were. "Oh, Hermione, Mr Granger. I didn't expect to see you here. I just came into town to get lunch; Ron and Lavender are- ahem- busy cleaning up after yesterday's after-prom party." Hermione giggled quietly as David took a moment to realise what he meant. "Ah, I could see how that would put you off your lunch. Tell you what, come with us, we were heading back that way too." Harry thanked them and nodded, trailing behind them until Mr Granger made the excuse of catching up after he had tied his shoe, leaving the two alone.
"Thanks for last night Harry, it was perfect and I won't deny that I was trying to pluck up the courage to ask you the same thing that you asked me then." Hermione blushed after saying that as if it wasn't equally as new to Harry. "But, you promise that whatever happens, we'll still be friends?" He laughed heavily and looked at her with a smile. "Of course, nothing could stop us being friends, Hermione. Ever. Now, let's get some food, I am bloody starving." So they continued at their pace with Mr Granger following them from a respectable distance all the way to the bakery. Before ordering, Harry whispered to Hermione "By the way, this does not count as our first date. Fair?" She nodded and waited for him to get his food, which he had ordered extra of for some odd reason. She looked at the two bags of lunch and made a surprised face upon his offering one of the bags to her. "Sorry, I should have mentioned that my Dad and I already got lunch just ten minutes ago… but I do love a good pasty." So, after little consideration, she took the bag and took out the bacon and chicken pasty. Biting into it with fervour, she looked as if she was trying to get crumbs and slivers of chicken all over her jacket. Harry wondered what had gotten her so anxious; she only ate like this when she was under a great deal of stress, like when she took her GCSEs. His look was enough for her to mumble "Mum's being a bit of a…" "Nag? Witch? Destroyer of Worlds?" Harry asked with a grin. Hermione shook her head and cocked it sideways at the last mention. Gulping down a bite of pasty, she asked "Destroyer of Worlds? Not quite there yet, but pretty close. Why that analogy though?" He finished his lunch and sniggered to himself. "I was just watching a ton of Marvel movies yesterday before the Prom, so I kind of have it on the brain. So, up for dessert?" He pulled out two iced finger rolls and offered one to her. She narrowed her eyes. "You seriously want me to get fat, don't you?" She said, snatching the sweet confection up.
After leaving Harry to get back to the apartment and his dreadful roommate, Hermione met back up with her dad, who was browsing through the limited movie section in their local Spar, not too far from the bakery. "Oh, there you are, I was starting to think you'd gone to the Patils' house already. Are you going?" His voice was laced with a hint of worry. "I can always pick you up when you need to come home." She shook her head and started to walk with him in the direction of her home. "I can't avoid Mum. She needs to change, and I can't let her change if I'm not there to see and experience it. So let's go home." David nodded and stayed silent pondering on how much Hermione disliked her mother at this point. 'To be honest, she hasn't been the most hospitable person in the world as of late. Pretty much since Hermione started to spend long hours in college and with friends.' That Prom night had been a glaring outlier in her attitude, and he had noticed it. Most days she was cold and just barely affectionate. That was not something that goes unnoticed for two years. 'And now she's trying to turn Hermione into her personal Sims character, controlling her life.' David Granger was tired of Sarah being so lifeless unless she was directly affected and benefited from something. Now, Hermione was aware of all of her mother's pent up anger and frustration, which she in no way deserved.
Their 'reconciliation' had been a disaster, ending up in Hermione losing the barrier that she had against her mother's aggression. It had escalated so much that Sarah had yelled so loud that even David, who stood a good few feet behind Hermione, ready to come to her aid if she needed it, felt dizzy. "You are going to be nothing more than a lazy, screwed up, stupid girl if you are like this for the rest of your life! Show some proper comportment and respect for your betters and elders! Go to your room, now!" She had screamed like a banshee to the frightened Hermione. David shook his head to rid it of tremors and grasped Hermione in a hug so tight that it drowned out the noise of him yelling at his wife for her. After releasing her from the grip, he whispered "I am going to live with my mother for a few weeks. Do you want to come? Please, Hermione, you can't live like this." She mulled it over in her mind for a moment, wiping tears from her cheeks with her sleeve and asked her dad to wait for a moment whilst she made a call. A less scared Hermione came down the stairs only twenty minutes later with a suitcase of things that she was going to take, much to the shock of her mother. "We're going to stay somewhere else for a few weeks. Don't call, don't try to get to us. And don't even think of saying anything to her friends." He walked out of the door that Hermione had exited through moments earlier with nothing more than a scowl on his face and a daughter in the car.
Meanwhile, Sarah Granger wiped a solitary tear from her face and listened intently to the car pull out of the drive. "Good ri- riddance." She sniffed, letting her sadness and anger pour out all at once. She lashed out and hit the glass table with her bare hand, cracking it and knocking chips of glass all over the floor. The lonely woman resolved to clean it up later when she wasn't spewing expletives and missing her betraying husband. With a final look towards the window, where two neighbours were peering in from over the street, she yanked the curtains shut and slouched all the way to the fridge to drown her sorrows and stoke her anger with a pack of beers.
I know that this is out of character for ME, making Hermione's mother the screwed-up one in the Granger Household, but, truth be told, she is lot like someone that I have unfortunately had in my life. So, in a way, this is taking my anger out on them. It isn't my mother though, so don't worry about me slating my family.