Chapter 05:

"So, let me get this straight," Sirius said, staring from one twin to another, "You want to, no.. no.. sorry, need to speak to a muggle and explain about the bonds?"

"Can you imagine?" Fabian shook his head, staring at his brother.

"And people say I am rash!" Sirius snorted.

"But they're not just any muggles, are they?" Remus chirped in.

"Thank you!" Gideon looked relieved that at least someone was understanding what he was trying to do there!

"No.. No.. Don't thank him yet!" Sirius was shaking fervently all around.

"Gid, you know I respect that honest streak of yours, it has saved my hide many times," Fabian said, remembering the many times Gideon had been accosted in the many Hogwarts halls by birds cast aside by Fabian. It had always been his easy words of comfort and sometimes even his cried upon shoulder that made it possible for Fabian to show his face around the next day. "But this is suicide!"

"None of us," Sirius said, pointing at himself and the twins, "can even venture out in the world freely."

"And even if we could, they don't even know any of us. Why would they trust us?" Fabian asked.

"Also, from the way our little Miss Granger handles herself, we can all hazard a rough guess about just how that meeting would go," Remus' statement rang home the truth.

"Okay, tell me this then, all of you," Gideon looked at all present around him, "had they been magical, you wouldn't have stopped me, right?" Begrudgingly the three others nodded. "So, why should this time be any different? Just because they lack magic, do they deserve any less courtesy?"

That shut the three up well and good. "My thoughts exactly," Gideon stated. "The students are all back in school. Arthur's been there last summer to pick her up for the World Cup finals. So, I'm going to ask him to accompany me.."

"Us," Fabian clearly amended, looking at his twin unblinkingly. "If you wish to this, we do it together. You speak. I'll watch your back."

Gideon nodded. He hadn't really expected anything different from his twin after all.

"Us then. Arthur will introduce us to the Grangers and we'll take it from there."

"I'll drink to your foolhardiness," Sirius raised his glass, "To the Prewitt Twins. Double the mayhem. Double the idiocy. May your souls rest in peace."

Remus, Fabian and Gideon, all rolled their eyes before sipping on their own glasses of firewhiskey.

…

Travelling to the Granger Residence polyjuiced as Bill and Charlie Weasley was not as bad as the twins had expected, but travelling there with Arthur who had insisted they use muggle means to get there was on a whole new plane of pain.

They loved Arthur, they truly did. Maybe not from the set go seeing as he was the corrupting their younger sister in all those broom cupboards at Hogwarts, but once Molly had brought him home and they'd really gotten to know him well, slowly seeing him as their younger sister's beau and a more permanent part of their family, they'd started liking him well enough and more importantly respecting him as he'd chosen to be a part of the Order the first time around. His morals had finally reeled them in. But there were times like these, when he went aboard with his curiosity, so not acting his age that made them realise he was a Weasley all said and done, complete with the eccentrics and the ginger hair that came with the package!

"Arthur!" Gideon huffed out.

"How long is this going to take?" Fabian was losing it, nice and slow.

"We'll be there shortly. A couple more hours tops," Arthur said smoothly, smiling haplessly at them.

The twins groaned in unison, banging their head on the top of the seats. They'd just began the journey a few minutes back, but with Arthur in the muggle world, even that was a few minutes too many! He was like a dragon with his gold, all starry eyed and protective!

"Who knew it would take us hours to get from Borough of Islington to Hampstead?" Gideon said aloud.

"I know! They're both in London, aren't they?" Fabian seconded.

How do the muggles live this way? Went unsaid in their minds.

"I'm sorry, did you say you wanted to go to Hampstead?" a young woman who was sitting on the seat across the aisle from them asked.

The Prewitt twins who looked like Bill and Charlie for the time, nodded.

"Oh, but this bus is on its way to Manchester!" she said, her eyes wide at their folly. "It'll only take you about 20 minutes from the Borough to Hampstead. Here," she rang the bell on the bar in front of her, "dismount here and just whistle for a cab, you should be there in not more than a quarter of an hour."

Thanking her profusely, and almost pulling Arthur by his collar on their way out, the twins dismounted the bus with Arthur who looked like he was going cross-eyed at the nifty bell installed in the bus.

"Muggles, I tell you! Pure genius, them!" He grinned.

…

Dr and Dr Granger had no idea what this sudden visit requested by Mr Arthur Weasley was about and that only made the foreboding in their hearts increase ten folds.

"You think she's alright?" Nora asked her husband for the twelfth time in the past twenty minutes. "I'm really worried about her. She looked well when she was here on her summer break last week, didn't she? Did we miss any signs?" were all the questions Nora had asked in a continuous loop all night long and then again since the morning.

If Mr. Weasley did not turn up real quick, at least one of them was going to suffer a cardiac arrest with all the panic rising inside them.

As soon as the doorbell rang, the couple was in front of the door, opening it. The fact that Mr Weasley was accompanied by two other young men who could only be his sons was making the warning bells ring much louder in Robert's head.

"Please tell me my daughter is safe," Nora greeted the trio with that statement right at the door, not even bothering to ask them in first.

"Of course, she's alright," the taller of the two boys said.

"Why wouldn't she be?" the bulkier one asked.

Nora's entire body sagged with relief. Robert had to step behind her to support her weight as she finally heard the words that she needed to hear. "Oh, thank God."

"She's fine," Nora whispered looking at her husband.

"She's alright," Robert smiled and nodded back at her.

The couple smiled at each other, that simple gesture showing any one observant enough, just how the family dynamics were.

"I…" Nora shook her head, forcibly removing her gaze from her husband's as she looked back at the trio at the door. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? Please do come in."

The three walked in and Robert made sure to close the door behind them. "I'm sorry about the welcome. It's just that we rarely ever hear from the other world besides Hermione's letters and so far, whenever we have, the news has never really been a pleasant one."

"She's either caught fighting mountain trolls or punished for smuggling out baby dragons, or she's laying petrified for months and we're not allowed to visit because she's at school and we can't go in there. Or there are Ministry letters telling her about how to turn time responsibly! Or they're those of boys," Robert spat that word a bit more acidly than strictly necessary, "asking me if I'd send my daughter to freaking Bulgaria so she can meet his family? Honestly, why would I send my teenaged daughter to meet the family of a young international sport star? Does it look like I've lost my marbles?"

"Krum asked her to meet his family?" spoke a shocked voice from behind Arthur Weasley.

"Yea… uhm.. Mr Weasley," Robert quickly pulled at Arthur Weasley's hand, pushing the man behind himself as he saw the features of two boys who had accompanied him, changing. "Nora! Get my gun! NOW!" he bellowed, still keeping the Weasley patriarch behind himself as he watched the changing features of the two men with morbid fascination.

"We come in peace," the two men who could've only been identical twins raised their hands to show they were empty. "We didn't mean to scare you."

"Scare me? If you didn't mean to scare me, why did you Polyjuice yourself before coming here?"

"You know about the Polyjuice potion?" Three distinct male voices asked in shock.

"I send my daughter into your world. Knowledge is the only weapon I have to defend her!" Robert bellowed, "So I read!"

"WOW! The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?" Fabian asked with something akin to respect in his voice.

"Maybe we should start this again," Gideon said, dubiously eyeing the black metallic thing, Mrs Granger had brought in with her. "I am Gideon Prewitt, and this is my twin, Fabian Prewitt. We're Arthur's brothers in-law and we've come to discuss some very important matters with you. So, if we could all please sit down?"

…

Robert had sat stock still for the entirety of the hour that Fabian and he had spoken, explaining the intricacies of the bond evoked and awakened between Hermione and himself, and if he were being honest, Gideon was wary of that taut non-responsiveness.

"You have to understand, Mr and Mrs Granger, we would never do anything to harm her."

"Yes, you'd only force her to marry you, nothing too drastic to worry us at all."

Gideon almost sighed in relief when Robert Granger finally spoke. At least he is responding! Gideon wouldn't be the one telling Robert's short-tempered daughter that he'd broken her father. Hermione sure had a mean streak, and a good mile-long one at that. He had been an unwilling witness to just how she had punished the reporter from her fourth year for all her misdeeds. As feared an auror as he was back in the day, he sure did not need to be on the wrong end of Hermione's wand. He liked his bits exactly where they were hanging, thank you very much.

"I completely understand where you're coming from, Mr Granger, I honestly do. But unfortunately, what is, just is. None of us here can do anything about it. The minute she saved our lives, she bonded herself to the family's head, which in this case is me. Even if she wants to go away, which she wouldn't, and even if I let her get away, which I can't, our magic won't allow it. These bonds are rarely forged, but once they are, they are forged for life."

"Fabian is my identical twin, we have the same magical core. Because it is a shared entity, it is a rather large reservoir and we can draw out from each other's magical reserves should we ever need to. But when we were brought back, our magic was almost too depleted to keep us alive. We had just fought five senior death eaters and were almost lost to their dark curses. Even without seeing Hermione, without awakening our bond, I was still able to draw out magic from her, without realising any of this of course," he immediately added on seeing Robert Granger's nostrils flare, "and it was her magic that sustained us while ours healed. Our magic, since it's used by the both of us took longer to heal but without Hermione's magic supporting us, our jump into the future wouldn't really have mattered. We would be as dead as dead can be despite it all. So, soul-bond aside, we still owe that little witch our lives. A debt that can never really be repaid in full. So you have to trust me when I say this, we would never harm, or let any harm come to Hermione. Both of us would die before we let her fall."

"All of that is well and good, Mr Prewitt, but what you really are doing here is asking for my daughter's, my teenaged daughter's, hand in marriage."

"No," Gideon vehemently shook his head. "No, I am not doing anything of the sort. I won't deny that I will come to you asking for your daughter's hand but that will only be when I know that is something she wants for herself, not to satisfy the bond between us. I vow to you Mr Granger that I will give Hermione as much time and as much space as she needs."

"Then why are you here? Why tell us any of this?" Nora asked, looking at the man her daughter was one day set to marry. And she really didn't know what to feel! Should I be excited? Should I miserable? How was she to react to that news!? Her sixteen years old daughter had found herself a husband. This sure was right up there in the most bizarre events of her life, like finding out that her eleven years old girl wasn't simply odd, but a witch!

"Had you been a magical family, it is something I would have had to do. I believed you deserved the same courtesy, even if our traditions seem somewhat senseless to you."

"What traditions are you referring to? The ones that force my daughter, a girl who saved your lives, to live bonded to you as your wife? Where is the fairness in any of it?"

"The bond works both-ways, Mr Granger. It is not only me who is feeling the pull here. These older forms of magic, in and by itself are sentient in nature. I'm sorry, I may not be able to explain it completely but… somewhere, somehow, Hermione knows it too. I know she knows it. I know she feels it. I can feel it in her…"

Robert snorted.

"Okay, tell me this," Gideon tried another approach. "This invite to visit Bulgaria that she received from Krum" Gideon's lips flattened in distaste yet he continued, "Did she want to go?"

Robert saw how Gideon's face turned sour, as if he'd smelled something foul, when he spoke of it, and he smirked.

Gideon chose to ignore the smirk in favour of the bigger picture.

"Our daughter is not that type of a girl." Robert folded his arms in front of himself, brooking no further argument in that area.

"No, she isn't. I know that. But has she ever shown any interest in any other boy? She is a teenaged witch. Is it not normal for girls that age to like someone?"

"Like I said," Robert gritted between his teeth. "My Hermione is not like any of those girls. She is my little girl."

"No, wait Robert. I need to understand this," Nora interrupted the men. "So you're trying to say she would never be interested in anyone else but you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Gideon nodded.

"Hmm…" Nora sat back, her eyes unseeing, as she thought back to all those times she'd felt something similar with her daughter. Back then, she'd believed Robert, maybe Hermione hadn't found someone to get excited about. But maybe, Gideon Prewitt was right. Maybe she had already found the one and didn't want to bother with anyone else at all. It did sound like Hermione to be ahead of everyone else! Nora snorted indelicately at her thoughts, quickly covering it with a musical chortle .

"What?" Robert eyed his wife sceptically. If history had taught him anything, it was that whatever Nora was about to say, he was going to hate it. Period.

"You remember, back in her fourth year? With the Yuletide Ball held in her school? I tried so hard to get her excited about the whole thing and she looked so put out about even going shopping?"

"Nora!" Robert held his jaws hard enough to need a dentist himself after this particular meeting. "It's Hermione we're talking about! She hates shopping unless it's for books!"

"Yes, I know that, Robert. I did live with her the same duration that you did. She isn't a stranger to me. If anything I've known her for nine months longer than you," Nora rolled her eyes. "The way he behaves, I tell you, as if I am not her mother at all and he is the only one who truly gets her," she mumbled, making the Prewitt twins bite their cheeks to stop their grins from showing on their faces.

"As I was saying," she threw an evil eye at her husband for a good measure as she continued. "The entire day she was looking so morose and the only time her eyes lit up was when she saw the dress we bought her."

"So she was excited about the dress?" Robert smiled winningly.

"Yes! And when I look at him," Nora gestured at Gideon, "I realise it was because it was of the exact same shade of blue as his eyes!"

This time Gideon did show his smug smile and jumped in for the kill. "My point precisely. Whether she knows of it or not, she is drawn to me, just like I am to…" he abruptly cut off at the murderous glare Robert Granger was throwing his way. Thank Merlin, muggles hadn't come up with something that made their looks kill!

…

"Why would I even agree to this? What do you have to show for yourself that I'd simply acquiesce your bond with my daughter and accept you in to our family with our blessings?"

Nora had broken their meeting for a short lunch break, 'ordering in' she had called it. "Thai," she had said the food was, "Hermione's favourite."

Fabian had smirked knowingly at Gideon on hearing that. Mothers everywhere were so keen on match making!

Once the food had arrived, they had sat with steaming hot tiny bucket-like containers in front of them, with two wooden sticks to eat that spaghetti-like thing in there with. Arthur was ecstatic. Muggle ingenuity! He had exclaimed and proceeded to make a mess of himself and his food.

Fabian and Gideon had watched the two muggles use the thin wooden pieces, chopsticks they'd called them, and only after they were sure, they'd confidently devoured what was served to them. Not a muscle had moved from Robert Granger's face but they'd passed some unknown test, Gideon was sure. Not that Robert had warmed towards him any.

Seeing Gideon lost in thought, Fabian had quickly picked up the mantle and pulled out the copy of the ledgers they had brought along. Finally something that was common between magical and muggle parents. The perpetual question of how will you provide for my daughter?

"This has all our properties, monies and investments listed. You can keep this copy to study them and we will collect it from you the next time we meet."

"We'll meet again?" Robert sounded put out, earning a swift kick under the table. His loud shout of surprise raised no questions from any man around.

"I'm afraid you'll be seeing a lot more of Fabian and me than you thought," Gideon just couldn't stop himself from the cheeky reply.

"Splendid," Robert looked mad enough to scream like a banshee.

…

"How exactly will you care for her, when for all means and purposes you're dead? You're both dead. Why would I let my daughter marry, or even be with someone like that?"

And wasn't that the million galleons question! Neither Gideon, nor Fabian had any response to it.

Arthur took one look that the wizards who had similarly grilled him when he'd first gone to their house as their sister's boyfriend and he smiled. They had given him the benefit of doubt back then when he had nothing to show for himself but his undying love for their little sister. He would return that favour today.

"We will rectify that before we meet next," Arthur said to the Grangers, "You have my word for it."

The two fathers looked each other in the eye, both knowing how humbling the entire spectacle was, before Roger finally nodded.

…

"Before we leave," Gideon said turning towards the couple, Fabian, Arthur and I would like to add a few protective charms to the house. "I'm sure you know that times are uncertain in the wizarding world. We would really sleep peacefully knowing we had Hermione's family covered. They are just a few family wards that will alert you and give you enough time to escape if someone is coming towards you with ill-intentions. This here," Gideon handed them a small oblique disc, "is a quick get-away. It connects to our Manor primarily, and if for some reason that has fallen, then to a safe house. This is your ticket to safety in case things take a dark turn. Be sure to keep it with you at all times and use it wisely. Remember, we had to have it altered to enable you two to use it, so keep it away from other muggles. We wouldn't want someone's curiosity to backfire so spectacularly, now would we?"

Nora accepted the disc with a smile when Robert wouldn't and thanked the Prewitts and Mr Weasley for coming.

"One more thing like this and I swear I will pull her name off that ruddy school of hers!" Robert's voice carried clearly in the winter's din outside, making the twins chuckle.

"Oh, come off it Rob. You know our little bunny. Did you really think she'd be able to settle with someone her own age?" They heard Nora say.

"Well, I didn't really expect her to pull out boys from the previous generation, now did I?" Rob was heard indignantly sputtering.

"Well, we all like the old world charm," the teasing lilt of Nora's voice was the last thing they heard.

"Between the father and daughter, you sure have your work cut out for you, Gid," Fabian joked before hailing a taxi that would take them back to the Black Residence.

Unable to help themselves, both Gideon and Arthur joined Fabian in his humour.

Author's Note:

I've always wanted to write this type of interaction between Hermione's muggle parents and her pureblood beau, but somehow none of my stories ever granted me this chance. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I loved writing it. I would love to use this opportunity to award a loud shout of appreciation to fathers everywhere. For everything you do, Dear Dads, we love you!

Side Note: Have any of you tried my new story - Duty, Deceit, Desire, and Destiny? If not, can I please suggest you do... I love it so far and I would love to hear what you think of it too. That one's really different for those of you into that kind of thing.

Either way, I'll see you next time I update.

Love,

CrazyA