* Teenage issues*
Hermione was proud of many things that she had accomplished throughout her life, but the thing she was the proudest of was the upbringing of her children. The three of them were smart for their ages, kind, responsible and good. They were a reflection of every value she and Ron had been passing to them for 16 years. She was well aware that the stages her kids were in weren't the easiest ones: Belle, their eldest, was in her teenage years, soon to become of age; Rose was 9 already, but acted as if she were older; Hugo was 7 and as mischievous as Fred and George once were. Still Hermione was sure she and Ron had done a great job with them... until one afternoon at The Burrow. She was sat at the table, just watching the children play when Bill and his family arrived. Dominique and Louis ran straight to their cousins while Victoire and Fleur were engaged in a heated argument. Bill looked extremely fed up with the whole situation. He sighed and went to the table and sat across Hermione.
"What's up with those two?" Ron asked, sitting next to his wife. Victoire shouted something like "you're such a control freak!" at her mother which startled the younger kids. Bill sighed.
"Teenagers. They think they can do whatever they want without consequences." He said. Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "Vicky has been fighting against us since she got back for the summer. I understand that this is a rebellious stage, but she's being so... uncontrollable lately." He explained.
"What are they fighting about?" Hermione asked
"Everything. Vicky's messy room, her intolerance towards her siblings. Her desk is full of parchments. Homework, you reckon? No. Love letters to her boyfriend. She hasn't cleaned the owl's cage since she arrived and she refuses to help Dominique with her homework, stating that she should learn on her own." Bill explained. Hermione and Ron just looked at him. "I know this type of behavior is normal. You have a teenager at home. You know what it's like." Bill told them. Hermione and Ron looked at each other. Truth to be told, they actually didn't know. They never had any problems with Belle. Their daughter was a teenager indeed, but she wasn't the rebellious type. They were about to say something when Molly Weasley called all the family to the table. Before they knew it, conversations changed and the issue was soon forgotten. At least, by Bill.
Ron could feel Hermione tossing and turning in bed practically since they had gone to it some hours ago. After feeling her moving again and huffing, he sighed, sat up and turned on his lamp.
"Ok, love, what is it?" he asked. Hermione sighed and rolled over, facing him.
"You think we're doing something wrong with Belle?" she asked. His eyes got bigger, kinda shocked by her question. As far as he knew, there was nothing wrong in the way they were raising their children.
"In what sense, hun?" he asked. She sat up.
"Well... when was the last time she and I had a fight?" she asked. He thought about it.
"Last... week when you two were discussing some book?" he said tentatively. Obviously, Hermione wasn't satisfied with the answer as she gave him a look.
"That wasn't a fight, Ronald! That was barely a disagreement on something. I mean, a real mother-daughter fight. Like the one Fleur and Victoire were having." she stated. He thought for a minute then shook his head.
"No. No fights that I can recall." he said.
"Exactly! She isn't rebelling against anything we say or do! I mean, we tell her to clean her room or wash the dishes and she does it... without any complaints!" she exclaimed. Ron looked at her, trying very hard to understand where the problem was. "I mean, are we raising a push over? Does she just complies to anything or anyone?" she asked. Ron couldn't help but laugh.
"Ok, I'll stop you right there, Mione. You know Belle is no push over whatsoever. She well knows how to express herself when she doesn't want to do anything or someone is doing something she doesn't like. She got it from you, babe." he said.
"Then, why isn't she rebelling?" she asked.
"Let me get this straight: It's 4:15 in the bloody morning and you're complaining about our incredibly good daughter who isn't complaining about doing house chores? I always thought you were mental, Hermione, but this one goes way over the top." he said
"She's 16 going to 17, Ron! And she's not doing or behaving like a proper teenager! What if she's missing out on things?" she asked. Ron placed his hands on her shoulders.
"The fact that she doesn't rebel against our rules doesn't mean she's not a proper teenager. She has a bloody boyfriend, for crying out loud! She talks on the fellytone with him and her friends, she wears make up and is embarrassed of my jokes whenever I tell them near her friends. She doesn't need to rebel against us because she trusts us, we trust her and we taught her well. So stop complaining about our perfectly behaved teenage daughter and go to sleep." he said, then he kissed her lips lightly, turned off the lamp and laid back down. Hermione stood there, taken aback for a minute. Then, she sighed and laid down in bed. Ron sighed as well. He knew she was still thinking about that.
"You know... it's been a week since she cleaned Ila's cage. And I'm sure I have seen her writing a lot lately, probably letters to that boyfriend of hers. Maybe you can start telling her off for that." he said, closing his eyes. Hermione kissed his cheek and went to sleep.
So the next morning after breakfast, Hermione upsed the stairs and went to her eldest daughter's room, where she found her first born scribbling on a piece of parchment real quick. When she was finished, she put the parchment in an envelope, got up and went straight to the little white owl that was perched on the window seal. "Alright, now go and deliver these letters and don't come back until you've got a response, ok?" the 16-year-old said opening the window so the bird could fly away. When she saw the little animal was out of sight, she turned around.
"Hi, mom! You need anything?" she asked walking to the owl's cage and starting to take the base out.
"I was..." Hermione started, then perked up. "I was about to remind you that you're fully responsible of your owl's care." she said firmly. Belle just looked at her as she took some dirty old newspapers and tossed them in a bag.
"I know, mom. And I know I should have cleaned her cage earlier, but I was waiting to send her out with some letters so I could clean the cage in peace. Last time I cleaned it with her in the house, my room was dirtier than her cage." Belle stated. Hermione just looked at her.
"Well... you... could have waited to write those letters until you finished your homework. I'm sure your friends can wait for a few more days without news from you." the woman said. Belle looked at her, a bit confused by her mother's behaviour.
"I know. That's why I just sent those letters. I've been working on my homework all week. Would you mind checking it? I know I used all my textbooks to do it, but I'm not sure about the Runes one. I think I translated something wrong." the teenager said as she walked past her mother holding the bag. Hermione looked at her as she downed the stairs. What was she doing? Her daughter was nothing but responsible and she was defying her by questioning her? She took the parchments from the desk and was about to abort her plan when Rose went to her.
"Mommy, can you help me? I don't understand this." the little red-haired girl asked, showing her mom a piece of paper. Hermione looked at it, trying to decipher what was written there.
"What do you have in there, Rosie Posie?" Belle asked from behind Hermione.
"Fractions. I can't seem to get them right." Rose told her sister. Belle examined her sister's homework.
"You have to multiply both fractions by the same number. Like in here." she said as she showed her little sister the example. Rose looked at it, then at her sister.
"Oh. I get it... I think." she said a bit unsure.
"How about you go back to your room and I'll meet you there as soon as I finish cleaning Ila's cage?" Belle suggested. Rose smiled and nodded, then she went back to her room. In that moment, Hugo walked in.
"What you doing?" he asked watching his eldest sister walk around the room.
"Cleaning Ila's cage." she answered
"Can I help?" he asked, hopeful.
"It's alright, Hugh. I got it." she said with a smiled
"Oh. I wanted to learn how to do it for when I'm bigger and I can clean Pig's cage." he said a bit disappointed. Belle looked at him and smiled.
"Hand me those papers, would you?" she said pointing at the pages of old Daily Prophet issues that were scatered on the floor. He went to her eagerly and gave her as many as she asked, then he helped her put the base back to the cage. "Wonderful, Hugh! You were great! Now, I'll go and help Rosie." she said.
"But I'm bored!" he pouted.
"Well... how about you go to your room to build a a castle with your legos, and when I finish helping Rosie, I'll help you build a fort so the dragons won't get in?" she suggested. Hugo gave her a toothy smile and ran eagerly to his room. Hermione looked at the whole scene astonished. "You alright, mom?" Belle asked. Hermione snapped back to reality and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I'm... I'm gonna check your homework and be right back." she said. Belle nodded and left the room. Hermione went to the living room and sat next to Ron who was on the couch reading some Quidditch magazinr.
"You ok?" he asked her, concerned. She looked at him.
"She finished all her homework and already cleaned Ila's cage." she said. Ron smiled.
"That's good!" he exclaimed.
"She's willingly helping Rose with her Maths homework, and later on she will play with Hugo in his room." she continued. Ron looked at her.
"O...K... That's good, right? I mean, she's a responsible girl, and she's caring and is good to her siblings." he said. She nodded.
"I guess you were right after all. I shouldn't worry." she said.
"Please, say that again. You know... the part where I'm right?" he asked, smiling mischeviously. She rolled her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her.
"Bill called, by the way. You'll never believe what happened. Dominique heard weird noises coming from Victoire's room so she called her parents. When Bill and Fleur walked in Victoire's room, they found their daughter half-naked in bed with Teddy (also half-naked) on top of her. Bill was furious and Fleur had another fight with Victoire. Seems she'll be grounded all summer." he said.
"Wow!" Hermione just said.
"And that's not all. When Fleur asked Victoire how long they had been doing it, she answered for over a year. Bill said that Fleur was shocked that Victoire hid that from her, but then again, she's a teenager. You can't expect them to tell you all about them, can you? I mean, we're lucky Belle tells us almost everything, or at least she tells you." Ron explained. Hermione was about to say something when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Can I go to Adam's later? His parents are having a BBQ and invited me over." Belle asked. Hermione panicked. What if the BBQ was an excuse and Belle was going there to actually do what Victoire and Teddy were doing?
"No." Hermione said. Ron and Belle looked at her shocked.
"Wh-Why not?" Belle asked.
"Because... no." Hermione said.
"That's not a reason, mom. You told me that yourself! Is it because I cleaned Ila's cage later than I should have? I already told you the reason why I did it and it's already clean. I did all my house chores AND my homework. So, why can't I go?" the teenager asked. Hermione looked at her.
"Because... you'll be with Adam." she stated. Belle laughed incredously.
"Well... yeah, it's his house." she said.
"But you'll still be with Adam." Hermione stated. Belle nodded.
"And with his sister, his mother and father, Justin, Maisie, Landon, I think Scarlet, but she and Landon broke up before the term was over, so I don't think she'll go after all. Oh! And Teddy and Tory are supposed to be there too, but I don't think so." Belle explained.
"so... it's a group's BBQ" Ron said calmly. Belle nodded.
"Adam and his family are leaving for the United States in three days and they're not coming back until the last week of August, so that means we won't see each other until then. So... can I go? Please?" she asked, hoping her whole explanation would give her the chance to finally go and meet her friends.
"I'm sorry, Belle, but my decision is final. You're not going." Hermione said, getting up from the couch. Belle looked at her, shocked.
"It's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong!" she shouted, then she ran upstairs and slammed her door. Hermione sighed, upset.
"Well... you wanted it, you got it." Ron said. Hermione turned around and looked at him.
"What?" She asked confused.
"A fight with your teenage daughter." he said. She sighed and sat next to him.
"I crossed the line, didn't I?" she asked. Ron sighed.
"Pretty much." he said.
"I don't know what came over me, Ron! I just... I guess... I wanted her to react like a normal teenager." she said.
"She IS a normal teenager, Hermione! But she's also a good one, and that's because of you." he said. Hermione's eyes got big and ro und. "You taught her to differenciate what's right from wrong. You taught her to be responsible and kind to others and caring for everyone and everything. You taught her to expose her case and give good reasons when she really wants something or she thinks something is unfair. You taught her to trust us when she's in trouble. Now, YOU have to trust her." He said. Hermione, who hadn't realised she was tearing until then, wipped her eyes with her hands and nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to let her go for a few hours, you know." Ron said. "Besides, you don't want her to escape from her window like Victoire was going to." he laughed a bit. Hermione ran upstairs and knocked on her daughter's door. A muffled voice told her to go away, but Hermione refused and opened it anyway. Belle looked at her. She had a look of sadness mixed with confusion and hurt that Hermione hadn't seen before and that truly broke her heart. The young woman sighed and sat next to her daughter.
"I'm... I'm really sorry, Belle. I shouldn't have behaved like that." she started.
"What did I do wrong, mom?" the girl just asked, sniffing. Hermione smiled and put a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear.
"This time it's not you, sweetheart. It's me. I... I panicked." Hermione just said.
"Why? Because of what Tory did?" Belle asked. Apparently, she knew the whole story already.
"it's just... You're a teenager. You... you should be doing silly things and questioning my authority. I just... I don't want you to look back at these years and think that you missed out on things." Hermione explained. Belle looked at her in the eye.
"I do plenty of silly things, mom. Just the other day I put a slug in Teddy's sandwich because he hid my Aritmancy book." she said. Hermione laughed a bit. "And... I don't question your authority because you're my mom. I know that, if you say something, it's because you know best." she continued.
"Not always." Hermione corrected. Belle nodded.
"I trust you, mom. You can trust me when I say you don't have to worry about me sneaking out of the house or anything like that. It's not me. You and dad taught me better than that." Belle said. Hermione smiled and hugged her, then kissed her head.
"i still can't believe how much you've grown." she said.
"So... can I go to the BBQ?" Belle asked hopeful. Hermione sighed, smiled and nodded. Belle smiled as well and Hermione got up.
"You remember my boggart from last year?" Belle suddenly asked as Hermione was about to leave.
"Yeah. It was me and Adam." Hermione said.
"Remember why Adam?" Belle asked, fidgetting with her shirt. Hermione nodded, getting a bit concerned. "Well... we had that talk during the year and... well... it happened. We... we did it." the young girl said blushing. Hermione looked at her, shocked for a minute.
"Oh... I see. Wh-When?" she managed to ask.
"A couple of days before the term ended. After one of our prefects rounds. I just... I know I told you I would talk to you about it when it happened, but... I don't know! I guess... I guess I wanted to keep it a secret for a while." Belle said. Hermione nodded.
"Are you being...?" she started to ask before Belle nodded in agreement.
"Both ways." the girl answered.
"You... wanna talk about it?" Hermione asked. Belle shrugged her shoulders.
"It was good. And he was respectful." she just said. "Please, don't tell dad about this." she pleaded later. Hermione smiled and kissed her daughter's head.
"It'll be our secret." she said, before leaving the room. She sighed relieved. She had nothing to worry about. After all, she was proud of how her and Ron were raising their children.