Summer Fun or Summer Run

Harry was in the front yard of Number Four Privet Drive, performing his outdoor chores. He was pulling up weeds from Petunia's flower beds at an unusually mean pace. Harry Potter was angry at the moment. His huge bully of a cousin, Dudley Dursley, and a gaggle of like-minded stupids, had ambushed Harry outside the play park several blocks down the street. Although he had managed to get a few blows in before he was pummeled to look like raw hamburger meat, Harry felt as if he got the raw end of the deal. After staggering weakly "home", Aunt Petunia had rewarded him for surviving by assigning him various yard chores. The last chore finished, Harry toppled weakly into the soft soil, completely spent.

He heard a chuckle. "You look like hell, boy."

Harry weakly and painfully sat up. "V-Vegeta. What are you doing here?"

Vegeta smirked, tossing him a tiny round object that Harry automatically placed into his mouth and chewed. Watching Harry's wounds heal and his strength return, Vegeta snorted. "Babysitting. Good thing, too. You're pretty weak for one so fast on that stick."

Harry bristled but said nothing.

Vegeta yawned. "I'm bored. Wanna spar, boy?"

"I'm not really in that big a hurry to die."

"Don't worry. I'll be gentle. I know all too well that you human types break easily. Besides, I've got five sensu, and you might learn something."

It was Harry's turn to snort. "Yeah, I've already learned how to be an excellent punching bag, Vegeta! But why not? So, how are you going to keep from killing me?"

Vegeta grinned. "Something that I learned from the triclops. Follow."

Harry followed Vegeta into a nearby patch of woods. Harry began questioning his sanity as Vegeta began splitting into fifty. Forty-nine Vegetas sat with smirks as one approached Harry. "Ready, boy?"

Harry gulped.

Three weeks after Gohan returned home for the summer holiday, he received a phone call.

"Gohan-chan! You have a phone call. It's one of your friends from that school."

Gohan picked up the receiver. "Moshi Moshi?"

"Gohan?" a familiar female voice said uncertainly.

"Hey, Hermione! How have you been? Are you angry anymore?"

Sniff. "I am not angry, Gohan! I'm upset…confused. I've told Mum and Dad I need to get away for a while to…to sort myself. I was wondering…if...if you know of a place I could stay."

Gohan frowned. "What about Ron's?"

Hermione snorted skeptically. "I need to be away from everyone from that place, Gohan! Especially Harry…I don't want to run into Harry even by accident."

"But why? Why are you suddenly so afraid of Harry? I thought you were friends."

"We were…I mean, we are…I mean…"

"Why don't you talk to him about it?"

"I can't! After everything he's been through, this...this…I-I can't."

Gohan sighed and frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, Hermione? You're really smart, right?"

She scoffed. "Heh. I've been told that."

"Well, Bulma's smart…maybe you can stay with her."

Silence. "Do you think she'd take me?"

"She offered to take Harry…I don't see that much difference."

The skeptic returned. "Right. Well, could you ask to be certain?"

...

Gohan called Bulma. She agreed to take Hermione for a while. He called Hermione to tell her. Hermione asked Gohan to fly her to Capsule Corp. They arranged to meet in the Forest of Dean. When Gohan got there, Hermione's parents exchanged looks.

"Honey? Are you sure this is safe?"

Hermione sighed impatiently. "Yes! I trust Gohan completely. Why shouldn't I? He's saved the world twice!"

Gohan gasped. "Hermione, don't tell them that!"

"Why not, it's true…"

"I had lots of help, though," Gohan whined.

"Anyways, we should get there sometime today. I'll call you from there so you know that I made it, okay? I'm going now. Bye."

"Honey…" Mrs. Granger caught her daughter by the arm. Hermione glared at her. Mrs. Granger winced painfully at the look. Against her will, Hermione softened a little.

"Look! I still love you, but I'm…I'm so mad at you right now! I have to do this! I'll be back…in a month."

"A month?" Mrs. Granger wailed.

"A month," Hermione repeated. "I think a month isn't too much to ask for, considering the circumstances. We'll talk when I get back. We're going now."

Hermione stood behind Gohan and put her arms around Gohan's chest. Gohan gave the Grangers a sympathetic look.

"Goodbye, Mister and Missus Granger. I'll keep Hermione safe," he said solemnly. Mrs. Granger nodded, biting her lip.

As Gohan lifted into the air and flew away, he felt Hermione suppress a sob into his back.

...

"Gohan? Why are we stopping? It's only been two hours." Gohan slowly landed in the lush vegetation near a waterfall.

"Mom packed a lunch for us. I thought this would be the perfect spot to rest." Gohan pulled a capsule from his pocket and tossed it. A large ice box popped into view. Hermione giggled.

"A giant fridge in the middle of a jungle in India…miles away from any civilization? Gohan, you…actually, there are probably no words for this." Gohan chuckled.

"Actually, this is an island to the south of India," Gohan corrected her.

Just then, a tiger appeared and roared at them. Hermione squeaked fearfully, but Gohan-

"Hi there, Mr. Tiger. Bet you're hungry, huh?" The tiger walked up and licked Gohan. Gohan giggled.

"You know it?" Hermione asked, trembling.

"Yeah, me and Mr. Tiger go way back. I met him when I was four. He used to try to eat me." Gohan tackled the tiger and scratched its belly. The tiger swatted playfully at him.

Click. Hermione's face emerged from behind a camera.

Gohan jumped. "What was that for?"

"How often will I get to see a kid cavorting about with a tiger in the middle of nowhere? That is scrapbook worthy." Hermione walked around the water, taking photographs of the entire area.

After a happy visit with his old friend, Gohan took Hermione to the cave where he used to live while he was training.

"And you lived here? Alone?"

"Yeah. It was scary sometimes. There used to be this huge T-Rex that chased me…and all sorts of predators came out at night."

Hermione frowned thoughtfully. "Gohan?"

"Yeah?"

"How hard would it be to learn to fly?"

"You can use a broom, Hermione."

Hermione sighed. "Somehow it doesn't feel the same. How hard?"

"Well, flying requires energy. You'd have to have enough energy and be able to control it."

"How do I get enough energy?"

"You train."

"Teach me?"

"I'll have to ask Mom."

Harry panted heavily. It was the third day he had played punching bag to Vegeta. Vegeta was standing over him cackling happily. He was exhausted, but he got to his feet. Vegeta smirked. "Pathetic weakling," he taunted, knowing it would spur the boy into action. He wasn't disappointed. Harry charged at Vegeta. Vegeta grinned. At least speed wasn't a problem for the boy. Admittedly, Harry's speed was nothing compared to a full-powered Vegeta, but still, it was quite impressive for a human.

Hermione stepped out of the swimming pool. She squeezed the excess water from her single piece skirt style pale pink bathing suit. Hermione had always been fairly modest and conservative when it came to clothes selection. She wrapped a wide towel around herself and sat on a nearby lawn chair. A small breeze tousled her fly-a-ways.

"Hey, Piccolo," she said, turning toward a tall figure in the air.

Piccolo frowned. "Perhaps I should come back later."

Hermione looked down at herself. "Oh. Sorry, I'll be right back." She ran upstairs. Five minutes later, she returned wearing a pair of jeans and a pink top. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Gohan said you wanted flying lessons," he said simply.

"Oh. Well, I do. Is that a problem?"

"It doesn't have to be. Gohan spoke with his mother. She is," Piccolo's eye twitched,"resisting the idea at the moment. She wants Gohan to catch up with regular academics."

Hermione snorted. "Catch up? Gohan's college level as it is!"

Piccolo smirked. "So Gohan asked me to handle the days he couldn't come."

Hermione flinched. "You're not going to desert me on an isolated island with a hungry T-Rex?"

Piccolo chuckled good-naturedly. "No. That isn't necessary. I can mold a simple training regimen for you while you live here. But I need to ask you some questions. How much physical exercise have you performed in your past?"

"Well, I do a lot of maintenance exercises. I used to compete in gymnastics, not too serious, mind. I also loved figure skating and soccer."

"Well, before we get started, I think you should understand exactly what you are asking for. In order to learn how to fly, you need to surpass your human limitations, both physically and mentally. You can already sense ki, so once you've mastered your body and mind, flying shouldn't be difficult for you to learn."

Piccolo told her what she needed to do for the day. "That's…that's crazy! If I do all of that, I won't be able to move the next day!"

"That's just for the morning," Piccolo replied.

"What? You're insane!"

"I told you it wasn't going to be easy. So the question is how bad do you want this?"

She sighed. "So, what do I do next?"

"Go to a quiet, calming place and clear your thoughts. Practice this for four hours."

Hermione snorted. "Of all times to ask me to clear my mind…"

Piccolo nodded. "Which is exactly why you need this section of training. It's easy to allow our minds to become cluttered or polluted with unnecessary thoughts and feelings. The purpose of this exercise is to teach you how to focus and to eliminate repetitive or redundant thinking. It also helps you to align your body movements with your thinking, as well as aligning your thinking with your body movements."

"Okay. Is there anything else?"

"For the last section, I will come and teach you some katas. You will memorize and perform them every evening."

"Sounds like I'm going to be busy," Hermione said sardonically. Piccolo smirked and turned to leave.

"Piccolo?"

Piccolo cast her a look over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"I'm…sorry. About saying I hated you. I was really upset…I didn't mean it and-"

"Don't worry about it. I knew you didn't." He took off.

...

Hermione collapsed to the ground wearily. She was only half way through Piccolo's morning regimen, and she was already exhausted. She didn't want to move anymore. How bad do you want this? Piccolo's voice resounded through her head. Hermione slowly got to her feet.

She continued with the physical and mental exercises every day, and each day she did them, they slowly got easier and easier. Two weeks later, Piccolo returned with a harder list of things to perform. She had grown accustomed to that regimen, as well. Three days before she was to return home, Gohan arrived.

"Gohan!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hey…ready for your first lesson?"

"Yes! I am so ready!"

For the first lesson, Gohan showed her how to concentrate her energy in one spot. It took her several hours, but she finally formed a tiny ball of energy. "Good! Just practice that until tomorrow!"

Hermione nodded. She and Gohan walked over to the nearby Bistro set that they had placed their things. Hermione began finishing a letter that she had started when Gohan had shown up. Gohan read over her shoulder.

"France? But Hermione-"

She sighed. "Gohan, I don't want Harry to know about this yet. I'll tell him when I'm ready."

"How come? Harry's your friend. Why lie to him?"

Hermione shook her head in anguish. "You don't understand. Harry would never forgive me."

Gohan opened his mouth, but Hermione had already tied the letter and parcel to the owl's leg. As they watched it fly away, Hermione turned toward Gohan.

"Harry's birthday is a little more than two weeks away. I have given the owl plenty of time to reach him on time. Why don't you wait a few days to send your present off? Harry won't mind if it's a couple days late."

"How come?"

"It would help me. It would be especially suspicious if our owls arrived too close together-"

"Hermione! I don't like it. I feel like I'm lying to Harry. Besides, what could be so horrible that Harry would never forgive you?"

Hermione turned away and said nothing.

Harry angrily glared at Vegeta. He felt like Vegeta was cheating, considering that he was now making him fight two of the fifty Vegetas. The two Vegetas grinned and spoke as one. "Something wrong, boy?"

Harry got to his feet. "Why do I have to fight two of you?"

"The best way to get stronger is to be faced with increasing challenge. Yesterday, I noticed that you were beginning to grow accustomed to a single opponent. I decided to raise the stakes. That way, you learn more. No more talking. Fight."

Harry shook his head angrily. He felt like Vegeta was toying with him. He probably enjoyed sending him home, barely able to walk. Harry hadn't yet noticed the changes that had occurred in his body.

Vegeta grinned as the boy raced toward him. He'd never admit it to anyone else, but he had taken a liking to the boy.

A tall, elderly wizard with half-moon spectacles paced quietly in front of the lake. A slightly taller figure with pointed ears and a turban fell from the sky and landed on his feet with an unnaturally soft thud.

The newcomer spoke first. "She's taken to the training well, considering that she's supposed to be completely human."

"You have your suspicions?" the first asked softly.

"Either she has immaculate motivation or she's a hybrid of some sort. I've never seen a full human become accustomed to that level of training so quickly."

"Mmm. Speaking of origin, what does she know?"

"She knows of her father, if he can be justly called as such. As for her mother, she only knows a name."

"Tell me the names."

The Namek hesitated. "You're probably not going to like this."

Silence. Then, "Tell me anyways."

Hermione was hovering ten meters in the air, her eyes closed in concentration. Gohan punched the air victoriously. She lowered herself to the ground.

"That was great! Just practice that until you get good at it. Then you can practice moving around…and that's flying!"

Hermione smiled warmly. "Thanks, Gohan."

"Aw…don't worry about it. I'm just glad I could help you out. I was really worried about you for a while. I'm still worried."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. Gohan, can I tell you something? Something that you won't tell…until I'm ready for some people to know?"

"You mean a secret? I really don't like secrets, Hermione. They kept getting me into trouble last year."

"Please…I…I just need to be able to confide in someone. You won't have to lie or anything. Few people even know about it. I think Piccolo may."

"Really? Well, I guess it's okay."

Hermione inhaled sharply. "Remember when I told you my parents were Muggles…that I was Muggle-born?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not…Muggle-born. My Muggle parents adopted me."

"Why would you keep that secret? There's nothing wrong with…hold on…you didn't know, did you?"

Hermione bit her lip. "I didn't."

"I don't get it. Why continue to keep that a secret?"

"Because…because…my f-my fa…" Hermione swallowed hard. "My fa-ther is bad."

"Mr. Granger is bad?"

"No! The other one…my…biological f-fa-fath…er."

"So…you don't want anyone to know who your real father is?"

"I wish I could forget. I figured it out last year."

"Is he that bad?"

Hermione fought to control her emotions. "Gohan…It's the worst! Imagine having Cell as your father."

Gohan jumped back in shock. "Ahhh! Cell's your father?"

Hermione laughed in spite of herself. "No, silly. But this is just as bad."

Gohan frowned. "So, you are saying that your father…is as bad as Cell?" Something stirred within Gohan's memory. He gasped. "You mean-"

Dumbledore silently observed the gently rippling lines on the lake's surface, his face betraying little of the fearful anguish that churned deeply within him. He turned to the Namek. "Are you certain?"

Piccolo smirked. "Kami's mind reading capabilities are completely superior to the Legilimency technique…even and especially when a person's mind is cleared. Actually, I'm impressed the girl could actually have one moment of clarity, considering the inner turmoil she's facing."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Not that I know of. But I am sure she intends to tell Gohan."

"I see. She trusts him?"

"More than she trusts anyone…including Harry Potter. She hopes to persuade Gohan not to tell Harry yet."

"I can understand the logic. That piece of information would definitely shock him."

"Does it not shock you?"

"Inescapably. But it's good."

"What's good?"

"Friends," Dumbledore said simply.

"What about them?"

"She has them. You'd be surprised what a remarkable difference that would make."

The Namek smirked. "Don't bet on it. Gohan and the spawn of evil King Piccolo…does that ring a bell?"

Gohan scratched his head and chuckled nervously. "Well, I guess you do resemble him a little…like he was when he was a teenager."

"Ugh! Don't even joke about that, Gohan! I don't want to be anything like him!"

"Uh, well, I, uh, you're much cuter…" Gohan stammered, sweating.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Nice try. I'll forgive you, if you never mention my resemblance to that…thing again…and you promise not to tell Harry."

"What? Why? You know Harry gets mad when I have secrets-"

"Well, he can get mad at me, because I'm the one telling you to not say anything. I'll tell Harry eventually. He'll probably hate me, though…when I do tell him."

Gohan frowned. "Don't you think he'll be angrier if you wait?"

Hermione's filled with tears. "He's going to be angry, anyways! Darn it! Why did it have to be me?"

"I couldn't think of a better person," Gohan said honestly.

Hermione glared in disbelief. "What?"

Gohan shifted uncomfortably. "Well, what if his daughter was an evil person? Then we'd be in trouble."

Hermione sighed miserably. "We're already in trouble."

Gohan pulled Hermione into a hug. "Well, no matter what happens, I'll still be your friend."

Biting her lip, she choked, "Thanks." And then, the tears came.

...

Hermione and Gohan arrived in the Forest of Dean shortly after lunch. Although Hermione could fly, they both decided that it would be best for Hermione to ride behind Gohan again. Besides her inexperience, Hermione didn't think her parents could withstand any more surprises than the ones she was about to deliver. Gohan descended with a gentle thud. Her parents approached her cautiously.

Hermione looked at her shoes. "Do-do you still want me?" she asked timidly.

Mrs. Granger flung herself at her daughter, shaking with sobs. Mr. Granger embraced them both. "Of course we do! What a silly question!" Mrs. Granger choked.

"Even if your lives are in danger?" Hermione muffled.

Mrs. Granger stood back and scoffed emotionally. "Especially then. But why would our lives be in danger?"

Hermione inhaled deeply to calm herself. "Do you remember when I told you about Harry Potter and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Gohan nodded. "She means Voldemort."

Hermione flinched. "Gohan!" she chided.

"Ahhh! Sorry…I'll…go over there…now."

Gohan sat on a felled tree while Hermione told her parents what she knew. Gohan knew that the truth had sunk in when he saw Mrs. Granger recoil instinctively. He walked back over when he heard an argument.

"How could you consider going back after finding that out?" Mrs. Granger wailed frantically.

"Mum! Whether you like it or not, I am now permanently a part of this world. It's more important that I go now more than ever. What would happen if someone discovers the truth and hunts me, us, down? I have to be able to protect myself…and you."

Mrs. Granger frowned. Mr. Granger spoke. "Does your friend know?" He said, gesturing at Gohan.

Hermione nodded. "Like I said, I trust him."

Gohan nodded. "Don't worry."

Mr. Granger nodded. Hermione turned toward the half Saiyan. "Gohan, can you stay awhile?"

He blinked. "I'll have to call Mom."

Mr. Granger reached into his leather

"Here. Use my satellite phone."

When Gohan got off the phone, he said. "I can stay. Mom's coming, and she's bringing Goten. I told her your address, so she'll be there in about six hours. It'll take that long to pack and use the Flying Nimbus."

...

It took an hour to get to the Granger's home by vehicle. It was a beautifully built white home situated on a mini-farm just ten kilometers outside Spinners End. Chi-Chi arrived at the Grangers sometime after five. After tossing her capsule house in a suitable spot, Chi-Chi introduced herself. Both mothers being highly education-minded, Chi-Chi and Jean got along quite well (Telling Chi-Chi how Mrs. Granger loved academics really helped to persuade her to allow the stay). Hermione and Gohan practiced flying in the yard.

Miraculously, Gohan persuaded his mother to stay until a week before school began. He managed it by keeping up with his normal studies. By the end of the summer, Hermione had become fairly proficient in flying. Her mood was stabilizing, and Gohan found himself enjoying her company once more.

Chi-Chi left a week before school began. "Now Gohan, make sure that you mind the Grangers during your stay."

"Yes, ma'am." Gohan said politely.