Chapter Eighteen: Meeting the Parents Part I
To Diana, it was clear from the moment the woman entered the restaurant that she could only be Hermione's mother. The same chocolate brown eyes and bushy brown hair, only slightly tamed into a bun, told anyone what Hermione would look like in a few years.
She could see Hermione's mother glancing around the restaurant before her gaze fell on them and then she moved with an economy of movement towards her table. Diana had been asked by the two girls to take something of the lead here and she could see from looking sidewise at both Fleur and Hermione that both girls were nervous and agitated.
"Mrs. Granger?" Diana rose as the older woman approached their table.
"Emma please. I always look around for Dan's mother when I hear Mrs. Granger," she replied, holding out a hand in greeting. As Diana took the proffered hand, she could see Emma reflected both friendliness and wariness.
Emma then took the empty seat which left Diana and her side by side and the two younger woman seated between them. Diana saw Emma take in the other faces and then she broke out into a warm smile.
"Fleur, this is a pleasant surprise. Comment ça va?"
Fleur smiled in response. "Emma, ça va bien. Et vous?
« Tres bien. » Then she turned to Hermione. "Mione, could you introduce me to this woman who just greeted me."
Hermione blushed. "I'm sorry, Mum. This is Diana Bennet Wells, Harry's mom."
Emma now gave Diana a frank appraising look over. "Diana, forgive me for my bluntness, but I do need to know. Are you one of them?"
Diana suspected she knew what Emma was referring to. "If you mean whether I am a witch, I can assure you that I'm not. Harry and my youngest daughter are the only two members of my family who are magical."
Emma sagged a little in her chair. "Forgive the question, but we've had so many challenges and conflicts with the magical world that we are not sure how to proceed or react any more. I find it a relief that one of Hermione's few friends has a non-magical family because her father and I find it difficult at times to see how we fit in with a magical daughter in a world that seems to want to suck her in and never let her out again."
Hermione by now was blushing heavily. "Muuum! I've tried to tell you that I am not interested in any world that takes me away from family."
Emma smiled at her daughter's protestations. "Well, after all the experiences we have had with magic and now hearing that you need to talk with us about some major new magical news, I'm beginning to wonder."
She turned to Diana. "Diana, if I may call you that, do you know why I'm here?"
Diana nodded with a weary expression. "It has been an eventful few days and I may appear a little emotionally wrung out, But yes, I know what's going on and it was at my suggestion that we are sitting here today."
The waitress came by at that moment with menus and after taking their orders for drinks, Emma looked at Diana expectantly. "So I am all ears. What is so important that you needed to talk to me before you talk to my husband?"
"Hermione has recently found out some very important information, some of which can have a direct impact on you and your husband, and some of which go a long way to explaining what happened to her in her first year at Hogwarts," Diana began. She could see Emma's hands clench into fists at the mention of the school and knew, even without the readings of her gift, that this was definitely a sore point.
"I should begin by stating that I am a part time detective consultant with the NYPD and I've had the unfortunate chance to work with children undergoing trauma and abuse. In fact, it was watching Hermione in an incident yesterday that brought out some of what we're talking about here.
"This is a both a good news and less than good news conversation," she continued. "Which do you want to hear first?"
Hermione interrupted. "Diana, we talked about it. My mum likes to hear the bad news first because if she hears good news and knows bad news is coming, she will do nothing but worry about the bad news."
Emma's face took on a look of chagrin. "Never have a super intelligent daughter, Diana. They observe you and often try to guess your reaction before you're even aware of things yourself.
"But she's right. Let's hear the bad news first."
Diana took a sip of her dark roast coffee. The familiar rush of caffeine helped paradoxically to calm her nerves, a constant point of disagreement between her and Vincent who swore by the tea gods.
"We live in a special place, Emma, and the girls were visiting with me yesterday when Hermione saw something. It was simply a trick of the light which made the shadow of my husband look larger than normal, but when Hermione saw it, she froze."
Emma's face now paled and she turned towards her daughter. "Mione, I thought we were over that by now. The therapists said that all that was in the past."
Hermione was blushing again, but she looked her mother squarely in the face. "Mum, it only comes now and again. But we finally made a breakthrough. It was Diana who caught it."
Emma looked back at Diana and she could sense the pleading in her eyes. "Part of my job is working on cases of murder and abuse." She closed her own eyes in an attempt to shut out some of the gruesome memories. "I've learned pretty quickly about identifying people who are dealing with past traumas and Hermione's actions yesterday fit the bill almost to a T. So I began asking questions.
"Trouble was Hermione couldn't remember anything and she was getting frustrated with the panic attack and her inability to deal with the matter. Then she made comments about trying to remember, but not being able to. She was obviously worrying her mind about it.
"In my work, I've learned that if all signs point to something, then until other evidence comes up, I go with what the signs point to. Hermione had been traumatized in the past and now she couldn't remember it. She was having panic attacks when something about that event would trigger her fear and she was wearing herself out trying to find something that no longer appeared to be there. Ergo, something happened and perhaps something magical had removed the memory."
Hermione burst in. "Diana was the first person besides you that fully accepted that something had happened. Even at Great Lakes Magical, the mediwitches had never seen or heard of anything like what I was experiencing."
Emma had a look of patience and worry now. "What did you find out?"
Diana took up the tale again. "I asked the girls if there was something magical that could remove memories. They both had one word answers at the same time: Obliviation."
"Oblivation, Emma, is a spell which removes a memory from being linked to other memories. It is never lost, but all connections that link that memory to other parts of the brain are severed," Fleur now spoke.
"It takes a Master Legilimens, a master mind reader, to re-establish those connections. So I called my father to come and help Hermione."
Emma was becoming impatient with the story. "What did he find out? Did he make the connections? Did he retrieve anything?"
"Emma, Emma, we need you to be calm," Diana now said in a voice she had used many times to take charge of distraught victims and family members. She waited until the other woman had visibly calmed herself before signing for Hermione to begin.
"Mum, it was a memory of a troll attack in my first year at Hogwarts – an attack by a 12 foot troll that nearly killed me." Emma started at hearing the words fall from Hermione's lips.
"A 12 foot troll….." were Emma's only words.
"But that's not the most infuriating part, mum. That old wanker Headmaster decided to obliviate me because it would not be good for the school to find out that I had been attacked by a troll. He must have thought I was unconscious and he overrode the wishes of Madame Pomfrey, the school's mediwitch."
Emma's eyes had become hard and Diana could now feel the waves of anger rising from her. It was time to step in and help Hermione's mother regain some control.
She reached out to her and grabbed Emma's left hand, squeezing hard.
"Emma, Emma, calm yourself. Calm down! Don't make a scene here in the restaurant," she urged more than once.
She could see Emma struggling to reign in her anger. Then Hermione's mother began speaking in a low voice, rage just bubbling beneath the surface. "For ten years, ten years, we've been taking Mione to specialists, therapists, psychologists all to understand what trauma she might have undergone to explain her panic attacks.
"Ten years we've watched our only daughter struggle to overcome these attacks and try to find a memory that wasn't there.
"Ten years we've been told that there was simply nothing there. Sure they calmed down with time, but the attacks were always present.
"Ten years of trying to explain to therapists and psychologists about a private school that we couldn't describe, but having to give enough information for them to even make a diagnosis.
"Only to find out that an old Headmaster wanted to ensure that bad news would not get out about the school.
"If that old fool was here now, I'd strangle him with his long white beard."
By now, Emma had torn a napkin to pieces with her right hand and tears were glistening in her eyes.
Diana kept her hand on Emma's left hand, now squeezing it to show her support. "It was Fleur's father who helped Hermione find the truth. He said that what this old Headmaster had done was illegal and that charges could be pressed against him for breaking the law. But he also said that Hermione had come a long way to healing herself already and that with this knowledge now out in the open, she could talk with others to complete the healing process.
"I've offered to have my door open at any time for Hermione to talk if she wishes. It is part of my job to help the victims and families of victims of crimes to work through their anger, fears and grief due to crime."
Emma stared into space for several moments and Diana could sense the internal struggle within. She thought she knew what Emma was thinking – turn her and Hermione's back on magic completely and somehow return to a simpler time. Yet that same magic had only a few years ago helped her husband and herself realize a long lost dream – another child. How could they balance the good and the bad of the magical world and its impact on them must be racing through Emma's mind.
However, based on the news from their Gringott's visit only five days before, that was no longer an option. As well, knowing how the relationship between Hermione, Harry and Fleur was progressing, magic would most likely continue to play a role in Hermione's life.
Hermione was watching her mother with fear, yet admiration. She had wanted to castrate Dumbledore when she had relived the memory. How she had managed to hear the conversation between Pomfrey and the old wanker, she did not know, but she wanted to kill the old goat molester. Yet here was her mother, possessed of the same fiery temper as herself, but not exploding at Diana or Fleur.
In a tone devoid of warmth, Emma began speaking. "If this was the bad news, then the good news better make up for some of it," she said.
"Well, if you consider that discovering that your daughter is actually a Lady and is rich beyond the dreams of avarice to be good news, then I suppose that would make up for it," Diana replied with the hint of a smirk.
Emma's eyes widened. "A Lady? With a capital L?"
"Yes, my friend is actually now Lady Hermione Jane Granger Potter, the head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter," Fleur said with a smile, yet a hint of pride in her friend's new status.
"And Mum, Dad is actually a squib, people from magical lineage," Hermione said with a tremulous smile. She knew that her mother was still at the point of breaking and wanted to give her something solid to hang onto.
Emma visibly swallowed and found herself appreciating the presence of Diana Bennett Wells, an obviously non magical mother who seemed comfortable with all this conversation about magic, trolls and inheritances. Then the last name of the family triggered a memory.
"Mione, Fleur said you are Lady Potter? Wasn't that the name of the young boy who no one could find back at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Mum. His name was Harry James Potter."
"And now, you're Lady Potter. Care to explain?"
Diana raised a hand to interrupt the interrogation. "Emma, I suggest we first order lunch and I think that I should explain a few things here before you jump all over our new Lady friend here.
"And of course, the story starts with us – and Harry."
At that moment, the waitress returned and the four women quickly made their selections. With salads and glasses of water by their sides, Emma turned again to Diana. "I sense that there is a connection between the missing boy and your son?"
Diana smiled. "I see where Hermione gets her intelligence from. Yes, my son is Harry Jacob Vincent Wells, but his birth name was Harry James Potter."
Emma was now confused. "But then how can Hermione be Lady Potter when Harry is still alive."
"To quote a proverb, it's complicated," Diana replied. "For that I have to tell you a bit of a story."
And she did. They had finished the story of Harry's adoption by the salad and were midway through the main course by the time they reached Halloween 1994.
"From what Fleur and Hermione tell me, it appears that magic considers someone dead when their heart stops beating. I was the first one on the scene and I can assure anyone that Harry's heart had stopped and that he had stopped breathing. I had to perform CPR, and then paramedics with a defibrillator had to bring him back."
Fleur took that moment to interrupt the story. "It is a belief in magic that if the heart stops, then a person is dead and has moved onto the next great adventure."
Emma nodded her understanding. "So Harry ceased being Harry Potter as far as magic was concerned?"
Hermione nodded her head. "Mum, you need to be aware of what happened at Hogwarts during that night." She then proceeded to describe the blood summoning ritual, not neglecting to mention Dumbledore's role in that event.
"Dumbledore again," Emma mentioned to herself. "He seems to play a big role in this story. But how did you find out about being the new Potter head and how do we fit in with this?"
Hermione then took up the tale of how Harry had suggested that she find out about her magical inheritance. "The goblins are trying to reopen magical vaults that have long been dormant so that the money can come back into circulation," she was saying. "So when I underwent the magical inheritance test, I expected to find nothing really. After all, we don't have magical traditions in our family.
"You can imagine my surprise when I found out that Dad is a cousin of Harry Potter seven times removed. With Dad being a Potter, I'm actually a descendant of Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts.
"That's the closest thing to magical royalty possible in Britain."
"So what does that mean for you now? And what does that mean for Harry? Is he okay with the fact that his magical inheritance is now yours?" Emma asked.
Hermione smiled at her mother now. Emma could see beyond the surface and sensed that the feelings Hermione was showing for Harry ran a little deeper than that of casual acquaintanceship.
"Mum, first of all, he's not upset at all. He told me that since he never knew that he was a Lord he wouldn't miss it. But he had already done his own inheritance test – and he found out that he was a Lord himself with quite a lot of money and magical items of his own. He is Lord Black, the heir of Sirius Black."
Emma smiled at the situation, then looked at Diana. "So you have a son who is now a magical Lord and has all this money. Is it going to his head?"
Diana now smiled broadly. "No, I still order him to clean up his room and play with his sisters from time to time. And he is still going to CUNY even while he has all this money."
"What is his program of study?" Emma nodded approvingly, being of the belief that intelligence should never be wasted. Then she remembered what Hermione had told her about him a few months ago.
"He's finishing Business Admin this year," Diana replied.
By now dessert was before them and the four women now slowly ate their way through it. Emma was silent as the facts and stories now filtered through her mind. "Diana, girls, you could have told this to Dan as well as just me," she finally began. "Why bring me here and what do you want to do about Dumbledore?"
Hermione was now clearly blushing while Fleur hung her head. Diana was smiling at their discomfiture.
"Well, it's about Harry - and Hermione – and Fleur," she began.
"Wait, I thought there was something possibly between Harry and Hermione. But something between the three of them?" Emma's eyes had gone wide. "Oh my!"
Hermione's face had gone the shade of a beet. "Mum, don't judge things too quickly. We don't know ourselves what's going on. All I know is that I feel that both of them are a part of my life."
Fleur's face actually matched Hermione's in color. "Madame Granger, all I can tell you is that I have been friends with Hermione since she came to Beauxbatons eight years ago and that since I met Harry, I have felt drawn to him. But when Hermione and he met in that library some months ago, I sense that he has been drawn to her as well. Yet, I feel closer to Hermione than ever before even while I know that Harry is drawn to both of us."
Emma looked to Diana who only shrugged her shoulders. "Look, Emma, I'm as lost as you are about all this. I've got a small gift of my own – I'm an empath. I can sense bonds and connections. When I met Fleur for the first time, I felt a connection between Harry and her. Then a few months later, I met Hermione and there it was, a similar connection.
"And when the three of them are together, I sense things are right with them. Does that make sense? I'm not sure. Fleur's father Sebastien feels the same."
Emma looked at the two young women. She had always had a soft spot for Fleur since finding out that the older teen had taken a genuine interest in helping Hermione adapt to a new school. She and Dan had even journeyed to the Delacour chateau in the south of France to enjoy the nearby beaches and had come to appreciate Sebastien and Apolline as well. But a threesome?
"It's a good thing that your father is not here, Mione," she finally said. "I don't know how he would have taken all this news today."
Diana smiled at Emma's comment. Hermione had judged her mother correctly. She would not initially accept the growing relationship, but Emma wanted her daughter to be happy and this had the greatest chance of making that happen. However, they had other issues to discuss as well.
"Emma, I would like to invite you and Dan to meet Harry and the rest of the family," she decided. "We however have secrets that we have to keep and we would need you to swear to keep these secrets. These secrets have nothing to do with magic or the magical world – but many lives depend on them and the work that our community and family do."
Emma was nodding her agreement. "If your family are anything like the other people that Hermione has been speaking about, you appear to be good people to know. I will speak to Dan about setting up a time – hopefully as soon as possible."
"How about this Saturday evening?"
"Too soon – we have a dinner date with some friends." Her face then lit up with an idea. "Mione, why don't you and your friend Harry come over before the dinner date? Your father could get to meet this young man that he has been hearing so much about – and with our dinner guests being people from the DA's office, we could ensure that your father does not get too carried away with threatening Harry before they arrive.
"Besides, if we share the news before a dinner engagement, your father will not have the time to fully react and we will have an opportunity to discuss things when he will be a bit calmer."
Diana was a bit curious now. "Who are your friends from the DA's office?"
"Joe and Jenny Maxwell, the Manhattan DA."
She didn't understand the slight smile that the other three women shared with one another before the coffee meeting broke up.
A/N:Yes, we know. Harry is safe for another chapter at least. Daniel Granger will not have the opportunity to do in this chapter what so many fanfics have him doing – threatening our young hero. But the final characters are just about in place and we can expect events to move quickly soon. As well, dust off your memories as you think what big event will be occurring shortly in the city of New York – the date is now early April 2001.