Chapter 8: Finding a Foothold

Monday morning dawned cloudy and rain beat against the windows of the Hospital Wing, rousing Hermione from the restless, fitful dreams she'd been suffering since her journey back through time. Many of them were the result of an over active imagination and far too much time to sit and worry about all of the things that might go wrong. Madam Pomfrey had been fussing over her for days, much to Hermione's exasperation, believing the nightmares were the result of post-traumatic stress from the car crash she believed Hermione had survived. She'd been providing Hermione with Calming Draughts, and bombarding her with as many distractions as she could find, going so far as to invite some of the first years from the current school year in to keep Hermione company while the medi-witch was busy.

Hermione had made fast friends with a quiet, bespectacled boy named Nicholas Hornsby who had a tendency to stutter when he got flustered. Hermione rather liked the way he'd been thoughtful enough to bring her a book when he'd been asked to visit her and keep her company. He was often shy when she'd tried to draw him into conversation, quizzing him with information about Hogwarts and how he liked his classes and who his friends were. He'd opened up a little when she'd managed to land on the topic of magical creatures, at which point he had grown animated and downright chatty, telling her all about the habits and habitats of Giant Humdingers.

By the time Madam Pomfrey had shooed him out of the Hospital Wing to get himself some food in the Great Hall, Hermione had made a friend for life. He'd even promised to write to her once she'd left the school with the family coming to take her away. She smiled at the knowledge, knowing that having someone to write to would make for a less depressing summer until the time her mission could begin. He'd not once mentioned that she seemed odd when she scratched self-consciously at her skin, still feeling uncomfortable in it.

Hermione was still finishing braiding her hair, having donned a smart outfit that she hoped would win over the couple coming to meet her when Dumbledore came into the Hospital Wing. She was very nervous about the idea of going off to live with a pair of strangers, and she didn't quite know how to act. Knowing they were only ten or so years older than her psychologically, but looked much old physically made her feel unsure of how she should behave. She didn't want to come across as being an immature little charity case, but she also didn't want them to think her an abnormally mature child either. Finding a balance between how she was accustomed to behaving and how she ought to behave as a twelve year old was helped along thanks to her newfound friendship with Nicholas, but didn't entirely alleviate her nerves.

"Hermione, I'd like you to meet with Miranda and Eugene now, if you're ready?" Dumbledore said by way of greeting. He'd been checking in on her regularly and so Hermione smiled, nodding that she was before smoothing her jumper one last time.

"I'm ready, Professor," She answered formally, getting to her feet and moving towards him when he beckoned her.

"They're waiting for us in my office. I thought it might be best to have you meet them in a more private setting that a hospital ward." Dumbledore said, "Are you quiet alright? You look a little pale."

"Just nervous, sir," Hermione answered, smiling tightly, "I do hope they're what I'm looking for and that they'll be accommodating of my mission. Obviously I can't share it with them, but I do need them to be able to accept all I must do for this mission without imposing too many rules and imagined stipulations upon the idea of me being their adopted daughter."

"I have informed them that you're a very mature girl and that you're very special to me, so I'm things will be fine. They're both very nice people, too. Everything should be fine," Dumbledore assured her as they rode the ascending stairs up to his office where the family Hermione would be meeting were currently waiting.

"If you want to wait here just a moment, I'll go in and let them know you're here," Dumbledore told her, patting her shoulder reassuringly before he went into the office, leaving the door open for her and allowing her to glimpse the couple within the room.

They were not what Hermione had been expecting and she found a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth at the sight of them. They hadn't noticed her yet and Hermione took the opportunity to observe them without their knowledge.

Miranda was waifish, her skin pale and creamy, her hair long and dark, hanging down her back in long loose wings that shone in the morning sun coming in through the window. Her face was heart-shaped and care-worn in spite of her young age, with blue eyes and a happy smile that came easily to her face as Dumbledore spoke to them. She was dressed in fine lilac robes, her dress full length and corseted beneath her ice blue cloak.

Beside her stood a brown haired wizard with laughing green eyes and laugh lines on his face. His jaw was dusted with a layer of dark stubble. He was strongly built, his robes not concealing the fact that beneath he had the musculature of an Olympic diver. He wore brilliant bottle green robes that matched his eyes, and he held his wife's hand to calm her when she grew excited over Dumbledore announcement that Hermione would join them momentarily.

At a glance they looked like a happy couple, excited by the prospect of offering a home for a little orphaned girl. Hermione wondered if it would last, even as she squared her shoulders and stepped into the room to meet them.

"Ah, here she is. Hermione, this is Miranda and Eugene Lyall." Dumbledore introduced her when he spotted Hermione joining them. Both people turned to smile at her delightedly, and Hermione found herself automatically smiling back.

"Hello," Hermione offered when they continued smiling, "It's nice to meet you."

"Hello Hermione," Mirands greeted, coming forward and shaking her hand, "How are you?"

"I'm well thank you," Hermione replied, "Though a little nervous. How are you?"

"I like that honesty," Eugene chuckled as he came forward to shake her hand as well.

"I like your robes," Hermione replied, smiling. "There's a lovely colour."

"Oh. Thanks," Eugene smiled, blushing a little at her forwardness and making Hermione chuckle just a little bit.

"Now then," Dumbledore said when they both kept peering at Hermione hopefully, "As you know, Hermione is in need of parents to look after her. She'll be twelve in September, at which time she is due to begin her studies here at Hogwarts."

"Well we'd be happy to have you, Hermione," Miranda said and Hermione could see that the woman genuinely meant it. She looked so excited at the prospect of adopting Hermione that she kept quivering. Eugene had to put a calming hand on her shoulder as though her feared his wife might bombard Hermione with hugs and scare her off.

"We've got plenty of room in our house, and when you make friends at school we'd love to have them come to visit with us too. We adore children, and though we've not been lucky enough to be blessed with any of our own, we'd be delighted to have you join our family, Hermione," Eugene told her, looking almost as excited.

"I think I'd like that," Hermione smiled, unable to keep herself from it when they were both genuinely so kind and so excited to meet her.

"Really?" Miranda asked, even more excited now.

"Yes," Hermione answered simply with a solemn nod of her head before she grinned and said, "Can I have a cat?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart," Miranda beamed and Eugene lost the ability to keep his wife from hugging Hermione any longer as she came forward and wrapped Hermione into a surprisingly soft and motherly type of hug in spite of her waifish figure.

"Excellent," Dumbledore clapped his hands happily, his eyes twinkling, "It's settled then. Hermione I will notify all the concerned parties that you are now a member of the Lyall family and that Miranda and Eugene are your guardians. Here is the key to your bank vault, and we will see you in September. Don't hesitate to write to me."

"My vault key?" Hermione asked, confused now.

"Yes, here it is," Dumbledore told her, "Don't lose it. There are sufficient funds there to buy you anything you need."

"Oh, we can take care of all that." Eugene interrupted.

"There's no need, Miss Granger already has many of the things she requires for the upcoming year at school. A family to love and care for her and a place to live will be more than enough," Dumbledore told them, smiling.

"But…" Miranda began.

"I do have everything I need for now," Hermione interrupted, smiling at them, "But I'm sure we can think of something I've forgotten…. I'm hungry."

"Then let's go and get some brunch," Eugene suggested, "Miranda and I both have the day off, so we should make the most of it. Even if it is raining."

"I like the rain," Hermione told them, enjoying their company already as Dumbledore walked with them to the gates of the school.

They bombarded her with questions after that about what else she liked. And Hermione told them the truth. She told them that she liked rainy days because they were good for snuggling up and reading. She told them she liked her tea with milk and two sugars. She told them how she like French and Italian but not Vietnamese food. That her favorite flavour of ice-cream was butter pecan and that she adored apple pie. She told them that she liked boys with red hair and boys with black hair but not boys with blonde hair. She told them her favourite book was Hogwarts: A History and that she'd read it forty-seven times.

The only time she grew quiet was when they accidentally mentioned her parents, which made Hermione sad for her lost parents and made her yearn for the time when she'd had best friends and a loving family. When she'd been in love with a boy who didn't know to love her back. She tried to do what Dumbledore had suggested. To focus on good things that had come from her returning to this time where she knew no one and had a job to do to save the world.

She treid to think about the fact that little Nicholas Hornsby might've never met someone with whom he could discuss his love for magical creatures without having them think him boring or stupid. She tried to think about how Miranda and Eugene Lyall would still be childless without her.

Over the months that followed as she traded letters with Nicholas and Dumbledore and as she grew accustomed to living with Miranda and Eugene, Hermione did her best not to allow her sadness for all she had sacrificed get to her. She wasn't always successful, but for the most part she found that she was able to go on. She found that she like to cook for Miranda and Eugene, to have dinner prepared for them when they both arrived home from work. It had been easy to convince them that she was old enough not to require a babysitter, and they always complimented her on the meals she made for them. She liked too that Miranda often sang to herself and that Eugene liked to whistle.

She liked that every letter she traded with Nicholas taught her more about some new magical creature he was fascinated by. She liked that she'd found some friends. She mourned the loss of her old ones, and could often be found dressed in one of her many Weasley jumpers that Mrs Weasley had knitted for her. She also often retreated into the odd comfort she found in wearing the shirt Snape had given her the night she's come back in time. More than once she found herself day dreaming about the way he'd kissed her.

The instability of her moods as a result of electing to go through puberty again often made Hermione feel like she was all over the place and that she had no control over herself, but other times she simply revelled in the feel of doing so once more with the knowledge that no matter what, she could handle it.

The months passed quickly for Hermione, in spite of how anxious she was for the arrival of September first and her looming first meeting with Severus Snape, Lily Evans, and the Marauders. She'd been growing more and more nervous about it, though she took comfort in the knowledge that even if everything went wrong and they all despised her for some as yet unknown reason, she would have a friend in Nicholas at the very least.

She dreamed often of the life she had known and every time she did she resolved to do everything in her power to ensure that the happiness she'd so hoped to provide them via her actions here would be a reality.