Authors Note: Giving you another chapter because I realized that first was not much in the way of plot. And I'm on vacation – which makes me cheery! Here's a little bit more for you - please read and review! A belated Happy Easter by the way – to everyone who celebrates.
Disclaimer: (sings to JKR) Did I ever tell you you're my HERO? You're everything I wish I could be! And your characters do not belong to me, which is sad, and now I'll go cry somewhere... They're hers sniff and the song belongs to Bette Midler I think...I just did a google search and that's what I got.
Chapter Two: False Advertising
Elizabeth and Daniel Granger were thrilled when they heard that their only daughter was engaged. Hermione let the proposal thing slide and set off to happily planning her wedding. Their wedding was going to be in August, and Hermione and Robert had already started planning everything, from the music, to the decorations, to the bridesmaid dresses. Everything was going to be absolutely perfect.
The last and best part was still yet to decide, Hermione's dress. Clara accompanied her to the dress shop downtown. They trudged down the snow-covered streets and passed a storefront window, the blank-faced mannequin modeling off one of the top designer dresses. Clara took her cousin by the arm and guided her through the doors as a little tingly bell sounded announcing their presence.
A short little middle-aged lady dressed in lavender greeted them at the door. "Welcome! Which one of you two is the bride to be?" Clara pointed to her cousin happily. "Oh, wonderful!" the lady seemed ready to burst with cheerfulness, lines forming around her eyes as she scrunched up her little face. "You just have to look at these new designs that came in last weekend." Three seconds later and this lady was pushing Hermione down the first aisle of dresses towards some more mannequins. Hermione looked back at Clara mouthing the words "Help me", but Clara giggled and decided she was being ridiculous.
The lady brought her up to a model wearing a very extravagant dress, sparkle, tulle, beads, bows, all up to yuyuville. "This would look just charming don't you think?"
The dress looked like something a poorly drawn fairy tale character would wear. Or maybe it looked like the entire frill factory exploded onto the fabric. It was a beautiful dress, just so cluttered with extras. "How about something a little – er – plainer?"
"They sell burlap sacks at the farmers market down the road-"
"This one looks nice!" Clara called from across the room. Hermione pretended to be particularly interested and ran towards her cousin's voice. The lady stared irritated at this seemingly picky shopper and straightened out the froufrou dress. Hermione raced up the aisles to where Clara was standing holding a very simple yet elegant dress. It was pure white with thin delicate off the shoulder straps and small beading about the front. Hermione gasped when she saw it.
"Wow – I didn't know shopping with you was going to be so easy Hermione." Clara stared happily at her cousin. "Oh miss! I think we'll have this one for now. Can we set up an appointment for alterations?" Once everything was set, and they had bought the perfect shoes, the two walked happily out the door to the cute little stand belonging to a pair of young siblings selling hot chocolate.
"So how are things with you and Paul?" Hermione asked, placing some coins on the table before taking a sip of the hot chocolate. The two of them then turned and started heading back towards the house.
"Simply wonderful. I couldn't wait to get back from the cruise and back to the house to start our real lives together. It's a lot colder here now you know?"
"It's December Clara."
"I just know this is going to work, you know what I mean?"
"Yes of course! You and Paul are great for each other-"
"You and Robert are too you know." Clara responded as they walked up to the front porch. "Where is Robert by the way?"
"Inside I'll bet, his flight leaves in forty-five minutes, but he's always dawdling. He's supposed to go see some aunt of his." At this very moment her disheveled husband bolted out the door nearly knocking past the two young ladies. He held suitcases in both hands and a slice of toast in his mouth. Hermione grabbed the toast and gave him a quick kiss. "Have fun okay?"
"I'll try to. Auntie Susan tends to be a tad boring you know. I'll miss you. Sure you'll be okay here alone?"
"Positive - and Clara's right up the road."
"Okay Sweetpea, see you in a week!" He threw the suitcases into the trunk and straightened out his tie before speeding away towards the airport. Robert was going to visit his perfectly normal and boring aunt. Hermione relished the things that would appear "boring" to the average person. She loved being normal.
They walked into the house and Hermione quickly set the bag with the shoes down on the table as she got ready to make dinner. Clara took the green beans out of the fridge and got them ready for cooking. Hermione had just put a pot on the stove when they heard a loud BANG from outside of the window. Hermione quickly pulled open the curtains. Nothing was there. She went back to cooking. Then it sounded again. BANG! She looked over just in time to see a gray blur smash a second time into her window.
"What on earth?" Clara ran towards the window. "I think it's a poor old owl Hermione." She opened the window to get a better look at the bird. "That's funny; I didn't think they came out during the day. Aww c'mere you poor thing." The bird obviously programmed with a very limited attention span came bolting towards the now opened window and into her kitchen, splaying feathers and squawking loudly as it smashed into the opposite wall. Clara rushed to the bird's aide. Hermione quickly snatched up a small piece of paper the bird seemed to have dropped.
"Oh my goodness!" Clara yelled. "It's hurt!"
"It's fine!" Hermione insisted. She walked over and prodded the bird gently with the opposite end of the wooden spoon she was still holding. The bird got up as if nothing happened and poked about the kitchen curiously. Then the bird went into "loop" mode and went back to flying straight towards Hermione. It remembered its task and wanted her to read the letter it had delivered. Hermione pulled the paper out quickly and used it as a shield to fend the owl from attacking her. Clara quickly caught interest in the ornately decorated envelope and stared at her cousin anxiously. Only then had Hermione taken a good look at the letter. It was small with the words "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" printed neatly on top. She felt the raised wax seal with her fingertips. What did they want now?
"What is it!" Clara was growing all the more anxious now.
"A letter, from – er – Auntie Susan. Too bad it just missed Robert by a few minutes."
"You'd better open it – just to make sure it isn't urgent. We could still catch him you know."
This was not the first letter they had sent her, but it was the first she had gotten anywhere near opening. The letters were becoming more frequent over the last couple of weeks. All others had gone straight from her hand to the wastebasket. Hermione wished she could be anywhere but here right now. Why would Hogwarts send her a letter? She did not graduate – she could not. To reprimand? To announce they were coming after her? To throw her into Azkaban –
"That's so cute that she sent that little letter by owl. Wouldn't that be rather far away though?" Clara seemed to be the little animal activist. She sat down at the table with the owl, petting it and rearranging its dopey looking feathers. "I know what it needs. A bow!"
"Spare the bird. And I'm sure it got to rest sometimes." Hermione carefully pulled open the seal on the envelope, mixed feelings of hate and curiosity seizing her. The message was nothing more than a few lines, carefully handwritten, and very formal.
Ms. Hermione Granger,
Your presence is requested at Hogwarts immediately. An escort will be sent to meet you at Platform 9¾ tonight. A reply and your wand will be sufficient. Arrive as soon as possible.
Professor Minerva McGonagall
She stared blankly at the paper for a few minutes. She did not live in the same house anymore. Maybe they had been tracking her down all this time. This could be the nice of way of saying, "We found you and you've floated yourself up a rather long creek without a paddle." Hell, why should McGonagall even mention bringing the wand? To seem noble and let me fight my death? But still the escort thing and all seemed almost desperate. Any which way, it did not matter, because Hermione Granger does not believe in magic – or stupid childish games – or spell casting – or –
"Hellooo! Earth to space-cadet - come in space cadet-" Hermione jerked her head up out of her deep encircling thoughts. "Anything important? We're running out of time you know."
"Nope, she just can't wait to see him." Hermione smiley feebly and tossed the letter into the garbage.
"Let's make dinner then!" Clara and Hermione set off to work.
Four nights after the owl had run into her kitchen window, Hermione found herself unable to sleep. It was twelve thirty at night as Hermione puttered around her kitchen, cup of coffee in one hand and a magazine in the other. She sat down on the couch and flipped through the channels uselessly. She had not received any more letters since missing her appointment at Kings Cross, but she did not care. It was still increasingly difficult to keep her mind off the ordeal. Meanwhile the TV garbled nonsense infomercials as she read her magazine by the crackling fire.
"It slices! It dices! Watch as it chops this potato into fine little wedges-"
"Guaranteed to help you lose ten pounds in one week! On the amazing-"
"And the shirt comes out sparkling and clean. It's magic!"
"No it isn't!" Hermione shouted idiotically at the television set, taking another sip of coffee. She flipped the channel again before settling onto some soap opera late night reruns. She set the magazine aside and became engrossed in the picture perfect world of Lola de Oliviera who just happened to have found her long lost brother who washed up from a shipwreck last Friday. This brother happens to be in love with her cousin, but does not know that they are related due to amnesia. Meanwhile her boyfriend Renaldo was having an affair with her sister. And this baby inexplicably arrived on their doorstep. But otherwise everything was perfect, and not a single hair was ever out of place.
"He's cheating on you dammit!" She bellowed at the TV set. "Don't you know that he could never love you!" She began to stuff her face with handfuls of popcorn that she popped during a commercial break. "And you could never find reliable childcare for your baby daughter Wynter. Oh why does Hollywood make up such stupid names for kids?"
"I have always loved you Lola, you know that as well as anyone."
"I bet her sister knows better!"
"Of course. I will always love you for all eternity Renaldo. You are the only one I've ever loved."
"He's a bastard I tell you. A BASTARD!" Just then a knock came at the door. Hermione leaped off sending little popcorn kernels soaring. She quickly got off the couch and turned off the TV set. Then she ran back to the couch and picked up the delicate little popcorn kernels out of the sofa. Then the bowl was rushed back to the kitchen, noting that it was now two thirty in the morning. The knock was louder now. She never had gotten changed from earlier, so she just straightened out what she had on before heading towards the door.
She unlatched the lock and pulled the door open as a gust of chilly winter air blew into the room, bringing with it plenty of snow flurries across her clean carpet. She looked outside but no one was to be seen. Just black sky, and white snowflakes. She shut the door and redid the latch tightly.
Just after she heard the clink of the latch, a noise came from the kitchen window. Another damn owl gone nutters. She went over to the kitchen if nothing more than for sympathy. Leaving a bird out in the cold would be a cruel and unusual punishment. She walked over to the window, but it was already open. Owls cannot open windows. They are here.
Hermione slammed the window shut and locked it. There was a steady fire going; they would have to be stupid to try to climb down the chimney. Hermione's new home was not in the Floo network, much to her relief. Then there was stumbling coming from the bedroom. Hermione ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife.
Honestly, just having a very large daunting weapon made her feel much safer. If she was to run into someone, she would never use it. "I'm armed!" She shouted. "Stay right where you are!" The thudding in the opposite room stopped. Her heart began racing like being in one of those suspense thriller type movies. Any second, her executioner would pop out of a closet, grab her, and take her back to Hogwarts.
"Are you there?" She shouted to the closed door. No one answered. She gulped and took a deep breath before placing a hand on the latch. Her heart was pounding in her throat, making it increasingly difficult to take each successive breath. One, two, three!
Nothing. Nothing but brief silence and the feeling of cold air on her back.
"Really, a 'bastard' is a rather harsh word for a television character you know?" The voice cut through her like the icy wind pouring in through the gaping front door. I closed that...I know I did. She spun around quickly and ran towards the front door. Something struck her and she impulsively slammed the door. That voice could only belong to one person.
A/N: I love you all. And you're looking marvelous today! Have I ever told you that? (points to lovely reviewers) No it's not like I'm just buttering you up for reviews or anything. Although maybe I am…Thank you to those who have so far!
By the way, wrong time to mention – but I've never ever been to a wedding…so some of that was made up from movies – if I'm seriously off on something, let me know. (My cousin is getting married in June! That will be my first)
Chapter 3 coming up:D It's not quite what you think ;) Or maybe it is, I can't see inside your brains.