Ron was pushed out onto the field and he stiffly made his way over to the podium. "Er…Um hi. I'm Ron, Ron Weasley."
"GO Away Weasel!" Draco shouted from the crowd.
Ron's temper flared up, "Screw you ferret, I'd come up there and knock you light's out IF I wasn't expected back in Azkaban in a few minutes." He smiled sheepishly and turned his attention to the rest of the crowd. "I just wanted to tell everyone that Willyjoeshow™ doesn't own Harry Potter. Which I think is only obvious. I think we all know that JK Rowling owns him, sheesh people."
Ron started crying as two dementors made their way out to drag him back to Azkaban.
On with the story.
Chapter 2
AN: Just so everyone knows, this story will NOT be very long, 5 to 7 chapters and around 20,000 words or so. If it ends up being longer…so be it. Thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter so far and I hope the cliffies weren't too bad for you. *grins maliciously*
February 12th 2003 Leaky Cauldron, London 8:45pm
Harry sat in a booth nursing a butterbeer and waiting on his bushy haired friend. Truth be told, he was nervous as hell. He hadn't seen her in over a year and that last time he did see her, she was naked in his bed. He was also extremely curious as to what had happened to land Ron in Azkaban. Harry was thinking of asking the bartender, Tom if he knew, but decided to wait to hear it from Hermione instead.
Hermione apparated into the alley beside the Leaky Cauldron and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She walked into the dingy pub and wiped the snow off her feet while loosening her scarf. As she did so, she scanned the room for Harry and saw him wave from the back corner. It took all her willpower to keep her from squealing and running flat out through the pub to him.
Harry saw the door open and watched a tiny young woman come in out of the cold. When her scarf came off he saw it was Hermione, so he waved an arm at her while she scanned the area. He noted her face lit up like a child's at Christmas. As she walked over to greet him he could tell she was doing everything in her power not to run.
The first thing she noticed about him was his tan. Since they left Hogwarts, he had always kept in good shape, but the bronze tone of his skin made him look even better. As she got near him he stood and she ended up throwing herself the last five feet into his arms.
"Harry, you don't know how happy I am to see you." She said while burying her face into his chest.
He chuckled as he blew a strand of her hair off his face. "Merlin Mione, I missed you too." She stepped back to get a better look at him, but held him at arms length.
"You look good Harry. The tan really agrees with you." He smiled and pulled out a chair for her to sit. After helping her into her chair and moving back to his, she took his hand. "How have you been, really?"
He gave her hand a light squeeze, "The last few months have been good for me. I really needed to get away from everything and find out who I really am. With everything that happened here…I just couldn't go on like that anymore. How about you?"
Her mood changed from happy to something darker. "Things have not been good for me Harry." she took a deep breath to keep herself from crying in the pub. "I…We can talk about things when we get back to my parents' house. They have been really understanding and supportive about the whole mess." She looked back into his eyes and saw him nod.
"Come on, let's get out of here. Would you like to head back to your parents house? Or would you like to go somewhere else for a while?" he asked.
"Let's head back so we can talk. I want to tell you everything that happened as soon as possible."
After they bundled up, Harry dropped a few sickles on the table to pay for his butterbeer and followed Hermione out into Muggle London.
February 12th 9:15pm Granger Residence, Crawley
Hermione apparated them both to her parents back garden and he followed her inside. Their house was large, but not overly so. It was a modern two-story home with four bedrooms and a large den. Dan and Emma had bought the home when Hermione was only three and had updated it while she was in her sixth year at Hogwarts.
When Hermione graduated from Hogwarts and moved in with Ron, her parents decided to lease out their dental practice. They still held appointments, but only a few a week each. Now they worked a few hours a day on Monday through Wednesday.
Emma had taken up photography as a hobby and had actually done a few weddings and other events. She didn't make much money, but she had fun doing it and that was what counted. Dan, on the other hand, played the stock markets and also turned into somewhat of a techie. Rarely a week went by when he didn't get some new gadget.
As they entered the family room, Dan and Emma stood to greet Harry. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Granger" he said while shaking their hands.
"Please Harry, call us Emma and Dan" Emma said.
Harry nodded his understanding and noticed that Dan reminded him of a younger Robert De Nero while Emma looked like Hermione, only a few years older with shorter hair. "I'm sorry for coming on such short notice. Hermione sounded pretty upset in her letter and on the phone, so I came as quickly as I could." He turned to his bushy haired friend, "Now, what's been going on here in the last year?"
Hermione sat on the sofa and patted the spot next to her. "I don't know where to start really." She took a deep breath as he sat down and she started explaining. "Well for starters, Mrs. Weasley was hounding Ron and me about having children. He was all for the idea, but I wanted to wait a couple more years. We argued about that on and off for a couple months, but I was slowly becoming accepting to the idea. One morning I was so sick I could barely stand and I decided to go see a healer." Her look saddened and a tear broke loose as she continued.
"The healer ran a few tests on me and discovered that I had been taking a mild version of the Imperio potion. It normally takes eight to ten weeks to fully get into your system before you are susceptible to any coercion from the giver. Well, Ron being Ron, missed giving me a dose or two and thought he could just double the amount given. That's what made me sick."
Harry was getting pissed now, but he kept quiet as Hermione continued. "The potion itself isn't Illegal, just frowned upon. So when I got home, I confronted him about it. He apologized and said that he just wanted children really badly and he was only doing it to 'help me get over my fears'. Well I was livid. So I packed my things and left. He followed me all the way into the middle of Hogsmeade.
I turned around and told him to leave me alone and then I slapped him." At this point she had tears rolling down her eyes. Her mother wasn't much better and Dan, much like Harry, looked like he wanted to roast Weasley on a spit.
"We can finish later if you need to." Harry said quietly while giving her a comforting hug.
She sniffed and shook her head and continued. "He…He tried to slap me back, but a shopkeeper came out and stopped him. He and the man had words and Ron pulled his wand and banished the old man through one of the windows. Well by that time, the Aurors were called in and Ron resisted arrest. In short, Ron was sentenced to one year in Azkaban for assault on the shopkeeper, resisting arrest and during his trial they added six months for poisoning me with that potion. Needless to say, as they were leading him from the courtroom he grabbed the Aurors wands and killed one with a bone breaking curse to the head. For that incident he got 25 more years and will be kissed by the Dementors after that time"
Harry sat back and digested the information and asked, "What about the rest of the Weasley's, how are they taking all this?"
She sniffled again and her eyes darkened. "Molly and Ginny blame it all on me. Ginny called me a 'Mudblood slut' and Molly banned me from the Burrow. Arthur hasn't said anything either way, but I feel he's with Molly. Fred and George are on my side and I have no clue about Bill and Charlie."
Emma stood up and headed for the kitchen saying "I'm going to make everyone some tea." Harry could tell her and Dan both wanted nothing to do with the Weasley's anymore. At one time the got along well with the red-headed family.
Harry turned to Dan and asked his thoughts on the matter. Dan was pensive for a few seconds before replying, "Personally I never really cared for the wizarding world. I think it's backwards and out of date and needs a complete overhaul. As far as what happened between Weasley and Hermione, I feel she's better off without him."
Harry nodded and spoke, "Not to defend the wizarding world, because I partially agree with you. The British Ministry is the only one that's like that and it's has caused a stagnant society here. Now in other countries, like America, Japan and Australia, it's closer to modern Muggle society there. Tecnomancy or the merging of Magic and mundane, is fully accepted and used regularly."
Harry pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Dan. "That is an example there. It's mostly as it was coming from the factory. The only difference it that the batteries have powering runes to keep it charged. I own a large portion of a Muggle wireless company, so I get free usage."
Dan regarded the Satellite phone with un-disguised curiosity. Being a techie, and not having one, he gave more respect to the messy haired young man. Hermione snorted when her dad lost focus and started scrolling through the phone's menu.
Harry turned back to Hermione. "How can I help you Mione?"
She took a deep breath and in a low voice said, "I just need someone to be here for me. Mum and Dad have been great and all, but…" She trailed off and Harry nodded his understanding.
After a few quiet moments Emma came back with tea and everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Harry thought of something and cleared his throat to get their attention. After he set his cup down he said, "I have an idea. It's about the only thing I can think of at the moment and if you have any other suggestions, let me know." After seeing he had everyone's full attention he started to explain his idea.
"Ok, first thing is, what ties do you have here in England?" he asked
Hermione looked at him strangely before answering. "Just work and my parents, oh and my whole life"
Harry chuckled at her sarcasm and looked at Dan and Emma. "How was Australia?"
Emma smiled faintly, "Well it was beautiful actually. We liked it better there and for a while were talking about moving there permanently. We aren't married to our practice, but Hermione has needed us the past few months and plans were put on hold for now. Why are you asking?"
Hermione interrupted before Harry could speak "You mean you held back because of me? Why would you do such a thing?"
Dan answered that. "Hermione you are our only child. We love you and would do anything for you. That's why we decided to stay and that's why we are leasing out the practice."
"Oh," she said in a small voice.
Harry took control of the conversation again. "Have you ever been to Fiji?" after they answered 'yes' he asked. "How did you like it there in comparison to Australia?"
Dan scoffed some, "No comparison between the two, Fiji was way better. If we could afford it there we would chose that in a heartbeat."
Harry smirked and Hermione saw the look in his eyes "NO HARRY! I know that look and I know what you are thinking."
He looked at her and his eyes twinkled "You have no idea what I'm thinking. It just so happens that I live on an Island between Fiji and The Polynesian islands. It's fairly large and it's beautiful. The living cost would be cheaper than it is here." He had their attention now so he continued. "It's called Black Island."
Hermione gasped, "Black as in…" she waved her hand at him and then off in the air.
"Yup, as in bought and paid. The only costs are keeping the larder stocked."
Emma asked. "Could someone clue us in? I've never heard of Black Island."
Harry was about to explain, but Hermione beat him to it. "Black is the last name of Harry's deceased Godfather. The Blacks were a rather wealthy and old Pureblood family. Harry inherited everything from Sirius since he was the last living heir. Including and Island in the South Pacific I'm guessing." She turned to Harry and asked, "Right?"
"Right," he nodded and continued. "I have spent a large sum of money updating the manor there and to be frank, its beautiful there and secluded. Nobody can get near the place without me letting them. If you would like to, I am inviting you all to come and spend some time there. If you enjoy it, you can move there if you wanted. It's large enough and with hired help, we could have another house built in just a few weeks rather inexpensively."
The three grangers looked at each other, as if silently conversing and Dan spoke up. "Well I don't know about these two, but I'm all for a vacation at the very least." Emma nodded and Hermione tackled Harry in a hug.
Somewhere from Harry's chest came a muffled, "Thank You Harry."
After he had extracted himself from Hermione ha asked, "So, how soon could you all get some time to come there?"
Hermione answered first, "Well, I have been saving my vacation time and I would only need a couple days to notify them. It's been slow anyhow."
Dan looked at Emma and she answered, "Same here. I don't know how long we could stay for now, but if we decided to take you up on your offer, Dan and I would have to come back for a month or so to get everything in order."
Hermione thought of something. "Harry, if we were to move there, not saying any of us are, where would we work?"
Harry chuckled and asked, "Why would you need to work? If you wanted to though, you could do several things. The first thing that comes to my mind would be working from home on the computer. Or you could write a book, or portkey to somewhere with a population in needed."
She huffed "Portkeys are expensive."
He snorted, "Not on Black Island they aren't. I make them all the time for free. I pay the Pacific Rim Ministry five galleons a year to permit me to make them. As long as I make them round-trip, I don't have to pay tariffs since Black Island is classified as its own country. Besides, what would you need money for? With the all fruits, vegetables, and seafood there, I can stock up a year ahead of time for about 200 galleons for just myself. A couple more mouths wouldn't be noticed, trust me, my account manager has made some awesome investments"
Seeing her argument railroaded she caved. They sat around and hammered out some details while Harry answered some questions about the island itself. A short time later, everyone went to bed since they all were going to have a couple busy days ahead.
February 15th 11:30am Granger Residence, Crawley
The last couple days had been extremely busy for everyone. Harry had gotten everything he wanted out of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and turned it over to the realtors to auction off. Hermione had ended up quitting her job at the Ministry and had packed everything she owned. Harry had talked her into moving to the island. If she didn't like it, she could always move back and find a new job.
Dan and Emma had hired a caretaker for their house and took a year sabbatical from the practice. IF they decided to stay, they could always turn their patients over to the partners who leased their practice. Harry and Hermione had shrunk almost everything they owned and placed it into bottomless trunks. They were finishing up a few last minute details before their 12:00 noon portkey whisked them away to Black Island to start their newest lives.
AN 2: Well there's the second chapter, let me know how it is.