Something Magical This Way Comes
Hermione was rubbing her temples when the two cracks announced the arrival of Ron and Harry.
"Get out," she said.
"Alright then," Ron said.
"Right, we'll be leaving," Harry said.
"Not you, Harry, just Ron," Hermione said.
"Dammit," Harry said.
"Good luck," Ron said quietly to Harry and then to Hermione. "I'll be back in a little while."
There was a crack and he disappeared. Harry came around the couch and sat down next to Hermione. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Hermione but he just wasn't good at this stuff. He wondered why he was chosen over her boyfriend to comfort her. He put his arm around her.
"So, what's the big deal?" he asked.
"I don't know, it's just weird, I wasn't really prepared for it," Hermione said. "I guess I kind of thought that they were done y'know."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh you can't be that naive."
"I guess it's because you never knew your parents but there's certain things you don't want to think about them doing."
"Ah, okay, I can understand that."
"And I just... I was so used to being the center of my parent's world... and I don't know I guess I'm being a little childish. They're going to need my support and... I don't know."
"Things aren't going to change just because you have a new little brother or sister. Things are going to be fun and besides, the kid's going to most likely be a witch or wizard, so you can take them to their first day on the Hogwarts Express, show them the ropes and as an added bonus to the kid, they'll be able to know that the world they live in is safe because you made it that way. Can't get any better than that, can it?"
"Yeah, remember how all those kids were really jealous of you growing up, when you were the great hero of the first war?"
"Right."
"Yeah."
"Okay, but are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Why did you want me to stay behind and not Ron?"
"Because Ron, bless his heart doesn't quite understand things the way you do."
"He's getting better at it."
"Yeah."
"So, I'm going to get going, I need to get to cleaning before the spiders overtake everything. Besides, I want to stop on the way home and get Kreacher some ice cream on the way home."
"Really?"
"He likes it and I don't ever want to be like Lucius Malfoy."
"You could set him free."
"He doesn't want to be anywhere else except that house for the rest of his life and be my servant for whatever reason. It used to be that I could have done without him, but I think if he was to leave I would be pretty upset about the whole thing."
"That's nice of you."
There was a crack and Ron reappeared holding an ice cream in each hand and a smile on his face.
"Are you guys done?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Ron," Harry said.
"Bye."
Harry waved and there was a crack as he disappeared.
"You okay?" Ron said handing her a cone.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll call my mom tomorrow and we'll settle things," Hermione said taking it with a smile.
"Doctor Who?"
"Sure."
It was two weeks later and Harry was sitting at a cafe in London wondering what was going on and thinking about how he knew that he would be late. As he began to get even more annoyed, he saw his partner for lunch come in.
"Harry," Draco said.
"Draco," Harry replied.
"How's it going?"
"Fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Draco looked him over and sighed.
"I want to extend my congratulations to your friend, Granger and her parents," Draco said.
Harry sat back in his chair.
"How do you know about that?" Harry asked.
"Because the Death Eaters know about it," Draco replied.
"How do they know about it?"
"Did you really think that killing the Dark Lord would really lead to peace? Really? The true believers are still out there and while I'm trying my best to help the Ministry capture them, they are as slippery as wizards are. The problem is that they want you and your friends dead. But first they want to make you suffer."
"So, they're going to kill Hermione's mom?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you helping with this?"
"I went along with Voldemort because of my parents and because he was going to murder me if I didn't. I don't want to see an innocent woman and especially a baby killed in his name. So, I wanted you to know what was going on."
"You're the one heading up the investigation?"
"Yeah, do you want in."
"Of course."
"Are you going to tell Granger?"
"Yeah."
"Good, the ginge can make sure that she's safe."
"She can handle herself and I would prefer it if you didn't call Ron ginge."
"This is going to be fun."