Inspired by Picnic Panic by LeQuin.
Go and read it if you haven't already. If you have, reread it. It's good.
As for where the inspiration actually came from, I'll tell you at the end. Wouldn't want to spoil anything.
This is in honour of Harry's 43rd birthday (and, wow, isn't that scary to think about?)
What would you do…
Hermione sighed loudly, gaining Harry's attention as they walked side-by-side to Hogsmeade. He raised an eyebrow at her downturned expression.
"What is it?"
Hermione sighed again, "I got a letter from my parents this morning. They want me to ask Professor McGonagall for permission to go to my family reunion next week."
"What's so bad about that?"
"My family is rather... insufferable," she explained, "They're very set in their ways and traditions. The fact that I turned down my opportunity to attend St Ellis' School for Girls in favour of Hogwarts automatically makes them assume I'm either stupid or mad. And because I can't tell them the truth about Hogwarts, there's nothing my parents and I can do but grin and bear it."
"It sounds awful," Harry agreed, nodding, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Hermione smiled wistfully, "Well, it would be rather nice for you to come with me, but I'm sure -"
"Of course I will," Harry interrupted.
Hermione blinked at him in surprise, "Really? I mean, are you sure?"
"You agreed to marry me, Hermione," Harry smiled and reached down to squeeze her hand on which rested her invisible engagement ring, "When that happens, your family will become mine. I may as well meet them sooner rather than later."
Hermione shook her head happily and grasped his hand in return. "No one even knows we're engaged yet, Harry, but you make a good point. I'll owl my parents about it when we get back and then we can ask Professor McGonagall for permission tomorrow."
Harry grinned broadly. Hermione laughed and they ended up spending a remarkably peaceful afternoon in the village that day.
༻✧༺
When they got back to the castle, Hermione made good on her promise and sent an owl off to her parents, asking if she could bring Harry with her.
The rest of the evening was spent in their private common room - a perk of being head boy and girl. Hermione sat quietly in Harry's lap, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck while they discussed the reunion.
"What are we going to wear?" Harry asked abruptly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, is it a formal occasion? A casual one? Must I wear a suit and tie or come in jeans and a t-shirt?"
Hermione thought about it for a minute.
"Somewhere in between, I think," she replied, "A suit and tie is too much, but a pair of relatively smart slacks and an open-collared shirt should do nicely."
Harry nodded, "I'll organise something." He looked down at her, "What will you wear?"
His fiancée shook her head, "I'm not sure. A cocktail dress, I think, but I'll have to find one."
"I'll get one for you."
Hermione looked at him sceptically, "Do you even know my size? My style?"
Harry grinned, "I've known you since we were eleven, Hermione and I've been dating you for two years. Of course I know your size!"
Hermione shook her head, "Alright. But it had better be something modest - something that doesn't show too much skin. Nothing from any of your boyish fantasies."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Do you really not trust me to pick out a dress for you?"
She sent him a withering look but Harry just laughed.
They headed up to bed a few minutes later, each quietly wondering what the next week would bring.
As Harry lay in bed that night, he thought overall he'd learned about Hermione's family that day. So, they thought her stupid, did they? Well, he'd show them how very far from stupid his Hermione was. He'd make sure of it.
༻✧༺
The next morning, at breakfast, Hermione received a reply from her parents. Harry watched her face as she read the letter, her lips breaking out into a broad grin.
"They're delighted you're coming!" she announced cheerfully, "To be honest, I think they're glad there'll be someone there to break the tension."
She turned and cast her gaze over to the staff table at the front of the hall, looking along until she found who she was searching for. Without saying anything, she stood up and headed towards them, Harry following behind her.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," Hermione greeted, brightly, once she and Harry had reached the table.
The headmistress smiled, bemused, "Good morning, Miss Granger, Mr Potter. How can I help you?"
"My parents are holding a family reunion next Saturday," Hermione explained, "I just wanted to ask permission for Harry and me to attend, as well as leave the castle this afternoon to go and make a few purchases in preparation. It starts at 10:00 on Saturday and we should be back no later than 17:00, probably earlier."
McGonagall looked pensive for a moment before she nodded briefly.
"That seems quite alright," she agreed, "You are adults, after all, and Order of Merlin holders. I'm sure you can look after yourselves."
She smiled before shooing them away with her hand, "Now begone with you. I'd like to finish my breakfast."
༻✧༺
"Where are you taking me?"
Harry sounded just as amused as he was confused as Hermione dragged him along a busy London pavement.
They'd completed their weekend Head duties earlier that morning and, as soon as she'd been able to, Hermione had enticed him into some warm Muggle clothes, led him down the path through the grounds to the gate and then apparated both of them to London.
Where exactly in London they were, or why they were there, Harry didn't know. Hermione had mentioned something earlier to McGonagall about going shopping for provisions, but Harry didn't quite know what she meant. What did one bring to a family reunion? Gifts? Food? He'd never actually been to one himself, obviously, so Harry really wasn't sure what they needed. It was amusing, however, to see just how happy Hermione was, after her great reluctance to go just the previous morning.
"We are going," Hermione announced, brusquely, "to buy clothes."
"Clothes?" Harry was surprised, "As in multiple items? Why do we need more than one outfit?"
Hermione turned her head and sent him a look that had him regretting questioning her.
"You never know what may happen," she replied, "Besides, someday you just might be thanking me."
She continued to lead the way down the road until they stopped before a large building with a deep green facade.
Harrods.
Harry sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.
༻✧༺
By the time they returned to Hogwarts later that evening both Harry and Hermione were utterly exhausted, but it was a good sort of exhaustion.
They'd had, despite Harry's expectations, an absolute blast at Harrods. They'd gone around every department and browsed everything until they'd eventually reached the clothing section. Once there, they'd split up - Hermione heading to the men's section to pick out some outfits for Harry while he did the same in the women's. At first, he'd been a bit out of his depth, but eventually found a few things he thought would look fantastic on her.
When they met up again, Hermione had somehow managed to procure a private fitting room. They took turns trying on the various outfits the other had picked out for them - some more ridiculous than others - and had fun striking silly modelling poses while the other watched. They'd had to pause a few times just to catch their breaths, they'd been laughing so hard.
Ultimately, they'd bought all the outfits - even the stupid ones - simply for the sentimentality of it - and Harry's more than substantial bank account paid for it all.
All in all, Harry thought it was a great day. He just couldn't wait to see Hermione's family's reactions when they saw her in the dress he'd chosen.
༻✧༺
Emma Granger was not a stupid woman by any means. Nor was she blind.
It was clear to her that her daughter was in love with her friend Harry and he with her, though why they didn't act upon it, only God knew.
The pair of them had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts and had stuck together through thick and thin. Despite her reservations about the wizarding world and magic in general, one thing she would always be grateful for was that Hermione had Harry. She was sure she would never find a couple more suited to one another than they were and, for the life of her, she could not understand why they were not already together. But, she'd promised Hermione that she wouldn't get involved in her love life unless there was a serious issue, and a promise was a promise.
That was why she was going to let her bring the boy to the family reunion - after speaking to Dan, of course. That and she thought Hermione could use some support. Emma loved her sister and her parents, she really did but they could be so stubborn! Just because Hermione didn't go to St Ellis'!
Her thoughts were interrupted when her husband, Dan, came into the kitchen and headed straight for the pot of coffee she'd made a few minutes earlier, yawning loudly. She knew that he shared the same views that she did, both about their family's general pig-headedness and about their daughter's love life.
Hermione was definitely a daddy's girl and had had Dan wrapped around her finger from the moment she was born. It was from him that she'd inherited both her rather wild mane of brown hair and her great enthusiasm for learning and reading.
Emma smiled bemusedly at her husband while he took a large gulp of coffee, his bed hair clearly as bad as his daughter's.
"We got a letter from Hermione this morning," she said, causing him to turn to her swiftly with unbidden curiosity, "She wants to know if she can bring Harry to the reunion."
Her husband's eyes widened quite dramatically and it was all Emma could do to keep from openly laughing at his expression.
"Really?" he asked, "Are you sure? Is she bringing him as a friend? A boyfriend?"
Emma shook her head, "A friend, I'd assume. She didn't say otherwise."
"Damn," he cursed.
Emma smiled and patted him on the arm, "Cheer up. There's still plenty of time. And who knows? Perhaps this reunion will stir up the feelings they don't know that they have?"
༻✧༺
For Harry and Hermione, the week seemed to fly by. Before they knew it, it was Saturday and the couple was upstairs in their private quarters helping one another get ready.
Harry had decided to go along with Hermione's suggestion of a black shirt, black slacks and black shoes. Thanks to some corrective surgery he'd undergone after the war, glasses were no longer necessary and he'd managed to finally find a way to partially tame his hair so that it looked more purposely ruffled and less of a bird's nest. All in all, he looked extremely sexy and Hermione had no problem telling him so.
Harry had chosen a deep crimson cocktail dress for her with a relatively low neckline, but still modest enough for Hermione's sensibilities. She'd paired it with a matching pair of heels and a small amount of makeup. She'd used some Sleek-Easy's on her hair again - as she had at the Yule ball - so that her brown locks fell to her shoulders in soft curls. Harry had no problem telling her how good she looked.
In fact, she looked so good that he'd had to steal five minutes to give her a good snog. By the end, they'd both been rather breathless and Hermione had had to reapply her lipstick while Harry wiped the original application off his own lips. The delay had put them slightly behind schedule, but not drastically. The pair gathered their coats and Hermione's magically-expanded handbag - red, to match her dress - and made their way through the castle towards the gate.
It was still relatively early, as they wanted to arrive to help Hermione's parents set up, but a few students were walking about. Heads turned and mouths dropped when they caught sight of the normally uniformly-clothed head boy and girl looking like a couple from a movie. Rumours spread for days afterwards, but none were ever confirmed.
Finally, Harry and Hermione made it to the school gates, a few flecks of snow beginning to fall softly around them. Harry grinned at her and, with a slight twist, apparated them both silently to the reunion venue.
༻✧༺
Emma Granger looked up with a frown when she heard a knock on the door. No one was due to arrive for at least another hour. Perhaps it was one of the hotel staff?
For the reunion, they'd rented out a small dining room at a nearby hotel and hired their chefs to do the catering. After trying to have the reunion at their own home a few years earlier, she and Dan had agreed that the extra expense involved was worth it.
Beside her, Dan stepped forward and opened the door to find out who it was, Emma only a few steps behind him. When they saw who it was, it was a great effort to keep their expressions neutral.
Hermione stood there, with Harry beside her, looking absolutely stunning. Harry, too, was dressed to the nines and looked every bit as if he'd come out of one of those fancy cologne advertisements.
"Hermione!" Dan exclaimed, half in question, half in greeting as he waved them inside the room, closed the door and wrapped his daughter in a hug, "Don't you look beautiful."
Hermione flushed, "Daddy!"
"It's true, love," Emma teased, before turning her attention to the boy she hoped would one day be her son-in-law.
"Hello, Harry darling," she greeted, pulling his head down to kiss him on both cheeks, "It's so lovely to have you here. We're so pleased Hermione invited you."
Harry blushed lightly, "I'm glad to be here too, Mrs Granger."
"No, no, no, we'll have none of that. You'll call me 'Emma' or nothing at all. Do you understand?"
Harry smiled, "Yes… Emma."
She patted him on the hand, satisfied, then led him over to greet Dan while she said hello to her daughter.
"Why on Earth are you here so early?" she asked.
"We thought we'd come and help set things up," Hermione replied, looking around the room, "but it looks like you already have things sorted out."
Emma nodded, "Yes, the hotel did most of it. Although there are a few tables we'd like to shift. I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind helping Dan with that?"
Harry, who had turned to her at the sound of his name, shook his head, "Of course not. Just let me take off my coat. It's rather warm in here anyway."
He shrugged off his coat and placed it on a spare chair then helped Hermione out of hers. Emma watch as her daughter turned to smile brightly at him.
They really were completely and utterly blind. But, hopefully, they'd begin to see things differently throughout the afternoon.
Soon enough, the tables had been moved to their preferred positions, thanks to Harry and Hermione's efficient wand-waving. However, there was still about half an hour until anyone was expected, so the four of them sat down, poured themselves each a cup of tea and chatted aimlessly for a bit before there was another knock on the door.
They got up. Harry moved to stand beside Hermione, who had begun to fiddle with the hem of her dress anxiously. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. He smiled reassuringly. Hermione took a deep breath and steeled her expression, raising her head defiantly as if preparing to come face-to-face with a firing squad.
Inwardly, Harry grinned. It was time to put his plan into action.