Disclaimer: I do not own any content relating to Harry Potter. I am strictly a fan fiction writer and do this only for my own enjoyment. I do not make any money from my writing.
Chapter 3: Meeting the Parents
Robert and Emma Granger stood on the muggle platform of King's Cross station, scanning the crowds for any sign of their daughter. The station was packed for a Saturday and the crowds swelled with each arriving train. Suddenly, as if she appeared in an instant, Hermione crashed into her parents like a missile. She squeezed them tightly while squealing loudly.
"I'm so happy to see you daddy and mum!" she practically screamed at them. She kept her tight hold on them while her parents greeted her warmly.
"We are happy to have you home darling", her father said.
"Oh, I'm so glad you are back sweetie", her mom added, a few happy tears falling from her face.
Harry stood watching the family embrace, a respectable distance away. He smiled at their reunion; however, he was also scanning the crowds, looking for the exits, and watching for any signs of trouble. Robert noticed Harry's attention to the crowds and watched the boy while he disentangled himself from Hermione. Robert knew what Harry was doing. He himself often did the same thing in public spaces.
"Oh, mum, daddy, this is the boy I wrote you about", Hermione said as she gestured for Harry to approach. "Harry Potter, this is Robert and Emma Granger."
"Pleased to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Granger", Harry said, extending his hand to shake Mr. Granger's hand.
"Please, call me Robert", Mr. Granger said. He was still studying the boy that he knew next to nothing about, but at first glance, he thought Harry looked like a nice boy. There was definitely something about him though that made him almost seem like a soldier, like Robert used to be. That unsettled him a bit.
"Thank you for making sure our Hermione arrived safely from school", Emma added, also studying Harry. She thought he looked nice, and had a mysterious presence to him, but she continued to watch him, trying to figure him out.
"Well, we should get going princess" Robert said as he grabbed Hermione's hand and lead them all to the exit. Hermione, Harry, and Emma all followed Robert as he guided them through the station and to their car. Harry remained in the rear of the group and continued to scan his surroundings.
Once they made it to the car, Robert opened the boot and went to lift Hermione's school trunk, when he suddenly noticed that it was missing. "Sweetie where is your trunk?" he asked, looking around for it.
Hermione only patted her pocket, and then climbed into the back seat of the car. Robert looked shocked for a moment, before closing the boot and approaching Harry. "You can take the front seat", he said while Harry only nodded back.
When they had all settled into the car, Robert started making his way home. Emma sat in the back and seemed to have a conversation with Hermione that only included several looks at each other. Robert finally managed to navigate through the worst of the congested traffic, and they were soon cruising towards their house.
"So, Harry, Hermione managed to get a letter to us last night, by way of a funny looking creature that told us he was some sort of elf of yours" Robert said. He looked over at Harry and noticed that the boy appeared to be a bit nervous.
"Yes, that would be one of my house elves, Quillby. She can apparate instantly from one location to another, so it seemed to be the best way to get Hermione's letter to you." Harry glanced at Robert who suddenly started to laugh.
"Well, it certainly did get us the letter quickly!" he continued to laugh even harder. Emma reached forward and smacked Robert on his arm, though she was smiling herself. "Poor Emma here nearly ran out of the house when Quillby suddenly appeared while she was still in the shower!".
Harry groaned loudly. "I'm very sorry that happened. I will have words with Quillby about maintaining boundaries when I return home" he said sheepishly.
Robert waved him off. "No harm done, Harry. Although Quillby may have gotten a peak at Emma as she streaked through the house, starkers!" Emma reached forward and slapped Richard again, a little harder this time.
"That is enough Robert!" Emma shouted, although it was still clear that she was smiling.
"I can't believe that happened, mum!" Hermione laughed just as hard as her father.
"Well, it was something I never expected to happen! I've never had a…house elf…suddenly appear in the shower with me before!" Emma was now laughing along with her family.
Harry's eyes widened in shock. "Quillby was in the shower with you?" he asked, not believing for a moment that his house elf had managed to embarrass him this badly.
"Uh huh!" Emma managed to say between her laughs.
Harry only groaned louder. "I must apologize again for Quillby's intrusion" he said, "She is a new house elf and is still young. I will ensure nothing like this happens again".
"Its fine Harry. Nothing to get upset about" Emma said, smiling at him.
"Well, what do you say we order in some pizza tonight and Harry can tell us all about his…unique proposal he has for you, Hermione?" Robert said.
Hermione nervously shook her head. "Uh yeah, dad, that'll be fine".
"Great! Emma can order the pizza and it should arrive just about the same time as we do!"
Emma nodded and pulled out the car's mobile and placed an order for a few pies.
An hour later, the Granger's car pulled up to a two story, modern-style house in a nice neighborhood. The yard was fenced in with a small white picket fence, and Harry noticed a hammock tied between two large Oak trees in the front yard. The front door was painted green and had matching storm shutters on each window.
The Grangers and Harry departed the car and entered the house through the garage. Robert led Harry to the dining room table and they two men sat down. A moment later, Emma brought Robert a drink that Harry guessed was some sort of alcohol. Emma asked if Harry wanted anything to drink, but he declined. Instead, Harry pulled out his wand, conjured a small glass, and tapped the glass with his wand. A light brown liquid appeared in the glass.
"Umm…is that whiskey, Harry?" Robert asked, as he and Emma stared in shock at the magic that was just performed in front of them.
"Yes, it is a whiskey of sorts. It's called fire-whiskey. It's a magical alcohol that we have in our world." Harry said. He picked it up and took a small drink.
Robert blanched at Harry's answer. "Don't you think you're a bit young to be drinking?" he asked.
"I'm nearly fourteen and while I will admit that most young people aren't accustomed to drinking this early, I'm sure by the end of the night, you'll understand why I choose to partake a little from time to time."
Robert and Emma stared at Harry for a moment before Emma shook her head and walked back into the kitchen to talk to Hermione while they waited for the pizzas to arrive.
Hermione sat down at the kitchen island and poured herself a glass of orange juice. She was glad to be back home with her parents. Emma walked in shaking her head and letting out a small laugh. Hermione looked up at her mum. "What? What did he say?" she asked.
"Nothing dear, its fine. So, what can you tell me about Harry Potter?" Emma asked her daughter.
Hermione sat and recalled all that she knew of the boy, although most of which was still only learned about in books. She told her mum what she had learned and explained how he had punished Pansy Parkinson after she had been mean to her again. Emma sat and listened intently, gathering as much information about Harry as she could. Emma also noticed how Hermione was behaving. As the girl sat and rattled off facts about Harry from her books, she had more excitement in her voice than she had heard in a long time. Hermione seemed very animated, and her nervousness had all but vanished.
"So, tell me a bit about yourself Harry, if you wouldn't mind", Robert asked Harry. The two still sat and the dining room table, occasionally sipping their drinks.
Harry started the long tale explaining his upbringing, starting with the murder of his parents. He spoke of being raised by his godfather, Sirius Black.
"Sirius has raised me since the day my parents died. He initially ran off to find his old friend, turned Voldemort spy, Peter Pettigrew, intending to curse him into oblivion, but when he could not find him, he returned to my parent's house and rescued me from my crib", Harry explained.
"Sirius and Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, decided it was too dangerous to allow me to be raised as any normal magical child would. They feared that Voldemort would eventually return and would come back after me. Truth be told, Voldemort has tried to return several times over the last few years and each time, I have been sent to deal with him" Harry said, taking another sip of his fire-whiskey.
Hermione suddenly blanched and ran forward from the kitchen and stopped directly in front of Harry. "What do you mean you were sent to deal with him?" she shrieked.
Harry chuckled to himself a bit, realizing that Hermione and Emma had been listening to his conversation from the kitchen. "Well, that is the other part of my secret upbringing. I have been raised learning about magic from private tutors and a few of the Hogwarts professors have given me private lessons. I have been actively training since I turned six years old."
Hermione stared at Harry, her eyes wide with shock. "How…how is that possible?" she asked, not sure she entirely believed his story. From all that she knew, underage magic outside of school was strictly monitored by the Ministry of Magic.
Harry waved his hand and conjured a small bouquet of flowers. He handed them to Hermione with a smile. "I have been able to perform magic since I turned eight years old. I was emancipated, on purpose, and took up the title of Lord Harry James Potter of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter. That gave me access to my ancestral home, Gringotts's vaults, and some other properties my family has. Since I was emancipated that allowed me to become a legal adult in the eyes of the Ministry. Back to your original question though, since being trained from such an early age and focusing on the skills that would eventually allow me to fight Voldemort, I have now become strong enough to face him, which I have done on occasion. At least enough to keep him from coming back to his full bodily form."
Robert, Emma, and Hermione all stared at Harry in utter disbelief. How could a 13-year-old be strong enough to take on a Dark Lord? Hermione had told her parents all about Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, before. The last wizarding war had cost both magical and muggle worlds a lot of lives, even if the muggles had simply chalked up the losses to strange circumstances.
The doorbell rang, Emma snapped herself out of her shock, and went to answer the door. She came back a few moments later carrying several pizza boxes. Harry waved his wand at the boxes, and they floated out of Emma's hands and carefully landed on the dining room table. "Let me get those for you, Emma", Harry said.
"Well, I suppose we should eat, since I'm sure everyone is hungry. We can talk about this more later, after everyone has had their fill", Emma stated.
An hour later, with everyone having moved into the living room, Harry switched topics with the Grangers. "I wanted to discuss the proposal that I have made for Hermione to continue her education in our world", Harry stated. Robert nodded his head and let Harry continue.
"Since I learned of Hermione's uh…decision to leave Hogwarts, I felt terrible that she was willing to have her magic removed, just because the other kids at the school don't understand her" Harry said as he looked over at Hermione, who had simply stared at her shoes since he started talking. Emma smiled at him, which Harry nodded back and continued.
"I would absolutely hate that a wonderful girl would be forced out of our world. So, if I can do something about it, I am certainly going to try. What I am offering is for Hermione a place to stay in the magic world and continue her education using my private tutors. I am continuing my own education, and it would not be an inconvenience to simply have her attend the classes I receive. It may take her some time to catch up, however I'm sure Hermione would be up to the challenge."
Richard listened to the boy and was amazed that someone his daughter's age would not only be willing to help her, but to offer up his own house and tutors, so that Hermione wouldn't have to give up her magic. Emma also seemed to be impressed with Harry. She thought he seemed so much older than he really was. The way he spoke and carried himself, she was thoroughly impressed.
Richard though did have a few questions that concerned him. "Harry, where exactly is your house?", he asked, wanting to find out exactly where his daughter would be.
"It is on the coast, near Norwich. Muggles cannot see the house though and it is well off the beaten path. My estate covers nearly thirty square kilometers", Harry replied. He told them about the Fidelius charm placed on the home and surrounding property, the wards that were in place, and the additional security features that the home had. "I've had the goblins at Gringotts perform yearly maintenance on the wards and they upgrade them on occasion. I have paid for the best security that money can buy in the magical world".
Richard's eyes widened in surprise at the information that Harry was providing. He wondered just how rich this boy must be to have such a vast property.
"I would be willing to let you all visit the property to see for yourselves and visit Hermione any time you wish. I could probably get the goblins to setup a permanent portkey for you that would take you to my house as many times as you'd like. I want you to know that I would always ensure Hermione's safety. She will most likely be safer at Potter manor than even at Hogwarts!", Harry said with a serious look in his eyes.
"Are there any adults that live with you?", Emma asked.
Harry scratched the back of his head and shifted nervously in his chair. "I live alone beside my house elves, but there is a near constant stream of tutors, my godfather, a few of his friends, and many others that are always stopping by. But you should also know that I would never do anything to make Hermione uncomfortable or intrude on her privacy. She could live in an entirely separate wing of my house if that would make you more comfortable, or even use one of the guest houses that are on the property."
Hermione looked at her parents with a pleading look in her eyes. She wanted to be able to keep her magic and continue to learn so badly. It didn't hurt that Harry also wanted to be her friend, something that she had always yearned for.
"Why don't I bring you to Potter manor tomorrow and you can see for yourself where Hermione would be living and studying." Harry stood up from his chair. "I should be going now though. I have some errands that I have to run."
Richard shook the boy's hand and asked him to come back tomorrow for breakfast. Harry agreed and said goodbye to Emma. Hermione suddenly ran up and gave Harry a hug. Harry stiffened when Hermione grabbed him, and he nervously patted her back.
"Thank you so much for helping me, Harry. I really hope my parents will let me come live with you." Hermione suddenly blushed a fierce red. "I mean…uh. Not live with you…umm. You know, learn with you." Hermione rushed back to her mum's side.
After saying a final goodbye, Harry disappeared with a sudden pop.