Snippets
Chapter Five
"I apologize for missing our appointment last week, Ms. Granger. An unexpected emergency arose which needed tending to," Healer Greengrass states as she enters the exam room in the Neurological Maladies ward in St. Mungo's which Hermione has begun to think of affectionately as her own.
Hermione looks away from Healer Greengrass at the reminder of her previous Healer visit.
"I've reviewed Healer Malfoy's notes. He mentioned that you'd had a vision the night prior to seeing him?" Healer Greengrass asks, taking a seat in her stool and poising her quill to take her own notes.
Hermione genuinely intends to answer Healer Greengrass' question, however, evidently her mouth does not.
"I was surprised to see Healer Malfoy," Hermione states, swallowing down the feeling of bile in her throat. "I wasn't aware that he was in your service."
Healer Greengrass sets her quill down and folds her hands in her lap, her eyes meeting Hermione's with a softness.
"He's not," Healer Greengrass responds, crossing her legs at the ankles. "Healer Malfoy is a talented and respected Healer in his own right. I asked him to cover my service in my absence."
Hermione opens her mouth to speak, but Healer Greengrass beats her to it.
"I was aware that the two of you had a history. I assumed that that history had been addressed, but perhaps I assumed incorrectly. I apologize if his presence made you uncomfortable. It will not happen again."
Hermione frowns, Harry's voice ringing around in her head reminding her that it has been over a decade. Bygones, and all of that.
"No, it's alright, Healer Greengrass. I just did not expect to see him. I haven't– not since the War," Hermione stammers, fiddling with the hem on her skirt. "He's a good Healer? You trust him?"
Hermione isn't sure why she asks, other than perhaps that she wants to know in the event that Healer Greengrass is called away again.
Healer Greengrass is quiet for a moment before she responds.
"He is, and I do."
Hermione decides that that will have to be enough for her. She doesn't anticipate seeing Healer Malfoy again, but she respects and trusts Healer Greengrass, so her word will have to be enough for the moment.
Hermione nods, now finished with this line of conversation.
"Yes, I had another vision prior to seeing Healer Malfoy, and have had several since."
Healer Greengrass picks her quill back up.
"Can you tell me about them?"
Hermione spends the next thirty-seven minutes telling Healer Greengrass all about the various snippets she's seen throughout the previous week, referring to her journal for the details. She talks about the vision she detailed previously to Healer Malfoy, as well as the one of Harry walking her down the aisle at her wedding. She also tells Healer Greengrass about a few more innocuous visions she's had, too.
"I also saw myself playing with a kitten? A little, gray tabby," Hermione laughs, though it comes out sounding more like a question than a statement.
Healer Greengrass nods that clinical sort of nod before asking, "Not a cat person?"
Hermione shakes her head, a small, sad smile stretching her lips slightly.
"Actually, I am," Hermione says wistfully, turning her head and looking out the window longingly for a moment. "I had a cat– well, a half-kneazle, really– back at Hogwarts. He died a long time ago. I've thought about adopting another, but it just never seemed like the right time."
Healer Greengrass nods again, scribbling out a few lines of notes on her parchment.
"Healer Greengrass?" Hermione asks, squeezing her left ring finger as she is wont to do.
Healer Greengrass sets her quill down again with a, 'Hmm?' and looks up at Hermione with concentration.
"What is this? Am– am I going mad? Or… a Seer?" Hermione wrinkles her nose at the mention of the possibility that she might See. She's nearly positive, though– thank, Merlin– that that isn't the case given the fact that thus far, all of her visions have surrounded herself and no one else, nor have they been prophetic in any way that she can tell. "Or am I just having really vivid daydreams…?"
Healer Greengrass scoots her stool closer to Hermione, a look of compassion swimming around in her eyes.
"As of right now, Ms. Granger, I have your symptoms listed as idiopathic– it means that we're not sure what the cause is," Healer Greengrass begins to explain. "However, from the information I've gathered thus far, I do not believe that your cognitive ability is impaired. You've maintained your job, friendships and treatment. This is a good sign."
Hermione sighs, of two minds regarding Healer Greengrass' current assessment. She's grateful that the professional in the room is confident in her mental state, though that still doesn't make Hermione feel any less mad.
"As far as the question of whether you're a Seer or not, my gut says no. Seers usually present much younger, for starters– and they See more than just their own future. I suppose it's possible that you are Seeing your own future, though I can't be sure of it."
Hermione, admittedly, feels relieved at that statement. She has never put much stock in Divination and she would hate to have to admit that she could've been wrong.
"A thought did occur to me, though," Healer Greengrass states, frowning slightly. "Have you had any interaction with Time-Turners lately?"
"Oh, Hermione, dear! So glad you could come," Molly Weasley beams as she opens the front door to the Burrow. She throws her arms around Hermione and squeezes tightly as if it's been a year since she's seen her, when in reality, it's only been about a month. "Happy Christmas."
Hermione steps inside, unwinding her scarf from around her neck and hanging it on a hook beside the door.
"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione smiles, following the Weasley matriarch into the kitchen, where the annual Weasley Christmas celebration is in full-swing.
Hermione takes a seat at the dining table in the open space beside George Weasley, nudging his shoulder with her own with a smile.
"Ah, perfect!" George bellows, slinging his arm over Hermione's shoulder, beaming brightly. "You'll be my date this evening, won't you, Hermione?"
Hermione chuckles, raising an eyebrow at George.
"No Angelina tonight?" Hermione asks, referencing George's wife with a smirk.
George reaches with his free hand for a pint glass on the table and takes a generous swig before responding to Hermione.
"Freddie has a fever. I offered to stay home but she wouldn't hear of it– said it's important to spend time with family while we can," George says, his tone turning sad. Hermione understands that Angelina's statement likely has dual meanings– referencing her husband's late twin as well as her own father who passed just over three months ago.
Hermione places a comforting hand over George's resting on her own shoulder.
"You'll check out early and spend the evening with them, too, right?"
George nods, smiling a half smile at Hermione.
"Happy Christmas, George," Hermione says quietly, squeezing George's hand once more before dropping it to her lap.
George had been one of the few Weasleys who didn't immediately take sides during Hermione's break-up with Ron– rather, he had maintained that he loved both his brother and his sister. George had explained over lunch to Hermione that whether she and Ron stayed together or not, she would always be his sister– that he had lost too much already and that he had no intention of losing another sibling. George, Ginny and Charlie had been the only ones to talk to Hermione for weeks following the break-up until Molly had showed up at her flat with a roast and a pie as an apology, citing that she never should've chosen a side between her children, even her 'adopted' ones.
It had taken time, but now, years later, Hermione truly does feel at home at the Burrow and with the Weasleys once again.
"Oi, didn't see you there, 'Mione! When did you get here?" Ron shouts, clearly already well on his way to being properly sloshed, as per usual at the Weasley Christmas bash. Beside him, Padma laughs lightly and steers her husband over to a seat across from Hermione and George.
Padma sits down beside her husband, dodging the spill of Butterbeer that splashes over the rim of Ron's glass in the process.
"How are you, Hermione?" Padma asks, a softness in her eyes that Hermione recognizes from that of Healer Greengrass. Must be a Healer thing, Hermione thinks to herself with a slight chuckle.
"I'm fine, Padma," Hermione responds, cutting Padma off when she opens her mouth again to, presumably, ask further questions. "But we're not talking about me today. How are you? And where is my niece?"
Padma smiles, leaning her arms on the dining table and glancing fondly at her husband when he slips his arm around her waist and tugs her closer to him.
"Priya is around here somewhere. Last I saw her, she was being fussed over by Molly and Ginny."
After dinner, the Weasley/Weasley-adjacent crowd gathers in the sitting room– one person nearly on top of the next as everyone attempts to fit in one room together– for presents.
The children go first, each opening the customary Weasley sweater with their initials first, then moving on to their unique presents. Hermione cringes internally at the realization that nearly every child in the room received either their first toy broom or a more advanced model for the more experienced flyers in the room, save, of course, for five-month-old Priya. Hermione still does not understand the appeal of flying, despite her closest friends being who they are. She prefers her feet planted firmly on the ground, thankyouverymuch.
Following the children, the adults open their own presents, also adhering to the tradition of receiving Weasley sweaters with their initials. This year, Hermione's is a lovely teal green with a gold 'H' on the front. Hermione wastes no time tugging the sweater on over her blouse, rubbing her arms as she snuggles herself into the cozy knit.
This year, Molly decided to make matching sweaters for the couples, which Hermione finds endearing. Harry and Ginny's are matching Gryffindor red sweaters with gold letters. Ron and Padma's are a deep, royal blue with gold letters– a lovely tie-in of both Ron and Padma's Hogwarts houses, which Hermione knows was not done accidentally.
Beside Hermione, George opens his and Angelina's sweaters, which are both of a deep, bordeaux color, also with gold lettering.
"Traitor," George mutters sarcastically at the realization that Hermione's sweater does not, in fact, match his own. Hermione laughs and pushes at his shoulder playfully.
Across the room, Hermione can't help but notice that she does, in fact, see a sweater in the same teal as her own with a gold 'C' on the front. Hermione meets Charlie's eye with a chuckle as the aforementioned man makes the connection, rolling his eyes as he slings the knit material over his shoulder.
Molly Weasley does not, in fact, do anything by accident– of this, Hermione is absolutely certain. Since realizing last year that Hermione and Charlie are friends who cross paths quite often due to their fields of work, Molly has been doing everything she can to place the two beside one another at every possible Weasley function or event.
Hermione loves Charlie, she does, but in the same way that she loves all of the Weasleys– like they're the siblings she has never had. Thankfully, Charlie is on the same page in this case. The two had spoken about it after the third time Molly had 'coincidentally' shoved them together at a birthday party, and had determined that their love for one another is purely platonic.
Hermione searches the sea of redheads for the Weasley matriarch until she meets her eye. Hermione smiles in gratitude– a silent 'thank you'– to which Molly responds with a smile of her own and a nod, followed by a wave of her hands, as if ushering Hermione to open the other present sitting at her feet.
Hermione picks up the smaller parcel, untying the twine around it and opening the paper with a smile. She folds back the paper and runs the tips of her fingers down the fine knit of the present in front of her. In Hermione's lap, atop the peeled back layers of the kraft paper wrappings, sits a lovely pair of matching teal mittens.
Hi, friends! Happy Tuesday! (:
Can I just say how refreshing it was to write a good Molly Weasley after writing Manhattan? And Ron, for that matter, too. The Weasleys- apart from Ron and Ginny- aren't huge parts of this story, but still, it was nice to write them as decent human beings this time. xD
I can't believe we're already on chapter five of this fic. I know that this fic is long and we're nowhere near done, but I just can't believe that I'm finally getting to share this fic with you all, so thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me, truly. (:
Now, as always, please review if you feel so inclined- let me know your theories, if you noticed anything specific, or even if you just had a favorite scene or line! I always love reading your thoughts. (:
Thank you once again for spending a bit of your time here with me this week. I truly appreciate you. See you again next week! (:
