Chapter 2: April 2004
It was seven o'clock in the evening. On the outskirts of Muggle London lay the dwelling of a third of the Golden Trio. A plain simple house, yet the love in the house radiates outside. Hermione had managed to make a house a home. After the war, she had doubted anyone could ever make a home again, but time passed and wounds were closed. Even if the scars were clearly visible, the wizarding world had gone back to its normal hectic peace.
While the Granger home radiated love and comfort, it lacked the hustle and bustle of the Borrow. The house only had two occupants, the well-tended flower beds are the work of one of them, and the small bicycle in the front yard was the other's near-favourite toy.
Thankfully, the meeting in Diagon Alley was uneventful. Bellatrix had just disapparated, leaving Hermione shocked but grateful to have avoided a confrontation. Tonight, Hermione and Kissara were reading in the living room. Hermione was sitting to the right of the burning fireplace, curled up in the loveseat. Opposite her, her four year old was bouncing up and down, avidly reading her book. Reading is one thing she learned to do early, even though she doesn't speak, her vocabulary was large for a four year old.
Hermione smiled, it was quarter past seven, time to attempt putting Kissara to bed, time for their run. Every night after supper, they read for forty-five minutes so the young mom could have some rest, then at seven fifteen, they went out for a run. Hermione came up with the tactic when the girl was three. Kiki was so full of energy and could not sleep until something was done to tire her out. So now they ran forty minutes every night. At first the run also exhausted Hermione, but she got used to it and would admit that it kept her in pretty good shape. And it meant Kissara wouldn't be a pain the next day. If they missed a run, Kissara would bounce on her bed and run around, oddly enough she never woke Hermione, but she was a grumpy little girl at kindergarten the next day. Hermione was seriously considering buying a treadmill.
Hermione stretched and put down her book. She pulled out her vine-wood wand and extinguished the fire. So engrossed in her book, Kissara didn't notice. Hermione untucked her legs and sat properly before sending a soft blue jet towards her girl. When it hit Kiki, she expectantly looked at her mommy, who signed to her; 'It's time for our run.'
The little girl squeaked loudly, put her book on the coffee table and rushed to the door to put her sneakers on. Her mother, on the other hand, rubbed her sore ears before putting on her own shoes. One of the disadvantages of having a mostly deaf daughter was that when she squeaked or screamed, she did so loud enough for herself to hear, hence assaulting the ears of everybody nearby.
When Hermione first went to the adoption centre, she wasn't sure what to expect. She was looking to fill in a void in her life. She and Ron broke up a year after the war. It didn't end well. She told him what she had found out about herself, why she had no interest in him, or men in general. When she told him, he freaked out, his inflated ego couldn't take it. So he went home cursing her name and spewing lies about her, effectively turning the Weasleys against her. Today her friendship with them had mended, but back then it left her with no family for she had not found, and still hasn't found, her parents. And after a few months, she got tired of the quiet, she had no family, she had drifted from her friends, her job at her bookstore had become her life. She thought of a solution; she, Hermione Granger, was going to have a child.