Chapter 67
"They're here!" Juniper called. "Oh, Hick, they're here!"
Oliver stepped out of the fireplace with a laugh as he heard his mother's shout and her footsteps coming closer as the flames erupted behind him and Hermione stepped out beside him as his mother entered the room.
Juniper hurried over and enveloped Hermione into a hug, "Oh, its good to see you again!" she said, stepping back. "Thank you for coming, and welcome to our home."
Hermione smiled in return, and took the opportunity to look around. "The tent..." she said, looking around and recognizing the living room of the tent.
"Yes," Juniper said with a smile. "Hick let me decide the design of the tent. I love this house and the grounds. I love going out to the gardens and spending time in the gazebo, so the windows toward the back of the tent were designed with enchanted windows that showed the grounds. Toward the front we only enchanted them for privacy, making it so we could see out into the camp, but no one could see in. The tent made it rather sad though as I couldn't go out onto the grounds I so enjoyed."
"Its good that you have a place you enjoy," Hermione said.
"Yes," Juniper said.
"Oh, there she is!" Hickory said with a smile, as he walked into the room "How are you, dear?"
"I'm good, and you?" Hermione asked.
"I'm good thanks to you," Hickory said.
"But, I didn't do anything," Hermione protested.
"No, no, no," Hickory protested gently, shaking his head. "If you hadn't met up with Oliver and sent him back to find us, my poor Juni and I could have been done for."
"Oliver told us what you did, dear," Juniper said. "It was very brave of you."
"It was nothing," Hermione said, blushing. "Really, I just did what anyone would have done."
"Funny," Hickory said. "I seem to recall everyone running for their lives in panic."
"And as I recall," Oliver added with a smile. "You had to talk us into going back for Harry."
"Harry?" Juniper asked. "What happened to Harry?"
"Oh, um," Hermione began. "He got separated from us when the Death Eaters attacked. He got pushed further away than our camp was and he said as he was trying to get back to our camp and find us, he got knocked out."
Juniper gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.
"Ron and I were able to find him though, and he's okay," Hermione continued.
"Oh, that's good!" Hickory said. "That's real good."
"Yes," Juniper said. "I'm so glad he's safe. Well, then we'll go and let Oliver get you settled, then if you've not had breakfast yet, you can join us."
"That would be wonderful, I haven't had anything yet, thank you," Hermione said.
"Oh, okay," Juniper said. "Go, go, we won't keep you," she said and shooed them on their way with a smile.
"Sorry about that," Oliver said, leading Hermione back through the house toward the front entrance. Hermione couldn't believe that everything looked exactly as it had in the tent when she'd first visited with Juniper before the Finals.
"Oh, no," Hermione said as she followed him. "It's all right. I don't mind really."
Oliver led her down stairs and Hermione was surprised that there was a large entertainment room on the left side of the lower level that had space for Muggle games like pool, Foosball and darts that she recognized. There were large windows in the area that showed the grounds, and had french doors that led outside. Hermione had thought, from her impression of the tent, that the downstairs was completely underground, but seeing it now, she realized that the house was a lot bigger than what she'd seen of the tent.
"So your room is down here, first door on the right," Oliver said moving passed the entertainment room. Hermione hurried over and opened the door for him. "This is the guest room," Oliver said, entering ahead of her and setting her trunk down in the corner. The room was a nice, cream color, with a full size platform bed that had a metal frame and a brass knob at each corner post. There was a small night stand on one side, and along the wall was a wooden cabinet, a bookshelf and a small desk that sat in front of a window. "It's not much," Oliver said. "Mum made sure that the bedrooms all have enchanted windows, she said otherwise it would seem too claustrophobic."
"Oh really?" Hermione asked. "Why is that?"
"Well, let's get you settled and after breakfast how about I show you?" Oliver asked.
"Okay," Hermione said with a shy smile. "Oh, look! I have my own bathroom!" she exclaimed noticing an extra door along the wall.
"Um, no," Oliver said with a laugh. "Not exactly. Come on, I'll show you."
He opened the door and Hermione walked into a light, white marble bathroom with silver accents. There was another door straight across from the one she entered, and two more, one to the left and one to the right. She peered into the one to the right, and found it stocked with toiletries and plush towels.
"That goes out into the hallway," Hermione said, pointing to the door on the left.
"Aye," Oliver said with a nod.
"And that one?" Hermione asked, pointing to the door opposite the one from the guest room.
"That one goes to my room," Oliver said. "So you'll have to be sure to lock two doors when you come in."
The bathroom was narrow between the four doors, but it opened up to the right and she looked back and found another door. She headed back and opened it to find the water closet, and looking back toward her room, was a large walk in shower, but what dominated the room was a large garden tub.
"Shall we head up to breakfast and then we can continue the tour?" Oliver asked.
Hermione's stomach growled in response and she blushed while she and Oliver shared a laugh. "Yes, please," she said.
Oliver directed her out to the main hallway and they headed back up the stairs and were greeted by the smell of sausages, waffles and warm maple syrup. Hermione's stomach growled again, and she looked at Oliver before they both grinned and raced each other the rest of the way to the kitchen, laughing as they went, and they dove into their chairs, almost toppling them as they came to a halt.
"Hey, now, you two," Hickory said. "Calm down, its just breakfast."
"How'd the tour go?" Juniper asked as she brought the food to the table.
"Oh, um," Oliver said. "We called it short because Hermione wasreallyhungry."
"Hey!" Hermione protested with a mock scowl, but the moment was ruined when her stomach made another loud growl which caused her and Oliver to laugh again.
"Okay, well, eat up," Juniper said. "Then you can continue your tour, make sure he shows you our room... you'll love it."
After breakfast, Hermione's tour continued. She followed Oliver back down stairs and this time they stopped at the third door on the right. "This is my room," Oliver said and opened the door. It was similar to the guest room with a full size platform bed, but without the full bed frame.
Hermione couldn't help the slight smile and soft chuckle that escaped her as she looked around.
"What?" Oliver asked.
Hermione shook her head. "It's nothing, it's just that this reminds me of Ginny's room, but instead of Holyhead Harpies and the Weird Sisters, you've got posters of Puddlemere United."
"Ah, yes," Oliver said. "The twins said that she was a fan. They said she played with them over the summers when they practiced. Of course, it was like that first year with Harry that first night of practice. Mostly it was just ordinary balls that weren't charmed because they couldn't risk a Bludger or Snitch getting away from them. I didn't know she was that into Quidditch though."
"So are you going to show me this amazing room of your parents'?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, yeah," Oliver said. "Come on." Taking her hand, he led her to the room at the end of the hall, and opened the door. Hermione gasped. The open door lead into a bright, light colored cavern - there was no other way to describe it. It was absolutelyhuge! Front and center was an over large king size bed on a platform frame much like Oliver's. It was dressed in plush looking red and white bedding.
In the corner to the left was a fireplace, and to the right were two doors quite a distance apart. Oliver led her to the farthest door first and opened it revealing a massive bathroom. There were two doors, which she assumed were a water closet and linen closet. Along the wall near the door they entered was a long counter with two built in sinks and a wall length mirror, but what dominated the room was a tub larger than the one in the shared bathroom between Oliver's room and the guest room. It also had a larger shower, and the bathroom was done in white marble and gold accents.
Backing out of the bathroom, Oliver turned to the door that they'd passed and opened it to reveal the largest closet Hermione had ever seen. It looked like they could fit the entire guest room in it twice over. And then, it struck her... why Juniper had insisted on her visiting, why she had insisted on Oliver showing her their room, and the rest of the tour of the grounds that they had yet to go on... as beautiful and impressive in style and scale as everything was, a gilded cage was still a cage, and Juniper, though she seemed happy with Oliver and Hickory, was lonely with just their house-elves for company when her husband and son were gone, and Oliver was leaving in a few weeks.
"What is it?" Oliver asked, puzzled by her expression. It seemed that joy, wonder, amazement and sadness seemed to be warring within her.
Hermione shook her head and sniffed. "Oh, its - its nothing," she said, and gave him a watery smile. "I - I just understand why your mum invited me now, that's all. It -" She paused and swallowed, taking a deep, shaky breath. "You really have a beautiful home, Oliver."
Oliver looked at her in confusion. "Um, thanks?" he said. "Hey, listen, Hermione," he said, not sure how to respond, and shook his head. "We didn't invite you here to make you feel bad. We don't have to see the rest if you don't want to..."
"Oh, no," Hermione said and smiled. "No, its not that. I mean, itisbeautiful here, and I can't believe I'll be spending my last week before school here, but I - I get how your mum can be lonely when you and your dad are away, that's all. I just, I understand why she invited me to visit since she has been separated from her family because of the International Statute of Secrecy and everything."
"Oh, you are great," Oliver said, wrapping her in a hug. "Did anyone ever tell you that?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, not really," she said. "But its nice to hear."
"Come on," Oliver said, and took her hand leading her back out of the bedroom and up the stairs.
"Where are we going?" she asked with a laugh.
"Oh, I thought I would show you why mum insisted on the enchanted windows in the bedrooms," Oliver said.
"Iamcurious, yes," Hermione admitted.
"Oliver?" Juniper called from the kitchen. "You aren't planning to monopolize the poor girl while she's here, are you?"
Oliver and Hermione looked at each other and laughed. "No, mother," Oliver called back. "Of course not! I'm still giving her the tour though."
"Okay, sweetheart," Juniper called. "Just making sure... I have plans to spend time with her, too."
"Yes, mum!" Oliver called, looking at Hermione with a blush of embarrassment. "Come on, hurry," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go before it gets any worse." Laughing, they headed for the front door. "I'll show you the rest of the first floor when we get back," he said and held the door open for her.
Hermione was met by a soft rose cobblestone path that led to a sweeping drive. Glancing left and right she saw large stone pillars that gave way to wooden posts where the edge of the house met with a covered veranda that disappeared on both sides of the house, and many, many rose bushes that were on both sides of the drive paired with willow trees all the way up to a stone wall and twin wrought iron gates on the east and west sides of the drive. The stone wall on the far sides of the gates only went a few feet before they were replaced with what looked to be four foot traditional ranch fencing on either side with two rails between the posts on each panel that disappeared off into the distance or into the surrounding trees.
"Oliver," Hermione asked, choking in surprise. "Exactlywhatdoes your father do? How bigisyour home?"
Oliver blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Dad works for the Ministry... he's an Unspeakable, so I'm not exactly surewhathe does. He doesn't talk about it. But it pays well -"
"Obviously," Hermione replied dryly.
"Plus Dad's invested well," Oliver added. "He's helped a lot of businesses get started, both in the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. As to how big the property is, we own roughly four hundred and fifty seven hectares, maybe a bit less."
"Wow!" Hermione said, looking at him in shock, and feeling like her eyes were about to fall out of her head.
Oliver laughed nervously. "Yeah. It's a bit much sometimes. I was raised that money was nice, but didn't really matter. I don't really flaunt it for that reason. I like to help people when they let me - I would give the twins the money they need to start their shop if they'd let me, but I know they won't accept it. They have the same work ethic dad instilled in me. I want to be a Quidditch player because I'm good at it, and I want to make my own way in the world, like my dad did."
"That's admirable of you," Hermione said. "There aren't many people out there like that. What do you mean like your dad did?"
"My grandparents on my dad's side weren't around much when I was little," Oliver said as he led her off the porch and around to a three car garage nearby. "They were more like the Malfoys - stuck on blood purity. They got mad that my dad fell in love with my mum because she was a Muggle. They passed away not long after I was born."
"Oh, Oliver," Hermione said sadly as she waited for him at the garage door. "I'm sorry."
Oliver shrugged and opened the garage to reveal a 1951 red Aston Martin DB2. "It is what it is," he said with a sigh.
"Wait, you have a car?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Oliver said with a laugh. "One of the perks of having a Muggle mother, I learned how to drive when I was sixteen. Come on."
"But how?" Hermione asked. "I know that you said your dad had money, but even still, these aren't cheap. How'd did you get one?"
"It was my mum's," Oliver said. "My uncle was a mechanic, and he got it for her from the junk yard. They restored it, and she kept it up. After I had been driving a while, she gave it to me for a birthday present." Oliver laughed. "She wanted to make sure I didn't wreck it. My first car was what you might call a beater. It barely ran and was falling apart, but it was good to learn on. Now, come on."
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked as she followed him into the garage and got in when he held the passenger door for her.
"There's a road that goes through the forest surrounding the property. It gives good views and will give you an idea of how big it is," Oliver said.
"Okay," Hermione agreed and settled in as he got in on the other side, sliding behind the wheel.
The car roared to life, and Oliver backed it out of the garage easily. Once they were passed the gates, he turned onto a private road and followed it around the edge of the property. On the drive she was treated to views of rolling green hills dotted with several horses, and a lake.
They were going around a curve and she saw the hills give way to some flat terrain. Hermione blinked. "Is that -?" she asked. "AQuidditchpitch?" She looked over to Oliver to see him grinning as he shifted gears on the car.
"Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "I had to practice somewhere when I wasn't at Hogwarts."
Hermione laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, I guess you would have."
As she watched, the pitch disappeared behind them, and they came to a forest that had many trails that she could see weaving in and out of the trees. "There are some of the riding paths my mum enjoys taking the horses on. There are others off property, some that even go by waterfalls along the nearby river," Oliver said.
"Really?" Hermione asked. "I've never been riding before - well, not unless you count on a Shetland pony for a birthday party, but all it did was go in a circle."
"Really?" Oliver asked. "We'll just have to get you on one then, won't we?"
"I don't know about that," Hermione said skeptically.
"I like them," Oliver said. "Next best thing to a car or a broom. Plus, you don't need a license to ride one," he said with a laugh.
"Well, that's good, I suppose," Hermione said with a smile. They rounded the corner coming back to the street that led back to the garage, and Hermione saw the large barn and corral set up for jumping.
Oliver pulled back into the garage and shut off the car, getting out, he went and opened the door for her. "So, this killed two birds with one stone," he said.
"What's that?" Hermione asked, getting out.
"You got to see the property - from a distance - and you learned that I can drive, so if you ever want to go do anything while you're here this week, we can go, or you and mum can go," he said leading the way back outside and shutting the garage behind them before heading around the side of the house on the veranda. It was here that Hermione saw that the house and garage were actually connected via a covered bridge that they could have used. She learned that the veranda wrapped around the back of the house on the upper level and that there was a circular staircase that led to the lower level where there was a patio set up with a grill near a large in ground pool, and a hot tub.
As she walked around the veranda, she found out that the right side of the house where the bedrooms were, was built into the side of the hill, and only the part of Oliver's parents room that was to the left had any natural light.
"So that's why the enchanted windows," Hermione said pointing out the hillside.
"Yep," Oliver said.
"I wondered about all the Muggle touches to the house, too," Hermione said. "You know, the Foosball table, the bath tubs, that kind of thing."
"We have some electronics too," Oliver added. "Dad got someone to set them up so that they work with either electricity or magic. Mum likes to use electricity as often as she can, it reminds her of the Muggle world, but sometimes the power gets knocked out so we have magic as a back up."
"That makes sense," Hermione agreed. "I wish our house was set up to work with both... it gets so frustrating when the power goes out. I think that's part of why I read so much. I could read by candle light or flashlight when the power went out."
"Ah, I see, to it wasn't entirely intellectual," Oliver said with a laugh.
"No," Hermione agreed. "It wasn't."
"Well, I think I've monopolized your time enough for now," Oliver said with a laugh. "Mum will come looking for us in a bit. She's been talking about things she was planning to do when you got here since you went back to the Weasley's camp."
"Really?" Hermione asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, she wanted to take you to see the horses, and her gardens,bakecookies," Oliver said with a laugh.
Hermione joined in. "I suppose its not all that different from making potions."
"With following the directions, no, not much different, the outcome is quite different though," Oliver said with a laugh.
"I had some plans too, if you don't mind," Hermione said.
"Oh, what's that?" Oliver asked.
"My parents and I were thinking that maybe it was a good time to take you to an amusement park," Hermione said. "But I have to ask, where exactlyarewe?"
"We're in the Highlands of Scotland," Oliver said. "Near Glen Mor."
"Oh," Hermione said and frowned slightly.
"What's wrong?" Oliver asked, noting her expression.
"Well," Hermione answered haltingly. "It's just - the only amusement park I know is either in Paris, and Chessington World of Adventures outside of London."
"Hermione," Oliver said putting his hands on her shoulders. "Relax." He chuckled at the face she made before he continued, "Look I'm glad you're here, and that we get to spend some time together, but my mum invited you here to spend to spend some time with her -"
"And I get that," Hermione said. "It's just that - when I told Anthony you were from a small village, I really didn't know how close to the truth it was."
Oliver blinked. "You told your cousin, Anthony about me?"
"Well, yeah," Hermione said shifting uneasily. "He was wondering how you didn't know about amusement parks so I had to come up with something."
"I see," Oliver said. "I wondered why there was so much information on them."
"You're not mad, are you?" Hermione asked, looking at him uncertainly.
"No, not at all," Oliver said with a smile. "I like that your family knows about me."
"Oliver!" They heard Juniper call from inside.
Oliver's expression turned to one of alarm, his eyes growing wide before he smiled and started laughing. "See, I told you she'd start looking for us. I guess the tour is over. I'm sure you'll see the rest of the upstairs while you're here though," he finished, and opened the door. "Yes, mother?" he called.
"I do believe that its my turn," Juniper said with a smile, holding out her hand.