Dan and Emma Granger

Hermione:

The Granger's house seemed to be lively for eight at night.

Dobby popped her to the front walk and she looked up at the house for a moment, admiring it. The front room light was off and the drapes drawn back so she could see a light coming from the kitchen. As she watched, a shadow passed in the window from someone coming out of the den. She felt a smile come on, even though the news she was bringing wasn't great.

She smoothed down her outfit – it felt so, so grand to be wearing Muggle clothes again – and walked up. Hopped directly onto the porch instead of walking up the steps and heard the floorboards creak. She took the door knocker and thumped it down three or four times.

Music was playing inside. It was strange to Hermione how that wasn't strange. Every other year, coming home from Hogwarts, she had needed to get used to Muggle Music again. Now, she just had to get used to instrumental Muggle Music again. Rosalie's speakers were never off.

Her dad opened the door and almost passed out on the spot in excitement. "Oh! Emma! Hermione!"

"Hi, Dad!" Hermione smiled. He stood in the doorway for another moment, oogling her, and then put his arms out. She leaped at him and squeezed him hard.

Dan Granger was fifty, balding, and had the most perfect smile in all of England. He wore vests even in the summertime and always wore a Rolex watch on his right wrist – even if he wore an electronic wristwatch on the other. Tonight, the vest was green and the shirt underneath it was white.

Emma had jumped into view upon hearing Dan's cry and was smiling ear-to-ear. She had Hermione's afro, but she had clipped it short and thinned it out and darkened the roots so it looked a lot more manageable than it was. She was wearing a t-shirt that read, "why buy anything else when you could be buying books" and shorts for the summer. And she stood in the doorway for only a second before sprinting down and jumping into Dan and Hermione's hug.

"Oh!" Dan yelled in surprise and then moved his arm to wrap around his wife. The three of them could have sunken to the floor and stayed there if not for the fact that the doorway was not that wide nor that comfortable.

After a long hug, the Grangers relinquished their daughter and sized her up. "Outfit still fitting," Emma noted with a smile.

"Smile," Dan commanded, smiling for an example. She did and he bent down and squinted at her teeth. "No chips? No pains?"

"You can check me for cavities later," Hermione said. "I actually am here with some bad news? And maybe good news, depending on what you think."

Dan and Emma took a look at each other. "She's here with bad news," Emma said.

"Well, we ought to let her in, don't you think?" Dan opened the door wider and waved her in. "Come on, come on. We have tea on in the kitchen. Kettle just finished."

Hermione took a mug down on her way in and poured herself a cup and grabbed a tea bag. She sat beside her mother, who was stirring honey into her own mug with a long and slender spoon. "It's so great to see you," she said. "I'm sorry to drop in… the Headmaster said I should come see you as soon as possible."

"If it's this easy to pop in, I'm wondering why we haven't seen much of you before now," Emma remarked.

"It's usually not this easy to pop in. Dobby, who is a house elf, like I told you about before – but he's a free elf – he brought me here. He's only been working at Hogwarts this year, as far as I know. And all those crazy things that I've been telling you about – with my being sorted into a different house and I have a new role at Hogwarts… that takes up a lot of my attention." Hermione took a deep breath and then sipped her tea. Her dad smiled and turned down the music in the kitchen.

"And Harry," he said, coming to sit beside her.

Hermione hummed. "And Harry. And Draco and Rosalie. Rosalie… we still can't figure out. But she's my friend and I do trust her." She put her hand down on her mother's. "Alright. There's no easy way to say this, but I've gotten into a bit of danger. I'm not sick. No cancer. And no legal trouble. The danger is with Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort found out Draco was a double-agent this week."

"Oh!" Emma said. "Is he alright? All safe?"

"He is! And they say that Rosalie shot Voldemort, but we don't have confirmation that the bullet hit him. And they got a few people out and to the hospital as well." Hermione was glad she'd kept her parents informed. She had to blur some details and simplify some things, and she often left herself out of battles, but her parents were largely aware of her doings at Hogwarts. It was her way of keeping them involved with her life. "Draco even got his parents back to Hogwarts safely. They're not happy with him, but they're alive."

"I bet they'll come around," Dan said. "He was doing things very well thought out. It's only fair."

"I hope so, but his parents can be rather bigoted. I mean, you remember what I've told you about Draco from past years." Hermione rolled her eyes. "But in the chaos, Voldemort learned that I'm friends with Draco. He didn't know before. And now that he knows, we're worried that he may try and come after you instead of going after Draco's family. Because if you suffer, I suffer, and he suffers. In a roundabout way."

Emma inhaled sharply. "Oh. Okay. I thought he didn't care much for Muggles."

"He doesn't," Hermione confirmed. "But he's quite violent. I'd hate for you to be hurt." She squeezed her mum's hand and glanced between both of her parents. "I've come to ask if you'll leave, so you can stay safe."

Dan and Emma exhaled and looked at each other. "The practice," Dan said.

"Would need to be closed." Emma was frowning. "Hermione, how real is this danger, really? Is this just a suspicion?"

"No, mum," Hermione shook her head. "A double agent returned with information that he was trying to find you. We have a very small window of time. And yes, the practice will probably need to be closed. But Rosalie knows someone who is willing to help."

Hermione pulled her phone out of her pocket and found Rosalie's contact. In the text thread were pictures of white sand beaches and giant, blue crashing waves. "Rosalie has a friend who has a house in Australia. The friend isn't using the house because he's a researcher. We think you would be safe there."

"You want us to go to Australia?" Dan asked. "While you're in danger here?"

Emma put a hand in front of the screen. "Isn't there somewhere a little closer? Perhaps in Diagon Alley, or-"

"Mum, that would be moving you closer to the danger!" Hermione turned off her phone. "I asked about putting the house under fidelius, but you wouldn't be able to leave at all. Not even to get food. It'd be like Covid all over again except without Uber Eats."

Hermione's phone pinged. Odd that the sound was on. She flipped it over and made to hide the message when she saw it was from Rosalie. "I found a few more options. Can I have Dobby pop me over?"

Well, what did she have to lose? Hermione began typing and wrote, "Sure," then paused. Would her parents recognise Rosalie?

That would be interesting. She sent the message as is. "Rosalie's coming by. If nothing else, she can help us brainstorm."

Emma sighed. "Hermione… I'm perfectly willing to leave if the danger is real. But you are a minor in both worlds and I can't justify leaving you here… especially during the summer break! What happens when you have to leave Hogwarts? You were talking last week about Harry not knowing where he will be going, now Draco… and Rosalie seems to have a crazy background and seems to have been alone for quite some time… but she's not an adult! And she's not someone I can trust to leave my only daughter with."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah. I'm not sure. I get it, mum… honestly."

A knock came from the front door. Emma looked at Hermione. "Now really, if it's that quick to get here, I really don't understand why-"

"Coming!" Dan called.

"Check the door first, dad!" Hermione called, making to get up out of her seat. You could never be too careful, and-

"Brown hair, blue… hang on a minute…" Dan opened the door.

"Good evening! Is Hermione here?"

"Yes, just in the kitchen."

Hermione made it to the doorway and waved. There was Rosalie, in a white shirt and blue jeans, and with her hair plaited back. The blue streak needed to be redone.

And Dan was smiling, but he was squinting at her in confusion as well. "Come on in," he said, and guided her through the door to shut it.

"Wow, Hermione," Rosalie said. "Look at all this green! Your parents were rooting for you to be in Slytherin all along!"

Hermione laughed and nodded and her mom appeared behind her shoulder. "Oh," she said. "You look familiar."

Rosalie laughed. "I've been told I have one of those faces," she said.

"Were you in a movie?" Emma asked.

Dan snapped his fingers. "Yes! I was thinking the same thing! She looks exactly like the starlet in Bane of Broadway. The one who has that one line near the end of the movie where she says "and take the price you paid most to hold" while she's onstage and she looks right at the villain in the audience?"

"Yes, we have that movie downstairs!" Emma said. "Or… no, we don't. Hermione's borrowing it. But you look just like-" Emma stopped.

Rosalie had kept a mildly interested and amused expression right up until Emma had mentioned Hermione borrowing the movie. Then, her eyes widened and her smile dropped. An expression of dread and worry appeared and then was wiped away when she locked eyes with Hermione. "Hermione's borrowing it," Rosalie repeated, acting for all the world as if she did not care. "Is it a good movie?"

"Haven't put it in the player yet," Hermione admitted. "I mean, exams start tomorrow. But Harry and I looked at it. It has good reviews."

"I haven't seen it," Rosalie said.

"It's wonderful – come sit down! We have tea – are you a fan?" Emma waved them into the kitchen and took a blue mug out of the cabinets for Rosalie. "It's about a Broadway show someone writes and they attempt to pitch it to a theatre director who is in the process of retiring. Some city directors interfere and there's some local mob violence. But they go on with the show.""

"Funny," Hermione said. "Similar to us, I guess. With the Ministry and Voldemort."

She looked right at Rosalie and Rosalie shrugged. "I guess," she said. "I haven't seen it, like I said. You'll have to let me know what you think." She took her phone out and said, "So, Australia?"

"Hermione," Dan said, "If the country is too dangerous for us, then it's too dangerous for you. And if Voldemort is hunting us because of you, then you need to come as well."

"That would make our jobs very difficult," Rosalie said. "Lord Voldemort himself noted that killing Harry would be a lot easier with Hermione out of the way."

"Yes, but Hermione is a sixteen-year-old girl," Emma said, gently. "Almost sixteen, in fact. And it's not her problem to end a war."

"But it'd be a lot easier if I was involved," Hermione said, trying to stay calm. "What would help you feel better?"

"To be better involved, for one," Dan said slowly, watching Emma's face. "And know if there's danger…"

"Totally valid!" Rosalie clapped her hands together. "Which is why I'm prepared to violate an international law and several rules to make it happen."

"You wot?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Dumbledore and I talked," Rosalie said. "I'm not satisfied with the education at Hogwarts. Wizards aren't taught about Geography, and I'm worried that now that we have some technology coming to Hogwarts, the Purebloods will begin to fall behind the Muggle Borns and Halfbloods – sorry, do I need to explain these terms?"

"No, you don't," Emma said. "And it sounds like you're looking for teachers who can point at a map and operate a cell phone, which we qualify for easily. But I thought Muggles can't come to Hogwarts? That it's enchanted to repel them?"

"That's true, but I'm supposed to be able to operate the wards," Rosalie said. "And Hogwarts, for as many crazy things go on there, is a stronghold. If we can get you in, you'd not only be safe, but you'd be able to see Hermione's progress in real time."

Emma hummed. "I suppose we'd see just as much of her as we do now," she said, thoughtfully.

"Well… if we can get it to work…" Hermione bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to ask. I swear, I wouldn't come unless-"

"Your father and I have been thinking of moving, Hermione. We've been talking with someone about selling the business." Emma took a sip of her tea.

This was news to Hermione. "You… really? But you love your practice."

"We do," Dan said, "But if our little girl is going to run for minister of magic, or Prime Minister, or United Nations Secretary-General, then we thought moving to London might better your prospectives."

Hermione's hands fell to her side. She stared at her parents, one and then the other, and felt overly emotional. "You'd do that?" she asked. "Just to help me get a toe in?"

Emma shook her head. "Five years of letting her skive off maths and English and Sciences for magic training, Dan, and she's still shocked to learn that we love her."

"Of course we'd do that, Hermione. And come to think of it, if we're at Hogwarts, we can see her successes, finally."

"And help Slytherin win the house cup by giving us lots of house points," Hermione said.

"If Slytherin earns it," Emma said. She finished her tea and dumped the used tea bag into the sink. "So, to clarify, we need to get to safety as soon as possible. And if we can make it onto the grounds, there's a position open at Hogwarts. Right?"

"Right," Rosalie nodded.

Emma nodded and opened the dishwasher to place the mug inside. "Hermione," she said. "Why don't you take your friend up to your room or down to the den so your dad and I can make a decision?"

Hermione paused, wondering if there was anything else she could possibly suggest, and then nodded. "Rosalie?" she asked and stepped back to hover in the doorway. Rosalie finished her tea and mimicked Emma in binning the bag and then putting the mug in the dishwasher. Then she followed Hermione out towards the door and then up a staircase to the top floor. Hermione's room was the second on the floor, across from the offices and beside her parents' room.

It was dusty, as it always seemed to be, but Hermione didn't feel like breaking out the vacuum. So instead, she took her duvet and threw it off the bed to reveal the fitted sheet beneath.

Hermione's bedroom had eleven different bookcases. Some were nailed to the wall, some were angled to allow more space, and some were part of her bedframe. Every book had been read, which was not something most bookworms could say.

Hermione had a single bay window in her room with a seat in front of it, so she could sit and read. There wasn't much of a view because a very large tree blocked most of it, but who needed a view when you had books, right?

A picture of her, Ron, and Harry was on her bedside table. Hermione looked at it as she sat, then picked it up and blew the dust off. The photo had been taken their second year.

"Do you ever wonder who you're going to end up with?" Hermione asked. "Or what you'll be doing?"

"I used to," Rosalie replied, staring out at the tree outside. "But not anymore. You don't think you'll end up with Harry?"

"I mean… I wouldn't mind it. But we're both only fifteen."

"Pretty ambitious thing, to marry the Boy-Who-Lived," Rosalie said. "And brave of him, because he'll never be out of the limelight with you always rolling up your sleeves."

Hermione chuckled. "Yes, well I suppose Draco wouldn't know infidelity if it smacked him in the face. And you're pretty smart, to be able to navigate his family situation the way you do."

"That's sweet of you, Hermione," Rosalie said. "But dating Draco is by far the stupidest thing I've ever done, and it's only because I'm a genius that it's working. Not that I don't like him, but… it's hard to explain."

"But… do you think you'll end up with him?"

"Without a doubt," Rosalie said. "Because he's loyal."

Hermione thought about that and then collapsed back on her bed. "Rosalie?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did you really star in a Muggle movie?"

"You're being silly."

Silly? Really? This whole thing seemed silly. And drawn-out. And bizarre. "Is your real name Rosalynn?"

"My real name is Rosalie. Rosalie Spinks." And she sounded so firm that Hermione believed her. She really, really wanted to believe her.

Hermione looked at her bedroom ceiling. Traced the drywall patterns with her eyes. "Do you promise?" she asked softly.

"I swear on my magic, Hermione." Rosalie said.

Hermione smirked. "That's not a real witch's oath."

"Do you need one?"

But someone knocked at Hermione's door and she sat bolt upright on her bed to see who it was. Dan Granger was standing in the door, peering around. "Why are you sitting in the dark?" he asked.

"Just didn't bother to turn on the light," Hermione shrugged.

"I'd forgotten that electric lights can be turned on and off," Rosalie said. "The ones I installed at Hogwarts seem to go off when no one wants them on anymore." She stood up and brushed all the dust off her jeans. Dan watched her.

"This room needs to be deep-cleaned."

"It always does," Hermione sighed. "That's what happens when you go to boarding school."

"Well, it'll need to be cleaned if we're going to move out," Dan said. "But first, we need to see if we can even get to Hogwarts. What does your friend have in mind, Hermione?"

Hermione looked to Rosalie and raised an eyebrow. Rosalie straightened up. Dan shifted in the doorway and revealed Emma standing beside him. "I think the first thing we should try should be to simply bring them onto the grounds," Rosalie said. "Let's call Dobby back and have him pop us there. And you hold onto your father's arm, Hermione, and I'll hold onto your mother's arm, and we'll see if we can walk them over the border. And if not, then I'll work with the border and see if I can get it to open up."

"Right now?" Emma looked at her watch. "It's eight-thirty."

"Pop on a jacket," Hermione said. "Scotland can be chilly up in the mountains this time of year. Rosalie's right. We'll never know if we don't try."

Dobby looked very uncertain about popping all of them at once and even looked doubtful about his ability to pop two over at once in quick succession. So Hermione went first and waited by the ward borders by the freezing lake, shivering. She wished she'd thought of her own advice. She looked up at the castle lights and watched them glitter over the water, but did not feel very lucky until a little voice said in her head, "Have you ever seen anything this wonderful before?"

Hermione stopped shivering for a moment and took in the view again. Hogwarts was an impressive sight. She had no doubt that that was what Helga had been thinking about, a thousand years ago.

There was a pop a short ways away, and Dobby appeared with Dan, Hermione's father, who looked dazed and distracted. "Woah," he said, turning in a full circle. "I forgot my keys. Better go back for my keys." And he proceeded to walk away.

"Hey, wait, hang on!" Hermione ran after him and grabbed his arm. "Do you see the castle?"

"Castle?" Dan asked. "What castle?"

"That castle." Hermione pointed to Hogwarts. "You don't see it yet?"

Her dad was pulling against her arm and looking as if he were going to wander down towards Hogsmeade. His eyes had a glazed look as he pulled. Hermione had never seen the Hogwarts wards in action, but the way she had to hold onto him might leave a bruise. She hoped Rosalie would have the good sense to come next, as she probably couldn't keep both her parents from wandering away at top speed.

She hauled her dad to the border and tried to bring him across. But when his hand hit the barrier, it stopped. No Muggles allowed in. Hermione dug her heels into the mud and used both hands to keep her dad from leaving.

A short distance away, there was a popping sound, and Rosalie appeared. "Oh," she said. "I didn't realise that would happen."

"Get ready to catch my mom!" Hermione called. Not a moment too soon, either, because Dobby reappeared with Emma Granger, who frowned and turned away from Hogwarts. "I wandered off," she said, and made to step away.

Rosalie grabbed her mom's wrist and looped an arm around her arm. Dobby also kept hold of Emma's other hand. "No, Emma Grangey!" he cried. "Hogwarts is this way!"

"No one designed the periodic table – it just arranged itself," Rosalie said out loud, talking to the barrier. "And we can predict what elements we haven't discovered yet by looking at it. People with blue eyes actually don't have any colour in their eyes. It's blue for the same reason the sky and ocean are blue. The American natives invented corn. The Ravenclaw motto is a sex joke. The-"

"I'm here, calm down!" A ghost said, fading into view on the other side of the barrier. It was Rowena Ravenclaw, who looked very stuffy and upset. "Right, you work from that side and I'll work from this side, right?"

"Right."

"Right."

"Right again."

Hermione wondered how Rowena and Godric had ever worked together. She could imagine it like it was in front of her – Godric doing something ridiculous "for the meme" and Rowena scratching her head and trying to figure out how something so illogical could have occurred and her trying to give him instructions and Godric simply nodding… nodding… nodding off to sleep.

The barrier to Hogwarts became bright blue against the sky and Rosalie began to pull Emma Granger towards it. Hermione was still holding her dad fast and waiting.

Apparently, it only took one try. And then Emma was pulled through and stopped trying to get away. She gasped and stared up at the castle. Her hands came up to cover her mouth. She had those sleeves with the mittens attached to them – smart thinking.

Hermione immediately tugged on her dad's arm and got his head through the barrier. "Woah!" he said, disorientated. He looked all around, caught a glimpse of the castle, and his mouth fell open as he stared up at the outline of it. "My! I've seen castles all over Europe. But never one like this!"

"It's amazing! You'll love it!" Hermione took both her parent's hands and looked over her shoulder at Rowena, who was engaged in a very intense conversation with Rosalie. "Thank you, Rowena!"

Rowena waved in a distracted manner, paused, focused, and then smiled. "Miss Granger!" she called, and Hermione's parents turned around to gape now at the ghost. For Rowena was very see-through.

"I just have to say," Rowena said in a stuffy, very adoring manner. "I am such a huge fan of your work. You were my favourite student to watch for years and your accomplishments…" she sighed with adoration. "I mean – three-hundred-twenty-percent on your Muggle Studies exam in your third year. Oh, I about passed away again! And you reading through the entire standard books of spells? Not to mention, and the school doesn't keep track of this, but you hold the school record for turning in the most extra work ever! I've kept track myself and you've turned in two-hundred-seven extra feet of parchment on all your assignments combined."

"Wow," Hermione said. "It certainly piles up." Very ambitious of her, she thought.

"Of course, I honour your extracurricular exploits as well," Rowena said. "Those blue flames you figured out in your first year… cracking Snape's potions riddle… Oh! The Basilisk…" Rowena sighed like Lavendar Brown after a boy so much as glanced at her. "It'll be an honour to have your parents teaching here. Assuming their interview goes well."

"Interview?" Emma asked. "Well, I suppose that would be needed. Of course. Are you one of Hermione's teachers?"

"This is Rowena Ravenclaw," Rosalie said. "The founder of my house. She lived a thousand years ago."

"How do you do?" Dan asked. He held out a hand to shake.

Rowena peered at it, looked to Rosalie, and turned into a vapor that completely consumed her. Then Rowena, now in corporeal form, shook her dad's hand before frowning at Hermione. "I believe I'm stuck in this form until I leave now. I'm still not very good at this. But I hope to see you soon. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, your daughter is the brightest witch of her age. Thank you for letting her attend my school."

"Of course," Dan said, looking very concerned for Rosalie. "You have a good night."

"Good night." Rowena faded and left Rosalie behind in her place.

"Does it bother you?" Hermione asked anxiously. "That they still call me the brightest witch?"

"Nope!" Rosalie smiled. "You are the brightest witch. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, would you like to see inside Hogwarts?"

The next chapter will be called Lily and James Potter.