PART 2
Harry thought nothing of it when the telephone rang while he was staring at his breakfast--a slice of plain toast and a glass of skim milk. Dudley was still on a diet. However, he was grateful for the food. It was more than he was used to having at the Dursley residence.
Aunt Petunia gave a harsh look before she said, "Yes. Hold on please," and turned to Harry. "It's for you," she scowled.
"For me?" he asked, standing. "Hello?" he said unsurely into the phone.
"Hermione!" he exclaimed after hearing the sweet feminine voice that greeted him. It wasn't lost any of the Dursleys, staring at him as they were, that this was the first genuine smile they had seen on his face in a very long time.
"Who'd be calling him?" Uncle Vernon barked at Petunia, annoyed.
"It was a girl," Petunia muttered. She couldn't remember what the girl had said her name was.
"A witch, you mean," Vernon huffed. "I'll not have it!" he exclaimed angrily, pounding his fist on the table hard enough to make his toast jump on it's plate.
"At least she didn't use an owl," Petunia offered. Somewhere deep inside she was actually glad to see her nephew smile. Vernon was silenced by this.
"Um, yeah," Harry was saying when the Dursleys refocused on him. Hermione had just asked if he was all right.
"You're lying, aren't you?" she asked. Her voice did not sound accusatory, but rather concerned.
"Um, yeah," he repeated.
"They're in the room, aren't they?" she deducted.
"Right." His voice was flat. He didn't want the Dursleys to know he was talking about them.
"I really miss you," Hermione said seriously.
"I really miss you too," Harry replied which caused Dudley to mimic him in a high pitched voice. Harry shot him a deadly look.
"Look, Harry, my mom wants to talk to your aunt. Put her on, will you?"
"She does?" Harry turned to his aunt. "Aunt Petunia, Dr. Granger would like to speak with you." He decided to use her title since it would impress his aunt.
"Doctor?" Petunia repeated, as she rose from the table.
"She's a Muggle, a dentist," Harry explained giving the phone to his aunt. He hoped that would be enough information to ensure Petunia was not rude to the woman.
"Oh," Petunia responded, taking the phone. "This is Petunia Dursley."
"Mrs. Dursley, this is Jane Granger. It's so nice to speak with you," she gushed as Hermione faked gagging. Jane turned from her daughter to keep from laughing. "How are you, Mrs. Dursley? I hope all is well."
"Very well, thank you. And yourself?" Petunia replied curtly. The woman certainly seemed normal enough.
"Splendid. Thanks for asking," Jane responded. "Mrs. Dursley, as you know, your nephew and my daughter have been best friends since first year." Jane knew that the woman had no clue, but carried on as if she thought Petunia was a wonderful guardian who cared deeply about the affairs of her charge.
"Um, of course," Petunia answered, actually surprised that Harry had a best friend who was a girl. She thought all his friends were red-headed hoodlums.
"Anyway, Mrs. Dursley, My husband and I--he's a dentist too--are going to a convention in the United States soon. We're taking Hermione with us and would love for Harry to accompany her. It would be dreadful for her to be stuck alone in a foreign country while her father and I are at the meetings. I know you just got Harry back for the summer and I'm sure you've missed him and were looking forward to spending some quality time with him, but if you could bear to part with him, we would love to have him join us, for Hermione's sake, you know." Her words rushed out in one very long sentence. "We'll gladly pay all his expenses. It's really not a burden. And, of course, I will personally make sure that the children behave themselves--none of that silly magic allowed. They'll have to act like normal kids," she stressed normal for effect.
"Well, I'll have to discuss it with my husband," Petunia offered. "How long would he be gone?"
Harry's spirit lifted at the idea of being "gone" but he refused to let it show on his face.
"Of course," Jane agreed. "Tell you what, give me a good time and I'll call you back for your answer. If Harry can go, we will pick him up so that you can meet us. You'll know it's us when we arrive. We have a pewter colored mini-van."
"All right then. I'll talk it over with my husband before he leaves for work. You can call back in an hour. Thank you for inviting Harry to go with you," she said politely.
Jane had covered her bases very well: normal man, normal woman, normal mode of transportation, and no magic allowed. It wasn't an accident that Hermione was the smartest witch at Hogwarts. "It's been lovely speaking with you, Mrs. Dursley. I do hope we can chat again soon." With that, she hung up the phone and told Hermione to keep her fingers crossed for the next hour.