A/N: Ok, I've taken into account a lot of different opinions of Miranda (including my own) and I think I've come up with where she's going in the story. I hope everyone's ok with it, but as I've told a few wonderful reviewers, the story writes itself, so this is where she was meant to go.
Also, I just want to thank all of those who leave reviews. They really, really inspire me to keep writing!!
And in answer to the quote in the last chapter, it was from "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." I loved that show and actually see a lot of similarities between the characters of that show and in Harry Potter. And I was so bitter with how it got taken of the air, but that's another story, never mind, anyway. HUGE gold star to Ranger585 for getting that one.
Clark: Lois, you're kinda
babbling.
Lois: I know. See, I never babble.
Clark: Are you kidding? You're a brook.
*****
"Hermione! Harold!" Miranda shouts at our arrival (and our shock at seeing her there).
"Harry!" we all correct.
"Well, it appears that I'm a bit out of the loop," she says with no shame in her voice.
"And why would that be?" Harry says, taking a step towards her.
"Oh, please say we aren't going to get into that again."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm her mother."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mum roll her eyes.
"No, you lost that privilege when you didn't love her enough to stay," Harry growls.
This was going to get ugly fast.
"Um, why don't we all sit down and talk?" I ask.
I sit down hoping the others will follow. And they do, slowly.
"Well, I won't be here long. I had hoped to talk to you alone, Hermione," Miranda says.
"So why would you come here?" Harry asks, honestly confused.
"Because I wasn't aware that she had moved from her home and in with you."
"Well, she did," Harry snaps.
Looks like these two were going to define the stereotypical mother-in-law/son-in-law relationship.
"Yes, I did. And I love living with Harry and Ron," I say.
"You live with two men?!" Miranda screeches.
"Oh calm down, Miranda!" my father says as he stands. "I trust Harry and Hermione implicitly. I know they're being responsible adults. And Ron is her other best friend from school. If you would have paid any attention at all, I'm sure you would remember him."
"Besides, Ron is with Luna and they're moving in together soon!" Mum adds, pulling Dad back down onto the couch. She probably was hoping to get a jab in, enjoying knowing something that my own mother didn't. I love my Mum.
"Well, I'm sure it doesn't look right!" Miranda says hotly.
"If you had any idea about my life, you would know that, in the Wizarding world, Harry, Ron and I are famous. No one questions our living arrangements because they know who we are and what we mean to each other," I tell her.
"I see. Well, then. Hermione, would you mind speaking to me alone?" she asks with that tone that always made me suspicious.
Before I know it, she's up and heading towards my old bedroom.
"I suppose that I could," I say.
As I begin to stand, Harry pulls me back down and whispers in my ear, "If you need me, you call me. Ok?"
I nod and continue towards my old bedroom. I know that it'll be ok because the second I feel uncomfortable Harry will come bursting into the room. For years now, we have had this strange connection and we always seem to know when the other one is in need. It's really great and useful!
Once we're in there, it becomes a surreal world to me. I'm sitting in my old room with my biological mother. But everything is different now and I barely know how to react.
"Ok, so what do you want to say?" I ask impatiently.
"And now you're snapping at me. Are we really that far apart, Mina?"
"Don't call me that. Why did you ever call me that?"
"Just a variation of your name. Did you not like it?"
"It never made any sense to me. If you wanted to call me that, then you should have named me Mina. Or Hermina, or something," I say, crossing my arms.
"It was Shakespeare. I have a Shakespearean name and I wanted you to have one as well."
"There are tons of better Shakespeare names out there. Juliet, Cassandra, Diana, Kate … ones little girls can pronounce!"
"Ok, I get the point. I liked being named after Miranda. She was a beautiful character," she says, sweetly and fake.
"Yes, she was and you are nothing like her. She was a sweet character - trusting and compassionate," I say, suddenly very glad for all those hours reading.
"Hermione! How dare you speak to me that way?"
"It's easy after the things you've said to me. You all but told my fiancé to go to hell. You told me that you couldn't deal with me being a witch. You practically told me not to breed in case we have another magical child. What do you want me to say to you?"
"I want you to listen to me."
"Fine, I'm listening."
"I wanted to apologize."
I freeze. This can't be the same woman.
"I'm sorry, what?" I ask.
"Hermione, I hate being this way with you. You're a beautiful young woman and I miss the days where we could just sit and talk like this."
I'm speechless at this point.
"Don't you miss that?" she prods.
"Well, of course I do. But do you think it'll be that easy to get what we had back? For you to accept my life?"
"Well, I had thought that maybe you could give up on that for a while," she cautiously puts forward.
"WHAT?!" I scream, standing. "How can you even begin to suggest that I would give up this life that I love?"
"Well, come live with me for a while."
"Wait, let me get this straight. You want me to leave my fiancé, the life we have together, my friends, the education that I spent 7 years building and everything else I know, just to come live with you?"
"Yes. I'd like to get to know you, Hermione."
"You had that chance. Those days are gone. I've got a family now. I've got a Dad and a Mum who love me. Friends who would do anything for me. And a fiancé who adores me unconditionally. This is my life now. If you want to be a part of it, fine. But understand, that you're role has changed. You're no longer the mother that raised me. I don't know where she went. Now, you are something else."
"Not your mother? I gave birth to you. I gave you 11 years!"
"And the last 9? What about then?"
"So, what, that woman in the living room is your new Mum?" she says venomously.
"Yes, actually. Emily is a wonderful woman. She's been through a lot with me and she accepts that I'm a witch. She loves Harry and gets along fabulously with Harry's surrogate mother."
"Is she a witch?"
"Emily? No, she's not. Yet she's still open enough to help us plan the wedding with the help of Molly - Harry's surrogate mum and a witch."
I'm simmering on the inside. I can't believe it's come to this.
"Look, if you can't handle this, then it's time for a clean break. I won't change who I am or try to replace my family."
"Hermione, I'm sorry to say that I can't. I won't be a part of this. It's just not right to me. Not normal."
"I'm sorry to hear that. But I accept that," I say. I feel tears coming, but I won't let her see.
"Can I still talk to you every now and then?"
"We don't have a phone. You'll have to get used to Hedwig or Apollonia flying in for messages."
"Can't I use regular mail?"
I sigh. "I suppose."
"Ok, fine then. Well, I suppose I should be going. You're father is making his chicken and I know not to get in the way."
We both head towards the door and suddenly she turns and stops me.
"Hermione, can I still come to the wedding?"
I'm taken aback by the question.
"I don't want to make things awkward. And I won't even play the mother of the bride. But, can I at least watch you get married?"
"We're having it at Hogwarts. Can you handle that?" I ask.
"I can try."
"Then yes."
"Thank you. And I meant what I said," she says, pulling me into a hug, which I reluctantly return.
"What's that?"
"I am sorry for how things have turned out."
"Me too."
"Ok, well, time for me to go. Send me an invitation to the big affair, ok?"
I nod.
"Splendid. I shall talk to you later then," she says, adopting that air about her again that irritates me to no end.
She waves goodbye to me and shuffles out. She's in such a hurry, that she doesn't even see Harry standing by the door.
"Hey you," I say, walking to him. "What are you doing here?"
"It began to feel like you needed me, but once I got outside the door, I thought you needed to handle it alone." He hugs me tightly. "If you did need me though, I was right here the whole time."
"As usual," I reply.
Harry smiles. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah. I mean, this is probably for the best. She can live her life as a free and single woman and I can have my loving family. And every now and then, our worlds may collide. That's fair I think."
He nods, perhaps unsure what to say.
"Ready for dinner?" I ask, hoping to just get past this for the evening.
"Always!"
"You've been around Ron too long!" I laugh as I grab his hand and lead him to the kitchen.
When we get there, Mum and Dad are full of questions.
"Well, what happened in there?" he asks. "She just blew out of here as quickly as she came."
"She wanted me to go live with her," I reply, still a bit in a daze from it all.
I flop down into my usual chair at the table.
"Live with her?" Mum asks. "For what?"
"Probably to smother the magic out of me," I reply with a half-hearted laugh.
"You did great, you know," Harry says, squeezing my shoulder.
"Thanks."
"So anything else you want to talk about?" my father asks, taking the seat next to me.
"Um, well, she's pretty much gone. She can't accept magic and I refuse to give it up. So, basically, we're done. She's coming to the wedding, but after that I really shouldn't expect anything other than a birthday card every now and then. It'll pretty much be like it's been for a while now, except now there's forgiveness."
"Forgiveness?" Mum asks.
I nod. "I've forgiven her. A lot of pain is still there, but I guess it's on both sides. But we're more at peace now with everything."
"That's more than I would have done. I trashed the Dursleys' kitchen!" Harry says, half-joking, half-serious.
"Yes, well, those were dreadful people. They deserved it. They abused you! At least my mother left me with a wonderful father," I say, glancing to Dad.
"And she gave me a beautiful daughter," he replies.
There's a silent moment at the table where we all seem to reflect on our family, until Dad speaks up.
"Well, enough bad thoughts. I made some delicious chicken and I know that Harry is just drooling for some!"
Harry laughs. "How did you know?"
"Because I've been wiping it up!" Mum kids.
"Ok, sit down everyone, dinner's ready!" my father says as we all take our places and he goes to get his masterpiece.
Dinner, of course, is wonderful. And after a great pumpkin pie dessert (courtesy of Mum), we head back home.
"Well, today was an adventure," I sigh as we both climb into bed.
"You could say that again," Harry replies as he places his glasses on the nightstand.
"I would, but it would be an overkill."
Harry rolls over and wraps an arm around me.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine."
"Ok, be honest. That's not the vibe I'm getting from you."
"You make it really hard to hide things from you."
"It's a gift. I've finally learned how to read Hermione Granger."
"Well, I may let you continue believing that. And that's soon-to-be Hermione Potter to you, mister!"
"Excuse me, Mrs. Potter-to-be. Illustrious lady of the house! Guardian of house-elves, manager of a million books, fiancé to one sexy Professor!"
I laugh harder than I've laughed in a long time.
"I hope you're not laughing at the sexy comment," he says, pretending to be offended.
"No, no. I'm just laughing. It feels pretty good."
"That's right! No one laughs at Harry Potter's sexiness! I've won more smile awards from "Witch Weekly" than any other wizard!"
"And stayed very modest about it!"
"Exactly."
It gets quiet for a second.
"So you're alright?" he asks.
"I'll be fine. It's a lot to take in. I mean, my mother did raise me for 11 years, but then abandoned me for almost 9. It's hard to even that all out."
"I know, but if anyone can, it's you."
I nod slowly.
"Hermione, I know it's difficult, but you've got so much love in your life from other people, that you don't even need her."
I open my mouth to reply, but he interrupts.
"Now, I don't mean that to sound so cold, but it's true. You've got me, your Mum and Dad, Sirius, Remus, me and all of the Weasleys! And did I mention me?"
"Twice before."
"Good. Because I love you so much it needs to be repeated. I'll never let anyone hurt you, you know."
"Of course I know that," I reply.
"Never, ever forget that. We've been through too much to give up now. And there's a wedding to attend. Everyone would kill us if we missed that!"
"That's very, very true." I give a deep yawn.
"Ok, missy, time for bed. I love you," he says giving me a tender kiss.
"I love you too," I reply, snuggling into his embrace, falling asleep within minutes.
Suddenly I'm in a dark room. A baby is crying … I'm trying to see, to find it, but I can't. Then, my mother appears. She's holding the baby. It's a beautiful baby boy with dark brown eyes and messy black hair.
"I can't let you keep this, Mina. No more magic," Miranda tells me.
I want to run to them, to take back my baby, but I'm stuck to the ground.
"Miranda! Give him back! I won't let you take him!" I scream.
"It's too late, Hermione. It's time you learned your lesson." And with that, she walks away with my baby.
"Bring him back!" I scream as I sit straight up.
"Mione! What's wrong?" Harry says, pulling me close.
"It was a dream?"
"Well, more like a nightmare. Are you all right?"
"I … I guess so," I say, slowly lying back down.
"What happened?"
"Um … I was in this dark room, and I heard a baby crying. It turned out to be our baby, but my mother was taking it. She told me no more magic and took him away. And, Harry, I couldn't follow! I couldn't get to her!"
"Shhhh, Mione, it's ok," he whispers, stroking my hair. "It was just a dream. Miranda will never touch our children if I have any say. Do not worry!"
"You're right, you're right. It was just so real and I wanted to save him. Oh, Harry, he was adorable. He had my eyes and your hair."
"Poor kid," Harry laughs.
"No, he was beautiful. I hope to see him again some day."
"You will. We're going to have a house full of kids. All little magical wonders and it'll be magnificent."
I smile.
"Ok, go back to sleep. I'm right here," Harry says.
"I don't know if I can."
"I'll sing you a lullaby," he offers.
"Well, how can I refuse that?"
"Ok, close your eyes, and think of the happiest thoughts. Ok? Ok."
And with that, Harry softly sings one of my favorite songs to me.
"No more talk of darkness, forget these wide-eyed fears. I'm here, nothing can harm you - my words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears. I'm here with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you..."
I don't hear anymore beyond this because I fall asleep so gently with Harry's voice calming me. I fall asleep with the pleasant thoughts of our life together and dream of us dancing in the middle of a crowd of people - me in a beautiful white dress and Harry in a tux and dress robes.
*****
A/N: Ok, the song, of course, is "All I Ask of You" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera." I just saw the movie on Monday and all the songs are stuck in my head!
Also, yes, it is possible to sleep in the same bed and avoid getting physical! As much as I love the love stories, I just thought it was the right direction in this story for them to wait.
Please review!!