Bring the Rain
by Jardyn39
Chapter 4: Are you going to tell me?
"Have you and Mrs Granger always worked together?" asked Harry.
"Not always, but we have since we set up our practice. At the beginning I wasn't sure that was such a good idea, but actually it has worked for us."
"Why weren't you sure?"
"Well, if you have an argument about something during the day, you tend to bring it home."
"Oh, I see."
"Fortunately, we never argue much. When we do, she's always right."
Harry snorted.
"Not really," admitted Mr Granger with a smile. "In truth, we each have separate patient lists and assistants. All we share really is the administration. We split the patient list fairly evenly, except perhaps I tend to treat the older children and she's really good with the younger ones. So it kind of works."
"How do you find the commuting from here?" asked Harry as he replenished his roller with Eggshell paint.
"Oh, it's actually about the same time as from our old place," replied Mr Granger from the corner of the room.
The two of them were painting the walls of the dining room and Mr Granger was doing the corners and other more fiddly parts with a brush and Harry was doing all the wide expanses between.
"We did a couple of dry runs before we exchanged contracts so we could gauge the traffic on the roads. I was a little concerned about being so isolated here."
"Isolated?" asked Harry. The village didn't seem to be that small.
"Well, unfortunately the travel options are rather limited here. The nearest train station is miles away, the one bus that comes through the village takes the scenic route into the city and the nearest taxi is three villages away."
"Oh, I see."
"Mm," muttered Mr Granger. "Still, so long as she's happy, that's the main thing."
Harry grinned at him before carrying on rolling.
"It wasn't your idea to move then?"
"Actually, it was," Mr Granger admitted. "All I said was that with Hermione away we didn't need such a big house. I was only having my usual spring cleaning moan, but this time something clicked and she was off house hunting."
Harry snorted, rather admiring that Mr Granger helped out with the housework.
"I must admit I was rather settled at our old place. My protests were totally ignored, of course. Mind you, the village pub does do rather nice meals and the takeaway in the next village isn't too bad."
"I didn't notice many shops when we drove through the village," agreed Harry.
"No, we don't even have a Sub Post Office," said Mr Granger. "Still, that supermarket is only ten minutes away be car."
"What kind of takeaway is it?"
"It does everything, all out of the same van."
"Van?"
"Absolutely! Chinese, Indian and traditional fish and chips too. They tour around the villages and it's incredibly popular. To be honest, we only found it by chance the first weekend we were here."
"I've not tried much foreign food," admitted Harry.
"Harry, Chinese and Indian cuisine isn't foreign."
"It is to the Dursleys!"
"Well, I suspect you may get to sample them quite a lot on this holiday. Mrs Granger certainly isn't going to be doing much cooking!"
*
Harry spent the rest of the day painting undercoat on woodwork around the house. Fortunately the paintwork had already been prepared, so all Harry had to do was to keep painting.
Hermione, who was much more patient than Harry, spent most of her time painting the windows having first carefully applied masking tape around each of the small glass panes.
When he had completed the second bedroom's skirting, Harry stretched and groaned, having been crawling around the room for some minutes.
"I think I'll do the door next," he said.
"Okay, but check what colour Mum wants first," advised Hermione from her high stool. "I think that door has a different colour on the corridor side."
Harry went over to the schedule taped to the mirrored wardrobe door which was covered in polythene to protect it from paint splashes.
"Yes, you're right," said Harry. "White the corridor side, but pale lilac this side. I wonder what colour the skirting should have been in here?"
Hermione turned suddenly to see Harry grinning at her.
"Ha. Ha," she said dryly but smiling.
Harry pushed the door until it was almost closed and went over to Hermione who had returned to her painting.
He rested his chin gently on her shoulder and said, "That would be much quicker with a bigger brush."
"Yes, Harry, but I think Mum would prefer to have some glass that you can actually still see through as opposed to just being painted over."
Harry snorted and she turned to kiss him lightly on the cheek before continuing.
"So, are you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what, Harry?"
"Nothing important," he said, still resting his head on her shoulder, but now leaning on the back of her stool for support. "Only why, when our exams are only a few weeks away, you wanted to come away and do some decorating?"
"You would rather be revising?"
"No," he said honestly. "But I was a little concerned that you didn't want too."
Hermione didn't answer right away.
"I suppose," she said slowly, "that I've been a little preoccupied just lately. I was originally planning on staying at school to revise, but Professor McGonagall suggested that taking a break might help."
Hermione spoke calmly and evenly, but her wavering brush betrayed how she was feeling.
Harry stood and reached out to gently take the small brush, placing it neatly on the tin lid. He then held both her hands and said gently, "Tell me."
Hermione twisted slightly and leaned forward to rest against him.
"The papers have been full of suspicious disappearances as well as all the people who have been suffering sudden accidental deaths."
"We knew this would happen."
"Yes, but it doesn't make it any easier."
"No, it doesn't."
"You've been working so hard on your defence training, though. You hardly have a moment for yourself these days."
"I'll make more time for you, I promise."
"That would be nice, but that's not what I meant," she said pulling away and looking up at him. "I just feel I should be doing more; that all this schoolwork is really a waste of time. We should all be learning to fight like you."
Harry smiled sadly but shook his head no.
"Actually, I'm beginning to think the opposite. I'm more and more convinced that it will be application and knowledge that will get us through this. Defensive training can only take you so far. We know that Voldemort will do far worse in terms of offensive magic and cruelty than we can ever defend ourselves against."
"Everything seems to fall on your shoulders, though, Harry."
"Hey, a few days of mind numbing boredom will do us wonders. Just you see. In a week's time you'll be desperate to get back to your books and I'll put the entire DA in the Hospital Wing next time!"
"Harry, that sounds terrible," said Hermione laughing. Harry had become a little frustrated at the DA's lack of progress a few weeks ago and had ended up giving more than a few members a lesson they wouldn't forget in a hurry.
Harry grinned and was about to answer back when the telephone rang downstairs.
"Did your Mum and Dad get back yet?"
Hermione dashed downstairs to answer the phone.
*
Harry, having cleaned out their brushes and resealed the paint cans, showered for dinner as ordered while Hermione contacted her parents to advise them they would be having another guest for dinner.
As Harry wiped the condensation from the bathroom mirror, he couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive.
Halfway through shaving, he decided to call Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore?" he said into the mirror from within his makeshift bedroom.
After a short delay, Dumbledore answered.
"Yes, Harry? You appear to be a little steamed up."
"Sorry, Sir," he replied, wiping the mirror again. "We are having another guest for dinner."
"Yes, Harry. I was expecting your call."
"Is anything wrong?"
Dumbledore paused before answering, "Not wrong, exactly."
"Do we have to come back to school?"
"You may decide that when you are made aware of the facts that are known to us," the Headmaster said with a small smile. "Harry, as it is almost six o'clock, may I suggest that you finish getting ready for dinner, or is that the latest fashion?" he added with a subtle rub of his chin.
"Well, we are in the country, here," Harry replied with a grin, going red.
*
By the time the doorbell rang at just after seven o'clock, Harry was almost ready. He heard Mrs Granger open the door and greet their visitor.
Harry hurried downstairs and into the kitchen.
Hammond had placed the two bottles of wine he'd brought on the kitchen worktop and was just shaking hands with Mr Granger.
"Hello, Harry," he said warmly, extending his hand.
"Hi," replied Harry, shaking his hand firmly.
Hammond was dressed casually today, but he always managed to carry himself with an airs of authority.
"I wasn't sure what we were having, so I brought both red and white," he said to Mr Granger as he put the white wine in the fridge to cool down. "I do apologise for inviting myself over like this, I do hope I haven't inconvenienced you too much."
"Nonsense," said Mrs Granger dismissively. "Come, let me show you around the rest of the house."
"If she hands you a brush, just run for it!" shouted Mr Granger after them before checking on the dinner.
Harry smiled seeing the folded newspaper Hammond had brought in with him. The cryptic crossword had been entirely completed.
*
At around ten o'clock they were sat around the kitchen table enjoying after dinner coffee and finishing the wine.
"So, how are things coming along with the Circle?" asked Hammond. "Thanks for sending me your latest newsletter, by the way."
"Circle?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, dear," said Mrs Granger.
"It was all your mother's idea, actually," said Mr Granger proudly.
"What was?"
"We've been forming a support group for non-magical families who have magical children and relatives," Mrs Granger explained. "We just wanted to keep them informed about what was going on."
"Mum, that's a great idea!"
"Thank you, darling," Mrs Granger replied smiling. "All we've done so far is translate some the Ministry of Magic advice pamphlets and distribute descriptions of all the known Death Eaters. We've also begun to put together a list of all the methods they might use to disguise themselves."
"It's not been easy to get off the ground," added Mr Granger. "Professor Dumbledore insisted that we not make the subjects of the newsletters too blatant."
"Well, you wouldn't want to provoke them," said Hammond.
"So we've ended up pretending it's an amateur literary group. That way we can say the news items are actually story ideas."
"Will that really fool them?" asked Harry seriously.
"Well, probably not. If Voldemort read a couple of them he'd know straight away, we suspect. Dumbledore agreed though, that Voldemort is quite contemptuous of us Muggles, so he's unlikely to believe us a creditable threat."
Harry turned to look at Hermione. She was being unusually quiet, perhaps wondering if this was such a good idea after all. Harry discretely moved his hand under the tablecloth and gently placed it on top of hers.
Mrs Granger stood to gather the last of the plates.
"Thank you, that was an excellent meal," said Hammond appreciatively, "but I suppose I can't put off the real reason why I came here any longer."
They looked at him expectantly and Mrs Granger promptly sat down again.
"A few days ago there was a police raid on Number Four Privet Drive."
Harry just looked at him, feeling utterly stunned.
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"They were looking for someone. They had a warrant and everything. Unfortunately, the person they were looking for wasn't at home."
Harry gulped.
"Your cousin made quite an exit. He jumped from an upstairs window and ran for it. He almost got away too."
"Why were they after Dudley?" Harry asked.
"They weren't," replied Hammond with a small smile. "The warrant was for one Harry Potter."
"But why would a warrant be issued for Harry?" asked Mrs Granger.
"Harry was a suspect in a bank robbery."
"No," breathed Hermione.
"Is Harry still suspected?" asked Mr Granger. "If the warrant is still out for him we need to get this cleared up as soon as possible."
Mr Granger turned to Harry and said seriously, "It'll be alright, Harry, but I think the best thing would be for us to go voluntarily to the Police station. I can arrange for a solicitor too."
Harry turned back to Hammond and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think that would normally be excellent advice," he replied. "Indeed, I would go with you myself as well. In this instance, however, there is no need to do anything. The police are no longer looking for you as part of their enquiries."
Mrs Granger sighed with relief and said, "It was just a mistake then?" and Harry managed a weak smile. He had recovered enough from the shock to feel rather grateful to Mr Granger for the support he'd shown.
"I'm afraid not," admitted Hammond. "The Order erased any records the investigating team had on Harry and I took the evidence away with me."
"Evidence?" asked Mr Granger.
"But Harry hasn't robbed any banks," said Hermione loudly. "Have you Harry?"
Harry managed to stutter, "N. No. Of course not."
Hammond grinned and removed a clear polythene evidence bag from his pocket. He carefully placed it in the middle of the table so the other four could see.
"We really were incredibly fortunate," said Hammond before proceeding to explain how he came to be in possession of the bag.
They sat in silence for a few moments after Hammond's words, all looking down at the bag.
"Open it!" implored Mrs Granger.
Tentatively, Harry reached out and picked up the bag. He undid the seal and pulled out the contents to get a better look.