Story Title: Time, Interrupted
Chapter Title: Dirty
Author: Madm_05
Rating: Strong PG-13/T
Warnings: Dursleys and cows lie ahead
Chapter Word Count: 5,849
Date: 15 December 2006
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everyone else from Potterverse belong to JKR.
Chapter Twenty One: Dirty
Six days later, Harry and Hermione sat side by side at the dinner table, trying valiantly to ignore the Dursleys. "I don't know why she came," he had said one night, after revealing that she had been there the year before for Dudley's birthday. "She usually doesn't want to leave her dogs. It's odd that she decided to come two years in a row."
They had later learned that Marge had decided to come visit because she had missed Dudley's birthday and wanted to give him several gifts, and also because she had heard that Harry was gone. She was quite disappointed to find him there upon her arrival.
At the moment though, Harry and Hermione were quite excited- the next day would be their seventh day at the Dursley residence. Neither of them could wait until the following morning- Marge would be leaving at long last. So far, Harry and Hermione had only managed to not snap at the woman by calming each other down. A soothing touch was all either needed to calm the other. Not even reciting potion recipes was calming anymore.
Privately, Hermione was surprised that neither she nor Harry had used magic in retaliation. The way the Dursleys treated them was more than enough cause for the two to take action, but neither did. They refused to go to Sirius and Remus and admit that they needed protection, but at the same time, they refused to even the score with the Dursleys.
Their stay had been horrible. Aside from Marge's continued presence, there were many other problems. For one, being back in the Dursley household had caused Harry to have many haunting nightmares about being locked in the cupboard. To quell his fears, they rearranged their room so that their beds were so close they were touching, making one large bed.
The Dursleys had had a great deal of trouble accepting their sleeping arrangement. Marge Dursley had ranted for nearly ten minutes on how disgustingly inappropriate it was, and how they should be separated immediately lest they act in a wanton manner. Hermione had scoffed at that- the only thing inappropriate they were doing in that bed was plotting how to pull a few pranks without getting caught. Alas, their pranks never came to fruition, as they didn't want to give the Dursleys cause to treat them even worse.
On top of that, Dudley kept trying to get into their shared room and break Harry's toys and rip out the pages in Hermione's books. He stopped when one of Harry's toy knights tried to stab him. When Dudley wasn't terrorizing their room, he was terrorizing the other children of Privet Drive. Harry and Hermione quickly became their defenders, and had gotten into many scuffles with Dudley and his friends. That was why Harry proudly sported a black eye, Hermione had several bruises around her wrist from Dudley's beefy hands, and Dudley had several scrapes and bruises all along his arms and legs.
Hermione knew she and Harry should have told Sirius and Remus about what was going on, but neither could bring themselves to do it- it was too much like quitting. Neither wanted to be called a tattle - tail or a cry - baby, so both took their licks and gave as good as they got. To Dudley, at least. Secretly, Hermione couldn't believe her own behaviour, but there was something about the Dursleys that made her want to hit something.
"Oh my," Marge slurred slightly. "Dudders is growing up to be such a fine young man. Jus' look at him." She turned and sneered at Harry. "Where as this one is just as sickly looking as ever. You know Petunia, with dogs, if a pup looked as bad as this little brat at birth, it would have been drowned. Only way to weed out the bad genes in dogs, killing the bad ones." Hermione gritted her teeth and grabbed Harry's hand under the table, though she wasn't sure whether she was trying to calm him or herself. "What's the girl doing here again Vernon?" Marge asked.
Harry's uncle hesitated. "Homeless," he replied. "And a troublemaker, but we've agreed to take her in for a month as an act of charity."
Harry looked like he was about to say something, but Hermione silenced him with a look and began to recite the recipe for Polyjuice potion in her mind. Stealing a glance at Harry, she was sure he was reciting Latin verbs, judging from the look on his face.
"You were always far too kind, brother. Where do they go to school?" Marge asked.
"The boy attends St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys," Vernon replied. "It took a bit of work and talking to get them to take him this young, but once they met him, they understood. It's a good place for lost causes."
Marge accepted a glass of brandy from her brother. "And the girl? She certainly shouldn't be in a school for boys. How did you get conned into caring for that little snot?"
Hermione couldn't help herself. "I attend St. Beatrice's Secure Centre for Incurably Naughty Girls," she snapped. "And I get a top of the line education! I can speak fluent Latin, can you?" She flinched at he comments. They don't need to know that I could speak Latin before… before I began living with Papa Remus and Sirius. I just hope Harry doesn't notice.
Marge scowled. "Why you insolent, dirty little-" she raised her hand.
"Don't you dare!" Harry snarled, standing on his chair and leaning over the table. "Don't you dare even think about hitting Hermione!" The lights overhead began to flicker on and off.
"To your room!" Vernon bellowed, seeing the signs of accidental magic. "Both of you! Immediately!"
"With pleasure!" Hermione snapped in return, grasping Harry's hand more tightly and walking away from the room. "The nerve of those people," she hissed. "Lying right in front of us, telling those awful stories. Are they complete idiots? They should know we'll tell Papa Remus and Uncle Sirius how they're treating us."
"Why? We haven't said anything yet. I'm just glad we left before she could start talking about our parents, because she would have, if she'd had the chance. She doesn't like me very much, and she likes saying bad stuff about my mum and dad. The bad thing is that I used to believe everything she said, because I didn't know anything about them, but now I do, and I know she was lying." Harry sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. "What are we going to do now?"
"I don't know," she murmured. "I'm sorry Harry. If I hadn't lost control of my temper, we wouldn't be here, and we could be eating. I wish I'd been able to eat more than three bites of food."
Harry grinned at her. "I don't know, I think I like it better up here, and…" He pulled a napkin out from under his shirt. "Surprise! I didn't think I'd last very long with Aunt Marge- she's always worse when she's drinking- so I thought it would be a good idea to sneak some food for us just in case they sent us to our room. Here," he opened the napkin to reveal two dinner rolls. "It's not very much," he said by way of apology.
"It's better than nothing," she replied, and took the proffered roll.
"What do you think everyone's doing?" Harry asked suddenly after swallowing a bite.
Hermione smiled. "I bet Harmony is causing all sorts of mischief. She's probably painted the walls purple by now, or at the very least she's tried to eat the paint. Horace is probably trying to find a place to hide from Harmony. The house - elves are probably taking care of the house and making sure Papa Remus and Uncle Sirius are fed properly, since neither one can cook." Harry chuckled. "And I think Papa Remus and Uncle Sirius miss us very much."
Harry smiled at her words and climbed up to the top of his bed and slipped under his blankets. "So, you go to St. Beatrice's, huh? I've never heard of her," he said, his eyes alight with mischief. "And can you really speak Latin?"
Unable to help herself, she flushed. "I couldn't help it. She just made me so mad, that I just sort of snapped, I guess. And yes, I can speak Latin," she hesitated. "I learned it before," she answered uneasily. She pushed the thought away as Harry nodded in understanding. She quickly changed the topic. "Forgive me for getting us sent up here before we could really eat our dinner?"
"It's okay, I promise. I used to get sent to my cupboard without meals all the time, so this is a lot better." Harry paused for a moment. "Tell me a story Hermione?" He asked. "Maybe it will keep us from thinking how hungry we are. I used to tell myself stories in my cupboard when I was hungry. Maybe it will work for you."
Frowning at his words, Hermione climbed up beside him and took her place on her side of the bed. She glanced at the clock. It wasn't even seven. A story would have to do, especially since she and Harry hadn't eaten all day, except for the few bites at dinner and the two stolen dinner roles, since they had been hiding out in their room all day to avoid the Dursleys.
"Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Harry. Now Harry didn't know it, but he was very special, very special indeed." She slid under the blankets and propped herself up on her arm to look at her friend. "You see, Harry was meant to do great things, but he had many troubles he had to face before he could become a hero. He had to face his wicked aunt and her family for many years, and they treated him very badly.
"Then, one day, a little girl and Harry's godfather came and rescued him, taking him far away. He had to return to his aunt's house once a year, but he would always return to his real home, because his godfather loved him very much." She leaned forward, looking deep into Harry's eyes. "Harry was going to do great things one day, great things, and his family would stand behind him."
"And his best friend," Harry added. "Harry's best friend never let him be alone- she even came with him to his wicked aunt's house." He grinned. "Tell me another story, one about, I don't know, something about a dragon. That would be great."
Hermione smiled. "Once upon a time, there was a baby dragon named Norbert. When he was very young, he was sent far away to Romania, but he didn't like Romania very much, because the other dragons were mean to him. Then one day, he decided to come home…"
An hour later, Harry was sound asleep, his hunger forgotten. Hermione was snuggling down in the blankets on her side of the bed to try and sleep, when the door creaked open. Quickly feigning sleep, she watched through her slightly opened eyes as Petunia Dursley peeked into the room. Believing them to be sleeping, she crept into the room and left a covered plate on the nightstand. She sniffed disdainfully at their sleeping arrangements, then turned and left. Curious, Hermione sat up, wriggled out of bed, and looked under the foil covering. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Sandwiches. Two of them.
Hermione briefly considered letting Harry continue to sleep, but she didn't want to remind Harry of a time when he would go to sleep and wake up hungry. "Harry," she said, shaking his shoulder gently. "Harry, wake up." He mumbled something unintelligible. "Harry, I crashed your broom and broke it."
"What?" He gasped, sitting up.
"Boys," she muttered. "I said your aunt brought something for us to eat," she gestured to the plate. "Come on, let's see what she brought."
Harry sat up and peeled the foil away. "Looks like turkey sandwiches." He handed one to Hermione and took the other. "So, why do you think she gave them to us?" He asked then took a bit.
The young witch frowned. "I'm not sure. She might have given them to us because she was afraid of Papa Remus or Uncle Sirius coming here, or she might have felt bad for us. I mean, she's your mum's sister, so she can't be all that bad, can she?"
"I don't know, Hermione," Harry replied softly. "She was never nice to me before. It might just be because she's afraid, like you said."
Hermione sighed. "I guess we'll never know, will we? I'm certainly not going to ask." She bit into her sandwich.
"I'm not either," Harry said, taking another bite.
Hermione sighed. "I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt." They ate in a companionable silence, quickly devouring their food. Once finished, they climbed back into their places in their beds and drifted off to sleep.
The following morning, Harry and Hermione woke before the sun had risen. Hermione shivered as she remembered her dream- the Dark Harry had dealt with a spy within his ranks. It hadn't been pleasant.
"Morning, Hermione," Harry yawned, sitting up. "Do you want to go on downstairs, or do you think we should keep hiding up here?"
"We might as well go down. Maybe we can eat breakfast before everyone else gets down there. I don't think it would be a good idea to go so long without food like we did yesterday, especially since we don't know if we'll be sent to our room," Hermione replied.
Harry nodded. "That's a good idea. Let's get dressed and go down to eat, okay?"
Agreeing, Hermione stood to dress herself while Harry stared at the toys on the shelf about their beds. Fully dressed, she stood beside him and began to read the titles of her books while Harry began to dress. It was a system they had worked out their first morning in the Dursley residence and had worked out quite well for them.
"Ready?" Harry asked as he finished tying his shoes.
"Not really, but it's not like we really have a choice, is it? Let's go," she replied, grabbing the empty plate Petunia had brought up the night before. "Hopefully we can get some cereal and go outside before anyone knows we were up." She frowned as Harry began to pat his hair, trying to tame it. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to get my hair to stay down but it won't," he cringed. "Aunt Petunia hates my hair. She was looking at me funny yesterday, so I think she'll probably want to give me a haircut soon."
"We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. For now let's hope she doesn't feel like giving you a trim herself or paying for a trip to the barber," Hermione replied. Harry nodded in response.
Ever polite, Harry opened and held open the door for Hermione. Smiling, Hermione stepped through the doorway and set off to the kitchen. Just as she had hoped, the kitchen was empty. Sharing a look, the pair quickly set to work making themselves some cereal once Hermione had put the empty plate in the sink.
Their luck came to and end when they heard Vernon coming down the stairs. "It really is a shame you couldn't stay longer Marge. It's so good to see you again."
"Oh I'll certainly try to come by more often. I dare say that you'll need help if you're taking in those two whelps. Too big for their britches, if you ask me. Need to take them down a peg or two. A few days without meals ought to do it, I would think." Harry and Hermione cringed when they heard Marge speak. "No class, those two! I'll bet they can't even play an instrument! Does Dudders play anything? He should, he'll attract all sorts of attention from girls when he's older."
"Ah, Petunia and I were thinking about signing him up for lessons of some sort, but we couldn't decide what he should play," Vernon replied. Harry and Hermione smothered a smile just in time for Vernon and Marge to enter the kitchen.
"You!" Marge scowled. "What are the two of you doing down here? The both of you ought to be locked up for your despicable behaviour last night."
"Believe me," Harry said with a frown. "We'd rather be in our room that look at you, but we were hungry." Hermione set a warning hand on his arm to soothe his rising temper. It was a mistake she would regret.
"What is that?" Marge demanded. Confused, Hermione glanced at Harry then back at Marge. "Where did you steal that ring, you little thief?" Hermione looked down- her betrothal ring! She quickly pulled her hand back, belatedly realizing that it made her seem guilty of something. "Why you filthy little piece of garbage! Stealing the rings of others and prancing about, flouncing such a sacred symbol as an engagement ring!"
Hermione gasped at the accusation, but distantly realized that someone as muggle as Marge Dursley would never understand the concept of wizarding betrothals. What could she possibly say?
"I gave it to her for Christmas," Harry said simply, clearly not grasping gravity of the situation.
"What is going on here?" Petunia said, walking into the kitchen.
"Is Harry in trouble?" Dudley asked hopefully.
"That disgusting little boy just admitted to being a thief!" Marge snapped. "He admitted to stealing that ring and giving it to the girl, and now she's flaunting it about like it's something to be proud of."
"I didn't steal it! It belonged to my Dad's family," Harry yelled in his defence. Hermione swallowed and reached out again to calm Harry. She couldn't let him say too much.
"Your father was a low life," Marge snarled. "And he was probably a drunkard, to boot. You're trouble, you are. You're nothing but a dirty little worm, not fit to shine shoes for a living."
Hermione gritted her teeth, ready to hex the older woman for her cruel words against her sweet Harry. She needed to calm herself down. If brewed properly, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to temporarily take on the appearance of another person.
Marge rounded on Hermione. "And you," she sneered. "You'll grow up to be nothing but a filthy, good for nothing little-"
Marge slammed into the far wall. A fierce wind, reminiscent of her darkest moments, whirled around her dearest friend. His messy hair moved whipped violently about his head as he glared at his uncle's sister. "Don't talk about my family! Don't talk about Hermione" Harry said between gritted teeth. "You- you have no right! You're nothing but a- a heartless cow!"
Hermione panicked- the Ministry would be able to tell magic was being used in the presence of muggles. If they investigated the situation, they would be able to tell that Harry was the one doing all of the magic. That would attract a great deal of unwanted attention and publicity. Thinking fast, Hermione focused her magic on shattering the anything glass in the kitchen, everything but the windows. Teacups, plates, bowls all shattered with a single thought.
Now the Ministry won't know who did what. They can only trace our signatures, so they'll know we both did magic, but they won't know how much of it was Harry's doing. I can't let him draw the eye of Voldemort's followers! The damage done, she turned back to Harry. Now that he was relatively safe from attracting too much attention from Voldemort's servants within the Ministry, she needed to keep him safe from the Ministry itself.
"Harry," Hermione said desperately, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Harry, you need to calm down, you can't keep this up, you'll get into trouble." She wasn't getting through to him. "Harry, you're being a bad boy," she whispered softly in his ear, hating herself for manipulating him as she was. "Santa won't let you help him next Christmas if you're a bad boy."
The wind immediately began to die down and Harry looked at her. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper." His voice was soft and full of remorse.
"I know Harry," she soothed. "I'm sure Santa knows as well, and I'm sure he understands. But you still shouldn't have done that," she whispered to him. Frankly, she understood exactly why he did it- she would be a hypocrite if she denied him the right to defend his family. She would have done the same in his place. As it was, Marge had said nothing to disparage her parents. Distantly she was aware that Vernon was making incoherent noises and Petunia was sobbing, holding her son as if to protect him.
A moment later a series of sharp cracks sounded as several aurors appeared. "Not her again," she heard one auror groan. "We get more reports of magic on that one than any other witch or wizard." The Dursleys gaped at the group that had appeared out of nowhere.
Hermione frowned. Reports? How were they getting reports on her doing magic? Was Grimmauld Place being monitored? I'll have to speak with Papa Remus about that, she thought.
"I did it," Harry said stepping forward. "It was me, I did magic."
"I did magic as well," Hermione stepped up to stand beside Harry and took his hand. "It was an accident- we didn't mean to, but we were so angry that we couldn't help it." She bowed her head as if in shame, Harry quickly following her example. I can't let Harry get caught doing so much magic or he'll become an even bigger target.
"Great," another auror muttered. "It's catching. Now every kid will be having tantrums and destroying houses."
Hermione inwardly cringed and pushed thoughts of her destroyed house out of her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry give her a strange look. "It's not like we did it on purpose!" She said indignantly. Well, it's not like Harry did it on purpose, at least. I did, but he didn't. Hermione looked over at the Dursleys. Petunia and Vernon were trying to calm a rather hysterical Marge, not paying the least bit of attention to what was being said.
"Be that as it may," the auror began. "The two of you have caused a great deal of trouble. We'll have to get in contact with your guardians-"
"Fathers," Harry and Hermione said in unison. Harry looked at Hermione, silently telling her to continue. "We were officially adopted. Remus Lupin is my father, and Sirius Black is Harry's father," she explained.
The auror in charge opened his mouth to speak when two more cracks sounded-Sirius and Remus had arrived. Marge, upon seeing two more men appear out of thin air, fainted dead away. Petunia looked at her sister - in - law and looked as though she were ready to join her, especially in light of the thunderous expressions on their faces.
"Do you think we're in trouble, or do you think they're in trouble?" Harry asked.
"I hope it's them, but with out luck, it might be us," Hermione murmured. Harry nodded his agreement.
"What is going on here?" Sirius demanded, stepping forward.
"It would seem," an auror who had previously remained silent spoke. "That your children cannot control themselves and have begun terrorizing these muggles."
"That's right," Vernon said, a slight glint in his eyes. "We were just sitting down to breakfast when these two started doing… things." He shuddered dramatically. "They've been doing odd things all week, and they're thieves to boot!"
"Thieves?" The auror in charge asked. "Explain."
"The boy gave the girl a ring! He must have stolen it from some good, hardworking family," Vernon said firmly, though Hermione could tell he had a difficult paying a compliment of any sort to a wizard. "And they've been threatening my son their entire stay, and been impossibly rude to my sister."
The aurors frowned and began to murmur amongst themselves. Hermione snorted loudly to catch their attention. "He's talking about my betrothal ring- and no, it wasn't stolen." She turned to Vernon. "And it is entirely legitimate- Harry and I are engaged." Take that! Harry's six and has a fiancé. Your son will never have so much as a girlfriend, let alone a wife!
"She's telling the truth," Sirius said, glaring at Vernon. "They've been betrothed for some time now, close to a year, but she didn't get the betrothal ring until Christmas. Everything is legal, and the ring is the traditional betrothal ring for the Potter line, so you can verify it if you want," Sirius told the aurors.
"No need," the head auror said. "Betrothals are commonplace." Vernon's eyes bulged in his head. "Now, tell us about the other things. By the sound of it, theses muggles were entirely unprovoked, and you kids were must causing a great deal of mischief. What have you to say for yourselves?"
"We don't bother Dudley," Harry said calmly. "We try to stay away from him because he's mean. We try to stay in our room."
"Room?" The head auror asked. "Don't you mean rooms, kid? Young or not, one of you is a boy and the other is a girl. That's not appropriate."
Harry shook his head. "No, Hermione and I share a room, but we don't mind, because we don't need a lot of space. Hermione usually reads and I usually play with my toys. We like to stay out of the way because Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Marge don't like us and lie about us."
Vernon began to sputter. Sirius was red with anger and Hermione was almost positive that she heard Remus growl. "Oh yes," she chimed. "Mr. Dursley told his sister that Harry goes to some school for criminals and said that I was a homeless troublemaker. We've avoided as much contact as possible," she concluded. She had briefly considered telling them about being sent to bed without supper, but didn't feel like explaining why they were sent away, or how Petunia had snuck them sandwiches in case it was done without Vernon knowing.
"That true?" The auror growled.
"Yes," Sirius hissed darkly, looking at the Dursleys. "Do tell."
Vernon looked as though he were trapped between the metaphorical rock and a hard place. "I… that is… well… Those children have been using me and my family!" He said at last. "They've eaten our food, taken up space and done nothing in return."
"Actually," Hermione interrupted, "Harry and I have gone out of the way to not cause any trouble. We haven't done any chores, because none were asked of us. Further, we have actively stayed away from everyone and remained quiet despite provocation."
"How does a kid know what the word provocation means?" One auror muttered.
"However," she continued, ignoring him. "Our efforts have been in vain because Harry's aunt and uncle have lied about not only Harry and I," her expression darkened. "But our parents as well. It was such remarks about our parents that caused Harry and I to lose control of our magic, causing it to act up, sir."
"Really now?" The head auror said. His face was blank- he was clearly not going to show any emotion to indicate his beliefs.
"Just ask Miss Dursley what school Harry attends," Hermione replied. "She will say that he attends a school for criminal boys, because that is what Mr. Dursley told her."
The auror nodded as everyone looked on. Vernon looked as though the vein throbbing in his forehead was going to pop. With a quick wave of his wand, Marge Dursley was restored to consciousness. "There, up you go, Madame," he grunted, trying to pull her to her feet. "Well now," he said once she was standing. "I would like to ask you one simple question."
"I assure you, this isn't necessary," Vernon interrupted.
"That's for him to decide," Sirius said, his voice deceptively soft.
Vernon quieted immediately. Behind him, Petunia squeaked and latched on to her husband's arm. Dudley peeked around his father's rotund belly. "Is Harry still in trouble?" He asked.
Then the most remarkable thing happened. Marge, her face red, her large body shaking opened her mouth- and said the most unusual thing. "Moo!" She began to flap her arms about as her eyes widened with fear. "MOO!" She grabbed her brother's shirt and began to shake him. "Moo! Moooo!"
Chaos ensued. Petunia screamed and began to sway while Dudley whimpered and tried to hide behind her, but was too wide. Vernon began to sputter once more, his whole body shaking with anger as his face turned a violent shade of purple. Hermione bit her lip until it bled to keep from laughing, while Harry, Sirius and Remus didn't even bother to hide theirs. After Learning that it was Harry's doing, Sirius even going so far as to pat Harry and the back exclaiming "That's my boy!"
One auror commented that Harry was a pretty powerful young man if he could do that accidentally. Hermione didn't know whether to be proud, or fear for the future. Several other aurors were snickering and grinning as they changed her vocal cords back to that of a human. Once she could speak, the head auror had to force feed her a powerful calming draught. Hermione wondered, distantly, if what the head auror had done was legal.
"Madame," the auror began, speaking loudly over the others to the dazed woman. "I have something I would like to ask you. Do you know what school young Mister Potter attends?"
Marge snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Why, my dear brother Vernon was just telling me last night that he sends the boy to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys." Many of the people drew in sharp breaths. Marge continued on, oblivious. "A good school for hopeless cases like the boy, according to my brother. Personally, I think he should have just left the boy there for the entire year. No reason to go and get the boy only to send him back later, especially since the filthy little freak does nothing but cause trouble." I guess that talking about Harry was a good way to make her forget everything she just saw, Hermione thought.
"I see," the auror said through gritted teeth. "Mathias," he said, turning to a man in the auror ranks. "This is your area of expertise." He looked back at the Dursleys. "As for you, well, I'll let their fathers deal with you."
"F-fathers?" Petunia stuttered.
"Oh yes," Remus grinned wolfishly. "Sirius adopted Harry and I adopted Hermione some time ago."
"Yes," the head auror nodded. "Weren't you listening to the kids a bit ago? They said then that they were adopted." Petunia paled further, indicating that she had not been paying attention.
"All done here," the auror named Mathias said, walking away. "Her memory has been changed and she'll come 'round in about five minutes."
"Good," the head auror said. "Now, I can't do much here, seeing as this is a muggle household, but I will be reporting you to the wizarding authorities and seeing to it that something is done about the way you treat Mister Potter and Miss Granger - Lupin."
"In the meantime," Sirius scowled at them. "You have us to deal with."
"Right. Well, we'll be off now. I've a report to file," the head auror said before apparating away, followed by his squad of men.
Sirius and Remus took a seat at the table. "We'll just sit right here for now. Harry, Hermione, why don't you two grab a few apples and head on up to your room, okay? Moony and I are going to have a little… chat… with the Dursleys."
"Yes Papa Sirius," Harry said, grabbing an apple out of the basket in the middle of the table.
"Yes Uncle Sirius," Hermione said, also taking an apple and walking with Harry up the stairs.
"So," Harry began. "Do you think we'll get to leave, or do you think we'll have to stay here for the entire month?" He asked.
Hermione frowned. "I'm not really sure. Both options are possible. You're supposed to stay here for at least a month, according to Professor Dumbledore, but you aunt and uncle have clearly demonstrated that they are not very good caretakers." She shrugged and bit into her apple.
"I don't even know why I have to stay here," he said in frustration. Hermione remained silent, not knowing what to say. The two remained quiet after that, choosing to sit alongside each other in a comfortable silence eating their apples. It was some time later that Sirius and Remus came back into the room to find Harry playing with his toys and Hermione reading on the bed.
"Hey you two," Remus said quietly with a smile. His smile quickly faded. "I know that both of you want to leave, but you can't. Professor Dumbledore just came by and spoke with us and… ah… you two will have to stay."
Sirius muttered something darkly under his breath before looking up at them. "The good news is that we convinced him to let you go a full week early, so you just have to tough it out for another two weeks. Then Moony and I are going to take you both out for the biggest ice cream sundae in all of England." Harry and Hermione laughed quietly. "Do you think I'm kidding? I'm serious."
Hermione snickered. "That was a horrible pun."
"You can't win them all," Sirius replied with a smile.
"I don't get it," Harry said, brow furrowed.
"He said he was serious, but his name is also Sirius, just spelled different." Remus explained so that Harry could understand.
"But really," Sirius said, kneeling down to look Harry in the eyes. "Two weeks, okay?"
"Two weeks," Harry said with a nod.
Hermione didn't think two weeks could pass quickly enough. Then a thought struck her. "Papa Remus," she began. "One of the aurors said that they had reports of me doing magic," she said innocently. "What does that mean?"
Remus frowned. "I don't know." He looked at Sirius, who also wore a frown. "Don't you worry about it," Remus said with a soft smile. "We'll look into it." Hermione nodded. He would have far more luck that she would- at least he was an adult who had access to such information. "Two weeks," he said, kissing her on the forehead.
"Bye," Harry and Hermione said softly as their fathers slipped out. The looked at each other and sighed. Two weeks with the Dursleys is worse than taking my OWLs, Hermione thought. She lay back on her bed, willing time to pass quickly.
---------
A/N: Yes, a ridiculously long wait, but my finals are over. Alas, I still have a job and Christmas shopping to finish up, but I'll be writing as much as I can.
Well, thank you everyone who read, and special thanks to those who reviewed. And thank you everyone who was ever so patient to wait this long. In case I don't write sooner, Happy Holidays!
Cheers,
Madm_05