Disclaimer: I don't own it, otherwise OBHWF would be just a delusion of someone and not canon…
A/N: My response to the challenge "Harry at Hermione's" by vivitribal. The requirements can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=1356&st=0 Please if you read leave me a comment, it takes you few minutes and it makes me happy! *grins*
Happy New Year to all of you!
Helping Hermione Find Her Parents
Chapter Three: Lifting The Charm
"Harry, it's them!" she grinned at him, hugging him tightly.
She buried her face in his chest, and felt the tension of the research melt away as she started spilling tears of joy, staining his shirt.
"Hey, Mione" he softly whispered to her. "It's not good to go see your parents with your face stained by tears" he said with a boyish grin, and she chuckled through her sobs.
"I know" she whispered, and with a charm she refreshed her make up.
Then she took Harry's hand in her own and they walked to the house.
Nervousness engulfed the both of them as they approached the door, but Hermione found the strength to ring the doorbell.
Soon the door clicked open and Hermione's father appeared. She had to resist the urge to hug him, as she had missed her parents the most last year, knowing they were far away from her. Instead, she spoke.
"Mr. Wilkins?" she said, and the man nodded.
"We'd like to talk to you and your wife about something important" Hermione said.
"Please, come in" the man said, leading the way to the living room.
"Monica! Can you come here, dear?" he then called for his wife.
Few moments later, Monica Wilkins arrived in the living room, and Harry quietly studied her.
He could easily see from where Hermione had taken her beauty, as her mother was still a good looking woman in her fifties. She had curly brown hair just like her daughter, and the smile was exactly the same.
As for her father, he gave Harry the impression of being somewhat strict.
He heard Hermione inhale deeply from his right side, and he knew the moment had come.
Suddenly, two flash of light reverberated through the room, as Hermione lifted the memory charms on both her parents.
The Grangers' eyes remained unfocused for some moments, and both Harry and Hermione held their breath, then they returned normal.
"He-Hermione?" her mother stammered.
"It's me, Mum" she cried, hugging her tightly.
Harry couldn't help but smile, but he knew it was not over yet. There was a lot of explaining to do, and that was the potentially risky part.
"Mum, Dad, this is Harry Potter, my friend" Hermione said introducing him.
"Oh, Harry! Pleased to meet you" Ellen Granger said. "Hermione has told us lots about you and I feel I already know you, in fact"
Hermione blushed at this, "Mum!" she whispered angrily.
Harry chuckled, ands shook the older woman's hand. "I hope she told you only the good things then" he said.
Her father cleared his throat, looking a bit peeved about something.
"Not to interrupt, but can you tow tell us where are we and why?"
Hermione exchanged a look with Harry, then proceeded telling her parents everything, about the war, the risk they would have been in if they remained in England, the fact that they had won now so it was safe to go back home.
Then, she looked at her parents, waiting for their reaction.
After a minute or two of silence, Roger Granger stood up, and from his face Harry knew they were in trouble.
"Hermione, I'm appalled at you" he said, coldly. "This is not the kind of behaviour we have taught you, girl" Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but a sign from her father told her it was better not.
"How could you do this to your own parents? How could you change our lives so drastically without even telling us, without even asking for our opinion?" he shouted. His tirade continued for some more, then he finally took a long breath.
"Now, get out, the two of you"
Neither Harry or Hermione moved, but they noticed Ellen was kind of angry too. Harry mentally noted that she resembled Hermione even when enraged.
"GET OUT I SAID!" he bellowed, and even if they knew with magic they could easily overpower him, the two teens accepted defeat and left.
On the way back to the hotel Harry tried consoling Hermione.
"They'll come around, I know they will" he said in a soothing tone, but Hermione just nodded, her eyes empty. It tore at Harry's heart to see her like this.
"They are probably just scared because they tested first hand what magic can do without them even having an hint of it happening" he reasoned, but got no answer from her.
That afternoon no one was in the mood for going to the beach, so they just remained into their room, Hermione constantly sobbing, and Harry at a loss about what to do to right the situation.
One thing, though, he knew, and he realised he should have done it while they were in the tent too, months before, when Ron had deserted them, and Hermione had been crying just like now.
He held her close, and let her cry into his chest, letting her find a rock of comfort in him, letting her grip his body almost viciously, like she needed to know he wasn't going to abandon her.
"I'm not going anywhere" he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
Slowly, her sobs stopped, to be replaced by the regular breath of sleep, although by the way she was thrashing, it didn't bring pleasurable dreams.
More than once that night she woke up, and never she felt alone as Harry's arms were wrapped protectively around her, so she would snuggle more into him and try again to rest.
Next morning, Harry woke up as light entered the room, and he sighed, looking at the girl in his arms. She was so strong, and yet so fragile at times. But it wasn't fair that she should lose her parents because of him.
Slowly and carefully moving away from her, he went to get dressed, and with a last look at her now peacefully sleeping form, he left.
Half an hour later, he was again in front of the Wilkins' house, and knocked loudly on the front door.
Upon seeing who was there, Wendell Wilkins, or if you prefer Roger Granger, locked the door.
"It's no use" Harry called, hearing the locks being placed.. "I can open the door no matter what, and both of us know it" he menacingly said.
"Do it and I'll call the police"
"Ah" Harry sneered. "I've faced much worse than that, thanks" he smirked. "Now, open the door and don't act childish"
He heard the door opening, and stepped inside.
"What do you want?" Roger glared at him.
"Talk. It's not fair that you blame Hermione for what she did" he started, pacing the room. "She may not have done the right thing, but she had your well being at heart when she did that, and if you really want to blame someone then blame me, it's because of me that she had to do what she did. To protect you, because she knew my enemies would go after those my friends loved to try and tear them apart from me and leave me alone. She prevented them coming after you sending you here, so if anything you should be grateful to her, and angry with me because I was the reason she did that"
Ellen had joined them and had listened to Harry's words. If anything, she knew now that this young man cared lots for her daughter and would do anything to ensure she was happy. She guessed then what both teens refused to think about at the moment: they were in love.
"You care much about her" she whispered.
"Care much?" Harry chuckled, an affectionate look coming to his eyes. "I'd give my life to see her smile" he said, with an half grin, and Ellen knew she was right.
"What if something had happened to her and she couldn't come to get us?" Roger said. "We would be stuck here without even knowing we had such a wonderful daughter" he whispered, and from the tears pooling in his eyes Harry knew it wasn't a scolding, but just a consideration.
And, images of Hermione tortured in Malfoy Manor came to his mind. He could easily remember her screams, and that made him shudder.
Ellen noticed this. "Did something happen to her?" she asked
Harry didn't know if telling them would make things worse, but he felt he should be honest with them.
So, he told them the truth. "It has been because of my mistake. We were caught, and she was tortured to get information out of her. If she had died that night…" he said, suddenly starting to cry. Ellen just had to hug him.
"I'm sure you did your best to help her" she soothingly said, and he nodded, wiping away the tears.
"Harry" Ellen said, smiling. "Thanks for having come here today and having knocked some sense into our heads" she said, making both men chuckle. "We will be more than happy to welcome you two here from now on. "
"I'll tell Hermione that then" Harry said. "Speaking of which, I should go. I left her asleep and I don't want her to get scared if I'm not there when she wakes up"
As he was leaving, Ellen called him back, and whispered to him.
"Tell her how you feel, Harry" then she wished him good luck and accompanied him to the door.
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In the hotel room, Hermione woke up and immediately searched for Harry. Realising he wasn't there in bed, she went to search for him in the bathroom, to no avail.
Going back to bed, she brought her legs to her chest and hugged herself.
"Harry…" she whispered. "You promised…you told me you wouldn't leave…please Harry…don't leave me alone…" she said, sobbing loudly, tears wetting their bedclothes. "I need you, Harry…" she whispered again to the empty room.
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