Disclaimer: JKR owns.
A Late Night Visit
Chapter 15: Without a Hitch
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Without warning, Harry gave an exaggerated yell, "WHOA! Bloody hell, can you believe those muggles?! Just blowing up buildings in the middle of the day like that!"
Hermione shot him an amused look, knowing that he was only acting this way to try and cheer her up. For the past hour, they'd been laying down in the guest house, watching some random action movie of her dad's. Hermione detested these type of masochistic movies anyway, and despite Harry's best efforts, she was finding it especially hard to concentrate.
Her mind kept returning to the conversation they'd had with her father. She couldn't rest, knowing that he was upset over her relationship with Harry. If only he could understand that he made her happy, then Hermione knew he'd have a better time coping. Right now though, his head was probably just as big a mess as hers was. No action thriller was going to fix that.
"Oh, the carnage…" Harry moaned loudly again as gunfire sounded on the telly.
"Harry, I'm going to talk to my dad again."
Harry's head instantly jerked to hers, all thought of the alleged carnage gone. "What?" he asked deadpan.
"I'm going to talk to my dad," Hermione repeated, standing up.
"Hermione," Harry said warningly, also scrambling to his feet, "Are you sure? Do you want me to come?"
"No. This is something I have to do by myself."
"I don't know Hermione…"
In a notion of comfort, Hermione leaned forward and pecked him on the lips, "It'll be fine. Be back in a few minutes. Don't let all the carnage get to you," she added teasingly, though she knew that as soon as she left, Harry would probably forget all about the film.
He sighed, "Alright. Good luck, then."
Hermione nodded once before moving past him and walking out of the open door of the guest house. She headed up the pathway and into the house, wondering how she's broach the conversation with her father. Would he even want to see her?
Beth was gone from the kitchen, which Hermione was kind of thankful for. Quickly, so to not get herself stuck with any interruptions, she hurried up the stairs and over to her father's office door.
Gently, she knocked.
Silence.
She counted to sixty in her head, before knocking again.
Still, silence.
She sighed. Sometimes her father could be just as stubborn as she. Making a quick decision, she reached inside her cardigan and grabbed onto her wand.
Tapping it against the door knob, she whispered, "Alohomora." Magic certainly was beautiful, she thought to herself as the door cracked open suddenly.
"Daddy?" she called out quietly, poking her head through the now open door. She saw her father sitting behind his desk, a closed book laying on the workspace in front of him. His eyes shot up to hers, and she could tell that she had broken him out of deep thought.
"I'm busy," he said mechanically.
"Yeah, you look swamped," Hermione replied dryly, stepping into the room and stowing her wand away again.
"Look, I know you're angry-"
"I'm not angry."
Hermione bit her lip and sighed. It wasn't like her dad to act so mulishly. He would at least let her speak her peace, usually. That's why she wasn't totally sure how to handle this side of him. Honesty, she figured, was the best route. She had to make him see.
Cautiously, she made her way further into his office, "He makes me happy, Daddy."
"Lots of blokes can make you happy," Richard muttered relentlessly.
Hermione narrowed her eyes determinedly, "Is this about Harry, or is this about me growing up?"
He imitated her look, "You're only nineteen."
"You were nineteen when you met Mum. She was only sixteen at the time, so don't lecture me about age."
Richard seemed to bite back his angry retort. It was a couple moments, during which he and Hermione were caught up in a relentless staring contest. Then, after what seemed like forever, Richard sighed. His flushed face started to relax.
"I don't know what to lecture you about anymore…" he mumbled, looking down to his desk once more.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Would you rather me be a lonely old woman who spends my entire life caring for my twenty cats?"
He shrugged, "Crookshanks will always love you."
Hermione rolled her eyes, though not as annoyed as before, "So will Harry. You have to trust him Dad. I do. Shouldn't that be enough for you?"
"He treats you good?" he asked quietly, giving her an unsure look.
She nodded, "Better than I deserve."
"You deserve the best."
"Harry is the best. The best for me."
He sighed, "And there's nothing I can say to make you wait a few years to get into such a serious relationship?"
Fighting back her smile, Hermione shook her head, "I've been through too much to know not to take life for granted."
Richard let out a long-winded sigh, and started rubbing his temples deeply. For a moment, Hermione thought he was about to start lecturing her again, but she was pleasantly surprised when he looked up with a conceding face.
"Fine."
"Daddy-"
Richard help up a hand to stifle her, "Look, I'm not saying I'm going to be cheery old buddies with the boy. But I'll do my best to support you."
"To support us," Hermione corrected him.
He stiffened slightly before nodding, "Right. I guess, if you really do love each other like you claim you do, then there's nothing I can say to make that change."
"Absolutely nothing," Hermione agreed.
"You're still my baby, Hermione Jane," he told her while giving her a firm look.
Hermione grinned and came around his desk to hug him, "I love you, Dad."
"I love you too," Richard said, patting her back.
The door bell rang downstairs, interrupting their moment. Hermione straightened, giving him a wry smile, "Come on. I'm pretty sure Mum ordered your favorite."
"Panaeng?" Richard asked hopefully.
Hermione wrinkled her nose playfully, "Yes. Panaeng."
…
Beth looked up and smiled as she saw her husband and daughter enter the kitchen together. Richard took his hand from Hermione's back and walked over to where she was sorting through the boxes of food.
"Hey," Beth greeted pleasantly, wanting to test the waters, "I got your favorite."
"You're the best," Rich muttered distractedly, still sifting through the bag.
Beth raised an eyebrow, "You feeling better?"
"Yes."
"I'll go get Harry," Hermione said to them, heading across the kitchen to the back slider. Beth sent a happy smile after her as Hermione disappeared into the backyard. As it seemed, something had gone congenially right. Hopefully, Richard would remember whatever they talked about when Harry came in for dinner.
…
Hermione entered the guest house and closed the door behind her. Harry turned around from where he was putting the DVD back on the shelf.
He smiled tenderly, "Hey. Is everything okay?"
Hermione nodded, "Yes. It will be."
A questioning look flashed across Harry's face, but Hermione quickly silenced him with a kiss. It was a freeing kiss, now that they weren't keeping their secret from the people they cared about most.
All confusion in Harry's mind vanished as he leaned in to kiss her back. To be honest, neither of them could wait to get back to Hogwarts so that they could take advantage of their new liberation.
***
The rest of the holiday went by rather peacefully. There were a few awkward afternoons where Richard refused to leave Harry and Hermione in a room together, or forcefully tagged along whenever they went out for a walk. Other than that, Hermione's parents seemed to adjust rather quickly to the fact that their daughter and her best friend were in love. Even Richard couldn't reject Harry as much as he wanted to. They still managed time to play a few football and rugby matches after Beth and Rich got home from the office. As long as Richard pushed the thought that he and his daughter snogged to the furthest corner of his mind, he and Harry got on without a hitch.
Before they knew it, or wanted it to be true, January third arrived- the day they went back to Hogwarts.
"This has been the best Christmas break in a long time," Beth said, walking besides Hermione as she, Harry, and Richard made their way through King's Cross Station. Still for the sake of Richard, Harry and Hermione refrained from holding hands.
Hermione nodded with a smile, "Yeah Mum, it has. It was pretty perfect."
"Can't believe you're missing the Blues game tomorrow, Harry," Rich said again, nudging Harry amicably in the shoulder, "What are the odds you'd have to come back the day before?"
Harry nodded, putting on a disappointed face, "I was actually excited to go before we found out the date. Maybe you can write us after tomorrow, and tell us how it went. I won't have any other way of knowing, really."
"Write Harry, Dad," Hermione corrected, "All the sports talk is gibberish to me."
Rich turned back to Harry with a committed look, "I will Harry."
Hermione's mum gasped suddenly, "Oh look, Richard, it's Dennis and Agatha! Aggie!"
The four of them all looked over to where Beth was waving excitedly. Hermione turned back to Harry to explain, as her parents excused themselves and walked over to the other couple, "They're old colleagues of Mum's and Dad's. Orthodontists."
"Ah-" Harry muttered, before a flash of bright hair abruptly caught his eye. Frowning, he pointed off into the crowd, "Hey, look."
"What?" Hermione asked, turning to where he was indicating.
"Ginny. She just walked by…"
Hermione shrugged, having not seen her friend, "Maybe she didn't see us."
"That's odd," Harry muttered, still frowning, "She just wandered into some door. I wonder why she's not with her parents…" he trailed off slowly, his eyes glaring at something new.
Hermione frowned, now worried by his expression, "Harry?"
"Is… is that Malfoy?"
She spun around to where he was looking and had no trouble spotting their old enemy hurrying through the crowds of the station. He was wearing muggle clothes, and even though he had his hood up, Hermione could still make out his platinum blonde hair showing through.
This was the first time either of them had seen Draco Malfoy since the day of the final battle. The Prophet reported Lucius running off to eastern Europe while Draco and his mother left for their second manor in the French countryside. It had been an outrage to most of the Weasley's and other family's of the light, that the three Malfoy's had evaded Azkaban with such ease. All of them had participated in Voldemort's tyranny, but as normal for a Malfoy, they pushed the blame onto other Death Eaters.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she continued to stare at him, "What is he doing here? I thought he went off to France…"
Harry didn't answer immediately, but jolted when he saw Malfoy slide through the same door as Ginny. "Hey!"
"What?"
"He just went into the same door as Ginny!"
Hermione spun around again, hoping to get another look. However, she bristled when she noticed Harry starting to walk off into the crowd. She lurched forward, and grabbed his arm just in time.
"Harry, wait. It's none of our business what Malfoy's doing."
"But he just went in through the same door as Ginny," he objected instantly. Even though he didn't harbour romantic feelings for the youngest Weasley anymore, he still cared for her as a friend. And if Malfoy and Ginny happened to be stuck in the same room together, that would only be trouble for her.
"He could be-"
"Whatever's going on, it's not our business," Hermione pressed, pulling him back towards her.
"What if he's trying to hurt her?"
"That'd be very unlike Malfoy. He'd never do something like that alone. Plus, Ginny's more than capable of taking care of herself. Come on, Mum and Dad are coming back."
Hermione hoped what she was saying of her good friend was true. She loathed Malfoy just as much as any Weasley, but she had to admit that he wasn't stupid. He probably could hurt her without anyone's help, but why? What good would it do him?
Whatever it was, Hermione couldn't help a feeling that they both didn't wander in through that door on accident. However, that was a feeling she wasn't up to sharing with her boyfriend.
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