Summertime Part Two and The Daily Mirror
Friday, 17 October 2003 02:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apollaRandom Thought: Upon thinking about this in class, I have decided that the newspaper that my LJ aspires to be is the Daily Mirror. Most generally considered a tabloid obsessed with celebrity and vacuous things, it also tries to espouse responsible journalism by tackling some serious or thought-provoking issues. It likes entertainment a lot, but doesn't totally buy into the cult of celebrity. That's what I think my LJ is like. At least it's not like The Sun. I appreciate that only the British amongst you will have a clue of what I'm talking about, and even then only if you know much about British newspapers. So that's just me and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emony then? OK, fair enough.
Anyway, you will be pleased to know that my planned (in the loosest sense of the word) post about the Pope on the occasion of his silver anniversary of ascending to the papacy has been postponed because it's twenty to three in the morning and I don't want to put you all through that. Instead, I have a gift (in the loosest sense of the word) for you all. Yes! The second part of 'Summertime' is finally ready! If you'll recall, this is the summer fic that has a featuring role for someone called Maria Granger. Maria is spelled C-L-A-R-E of course. This is my attempt to see if self-inserts can work. It was quite awhile since I posted the first part, so I shall link you to it to refresh your memories.
Summertime
and now onto the second part!
Where we left our heroes:
"Did you know that when we were six, Hermione got so angry with me that she turned my hair green?"
"You didn't!"
"I did," Hermione said. "She stole my books. Not that it mattered anyway. She liked her green hair."
"I did. It's true."
"Hermione's right, you are mad," Harry said with a laugh. Maria shrugged.
"I'd rather be mad than boring," she said. The bus began to slow down. "Our stop!"
Harry and Hermione could only follow with amused smiles as Maria bounced off the bus.
***
"What have you done wrong this time?" Laura Granger asked her niece with a sigh. Maria gave her aunt the same wounded routine she'd done on Hermione and then asked for the cookbook before inviting herself to dinner.
"I thought you might," Laura said. "It's meatballs tonight."
"Excellent!" crowed Maria, rubbing her hands together with glee. "You like meatballs, Harry?"
"I... I think so."
"Good! Auntie Laura makes the bestest meatballs in all Rushmead!"
"Creep," Hermione muttered, beginning to lay the dinner table. Maria just beamed innocently.
***
Dinner was a success of sorts, although completely dominated by an argument between Maria and her uncle about Peter Gabriel, a man Harry had not heard of, and if he was to believe Maria, he was lucky in that respect. Laura Granger's meatballs were excellent and he found himself basking in the warmth generated by a family that was as opposite to the Dursleys as the Weasleys were.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" Hermione asked afterwards as they cleared away. Maria had finally gone home after stealing/borrowing a couple of her uncle's records and the Grangers were in the living room watching an Attenborough documentary on the BBC.
"Yes," he said absently. "It was really nice."
"What are you thinking about?" she asked. He looked at her.
"Nothing much. Just..."
"Tell me," she said, putting the last plate in the dishwasher.
"I just want to know what's going on. I know something must be happening and I feel so far away, even though I'm here with you and you get the Prophet and everything. I just feel isolated from everything. What if something happens?"
"It won't. You know Voldemort only works September to June," she joked weakly. He raised a slight smile.
"Yeah."
"Maybe we'll get an owl from Hogwarts soon," she suggested. "In the meantime, cheer up."
"Yes ma'am."
***
Over the course of the next two days, Harry got a taste of what a relatively normal suburban summer was like. Hermione took him to the local swimming pool to enjoy the good weather, took him on a bicycle ride through the scenery of Rushmead, took him here, there and everywhere. It was, without a doubt so far the best summer of his life, including the summer of the Quidditch World Cup. He rather wished Ron was with them, but found himself missing Ron a little less than he had expected. He did miss Ron and felt that the Harry/Hermione/Maria trio was a weak substitute for the real trio of friends. That said, he was having a really very enjoyable time- even when Hermione's father gave him a long, in-depth lecture on the career peaks and troughs of a man called Rick Wakeman.
Just as Harry was getting into the swing of a summer spent at Hermione's house, she received an owl from Professor Dumbledore.
"What does he say?" Harry asked her urgently. "What's happened? What's going on? Why did he owl you?"
"Calm down," she said with a slight laugh. "He just wants me to do something for him on Saturday."
"What? That's tomorrow, isn't it?"
"It is Saturday and as for what it is, well I can't divulge that information," she told him. He gave her a confused, slightly hurt look.
"Can't or won't?"
"Yes."
"Hermione-"
"Don't even try. Professor Dumbledore has asked me not to tell anyone about this until the task is complete."
"Yes, because he knows everything," Harry said sarcastically. She tucked the note in her pocket before she hugged him tightly. He was rather taken aback by this sudden display of affection but quickly relaxed into the hug and returned it.
"He doesn't know everything Harry," she told him quietly. "But he does know an awful lot about many things. He wants the best for you, he really does."
"Well he has a funny way of showing it sometimes," he grumbled. She pulled away slightly, but not out of the hug itself.
"All adults are like that. They don't know everything, but neither do you."
"Oi oi! Interrupting something am I?" Maria's voice cut in as she clomped into Hermione's living room.
"Are you here again?" Hermione asked irritably. "Take your shoes off! Honestly, were you raised in a barn?"
"You've discovered my secret past life," Maria retorted, kicking her trainers off. Hermione got up and put them in the hallway by the front door.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked. Maria hopped up onto an armchair and flipped open her bag.
"Maria Granger Courier Company, UK."
"What?" he asked. She grinned and pulled some old records out of her bag.
"From my darling daddy to Hermione's papa."
"More records?" Hermione asked. Maria nodded. "Are they new?"
"Nope. Borrowed and thusly returned," Maria told her.
"I'm not sure you used 'thusly' correctly, you know-" Hermione began before being cut off by an undignified snort from her cousin.
"You're onholiday Hermione. Summer holidays and grammar lessons don't mix well."
"You and grammar lessons don't mix well," Hermione replied, sitting back down next to Harry. "Are you staying long?"
"Not if I'll be in the way."
Harry and Hermione both looked at her with the same look of slight confusion. Maria just smirked.
"Not staying for dinner?" he asked. She grinned devilishly now.
"Nope. Me dad is getting pizza delivered."
"Where's Auntie Susie?" Hermione asked, brow furrowing in thought.
"Dunno. Something to do with work..." Maria appeared to be searching her brain for the information. "Work... The Midlands.... Yes! She's at a thing for work in Warrington."
"Warrington isn't in the Midlands, idiot," Hermione said.
"Warrington... Warsash... Warmington-On-Sea... Warwick... War, wor, woo... Wolverhampton! Got there in the end."
"It's hard to believe that she's meant to be the cleverest girl in her year," Hermione said dryly. Maria snorted again and looked at the clock.
"I'm off before it gets too dark. Give them to your dad, will you?"
"Of course. Maria, I do have something to ask you," Hermione said. Maria looked at her with great interest.
"You want a favour?" she asked. Hermione looked like she was about to swallow something unpleasant.
"Sort of. I have to go to London tomorrow... Would you look after Harry?"
"Can't Harry look after himself?" asked Harry. Hermione just rolled her eyes at Maria.
"Just... Show him around town."
"All right."
"All right? That's all? I don't have to offer you money or chocolate or bribes?" Hermione asked, genuinely surprised that it had been that easy.
"Nope. We'll have a fab time Harry," Maria said with a wink. Hermione now sighed. Harry had survived repeated attempts on his life, but could he survive an entire day with an unsupervised Maria Granger?
***
"All right Harry?" Maria asked, bounding into Hermione's house just before lunchtime the next day.
"I am, yes. Are you?" he asked, looking up from the sandwich he'd made.
"You're very polite, aren't you?" she asked rather curiously, examining him as if he were an artefact in a museum or an exhibit in a zoo.
"I try."
"I don't," she said, jumping onto a chair. She never seemed to just sit down normally, Harry observed. "So, what do you want to do today?"
"I don't really know."
"Well, there's something going on over at Littleton Fields this afternoon if you like. A craft fair sort of thing."
"Sounds interesting."
"Probably not, but the WI ladies are probably selling cakes and my particular favourite, cherry coconut slices."
"Are they nice?"
"Are they nice?" she repeated incredulously. "Imagine the nicest home baking you've ever had and times it by about three thousand."
"Right," he said with a nod, feeling that she must be exaggerating.
"Eat up then," she said briskly in a rather faultless impression of Hermione. "We don't want to miss anything good. There might even be Morris dancers if we're really unlucky."
He ate quickly before she almost pushed him out of the front door. They made their way over to the local park. What looked to him to be a village green had been transformed into a collection of stalls selling all kinds of colourful things. The local Guide company was offering to do face painting and hair-braiding while the WI lived up to its reputation and had two trestle tables jam-packed with baked goods from large sponge cakes to the chocolate covered cherry coconut slices that Maria had mentioned.
"I'll have four of them," Maria said, pointing to the butterfly cakes. She then pointed at the Battenberg cakes "A whole one of them. And.... eight cherry coconut slices... No, ten slices."
She paused for a moment.
"Oh, did you want anything, Harry?"
"No," he said with a chuckle. "I'm fine. You might need help with all that later."
"No I won't," she said confidently. The rather surprised WI lady told Maria the price of her relatively large order and Maria began fishing in her pockets for change.
"Do you need money?" Harry asked rather worriedly- he didn't have much Muggle money.
"I'm all right," she said, rummaging in the pockets of her long coat, which was far too long and thick for the weather. She put some money down on the table and then seemed to put her hand right into the lining of the coat.
"There's a hole in me pocket," she told him, rummaging now deep inside the lining. She pulled out yet more copper pieces as Harry and the bemused WI lady looked on. She yanked at the coat and as she heard the tell-tale jangle reached further into the coat. She finally pulled out a twenty pence piece and had enough money to complete her deal. She grinned at the woman, took her box of cakes and wandered off, leaving Harry to trail behind her.
"I don't think I've ever seen someone do that before," he said. "You're really quite something."
"Yes, I know. I'm not Hermione though. She's a much calmer version of me. She got all the good Granger genes. Me, I got the barmy ones."
"She's quite something too," Harry said brightly. Maria laughed.
"Our Hermione can surprise you," she said, flicking through some handmade Christmas cards on one stall.
"I don't doubt that."
"You know, she once dared me to climb over the fence and go to the sweet shop one lunchtime when we were at primary school?"
"She did?" Harry tried not to seem surprised, but it was quite difficult.
"Oh, it wasn't a Hermione thing to do," she said. "Always a stickler for the rules. But on this particular day she really wanted a sherbet dip and didn't believe me when I said I'd go and get her one."
"Did you?"
"Course I did. I didn't even get caught. Of course, Hermione was seen with a sherbet dip and everyone wanted to know where she got it. Thwarted at the finishing line," she finished mournfully, now flicking through some 'Happy Jewish New Year' cards.
"You learn something new everyday," he said thoughtfully.
"That's very true. I can take you to that very sweet shop now if you like- it's on the way back to my house."
"All right."
They browsed through a couple more stalls before she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh! We should go and look at that stall over there," she said suddenly. "Gene always has some cool stuff."
Harry once again found himself trailing behind as she bounded across the field. When he finally caught up with her she was rifling through a box of what appeared to be handmade jewellery.
"Got any turquoise, Gene?" he heard Maria ask the dapper young man behind the stall.
"Who do you think I am, Maria, Aspreys?"
"OK, fake turquoise?"
"Have a look at the silver," he said. "I can't remember everything I've sold."
"Oh Gene," she said, suddenly remembering Harry. "This is Hermione's best mate Harry. Harry, this is Gene Moran. He makes fab jewellery. He was a few years ahead of us at school."
"Hello," Harry said, shaking Gene's hand. Gene smiled.
"You're from that boarding school Hermione goes to now?"
"Yes. Visiting for the summer," Harry said, uneasy as he always was when asked by Muggles about Hogwarts.
"That's nice. It's good that Maria has someone to keep an eye on her."
"I like this," she said, waving a silver and turquoise bracelet under Gene's nose.
"Too big for you."
"Don't care. How much?"
"For you? Two hundred and fifty quid."
"Smart, Eugene."
"You can have it for twenty five. It's real silver, you see."
"Fabulous," she said, flicking a twenty pound note at him.
"The other five?" he asked with a patient sigh.
"I've not finished shopping yet. I want something for my mum and for Auntie Laura and..."
"I've got the perfect thing for your mum," Gene said, handing her a suede bracelet.
"Fab. Give us that as well then."
"That's two pound fifty."
"Right... I should probably get something for Hermione too. What do you think she'd like Harry?"
Harry blinked, rather surprised at suddenly being asked such a question. Gene laughed.
"I think," Harry said, valiantly trying to rescue the situation "that she'd like... those."
He pointed at a random pair of earrings, but on closer examination realised that the delicate silver earrings were something Hermione really might like. So much so that he felt compelled to get them himself.
"How much are they?" he asked Gene, who gave him a rather knowing smile.
"For special friends of Hermione, you can have them for a fiver."
Harry gladly handed over a crisp blue note and took them from him. The craftsmanship was really quite beautiful. He barely noticed Maria finish her shopping and begin tugging his arm.
"Sweet shop time, then back to mine for snacks."
"All right," he said, allowing her to lead him away from the fair and towards the shop.
***
They arrived at Maria's house ten minutes later, after she spent yet more money on sweets and crisps at the fabled sweet shop, including a sherbet dip for Hermione. She introduced Harry to her father Dave, who was exactly as Hermione had described him, before shoving an ice cold glass of Diet Coke in his hand and leading him through to her room.
Harry didn't need to know Maria well to understand immediately that her bedroom was an almost perfect reflection of her personality. There was stuff everywhere- not a single surface had been left uncluttered. Books on almost every conceivable subject were piled haphazardly onto the shelves of an old, battered bookcase. He scanned the titles briefly, finding A Brief History of the Celts next to Light My Fire: My Life With the Doors and The Home Front: 1939-45 next to Perrault's Fairy Tales. He suspected that there was some sort of order to the books, but looking, he couldn't possibly guess at it.
"You have almost as many books as Hermione," he said with a chuckle. She snorted.
"Not likely. More music though," she said, waving vaguely at the opposite wall. She was not wrong. Another bookcase had been commandeered to take her music and even then, the piece of furniture was overflowing. The bottom shelves were stuffed with what he recognised as old vinyl records (Aunt Petunia had some by a man called David Cassidy and not even Dudley was allowed to touch them) while the rest was taken up by CDs of almost every conceivable genre.
"Practically everything by bluegrass and Phil Collins," Maria told him proudly. "And that prog rock crap Uncle Tone listens to."
Harry's attention now moved to the walls. These had not escaped Maria's touch and were as cluttered as the rest of the room. Posters and photographs of people that Harry couldn't even hope to identify covered every inch of wall space- he understood that they were celebrities and even vaguely recognised some, but they were clearly not the sort of people respected in the Dursley house. He felt quite pleased with himself when he was able to identify a young, make-up covered Mick Jagger in one, but the rest eluded him.
"I'll sum up," she offered at his confused look. "All dead, with a couple of exceptions, and all legends, no exceptions."
On the wall above her bed, large posters of Jim Morrison and Robert Plant fought for supremacy, but in his cultural ignorance, Harry missed any significance. He looked at them. They both had long hair and tight trousers, but although he was sure he'd seen that cruciform picture of the dark-haired one before, he couldn't recall the name.
"I don't have as much music as my dad or Uncle Tone- they're both proper rock nerds. Hermione doesn't like any of it though- a total square, as they say."
"She likes the Weird Sisters," he told her. She looked blankly at him.
"Who're they?"
"A wizard band. Walkmans don't work at Hogwarts, you know- all the magic there makes electrical stuff go haywire," he told her. Maria looked horrified.
"Bloody Hell! Don't know how I could live like that."
"With difficulty I imagine," he said with a smile. She nodded.
"You're damn right," she replied. "So tell me Harry, how long have you been in love with my cousin?"
Harry choked on his drink, unsure as to whether the breathtaking change of subject or the subject itself was more of a surprise. "What?"
"You can't fool me, I've seen too many movies."
"Um... What?"
"You're in love with Hermione!"
"I am not!"
"Well you should be, she's a great girl," she said. Harry blinked. This was an odd conversation to be having with anyone, let alone Hermione's cousin. He blinked again. Maria just shrugged.
"What time is it?" she asked. He checked his watch.
"It's half past four."
"Did Hermione say when she'd be back?"
"No."
"Well, tell you what, I'll walk you back to Hermione's house. We'll cut through the park again. Want to go on the swings?"
"Are we six?" he asked. She laughed.
"Harry, one thing you must understand, is that you are never, ever too old for the swings."
***
Harry found it strange to be around Maria when Hermione wasn't there because in some ways she was so very much like Hermione that it was unsettling and yet so unlike Hermione in other ways that it was hard to believe that they were related at all. He remembered once thinking that Ron was more fun to be around than Hermione, but that had been a long time ago and things had changed since then. Since then Hermione had become more fun, although she didn't seem to have changed at all. Today he had discovered that while Maria was both like Hermione and fun, it wasn't quite the same as spending the day with Hermione. Tiring and funny it had been, but it was not the same as spending the day with Hermione. When he arrived at Hermione's house to find her sat in the back garden reading a book, he felt a great wave of relief wash over him as she looked up and smiled at him.
"She didn't kill you then?" Hermione remarked. Harry shook his head.
"We had fun," he said, sitting down on the grass next to her. The summer sun was beginning to dip down in the sky and he yawned.
"What did she make you do?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing bad," he said. "We went to a craft fair thing and the sweet shop, I saw her really messy room and then we went on the swings at the park."
"That's a fairly normal sounding day for Maria," Hermione mused. "She's clearly on her best behaviour."
"Is she that bad?"
"Harry, last year my aunt and uncle went out of their minds with worry because she woke up one day and decided to nip to Paris."
"Oh."
"Yeah. She turned up that night and asked what the fuss was. She just got it into her head that she wanted to go to Paris, so she did. They even owled me to see if I knew where she was."
"She was fifteen and went to Paris all on her own?"
"No, she'd just turned sixteen, if that makes any difference. She said it was a birthday present. Don't try and understand her, Harry. I gave up years ago."
"Who went with her?"
"Nobody."
"Where did she get the money?"
"She works part time at HMV and is also one of the most spoiled creatures I've ever met."
"Oh. OK." Harry shook his head. Maria was a most curious creature. There were, however more important things to worry about. "How was your day?"
"Informative. Nothing life threatening."
"Where did you go? What did you do?"
"I went... If you must know I had to go to the British Library. Professor Dumbledore asked me to go because I'm familiar with the Muggle world in ways that most members of the Order really aren't. I had to pick up a book for him."
"Oh. OK. Why all the secrecy?"
"I don't know."
"I don't like the way he keeps stuff from me," Harry said darkly. Hermione leaned over and squeezed his hand.
"I know you don't. But if it's any consolation we might be heading back to school early. That way you'll get to keep up with everything, right?"
"With any luck, yes."
***
Hermione had, as usual been quite right. Two days later, an owl arrived from Hogwarts requesting that Harry and Hermione return to school early on the Hogwarts Express. The reason given to the Grangers was 'extra work before NEWTS' but in reality, Harry and Hermione knew it was Order business. The entire Seventh year had been asked to come back to school early, although whether it was simply cover for those students in the Order or to give the whole year special classes, Harry and Hermione didn't know.
"Some school," Maria commented as she escorted them to Kings Cross on the train after insisting she tag along. "I'd hate to be somewhere that expected me to do anything but the bare minimum."
"Well, it's for our own good, Maria," Hermione said rather stuffily. Maria snorted derisively and mumbled something under her breath.
"There are more important things in the world than books and cleverness, Hermione."
"I know that," Hermione shot back, shooting an awkward glance at Harry. She knew all too well the many things more important than books and cleverness. "But I find that they come in handy sometimes too."
"We're almost there now, right?" Harry asked, deciding to use his 'ignorant tourist' status to divert attention. Maria looked out of the window and promptly turned her back on it. Hermione sighed.
"Are you still doing that?" she asked. Maria merely nodded. Harry looked questioningly at both and looked out of the window. Highbury Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club passed them by.
"Maria is not what you'd call an Arsenal fan. She always turns her back on the place and has done since we were very small. She's such a child sometimes."
Maria turned to Hermione and stuck her tongue out at her, trying not to smile.
"I rest my case," Hermione replied. "And yes, we're almost there."
It was another ten minutes before they arrived at Kings Cross on Platform Ten, nice and handy for the platform they required.
"No trolleys," Harry said, looking around the platform. Maria and Hermione snorted in unison.
"Of course there aren't," Hermione told him. "This is British Rail. Come on, it's not exactly far to walk."
***
"That's her," Wormtail whispered to his companion.
"Which one? There's two."
"The one with brown hair."
"They've both got brown hair," he growled, watching them pass by and get swallowed up by the crowds.
"The one called Granger," Wormtail said. "Potter's girlfriend."
"All right," the man replied. "Consider it done."
"The dark lord will reward you handsomely for this."
"Stop talking like you're in a film noir, Wormtail. I'll do it. Don't worry about it. Meet me tonight."
The man glared at Wormtail and moved away into the crowd.
***
To be continued... Will post the next part possibly tomorrow. Lemme know what you think- good, bad or otherwise.
emony then? OK, fair enough.Anyway, you will be pleased to know that my planned (in the loosest sense of the word) post about the Pope on the occasion of his silver anniversary of ascending to the papacy has been postponed because it's twenty to three in the morning and I don't want to put you all through that. Instead, I have a gift (in the loosest sense of the word) for you all. Yes! The second part of 'Summertime' is finally ready! If you'll recall, this is the summer fic that has a featuring role for someone called Maria Granger. Maria is spelled C-L-A-R-E of course. This is my attempt to see if self-inserts can work. It was quite awhile since I posted the first part, so I shall link you to it to refresh your memories.
Summertime
and now onto the second part!
Where we left our heroes:
"Did you know that when we were six, Hermione got so angry with me that she turned my hair green?"
"You didn't!"
"I did," Hermione said. "She stole my books. Not that it mattered anyway. She liked her green hair."
"I did. It's true."
"Hermione's right, you are mad," Harry said with a laugh. Maria shrugged.
"I'd rather be mad than boring," she said. The bus began to slow down. "Our stop!"
Harry and Hermione could only follow with amused smiles as Maria bounced off the bus.
***
"What have you done wrong this time?" Laura Granger asked her niece with a sigh. Maria gave her aunt the same wounded routine she'd done on Hermione and then asked for the cookbook before inviting herself to dinner.
"I thought you might," Laura said. "It's meatballs tonight."
"Excellent!" crowed Maria, rubbing her hands together with glee. "You like meatballs, Harry?"
"I... I think so."
"Good! Auntie Laura makes the bestest meatballs in all Rushmead!"
"Creep," Hermione muttered, beginning to lay the dinner table. Maria just beamed innocently.
***
Dinner was a success of sorts, although completely dominated by an argument between Maria and her uncle about Peter Gabriel, a man Harry had not heard of, and if he was to believe Maria, he was lucky in that respect. Laura Granger's meatballs were excellent and he found himself basking in the warmth generated by a family that was as opposite to the Dursleys as the Weasleys were.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" Hermione asked afterwards as they cleared away. Maria had finally gone home after stealing/borrowing a couple of her uncle's records and the Grangers were in the living room watching an Attenborough documentary on the BBC.
"Yes," he said absently. "It was really nice."
"What are you thinking about?" she asked. He looked at her.
"Nothing much. Just..."
"Tell me," she said, putting the last plate in the dishwasher.
"I just want to know what's going on. I know something must be happening and I feel so far away, even though I'm here with you and you get the Prophet and everything. I just feel isolated from everything. What if something happens?"
"It won't. You know Voldemort only works September to June," she joked weakly. He raised a slight smile.
"Yeah."
"Maybe we'll get an owl from Hogwarts soon," she suggested. "In the meantime, cheer up."
"Yes ma'am."
***
Over the course of the next two days, Harry got a taste of what a relatively normal suburban summer was like. Hermione took him to the local swimming pool to enjoy the good weather, took him on a bicycle ride through the scenery of Rushmead, took him here, there and everywhere. It was, without a doubt so far the best summer of his life, including the summer of the Quidditch World Cup. He rather wished Ron was with them, but found himself missing Ron a little less than he had expected. He did miss Ron and felt that the Harry/Hermione/Maria trio was a weak substitute for the real trio of friends. That said, he was having a really very enjoyable time- even when Hermione's father gave him a long, in-depth lecture on the career peaks and troughs of a man called Rick Wakeman.
Just as Harry was getting into the swing of a summer spent at Hermione's house, she received an owl from Professor Dumbledore.
"What does he say?" Harry asked her urgently. "What's happened? What's going on? Why did he owl you?"
"Calm down," she said with a slight laugh. "He just wants me to do something for him on Saturday."
"What? That's tomorrow, isn't it?"
"It is Saturday and as for what it is, well I can't divulge that information," she told him. He gave her a confused, slightly hurt look.
"Can't or won't?"
"Yes."
"Hermione-"
"Don't even try. Professor Dumbledore has asked me not to tell anyone about this until the task is complete."
"Yes, because he knows everything," Harry said sarcastically. She tucked the note in her pocket before she hugged him tightly. He was rather taken aback by this sudden display of affection but quickly relaxed into the hug and returned it.
"He doesn't know everything Harry," she told him quietly. "But he does know an awful lot about many things. He wants the best for you, he really does."
"Well he has a funny way of showing it sometimes," he grumbled. She pulled away slightly, but not out of the hug itself.
"All adults are like that. They don't know everything, but neither do you."
"Oi oi! Interrupting something am I?" Maria's voice cut in as she clomped into Hermione's living room.
"Are you here again?" Hermione asked irritably. "Take your shoes off! Honestly, were you raised in a barn?"
"You've discovered my secret past life," Maria retorted, kicking her trainers off. Hermione got up and put them in the hallway by the front door.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked. Maria hopped up onto an armchair and flipped open her bag.
"Maria Granger Courier Company, UK."
"What?" he asked. She grinned and pulled some old records out of her bag.
"From my darling daddy to Hermione's papa."
"More records?" Hermione asked. Maria nodded. "Are they new?"
"Nope. Borrowed and thusly returned," Maria told her.
"I'm not sure you used 'thusly' correctly, you know-" Hermione began before being cut off by an undignified snort from her cousin.
"You're onholiday Hermione. Summer holidays and grammar lessons don't mix well."
"You and grammar lessons don't mix well," Hermione replied, sitting back down next to Harry. "Are you staying long?"
"Not if I'll be in the way."
Harry and Hermione both looked at her with the same look of slight confusion. Maria just smirked.
"Not staying for dinner?" he asked. She grinned devilishly now.
"Nope. Me dad is getting pizza delivered."
"Where's Auntie Susie?" Hermione asked, brow furrowing in thought.
"Dunno. Something to do with work..." Maria appeared to be searching her brain for the information. "Work... The Midlands.... Yes! She's at a thing for work in Warrington."
"Warrington isn't in the Midlands, idiot," Hermione said.
"Warrington... Warsash... Warmington-On-Sea... Warwick... War, wor, woo... Wolverhampton! Got there in the end."
"It's hard to believe that she's meant to be the cleverest girl in her year," Hermione said dryly. Maria snorted again and looked at the clock.
"I'm off before it gets too dark. Give them to your dad, will you?"
"Of course. Maria, I do have something to ask you," Hermione said. Maria looked at her with great interest.
"You want a favour?" she asked. Hermione looked like she was about to swallow something unpleasant.
"Sort of. I have to go to London tomorrow... Would you look after Harry?"
"Can't Harry look after himself?" asked Harry. Hermione just rolled her eyes at Maria.
"Just... Show him around town."
"All right."
"All right? That's all? I don't have to offer you money or chocolate or bribes?" Hermione asked, genuinely surprised that it had been that easy.
"Nope. We'll have a fab time Harry," Maria said with a wink. Hermione now sighed. Harry had survived repeated attempts on his life, but could he survive an entire day with an unsupervised Maria Granger?
***
"All right Harry?" Maria asked, bounding into Hermione's house just before lunchtime the next day.
"I am, yes. Are you?" he asked, looking up from the sandwich he'd made.
"You're very polite, aren't you?" she asked rather curiously, examining him as if he were an artefact in a museum or an exhibit in a zoo.
"I try."
"I don't," she said, jumping onto a chair. She never seemed to just sit down normally, Harry observed. "So, what do you want to do today?"
"I don't really know."
"Well, there's something going on over at Littleton Fields this afternoon if you like. A craft fair sort of thing."
"Sounds interesting."
"Probably not, but the WI ladies are probably selling cakes and my particular favourite, cherry coconut slices."
"Are they nice?"
"Are they nice?" she repeated incredulously. "Imagine the nicest home baking you've ever had and times it by about three thousand."
"Right," he said with a nod, feeling that she must be exaggerating.
"Eat up then," she said briskly in a rather faultless impression of Hermione. "We don't want to miss anything good. There might even be Morris dancers if we're really unlucky."
He ate quickly before she almost pushed him out of the front door. They made their way over to the local park. What looked to him to be a village green had been transformed into a collection of stalls selling all kinds of colourful things. The local Guide company was offering to do face painting and hair-braiding while the WI lived up to its reputation and had two trestle tables jam-packed with baked goods from large sponge cakes to the chocolate covered cherry coconut slices that Maria had mentioned.
"I'll have four of them," Maria said, pointing to the butterfly cakes. She then pointed at the Battenberg cakes "A whole one of them. And.... eight cherry coconut slices... No, ten slices."
She paused for a moment.
"Oh, did you want anything, Harry?"
"No," he said with a chuckle. "I'm fine. You might need help with all that later."
"No I won't," she said confidently. The rather surprised WI lady told Maria the price of her relatively large order and Maria began fishing in her pockets for change.
"Do you need money?" Harry asked rather worriedly- he didn't have much Muggle money.
"I'm all right," she said, rummaging in the pockets of her long coat, which was far too long and thick for the weather. She put some money down on the table and then seemed to put her hand right into the lining of the coat.
"There's a hole in me pocket," she told him, rummaging now deep inside the lining. She pulled out yet more copper pieces as Harry and the bemused WI lady looked on. She yanked at the coat and as she heard the tell-tale jangle reached further into the coat. She finally pulled out a twenty pence piece and had enough money to complete her deal. She grinned at the woman, took her box of cakes and wandered off, leaving Harry to trail behind her.
"I don't think I've ever seen someone do that before," he said. "You're really quite something."
"Yes, I know. I'm not Hermione though. She's a much calmer version of me. She got all the good Granger genes. Me, I got the barmy ones."
"She's quite something too," Harry said brightly. Maria laughed.
"Our Hermione can surprise you," she said, flicking through some handmade Christmas cards on one stall.
"I don't doubt that."
"You know, she once dared me to climb over the fence and go to the sweet shop one lunchtime when we were at primary school?"
"She did?" Harry tried not to seem surprised, but it was quite difficult.
"Oh, it wasn't a Hermione thing to do," she said. "Always a stickler for the rules. But on this particular day she really wanted a sherbet dip and didn't believe me when I said I'd go and get her one."
"Did you?"
"Course I did. I didn't even get caught. Of course, Hermione was seen with a sherbet dip and everyone wanted to know where she got it. Thwarted at the finishing line," she finished mournfully, now flicking through some 'Happy Jewish New Year' cards.
"You learn something new everyday," he said thoughtfully.
"That's very true. I can take you to that very sweet shop now if you like- it's on the way back to my house."
"All right."
They browsed through a couple more stalls before she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh! We should go and look at that stall over there," she said suddenly. "Gene always has some cool stuff."
Harry once again found himself trailing behind as she bounded across the field. When he finally caught up with her she was rifling through a box of what appeared to be handmade jewellery.
"Got any turquoise, Gene?" he heard Maria ask the dapper young man behind the stall.
"Who do you think I am, Maria, Aspreys?"
"OK, fake turquoise?"
"Have a look at the silver," he said. "I can't remember everything I've sold."
"Oh Gene," she said, suddenly remembering Harry. "This is Hermione's best mate Harry. Harry, this is Gene Moran. He makes fab jewellery. He was a few years ahead of us at school."
"Hello," Harry said, shaking Gene's hand. Gene smiled.
"You're from that boarding school Hermione goes to now?"
"Yes. Visiting for the summer," Harry said, uneasy as he always was when asked by Muggles about Hogwarts.
"That's nice. It's good that Maria has someone to keep an eye on her."
"I like this," she said, waving a silver and turquoise bracelet under Gene's nose.
"Too big for you."
"Don't care. How much?"
"For you? Two hundred and fifty quid."
"Smart, Eugene."
"You can have it for twenty five. It's real silver, you see."
"Fabulous," she said, flicking a twenty pound note at him.
"The other five?" he asked with a patient sigh.
"I've not finished shopping yet. I want something for my mum and for Auntie Laura and..."
"I've got the perfect thing for your mum," Gene said, handing her a suede bracelet.
"Fab. Give us that as well then."
"That's two pound fifty."
"Right... I should probably get something for Hermione too. What do you think she'd like Harry?"
Harry blinked, rather surprised at suddenly being asked such a question. Gene laughed.
"I think," Harry said, valiantly trying to rescue the situation "that she'd like... those."
He pointed at a random pair of earrings, but on closer examination realised that the delicate silver earrings were something Hermione really might like. So much so that he felt compelled to get them himself.
"How much are they?" he asked Gene, who gave him a rather knowing smile.
"For special friends of Hermione, you can have them for a fiver."
Harry gladly handed over a crisp blue note and took them from him. The craftsmanship was really quite beautiful. He barely noticed Maria finish her shopping and begin tugging his arm.
"Sweet shop time, then back to mine for snacks."
"All right," he said, allowing her to lead him away from the fair and towards the shop.
***
They arrived at Maria's house ten minutes later, after she spent yet more money on sweets and crisps at the fabled sweet shop, including a sherbet dip for Hermione. She introduced Harry to her father Dave, who was exactly as Hermione had described him, before shoving an ice cold glass of Diet Coke in his hand and leading him through to her room.
Harry didn't need to know Maria well to understand immediately that her bedroom was an almost perfect reflection of her personality. There was stuff everywhere- not a single surface had been left uncluttered. Books on almost every conceivable subject were piled haphazardly onto the shelves of an old, battered bookcase. He scanned the titles briefly, finding A Brief History of the Celts next to Light My Fire: My Life With the Doors and The Home Front: 1939-45 next to Perrault's Fairy Tales. He suspected that there was some sort of order to the books, but looking, he couldn't possibly guess at it.
"You have almost as many books as Hermione," he said with a chuckle. She snorted.
"Not likely. More music though," she said, waving vaguely at the opposite wall. She was not wrong. Another bookcase had been commandeered to take her music and even then, the piece of furniture was overflowing. The bottom shelves were stuffed with what he recognised as old vinyl records (Aunt Petunia had some by a man called David Cassidy and not even Dudley was allowed to touch them) while the rest was taken up by CDs of almost every conceivable genre.
"Practically everything by bluegrass and Phil Collins," Maria told him proudly. "And that prog rock crap Uncle Tone listens to."
Harry's attention now moved to the walls. These had not escaped Maria's touch and were as cluttered as the rest of the room. Posters and photographs of people that Harry couldn't even hope to identify covered every inch of wall space- he understood that they were celebrities and even vaguely recognised some, but they were clearly not the sort of people respected in the Dursley house. He felt quite pleased with himself when he was able to identify a young, make-up covered Mick Jagger in one, but the rest eluded him.
"I'll sum up," she offered at his confused look. "All dead, with a couple of exceptions, and all legends, no exceptions."
On the wall above her bed, large posters of Jim Morrison and Robert Plant fought for supremacy, but in his cultural ignorance, Harry missed any significance. He looked at them. They both had long hair and tight trousers, but although he was sure he'd seen that cruciform picture of the dark-haired one before, he couldn't recall the name.
"I don't have as much music as my dad or Uncle Tone- they're both proper rock nerds. Hermione doesn't like any of it though- a total square, as they say."
"She likes the Weird Sisters," he told her. She looked blankly at him.
"Who're they?"
"A wizard band. Walkmans don't work at Hogwarts, you know- all the magic there makes electrical stuff go haywire," he told her. Maria looked horrified.
"Bloody Hell! Don't know how I could live like that."
"With difficulty I imagine," he said with a smile. She nodded.
"You're damn right," she replied. "So tell me Harry, how long have you been in love with my cousin?"
Harry choked on his drink, unsure as to whether the breathtaking change of subject or the subject itself was more of a surprise. "What?"
"You can't fool me, I've seen too many movies."
"Um... What?"
"You're in love with Hermione!"
"I am not!"
"Well you should be, she's a great girl," she said. Harry blinked. This was an odd conversation to be having with anyone, let alone Hermione's cousin. He blinked again. Maria just shrugged.
"What time is it?" she asked. He checked his watch.
"It's half past four."
"Did Hermione say when she'd be back?"
"No."
"Well, tell you what, I'll walk you back to Hermione's house. We'll cut through the park again. Want to go on the swings?"
"Are we six?" he asked. She laughed.
"Harry, one thing you must understand, is that you are never, ever too old for the swings."
***
Harry found it strange to be around Maria when Hermione wasn't there because in some ways she was so very much like Hermione that it was unsettling and yet so unlike Hermione in other ways that it was hard to believe that they were related at all. He remembered once thinking that Ron was more fun to be around than Hermione, but that had been a long time ago and things had changed since then. Since then Hermione had become more fun, although she didn't seem to have changed at all. Today he had discovered that while Maria was both like Hermione and fun, it wasn't quite the same as spending the day with Hermione. Tiring and funny it had been, but it was not the same as spending the day with Hermione. When he arrived at Hermione's house to find her sat in the back garden reading a book, he felt a great wave of relief wash over him as she looked up and smiled at him.
"She didn't kill you then?" Hermione remarked. Harry shook his head.
"We had fun," he said, sitting down on the grass next to her. The summer sun was beginning to dip down in the sky and he yawned.
"What did she make you do?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing bad," he said. "We went to a craft fair thing and the sweet shop, I saw her really messy room and then we went on the swings at the park."
"That's a fairly normal sounding day for Maria," Hermione mused. "She's clearly on her best behaviour."
"Is she that bad?"
"Harry, last year my aunt and uncle went out of their minds with worry because she woke up one day and decided to nip to Paris."
"Oh."
"Yeah. She turned up that night and asked what the fuss was. She just got it into her head that she wanted to go to Paris, so she did. They even owled me to see if I knew where she was."
"She was fifteen and went to Paris all on her own?"
"No, she'd just turned sixteen, if that makes any difference. She said it was a birthday present. Don't try and understand her, Harry. I gave up years ago."
"Who went with her?"
"Nobody."
"Where did she get the money?"
"She works part time at HMV and is also one of the most spoiled creatures I've ever met."
"Oh. OK." Harry shook his head. Maria was a most curious creature. There were, however more important things to worry about. "How was your day?"
"Informative. Nothing life threatening."
"Where did you go? What did you do?"
"I went... If you must know I had to go to the British Library. Professor Dumbledore asked me to go because I'm familiar with the Muggle world in ways that most members of the Order really aren't. I had to pick up a book for him."
"Oh. OK. Why all the secrecy?"
"I don't know."
"I don't like the way he keeps stuff from me," Harry said darkly. Hermione leaned over and squeezed his hand.
"I know you don't. But if it's any consolation we might be heading back to school early. That way you'll get to keep up with everything, right?"
"With any luck, yes."
***
Hermione had, as usual been quite right. Two days later, an owl arrived from Hogwarts requesting that Harry and Hermione return to school early on the Hogwarts Express. The reason given to the Grangers was 'extra work before NEWTS' but in reality, Harry and Hermione knew it was Order business. The entire Seventh year had been asked to come back to school early, although whether it was simply cover for those students in the Order or to give the whole year special classes, Harry and Hermione didn't know.
"Some school," Maria commented as she escorted them to Kings Cross on the train after insisting she tag along. "I'd hate to be somewhere that expected me to do anything but the bare minimum."
"Well, it's for our own good, Maria," Hermione said rather stuffily. Maria snorted derisively and mumbled something under her breath.
"There are more important things in the world than books and cleverness, Hermione."
"I know that," Hermione shot back, shooting an awkward glance at Harry. She knew all too well the many things more important than books and cleverness. "But I find that they come in handy sometimes too."
"We're almost there now, right?" Harry asked, deciding to use his 'ignorant tourist' status to divert attention. Maria looked out of the window and promptly turned her back on it. Hermione sighed.
"Are you still doing that?" she asked. Maria merely nodded. Harry looked questioningly at both and looked out of the window. Highbury Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club passed them by.
"Maria is not what you'd call an Arsenal fan. She always turns her back on the place and has done since we were very small. She's such a child sometimes."
Maria turned to Hermione and stuck her tongue out at her, trying not to smile.
"I rest my case," Hermione replied. "And yes, we're almost there."
It was another ten minutes before they arrived at Kings Cross on Platform Ten, nice and handy for the platform they required.
"No trolleys," Harry said, looking around the platform. Maria and Hermione snorted in unison.
"Of course there aren't," Hermione told him. "This is British Rail. Come on, it's not exactly far to walk."
***
"That's her," Wormtail whispered to his companion.
"Which one? There's two."
"The one with brown hair."
"They've both got brown hair," he growled, watching them pass by and get swallowed up by the crowds.
"The one called Granger," Wormtail said. "Potter's girlfriend."
"All right," the man replied. "Consider it done."
"The dark lord will reward you handsomely for this."
"Stop talking like you're in a film noir, Wormtail. I'll do it. Don't worry about it. Meet me tonight."
The man glared at Wormtail and moved away into the crowd.
***
To be continued... Will post the next part possibly tomorrow. Lemme know what you think- good, bad or otherwise.
