Harry Potter and Future's Past

Chapter 22: Grangers and Grimmauld

Last Chapter

Hermione wakes up from a nightmare about her time at Malfoy Manor, while comforting her, Harry has an idea about having small Goblin made knives made. Hagrid gives them Mokeskin pouches like he gave Harry on his seventeenth birthday. On the train Hermione offers a cure for Marietta Edgecombe in exchange for not bullying and protecting Luna. Ginny's plans are thwarted and her potion gifts are destroyed by an 'accident' from Neville's plant. On the platform Harry is introduced to the Grangers and Madam Bones requests Harry and Hermione come to the Ministry to answer questions while revealing that she knows about their marriage.

Chapter 22

June 24th 1996 Continued

It was the smell, Hermione realized as she sat in the back seat of the 1992 Mercedes 190 E as her father navigated the streets of London away from Kings Cross. The leather seats had a distinctive smell that brought back memories. The first time she'd ridden in the car was on her way home from her first year at Hogwarts. The car had been almost new then and the smell had been much more defined. She remembered that ride very clearly. She'd talked nonstop as she recounted all the things that just couldn't be described in a letter. She still wondered if her parents believed her as she described trolls and a three-headed giant dog. She did know they had been disappointed that she hadn't been able to demonstrate the incredible magic she'd learned to do. All she could do was describe it to them. "All this time and they've never seen me do real magic," She thought. Then she remembered that she had shown them magic. It was right after she'd ridden in this very car the last time, a little more than a year in the past to her. She remembered the astonishment of her parents as they watched her perform several magical feats. Then she recalled the last bit of magic she'd done for them, removing their memories. "Ironic," She thought sadly as she watched the other cars out the window. She closed her eyes and forced those memories aside. "Harry's right," She mused. "They are but a dream, something that I remember but that never really happened. I'm sixteen again and mum and dad are in the front seat with their memories intact," She instinctively opened her eyes and looked toward the front of the car only to see her mother looking back at her.

"So dear, how was your year?" Jean asked. Hermione could tell it wasn't really her year that she really wanted to ask about. "At least now we know why your letters seemed to be less detailed. Was Harry also the reason you missed Christmas?"

The memories of that Christmas came flooding back to Hermione. Waking up to discover that Harry and the Weasleys were gone; the explanation from Dumbledore, lying to her parents about needing to stay at Hogwarts to study, the trip on the Knight Bus to Grimmauld Place, St. Mungos, Mr. Weasley... She shook her head slightly to clear it before answering. "Harry's not the reason for the letters and he wasn't my boyfriend at Christmas, as for the year, well..." One of her favorite lines came to mind and it seemed fitting for an answer to how her year had been. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

"And of wisdom and foolishness?" Her mother asked. "Well at least you're not forgetting your literature. So what were these reasons? We need a little more elaboration than best and worst of times. Let's start with testing; how did they go, what are they called again?"

"OWLs Mum; Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Hermione replied. "I'm confident I did well, but I won't get the results for a few weeks."

"That's good," Jean replied. "So what else have you been up to this year? What besides OWLs constitutes the worst of times?"