The English Rose

Closure

Dr. Edith had given the girls two weeks to sort through Hermione's closure with Laura which seemed like a reasonable amount of time. That was of course until a week passed by without the brunette hearing a single word from her girlfriend. She was going crazy at the Rose everyday wondering why she wasn't returning her texts or showing up to work but her grandfather reminded her that sometimes the older woman needed space to cope with hard experiences and tasks. There was exactly one week left until they saw the psychiatrist again and Hermione was nowhere closer to the closure she needed than before. She was getting frustrated and thought of going to see Laura on her own but knew that would just set Bella off on the wrong foot. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do here," she sighed from behind the register one Friday afternoon.

Henry was stocking the shelves with the newest arrivals, "I understand that this is frustrating for you, sunshine."

"We only have a week to do this. I don't know what the problem is. Does Bella not want to move in with me anymore?"

The elder Granger put his stack of books down and came to stand in front of the register, "now, Hermione, we both know that isn't the case. That woman loves you more than life itself. This is probably really hard for her considering what happened the last time she paid Laura a visit. Now, she's meant to go with you while you find your closure and keep her composure. That's going to be really hard for her."

Hermione sighed again, "I know, papa but I'll be there with her. I won't let anything happen."

"Sometimes even with the greatest of allies by our side, bad things still happen, sunshine."

"What I'm hearing is that you think Bella is afraid that she will lose it no matter what is at stake here," Hermione drummed her fingers on the counter. "I think," she swallowed, "maybe I'm afraid of that as well."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Henry added quickly.

"But it might not be." Hermione's eyes wandered when they caught a sight from the window. Dora was approaching the shop. "What's Dora doing here?" She waited until the woman walked through the front door. "Is Bella okay?"

"Hello to you too," Dora laughed. "I've come by to return your missing family member," she reached inside her large overcoat pocket and swept the small tabby out of there. "I'm afraid that she's overstayed her welcome."

"Oh no," Henry walked over and took the little kitten from the girl, "what did she do?"

"Nothing like that. My mom found her is all. There was even a moment when I thought she was going to let Squeaks stay but her cold heart couldn't even be breached by that little cutie," Dora laughed when she saw Mr. Granger walking over to the chairs to snuggle his grand baby. "She was a perfectly respectable house guest."

"Well as long as she was respectable," Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's been awfully quiet around the bookshop without her. Our patrons have missed her greatly. So how did your mother find her?"

Dora chuckled, "she went to put on her boot and screamed. That's when I finally figured out where Squeaks was hiding. Mom reached down and pulled her out. I swear it was love at first sight. That was three days ago and I'm just returning her now, so you can see that even mum loves the kitten."
Dora took Hermione's silence as acceptance that her kitten was still welcomed at their house and took the opportunity to browse the new arrivals. A small smirk played at her lips though because she knew it was only a matter of time before the brunette exploded with questions. "I can feel you thinking, Alice."

"Then you should already know what I'm looking for," she wasn't in the mood for Dora's games.

"She's fine," she grabbed a book, taking it over to the chairs by the window, joining Henry and Squeaks. "She's fine now," she amended her previous statement, "for the most part."