Moments in Love

Day of the Dead

AN: Warning for this chapter: Horror, some gore.

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"I'm so sorry Harriet!" said Hermione guiltily, holding a plastic bag full of ice to Harriet's throbbing jaw. "I should have been more prepared for that. I just thought... I mean... I don't know... maybe I'm just naive..."

"I'm alright, really, Hermione!" Harriet exclaimed, trying very hard not to wince and make Hermione feel even guiltier. "I've had way worse from Uncle Vernon! At least your dad is more or less alright with me now. I'm just glad that it's all over..."

"Hmmph!" said Hermione, a frown replacing her look of concern. "It's just the beginning really... a good start. I love him dearly, and I'm happy enough to forgive him to a certain degree now that he seems to finally believe me about you, but Dad's still got a lot of work to do before he can truly make amends to me and Mum for how he treated us... really show he's sorry in a meaningful way.

"He clearly still has difficulty controlling himself when he gets angry, and he possibly has a drinking problem if he handles all of his upsets now by drowning them in alcohol. And I admit, it... it's still really hard for me to reconcile the man I saw in there - the man who nearly broke my door down - with the father I grew up with... He always seemed so calm and peaceful, so together..."

"That's it right there though, innit!?" said Dora after taking another sip of her lager. "'E was probably used to holdin' it all in... bottling up his feelings all those years - probably raised that way. People like that can sometimes blow big when they finally snap... and they don' always 'ave the right emotional tools to deal with the anger once they've let it out."

"I expect you're right..." Hermione bit her lip, then sighed and took a sip of her own frothy lager, briefly noting the irony.

After seeing her father and eliciting an agreement from him to return to Australia with the promise to visit him, Hermione had been too wound up to return directly to Jennifer's. Harry had become Harriet again and a freshly disguised Hermione had dragged her and Dora to the nearest pub. Hermione had just been intending to have a fizzy lemonade but Dora had already popped up to the bar and returned with lagers for everyone by the time Hermione and Harry had found a relatively secluded booth.

"I just wish there was more I could do to help him," Hermione went on after a moment. "If he had someone he could talk to... some sort of counselor... I wish there were support groups for muggle parents with wizard children."

"Y'know, we could probably arrange that," said Dora. "If 'e's not so dead set against magic any more, we might be able to find your dad someone to talk to in Australia... a wizard counselor. Sirius can ask his contacts to recommend someone. They might even have support groups for muggle relatives of wizards for all I know... nearly all wizards in Australia are either half-blood or muggleborn."

"Oh, that's excellent Dora!" said Hermione, beaming. "You're right... It should be easier now to convince Dad to see a wizard counselor..."

Having cheered up a bit, Hermione managed to put it behind her and just enjoy herself, sharing a very wet evening in London with Harriet and Dora. After finishing their lagers, the three of them found a cinema showing the latest comedy featuring a gangly American actor as a pet detective and had a good laugh before apparating back to Jennifer's.

~o0o~

Two weeks of training flew by and it was mid-December before anyone knew it. Harry was quite surprised and Hermione was especially thrilled that the Coven training had been going so well, despite the lack of orgies. She had suggested to Harry that they try working on a number of basic spells and practicing them all together for at least an hour every day to get used to it.