The Marriage Decree

Chapter 67: The Estate Kids

Hermione and Sophie head downstairs and into the kitchen where they search the fridge and cupboards for something to eat for dinner.

"Does your Dad ever go food shopping?" She asks her cousin as they push old cans of soup out of the way.

"We go on a Monday night after school," Sophie says. "Dad gets milk and bread and stuff from the corner shop on the way back from work whenever we need it." She adds.

"Well, it looks like we're having macaroni and cheese for dinner." Her announces as she opens the cupboard with the pasta inside. "Or spaghetti and cheese." She corrects herself as she takes the spaghetti out.

Sophie gets a large pan out, placing it on the stove. "Can you conjure the water?" She asks, eye wide in hope.

Rolling her eyes in defeat, Hermione points her wand over the pan and wordlessly fills the pan with water, watching Sophie's smile widen.

"Step back." She gently pushes Sophie away from the stove. Once she's at a safe distance, Hermione boils the water with her wand. "Time to add the spaghetti."

"That's so cool." Sophie stands on her tiptoes to try and see the water better.

"Yes, it's cool, but you have to remember not to take your magic for granted. I still prefer to do some things the 'Muggle' way, like brushing my teeth, washing up, boiling a kettle." She tells her cousin. "I'm a Muggleborn and I never want to forget where I came from. I know you're not a Muggleborn but due to no fault of your own, you won't be raised in a magical household. That not a bad thing though, it just means you'll be from two culturally different backgrounds." Hermione explains, sitting down at the kitchen table where Sophie sits opposite her.

Sophie nods, her forehead creased in thought. "Like Joan in my class. She's Chinese and speaks two languages and goes on holiday to China for the summer holidays?" She asks.

"I suppose it is a little like Joan. You'll live in the wizarding world and visit the Muggle world for holidays like Christmas and Summer. If you want, you can learn some wizarding languages like Mermish, the native language of the Merpeople." Hermione tells her.

"Mermaid's are real." She gasps excitement in her eyes.

"Merpeople, a community of them live in the Black Lake at Hogwarts and the Slytherin's can apparently sometimes see them swimming past the window in their common room." She explains. "Their common room and dormitories are in the dungeon under the school." She clarifies.

"I wish I could go to school this year." Sophie sighs, resting her chin in her hands longingly.

Hermione laughs. "I'll be going back in September." She admits. "The Headteacher, Professor McGonagall, has offered me an apprenticeship in Transfiguration so I can become the Professor the next September."

Sophie jumps up in her chair. "Does that mean you'll be my Transfiguration professor when I got in five years?" She asks

"Yes, I suppose it does. I hadn't thought about that." She frowns as she realises she'll also, one day, have to teach her own children and the children of all her friends.

"Do you not want to teach me?" Sophie asks, sounding hurt.

"Of course, I do." Hermione smiles. "It would be a pleasure to teach you. I just realised I'll have to teach my own children too."

"You're having children?" She asks in disgust.

"One day I will." She answers vaguely without going into any details of one day being within the next two years.

A sizzling noise from the stove alerts them to the pan of spaghetti overflowing with water. Hermione rushes over to the stove, turning it down before she remembers she used magic and not the gas. She quickly takes her wand out to lower the heat and clean up the mess of the water.