Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Hermione Granger and the Weasley Wedding ❯ Mystery Parcel ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: Mystery Parcel

 

Hermione lay on her stomach on her bed gazing out the window of her parents' home. She almost didn't know what to do with herself now that she and Ron and Harry had finished with Hogwarts and there would be no more roaming the castle for adventures—not as students anyway. Ron had been offered a teaching position at Hogwarts teaching Charms, since Professor Flitwick had had his memory irrevocably obliviated during the war with Voldemort. The poor man was having to re-learn everything, and as such could not possibly remain a professor since he knew nothing of the subject himself. Hermione had been offered the position of teaching Arithmancy, because so many students were beginning to want to undertake it and there was only one teacher. Only one teacher could not handle the job, McGonagall had told her, and then she had proceeded to ask her if she wanted the position. Hermione and Ron had both been delighted to accept. They would be the youngest teachers ever to have been accepted at Hogwarts, and so would be under close watch by the Ministry. There was more than one reason that Ron and Hermione were glad that they were both teaching at Hogwarts the following year. Ever since the war was over and Ron had almost died at the hand of Voldemort, Hermione had realized how strong her feelings were for Ron. They had finally begun dating, although it had become much more serious over the past month.

Suddenly, a snowy white owl interrupted Hermione's musings by fluttering outside the window until she opened it. She left it open, as it was a nice balmy day in June. “Hedwig!” Hermione exclaimed, excited to see her friend, Harry Potter's, owl. He and Ginny Weasley had recently gotten married, as had Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. Harry and Ginny had been gone for a couple of weeks vacationing after Harry's defeat of Voldemort and a large wedding. Hermione wasn't sure where they had gone, but he and Ginny both had been writing regularly to her and Ron. She and Ron would compare letters when she went to visit The Burrow later this summer. Hermione thanked Hedwig with an owl treat and Hedwig took off out the window into the sunset as Hermione ripped the envelope open in her hurry to see what Harry or Ginny had to say. Often, the letters that were sent were signed by both of them, but occasionally, Hermione would get one from just one of them.

 

Dear Hermione:

We are having a fantastic time! I do hope everything is going well for you. I have accepted a job as an Auror as well as the teaching position in the Defense Against the Dark Arts, although, I don't believe the need for either will be as fierce now that Voldemort has been vanquished. Ginny will be helping me teach this course so that when I am called away on Auror business, the class will still be in session. She will be continuing as a student in the meantime. I hope you will write to me with news of you and Ron? See you at Hogwarts.

Harry Potter

Ginny Potter

 

Hermione didn't know what to think. They would all be teaching at Hogwarts? This was just too good to be true. Old McGonagall had found a way to keep them together for longer than they had thought would be possible. She carefully folded the letter back up and put it in her trunk. She was pulling out some parchment on which to reply to Harry when Pigwidgeon and Errol, the Weasley owls both came hurtling in the window. Errol politely landed and dropped his parcel on the bed. He and Hermione turned their eyes to Pigwidgeon, or Pig, as he was more fondly known, who was about the size of a tennis ball and was zooming so fast around the room, Hermione could hardly catch a glimpse at him.

“Pig! Slow down! I'll give you an owl treat if you'll give me whatever you've got.” Pig finally ground to a halt rolling over and over on the quilt on Hermione's bed. Hermione untied the letter from his leg and handed him a treat as well. Errol nipped her hand and she remembered to give him one too. The two owls both sat there looking patiently on as if they had nothing better to do. Hermione suspected whoever had written her—probably Ron—wanted a reply immediately. She opened the letter, but not with the hurriedness she had used on Harry's letter. Ron wrote to her almost daily, and she could not possibly see how he could have more words to put on parchment to her after yesterday's long complaint about all the people staying at The Burrow because of Bill's and Ginny's weddings. When she finally got it open, she read it through twice, puzzling over its contents.

 

Hermione,

We had this parcel shipped directly to you from the seller. Do not open it, because the time is not right yet. We want to come and get you so you can spend the rest of the summer with us. Your parents will definitely need to visit before we go back to Hogwarts to teach. I'll tell you more when you get here.

Love,

Ron

 

Why on earth would he not want her to open it? She wanted to know its contents here and now. She knew how Harry must have felt when he got all their letters when the Order was formed and they couldn't tell him much because their owls could have been intercepted. Frustration building, she composed a simple letter back to Ron stating that they could come and get her, she supposed, and that she would constrain herself from opening the package, no matter how badly she truly wanted to. She sent the reply back tied to Pig since Errol didn't seem to care either way and Pig just seemed to beg for another job to do. They took off into the fading twilight, and Hermione set herself to packing her things. Her room was relatively neat, but earlier that day she had been unable to find her quill and had rummaged until it looked like the wreck of the Hesperus. She neatly packed what she would need for The Burrow and for Hogwarts in her trunk, since odds were, she would not be returning home before going back. As she pondered more about Hogwarts, she wondered who would be the new Potions teacher since Snape was no longer teaching at Hogwarts, but in hiding somewhere. The wizarding world was not happy with him, because in the end of the war with Voldemort, he was unable to decide with whom his loyalties lay. He instead went into hiding and had been there ever since. She supposed it could be Draco Malfoy, who, at the very end of all things, when Ron's life was hanging in the balance, Malfoy just decided he couldn't kill Ron, no matter what the dislikes were. He defied Voldemort and freed Ron, and had Harry not come along at that moment, Draco would have for sure been dead. She and Ron and Harry and anyone else who had attended school with Draco didn't particularly care for him. However, he had saved Ron's life, and that made them allies, no matter what he had done before that point.

She finished packing and put her pajamas on. She climbed under her covers, her window still open, with a bit of a breeze blowing across her face. She fell asleep thinking of spending time with Ron. She was smiling as her eyes closed. This was how Ron found her the next morning, with sunlight streaming across her face. She was still sleeping rather peacefully. He had come alone to get her, because he didn't want Fred or George making fun. Every time they saw him, now, they had something to say about him and Hermione being together. Most often it was, “Ronniekins has a girlfriend!” over and over until at last, Ron either left the room or shouted at them, having turned a quite dark shade of scarlet. Mrs. Weasley had told him that the anomaly would pass once they got used to the idea of their little brother having a girlfriend. Ron had shrugged and huffed out of the room to fetch Hermione, as this had all happened again this morning before he left.

As Ron looked at Hermione, he struggled against the urge to kiss her until she woke up. She might yell at him, he thought, about having morning breath and how disgusting it was. He grinned, thinking of their first real kiss. (There had been one kiss before this one, but not so serious.) It had sort of been accidental—it was accidental in the fact that it had only happened because of the feelings that Ron's near-death experience had brought to the surface—which made it even funnier to think about. Brave Draco Malfoy had just come running in and freed Ron, and Harry came in just after, so Ron and Hermione had time to escape, pulling Draco along behind them, so that it left Harry to face Voldemort alone, which had been his request, and would fulfill the prophecy. After they reached safety and found their brooms, they had flown back to Hogwarts for the protection it offered. When they had arrived, awkward thanks had been offered to Malfoy, and he had left them to go talk to McGonagall and tell her what events had taken place. That had left Ron and Hermione alone in the Great Hall. They had decided to head to Gryffindor Tower and talk on the way.

“You know,” Hermione had said, “I truly thought you were going to die. I wanted to help you, but my mind just went blank. I couldn't remember any charms to free you or any spell that could have helped.”

“That's all right. I quite understand. I was pretty scared myself. I was even more scared than when Harry and I ran into that giant spider of Hagrid's!”

“Well,” Hermione giggled, knowing Ron's fear of spiders was greater than most of her fears combined. “That is saying something!” They had laughed companionably then. “But,” she continued, “I honestly don't know what I would have done if you had died. I think I might have died myself!”

“Oh? Am I worth that much to you, then?” Ron's heart was thumping so loudly in his chest, he was certain that Hermione could hear it. They had arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady and had stopped to continue talking. The Fat Lady even saw that this conversation was of utmost importance, and for once, she didn't interrupt. Hermione had told Ron once of her feelings when he was hunting up that “treasure” at the bottom of the Black Lake and they had sort of kissed then, but it wasn't much more than a friendly peck. He had not had these kinds of feelings when that had happened.

“You're worth more to me than I think even you know.” She looked deep into his eyes, and he thought for sure that he was going to expire right there on the spot. She put her hand up to his face and gently caressed him and then let her fingers run through his hair. He faintly heard his broom clatter to the floor as he reached for her to pull her into an embrace. When their lips met, it had been as if fireworks were going off all around them. Ron began to wonder why he didn't do this sooner, since it was so enjoyable. When they parted, they were both panting for breath, hearts pounding. A bit embarrassed, Ron had then offered the password to the open-mouthed Fat Lady and they had gone into the Common Room. Dean, Seamus, and Neville, along with a few first years gathered off in a corner, were the only others present.

“Oi, you look like you've been running all the way up the stairs! What's happened to Harry?” Neville had announced their arrival so loudly that a few girls came down the stairs from the girls' dormitories and peered around the corner.

“We don't know. We left him alone with Voldemort,” Hermione supplied breathlessly, as Ron seemed lost in his own world.

“Ron? Ron? Ron! RONALD WEASLEY!” Ron jumped and fell off the edge of Hermione's bed where he had been sitting and thinking back to the past. She was now sitting up and any hopes of him kissing her awake were clearly past. “What the devil were you thinking about?”

“I dunno,” he lied, not wanting her to know that he was thinking about kissing her again. It seemed that that was all he thought about these days along with their future together. As it crossed his mind again, the grin returned to his face. “Why?” he asked.

“Because you had the same look as you do now on your face!”

“What look?” he squawked, now looking a bit harried. He felt as if he were under interrogation by the Ministry.

“You had quite a silly little grin on your face. Are you the only one picking me up then?” She had, thankfully, changed the subject.

“Yes,” he replied, a dark look crossing his face. “Fred and George wanted to come, but I told them no.”

“Whatever for? They are so funny!”

“Because they won't stop making fun of my having a girlfriend.” He averted his eyes as Hermione burst into giggles.

“Come on, it can't be that bad!”

“Oh, just you wait! They'll be in on you as soon as we get there; have no doubts. All I've heard all week is `Ronniekins has a girlfriend' every time I round a corner and they're present. I've been hiding in my room writing to you for two days. They saw me when I came down for breakfast this morning and they were right back at it. I am so tired of them. I wish they would go back and manage their joke shop, but they have employees now, and don't have to be there all the time.”

Hermione was now gasping for breath she was laughing so hard. “What did your mum say?” erHHHERmialkdfl;akdflaksdfhl;kdHldkfja;lsdfaskdfh;laksdhf;laksdhflshe gasped between laughter.

“She said they would stop eventually.”

“And they will. Don't worry about it. They're your brothers and brothers tease each other.”

“Percy, Bill, and Charlie don't tease me.”

“That's because Bill just got married and he understands and Charlie is more mature than that. Percy thinks anything fun is not allowed, teasing included. He's an old stick in the mud. At least Fred and George like to have fun.”

“That's true,” Ron conceded, smiling a bit. “I could never have convinced Percy to have come out into the garden and play Quidditch with us. He never did enjoy pulling up garden gnomes and throwing them halfway across the field either.”

“Well, let me get dressed and I'll be down. You can go ahead and take my trunk down if you want. I'll have to find Crookshanks, too.”

When Hermione was dressed, she ran downstairs. “Mum, have you seen Crookshanks? I can't find him anywhere.”

“Yes, dear,” Mrs. Granger replied. “I let him out last night and he came back this morning. He's in the kitchen now eating his breakfast.”

“Thanks Mum.” Hermione smiled and ran to hug her mother. “You're not overly angry that I'm going to Ron's are you?”

“No, dear, of course not! I am so proud of you getting that teaching position. I do hope you will come to visit on holiday.”

“Of course I will! Where's Daddy?”

“In the living room with his coffee and the newspaper, I believe.”

“All right, I'm going to say goodbye to him. I love you!”

Hermione finished saying goodbye to her parents and Ron, Hermione's trunk grasped in one hand, and Hermione, Crookshanks held tightly in her arms, Disapparated with a loud crack right there in Hermione's living room.