Ideal

CHAPTER ONE

NANA GRANGER'S SCARY WAYS, AND OTHER TERRIFYING TERRORS

~~~

It wasn't long before Amelia came back into the kitchen and kicked Harry and Hermione out of the house under the pretence of needing the room in the kitchen to make dinner. Harry and Hermione both knew that Amelia was just too stressed about her mother-in-law's impending visit to deal with two hormonally charged teenagers who hadn't seen each other in over a month.

"What do you want to do now?" Harry asked as they left the house hand in hand.

"Curl up by a fire and sleep in your arms," Hermione said, snuggling up close to his side.

"Isn't it a bit hot to be thinking about a fire?" Harry asked, though the idea didn't sound entirely unappealing to him.

Hermione sighed heavily. "It would be so much easier if we had more than an hour. We could go to a movie or do... something. But dad'll be back soon and mum wants me to be home when Nana arrives."

Harry placed a kiss on top of her head and then said, "It's okay, 'Mione. I'm just glad I get to spend some time with you. With Ron working and you on vacation and mum and dad working night and day at the Ministry... well, let's just say I've spent more time listening to stories about hair ribbons and unicorns than I ever wanted to," Harry said.

They found the hammock hanging between two trees near the end of the property and they sank into it together, allowing the natural folds of the netted fabric to roll their bodies together. Hermione sighed sadly and closed her eyes against the sun.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked as he brushed her wavy hair out of her eyes and tilting her head back so he could look at her face.

"I just... ever since Josh got his letter... something's been bothering me," Hermione admitted.

"What?"

"How many Muggle-born witches or wizards are there that have siblings who are also magical?" Hermione asked after a long silence.

Harry thought for a moment, knowing what her fears were, and then said, "It's not unprecedented, sweetheart. It's not common, but it has happened before."

"When?"

"Well, Lee's dad was Muggle-born, but he and his brother both turned out to be wizards," Harry said.

"But they are identical twins. Josh and I are almost seven years apart."

"Hey, I know what you're thinking, and you need to stop it," Harry said. "If it makes you feel any better I'll talk to my dad about how it works. He might know something that will help you stop thinking thoughts like I know you're thinking now."

"Thank you," Hermione said softly.

They lay there for almost an hour in comfortable silence, just enjoying the fact that they were together again. They were about to start up a conversation when Amelia came out and called for Hermione to come inside to help her with something.

As her mother disappeared back inside the house, Hermione looked at Harry sadly. "You should probably go. Whenever Nana comes by... mum gets scary. You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"Okay," Harry said reluctantly. "I should pick up the brats, anyway."

Together they got up and headed around the side of the house to the front. "Call me when you can get away, 'kay?" Harry said when they reached the front garden.

"I will," Hermione promised. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, then let him go and frowned, thinking about something. "I feel like I'm forgetting something..." she said, looking around in hopes of figuring out what she had forgotten.

And then she saw a bushy tail twitching back and forth, a flash of ginger sticking out of the rose bushes, and she remembered.

"Shoot. I forgot to pack Crookshanks' food and stuff," she said.

"Right, you 'forgot'," Harry smirked, earning him a slap on the arm that was none-too-playful.

"I'll get the food, you try to get him out of the bushes," Hermione said, giving Harry a quick peck on the cheek before heading into the house.

Harry got Crookshanks into the car and, moments later, Hermione appeared with several bags of cat food, toys, pillows, and other assorted cat things. Harry helped her put them in the trunk and then leaned back against the car, pulling Hermione to his chest and folding her up in his arms that were strong from years of Quidditch and working at a Muggle landscaping company during summer vacations. Hermione tucked her head under Harry's chin and just took comfort in being held.

After standing there for a little while they reluctantly separated, promising letters and phone calls at every available opportunity.

A quick kiss goodbye and Harry got in the car and drove off, not daring to look back lest his resolve break.

Only moments after Harry's car rounded the corner and left her view, her father pulled up in his mini-van with her brother and grandmother sitting in tense silence that seemed to settle over everything and everyone whenever Nana Granger was around.

"What are you doing standing out on the street?" Hermione's father, William, asked as he got out of the driver's seat.

"What?" Hermione asked, shaking her head and coming out of her thoughts. "Sorry, dad. I was just... Harry just left," she admitted, knowing that it wasn't a secret that Harry would be coming by that day and that she had been looking forward to it for over two weeks.

"Harry?" Nana Granger asked as she got out of the passenger seat, moving very well despite her bum hip and the fact that she was almost ninety years old.

"Hermione's boyfriend," Josh said as he hefted one of Nana Granger's bags up onto his shoulder. There was no teasing tone in Josh's voice--he genuinely liked Harry and was glad his sister was happy--but Hermione wished that her brother had let her speak for herself.

"Boyfriend?" Nana Granger questioned, her strict tone and imposing gait par for the course with Hortencia Granger. "You are much too young to be thinking about such things, Hermione. Your studies come first."

"I realise that, ma'am," Hermione said dutifully. "My relationship with Harry in no way affects my education."

"It's true, mum," William said. "Hermione has been made Head Girl at her school for this coming year and she is at the top of her class. And, if I recall correctly, Harry is number three, am I right?" he said, glancing at his daughter.

"Actually Harry is tied for second with a boy from another house," Hermione said as they went into the house and, her father reluctantly splitting off from his mother and daughter, Hermione and Nana Granger went into the sitting room.

Nana Granger humphed and sat down in her favourite armchair. "Tell me about your school. I haven't heard much about your schooling ever since you got into that private school up North," she said with the most enthusiasm that Hermione had ever heard her talk about anything other than the high points of 'the club' and what 'the ladies' were doing that week.

Hermione sat down across from her grandmother and took a moment to collect her thoughts and recall the cover story--Nana Granger didn't know about her granddaughter's magical life, and probably never would--before speaking. "It's a very elite boarding school that is nearly impossible to get into unless you have family who went there before. The courses range from history to self defence to astronomy to maths and everything in between." So far there had been no out-and-out lies, just omitted details. "Several of the courses require at least basic knowledge of ancient languages, so everyone studies Latin, as well as some ancient Greek and a few dead languages that are usually used in the medical field."

"What courses are you taking this term?"

"Maths with Professor Vector, herbology with Professor Sprout, history with Professor Binns, chemistry with Professor Snape, zoology with Professor Hagrid, and self defence. I'm not sure who will be teaching that this year, our old professor retired at the end of last term," Hermione said. It felt weird calling Hagrid 'Professor' and altering some of the names of her courses was slightly challenging, as she hadn't thought that Nana Granger would have asked about them specifically, but she recovered with her usual grace. "There are also several other courses available that I can drop into during any free block of time I might have."

By this point William, Amelia, and Josh had joined them and were listening to Hermione talk about Hogwarts as if it were a Muggle boarding school.

"Of course, as Head Girl, I doubt I'll have much free time, but I am hoping to get at least one free slot a day to take in an additional course or two," Hermione said, putting on her best bookworm act, something she had outgrown--not her bookish tendencies, but her tendency to go on and on about her books and courses--only a short time before. One day Ginny Weasley had told her that she was acting like Percy, the third youngest brother in the Weasley clan, and Hermione had stopped annoying everyone at once. As much as she loved books and rules and the like, Percy Weasley drove Hermione around the bend.

Nana Granger nodded, seemingly satisfied with Hermione's courses for the coming year.

But she hadn't forgotten about Harry.

"Hermione, Josh, please go to your rooms," Nana Granger said with and air of superiority that made Hermione clench her fists. "I need to speak to your parents."

Josh got up and left, and Hermione stood as well, though she paused at the door to send pleading looks at her parents, knowing what was coming. They both nodded slightly and, feeling slightly relieved but not overly so, Hermione left as well.

She didn't go far, however.

In the pantry there was a heat vent that, if opened, allowed conversations from almost every room in the house to be relayed to the tiny cupboard. Josh was already there, the grate opened, a bar of chocolate from Honeydukes in Hogmead in his hand.

"Has she started yet?" Hermione asked in a whisper, sitting down on the floor beside her brother.

"Of course," Josh whispered back. "So far Harry is an 'unworthy underling' and she 'will not tolerate her granddaughter frittering her life away with a mere high school crush'."

"Oh, so she hasn't gotten too far along yet. Good," Hermione said sarcastically, taking a chunk of chocolate from the bar and popping it into her mouth.

They both sat back and listened to the show.

~~~

James Potter was in his office in the headquarters for the Ministry of Magic, shifting through the papers on his desk, unable to really focus on the words written on the parchment in front of him. Normally his job held at least some semblance of interest for James, but for some reason he just couldn't focus on his work.

He heard the call of 'incoming' from the bullpen outside his office and, with the deft of the former Seeker he was, he caught the memo that as headed straight for the large window that currently showed pouring rain--the department of Magical Maintenance that handled the 'weather' was looking for another pay raise.

James unfolded the paper airplane and smoothed the parchment out to read the inter-office memo.

Potter,

Arthur Weasley needs a liaison to convince the some defence minister that the ghost of his deceased secretary is not out to get him because he didn't pay her well enough when she was alive. I suggest getting down to the Parliament Buildings right away.

Minister for Magic

Cornelius Fudge

Rolling his eyes at the note, James crumpled it up and tossed it in the garbage can. Arthur was perfectly capable of dealing with the minister--though his penchant for Muggle 'artefacts' made conversations between the Weasley patriarch and any Muggle an entertaining event--but if the Minister for Magic wanted him to do it, there wasn't much James could do to get out of the task.

Before leaving his office, James scribbled a note to Lily and handed it to his assistant, asking her to send it off on the afternoon own rush so Lily wouldn't worry if he ran late.

Once he got to the right office in the Parliament building James knew that he wouldn't be home for a long time.

"James, good, you're here," Arthur said, standing up from one of two chairs that hadn't been destroyed, presumably by the ghost of Patricia Halliwell. Arthur came over and leaned down to whisper in James' ear. "This Halliwell woman has quite the grudge against our poor defence minister. It might be wise to alert an Auror squad."

James physically cringed at the thought.

It wasn't that he didn't like Aurors. That wasn't the case. A lot of his best friends had been fighting as Aurors for over twenty years.

It was the painful memories and the fact that, once again, he got slapped in the face because he couldn't do the job he had trained so long and hard for.

But, seeing the damage done to both the office and to the minister himself, James nodded and summoned Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius' cousin and Remus' girlfriend, to help them. Admittedly she was a very clumsy witch, and Merlin help you if you called her by her given name, but she was the only one of the reserve Aurors who was close by and didn't mind dealing with angry spirits of those not-so-dearly-departed.

Tonks appeared before them a moment later, and she immediately stumbled over her own feet. Her hair was a terra-cotta red that day, her nose small and round, her eyes pale but as full of life as ever. Tonks was a metamorphagus, which meant that she could change her appearance at will, and did. Often.

"What's up?" she asked once she righted herself.

"Angry secretary," Arthur said, ducking the filing cabinet that came flying at his head. "Recently deceased."

"Not a problem," Tonks said, pulling out her wand.

She cast a basic spell to tame out of control ghosts, but that only seemed to make things worse.

"She really wants to hurt someone," Tonks called over the deafening sounds of the ghost's attacks. "Everyone get out of here!" she called when the desk started flying around and bouncing off the walls like they were made of rubber.

No one wasted any time questioning her order.

~~~

Lily was just starting dinner when two owls came to the open kitchen window. One was a standard brown barn owl from her husband's office, and the other was a tawny owl with its talons painted a deep red.

Tawny owls with painted talons were never a good sign.

And red paint was the worst colour there was.

Ignoring her husband's note--she knew it was just him saying he'd be late again--Lily took the letter from the other owl and sat down to read it.

Lily Potter was an Unspeakable. She worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Secrets. Dark prophecies, weapons, secrets, and anything and everything that dark witches or wizards could want were kept in the DoS archives. Unspeakable's were not allowed to talk about their work with anyone--not even other Unspeakable's.

Upon reading the letter Lily's already pale skin lost what little colour it had and, not even bothering to destroy the letter, she grabbed her cloak and wand, and apperated to headquarters.

~~~

Harry unlocked the door and then stepped to the side as the brats rushed inside to tell their mother about what they had done at the birthday party they were at.

"Mum! Mum! Come see what Ally gave us!" Nadya called excitedly as Harry let Crookshanks down to explore the house.

Harry made his way to the back of the house, hoping to find Lily in the kitchen as it would put a stop to the excited yelling. "Mum?" Harry called when he found the kitchen empty. He frowned and looked at the table for a note. "Maybe she went to pick up Mike," he muttered, looking at the parchment that was folded up and unaddressed.

What he read shocked him to his very core.

After rereading the letter a few times to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, Harry found a fresh sheet of parchment and wrote his mother a note.

Mum, I found the letter you got from work. Is there anything I can do? Mike's still at Dennis', and I'm taking the brats to the Burrow. -Harry

After addressing it, Harry sent it off with his owl, Hedwig and then went upstairs to find the twins. "Hey, brats, I need to talk to you for a minute," he called when he got to the top of the stairs. His sisters came out of their rooms and looked at him expectantly. "Mum needed to go in to work. What do you want for dinner?"

"You're not gonna try to... cook... are you?" Sydney asked, screwing up her nose in disgust.

"No, I'm not going to try to cook," Harry said, imitating his sister's look. "What would you say to going over to Mrs Weasley's?"

"Would Ron be there?" Nadya asked shyly. It was the worst kept secret in the world that Nadya was 'in love' with Ron.

"I don't know, but we won't know until get there. Pack a bag--I think we might spend the night," Harry said.

"Should we bring the bunnies?" Sydney asked.

"In their cages. I've gotta bring Crookshanks, too," Harry said.

The twins nodded and went off to do as Harry had told them. Harry went to his own room and stuffed some clothes into a bag before heading downstairs, catching Crookshanks, gathering his food, and scribbling a note to whoever came home first explaining where they were.

Within fifteen minutes of arriving home, they were off again, in the fireplace and traveling via the Floo Network to get to the Burrow.

~~~