The Cupboard Series 2: Hermione's Book Nook

Chapter 2

Nodding into her bushy hair, he wrapped his own arms around her.

"Hey, Hermione."

Hermione pulled back and he saw her chocolaty eyes roaming all over his face. "What are you doing here?"

Harry sighed as he settled his glasses more properly onto his nose. "That's a long story, Hermione."

"Let him up, dear and bring him inside," a deep voice interrupted.

Harry looked up past Hermione's shoulder to see a tall man smiling crookedly at the two of them.

"Oh, of course," Hermione smiled, grabbing hold of Harry's hands and pulling him up with her. "Come on, Harry."

Snatching up his invisibility cloak, which he promptly stuffed into one of the overlarge pockets of Dudley's old jeans, and then his broom, Harry made to follow her. The strange man, who he assumed was Hermione's father, had already picked up his two bags. Hedwig soared past to glide through the open door before them.

A brief flash of white was all that Harry saw of his faithful friend before she disappeared around a nearby corner and through a door deeper into the house that she obviously knew well.

Hermione's insistent tug barely gave him any time to take in much of the entryway that they breezed through. The impression that he got was that Uncle Vernon would approve of the house. The Granger's were obviously well off, with distinctly upmarket types of furnishings evident. The walls were a rich cream colour that made the dark wooded sideboard stand out in the entryway, as well as the ornate mirror and the large oil painting of some sort of countryside.

That elegant feel continued into the living room that Hermione dragged him into, although here, it was softened by the homey qualities of copious amounts of pictures and shelves full of knick-knacks that Harry'd love to examine. Instead, he found himself pushed down onto the dark blue lounge chair, Hermione right beside him.

Hermione's father had followed them in accompanied by Mrs Granger, who he remembered from King's Cross Station.

"Here, Harry, let me take that," Mr Granger said, reaching for his broom.

He watched wide-eyed as it was leant carefully, almost reverentially, against the wall beside his bags.

"I'm Mister Granger, by the way. It's nice to finally meet you, Harry," he said, coming back with a hand outstretched.

"Hi," Harry said nervously, shaking his hand.

"How'd you get here, Harry? Did your family drop you off," Mrs Granger frowned.

Harry shook his head but before he could even start to explain, Hermione gasped in horror.

"You didn't fly here, did you, Harry?"

Harry grinned at her sheepishly. "Yeah, I did."

"But what if you were seen?" she asked, smacking him on the arm.

"Hermione!" Mrs Granger admonished.

"Don't worry, Hermione, I wore my invisibility cloak," Harry reassured his friend.

"Invisibility cloak," Mr Granger piped up, his face lit up with interest. "Cool. Can we see it?"

After a shared look of confusion with Hermione, Harry dug it out of his pocket before throwing it over the two of them.

"That's absolutely amazing!" Mr Granger exclaimed. "Where can I get one of them?"

"They're really rare and really valuable," Hermione explained, pulling the cloak off of her head. "This one belonged to Harry's dad."