Explain
I couldn't help it. I had to start crying. My name. It was my name that my mother had said. Do you realize how long I've been waiting to hear that? It was like someone who had passed was coming back to life. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
"Mum." I whispered. Before I knew it, my feet started moving and I was running right into my mothers arms. I crashed into her, harder than I meant to.
She wrapped her arms around my back as I gripped her shirt and held on for dear life. She shook as she took in a breath and I realized that she was crying too.
It was quiet except for our sobs. I pulled my head from my mother's shoulder to look at my father who had yet to make any indication that he knew who I was. He was frozen and staring at my mother and I. His eyes were wide and moist like he wanted to cry, but was too scared to. And his body was stiff and poised.
I pulled away from my mother to look at him better. Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I looked up at him and begged him with my eyes to say or do something. But he didn't do anything but stand and stare at me.
"Dad?" I asked him carefully. "It's me. Do you remember me?"
It was so quiet I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. Please remember me! Please!
Suddenly he lunged forward and was wrapping his arms so tightly around me that I almost couldn't breathe. I let out a sigh of relief and grasped fist fulls of his shirt and pulled him as close as he could get. He smelled like home.
Then, pulling me away from him and holding me by the shoulders, he said, "Hermione Jean Granger. You are in big trouble." He smiled and let out a strangled laugh and I couldn't help but smile back at him. "Don't you ever, ever do that to your mother and I again!"
"I'm sorry!" I said, grabbing his shirt and crashing into him again. "I didn't want to - I was trying to keep you safe!" I didn't know if my parents knew exactly what had happened to them, but they knew something.
"That's our job, Hermione." My mother's soft voice whispered.
"I know." I said and grabbed her so that we were just one big hugging mass of tears.
"Maybe we should go sit somewhere." A voice from beyond our huddle said. I looked up and saw that Harry had moved forward cautiously and seemed to be trying to tell me something with his eyes. "There is a lot of explaining that needs to be done."
I nodded and pulled away from my parents and rubbed my eyes as they did the same. Then my mother seemed to notice Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Her face lit up and she smiled even wider.
"Is this Harry, Ron, and Ginny?!" She exclaimed, reaching for them. Ginny proudly stepped forward to embrace her, but Harry and Ron stood rather awkwardly and stiffly as she moved to hug them. "You've all grown up so much!"
We all beamed except for Analiza, Henrietta, and Draco who were watching the scene unfold, each with very different expressions painted on their faces. Analiza looked over joyed but surprised and Draco looked nervous but interested, but Henrietta looked confused and angry. I couldn't blame her. If all these people that I didn't know suddenly barged in on my life, I would be angry too. And especially if my parents suddenly acted as though they knew them their whole lives.
"Shall we go inside?" My father asked and he held open the door.
Ginny, Harry, and Ron wandered in and Analiza was quick to follow. I walked over to Draco so we could walk in together and I wanted to make sure that Henrietta went in too. She needed to hear this as well, and she seemed like someone who would avoid something like this.
Henrietta stood up swiftly when I got close to her and scowled at Draco and me. She looked us up and down like she very much disproved of us. I quickly took Draco's hand and held it tight. She was making me nervous and self conscious. She looked me in the eye and sneered.
"You better have a bloody good reason for popping in my life like this." She hissed. I tried not to look mean, but she was starting to make me angry. "I don't know what you and your lot did to my parents, but I'm not letting you take them."
"I'm not- " I began, but she was already stomping toward the door.
I sighed as the door slammed shut behind her. This was not how it was suppose to go at all. Draco squeezed my hand reassuringly and we headed to the door together.
It turned out that Henrietta had actually gone so far as to lock the door behind her in an attempt to keep us out. However, a flick from my wand was enough to unlock it and enter the house as though nothing had happened. I put on a smile when I opened the door because I was not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing my anger. I also wanted her to wonder how on earth I manged to open the door.
But if she was surprised she didn't show it. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Analiza had all managed to sit together on the sofa in the living area. And I was beginning to suspect that Analiza had a thing for Ron, as she was sitting closer than necessary so that she was practically on his lap. Henrietta had refused to sit anywhere and was leaning against the wall in the corner. I could tell she didn't want to be here, but she stayed because she wanted to know what was going on.
Draco and I plopped down on the love seat together and out of the corner of my eye I saw Ron shoot me a weary glance. My father took the rocking chair and my mother was busy passing around a try of biscuits.
I won't bore you with the details, so here is basically what went down:
After my mother finished, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I explained everything about the obliviation, the war, the past four years, et cetera. Then Ginny and I introduced Analiza as my flat mate. Then I took quiet awhile to explain to my parents that yes, Draco was my boyfriend and yes, he was the same boy from school who often had me in tears. There was a lot of uncomfortableness between Draco, my father, and Ron, but Ginny and I convinced them to act civil toward Draco.
Then my parents explained that while under the spell they had always felt like there was something missing from them. So they adopted Henrietta three years ago. Next, we all had to explain to Henrietta about magic. This angered her greatly because she thought we were lying and mocking her. It angered her even more when we proved it by casting patronuses and then she stormed out of the house, her parting words being "piss off" when my mother tried to stop her.
I looked worriedly at my parents when neither of them made a move to go after her. So they explained that Henrietta got angry often and that she had a girlfriend named Hannah who she would go to at these times to cool off. Apparently Hannah lived within walking distance because I couldn't hear the garage door open or a car start.
By the time everything was explained and straitened out as best as possible, it was creeping around ten thirty. The events of today left everyone drained and the only thing keeping me awake was Draco's hand shaking my shoulder when I started to zone out. But I wasn't the only one. Harry and Ginny were leaning on each other to support one another, and Ron was constantly pushing Analiza's limp body off of him.
"Will you being staying here tonight?" My mother asked us.
It hadn't been my intention for all of us to spend the night, but we hadn't managed to get a hotel in the area yet so I nodded.
My parents turned to each other to discus the sleeping arrangements.
"The girls can take the guest bedroom, but I don't know where the boys will sleep." I heard my mother faintly say to my father.
"They can sleep in here." My father said, gesturing to the living area.
I wasn't sure it was a good idea for Ron and Draco to be sleeping in the same room. I could just picture a knock down, drag out fight between the two over who slept where.
"I'll get the blankets and pillows then." My mother said as she left the room
"You girls can come with me to the guest bedroom." My father said and he started to walk out of the living area too.
Draco shook my shoulder again to wake me up and I saw Analiza do the same to Ginny. Harry and Ginny exchanged a quick goodnight smooch and Draco pecked my temple lightly because I was too tired to move my head.
"Goodnight." He whispered in my ear. I shivered to keep my self awake. The silkiness of his words could have put me to sleep alone.
I don't really remember getting up and moving down the hall, but somehow I found myself face down on the guest bed, sandwiched between Analiza and Ginny. Ginny was out like a light, but Analiza rolled and twisted in bed for what seemed like hours.
Some time around midnight I think, I managed to fall asleep for good. I didn't hear the boys down stairs exchanged curses so I slept dreamless and happily. For the first night in a long time I felt like I could relax. I didn't have to worry about my parents. I finally had them and I knew they were safe. Everything seemed perfect for once. Although Henrietta probably hated me now, I knew she couldn't stay like that forever. After all, I had managed to get some one who hated me for years to turn around, although I have no idea how, I was sure I could do it again.