I've Run Out Of Excuses (Granger Family Reunion)

Chapter 6

I own nothing! J.K.Rowling owns everything! But don't take the plot... that's mine

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Cordelia Granger lounged about on one of the sofas in the reception area, filing her nails with a nail file she always kept in her purse, as she waited for everyone to turn up. If there was one thing she hated it was tardiness, she hated being late and she hated when other people were late, hence why she had been sitting on the same sofa for 15 minutes - she was quite similar to Hermione in that respect. She glanced at her watch, the others still had five minutes to turn up.

"Early as always, Delia." Mark commented as he sat down on the sofa opposite her.

"Of course." She replied, not bothering to look up. "I seem to remember that you're often early as well."

"Unfortunate that my sister doesn't share the same trait." Cordelia nodded in agreement. "You know," Mark drawled, "You have quite an influence on Isabel, I bet you could possibly change her views on punctuality."

Cordelia sighed and put down her file. "I've tried, believe me Mark. I'm her inspiration behind most of what she does and how she behaves, however no matter how many times I try, being on time is just not her forte."

"What's not whose forte?" Tristan asked, leaning against the chair his mother had just sat down in.

"Isabel being on time." Tobias replied, appearing behind him along with the rest of the family - minus Isabel, Hermione and Scorpius. "Or at least that's what I think I heard."

Tristan snorted. "Yeah, the day Isabel is on time will be the day I meet a real wizard who owns a real wand and Hermione has magical powers." He used his arms to emphasize just how ridiculous the notion was.

"What's this about your wand, Tris?" Isabel plonked herself down on the space next to Cordelia with a surprising grace. Everyone stared at her in surprise, not just because of her choice of words.

"Is- Isabel- You-you're EARLY?!" Mark spluttered.

Isabel looked at her watch. "Oh, so I am! A whole three minutes early." She smiled, surprised at herself. "Well it was bound to happen at some point. Now, what's this about Tristan's wand?"

"Nothing!" Tristan responded quickly, and the others where to stunned say anything.

Isabel shrugged, not taking notice of the silence around her. "So are we missing anybody? I'm normally the last one so surely we can go?"

Richard cleared his throat from complete bafflement. "Just Hermione and my Grandson."

"And her mysterious husband." Mark chipped in.

Cordelia scoffed. "'Mysterious' my arse. More like non-existent." She mumbled under her breath.

They started to talk amongst themselves for a couple of minutes while they waited for Hermione to arrive. A blonde head zoomed into the circle of sofas they were seated on, followed by a slightly out of breath Hermione.

"Sorry we're late. We got a bit distracted." She apologised, recovering very quickly from the sprint down from the West Wing.

"Nonsense dear, you've still got a minute." Jennifer smiled at her daughter, who then shot her a pointed look.

"Late by family standards, Mum, not by the guidelines time set."

Pippa gasped, "What on earth do you think you're wearing?"

Hermione looked down at what she was dressed in. "This?"

"Yes that!" Pippa pointed at the slim fit waterproof trousers on Hermione's legs, the collared shirt that seemed to be offending Pippa's eyes along with the tweed waistcoat that sat on top. Scorpius was wearing a similar outfit, and quite frankly he looked adorable. "That's not at all appropriate!"

A sly smile graced Hermione's face. "It is for hunting."

"The ladies are going to the spa."

"I'd really rather not."

"The ladies are going to the spa." Pippa repeated adamantly.

"Well then I shan't be a lady." She turned to the boys who were also dressed in their shooting getups. "Gents, I'm one of you for the day."

The women of the family and Uncle Tobias looked at Hermione utterly repulsed – although Jennifer was looking rather distressed as she didn't want to spend anymore time in the spa than Hermione did and now the only person who shared those feelings had gone and joined the shooting party. Richard and Charles grinned at Hermione and her two male cousins looked at her with amusement – who knew their bookwormish cousin would tread the side of rebellion?

"I look forward to seeing if your aim is any good." Mark said.

"She fought in a freakin' war Mark, it's going to be fan-bloody-tastic." Tristan responded. Hermione looked at Tristan curiously, finding it strange that he was on her side after so many years of belittling her – mind you, Draco did the same thing.

"Hermione I really must insist that you stop with this foolishness." Grandma Pippa demanded.

"Sorry Grandma, but I refuse to go to the spa. It's so boring and well, not my cup of tea."

"Your husband doesn't work in the spa then?" Cordelia asked. "Where is he anyways? Surely he must be joining as at some stage of the reunion?" Her eyes gleamed with a wicked sense of self-worth.

"He's helping prepare the guns."

"Oh so he's like a servant, is he?"

Hermione ignored her. "Hope you enjoy your day in the spa, ladies." She turned and grabbed Scorpius's hand. "Boys." She commanded as she started to walk towards the door. Charles, Richard, Tristan and Mark stood up and followed without another word, letting her lead the way; leaving Tobias and the women standing there with their jaws hanging open. Tobias seemed to quickly shake off his shock and started to run after the others with as much dignity as he could muster.

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I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! I swear I did have half of it written down the day I last posted a chapter but then I got distracted... I'm sorry!

I've started another story, btw. It's about Hermione's son William starting at Hogwarts, now I know a lot of my readers are dramione fans and I have tailored that into the plot of this new story. So for the moment there doesn't seem like there's anything there dramione-wise but I promise it is coming. It's called "The Trouble With Firsties" if you want to check it out (which would be most appreciated).

I've got a few major exams coming up in the next few months which means I will be focusing on that and probably won't update any of my stories until my exams are over (as I really want to get into my university of choice!) Don't worry, I plan to finish all of my stories at some point as I vowed I would never let one go unfinished. But you're just going to have to be patient with me as it often takes me hours to get a chapter written up and perfected.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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