Granger Family Reunion

A Letter

On a bright morning, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and.. an overexcited owl was fluttering towards a quaint house. His hooting could be heard from miles away, yet the couple in the residence were completely ignorant of it. 

The woman was preparing for a long, hard day at work, and her husband was minding breakfast. Just as Hermione Granger was making her way down the staircase, she heard a 'thump' coming from outside, and thanks to her instincts from the war, her wand was brandished within moments. 

"Ron, did you hear that?" she called out.

"Yeah, I did," he replied, gripping his own wand tightly as well. 

They met at the foot of the staircase, and decided to search for the source together. Even though it had been a few years after the war, there were still a few Death Eaters loose; a lot had escaped when it was clear that their master was going to lose at the Battle of Hogwarts, and even though many were imprisoned in Azkaban, it was better to be safe than sorry. Many had managed escape over the past few years, and were still a bit of a threat.

When they reached the living room, they cautiously looked around, wands held high. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary, or so it seemed. "I think I've found what caused that  noise," Hermione said, pointing to the window, which, apparently, had an owl shaped mark on it. 

Ron reached his wife, and when he saw what she was gesturing to, he immediately realized what had happened. He opened the window, and called out, "Pig! Get in here!" 

The owl's wings fluttered, even though he seemed a bit out of it, he got back up on his feet, and flew to the open window, landing on the inside of the ledge. 

Hermione groaned, and put her wand back inside her robes. "Ronald! I've told you to get rid of that owl! It's not efficient to have to send him out with letters, not knowing if they'll properly reach the receiver, or to trust him to bring anything back!"

"Yeah, yeah, 'Mione. Calm down." Ron said, while glancing at the envelope. "It's addressed to you, I think it's your mum and dad." 

After the war, Hermione had gone to Australia to repair her parents' memories. When she arrived at their house, she was surprised to find that her charm had worn off; apparently, in her haste to leave, she had not applied it properly, and it did not last as long as she had hoped. 

They had admitted to her that they were, at first, angry about what she had done. However, afterwards, they had tried to think about it from her point of view, and had realized that she was just worried about their safety. They welcomed her back with open arms, though they had made it clear that if anything were to happen again, she would talk to them about it. 

"My mum and dad? Why would they be writing?" Hermione asked, taking the outstretched letter. Normally, they called Ron and Hermione's house phone, as Hermione had insisted that they needed one. 

After opening the envelope, she was greeted by her mother's loopy handwriting, which she had always thought was so beautiful. 

Dear Hermione, 

Your Aunt Sidney is hosting a family reunion this weekend, and she insisted that you come. For the past few years, we've told her that you've had school, studying, and job interviews (I hardly think they bought that), but we've run out of excuses this time. The whole family will be there, so be sure to bring ear plugs, I'm telling you from personal experience. They've gotten worse over the years.

The reunion is in Paris, some hotel called Le Biche. Make sure that you and Ron pack your best clothing, shoes, and everything, because apparently, the place is really fancy, and Aunt Sidney called in special favors. 

I'm really sorry, Hermione, we really did try to get at least you out of this, but she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. I guess I'll see you July 15 at the hotel. 

 We haven't told them that you're married, by the way, so you're going to have to break that news to them. They'll probably die of shock, not that that would be bad.. 

Love, Mum

"What day is it today?" 

"July 13, why?" Ron replied, confusion showing through. What had been in that letter?

"Argh. My Aunt Sidney is hosting a family reunion, and we've got to go."

"What could possibly be so bad about that? I mean, if the Weasleys had a reunion, we'd probably have to rent out an entire town, but I mean.." 

"No, Aunt Sidney is my father's sister-in-law. Every year, she gets all the Grangers together, to try and show everyone else up. Actually, that's what most of my father's side does. I've got only one aunt that is actually a human, so that's the only reason that I survived these things. Because of Hogwarts, and the war, I haven't had to go, but my parents can't cover for me anymore." Hermione explained. 

"Can't they just say that you've got to sort out job stuff?" Ron suggested.

"No, that was last year's excuse," she said. "Anyway, apparently, my aunt had to call in big favors to get us in this hotel, Le Biche."

"Wait, Le Biche?" he asked, looking thoughtful. "In Paris, right?"

"Yes..." Hermione replied suspiciously. It was never a good thing when her husband got that look in his eye.

"Bloody hell! Harry owns that hotel!"

"No way.. he never told me that he's got a hotel in Paris!" she exclaimed. 

"Remember, Harry and I told you that we made investments in the Muggle world? A few months before we got married? That was the one thing that he invested in that wasn't..."

"Wasn't what, Ronald?" 

Ron turned a bit red, clearly embarrassed. "Fashion-related." he whispered. "We share a company, and there are people that take care of everything for us." 

Hermione burst out laughing. It truly was quite hilarious, as she had never imagined Ron to be the "fashion-sort". 

"Hey, it's not funny! Where do you think that we get a lot of our income?" he cried indignantly. 

"That makes sense. I wondered how your Order of Merlin money had disappeared, but I didn't want to ask. And I never do our bills, you do." 

"Well, it's why we could afford this house so easily. We make quite a fair bit off of it." Ron replied haughtily. 

"Well," Hermione drawled. "I apologize for laughing." 

"Thank you." Ron said, though it was a bit stiff. 

"Alright, then; I guess we've got to take a few days off of work, huh?"