Vox Corpis [Harmione]

Chapter 8

Harry hadn't expected to feel so out of place with the Grangers. They'd been pleasant when he finally met them at the train station, but still there was an awkwardness. He didn't know how to act around them. It wasn't nearly as strange with the Weasleys… but then, they knew who he was. Harry never had any doubts that Ron and his family fully understood the dangers associated with being in Harry Potter's company. They knew the risks, they realized the threat. Harry looked at Hermione's parents and was certain they didn't. How much could a muggle know?

Harry sat in the back seat of the comfortable four-door car as they skirted London proper. Jake was driving and giving an occasional laugh and witty comment while his wife regaled Hermione with stories from home while their daughter was away. Hermione laughed in all the right places and it would have seemed so normal, but every so often Hermione looked at him and there was the shadow in her eyes. The shade of understanding. She was laughing through the veil of Cedric's death, of Voldemort's return, of Harry's torture at the dark wizard's hands, burdened with this responsibility she had single-handedly taken on when it came to her best friend. Harry was sure that every other year Hermione had been bursting with stories from her school year. He was certain that this too-casual avoidance of the topic was abnormal. Harry felt it was his fault.

He'd tried to warn Hermione's father. He couldn't go into their home, endanger Hermione, without their knowledge. Because they were muggles and surely they simply couldn't know.

And there, with Jake Granger, Harry felt an inexplicable uneasiness. Why did Jake intimidate him? He'd been just as pleasant as Miranda, the only hint of discourtesy was when he spoke to Vernon and Petunia, and that didn't cause one to lose favor in Harry's estimations. It made no sense that Harry would feel jumpy around Hermione's dad. But he did. Jake looked at him and something in Harry tightened.

Harry put it down to a very trying, difficult year wracking his nerves.

Harry turned his eyes down to the floorboard where Kimmy was curled next to his feet. She returned his gaze a moment then rested her chin atop his shoe. Jake and Miranda's voices were a background mumble, voices of unsuspecting, content, normal people. Harry felt like the worst kind of intruder. He didn't belong here, he had no place.

He blinked and looked up when, during the lull while her parents conversed, Hermione slipped her hand into Harry's. He glanced at her face, met her eyes, and when she smiled some of the raging disquiet and discomfort slipped away. Something in him wanted to draw her closer, pull her tight against him as they'd sat in the common room that night. He believed that somehow the amount of contact would displace a proportional amount of his unease. If she'd hug him it might be okay.

"Here we are, kids," Jake's voice broke into Harry's thoughts and he pulled his eyes from Hermione's face to look out the window.

They had pulled into the drive of a cozy suburban home. It was larger than the Durlseys' house on Privet drive, with a bigger yard and more space between neighbors. It looked far more inviting than the little abode of his aunt and uncle had ever looked, and for that very reason it scared him.

Hermione took her hand from Harry's and opened her door.

The knot of discomfort in Harry's chest swelled again. In his second's pause he was the last to leave the car.

Kimmy bounded out of the car and trotted off. One would think it was the errant meanderings of a dog looking for a place to squat, but Harry noted that Kimmy was very exactly walking the perimeter of the yard, turning at a ninety degree angle at the corner of the property, and disappearing behind the house.

"Harry," Jake's voice called. It was just Harry's name, with only a very slight tone of command, but it made Harry turn at once. The Grangers were pulling trunks and pet carriers from the back seat. Jake, at that moment, was holding Hedwig's cage up and gestured between it and Harry.