Hermione Granger

Of Roses and Scorpions

LOCATION: Rosemary House Tea Shoppe, Diagon Alley @ministerhgranger

Astoria ought to have been more conscious of her privileged position; it wasn’t just anyone who could secure a last-minute meeting over tea with the Minister of Magic, after all! But Astoria didn’t think about it that way; she wasn’t vying for political influence, after all – she was just here to talk about their children. And since there was nothing more important in Astoria’s life than her precious Scorpius, it simply never occurred to her that a witch who had the entire British magical community to run might not have as easy as time as she did of dropping everything to gossip about their offspring.

Besides, they’d started these little chats before Hermione ascended to the highest office in the land. The fact that things were different for the other witch now was an idea that had yet to cross Astoria’s mind.

So when the Minister of Magic walked in to join Astoria at their usual table in the quiet corner of the Rosemary House, Astoria greeted her with a warm and guileless smile. Yes, things could still sometimes get a bit awkward between the two of them – there was a lot of bad blood under their shared bridges, most of it on the side of Astoria’s in-laws – but the three years in which their children had been friends had tempered some of the harsher edges between them, and while Astoria wasn’t yet sure if Hermione counted her as a friend, she was happy to consider the other witch…well, something like a friend, certainly.

They had mutual interests, after all.

“Hermione!” Astoria said, putting down the list of today’s tea blends to greet the other witch. “I’m so glad you could join me – it’s a lovely day for a cup of tea, isn’t it?” The drizzly weather certainly suited the hot, restorative beverage…even if the tea was more of an excuse than a cause, today. “And perhaps a bit of chit-chat from Hogwarts,” she added slyly.

Hermione had a few guilty pleasures-- a square of dark chocolate before bed, a cheesy romance hidden among her stack of more serious books-- but her biggest guilty pleasure of all had to be her meetings with Astoria.

It had started off as simply a way to keep tabs on her daughter, her darling Rose. Rose and Scorpius had hit it off in a way their parents had never even come close to. And like most parents, Hermione was eager for any scrap of news about her child’s life-- and equally as left in the dark as said child grew older. But together, she and Astoria could piece together the facts of their lives-- or at the very least an outline more solid than they vague one they received in letters.

Plus, if Hermione was being truly honest with herself, it felt good to just do something so lighthearted, so almost frivolous, every once in awhile. Not that Hermione didn’t take these conversations completely seriously, of course.

Her grin met Astoria’s as she entered their usual tea shop, amazed at how quickly she had come to like this woman. It was far from perfect-- too many bad memories lurking in the shadows-- but there was a warmth there that Hermione never would’ve expected. Some days, she felt rather sad that they hadn’t found a way to be friends at school.

“Astoria,” she returned warmly, giving her hand a squeeze. “It’s good to see you, and even better to be out of the rain.” She shed her coat, and settled into the seat opposite Astoria. “Not to mention I needed an excuse to get away from the office for a minute. I’ve spent half my nights there this week, I’m sure of it.” She shook her head ruefully. “How are you? Have you had a letter? Rose hasn’t written in over three weeks, but I don’t want to nag.”

             Oh no, Aunt Hermione.

     “Uhm,” Teddy began, his beguiling eyes trying to get out of the situation in any way possible. “I was just uh,” he paused, “Running. Yeah, running, y’know… jogging.” Cracking a smile, he tried not to give away the fact that he had half the fans out here waiting for his butt around every corner ready to probably smack him down for disgracing the name of Puddlemere United. It was hard to be a joker in times of bloody and fanatical Quidditch matches. ‘Friendly showcase match’ they said… Teddy Lupin didn’t think so.

     It was a surprise for the youngling to see his dear aunt around here though. Teddy always thought that being the Minister of Magic always came with responsibilities big enough to occupy one’s entire day and night. When one even mentioned the position to Lupin, he imagined flying paperwork everywhere, cigarette addiction and wrikles around the eyes from the exasparation and amount of pressure this puts on a person. But Hermione always showed much more strength than one would expect from her and given that it’s not an easy time being the leader of the entire wizarding world right now, her head was still as high as a mountain and Teddy was very much proud of her.

     “I might have combined jogging with angering a few unbeknown to myself people who want my head now because I decided to scream the opposing team’s name totally by accident.“ Teddy kept a serious face, the sides of his mouth twitching and forming an innocent smile. “I suppose I cannot fool the Minister of Magic, though.“

Hermione cared for Teddy like one of her own, to his at times exasperation. She never wanted him to feel neglected, or like he didn’t have parental figures. She had seen how hard that was on Harry growing up, and she was determined not to let the cycle repeat itself.

And perhaps she went a little overboard at times, such as requesting a visit with the Headmaster for a parent-teacher conference, or monitoring his love life with a little too much enthusiasm. But at the end of the day, she liked to think it made him feel loved and cared for, as he so deserved to feel.

But just like with her own children, she wasn’t beyond giving him a talking to when needed. He was growing into a wonderful young man, and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Her eyebrow raised impossibly higher at his words, and at the smile she didn’t believe was innocent for a second. “Teddy, honestly. Tensions are high enough among everyone right now without you adding to it with such silliness.” She sighed, and glanced around to make sure his pursuers truly had left. “Are you safe now? Do you need an escort back to your seat? I can certainly arrange that, or simply escort you myself.” She had fought off Death Eaters; she could more than handle a few unruly fans.

- OPENED STARTER -

Edinburgh Quidditch Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland ;; 30th October, 2020

                “GO HOLYHEAD HARPIEEEEES!!!”

     That’s how the great chase began. It probably wasn’t smart to yell for the Harpies in a tribune filled to the brim with Puddlemere fans, but when exactly had Teddy made good life choices that wouldn’t harm him? Yeah, never. As the boy was hopping over four, even five staircase steps at a time going down from the tribune, a wild and angry band of four chased him down with almost matching agility.

     When Lupin found himself down on the floor grounds, he just started running. Anywhere. He could hear the angry bastards scream and yell very very bad words at him. Certainly his chant for victory wasn’t to their liking… probably because it was for the opposing team. Teddy quite literally had to push people violently out of his way, at last giving up with the out of breath ’I’m sorry!’ and ’Excuse me!’ after he had pushed away the fifth person. After jumping over some rocks and sneakily sprinting in between some drunk wizards, he found a very convenient tent that he hid behind as the gang hopefully ran past his decoy. Relaxing for a bit, he allowed his lungs to breathe, a stupid smile on his face.

     "Well that was quite the-“, he began stating to himself as he turned and saw another figure in his proximity. "DEAR MERLIN!”, Teddy screamed. “Sneakin’ up is bad, don’t you know that?”

Depending on the hour, Hermione vacillated between thinking it was a brilliant idea to come to the match and thinking it was the worst idea she’d ever had. She loved Quidditch, although perhaps not quite as much as Ron, and she appreciated the way the sport could bring so many people of varying backgrounds and beliefs together. But she was also getting the distinct feeling that her presence here was unwelcome by many, judging by the dark looks and occasional mutters that people were giving her as she walked past.

But then, Hermione had never placed much stock in popularity. What mattered was doing the right thing, regardless of who agreed with you or what they said about you. Harry had taught her that long ago. 

Still, she was determined to have a good time today, and perhaps even spend a few hours not thinking about politics and the state of the wizarding world, if she was lucky. She was on her way back to the stands (and her private box) with a fresh butterbeer when she spotted a familiar figure darting past, so close to her that he nearly knocked the glass from her hand. She followed him to where he disappeared behind a tent, and tried to school her frown into something that didn’t look too judgmental. “Teddy Lupin, what on earth are you doing? What trouble have you gotten into now?” But her exasperation sounded more affectionate than anything, and she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him.