"That's something we can do later in the summer if you'd like, so don't worry about it now. In the meantime if you need any money, we'll be glad to give it to you and you can pay us back," She decided another jab at her husband was worth it. "Besides, it obvious you're good for it. Right Richard?" After a moment in which her husband didn't reply she continued. "Well if we're going soon then Hermione and I need to get ready, especially if we're eating out," Her eyes glanced from her daughter to her husband to make sure Hermione understood the meaning. Then she turned back to her husband. "Richard, why don't you take Harry down to the living room? We won't be too long."
There was a small bar area in the corner of the living room and Richard poured himself a glass of Tomatin Single Malt Whisky before taking a seat. He didn't offer anything to Harry just motioned with his glass-filled hand that he should take a seat on the sofa while Richard sat down in an armchair several feet away. When Harry settled down on the sofa, a large ginger cat jumped up beside him and started purring. The sound was soothing and Harry instinctively started running his hand over Crookshank's fur as he waited. A minute, then two and finally after three minutes had passed without a word being said, Harry finally asked. "Sir, is there a reason you don't like me?"
Richard Granger took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass as he turned his gaze toward the young man. He ignored the clothes and the disheveled hair and stared into his eyes. He held Harry's gaze for an entire minute as he gathered his thoughts. He wanted to find anger in those eyes or at least something, anything that would give his dislike purchase but there was nothing, just that damn firm but nervous expression. Finally he answered. "Besides the fact that my daughter's life is in peril because of you?"
"I..." Harry hesitated before continuing, "I truly wish it wasn't the case but I won't deny it. With Voldemort after me, it is dangerous. Like this morning..." Harry stopped as he realized he should not have mentioned what had happened earlier, but it was too late.
"This morning? Something happened to Hermione this morning?" Richard asked as he sat his glass down and leaned forward. "I thought you were going to that Ministry place."
"Yes sir, we were, we did I mean, but we were attacked on the way there," Harry admitted. In this case he wasn't going to lie to Hermione's father. He felt lying would only make matters worse if and when it was discovered.
Richard glanced upward, in the direction of the bedroom where he knew Hermione and his wife were getting ready before looking back at Harry. He was fighting an urge to throw the young man out of the house and forbid his daughter to ever go near him again. Every fiber in his body was telling him to do exactly that; protect his daughter. But he also knew it would be pointless, or even worse. Hermione had already made that perfectly clear. In silent frustration, he picked up his glass and took another sip and let the warmth of the liquid slide down his throat. He took a deep breath as he tried to relax before he asked. "What happened? Is Hermione really okay?"
"She's fine, I promise," Harry replied. "We were walking when..." Harry paused for a second and then continued, "when three Death Eaters attacked. My godfather took down one immediately while Hermione and I hit another one. It was over pretty quick."
"And?" Richard asked sensing there was something more.
Harry again hesitated before replying. He knew the answer wasn't going to help, but he also knew that he needed to be honest. "The third one was killed."
"Killed? How? Your Godfather?"
The hesitation this time took several seconds; finally Harry took a deep breath and answered. "By me sir, I did it."
"You? You killed a man?"
Harry nodded. "I wasn't trying to, but..." Harry paused again as once again he could see the Death Eater, Goyle, aiming his wand at Hermione and then what happened. He shook his head to clear the image before continuing "I'd looked away for a second to make sure Sirius, that's my godfather, didn't need help. When I did, Hermione hit the last one with a hex. By the time I'd turned back he was threatening her and was about to...he was about to hurt her. As I said, I didn't mean to kill him, I was only trying to hit his wand arm with a spell but it came out more powerful than I expected."
"You actually killed him?" Richard asked again. "And you can sit there like nothing happened? Go shopping, out to eat after killing a man?"
"What should I be doing?" Harry exclaimed with a surge of anger. "Should I be crying about it? Moping around?" He shook his head tried to calm himself before continuing. "As I said, I wasn't trying to kill him, but I don't regret it sir," Harry said as stared at the older man. He knew Mr. Granger hadn't been there. He wouldn't know about Death Eaters. Wouldn't know what they are. He got up from his seat and walked halfway across the room trying to figure out what to say while at the same time trying to calm down. Finally he looked at Hermione's father and continued. "Mr. Granger, if someone was threatening Mrs. Granger and you knew without a doubt he'd kill her, would you care if you killed or wounded that person as long as you protected her? Would you hold back to make sure you only hurt them or would you put everything you had into whatever you did, and hoped it was enough? And if you did kill him, would you really be more concerned about that person or your wife? Would the death of that person keep you awake when he was trying to kill your wife? I'm not happy about what I did, but I don't regret it. He was the one who attacked us. He was the one who tried to...to hurt Hermione."
Richard stared at the young man in front of him. Without even looking away, he reached for his glass and took another swallow of the single malt. "I see your point I guess," He said finally. "Still..."
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