The two children ran to the playground and Harry was introducing Hermione with wild arm gestures as the adults looked on.
"I'll go and make sure they play nice," Sirius said, with a devious grin, not fooling Hydrus for one minute.
"Thank you, Sirius. I do so worry about her," Grace sighed as she sat.
Hydrus sat next to her and there was an uncomfortable silence. Then he started a conversation about his business, keeping it non-magical. Grace told him that she would be leaving the Grangers when Hermione went to school. And the two talked for an hour, keeping an eye on the children. Hydrus asked why Hermione wasn't being homeschooled if she was so intelligent.
"Her parents want her to be around children her own age. They tried daycare, but Hermione was so far ahead of the rest of the kids that they teased her horribly. They hired me to try and curb her tendencies to always be the best, but it is in her nature," Grace sighed, feeling like she failed the child. "They feel that she has learned enough that they want to try again."
"Well, that can't be helped. Perhaps they should look into therapy. I speak from experience that it can do remarkable things," the immortal offered that secret softly.
Grace nodded her head to show she heard, but decided this wasn't the place to discuss such secrets. "I'll bring it up, but I doubt they will. They're so sure that it'll make her a better person if she just learns to live with the taunts," the young blonde sighed again. "The Grangers are good people, they just…" she trailed off, not sure how to explain her employers, without making them out to be bad.
"I get it," Hydrus said, patting her hand. "I'm sure they're lovey parents."
"Well, I'm hoping for the best. Now, is Harry going to school? You mentioned homeschooling," she said, taking her hand back with a blush. And the two talked about the benefits and the downfalls of homeschooling a child.
Suddenly there were loud voices from the jungle gym. "That's not right," came the bossy tone of a bushy-haired young girl. "According to the stories, you're supposed to untie me, throw me over your shoulder and take me away," she said from her place in the middle of the gym.
"I'm not big enough to put you on my shoulder," a blond-haired boy snapped. He looked to be a few years older than the other kids, so he probably thought he was in charge.
"Whoa," came Sirius's voice. "I'm big enough. I'll rescue the fair maiden," he said holding up his hands to prevent the argument from going further. He then proceeded to approach the girl tied up with what looked like a jacket.
"Oh, yes, well, I guess that works," Hermione stammered. It wasn't in her experience to have adults play with children. Grace had tried to get her to play with dolls and such, but she liked her stories and was unrelenting in her stance. This was the first time her nanny made her come to the park to play. Usually they just sat quietly and talked or read. And the playing continued until the fair maiden was placed next to the large tree. Hermione decided she had played enough for one day and came and demanded her book.
"You did very well, Hermione. I'm so very proud of you," Grace said with a big smile as she handed the book over.
"I actually had fun, maybe boys aren't as stupid as I thought," the little girl conceded as she took her book and went to read.
The boys played until lunch and Hydrus and Grace talked of nonessential things, while Hermione read her book. Finally it was time for everyone to go home.
"Harry has other play dates scheduled, however, we can come here on the last weekend of the month and meet up," Hydrus said softly. "It was great talking to you."
"I think we'll like that, maybe Hermione will learn more about playing with children the more we come," Grace said with a smile. "Here's my phone number, try to call in the evening after bedtime," she added as she rummaged through her purse for a pen and paper. She had her own phone in her room for privacy.
"If you have an extra piece of paper, I'll give you mine and you can call me anytime," the immortal offered. So the two exchanged phone numbers, Grace blushing the entire time, then she gathered up her charge and went home. Harry and Sirius joined the time traveler at the bench.
"I'm hungry," whined the youngest.
"Let's go home and eat. I'm really proud of you, Harry, you did good," Hydrus said, kneeling down to Harry's level.
"She's not bad, for a girl. She even let us tie her up," the child said beaming, proud of his new friend.
"That's wonderful. It takes a special girl to allow that," his uncle said as he stood and led them to the car.
"Next time can we bring Neville, or maybe the twins?"
"We'll talk about it when we get home."
They made it home and had a hearty lunch of cold chicken and a salad. The immortal led his younger self to the living room.
"Sit for a minute, Harry," Hydrus said as he sat on the sofa, pointing to the recliner and waited for the child to get comfortable. "You know we have to keep magic a secret from those that don't know about it, right?"
Harry nodded with a confused look, he hadn't told anyone about magic unless it was make-believe.
"Neville and Weasleys know this too, but all of you are very young and it is easy to let it slip that your family can do things that non-magicals can't do," his uncle explained, making Harry roll his eyes.
"I'm not 'tupid," the big boy said.
"Stupid. And I didn't say you were, I said you were young,"
"I played all day and didn't say anythin' about magic," Harry defended himself with a pout.
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