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Chapter 6 - chapter 6 a late night and an early morning

"Emma, come to bed love. You're going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep pacing." Emma Granger looked at her husband, "Sorry love, it's just..." Daniel interrupted, "You want to strap the Dursleys to your dental chair. Then drill down to all the nerves in their teeth without an anaesthetic?" Emma glanced at her husband as he lay in bed, "That's an oddly specific example. But yes, that and so much more. How could they do that to a child? I just want to...ugh!" She threw a balled-up pair of socks against the wall as hard as she could.

Daniel knew it he was best letting his wife rage. They had been bottling it up all day since Harry told them of his life outside of school. The reason for holding back was simple. When Harry had told his story Daniel had not hidden his anger at first. He openly showed his feelings, until Harry flinched. Harry was afraid of angry adults. Daniel and Emma understood why and had both started acting calmer and happier for the sake of the poor boy.

 It was only now, in the privacy of their own room, that they let the mask drop. Emma was still pacing back and forth, being excessively violent to things that could take it. Another ball of socks, a crumpled-up t-shirt, her pillow, all went flying across the room in her attempts to calm down. Daniel, on the other hand, was different, if his wife's anger was a blazing fire, his was cold. Instead of pacing and emoting like Emma, Daniel sat there in bed making plans.

 "Emma, did Hermione ever say anything about Harry's relatives?" His wife turned to look at him, some of her fury directed at him, "You think I would have let any of that happen to any child, let alone one Hermione cares for, if I had even a hint !?" Daniel realised the mistake in his phrasing "Sorry love bad phrasing. I mean anything about their jobs, where they live, anything I can use to find out more about them."

 A look of understanding came over Emma's face. "I don't recall anything. We can ask her what she knows tomorrow. Don't expect much however, I doubt Harry told her much of what happened to him, considering how shocked she was." Dan nodded, it wouldn't surprise him if Harry had planned on never telling anyone.

"How is our girl handling all this? It's a pretty big thing to handle for us, and we're adults who don't know Harry all that well."

 Emma looked at the wall in the direction of her daughter's room, "Better than I thought she would. She is hyper-focusing on the things she can do to help. Just like she does with tests." Her husband nodded, "She is working through it then. Did you notice how he is with her?" She smirked, thinking about the comfortable intimacy that Hermione had with her new boyfriend, "You mean the fact that he stays out of arm's reach of everyone? Even moving off slowly if anyone gets to close. He has a boundary he doesn't like anyone in. But our girl can walk right up and hug him without him flinching?" Emma was focusing on that, and it was helping her to calm down a little. Dan nodded once again, "Yep. He trusts her and she was okay showing off her cat ears to him. She covers them even when it's just us around, but she trusts him to be okay with them."

 "As much as I don't want our girl to be involved with the stuff he will be going through...Emma, I think she may be the only one who can truly help him." Emma flopped on the bed next to her husband, she wouldn't get under the covers tonight, he knew it was too hot for her at this time of the year, "Do you really think that she would have it any other way? She likes to charge in and fix things at the best of times. And now her boyfriend needs help. No way she's leaving this alone." Dan conceded the point, even if he didn't like it; "Have I mentioned how much I hate that my little girl even has a boyfriend already?"

 Emma shifted on the bed, turning to look at her husband, "Darling, she is growing up. She will be fourteen in seven weeks. It's normal and from what she's been saying about Harry all summer, she found a good one. I know you don't like it, but to be honest, it's not Hermione growing up that's the problem. It's that it makes you feel old." Dan grunted in response.

 

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The sun hit Harry's face, waking him up from slumber. He groaned and rolled over, eyeing the time. Then it hit him; he had slept late.

He jumped out of bed, looking around for his clothes, he had to get ready before his aunt sent Vernon to get him. Then he realized he wasn't at Privet Drive.

He was at Hermione's.

He sat back on the bed, breathing heavily, trying to focus his muddled mind. He was at Hermione's. He was at Hermione's. His uncle wasn't here. It was OK. It took him ten minutes, but he was finally able to get himself under control.

 He got dressed in the clothes that had been provided, laid out over the back of a chair. He was sure they were Hermione's fathers. Even with the elastic waste of the workout trousers, he had to pull the string so much that he was able to wrap it around his waist a second time. And they were still a better fit than Dudley's hand-me-downs.

 He said good morning to Hedwig, who was on an improvised perch that Mr. Granger had cobbled together months ago, so that Hedwig had somewhere to rest after delivering Hermione's letters. Hermione had relocated it to the corner of the guest room Harry currently occupied. He convinced Hedwig to drink her feather replenishing potion, with the promise that he would get her some water to wash out the taste.

 He went down the hall to the bathroom with the bowl he had given Hedwig her potion in, took care of his morning business, then rinsed and refilled the bowl with water. Hedwig nipped his finger lightly when he returned the bowl and took a quick drink. Harry sat with her for a little while, but as the morning drew on his familiar grew sleepier and sleepier, eventually dismissing him so she could get some sleep.

 As Harry made his way downstairs he heard a radio playing in the kitchen;

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Another great song by Culture Beat. That was, of course, Mr. Vain.

This is BBC radio chasing away the Monday blues.

Up next we are breaking through our limits...

It's No Limits by 2Unlimitid.

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A high paced techno beat started playing as Harry made his way towards the music, assuming that if there was music playing then someone would be listening to it. Entering the kitchen, he stood in the doorway and stared at the sight before him. In the kitchen was Hermione, dressed casually with her ears and tail out in the open. Only...Hermione wasn't listening to the radio as she studied or did a bit of housework.

Hermione was dancing. Hermione was dancing, and Harry couldn't seem to look away.

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No no limits, we'll reach for the sky!

No valley too deep, no mountain too high

No no limits, won't give up the fight

We do what we want and we do it with pride

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Hemione sang along to the chorus as she danced her hips swaying, unknowingly captivating Harry, who just couldn't tear his eyes away. As the last line of the chorus finished, Hermione turned around and was surprised to see her boyfriend/house guest watching her avidly.

"H...Harry how long...how long were you w...watching?" The teen's face as red as a tomato. Harry's face just as red, "N...not long...a few seconds that's all, I swear." The stammering teens each felt rather awkward, "Sorry, I should have said something as soon as I walked in, but you looked like you were having fun..." then mumbling quietly, he added, "....and you looked really cute." Hermione's blush deepened, thanks to her cat ears she heard the last bit clearly. She threw her arms around Harry.

 "You know cat ears are better than human ones, right?" Hermione teased him a little. She could feel the heat of his blush as she held onto his stomach. Too embarrassed to say anything, Harry just put his arms around her, holding her closer to him. Hermione smiled at the feeling of his arms encircling her, she had had to be patient with Harry for months before he started hugging her back. She reflected a little on all she had learned the day before about his relatives, then she realised the reason he didn't like hugging her at first.

 It took Harry so long to hug her because Harry didn't know how to respond to a hug. Hell, he didn't know how to respond to any positive physical contact at all. Hermione could guess that his uncle gave him a lot of physical contact, just not the good kind. He didn't know how to respond to a hug because he had never gotten any growing up. She clung to Harry tighter, the two of them standing silent and still for a few minutes, enjoying the presence of each other, their arms wrapped snugly around each other.

The radio started up with another song;

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Wise men say

Only fools rush in,

But I can't help falling in love with you.

Wise men say

Only fools rush…

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Hermione had disentangled herself from her boyfriend and turned off the radio, "So...breakfast! Yes! We haven't eaten yet..." She stammered out as he moved over to the kitchen counters, "Yeah, breakfast sounds good." Harry went to help her prepare the food. The two teens worked together to create a simple breakfast of poached eggs and toast, both of them avoiding the L-word like the plague. The two sat down at the table eating their breakfast, just relaxing and enjoying their food together wasn't something they were able to do a lot. At school they had to finish in time to get to lessons, even when there weren't lessons, there was Quidditch training or they needed to get to the library early. So for Harry and Hermione, the lazy breakfast was a nice change of pace

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