Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or plot of Harry Potter or Twlight

The first time she met Jacob Black; he spit up on her brand new jumper, and proceeded to giggle.

Her father had proudly announced that she herself had done the same thing when he first held her in the hospital, gaining chuckles from the other adults while her mother quickly grabbed the toddler from her shaking hands and cooed, "Aren't you just funny baby! Hermione, be a dear, and fetch his bib." Hermione nodded, mildly annoyed at the toddler who only grinned happily up at her mother. Now she would have to change jumpers, and she rather liked the shade of purple she had on. It was a gift from her grandmother for her acceptance into Hogwarts. Granted, her grandmother thought it was merely a prestigious all-girls school in Scotland, but it was nice all the same. Plus Lavender Brown told her it brought out the gold in her eyes. While Hermione thought herself somewhat plain, she knew that rare compliments such as those should not be ignored. Had she been at Hogwarts, a simple spell would've done the trick and cleaned the stain right up, but she was not. It was the summer before her second year, meaning she was not allowed to do magic outside school; so she'd have to wait until her mum could get to the laundry.

She was spending the next week in Forks, Washington with her parents to visit her uncle and cousin. Her father was really an only child, but during university, his father remarried her Uncle Charlie's mother. So technically, they were only family on formality, but her father rather liked his step-brother and vice-versa. For the past few years, the Granger family has flown out to Seattle and spent a week with her Uncle Charlie. This year, little Bella, who will turn three in September, has joined them, much to Renee's chagrin.

Today, they had followed her Uncle Charlie to his best friend Billy's house to meet his growing family. The night before, Hermione had overheard her parents hoping that she would make friends with this family and have some kids to play with the rest for the week. Little did they realize that the oldest child besides herself was 5 years old. Hermione hardly thought the little ones were stimulating enough for an entire day and she worried that her parents mainly wanted her to play baby sitter for all the young ones, while they caught up. They only let her bring one of her books. What was she supposed to do for the rest of the day?

Hermione opened a few of the cabinets in the kitchen until she found a bib that had the image of a wolf stitched intricately through it. She grabbed it and stepped back into the living area where everyone else was gathered. Her Uncle Charlie with little Bella perched on his lap, Rachel and Rebecca sitting next to Billy Black, her Uncle's best friend and of course her mother and Sarah Black, both playing with the one year-old. Sarah Black saw Hermione first and gave her a warm smile, "Thank you Hermione. I'm sorry about your shirt, I should have put a bib on him before I handed him off." Hermione shook her head, "Nonsense, you hardly could've known. No harm done," as she took a seat next to little Bella.

Her father entered the room, with the paper in his hands, marveling about Olympic volleyball in the 1992 Summer Games hosted by Spain. Hermione, not being one much for sports turned to her cousin, and asked softly, "Would you like to help me with my sweater?" Bella nodded quickly, hopping off her father's knee and taking Hermione's out stretched hand.

They walked together, to the Black's modest bathroom. There Hermione lifted Bella onto the counter and asked her to start the sink. The three-year old was more than happy to help the older girl. Hermione than began to rinse out the stain of her jumper with a towel. "Do you like it here?" Hermione asked the her. Bella shook her head slowly, "Don't tell daddy," she pleaded. Hermione nodded, frowning. "Bella, what do you like to do?" Bella stared up at her with wide chocolate eyes and merely shrugged. Hermione huffed exasperatedly, "Well there must be something that you like here?" Bella again shrugged. "Come on, it can be our little secret, I promise," Hermione urged. But again, Bella said nothing. Frustrated, Hermione finished up her jumper in silence and let Bella pat her jumper dry. Together they left the bathroom, and reentered the living area.

"Hermione love, your Uncle, Billy and I planned on going to some man named Harry's house to watch the final match for volleyball. I won't see you till tomorrow morning. Be good for your mother." Her father said as he walked past, squeezing her shoulder gently. Billy and her Uncle were not far behind. Bella ran to her father and gave him a hug, looking terrified to be left alone with all these other people. He whispered something to his daughter that seemed to pacify the young girl for she nodded and backed away.

Once all three men had left, Sarah Black had pulled out a bottle of White Zinfandel. "Once I put Jacob to bed, we can open this."

Helen Granger would have none of it. All day, she'd noticed that Sarah was quite over-whelmed with her three young children, and Billy was not much of a help. What Sarah Black really needed, was to relax, "Nonsense, Hermione here can take him upstairs. She took care of our neighbor back home all summer. This should be nothing for her. Right dear?"

Hermione looked up, nodding in agreement with her mother. "Not a problem." Hermione picked up the small child and carried him to the small room that was obviously meant to be a small office. The worn crib was in the corner next to the window, with piles of diapers and blankets stacked neatly on either side. A dream catcher hung above the crib, as well as tribal beads made by Sarah, according to her mother. Jacob huffed as they entered the room, knowing what was expected. "Time for bed Jacob," Hermione cooed in a soft voice. She hoped he would cooperate, but based off their earlier encounter she wasn't so sure. As expected, he looked at her with those big brown eyes and said with as much muster as his little voice could manage, "No."

"Hush now, it's time for bed."

This only caused more kicking, including one well-placed kick to her ribs. Gritting her teeth with irritation, Hermione set Jacob on the floor and let him crawl away from her. She shut the bedroom door, and watched him for a moment, as he soon lost interest in her and began to play with a toy on the floor.

For ten minutes, Hermione just let the toddler play on his own. She saw no reason to force him into bed when he obviously wasn't tired. She heard a barely audible knock on the door, so she stood to answer the door. A tiny brown head peaked through the crack and stared at Hermione with large doe eyes. Little Bella had been sent up to stay with Hermione. "Hi Bella," she murmured, as the small girl rubbed her eyes and came in. "Are you sleepy?" Bella shook her head, staring at Jacob before motioning for Hermione to pick her up.

Allowing the child to sit on her lap, Hermione looked around for a book or something to do with Bella. Not finding much success, she settled for telling Bella about Hogwarts. Bringing her arms around the Bella, Hermione gently squeezed and offered softly, "Would you like to hear a story?" Bella turned to look at her, and nodded eagerly. Hermione, not seeing any harm in telling a child that would most likely not remember anyway, began to tell Bella the tale of the Four Founders. Hermione never really thought herself one for stories as a child, much rather preferring logic an facts to fanciful stories, but Bella too young to understand was enraptured by Hermione's simple words. When Hermione first talked of women and men with magical powers, Bella's eyes grew wide and she would 'ooh' whenever Hermione mentioned dragons and other magical creatures. Hermione thought it adorably funny that Bella seemed to come alive at the thought of the supernatural.

When Hermione shared all she could think of, she was shocked when Bella asked to hear the whole tale "again". Shaking her head Hermione said, "Maybe tomorrow if you're good, but otherwise, I think it might be bed time." Bella nodded, and leaned against Hermione's chest as if she planned to sleep right there for the rest of the night. Tutting, Hermione stood up with Bella held firmly in her arms. Looking down at Jacob, who was sitting in the middle of the room with a dazed look in his eyes, Hermione smiled slightly. It looked like the toddler was finely ready for bed. Torn between putting Bella to bed and dealing with Jacob, Hermione was saved by Bella being called by her own mother down the hall. Letting Bella down, Hermione watched as the small girl made her way out of the room.

Looking down at Jacob, Hermione tried not to laugh at how ridiculous the small boy looked. His left eye kept drooping down from exhaustion and he stubbornly kept rocking his head back to open it. Picking up the child, she smiled as he seemed to melt into her embrace, much unlike their earlier encounter. She moved her long hair behind her shoulder, hoping he didn't plan on pulling it anytime soon. Moving towards the crib, she made to set him down and that's when his calm nature changed. He started to whine, and latched onto the only thing he could, her hair. Wincing in pain, she pulled him close to her body as she tried to dislodged his hold on her hair. It wasn't working.

She didn't know what to do. Every time she tried to set him down, he would whimper and begin to cry. As long as she held him he seemed to be calm. Sitting in the rocking chair, Hermione hoped that maybe if he fell asleep in her arms, she could sneakily put him to bed without him knowing. Leaning back on the chair, and begging to rock, Hermione 'hushed' the small child and rubbed circles in his back. His hold on her hair only tightened but he seemed to calm. Hermione doesn't know how long they sat like that, but she felt an odd sense of exhaustion wash over her. The last thing she remembers being the deep breathing of the small body lying on top of her.

When Jean Granger and Sarah Black made their way to the nursery, both smiled at the sight before them. Hermione lie asleep in the rocking chair, her hair wild while Jacob was snuggled in her firm hold, still clutching her hair also fast asleep. Neither mother wanted to disturb their child, Sarah gently picked up the toddler, who didn't stir one bit and placed him into the safety of his crib, while Jean found a pillow to place under her daughter's head.

The rest of the week was spent at Charlie's house, and eventually Hermione was able to wash her purple jumper. She returned to Hogwarts to complete her second year and her memories of what happened at the Black house would not return for a long time.

AN: This is the first of part of a three-shot. The next chapter will take place after the war. Till the next update, deator11.