A/N – Before we begin, I just want to say that I know this sort of story has been done before by other people – but I've had a few people ask me about writing a story where Hermione's family have some sort of reunion and some of her family are not very friendly towards her but get a shock when they find out just what sort of life she has. So this is my take on that – with a few unique twists.
This story is set in a universe where Voldemort was killed when Harry was a baby – meaning there's no second war.
The story has 8 chapters and updates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. I hope people enjoy it.
Less than three weeks before the Easter holidays, the Head Girl, Hermione Granger, was sitting eating breakfast with her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, and Ron's sister, Ginny, when her owl soared into the Great Hall. After a few years of using school owls to converse with her parents, Hermione had bought her own owl, Persephone. She'd made sure her parents had bonded with the bird when she bought it, and every few days Persephone flew home so that her parents could send any letters to Hermione without having to wait for her to write first.
"I wish my owl was as graceful," Ron sighed as Persephone landed beside Hermione without causing any fuss.
Ron's owl was a tiny little thing named Pig, which he'd gotten off Harry for his birthday a few years ago. However, despite Ron's efforts to try and to train the owl, Pig was still as wild as ever. He never appeared without creating havoc, unlike Persephone and Harry's well behaved owl, Hedwig.
"But Pig's so cute," Ginny gushed. She'd actually been the one to name Pig, albeit accidentally, and even though Ron had tried to change it, the owl only answered to Pig.
"Cute but useless," Ron muttered as he grabbed a slice of toast and smothered it in strawberry jam.
Chuckling at Ron, Hermione untied the letter on Persephone's leg and let her owl nibble on the crumbs on her plate. Once Persephone had finished eating she took off into the air and flew back out of the window, heading to the owlrey for when Hermione next needed her. Hermione then turned her attention to the letter from her parents. It felt thicker than normal, and Hermione had to wonder what was included in the letter. Tearing open the envelope she soon found out when an ivory invitation accompanied her mother's letter.
The invitation was to her grandparents golden wedding anniversary, which was to be held at a fancy hotel not far from where Hermione and her parents lived. Hermione's paternal grandparents had always been fond of a party, so the fact their anniversary was going to be celebrated in style wasn't a surprise. Even the fact they'd sent their own granddaughter an official invitation wasn't surprising as Hermione's grandmother liked to do things with a flourish.
"Anything interesting?" Harry asked Hermione as she studied the invitation.
"An invite to my grandparents golden wedding anniversary," Hermione answered, placing the invitation on the table.
"They sent you an invite?" Ron questioned in surprise as he looked at the official invitation Hermione had received. "Wow, that's very formal."
"That's my grandmother," Hermione replied with a shrug.
"Wow, golden anniversary. That's fifty years," Harry said. "Imagine being married for fifty years."
"Sounds like torture," Ron quipped.
"What it is, is romantic," Ginny corrected her brother. "Are your grandparents still happy Hermione?"
"They are," Hermione answered with a smile. "They got married when they were just seventeen, and they're still in love all these years later."
"Getting married at seventeen, were they mad?" Ron asked, his face a picture of pure horror at the thought of marrying so young. He was seventeen now and the last thing he wanted to be doing was tying himself to one woman for the rest of his life.
"Not mad, just in love," Hermione replied. "Besides, most people married young back in those days. It's not like now when people date for years or just live together. Back then if you got involved with someone, you usually ended up married to them."
"So when is this party?" Harry asked, tilting his head to see the invitation properly. "Hey, it's over the Easter holidays."
"I know," Hermione replied with a sigh.
She'd had plans for the Easter holidays, but it looked like she would be changing them. Even if she had thought about skipping her grandparents' party, her mother's letter had warned her that it wasn't an option. Hermione's mother had been clear that she was to go home for the holidays and attend the party.
"Why are so upset about it?" Ginny asked. "It's not like you had plans. You said you were just planning on staying at Hogwarts to study."
"I was," Hermione lied. Her plans involved someone other than her friends, and she'd wanted to wait until after the Easter holidays to tell her friends about what she'd been up to.
"So what's the problem?" Harry questioned.
"According to the letter my Mum wrote, we're going to be staying at the hotel where the party is being held the whole weekend. My Grandparents want a full on Granger family reunion."
"Still not seeing the problem," Ron said.
"The problem would be my two cousins, Rebecca and Izabelle," Hermione explained. "Izzy is two years older than me, and Becky is a few months younger than I am. They're pretty tight and they both hate me."
"I'm sure that's not true," Ginny soothed.
"It is," Hermione insisted. "Growing up I was always the odd one out. Obviously they're sisters so they had a closer bond, but I still spent plenty of time with them. But I wasn't like them. I was the boring one, who was happy with her nose in a book."
"No change there then," Ron joked with a laugh.
Hermione chuckled along with Ron, knowing he teased her about being a bookworm in an affectionate way, unlike her cousins who had just been cruel. "I was also the one strange things happened around. Of course it was accidental magic, but I didn't know it then and even if I had, I couldn't have told them what was happening. Back then, I was just the weird little cousin."
"But that was years ago," Harry argued. "Surely things have changed."
"They hadn't last time I saw them," Hermione admitted. "I saw them both over Christmas during my first year at Hogwarts, and they made fun of the fact I went to a boarding school. I couldn't exactly tell them it was a magical school, so they teased me about being sent away."
"They don't sound very nice," Ginny said with a frown.
"They're not really," Hermione replied. "I've only seen them a few times since then, and they continue to mock me. First they said I was so boring I would have no friends, and then when I told them I had amazing friends, they wouldn't believe me. Unfortunately all my pictures of us lot are wizarding pictures, and I could hardly show them moving pictures. Having to spend a weekend with them is hardly my idea of fun, in fact it's more like torture."
"Can't you get out of it?" Ron asked. "Can't you tell your parents you're studying for exams?"
"Mum made it clear there was to be no excuses," Hermione said with a shrug as she stuffed her letter back in her bag and got to her feet. "I'll just have to grin and bear it. I'll see you guys later, I have to go or I'll be late for Ancient Runes."
Saying goodbye to her friends, Hermione rushed off before she was late. It wasn't until after she'd left that Harry spotted her invitation sitting on the table. While Hermione had stuffed her letter from her mother into her bag, she'd forgotten about the invitation to her grandparents' party.
"Poor Hermione," Harry said as he picked up the invitation and studied it. "I would hate to have to spend a weekend with my relatives."
"That's because your relatives are nasty," Ron retorted.
Harry had lived with his mother's relatives until the end of third year when he'd then gone to live with his godfather, Sirius Black, after Sirius had been pardoned for crimes he'd never committed. The Dursleys had never treated Harry right, and it had been the best day of his life when he left and went to live with Sirius. Of course another added bonus of living with Sirius was that he got to spend more time with Ron and his family.
"True, but Hermione's cousins don't sound much better," Harry said. "I just wish there was something we could do to make her weekend more bearable."
Ron nodded, also wishing there was something they could do to put Hermione's snobby cousins in their place.
"I can think of something you could do," Ginny said with a smirk.
"Why do I get the feeling whatever you're going to suggest is underhand," Ron remarked, scrutinising his sister.
"It's not," Ginny replied. "It's just sneaky."
"Come on then, tell us your plan," Harry urged.
"It's simple. You've got the address of where Hermione's grandparents are holding their party, you just gate-crash. Show Hermione's cousins that she does have friends."
"Can we really just gate-crash a party?" Harry asked.
"I'm not suggesting you go for the whole weekend, just turn up on the night of the big party," Ginny said. "Hermione's family might be staying at the hotel all weekend, but I doubt all the guests are. Just show up on the night of the party, and sneak in. You can then show Hermione's bratty cousins that they're wrong about her."
Harry and Ron shared a look as they contemplated Ginny's suggestion. They knew that if they spoke to Hermione about accompanying her to the party she would more than likely turn them down, but this way they could support their friend and get one over on her horrid cousins. With matching smirks, the pair reached a silent agreement to take Ginny's idea and run with it. They would make sure Hermione wasn't humiliated when she saw her cousins. For once their best friend was going to come out on top.
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By the end of lessons, Hermione was still thinking about the party she had to attend over the Easter holidays. A party wouldn't be too bad, but it was the rest of the weekend that she was dreading. She really didn't fancy spending a whole weekend with Rebecca and Izabelle, especially as she knew they would do nothing more than insult her. Even when she told them about her life, well the parts she could mention, they didn't believe her. They didn't believe she had such good friends, and they certainly wouldn't believe that she was dating one of the hottest boys in school.
Hermione had just reached the head dorms when she heard Harry calling her name. Turning round, she smiled as her best friend approached her.
"You forgot your invitation this morning," He said, handing it over to Hermione. "I meant to give it to your earlier, but it slipped my mind."
In actual fact, Harry had made sure to make an exact copy of the invitation. Not only did he and Ron need it for the address, but they might also need a fake invitation to get into the party.
"Thanks," Hermione said. "Don't want to forget this, do I?"
Harry chuckled at Hermione's reaction, and promising to see her at dinner, he headed off to Gryffindor Tower. With the invitation back in her possession, Hermione muttered the password to the head dorms and entered the cosy common room that she shared with the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy. Draco was also her boyfriend, and had been since the beginning of the year. Over the Easter holidays they'd planned on telling his parents, and if that went well they'd been planning on informing their friends of their romance.
"Hey," Draco greeted, looking up and grinning at Hermione. When she didn't return his smile, he frowned. "What's wrong?"
"We're going to have to cancel our plans for the holidays," Hermione announced as she slumped onto the sofa beside her boyfriend.
"Why?"
Draco was hoping the cancellation had nothing to do with Hermione's friends. He knew they wouldn't really like Hermione dating a Slytherin, but he always figured that once they knew about them that they would learn to accept it. After all, they loved Hermione more than they hated him, or at least he hoped they did.
"I've got a big family thing," Hermione said, explaining about the invitation she'd received that morning.
"But it's only one weekend. What if we visit my parents the following weekend?"
"I guess we could do that," Hermione conceded, brightening up at the realisation not everything was ruined.
"Of course we can," Draco said. "Family comes first Hermione. I understand that you have to celebrate with your grandparents."
"If only it didn't involve my cousins," Hermione groaned.
"I take it your cousins aren't very nice," Draco said, making sure he said nothing derogatory about muggles.
"That's an understatement," Hermione snorted. "They make Pansy look like the nicest girl in school."
"Ouch," Draco remarked with a chuckle. "Are they really that bad?"
"Yeah," Hermione answered with a nod. "I'm too strange for them."
"I guess not being able to tell them about your magic can't help," Draco said as he wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her closer to him.
"I think even if I could tell them it would only give them more ammunition against me," Hermione said with a sigh as she rested her head on Draco's shoulder. "Not only would I be an unattractive, boring bookworm, but I'd be a witch as well. They would just love to taunt me about being a witch."
"Just for the record, they're completely wrong about you," Draco said. "You're not boring, and you're certainly not unattractive. You're the most interesting girl I've ever met, and I think you're gorgeous."
"I notice you didn't correct the bookworm comment," Hermione teased, looking up at Draco with a grin.
"That's because you are a bookworm," Draco replied. "You're my sexy bookworm, and I wouldn't have you any other way."
Laughing lightly, Hermione leaned up and connected her lips with Draco's. Tangling his hand in his girlfriend's brunette curls, Draco passionately kissed her back.
"Do you want to go upstairs?" He asked as they finally broke for some air.
"I'm going for a shower," Hermione replied. "Alone," she added before Draco had a chance to suggest anything. "I promised to meet Ron before dinner to help with his Transfiguration homework, and if you come in the shower with me, I'll end up distracted."
"Later then," Draco said.
"Later," Hermione vowed, giving Draco another kiss before she got to her feet.
"I'm just heading down to the dungeons to see Blaise," Draco said as he also stood up. "That way I'm not tempted to sneak up on you in the shower."
Sticking her invitation on the bookshelf in the corner, Hermione said her goodbyes and headed up for a shower. Draco looked at the invitation, his mind whirling with a plan, before he turned and left the common room. He needed to speak to Blaise and run his idea past his best friend. Blaise was the only person aware of his relationship with Hermione, therefore Draco always went to him when he wanted to discuss his girlfriend.
Down in the dungeons, Draco found Blaise chatting up a sixth year girl. Dragging his friend away from the fawning witch, Draco headed to the boys dorms so they could have some privacy. Theo, Crabbe and Goyle were all down in the common room so Draco knew they weren't going to run into any of them in his old dorm.
"This better be important," Blaise muttered as he threw himself on his bed. "I was about to get some action there."
"I'm sure you can pick up where you left off," Draco remarked as he settled down at the bottom of Theo's bed. Now he was no longer sleeping in the room, his old bed had vanished and there was slightly more room on the dorm. "I want to talk to you."
"I figured as much," Blaise replied with a roll of his eyes. "I didn't think you'd dragged me in here for a passion filled encounter. So spill, what's going on? Hermione hasn't backed out of the holidays, has she?"
"Not exactly," Draco said as he explained what was happening with his girlfriend.
"Bummer," Blaise said with a sympathetic smile. "But at least you can still introduce her to your parents. You'll just not have as long to charm them."
"That's not what I want to talk about," Draco said. "I want to talk about the party Hermione is going to for her grandparents' anniversary."
"Why do you want to talk about a muggle party?" Blaise frowned. "Did she invite you to go with her?"
"No. To be honest, I don't think it's occurred to her to ask if she could bring anyone," Draco said. "But I want to go anyway."
"You're going to gate-crash a muggle party?" Blaise looked at his friend in disbelief. He couldn't believe even Draco could suggest something as outlandish.
"Yeah," Draco confirmed with a nod. "Hermione mentioned some cousins, and she's clearly dreading seeing them. She didn't say much I get the impression they've made her life hell whenever she sees them."
"And you want to turn up and rub their noses in it," Blaise guessed. "You want them to see that Hermione has a hot, sexy boyfriend."
"Exactly," Draco answered with a smirk, before frowning at his friend. "Is there something you want to tell me Blaise? First you mention us getting passionate, and now you're calling me sexy? Does someone have a crush?"
"Don't be so stupid. Everyone knows I like women, in fact I love women," Blaise said with a grin. "I'm just speaking objectively. You're a good looking lad, the whole school knows that. After me, I would say you were the most sought after boy in the entire school."
"No, no, no," Draco said. "I'm the most sought after boy in the school. You play second fiddle to me."
"As if," Blaise scoffed. "Everyone knows Blaise Zabini is the hot property in Hogwarts. I outdo you in every way. I'm so much sexier than you."
"You know we could argue about this all day and never agree," Draco laughed.
"You're right," Blaise said. "Let's get back to gate-crashing a muggle party. Do you have any idea how you're going to achieve it?"
"That's where my best friend is going to come into play," Draco answered with a smirk. "Together, I'm confident we can find an answer."
Blaise smirked back at Draco, knowing that together they could find a solution to any problem facing them. They were Slytherins after all, and there wasn't much that fazed them. Finding a way to gate-crash a muggle party was child's-play, especially after some of the things they'd gotten up to over the course of the last seven years. Rest assured, they'd find a way to get to Hermione's party and show her cousins just how great Hermione's life was. After they'd finished, her cousins would never mock her again. Instead they would be insanely jealous of her hot, sexy boyfriend.