Room 308, Sunday morning

[smartestone]

Hermione woke up slowly, though she realized the bed did seem smaller than she was used to. She opened her eyes, sitting up to see what the problem was, and was surprised to see the ginger cat sleeping at the foot of the bed. "Crookshanks?" she said, frowning. He hadn't been alive for years...

She looked around the room, blinking as she took in the now-vaguely familiar setting. Of course.

And sighed. "Honestly."


[Door's closed, post is open!]

Comments

[the_merriest]

Rikku hated sleeping alone, but oh, last-minute business trips. At least they had already arranged a sitter for the kids.

No kids for a whole weekend. She might very well sleep in.

She stretched, taking in her setting, and noticed the other figure in the room. "Hermione?" she asked with a laugh. Well, if she was in 308, as she seemed to be ...

... then that would be Crookshanks, and this ball of fur nibbling on her toes must be Pete. Or a convincing replica; Pete had been dead a fair number of years, and even if he wasn't, he certainly wouldn't be the sprightly kitten she saw now.

She laughed again. "The Fandom experience, it seems ... ?"

[smartestone]

"Very Fandom," Hermione answered, scratching between Crookshanks' ears. And yet this didn't seem too odd to her. She looked over and said, "You look really good."

[the_merriest]

"Thank you," Rikku laughed. "I think waking up without a four-year-old bouncing on my stomach agrees with me. And you, too, my gosh, your hair."

She grinned. "There, I sound sixteen again. How do you think we've got our cats back?"

[smartestone]

"Fandom," she said by way of explanation. "So you have children?"

[the_merriest]

"I wonder if I can abduct him when we leave again," she mused. "I've missed my dim kitty. And yes, two, and I owe my father rather a lot for not strangling me at age six if I was half the handful they are. What about you?"

[smartestone]

"Two. They're both growing up far too fast, but I haven't seemed to be able to stop it," Hermione said with a wry smile. "I'm sure there's a spell for that somewhere."

[the_merriest]

"I would settle for a spell to freeze them in place for a few hours so I could get a good night's sleep," Rikku laughed. "I half-expect to find the sitter hogtied and the city in flames."

[smartestone]

"I can't imagine where they get that from," she said dryly.

[the_merriest]

"I tried blaming their father," she grinned. "He seemed to take it as a compliment. So did yours end up bookish or completely the opposite?"

[smartestone]

"They do well for themselves," Hermione said. "I make sure of it. They know how to study, and that's half the battle right there. I'm sure they'll be Gryffindors, though."

[the_merriest]

"That's what you are, right?" Rikku grinned. "Mine are already Al Bhed, so I know they're gonna be trouble."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

And there's already grumbling coming from outside the door as an older Ron knocks.

"Did someone find it amusing to have us sleep in separate rooms?"

[smartestone]

Hermione got up to open it and let him inside. "I haven't the slightest idea," she sighed. "Maybe they've become stricter in the last twenty years."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

"This place was always bloody ridiculous. Why should I expect anything different? And how the hell did the owls find me here? I've got two already from Percy demanding that the Aurors find out who is saturating the market with defective cauldrons imported from Asia," Ron said rolling his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell we hunt dark wizards. Not cauldron merchants."

[smartestone]

"Tell him you'll pass the message along to the appropriate parties," Hermione said simply. "He won't learn any other way."

She paused. "Don't tell him I said that, I don't want the owls coming to me."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

"I'll pass it off on Harry," Ron said with a grin. "He can use his big reputation to shut him up. Besides no one listens to the little brother. Run into any old classmates yet?"

[smartestone]

"Just Rikku so far," she answered. "Though I've been thinking about heading down to the library. Don't make fun."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

Ron suppressed a world weary sigh. "Just promise me you'll not pester anyone to go back into Special Collections. Maybe come up for air once or twice?"

[smartestone]

"I promise," Hermione sighed. "I spent far too much time there, I just have to see it. And if they happen to have anything new and interesting..."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

"Right then. I'll just make sure to send you photos of Huge and Rose when they get older and get married," Ron teased.

[smartestone]

"I would hope that you would come and get me long before that," she said, almost teasing back. "I'd prefer you over the owls from the Ministry telling me to come back to work..."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

"Yes. If I could actually find you in that place. You'd probably go back into that special collections place and find an unwritten version of Hogwarts a History and get lost forever."

[smartestone]

"Of course I wouldn't," Hermione assured him. "I would need a pass from a teacher to get in. It's the rules."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

"Like you'd let that stop you dirty bookworm," Ron teased.

[smartestone]

"Only if I really needed to," she insisted. "I have to set a good example."

[isourking.livejournal.com]

Ron just chuckled as he shook his head. "I'd would've thought your job at the ministry would have stopped your academic pursuits."