Linspace

Chapter 2

The day before the departure was spent saying good bye to friends and family. The Weasley family being the first on the list, Ron excluded since he didn't show up. Hermione was okay with that, she wasn't particularly keen on seeing him anytime soon. Harry too, wasn't bothered much. When he learned what had transpired between his two best friends he became furious on behalf of Hermione and he had no intention of speaking to Ron for the time being.

The Weasleys were saddened at the news of Hermione's parents and they understood the need for them to move to America, but it was still difficult to see them go.

Ginny was a sobbing mess, wrapped tightly around Hermione and refusing to let her go.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't faring much better and was currently crushing Harry in one of her motherly hugs.

George didn't have anymore tears left to cry, but if he had, he would. He was terribly sad that they were leaving, especially Hermione. He was incredibly grateful to the little witch for managing to bring him back from the pit of despair that he had dig himself in after losing Fred, and he considered her a sister. He approached her to pull her out from Ginny's arms and into his.

After both Harry and Hermione received their final hugs from Bill, Fleur, Percy and Mr. Weasley they made their way to the floo.

"We promise to write, and anyway we are just one floo call away." said Hermione with a sad smile before disappearing through the green flames with Harry close behind.

======

They had made it. Hermione and Harry were finally in Forks, Washington, currently standing in the living room of their new home, taking in the surroundings.

They had travelled by plane, it was slower but safer than port-keying or apparating since it didn't leave a magical trail for the death eaters to follow. So after twelve hours of travelling they reached what would be their home for the next months, if not longer.

The house they had chosen was a nice two story building on the outskirts of the town, conveniently next door to Jean Granger's twin brother Charlie, Hermione's uncle. On the ground floor was the living room, kitchen and dining room, while the first floor was divided into two wings. One with Harry and Hermione's bedrooms with the respective bathrooms attached and the other with two spare rooms. Hermione's eyes lit up upon seeing them, already a plan forming in her mind. One would be a potion's lab and the other a library, she decided. And promptly told Harry so. He didn't mind. He was probably expecting something like that from her.

Charlie didn't know about his new neighbours yet, not exactly being privy of Hermione's secret, but they decided it was a problem for the following day. Right now they needed to set up the house.

It was only 5 pm, they had plenty of time to have everything done by the end of the day with a little bit of magic to help. They went each on their way and set to work.

They were done in less than three hours, but considering the different time zone and the long plane ride, they decided to call it a day and retire to their respective rooms.

It was in the early hours of the morning that Hermione awoke gasping for air, with the sheets tangled all around her and her t-shirt and shorts clung to her body covered in sweat. She sighed and headed to the bathroom to have a shower. It was pointless trying to go back to sleep, not after the horrible nightmare she just had. It wasn't a regular occurrence anymore, but with the death of her parents all the memories she had tried to suppress had returned with a vengeance and it wasn't really a surprise that the nightmares had started bothering her once more. Thankfully she had placed a Silencing Charm on her room the night before so she didn't wake Harry with her screams.

After readying herself for the day she decided to start preparing breakfast to keep herself occupied. Cooking always had a calming effect on her. With pancakes and waffles ready, she put a Stasis Charm on them to keep them warm and settled in the dining room with some files to go through waiting for Harry to join her. She had decided to research the area in the hopes of finding possible residing magical creatures.

"Trust Mia to have her nose in a book at this time in the morning." chuckled Harry entering the dining room.

"'s not a book." mumbled Hermione without taking her eyes off the parchment.

Harry merely shook his head in response and headed for the kitchen to follow the scent of food coming from behind the door.

Hermione, after finishing reading the paragraph made to join Harry, who was eyeing the food and exclaiming "You made waffles!" like a kid on Christmas morning. Typical Harry, thought Hermione fondly.

For a while the only sound in the room was the cluttering of the cutlery on the plates and the occasional sigh of contentment coming from Harry after a bite of waffles, until Hermione spoke up.

"So... we need to talk to Charlie today" she started.

"Yes, and we have to put up the wards as soon as possible. So the sooner we go the better it is."

Hermione groaned in response.

"Hey, don't worry. You're not doing this alone. I'll be right there beside you the entire time." said Harry reaching out to give Hermione's hand a squeeze.

She squeezed back and smiled at him, immensely grateful for the support of her best friend. She sent the plates back to the kitchen with a flick of her wand, stood up and made her way to the entrance door, Harry following behind her.

Once in front of Charlie's house she took a deep breath and knocked. There were noises of voices and footsteps coming from inside and- was that the sound of a rifle being loaded? - before the door shot open and they found themselves facing a man in his forties with black hair and a thick moustache sporting a stunned look on his face.

"It's good to see you uncle Charlie." greeted Hermione with a smile.

It took him a couple of moments to get his bearings but then a beaming smile appeared on his face and crushed the his niece in a hug.

"Hermione! Look at you, what are you doing here? When did you arrive? Why didn't Jean tell me you were coming?"

Hermione faltered at the mention of her mother, but she tried to keep a smile on her face. It wouldn't do to break down right now. She felt Harry's comforting presence behind her and she steeled herself to answer her uncle.

"May we come in?"

"Yes, of course." replied Charlie motioning for them to come inside.

They then heard other footsteps approaching and someone asking " Who was at the door Charlie?".

A moment later a girl with a heart-shaped face framed by long brown hair came into view. Her brown eyes widened at the sight that met her.

"Oh my..." she whispered.

Hermione's face lit up upon seeing her and she rushed forward to hug her tightly.

"Bells! I missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

Bella, hearing the nickname immediately came out of her trance and hugged her back just as tightly.

"'mione, I can't believe you're here." she said in a disbelieving tone. "What are you doing here?" she added coming out of her stupor.

"That is an excellent question." intervened Charlie.

Hermione sighed, shared a look with Harry and after taking a deep breath she replied.

"Let's take a seat. This is going to take a while."