Dealing With It fic

[catko]

The challenge at lands_of_magic is to write a fic showing how your characters dealt with a difficult turn of events. You can't change the event, just address it. I thought of ... well, you'll see.

Fandom: Harry Potter
Words: 371

   Mrs Granger: "Hermione. Tea's ready, darling."
    Hermione: "Coming, Mum!"

With an effort, Hermione plasters a happy expression onto her face—not the most common for her as it was, and even more arduous now. She takes a deep breath and walks slowly down the stairs.

Fortunately in a way, her parents are facing away from her, gathered around the tea-table but looking out the window, remarking, as they tended to do, on the scenery outside.

“Just the wallcreepers and nuthatches today, love,” her mother says fondly. “Aye, finches more in the morning, yes,” says her father, putting his arm around his wife.

Hermione steels herself to do this quickly. Once they turn and see her, she might not be able to pull it off. She raises her wand and mutters the phrase. As she stares for one last time around her, the familiar sitting-room already seems to blur around the edges. She wipes her eyes brusquely, but still the blurring shimmers and glows—and with a determined set in her jaw, she turns to leave the house of her childhood, forever.

*****

The tea things rattle and the husband and wife look at each other in vague alarm. “What’s this?” asks the man, “truck going by?” “Dunno, I thought it was me, a bit of a dizzy spell.” The woman touches the items on the tea-tray, rearranging them slightly. The man shakes his head as though to clear the cobwebs, then smiles at his wife. “P’rhaps it’s just the excitement of our new adventure, love! Giving us a bit of the willies!”

The woman looks around the sitting room, with the photos of the two of them on holiday, linens, clocks, and other homey items. “Will be hard to leave home, but fantastic to be set in Australia!” she says brightly. “Now for tea!” She looks down at the tea-tray and grimaces. “What now?” asks the man.

She gestures at the tray, with the three tea cups, three saucers, and three sandwich plates. “Dunno what I was thinking, I suppose I am at sixes and sevens,” she says brightly, though as she gathers up the extra set to return to the kitchen, she feels a wave of loss and sadness that she cannot explain.

Comments

[blue-sunflowers.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I can actually see Emma Watson acting this out. I think it fits the scene beautifully.

[catko]

Aw, thanks. I remember you and I trying to come up with an idea for this one, so thanks as always for the inspiration!