91 A Very Granger Christmas
A/N: A long chapter, and one that is very story-retelling based, explaining things to Hermione's family. They will play a large role going forward (unlike the books) so their learning about these things is important.
Y/N was sat in the Great Hall with his girlfriend snuggled next to him. He moaned a few times as he loaded bacon and eggs on his plate.
"Feeling a bit seedy are we love?" Hermione giggled.
"Yeah. I need grease and lots of it" he moaned.
Lavender, Ginny, Ron and Harry approached the table and sat with the couple.
"You're eating bacon Y/N? And why do you have sunglasses on?" Lavender asked.
"Hangover" he grumbled before eating another slice of bacon.
"You're drunk?" Ginny gasped in surprise.
"No, I was yesterday" Y/N answered.
"Why were you drunk?" Harry asked in shock.
"We had a Christmas party to attend with Sam and Y/N's hunting family" Hermione smiled.
"Our hunting family babe" Y/N said quietly.
"How much did you have to drink?" Lavender asked still surprised.
"Not that much" Y/N said as he rubbed his temple.
"No, just wine, beer, fire whiskey. A lot of fire whiskey. Do you remember the chicken coop?" Hermione giggled.
"Chicken coop?" Y/N asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Somehow you floo'd to a chicken coop. Had to apparate to Dumbledore's office. It took me an hour to get you to bed. You kept yelling loudly how much you loved me down the hallway. Then you wanted to kiss and fell asleep" Hermione giggled again.
"Huh. Maybe I did have a lot. Sorry love"
"It's fine baby. Your drunken kisses are cute".
—~—
Y/N slept most of the way back to London on the train. Hermione had told him to spread out, so he had laid down across the seat with his head on Hermione's lap when he had fallen asleep.
Hermione had smiled and stroked his hair while he slept and she talked with Lavender, Ron and Harry.
"Really love him don't you" Harry smiled.
"Of course I do. More than anything" Hermione looked down at her sleeping lug with a smile.
—~—
She had woken Y/N half an hour before they got to London and he had gone to wash up. He came back topless looking very refreshed.
"Just walking around the train half naked babe?" Hermione giggled.
"Sorry wanted a fresh shirt. Feeling much better though" Y/N replied.
The three friends looked at him. He had bulked considerably and had quite a few more scars now- the huge one on his chest from the Leviathan. The stab wound from the Croatoan episode. The three whip lines on his back, various other scars on his chest and shoulders Poppy hadn't been able to get rid of.
"Wow, bulked up to hell Y/N. Pretty hot" Lavender giggled teasing him.
"Eyes to yourself Brown" Hermione giggled back.
Y/N sat back down as he levitated a shirt out of his trunk and put it on, putting a jacket over it.
"Lots of scars now Y/N" Harry said sadly.
"Yeah that's hunting for you Harry. You saw in the Great Hall. It's pretty brutal sometimes" Y/N answered as he sat back with his arm around his lover.
"Sorry" Harry replied looking down.
"Meh, it's all good. Hermione really digs them" Y/N winked copping a slap on the arm from Hermione.
—~—
When they arrived at Platform 9 3/4 Molly was there and hugged them both, saying she would see them the following evening.
Lavender and Harry left with the Weasleys as Monica and Wendell arrived.
They hugged both Hermione and Y/N before looking confused as they had no luggage. They were also shocked by Y/N's size and beard.
"All sorted" Y/N smiled tapping his pouch. "And yeah... Hermione likes the beard don't you love?"
"Love it" she smiled stroking it and pecking Y/N's lips.
They had an enjoyable ride home, hugging in the back seat as Monica told them about what had been happening in their lives.
"So How was your term dears?"
"Um. Eventful. Very eventful. We've got a lot to discuss when we get home" Hermione said with a serious tone and Y/N agreed.
They arrived and sat in the lounge, Monica and Wendell in their chairs and Y/N on a couch where Hermione instantly jumped on his lap and kissed him.
Monica smiled while Wendell's eyes opened wide briefly before he chuckled.
"Still gonna have to get used to that".
"Sorry Dad. Y/N and I are very affectionate. He's like my big hugable teddy bear" Hermione smiled squeezing Y/N tight.
"Trying keep a rep going baby" Y/N said with a smirk, causing the others to laugh.
"So what's been going on with you? What's been going on in general? The Daily Prophet stopped arriving a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't sure who to contact about it" Wendell notes.
"That's my fault Wendell. I did that. Something I wanted us to tell you, didn't want you reading about it in the paper. I'll restart it for you today" Y/N answered with sincerity.
"Oh ok. So what is it? Everything ok?" Wendell asked suddenly concerned.
"Ok so... Hermione has told you about my family and our title right?"
"Yes dear, was a big shock when we found out Jacob is a Lord, you are aristocrats" Monica answered smiling.
"I can imagine. So here's the thing. Jacob was only the provisional Lord. My family has a special type of inheritance system. When there is more than one eligible son, the sons have to engage in a duel, a fight essentially, and the winner becomes the permanent lord. It was a way to guarantee the strongest son would become Lord and the strongest house would continue."
Monica and Wendell were both surprised, magical society seeming so medieval to them in a lot of ways.
"Oh. Are other houses like that?" Monica asked.
"No. As far as I'm aware ours is the only one" Y/N smiled.
"Why?" Wendell asked.
"It's a long long story Wendell. House L/N has for the better part of a thousand years stood at odds with most Pureblood families. There was a magical civil war nearly a thousand years ago. The King of the time wanted to make all Halfblood and Muggleborn witches and wizards serfs. My ancestor led the rebellion against his and the Pureblooded tyranny. In the ensuing treaty the Lord of House L/N became Archduke of Magical Britain, second in charge to the king essentially, and Ealdorman of the Wizengamot."
The Grangers were sat with their mouths wide open.
"Think of him as like the Speaker in the House of Commons, Mum and Dad" Hermione added, helping Y/N to explain. Her parents nodded and Y/N was now confused.
"Speaker?"
Hermione grinned: "Think of him as the Ealdorman"
Y/N chuckled and kissed her, whispering: Cheeky minx."
"This is all impressive, but what does that have to do with the last term and the paper?" Wendell asked with a chuckle.
"Ok so there's a lot you're gonna have to accept on face value. When my father was murdered and I was tortured, we've learned it was part of a ritual. Some bad people wanted to turn me into something... it's called an Archon. A lot of the gods of the Ancient world- Zeus, Thor, Achilles- they were Archons as well. That's the kind of power the Archon has. Well this ritual they did on me. It succeeded. I have an Archon inside me".
"Part of the reason you are so powerful, sort of, we'll explain later" Hermione added.
"Yeah the important thing to know is that my brothers and our Headmaster found out and kept it secret with some other people. The Archon has been trying to weaken me and Halloween night it came after me, tortured me brutally in my sleep. It was pretty bad."
Y/N looked down at the memory. Hermione kissed him.
"Wait- it came after you. I thought it was you?" Monica asked.
"No. Think of it... sort of like a demon inside me. With its own mind and personality. Some of my ancestors had them- Thor, Thoth, Achilles. They managed to overcome them. Absorb their power. I'm not strong enough though. Yet."
"Wait. Wait wait wait. You have a demon in you. And your ancestors were the Thor and the Achilles?" Wendell asked stunned.
"Yes. But anyway- these people knew about it and hid it from me. I lost my shit, they called Hermione and I to a meeting where they showed me who knew and I kind of..."
"Y/N told them that he was done with them. They have lied to him all his life, hidden things from him. You did the right thing baby. Don't doubt that" Hermione said firmly, anger in her voice at how Y/N had been treated. Y/N thanked her and pecked her lips while Monica smiled.
"Jacob and another guy, named Moody. Like a wizarding police officer, they didn't like that. It escalated and I left them unconscious. Dean got involved and he was left the same way."
Y/N let his words hang as the two got their heads around everything they'd just been told. Monica finally looked at Y/N with realisation:
"Wait so that would mean..."
Y/N lifted his right hand. "You are looking at the 58th Lord of House L/N. I had myself emancipated from Jacob's guardianship after the fight and now I'm legally an adult and Lord of my house."
The parents were stunned. After taking a moment Y/N continued:
"This is the important part. I named Hermione as Lady Granger, Grand Consort to Lord L/N."
Their eyes shot open.
"Lady... does that mean... you two are married?" Wendell asked worriedly.
Y/N chuckled.
"No. It's a form of notifying the world we plan to be wed in the future. But I would never ask Hermione to marry me without asking your permission first."
Monica got teary and Wendell smiled proudly. That kind of respect is what he wanted from his future Son-in-Law.
"So is it just a nice name or?"
"No. It gives Hermione certain legal protections, as I said it signifies to the Wizarding World that we intent to be betrothed when of age and it also tells other purebloods not to try for an arranged marriage."
"What?" Monica asked shocked, adding:
"You still have them?"
"Yes, and being so young and to have so much wealth and power I will be approached. A lot. Hopefully this will keep them at bay. But also I just wanted to scream from the rooftops that I love 'Mione, with everything I am. I want the world to know."
Hermione instantly kissed him again as her parents smiled.
"He also changed his families inheritance system. Straight away" Hermione said proudly.
"When we have children, our strongest child will inherit the title. Not our strongest son. Y/N did that!" Hermione smiled proudly. "The only family who has ever done it".
"Well if we have a daughter who turns out to be like her mum, then she deserves it far more than a son who is a bonehead like his father, simply on account of him having a penis" Y/N chuckled as Hermione squeezed even tighter.
"I'm glad you're the one Hermione fell in love with" Wendell smiled proudly.
"There's one more thing he did for me... us... he..."
Hermione broke down sobbing. Y/N squeezed her tight and whispered in her ear "you want me to explain?" She nodded.
"In the event of my death without kids I have left instructions that the Ancient and Sacred House of L/N will be no more. It will be reissued as the Noble House of Granger with Hermione as it's head".
The Granger's were further shocked.
"We're coming up to war. Things happen. In case it does you three are now taken care of. It's what I wanted love" Y/N answered still hugging tightly.
"So our daughter is now Lady Hermione Granger?" Wendell asked head spinning.
"Yes. Bought her a Ladyship ring to match my Lordship and everything" Y/N chuckled as Hermione flashed her right ring finger which Monica gushed over.
"Wow so that's a lot to take in that's for sure" Wendell chuckled.
"Yeah. Jacob was really nice about everything surprisingly. He said he was proud of me. That he always knew I had it in me. That his mission was done. Dean... not so much."
Y/N looked down sadly. He was still heartbroken by his brother telling him to get out of his life. And Penny....
"After all the lies and everything Y/N for him to say what he said. Its inexcusable". Hermione said. She was furious still at Dean's selfishness. Penny's cowardice. She held her tongue for Y/N but she was angry beyond words to see him hurt like this.
"So Dean didn't take it well? Last time we saw them they were both different. Quiet."
Monica asked concerned.
"Dean's exact words were you should forget where we live Y/N. Penny said she had to support her husband" Hermione said still angry as she rubbed Y/N's cheek and kissed him, whispering reassurances in his ear.
"Where are you gonna live then?" Wendell asked.
"Right now I'm officially homeless" Y/N chuckled. "But I'll figure something out before the end of the school year. Already got something I'm planning but I'll work it out."
"You will stay here as long as you want and need to Y/N. You're practically our son in law as it is. You're family" Monica smiled.
"Too right" Wendell added.
Hermione beamed at her parents. Y/N went quiet, overwhelmed by their kindness.
"Thank you. I mean it. Thank you. There's more but it can wait. That's the important stuff anyway" Y/N smiled kissing Hermione again.
They had a nice relaxing rest of the afternoon and evening. Quiet, just enjoying each other's company. Y/N was excited as the night went on. Tomorrow they were celebrating Christmas. He couldn't wait to give the Grangers their presents.
—~—
The next morning the couple woke up and went downstairs early. Hermione sat in the kitchen having a cup of tea watching Y/N through the back window doing his workout.
When Monica came downstairs she looked out the window to see Y/N hanging off the tree in their backyard doing pull ups.
"It's snowing and it's minus 5 and he's out there doing that?"
"He is committed" Hermione giggled.
"To you as well. That boy loves you Hermione. Don't ever doubt it" Monica smiled.
"The feeling's mutual" Hermione grinned.
Y/N came in the house, pouring with sweat and freezing cold to the touch. He was shoo'ed upstairs to the shower and then as he came back down Gizmo started stirring in Hermione's hand. After his feed the four headed into the lounge for presents.
They had quite a few for Hermione and a number for Y/N. He appreciated them all but was especially excited to read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Hermione had mentioned once that he had the version by Niccolo Machiavelli and they took a risk he hadn't read the Sun Tzu book. He hadn't. It was now time for the Grangers gift. Hermione giggled at how excited Y/N was.
"Ok so your present from us is in two parts" Y/N smiled, handing Wendell an envelope.
He smiled opening it before looking confused. It was an official letterhead from Gringott's Bank that simply read:
'The official exchange rate is 1 Galleon = £5'.
"Ok- uh thank you?" He said/asked confused.
"Here's your second part. Merry Christmas Mum and Dad" Hermione giggled.
She handed Monica another envelope and she read it, confused, then stunned, then confused, then handed it to Wendell who was confused but read it aloud.
"The Granger Family vault balance stands at 5 million Galleons? We don't... wait... that's 25 million... what?"
Wendell was completely overwhelmed and couldn't comprehend what he was reading. Monica meanwhile had gone quiet and teary eyed.
"Merry Christmas. It was very important to both of us you two be looked after. You are. That's yours now to do what you want with it. Splurge, save, retire, anything you want. Merry Christmas. Thank you for always accepting me no matter who I am and what I've done; and thank you for making and raising the most amazing, beautiful, smart, caring, funny wonderful daughter in the world. And for giving me your blessing to love her" Y/N smiled.
"Happy Christmas Mum and Dad" Hermione said happily. The next hour there were lots of tears, and hugs, and shock and more tears.
Y/N magically started Christmas lunch just as Hermione's grandparents arrived.
"My god you've got even bigger boy. Look at that beard, and that rig. We'll make a boxer out of you yet" Her grandad chuckled.
"Leave him alone Ray" Hermione's grandmother admonished him as Y/N chuckled.
"Yes Peggy" Ray replied causing Hermione to giggle.
"Pleasure to see you both again" Y/N said shaking Ray's hand while giving Peggy a kiss on the cheek.
"You still protecting my little flower?" Ray asked him shaping up with his fists.
"Yes sir. Every moment of my life. Nothing means more to me. Nothing."
"Good boy."
"You ready to give out the rest of the presents my Lady?" Y/N asked absent mindedly in the hall as he was conducting non-verbal and wandless magic in the kitchen.
"Yes... my Lord" Hermione smiled seductively unable to resist teasing Y/N.
"Hey just because you are aristocrats now doesn't mean you have to rub it in" Wendell chuckled before realising what he said.
"Aristocrats? You taking the piss?" Ray asked him getting a smack from Peggy and a "language".
Hermione looked at her parents panicking before Y/N smiled, replying calmly: "Let's go in the lounge and have a chat."
They all sat down, Hermione on Y/N's lap for a lack of space and she started to panic further when Y/N said:
"We need to have a chat with you. About myself, about Hermione, who and what we are."
"Baby the Statute of Secrecy.."
"Doesn't apply to direct family members. Screw the SoS anyway, they are your grandparents. I'll disclose so anything if they spoke will come back at me. But they won't" Y/N reassured and then kissed Hermione before looking back to her confused grandparents.
"Ok Ray and Peggy, there's something you need to understand. Magic is real. I'm a wizard and Hermione is a witch. The school we go to is a school for Magical children to learn how to control and use their magic."
They stared at Y/N like he was an idiot.
"You havin a laugh boy?"
"No sir. I understand this is a lot to take in. Perhaps I can give you a demonstration. Are you thirsty?"
"Wouldn't say no to a beer".
Y/N unsheathed his wand and levitated a beer out of the fridge and into the lounge where it landed in Ray's hand and opened.
He and Peggy sat there looking shocked. Absolutely shocked.
"So I'm what's called a Pureblood because my father was a Wizard and my... mother... was a witch. Hermione is what is called a Muggleborn. Muggle is the name for non-magic people, like yourselves, and Muggleborn is a name for a witch or wizard who is born into a Muggle family."
It took a while for the revelations to settle in. Magic, spells, the Lordship. Y/N and Hermione gave Ray and Wendell bottles of scotch from a Distillery in the Shetlands he apparently owned, likewise they gave Monica and Peggy a dozen bottles of wine each from some of his Tuscany vineyards.
They had a lovely Christmas lunch. The conversation afterwards went back to magic. Ray asked about the fight from earlier in the year.
"Heh. So Monica had to tell you a bit of a white lie. I didn't fight a gang of large men it was...." Y/N was trying to find the right words.
"A ghost of the wizarding Adolf Hitler and a 60ft snake that can kill you by looking at it" Hermione quickly added. Their eyes opened wide.
"Would you like to see? One of my powers is like mind reading and I can share the memory with you?"
They nodded. Y/N smiled and sent the memory to the five of them. They were stunned, to say the absolute least. Even Hermione, knowing what happened, was shocked watching it in her mind.
"You... boy that was incredible. Almost like out of a movie" Ray said amazed.
"This Grindelwald though?" Peggy asked.
"My grandfather he's..."
"If Voldemort is Adolf Hitler then Y/N's grandfather is Stalin" Hermione finished the sentence for him earning a thankful kiss.
"Oh..." Ray answered, unsure what else to say.
"He's different now. He's been imprisoned for his crimes since 1944. I've been to see him a lot since I found out. I hated him... but he had genuinely changed. He's helped me a lot. But hey want to see a dragon?"
"Dragons are real?"
"Yes. Some wizards and witches can become what's called an animagus. It's very hard but I managed to do it... so you want to see a dragon?" Y/N chuckled.
—~—
After Hermione's grandparents had taken in what they had seen and heard they enjoyed getting to know Y/N more and had a good early Christmas. At 7:00pm it was time for Y/N and Hermione to go to the Burrow. They said goodbye to Monica and Wendell and would see them Christmas Day evening.
Y/N and Hermione arrived at the Burrow just in time to see Molly, Arthur and Percy leaving. The Weasley parents gave Y/N and Hermione tight hugs, saying they would see them in the morning. They had a Ministry party for Arthur's work, they were staying in London and Percy had begged them to go to 'make connections'. Ron was not impressed when Y/N was put in charge.
"He's an adult, and a Lord now. You will listen Ronald" Molly said firmly.
"Your Dad would be so proud" Arthur said beaming.
—~—
It was a quiet couple of hours when at 8:45pm Y/N said to Hermione "it's time."
She nodded knowing what it was about.
"Right guys I have to go out for a couple of hours. Important things to take care of. Hermione and Maisy are in charge when I'm gone. Any issues...." he glared at Ron "Will be handled when I get back with severe consequences."
Y/N kissed Hermione and apparated.
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