Joan was failing fast, only her determination not to miss anything was keeping her eyes open. She'd probably spoken more today, and with more people, than she would in a month back at the orphanage. Hermione then unleashed her secret weapons.
"If you go for a nap, I'll be able to introduce you to Hedwig and Crookshanks. Hedwig is Harry's owl and Crookshanks is my cat. If you get a short nap now, you'll enjoy your dinner more. Oh, did I forget to mention, Miss Jillian said you could stay here with us when she goes back to Britain after dinner tonight."
After hearing that, Joan hugged Hermione hard before releasing her grip and melting into Harry's arms. With shouts of 'see you for dinner' ringing in her ears, the little witch was almost asleep by the time they reached Harry's bedroom. She stayed awake long enough to be introduced to Hedwig and then Crookshanks jumped up on the bed to keep Joan company as she napped.
Jillian stood at the door, smiling down at the young couple and her charge. "The excitement alone will be enough to have her tired out. You just gave that young witch the best day of her life - and are planning to do he same for the rest of my charges. You can't possibly know what this means to them."
Knowing Harry wouldn't want to talk about his pre-Hogwarts years, Hermione gave Jillian something of an insight on what this meant to them.
"My Harry is an orphan who was raise by relatives, those relatives hated even the mention of the word magic. Since my Harry is a very powerful wizard, they transferred all that hatred onto him. A friend, even a kind word, can make all the difference in the world to someone who feels life has abandoned them. We know exactly what this will mean to them, and hopefully it will only be the start. We hope to change all of their lives for the better. Ambitious - yes - but that's who my Harry is. His godfather is pretty special too, and failure is simply not an option in this case."
After quietly calling Dobby and asking him to keep an eye on Joan, Harry put his arm around Hermione and led them all from his room. "You'll meet Francesca later, which is one of the reasons why we wanted you to stay for dinner. She's the architect who will work on the orphanage, and has actually just started dating Sirius. She's currently project managing the Potter institute. We've gotten into the habit of all having a quick look at how the institute is progressing, and then Francesca joins us for dinner."
Jillian could certainly understand Joan's tiredness due to all the excitement. This was turning out to be the most exciting day of her life too.
...
Ron was sitting quietly on the terrace, with his arm around Millie as they let their sumptuous dinner digest. They were watching Harry and Hermione walk along the beach, with Joan happily sandwiched between them and holding both of their hands. The colourful lanterns that had been set up all over the beach for tomorrow's visitors allowed him to see the trio were all having fun.
Noticing the thoughtful mood her boyfriend was in, Millie asked the question she really didn't want to. "Would you rather be down there, with them?" Millie may have said 'them', but she really meant Hermione. While the girl had been nothing but supportive of her relationship with Ron, and was quickly becoming a good friend to Millie, this holiday had seen Hermione bloom into a beautiful young woman. Millie still had some major insecurities over her appearance however, and Ron had been one of Hermione's best friends for the last three years.
"No, they need some time to themselves - or with Joan. That little girl makes both of them smile and laugh so much - they're good for each other." Looking into Millie's eyes, Ron then sussed exactly what Millie was asking him. "They are both my best friends but I would much rather be sitting here with you."
Seeing her smile didn't quite reach Millie's eyes, Ron then confessed to what he'd actually been thinking about. "I was sitting here wondering if this was actually real, or will life kick us in the teeth again. Watching a beautiful Mediterranean sunset with my arm around my gorgeous girlfriend - those things don't happen to Ron Weasley. I've been piss-poor all my life and this just doesn't seem real…ouch!"
Hitting Ron on the back of his head, Millie then asked her boyfriend if that smack was real enough for him. "I'm here, and not going anywhere. Your family is also by no means piss-poor."
Seeing Ron about to dispute that statement, Millie didn't give him time but instead cut right across his objections. "Piss-poor is a muggle saying. Tanneries used to require urine to treat the hides, so people used to save their piss and sell it to them. For the poorer families, that might be all the income they had - hence piss-poor. If you literally didn't have a pot to piss in, you were even poorer than that. By no stretch of the imagination are the Weasleys anywhere near that poor."
.....
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