Chapter One Hundred One
Belong
If this is the moment I stand here on my own
If this is my rite of passage that somehow leads me home
I might be afraid, But it's my turn to be brave
(Brave - Idina Menzel)July 18th, 1990Several streets from Charing Cross Road where the Leaky Cauldron was nestled
snugly between a bookshop and a record store, sat a small, lovely house with a blue door
and cream-coloured curtains hanging in the windows. Inside the charming home, Richard
and Helen Granger sat around their dining room table, smiling as their soon-to-be eleven-
year-old daughter attempted to eat her breakfast—porridge with blueberries instead of
raspberries—with one hand while holding a book in the other, her chocolate-brown gaze
glued to the pages.
"What do you want for your birthday, Hermione?" Helen asked her daughter. "Only
two months away."
"Books please," Hermione responded, her voice slightly monotone as she carefully
turned the page of the novel in her hand, her attention entirely taken up by the story.
"Always books," Richard said with a laugh, making eye contact with his wife, who
only shook her head in amusement.
As he stood and began clearing away the dishes, Richard went to reach for
Hermione's empty bowl only to find it missing from the table. He blinked several times in
confusion and turned to the kitchen where he saw the small dish already sitting in the sink.
He paused for several moments, trying to remember if he had already taken his daughter's
empty bowl, or if he had seen his wife or child stand up from the table at any time in the
last few minutes. He tried to brush off the confused feeling, but it was getting harder and
harder these days when strange things occurred in their home more often.
The first time Richard thought he saw something peculiar occur, Hermione had
only been a toddler. She had been going through an attachment phase and cried every