Distribution: If you ask me first, then let me know where it'll be posted, then sure. Same goes for all of my stories. You can get ahold of me at XxKrAzYLiKeAFoXx@aol.com
A/N: Hello there! How are we all today? Good I'm glad that your happy, and if your not then, reading this story should make your day =) OKay, this a post-Hogwarts story, and very different then any I've read. There is probably going to be some Hr/R shipping only cause what story would be complete without it?? (LoL) But mainly it's going to be very angsty. Oh, and in the 1st chapter there's gonna be a point when you ask yourself 'why doesn't Hermione want to see Harry and Ron?' and just to let you know ahead of time, no, it's not rape, or abuse, or anything like that. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy my latest story...
How Can We Go Back?
by QuEeN oF tHe UnIvErSe
aka Cassandra
~*~Chapter One~*~
Three friends made their way further and further into the dungeons of the castle. The friendly grounds of Hogwarts seemed distant, and though only a few floors above them hundreds of students wandered, studied, and gossiped, the three had never felt more alone. With every step, it became harder to see. The scuttle of small feet could be heard running back and forth on stone floors. Convincing themselves the sounds were made by rats, the three pressed on. The dank corridor smelled of death and decay, but it was hard to pay attention to trivial matters such as that when going where these three were going. They were the only ones who knew the truth, the only ones who knew what had to be faced, and that now was the time they had to face it. They were about to meet their destiny, and hoped, they would live to tell about it.
Hermione Granger woke with a start. Breathing heavily, she looked around the room to be certain she was safe. Everything was exactly as it had been when she had turned out the lights only four hours early. Her bathrobe was hung over the back of the armchair across from her bed, the curtains were drawn, the window slightly open letting in a cool breeze, the snow owl sitting on her bay window hooting softly. It took a moment for her mind to register what her eyes had just seen. As soon as it did, she jumped out of her bed and practically tripped over her feet while trying to get to the owl as fast as humanly possible.
Now one would think that a witch would not be so surprised at an owl appearing at her residence, as all mail in the wizarding world traveled by owl, but for Hermione Granger it caused a fair amount of confusion. She had not had any contact with the wizarding world in five years, with the exception of receiving The Daily Prophet each morning. But why she would be receiving a letter at this time of night was beyond her contemplation.
With a great amount of apprehension, she untied the letter from the owl's leg. Instead of leaving, it stayed and looked at her, waiting for her to open the letter. It obviously was told to wait for a response. She inhaled sharply, and unrolled the parchment.
Dear Julie Ranger the letter began. Hermione let out the breath she had been holding. It was a bill from The Daily Prophet. She looked into the owl's eyes, "Little early aren't you? It's only 3 am." The owl simply hooted in reply. She laughed a little at her own silliness as she went to her dresser to get the two galleons. No one could have possible figured out where she was living. She placed the galleons in the pouch on the owl's other leg, and it immediately flew back out the window. She watched it until it was only a speck, and then climbed back into bed for another few hours of, hopefully, uninterrupted sleep.
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The bleeping of her alarm clock woke her up at 7 o'clock. She rolled over and shut it off, giving silent thanks that she had not been plagued with any other dreams that night, as was so often the case.
Hermione made her bed, and grabbed The Daily Prophet that was lying on her window ledge without glancing at it. She made her way down to the kitchen, and turned on the coffee pot. When she finally sat at the table and looked at the newspaper, she received the shock of her life.
Hermione had expect to see the column that usually took up the page on Monday mornings, Where's Hermione?. Every week it was filled with 'sightings' of her. According to various sources, in one week she had been in Surrey, Paris, London, Sydney, and Hong Kong. Of course, in reality she had never been to any of those places-she had not left Juliet, Iowa in five years-but people wanted to know where she was and would even read blatantly false information, as long as it was information.
But the Where's Hermione? column was not what she found that Monday morning. Instead she found a large picture of Albus Dumbldore, along with the headline, Albus Dumbledore, Dead of Natural Causes.
"This has to be a joke. A really, really, unfunny joke," she said to herself as she turned to the second page to read the remainder of the article. When she reached the end she was very much convinced that it was not a joke. It was very real. Albus Dumbledore, her former professor, and friend was dead. And he had not died in battle, of in some glorious act of heroism, but of natural causes. How natural is it to die?, she thought bitterly. Silent tears streamed down her face, and her lower lip trembled. She read the last line of the article once more. Funeral services will be held in a closed ceremony on Monday July 7th at Hogwarts.
She knew what this meant, although she did not like it. It was time for her to make her appearance once more in the wizarding world. She owed him that.
[A/N: I was gonna stop here but the I figured people would get more into it the more I put about my whole storyline, so I'm gonna keep going for a little longer into the plot.]
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She was not exactly sure how she was going to get into the funeral service. It was a closed ceremony, invitation only. And sure, if she had come as Hermione Granger, there would be no doubt about her admittance, but she had not come as Hermione Granger. She had come as Julie Ranger. Former Hogwarts' student whose life had been changed by Professor Albus Dumbledore.
It was doubtful that anyone would recognize her for who she really was. In the first few months of living in Juliet, while she was still paranoid of being found, she had changed her appearance greatly. Her look had always been 'small town,' so even though she was now actually living in a small town, her fears cause her to move to the opposite end of the spectrum. The hair was the first to change. It was her most recognizable feature. Formerly bushy and rather large, it was now very short, very straight, and very choppy looking, as well as dark brown with red highlights. Her style had gone from proper to casual trendy, she looked 5'5 rather then 5'2 due to her choice to always wear heels no shorter than three inches. Also, not wanting to use magic at any cost, though wanted to change her physical appearance slightly, she learned a daily beauty regimen she thought altered her appearance just enough so that with all aspects combine she was entirely unrecognizable.
After living in Juliet a year without anyone finding her she had thought about reverting to her old style, but since weekly updates on her whereabouts were still appearing in the newspaper, she decided to continue as she was. And now, she was definitely glad that she had, hoping that no one at Hogwarts would identify who she really was, but would be moved enough by the story she would tell about how Professor Dumbledore had changed her life to let her in.
She was standing near almost the end of a long line of people waiting to be admitted into Hogwarts. Many of the people she knew. She noticed Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, and Seamus Finnigan standing in line only a few persons ahead of her. Dean had hold of one of Lavender's hands, while the other held a little girl who looked about one year old. Hmm, I always thought Lavender and Seamus would get together, Hermione thought. A few people in front of them was Padma and Parvati Patil standing with a pair of male identical twins, looking very chummy. Hermione wondered for a moment why Parvati and Lavender were not standing with each other, when she remembered the huge fight they had had 7th year. She was surprised that five years later they had not made up. She also spotted Cho Chang, Katie Bell, Oliver Wood, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, and Justin Finch-Fletchery scattered throughout the line. Harry and the Weasley's were no where to be found however, so she assumed they were already inside.
As people began filing into the castle, Hermione began to get nervous. So far no one had noticed her, and she was grateful for that, but she was suddenly becoming more and more apprehensive about the story she was about to tell. Professor McGonagall stood at the entrance, greeting those who entered. She's not turning anyone away, Hermione suddenly realized. And there aren't any people waiting around the outside of the castle like you'd imagine there would be. She did not know the man standing in front of her, so she decided to be bold and ask him a question, hoping it would not cause anyone around him to recognize her, after all, her voice was still the same.
"Excuse me?" she asked him.
"Yes?" he replied as he turned around to face her.
"Well, I was just wondering, wouldn't you think there would be a lot of gawkers standing around the castle just watching? Or even trying to get in to the ceremony? I mean, Professor Dumbledore was a word wide figurehead."
"Yes he was, and a great man. That's why the guest list was charmed. Even if a person knew how to find Hogwarts, they would continuously get lost on their way if they weren't supposed to be here. Quite ingenious if you ask me. I'm Patrick O'Neill by the way. I knew Albus since we were children." he said with a smile as he held out his hand.
Hermione smiled back and took his hand, "Julie Ranger. Professor Dumbledore was my headmaster while I was at Hogwarts."
"Ahh. You don't look at that old. Were you at Hogwarts while Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger were?"
"Uh...yea. But we didn't hang out or anything. I was in Ravenclaw."
"Hm," he nodded. "Brave kids. Defeating Lord Voldermort and all. Amazing. And they were only 17 years old. Sure opened a lot of doors for them. Shame about Hermione Granger though. I can't imagine why she'd run off after doing something that great. Been gone gone, what? Four years now?"
"Five."
"Oh, yea that's right. The fifth anniversary is coming up."
"May 14th."
"Well, maybe she'll come back for it. Wouldn't that be great? The three heroes together again!"
"How do you know she isn't dead or something. And that's why she hasn't been in contact."
"Well, I guess she could be. But Harry and Ron would never let anyone print that. The continue to say she's still alive, just that the stress got to her. That she never liked to be the center of attention, and that she's waiting for all the hype to die down before coming back."
"How...how did the other two handle her leaving? I mean, you don't hear too much about it, do you?" Hermione asked in a voice she hoped was nonchalant.
"Not really I suppose. I guess they're doing okay. Like I said, they firmly believe she's still alive." By this point Patrick was next in line to enter the castle. He shook Professor McGonagall's hand, and then it was Hermione's turn. Up close, she realized how much older McGonagall looked. She seemed to have aged 20 years in the past five. Though it could hardly be considered her fault. They had all been through a lot.
"Thank you for coming," her former professor said as she took her hand. Hermione only nodded and then made her way into the place she had called home for seven years of her life. A place that just five years ago, she would have held in her heart with fond memories, yet that now, she thought about as a place she was sad to return to. She hated to think of Hogwarts like that, but she could not help it. Even though it's walls were filled with some of the best moments of her life, those moments were overshadowed by the one single worst. One that she would never forget, and could never forgive.
She made her way towards the Great Hall where the ceremony was to be held. The sky had been enchanted to look like night, and hanging above the tables was a large banner with Dumbledore's face on it. The room was completely filled, and at the very front sat a casket, which presumably held Dumbledore's body. Hermione noticed it was open, but could not bring herself to go over to it. She had been close enough to death often enough in her short life.
The ceremony was quite long , but very moving. Those who wished to recall a story or memory of Dumbledore were invited to do so, and many people took advantage of the opportunity. During these speeches was when Hermione saw Harry and Ron for the first time in five years. They both got up and spoke together about Dumbledore helping them many times throughout their seven years at Hogwarts, especially when it came to fighting Lord Voldermort.
Hermoine had to admit that they looked good, especially after all they had been through. Harry's hair was still messy, though it looked to her as though that was now done on purpose. He also wore it so that it showed his scar proudly. Ron no longer looked lanky, or awkward, but muscular, and in charg of his own movements. Both were also dressed well, in black suits, white shirts, and black ties, that actually fit them right.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief when the ceremony ended about four hours later. She had made it through without being discovered and could now go home to Juliet, Iowa. She had had enough of the wizarding world in the six hours she'd been in it. She was about to exit the Great Hall when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and heard a familiar voice.
"Hermione?"
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A/N Well, there was my first chapter. Tell me what you think. Should I continue? I'm probably not gonna write if no one wants to read, so let me know what you think. By the way the next chapter is when it's gonna start to get REALLY good. This was basically to give you some b/g info and set the scene. Oh, and sorry about typos, I kno there were some with names and stuff. So please review! Thanks =)