"I can't believe you're going to Salem, Hermione!" cried Ginny, hugging her husband, Harry's shoulder. "It seams like yesterday we got out of Hogwarts, and here you go, leaving us!"
"Now, now, Ginny, dear, don't make it any harder for poor Hermione to leave," sighed Harry. Then, to Hermione, "Do take care, old girl. You're only twenty three, nothing much to go write home about, and you must understand that the whole world isn't wonderful."
"Oh, my dear, dear friends," sobbed Hermione, "How can I ever leave you?"
"Well," laughed Ron, "Like this!"
With that, he scooped her up, put her on his flying motorcycle (a gift from Hagrid as a graduation present) and waved madly as he took off.
"Good bye!!! I'll miss you!" Cried Hermione down to her friends as they began to get smaller with distance.
"We'll owl you every day!" Was the only response the wind allowed as the two friends flew off into the clouds.
"Oh, Ron, I can't believe I'm leaving."
"Come, now, Herm, it won't be that bad," said Ron. Actually, that's not what he was thinking. What he thought was that he would never see his best friend ever again.
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"I can't believe it. There's the plane, see, past that mountain there? I can't believe I'm leaving. It's like...well...oh, God, I'm going to miss you." Hermione gasped, choking back a lump that wanted to make her shake with tears.
"Look, don't be unhappy, I've made you a photo album to remember us by."
"It's not like I'm going to go away for more than a year! It's just one assignment to go find out how the people react to magic and witchcraft."
"Well, maybe, just in case. Also, it's got a built in molecular scrambler (thanks to Percy), sort of like the Muggles' mail-e ["e-mail," sighed Hermione] systems, only better."
"Oh, Ron, thank you so much!" Smiled Hermione. As she stepped off the motorcycle, she turned around and gave Ron a light kiss on the cheek. His ears turned bright scarlet, and he stiffened, neurotic.
"Erm, Herm? I...have something to tell you...it's...um, well, to be quite frank, it's about Cho."
"Please, what ever it is, can't you e-mail it to me?" Asked Hermione, running to the plane.
"It's called Molecular Scrambling," grumbled Ron.
"E-mail is easier to say. Look, I have to go! Love you! Tell Ginn and Harry I love them, too!"
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A miserable, twenty-five year old woman stared down at an old photo album. She hadn't opened it for two years. She looked up at the clock on her blue stucco wall. It read 2:13 am.
"Good," she thought aloud. "The Agency won't be tracking me now. I can open it in peace."
The "Agency" was a group of Muggles who had caught her using magic and when she denied the charge of being a witch, they let her go back home (they had kept her in a jail cell), but they followed her 24/7. Or, at least, 22/7. They let her be at two and three o'clock, but only because they felt she would be asleep. Two and Three o'clock were the times she did not sleep, for that exact reason.
She was surprised at the way they followed her-she knew the past of Salem Village, but she thought that after the Salem Witch Trials, the whole witch-wizard-devil deal would drop. Unfortunately, it didn't.
The woman fathomed the reason she had not opened this almost-sacred book for two years. "Well, there was only one reason," she told herself. As much as she hated to admit it, the reason was Ron.
Hermione remembered the moment she first opened the book. She was in America already, as she didn't want to startle any one with the molecular scrambler, because it opened as a hologram, only it was fairly smaller than normal holograms you would expect to see. She waited till she got to the hotel she was staying at to open it. When she did, it was to see a little red owl-shaped button which was hooting, "You Have One New Message".
Upon reading the message (actually, the message was read to her by Ron, because the voice is recorded when sending a message by MS'ing), Hermione learned that Ron and Cho Chang were dating, (did she mind?) because Hermione was gone, and Harry was married, just for the heck of it, and Ginny was soon to have Harry's baby (no surprise to Hermione).
It was one year ago she had opened the book. The last letter was a little much.
"Herm," it read, "You know you and I will always be best friends, but there's something, or more precisely, some one, who might make me a little more like Harry. I'm not sure, but I'll tell you the out come of what I'm going to do when I find out. Well, chow."
Hermione didn't want to know the out come. She knew that if he was going to be like Harry, then either he was going to get in a big fight with Voldemort to get a lightning bolt scar, or he was going to ask Cho to marry him. Hermione had a feeling that Ron was not going to go get in a fight with one of the most evil and powerful wizards in the world.
Hermione opened the album, to see a little red owl with a flashing light saying, "You Have Two-Hundred Fifty Nine New Messages!!! You Have Two-Hundred Fifty Nine New Messages!!! You Have Two-Hundred Fifty Nine New Messages!!!". With that, Hermione pushed the owl, and Ron's came up.
"Hi, Herm! Guess what? Cho and I are getting married! The wedding's gonna be the twenty-fifth of November, can you come?" Sadly, Hermione looked at the date of this message. November 12, 1999. She sighed, and thought of the date today. December twenty-four, 2001.
The messages went on, with them going through the birth of Joe, Ginny and Harry's son, then the marriage of Cho and Ron (why didn't you come, Hermione?) and then, on the two hundred fifty-eighth message, Ron told her about the first fight.
"Oh, God, Herm," moaned Ron, "I can't believe her! No doubt why Harry told me not to marry her. Last night, it was about four in the morning, to tell the truth, and in walks Cho, drunk as can be, when she had said she was going to be back by 8:00. In the morning, I asked her where she had been, and she started screaming at me. I don't know what is up with her. Love always, Ron."
Hermione listened to the last letter, and was about to start writing back to Ron when what should happen but the Agency smashed the door down, and, followed by about fifty Muggles, carrying pitchforks and torches. It was five o'clock.
"Damn!" Hissed Hermione. "I don't think this'll work, as it hasn't the past few times I've tried to do this, but here it goes..."
With a flick of her wand and much to her surprise, Hermione's bags were packed, and with another flick, she and all her belongings apperated to Diagon Alley.
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"Dear Ron," Hermione said/wrote into the molecular scrambler, "I'm at Diagon Alley, staying at The Three Broomsticks, can you come meet me here tomorow at noon? I've got a lot to explain to you. Why don't you bring Cho? Love from Hermione."
She pressed the send button, closed the book, and went down to the restarunt part of Three Bromsticks for a butter-beer, and saw none other than one of her best friends, Harry Potter.
"Harry!" Cried Hermione. "Oh my God, it's you!"
"Excuse me, Miss, but I don't believe we've met?" Said Harry, cringing at the thought of another fan.
"Harry...y-you don't remember me?" Gasped Hermione. Whipping a mirror out of her pocket, Hermione realized what she looked like. Sighing, she tapped her head with her wand, and her hair was magicly washed, cut and brushed, then her face was catered to. She laughed and, eyes twinkling, "Ah, Mr. Potter, allow me to introduce myself. I'm a great fan of yours. I would happen to be a twenty-five year old Muggle born witch by the name of Hermione Granger."
Harry fell off the bench he was sitting on.
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It was twelve noon at the Three Broomsticks. Hermione nervously flattened her hair and looked at her watch. It was half an hour since Ginny and Joe had come in, and ten minutes since conversation had run dry. Then the door opened, and in walked a sour faced Cho, followed by Ron.
"Cho." Hermione nodded, then, "Ron, how good to see you!"
"Ron, you did not drag me half way across England to have a shity little family reunion!" Cried Cho, glowering at Harry and Ginny half way across the room. "Let me guess, next you're going to tell me that old geezer, Hagrid, is coming, too?"
That created quite a bit of tention.
"Oh, the man who saved all of our necks dozens, no, hundreds of times is now considered a geezer!?" Spat Hermione to Ginny, who was just staring in shock at Cho.
"Well, it doesn't matter, because I've got a few friends coming to go shoping with me. Good bye." Cho turned her snotty nose up in the air and marched away, leaving Ron looking rather uncomfortable.
"Hello to you, too." Laughed Harry. "This is why I told you not to marry her, Ron, when will you start listen to me?"
Ron, ignoring Harry, said to Hermione, "My, my, do you have some explaining to do. How 'bout it?"
"Oh, darn, we must go, Harry," sighed Ginny with a hint of amusement, as Joe began to bawl. "Hermione, darling, we must get a chance to talk. Lets do lunch tomorow, same time, shall we?"
"Er, well, yes, ok," murmered Hermione, eyes drifting from Ginny.
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"And once again, why could't you leave?" Prompted Ron with a grin.
"Ron! It's not funny! The sheriff happened to be our old buddy, Malfoy, and he bewitched my house so I couldn't use magic in it and they locked me in. What I didn't know was that the MS gave me an extra bost so I could use magic even though the house was hexed."
"Hermione, I'm surprised at you! Being outwitted by that silly Draco Malfoy? I thought you and he were over that sixth year fued already," laughed Ron.
"Ha ha, very funny. Just because I dumped him and still didn't go out with you gives you no right or reason laugh. And I'd like to see you get out of a de-spell curse!"
"Look, calm down girl! I'm just kidding. Kidding. Got that?" Ron shook his head and looked past Hermione to the man serving drinks. Then, in a very low susurration, "I think that weird waiter guy over is eavesdropping. C'mon, lets go."
"Go? Go where?" Asked Hermione as she watched Ron pay the bill for the meal they had eaten.
"Well," pondered Ron, "We could go...well, hum, how bout where you're staying? I'd say we could go to my place, only Cho locked me out, and I'm waiting to get my new wand so I can get back in."
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"I can't believe what she's turned into. All though, she was never really pleasant when she was at Hogwarts. What do you mean Harry told you not to marry her?" Hermione asked as she unlocked the door to her room. "I was so lucky to get this room! Do you know the history of it?"
Without waiting to see if Ron cared, Hermione began rambling on about the history of the room. Ron was gazing earnestly at Hermione, not caring about the history even in the slightest.
"But the weird part is that there is this curse on the room, but all there is to tell that there is a curse or what the curse is is this eerie riddle. It goes like this: Upon a heap of gold gone black, lays two beings just like that, mangled bones in a row, a rack of racy lips do speak, a thousand words a heart does beat, and..."
After a moment of hesitation, Ron inquired, although he still didn't care, "And?"
"Well, that's the eerie part. It just..ends. I know that the first part is talking about people being unfaithful, but the riddle just ends, so I don't know what the rest is. But I sup-"
Hermione was cut short as Ron pulled her close to his chest and whispered, "Hermione, for once in my life, I understand Snape's reasoning. Shut up,". With that, he kissed her gently on the lips. Hermione sank into his arms, not caring what might come of it. The poor girl had spent her life being prude, and now she finally let go to the real world for a few fleeting seconds. Then she realized what she was doing, flinched from his touch and backed away.
"What?" A startled Ron blinked and rubbed his lower lip.
"My God, Ron, don't act so stupid!" Cried Hermione, at the brink of tears. "You're married!"
"Yeah, so? I love you, not her. You should know that by now," shrugged Ron.
"But Ron! The curse!" Protested Hermione.
"A bunch of hocus-pocus. You know that. Now about Ch-"
"Oh, oh, Ron, look, oh, the curse, Ron, the Curse! Get out! Oh, you have to get out! Leave, Ron!" Screamed Hermione, who was staring wide-eyed at the wall, seeming to be reading something. Ron ran as fast as he could.
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*Finish*
I know my story is insane, but:
"In a world of fools, only the king of fools can survive." ~Anonymous