Y'know people, why is it that there are so many of us EXACTLY the same and yet everyone in our schools think us so weird and groan or look at us at any mention of Harry??? It's one of the great mysteries of life... Ahhhhhh well, on with the fic...
The traditional quote: Climb high, climb far, your goal the sky, your aim, the star ~Inscribed on Hopkins Memorial Steps.
Hermione Granger, aged twenty-three, sighed as she turned the pages of the leather-bound photo album, rising dust that had lay undisturbed for nearly four years, making her choke. It was her main record of Hogwarts and those times when life was so *easy* (besides saving a couple of lives here and there).
She landed on the second year section, and glanced randomly at her precious pictures, Harry, Ron...herself, they were so young, she couldn't imagine it, looking back.
There they were, standing in the Gryffindor commen room, waving violantly... Outside near the lake...by Hagrid's cabin, Gildroy Lockhart trying to sneak in to the scene.
Third year, practically the same, there was Remus Lupin, cheerful and kind as always, looking exhausted. Ginny looked so small, Hermione wondered how she was...
It was all the same, 4th, 5th year, happy teenagers being their own insane selves.
At the 6th year however there were only two photos including Ron, she remembered so well why, how could she forget? Oh, if only she could forget, but it was too easy to remember.
At the start of November, Voldemort had become a little stronger and had an evil plan (didn't he always?)...
Harry had been at quidditch practice and herself and Ron in the commen room. He had in a way, call it possessed Anita Burke, a quiet fifth year, and, using her knoledge of the password to gain access to the Gryffindor tower, told them that Harry said to go to the "what was it again...? Oh, yes, The Oak". They at once knew what this meant, they used an aged oak tree by the lake as their meeting place.
She remembered "Anita" acomponying them to the tree, far out of sight from the castle, and the tragedy that followed. The anguished scream that escaped Anita's lips as she tumbled to the ground, dead. And in her place, stood the now familiar figure of Lord Voldemort...
She had tried to stand her ground, concealed in the magical prison outside of time and space, trying to keep each other's hopes up, reasuring each other of survival...
Ron died after eight days, she let out a dry sob as that familiar wave of tormenting helplessness swept over her, coming back to haunt her. His pitifull moans after a week were more than she could bear to remember.
And then, just when she thought that she would also die, Harry had found and defeated Voldemort, destroying all of his power yet again, including her confinment.
Everyone was dazed at the loss of Ron especially Ginny. But the pain gradually became less.
Harry and Hermione began to go out together and she was convinced that at the end of seventh year they would marry. But Harry had gone in search of Voldemort, to try and kill him once and for all before he could built up enough strength to piece together another attack, Harry knew that Voldemort was after him, he always had been, but now especially , Harry had become a very powerfull wizard and the Dark Lord wanted that power.
Silent tears flowed down Hermione's face at the thought of that day, graduation day, the last time that she had ever seen him. How he had promised to be back withen a couple of months, having reached his goal or not, he would come back for her...and she had waited, oh she had waited, but after two years of just waiting, stuck in a stupid part time job in Diagon Alley, she knew that he wasn't comming back.
She wondered what to do, where to go. She could to anything, after all she was still only nineteen and had achived a record number of N.E.W.T.s.
She soon decided that Ireland was a good posibilaty, she had become best friends with Sarah McCarthy, a Ravenclaw a year ahead of her while in fourth year. She decided to go to her.
She had Sarah's address, as a result of promising to reply and so she left England determined of a future.
Sarah lived in a small town named Ballincolling in Cork, a county in the south of the small country.
Sarah still lived with her parents but was planning to move out soon, she was delighted when Hermione turned up on her doorstep. They arranged to buy a house together in Limrick, which was only just under an hours drive away. Hermione rented an appartment for about a month while Sarah tied up all loose ends.
And so that was that, Hermione lived with her best friend in the heart of the Limrick countryside, it was perfectly situated, on it's own yet only a quarter of an hour's drive to Limrick and it's magical street (not unlike Diagon Alley).
She was snapped out of her memories by the shouts of Sarah.
"Hermione, I'm going to draíocht street, d'ya want anyting".
"Er...no thanks Sare., she replied.
"Okay, seeya later", Sarah called from the next room.
"Bye"!
"Damn, were out of floo powder"
"Oh stop being so lazy", Hermione teased, "it's just a ten minute drive".
"What're you getting anyway that's so important"?
"I need some mooncholode for the restoration spell that I'm doing".
"Oh, what are you restoring?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I was clearing out the attic the other day, and I found this ADORABLE armchair, it's in pretty bad shape though, so..."
"What is it with you and old junk? Honestly weve got more restored furniture that we have room to put it. I mean, we could sell it but you insist on cluttering up the whole house"!
"It's not 'old junk', it's antique furniture!" Sarah replied indignantly. "And you have to see it, it's a gorgous mahogony victorian style frame with the softest cuisions covered in red silk,it's beautiful...or at least it will be when it's finished."
Hermione smiled at her friend, "Well if you like it that much, why don't you go out and just pick some, I went for a walk the other day in the forest and I saw clumps of it everywhere. It's the perfect time of year for it and it'd save you a good seven sickles. Go on, it's a lovely day for a walk anyway".
"Well, if it is, why don't you come with me?" said Sarah slyly.
"Because I'm in the middle of tidying the attic that you compleatly forgot about", she enjoyed these arguments.
"How come tidying the attic looks a great deal like lying on the couch? One of the great mysteries of life wouldn't you say?"
"I-I just found the old Hogwarts album and I was...was flicking through it", Hermione's voice was now quiet and distant.
Sarah knew better than to provoke one of her friend's mournfull moods, where she often went in to a daze for a couple of days. She dropped the argument knowing that Hermione in a good mood was better than winning an argument.
"Okey, seeya later", said Sarah stepping out of the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attic in perfect order, Hermione hummed along to the radio as she stepped in to the kitchen wondering what to make for dinner, Sarah would be home soon and she decided lazily to make pasta with plain sauce. Dinner on, she decided to go and meet Sarah.
Sha sighed looking up at the sky only to see black storm clouds fast approaching, "Damn", picking up her umberella, she stepped out, closed the door and walked down the twisting path.
She passed through the fields full of early spring daffodils calling out her friend's name, afraid that the rain would soon be upon her; "Sarah, SARAH!!!!!!!!! Where are you"???
She was nervous now, and approaching the forest...she was seriously peeved with her friend too. And, to *improve* the scene, it had just began to pour! She suddenly heard a low moan comming from the field on her right, she looked in the direction of the sound and saw a black mass a couple of metres away from her, she ran towards the thing and saw that it was a man wearing a black wizard's cloak, he looked in pretty bad shape.
"Oh my God, sir, are you alright"?
He had a large gash down his right arm and was soaking.
"Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh deeeeeear..."
He was unconscious. There was nothing else to do but bring him back to the house.
Hermione sighed, taking out her wand, "mobilacorpus".
He at once rose from the ground and Hermione led him to the house, Sarah was there waiting for her.
She gasped when she saw the man,"Hermione, what happened?, she exclaimed.
"Well, I went out looking for you", she said, giving her friend a murderous look, and he was just lying in a field"!
"Who is he, is he alright"???
"I have no idea, all that I know is that he is a wizard", she said, reffering to his cloak.
"Well, whoever he is, we have to get him to bed, the bed in the spare room is made...".
Sarah began to set the table as Hermione brought the man upstairs. She sat in the dining room watching the table magically lay itself when she heard Hermione scream. She jumped up leaving the cutlery to fend for itself...
Hermione was standing at the top of the stairs a mixture of every emotion possible passing over her face, joy, disbelief, shock...
"Hermione, what happened? Are you okay"???
"I-I, thought that he might have had a temperature so, I felt his forehead and...and...", Hermione couldn't finish the sentance so Sarah walked in to the room and went to the man's bedside... and fel backwards in a dead faint, for the man had a unique scar on his forehead, identifying him as only one person.
Hermione didn't care that Sarah now lay on the floor also uncontious, she had Harry back!
~A/N~ Well wasn't that a cheerfully *unpredictable* little ramble? Ah well, more to come within the next twenty-fou... wait! Don't go, I'm just getting started, I swear that it gets better...less predictable anyway...please. I'm in the middle of nearly a month's Easter holidays (HAPPY EASTER BTW!) so I'd advise you to run NOW!
Anyway, cheerio!