Impressions
Author's Note: Originally published on September 7, 2010
"Wow, this is even bigger and more beautiful than the one last week!"
I grinned at Susan as she slid into her customary seat at the bar. It was her favourite spot when she popped in for a quick visit every afternoon after finishing her work at the Ministry.
I was scrambling to get the place ready for the upcoming dinner rush. If lunch was any indication, it was going to be a busy evening. Hogwarts letters had recently been sent out and Diagon Alley was packed with shoppers.
Susan was admiring the lovely flower arrangement which had arrived earlier, leaning forward to take in the delicate vanilla scent it was emitting.
"You're so lucky, Hannah." She eyed the flowers and sighed. "Neville is such a romantic."
"You have no idea."
The bell above the door chimed, signalling the first dinner patrons. Exhausted from the hectic lunch service, I pushed a few strands of my long blonde hair out of my eyes before taking a deep breath and putting on a big smile, ready to greet the customers. I was surprised when Neville walked in, rolling up his sleeves as he approached.
"Hi sweetheart," he said brightly as he pulled me into a hug.
I melted into his arms for a moment, until I remembered that I had so much to do and that Susan was sitting there, watching us.
"What are you doing here, Neville? Don't you have to finish preparing for classes?"
He kissed the top of my head. "That can wait. I guessed that you'd be swamped today, so I came to help out. What can I do? Let me guess, the kitchen needs straightening out."
I nodded, overcome at how wonderful he was. He stopped to say hello to Susan before disappearing through the swinging doors at the back of the room.
Susan gave me a wide-eyed look, clearly amazed.
"Like I said, you have no idea."
At one point, I was convinced that I'd been infected with something. In my youth, I often explored the area around our house, making friends with creatures large and small. One of them, perhaps a Blibbering Humdinger, must have bitten me some point.
How else would you explain the eye rolls? It seemed that during the first conversation I had with someone, anyone, something would possess their eyes and cause them to roll. Even the Death Eaters suffered from it, when they held me captive.
Not that I minded, of course. I was worried that I was causing damage to their brains when it happened. That wouldn't be very nice now, would it?
My father had assured me that it was merely my curious spirit, and that the vast depth of my inquisitiveness and unique perspectives on what they considered to be normal affected some narrow-minded individuals.
Yet, there was one person who wasn't affected by it, which was something I noticed immediately.
When I was introduced to him by Ginny, I felt compelled to tell him my theory on how centaurs had evolved from merpeople.
I watched him carefully as I said this, awaiting his inevitable eye roll.
It never came.
Instead, I could see only fascination. He inquired further and even offered his own theories. Perhaps he was somehow immune to my effect on people. I decided I would have to investigate further by spending more time with him, which I very much looked forward to.
One thing was clear to me about this Rolf fellow—I liked him very much.
"They're not going to break. Let's just finish them off and get out of here."
The shifty little bugger flashed me a maniacal look mixed with a hint of nervousness. Weakling. However, his snivelling got me thinking.
"No, Crouch. I have a much better idea. Let's teach this filth a lesson."
I turned towards my wife. Our bonding was one of convenience, a way to uphold our pureblood lineage in the future while continuing our complete devotion to our lord. Our marriage was built on a shared lust for sadism that could not be denied.
"Bella, don't you think death would be the easy way out for this Muggle-loving scum?" I asked, gesturing with my wand to the half-conscious Longbottoms. I could see Rabastan nodding in agreement out of the corner of my eye.
A slow smile formed on her blood-red lips. "What do you have in mind?"
"We let them live, but as empty shells with no thought or memory. That will teach them to defy our lord."
Bella licked her lips at the delicious thought, before her sharp laugh pierced the air like a knife.
"A brilliant plan; the Dark Lord would approve."
Crouch kept glaring back and forth between us as we shared a knowing look, our eyes meeting in anticipation for the fun to come.
"That'll take too much time," he hissed, "they could hold out for a while."
"Nonsense," Bella replied softly, approaching the couple. "We'll start with the woman."
The lump on the floor must have heard us. He dragged himself next to his wife and tried to shield her from the upcoming onslaught.
"No, please..."
Upon hearing his pathetic pleas, Bella snarled, her face contorting into a mask of pure hatred. I could feel waves of power effortlessly emanating from her as she pointed her wand in their direction and screamed out the curse.
"CRUCIO!"
Just like that it was done. Still alive, but their minds lost forever.
What a woman.
I wished there was something more I could do.
His family had tried, again and again, but the stony, disconsolate look on his face rarely wavered. It wasn't surprising, considering a large piece of him was gone forever, but it hurt me deeply to see my friend in such a state.
They were always so vibrant, the pair of them, causing chaos and merriment in their wake. Brilliant as well, the way their minds worked. Not only creatively, but constantly in tandem. It was impossible for me to think of them as anything but a duo, and I'd needed to change that thinking quickly, for George's sake.
Percy was back, a constant presence at the shop, despite his duties at the Ministry. While Ron was working hard keeping the shop running, Percy had taken it upon himself to do whatever he could to get George out of his funk. I knew how guilty Percy felt, as the twins had told me all about his falling out with the family, but I didn't think his pestering approach was the best way to get through to George.
I could see the look of boredom on George's face quickly turn to one of annoyance. I thought I'd made some progress with him this morning, but he was retreating back behind the brick wall he'd built around himself. Frustrated, Percy stomped towards me in a huff. At that moment, I acted on instinct.
I stuck out my foot and Percy went down in a heap. Fred would have been proud.
He got to his feet, his wire-rimmed glasses askew as he brushed himself off. He sputtered for a moment, unsure of what had just happened.
"What was that for, Angelina?"
"For that," I said, nodding in George's direction.
His whole body was shaking with restrained amusement, and tears of mirth were rolling down his cheeks. He finally cracked as howls of laughter burst forth. It was the sweetest sound I'd heard in ages.
Percy gave me a grateful look and whispered his thanks before Disapparating, leaving us alone in the storeroom.
I walked over to George and gently touched the back of my hand to his flushed cheek. He nuzzled against my hand before grabbing it and lacing our fingers together. It was unexpected, but not unwelcome.
"That was brilliant!"
I grinned. "I did learn from the best."
"Yeah, Perce was always a good source for a laugh."
"He's trying really hard, you know. We all are."
"I know, Ange, I know. I'll try harder, too."
She smirked, her face just inches from mine as we lay snuggled together in bed. We often spent our Sunday mornings like this—before the kids arrived, that is. Now that they were both at Hogwarts, we'd fallen into our same old pattern.
"Just tell me, Hermione!"
"Sorry, love, you'll have to guess."
She smirked again, and I couldn't resist giving her a quick peck on the lips.
"I don't bloody know, after we got out of the chamber… that's the only thing I can think of."
"You honestly thought I was going to snog you after we came back out of that filthy, smelly pit?"
"Well, you were rather proud of me; you even bragged about it to Harry."
Even now, my wife blushed slightly at how transparent her feelings were at that time. "Fine, that is true, and yes, I did want to snog you then, but it was earlier that day when I almost did it."
I tried to think back to the events of that day, but much of it was a blur. My face must have been as bewildered as my brain, because she relented a bit.
"Here's a hint. We were surrounded by people at the time."
I was still confused. We'd briefly been in Hogsmeade, but that couldn't be it. The only other place had been…
"The Room of Requirement."
She nodded. "You're getting closer."
Everything had happened so quickly once we'd left The Hog's Head, including the brief amount of time with our friends.
"Was it when I came up with the idea to go to the chamber?"
"No, though that was a brilliant idea."
"When I convinced Harry to use everyone's help to find the diadem?"
She leaned forward and kissed me. "Try again."
"I have no idea, Hermione."
"Does 'Gamp's Law' mean anything to you?"
"Yeah, of course. What does that have to do with anything?"
"You don't remember how you recited one of the exceptions to Gamp's Law when Neville was telling us about how he'd survived in the castle?"
I shrugged my shoulder. "No, not really. I said that?"
"Yes, you did. That was when I almost snogged you, right in front of everyone."
I goggled at her. "Why?"
"That's when I knew you really listened to me. It told me that you cared to remember things I told you. That meant a lot to me."
"And the house elves?" I whispered from where I was now kissing her neck.
"The house elves clinched it."