A/N.: Chapter 2! A big thanks to my readers for their kind reviews. I'll make sure to spell Diagon ally right in the future :).
I also want to thank everyone who has added this story to either their favourites or their story alerts. It all means a great deal to me guys!
Again: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters and places you may recognise, I only own the things that come from my own mind.
P.s. Thoughts and letters will be written in italic: Like this. In this chapter all the thoughts will be Hermione's.
Chapter 2 - We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.
Absence and death are the same - only that in death there is no suffering.
-Theodore Roosevelt
George stared at the woman in front of him and blinked a couple of times, as if she was a vision that could dissolve into thin air at any moment now. But that obviously didn't happen.
Hermione didn't meet his eyes but turned her attention to the little girl instead. The child had stopped crying and was now rubbing her eyes with her little fists, still sniffling a little.
After a minute or so Hermione couldn't keep pretending as if George wasn't there. Gathering all her courage she raised her head and looked him right in the eyes.
She saw a lot of emotions go through those brown eyes. Shock, relief, hurt, betrayal and then some. Seeing those emotions made her feel even more guilty about her disappearance. However, in her bright mind she was also well aware of the fact that she could not let her emotions get the better of her now.
She had had good reasons to leave and giving George too much information could be catastrophic. She broke with George's glance and instead looked around. She noticed a fireplace on the right side of the room, next to the desk. If only she could get to it...
With only a tiny movement of his wand George blocked the fireplace. Well Shit.
"I...I don't understand" he finally said, drawing Hermione's attention to himself again.
He had kept looking at her, as if he was afraid that if he would look away for just one second she would be gone once more.
George had realized that the girl in front of him did not look the same as he remembered. The Hermione he remembered was a bossy know-it-all with bushy hair and ink smudges on her fingers. The Hermione across his desk looked more mature and composed. Her face was not as round, her cheekbones where showing more and her lips seemed a bit more plumb. Her hair was longer and tamed into smooth brown ringlets, falling down over her right shoulder.
And now that she looked at him it was evident that it where her eyes that had really changed. These where not the eyes of a nineteen year old girl. He had seen eyes like this before, just after the war. They where the eyes of his parents, of his brothers and sister, of the members of the order of phoenix, of Harry Potter. They where his eyes. They where the eyes of people who had seen too much and had bared too many burdens.
However, most of those people had by now more or less recovered. Granted, a lot of them still suffered from nightmares and other symptoms of something that muggles called PTSD, but they had moved on with their lives and where getting better. Hermione's eyes looked as if she was still fighting in a war, as if she still had burdens too bare.
Hermione didn't say anything. She didn't know what she could say, her brain had gone into protection mode, trying to find a way out of this situation. She had to keep her adoptive daughter safe at all costs. As long as George was no direct threat to the girl everything would be al right, but she had to get out. She knew he would demand answers and she couldn't tell him anything. Quickly she glanced down at the girl who was slowly dozing off in her arms.
George followed her gaze. "The girl..." He finally said, nodding his head towards her. "She can't be yours, can she? I mean, you weren't..."
"No I was not pregnant" Hermione finished his sentence. "I think either Harry or Ron might have noticed that, don't you think?"
"Right" George answered, he knew she was only making a joke out of it to get rid of the awkwardness but right now that wasn't helping, this was no time for jokes. "Then who is she?"
"Her name is Esmeraude, she's an orphan."
"And why is she with you and not in an orphanage or something?"
"She is with me because she is my adoptive daughter. And that's obviously also the reason why she isn't in an orphanage." or something
"But you have to be married to adopt a child!" George replied, eyes wide.
Hermione cringed, she had not expected George to know something like that, and she definitely hadn't planned on telling him that scrap of information. A well, there is no use to denying it now she thought. "Yes I am aware of that George."
"so you are?"
"I am what?" Hermione asked, raising one eyebrow. Wait, had she actually copied a habit from a painting? Now that was weird. Ofcourse she knew what George had meant with his question but she was trying to buy her self some time.
"Well, married of course!" George said, eyes still wide.
Hermione didn't answer. As long as she didn't respond to the accusation he would never be sure.
Unfortunately George had other plans. "Accio gloves!" he yelled, while pointing his wand towards Hermione. Hermione's gloves shot from her hands and flew towards George.
"Auch! George that hurt!" Hermione accused while rubbing the fingers of her right hand with her left.
George didn't respond. Instead he stared at the ring that was around one of Hermione's fingers.
The ring was a silver band with a tiny running lioness on it, drawn in gold. The eye of the lioness was a very small emerald.
George was astonished at the combination of a Lion, the symbol of Gryffindor and an emerald, a stone that was associated with Slytherin.
Oh god, Hermione thought If his eyes open even wider they might actually fall out.
Now George was the one to raise an eyebrow, looking suspicious. "Who did you marry, Hermione?" He asked, sounding very serious.
"That is none of your business."
George glared at her. He was clearly getting angry at her, and she couldn't blame him.
Suddenly something seemed to snap inside of him and he started shouting. "For months, MONTHS! We haven't heard a single thing from you. We didn't know where you where, you could have been death! We all lost so many family members and friends and you simply decide to leave us without telling us why or where you went. You can't even imagine what we've gone through! And what about Ron and Harry, do you have any idea what you did to them?"
Startled at the sound, Esmeraude started crying again. Hermione tried to comfort her but after this outburst she too was shaking.
"You knew I wasn't death. I sent Harry and Ron letters telling them I was okay."
"You could have been forced to write those letters. You could have been abducted by one of Voldemorts remaining followers and forced to write you where okay so we wouldn't come looking for you. Many of his sympathisers are still on the lose. Even some death-eaters haven't been arrested. Even Malfoy hasn't been captured yet!"
Hermione's head shot up. "and why on earth would Malfoy want to abduct me?"
"Oh come on Hermione! You're the mudblood that helped defeat his master, of course he'd want revenge!"
"Well, I haven't been abducted by Lucius Malfoy. Or anyone else for that matter. You can pass that on to Ron and Harry, I'll make sure to send them another letter sometime soon. For now I would very much like it if you'd unlock the door so we can take our leave before Esmeraude chokes on her own tears." Hermione said as she grasped her gloves of the desk and fumbled to put them back on. Her face was torn with hurt, tears shining in her own eyes as well.
George didn't unlock the door but his anger seemed to disappear as fast as it had come, making him look more like his old self. "I can't, Hermione. I should take you with me to see the order. They have the right to question you about why you took off, there have been some weird stories going around. And besides we all deserve an explanation. They won't forgive me if they hear I spoke to you and just let you go. You have to understand" he pleaded.
Hermione took a deep breath. "Very well then" she said, before taking her wand from her sleeve and pointing it at the door. With a loud 'bang' the door flew open. The spell was strong enough to make the doorpost catch fire. She put her hood back up and hurried out, hiding Esmeraude under her cloak once more. Once outside she disapparated right away, leaving an astonished and confused George behind.
Harry Potter was sitting at the kitchen table inside of the Burrow. Even though he didn't officially live there he liked being in the Weasley's family home.
Soon after the war he and Ginny had gotten married and had purchased a small house in Godric's Hallow, but because Ginny was finishing her education at Hogwarts the house was too quiet for his liking. Therefore he would usually visit the Burrow and dine with the Weasley's after he got back from aurors training. Today was his day of and he had come over to spend the day with his in-laws.
Molly Weasley hadn't been too happy about their marriage at such a young age, but she'd come around fast when she saw how happy the two where together. And of course she had very much enjoyed preparing the event and having it at the Burrow.
In the months after the final battle a lot of young people had gotten married. Luna and Neville Longbottom where even expecting their first child together. Of course both of them didn't have parents any more, So it only made sense that they wanted to start a family of their own. Xenophilius had been killed by death-eaters just days before the final battle and Neville's parents where still in St Mungo's,
Harry heared a sound by the kitchen window. He looked up just in time to see Molly open the window and taking a letter from the owl that was in front of it. As soon as the owl had given her the letter it flew away, apparently it didn't have to wait for a response.
"There's two letters, one is addressed to you dear." she said before handing him the letter.
Harry took the letter from her and gasped as he recognised the handwriting. He quickly opened it, ignoring the shaking of his hands, and started to read.
Dear Harry,
First I want to congratulate you and Ginny on your marriage. I am very happy for the both of you.
As I have told you in my last letter I am alive and well. I might need to add that I am here out of my own free will.
I am very sorry that I can not tell you where I am or why I have not been in contact with anyone but you will have to believe me that it is for the best.
I think George will try and talk to you sometime soon. I really hope this letter gets to you before he does.
The reason he would want to talk to you is because he saw me and my adoptive daughter earlier today in Diagon ally.
Yes I have an adoptive daughter and yes as George will inform you that does also mean I'm married.
I am not going to tell you who my husband and my daughter are. I wish I could but I feel the only way I can protect them is by keeping them a secret. Please do not think that I don't tell you because I don't trust you. I just think people wouldn't understand and right now it is not a risk I am willing to take.
Please pass my love on to everyone else and tell them I miss them and that I hope they are in good health.
Love,
Hermione
Harry put the letter down, ignoring Molly who had seen his face as he read and was now firing questions at him. He felt relieved by the information Hermione had given him. He had recognised the handwriting on the envelope the moment he had seen it. Now that he had read it he had no reason not to believe it was Hermione who had sent it. The things she had written in it had to be true; she said that she had spoken to George and this was so easy to check that it couldn't possibly be a lie.
However, Harry didn't know whether to feel relieved or angry.
He was glad to hear that she was safe, but that also meant that she had deliberately abandoned them.
Harry didn't understand how she could do such a thing, especially after they'd lost so many of their friends already. She of all people knew how hard it was to be abandoned by someone you cared for. He remembered all those nights in the tent, after Ron had left, when she would cry herself to sleep. And how could she do something like this to them after all they had been through?
Harry could feel the anger burn inside him, ripping on his intestines and replacing more and more of the relief he had initially felt. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and re-read the letter.
How could she possibly be married and have adopted a child? He had known that she and Ron had broken up only a week after the final battle, deciding they'd mistaken friendly affection for love, but she hadn't been in love with anyone else, had she? And why wouldn't she tell him who it was?
Yes, the letter had answered a few of his questions, but it had also caused a million new questions to appear.
At that moment Harry heard the rush of flames behind him. As he turned around he saw a red-haired figure tumbling into the kitchen. George had arrived.
A/N: Still no answers, I am terribly sorry. You'll get them soon enough, I promise!
- Esmeraude – A French girls name which means 'Emerald' (only long after I chose the name I realised there is a character in Sailor Moon which has the exact same name. There is no similarity between them)
- The chapter title 'We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.' is a quote from 'stray birds' by Rabindranath Tagore 1861-1941
I love reviews, so keep them coming! Every time my inbox shows I have a new review I feel like a child on Christmas morning. You guys are amazing!
Again the next chapter will be up soon, my university is closed for a few days so hopefully I'll be able to work on the story :)
