::::Harry Potter and the Dance of the Thestral::::
::Chapter Four::
::Hermione Granger::
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(A/N): Yay! Another chapter. And, like I promised, faster than chapter three! But who's counting...? Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. This is where the story begins to pick up. And by pick up, I mean you ask yourself questions like, "Is this a Harry/Hermione story?" and "Why et cetera?" Well, let me make this clear. There is a fifty percent (50) possibility that this story will be a Harry/Hermione pairing.
Now, let me also make this clear: FUTURE HARRY/OLD HARRY (ALEXANDER REDCREEK) WILL NOT BE INVOLVED WITH PAIRINGS!!
In fact, Mr. Alex, aka Future Harry, did not have a romantic relationship in his time. His life was without all the fluff and flare that some would believe possible when many people want you dead. So, there will be no influence from Alex in the relationship(s) of Young Harry. He is here because of one thing: To make this time right. As long as Voldemort is gone and the war is stopped before it begins, Future Harry is happy. As far as the rest of Young Harry's life, he believes it should run whatever course it gets set upon.
Have a good read!
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Harry Potter stared blankly out the car window as he and Alexander Redcreek made their trip to wherever it was they were going. Harry didn't really know where they were going, but he trusted Alex, and the Hogwarts letter he had received two weeks prior to this moment only reinforced his trust in Alex. However, no matter how excited Harry was, there was absolutely no way to stave off the insurmountable boredom that was overtaking him now. Alex had been as quiet as a mouse, not saying one word after stepping into the driver's seat. He had a focused look on his face; his brow was creased in concentration and his eyes showed deep, emotional thought in them. Harry was almost disconcerted when he first saw the look on Alex's face, but now that disconcerted feeling was drowned out by the monotonous drive that they had endured for nearly two hours. Harry was running out of things to be nervous about.
As Harry was pondering his thoughts, Alex was concentrating on driving the car in the correct lane. His thoughts were bombarding him as he kept the steering wheel steady.
'What am I going to do? I didn't realize she took Muggle orientation! What am I going to do?' his mind rambled as his brilliant green eyes began to shine with tears that refused to fall. He didn't want to see her so soon. It would be too much. His mind forgot to remind him that he felt this way about all his friends.
'I can't do this. I can't. I know all I'll want to do when I see her is run up to her and never let go. I'll never stop asking her to forgive me. But she wont know what I'm talking about.' thought Alex as he made the final turn in his and Harry's journey. Instantly, his mind cleared, and one thought reigned supreme, 'She will never know. I wont let her know. I'll never let anyone know.'
Breaking from his thoughts, Alex looked for a parking spot close to his destination. Finding an empty parking space just a couple hundred feet away from a run-down bar called the Leaky Cauldron, Alex slowed down and parked the dark blue car. Harry took a silent, deep breath as his mind came back into focus, and all his nerves as well.
"Alright, time to get out, Harry," said Alex as he smiled at Harry struggling to unbuckle his seatbelt. "You have to wiggle it a little," said Alex, laughing. Harry flushed. Harry struggled with it just a few more seconds, and the belt released and nearly smacked Harry in the nose as it retracted into its normal position.
"Be careful, Harry, don't want to break your nose with a seatbelt and have to tell the story to all the people that ask what happened," said Alex playfully. Harry mumbled something under his breath as he opened the passenger door and stepped out.
Stretching widely, Harry yawned as he took in his urban surroundings. There were multitudes of people walking around in light jackets, all of them carrying umbrellas to fend off the sporadic rain that had been plaguing London for several days. Harry noticed that there seemed to be no children in the streets at this particular part of London. Harry absentmindedly shut the passenger door as his bright green eyes continued to scour the streets of London. Harry was brought back into focus by the sound of the driver door slamming closed. Alex stood with a bright, neon green umbrella that he was twirling around lightly.
"Need some cover, Harry?" asked Alex, walking over to the other side of the car to stop face-to-face with Harry (or rather, the front side of both their bodies were facing each other).
"I 'spose," replied Harry, looking funnily at the color of the umbrella.
"Not your favorite color, eh?" asked Alex in a mock-serious tone. Harry decided to ignore the umbrella and ask a question he had wanted to ask at the beginning of their trip.
"How many other witches and wizards will there be in the orientation?" asked Harry quickly.
'It's time,' thought Alex wearily.
"Well, there's you, and me, and one witch that should be arriving shortly," said Alex as he looked Harry in the eye.
"Why are there not many witches or wizards coming to this?" asked Harry, slightly shocked.
"This is the first orientation of the month. I was lucky enough to draw the short straw," replied Alex, smiling. "Believe me, Harry, it's better to have less people in the orientation. It makes it easier to make friends before you go to school," said Alex as he motioned for Harry to follow him down the street.
"I'm sure you and the other student will be friends in no time," said Alex as he reached for the handle on the door to the bar called The Leaky Cauldron.
Alex turned the knob, and a sight Harry would never forget met his eyes. The bar was laid out like any other bar Harry had seen when he would catch a peek at the television while the Dursleys were occupied. But, there was something quite different about this place.
"They're all witches and wizards, aren't they, sir?" said Harry quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.
"That's right," said Alex quietly; he seemed to be thinking the same thing as Harry at the moment. Alex motioned for Harry to follow closely. Harry followed like a dog on a three inch leash. They both walked up to the bar and Alex waved his hand to get the attention of the bartender.
"The name's Tom, sir. How can I help you?" asked the man jovially.
"I need a table for four, please, and four butterbeers," said Alex as he handed Tom a relatively large gold coin. Tom took the coin and went out of sight behind the bar. Alex turned himself in the direction of the door and stared intently at the entrance. Harry tried to stare at the door like Alex, but his attention kept getting taken by something odd that would catch his eye. Just as Harry saw an old woman with long, black robes walk through the entrance, he heard a throat clear from behind him. Tom was back with four glasses filled with an amber liquid that was foaming at the top. Alex took two of the glasses then nodded his head signaling to Harry to grab the remaining two.
Glasses of frothy, amber-crisp liquid in their hands, Alex and Harry strolled over to an old table that looked to be on its last leg, literally. The table stood there unassumingly as any other average table, but upon further inspection, Harry noticed that there was only one leg holding up the table. And, to top it off, the leg looked like it wasn't going to last much longer. Harry assumed that magic was holding it up as he sat the two glasses that were in his hand on the flat, plain grey table. Harry involuntarily waited with baited breath for the table to topple over and spill the cool, golden contents of the four glasses sitting on top of the table. It didn't budge. Harry dared a glance at Alex, and what he saw shocked him. Alex was staring blankly in the direction of the entrance, his vibrant green eyes shining with tears. Harry broke out of his temporary shock and fixed his gaze to where Alex was staring. Instantly, Harry picked out what Alex was looking at. There were two people that had just come into the bar from the rain outside. An middle-aged woman with a young girl with brown, bushy hair were looking around the bar rapidly as the older woman retracted the dark blue umbrella that they had used for protection from the rain. Harry took another look at Alex. His eyes were now dry and he had a charming smile on his face, showcasing his sparkling white teeth. He took his right hand and lightly pulled his black hair back and gently let it fall back into place as he started toward the two people that had just entered.
"Mrs. Granger, I presume," said Alex politely, taking the woman's right hand into his own and placing a polite kiss on her hand. "And you must be Hermione," he said, taking the young girl's right hand and doing the same thing he had done to the older woman. "I'm Professor Alexander Redcreek."
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Harry looked toward the bushy haired girl as she closed her eyes, lifted her glass, and took the last gulp of her butterbeer. Both Alex and Mrs. Granger had been talking nonstop for almost twenty minutes now. However, Harry and Hermione had been silent, randomly staring at things, and when they would catch themselves staring at each other, they would quickly look away and stare at the table. Harry didn't know what it was about this girl, but something was familiar about her. It was a feeling of safety and friendship, but he knew that couldn't be right. He had barely met the girl, let alone known her long enough to be her friend. As Hermione lowered her glass, her soft, brown eyes glanced toward Harry, and their eyes met for another time. This time, however, neither of them looked away. Harry saw warmth and kindness in her eyes. The swirling white orbs that seemed to be trapped in her shining eyes captivated Harry as he stared at her intently. She stared just as intently as Harry, seemingly lost in her own world. Then, without warning, Alex spoke up loudly, "I need to go to the restroom. I'll be right back, then we can begin the orientation."
Alex scooted out of his chair and walked off behind the bar and out of sight. Mrs. Granger, Hermione, and Harry were left at the table and sat silently as they waited for Alex to return. Abruptly, Mrs. Granger broke the silence, "So, Harry, is it? Where are you from?" she asked casually.
Harry, who had decided to stare at the woodgrain of the table after breaking away from Hermione's eyes, looked up at Mrs. Granger quickly. Clearing his throat, Harry said, "Uh, Surrey, ma'am."
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'This isn't right,' thought Alex as he paced back and forth across the restroom floor.
'My emotions are seeping into my younger self, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say they're seeping into Hermione as well,' said Alex in a mental tone that would scare someone of a weaker mind.
"Dammit," mumbled Alex as he stopped and checked the gold watch on his left wrist. It had already been five minutes since he had entered the restroom. The others would be wondering about him by now. Alex went to the white porcelain sink that was right next to the restroom door and turned on the faucet. Cupping his hands together, he lowered them into the flow of ice cold water, waited for them to fill up, then splashed his face lightly, clearing his mind. Sweeping his right hand over his face, slicking back his hair ever so slightly, and adjusting his coat, he sighed exasperatedly. This would be tough, and Alex knew it. But Alex also knew his fate, and he wasn't about to let this time come into ruin.
Alex cleared his throat, looked at the small mirror above the sink and said, "Time to start."
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(A/N): Wee!
Sorry to say this, but I'm not going to have a chapter devoted to Diagon Alley at this point in time. I don't have the energy to thoroughly research Diagon Alley for a whole chapter. So, unless I get a hundred distinct reviews saying, "WRITE DIAGON ALLEY!!11" I'm not going to. It would literally take me two months. I'm a procrastinating perfectionist. :(