Chapter 3: Hermione

AN: I'm sad. Some of my followers left and I don't know why. Oh well.

This is something of an early Holiday present for y'all. That and it wouldn't really leave me alone...

I still need voters! As it stands, the current pairings shall be:

EdxWinry

or

RoyxEd

or

RoyxRiza

AlxMay

JeanxHermione

I need help!

If you don't see a pairing you want, or you see a pairing you really don't want, you need to vote. Vote through the poll on my profile or through the comments. Please?!

Anyway, on with the story!

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed are my own, and generally unpopular with others. As I am self-employed, this *is* the opinion of my employer. 80% of all statistics are wrong.

Hermione woke with a moan, clutching her head as she curled up in the sheets. She was about ready to start cursing whoever let her drink that much, probably Harry or maybe Luna. The flighty blonde was prone to giving Hermione random alcoholic beverages, sometimes without her knowledge. Most of the time on the job, as well.

She let out a pathetic whimper, imagining how her boss would react to another missed day of work this month.

A rustle from the direction of her kitchen interrupted her internal anguish.

Hermione cracked an eye open and winced at the sunlight glaring into her room. Using her hand as a shader, Hermione was able to see into her kitchen, past the bustling red head, and straight to the pot of coffee beckoning her away from the warm safety of her bed.

She moaned again as she stood, walking with her eyes closed, so as to keep the sun out of them. She could feel the red head's eye roll, though she couldn't see it, but she didn't particularly care.

Hermione groaned happily when the glorious cup of coffee was in her hands, still piping hot. Sometimes she absolutely loved magic.

"I can feel the love right now, Hermione." The red head snarked, interrupting the brunette's heavenly praise to the coffee gods.

She swatted the red head with a mild glare and then, being the mature witch that she was, she stuck her tongue out.

The red head smirked and quickly grabbed her tongue while it was still out. Hermione pouted as she stood there with her mouth half open and looking like a fool.

"Can't I get a 'thank you'?" The red head asked with a devilish look.

"Fank 'ou." With a satisfied smile, the red head released the tongue and went back to cooking. Hermione, smirking, quickly licked her palm and swiped it across the back of the red head's neck.

There was a loud shriek and a crash as the red head collapsed on the ground in shock.

The brunette nearly fell over in laughter as the red head glared contemptuously up at her.

"That was unfair." George replied as he wiped the slobber off of his neck. Hermione smirked.

"All's fair in coffee and war." George rolled his eyes good-naturedly before becoming a bit more serious.

"How are you feeling?"

"I have a bit of a headache," Hermione replied as another throb made it's way through her head, "but other than that, I just feel kind of like I forgot something. Like something important."

"Like the fact that your magic was pulled into the veil." Another voice interrupted, making both Hermione and George tense.

"Harry!" George clutched dramatically at his chest. "Don't scare me like that! You'll give me heart failure."

"Hmmm, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Harry said, rolling his eyes. They finally settled on a rather shaken Hermione.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember anything about the veil? Anything at all?"

Hermione slowly shook her head in response, but that was a lie. She did remember something, though it wasn't much.

She remembered a young boy, no older than five with no name or place associated to him like most memories, but she could see he was completely adorable and blissfully happy. He had pulled at her hand, excitedly dragging her to a large tree standing tall next to a quaint-looking house. He then presented her with something proudly. She couldn't see it, but she remembered feeling immensely proud of him.

What made it all the more strange, was that the boy looked like her. He had her brown hair, though it was cut short and much more manageable, and he had her face, with her father's eyes and her mother's nose.

Hermione didn't know how she was related to the boy or how she knew him, but she wanted to. She felt very drawn to him.

"...-mione!" Her eyes shot up to Harry and George's worried faces.

"Sorry," she replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I was thinking about why my magic would be sucked into the veil when it's never done it before." Hermione praised herself at her improved ability to lie on her feet, before realizing that wasn't exactly a good thing.
Harry, sadly, bought the lie, as did George.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd come in to study the veil ..." Harry gave George a look "and the person who came out of it."

Hermione's head snapped up and her back straightened.

"SOMEONE CAME OUT OF THE VEIL?!"

"I was kind of hoping to keep that a secret." Harry said wryly, rubbing at his ear.

Hermione gained a light blush, but continued on incredulously. "How? Was it my magic?"

"Sort of." Harry frowned. "I think your magic was like a catalyst, drawing this person toward the veil but not pulling them through. I could feel them from inside, so I used my magic as a tether, to pull them to this world."

"Was it ... was it Sirius?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"No, it wasn't." He replied, a little sad at the fact. Not as much as he would have been a few years ago, anyway. "I'm also kind of glad it wasn't." He confided.

"Why?" Hermione asked, utterly baffled by Harry's reluctance to see his beloved godfather.

"If I saw him now ... I don't know. I'd probably revert back to the irresponsible depressed, angst-ridden teen that I used to be." He shook his head. "I have two kids to take care of now. My wife is pregnant with our second child. I have responsibilities, to my family, to my friends, to the Ministry. I can't afford to go back to the way I was before. Not really, not anymore."

"I understand." Hermione said looking down. "My parents- if I saw them again, well..." she trailed off. Suddenly realizing how depressing the air had gotten, Hermione hurriedly changed the topic. "You wanted me to study this person from the veil?"

"Yeah." Harry said, accepting the subject change. "They're nice, though I haven't really talked to them much. They were worried about you when they heard that you were injured in whatever brought them here."

"Well," Hermione hesitated, "I want to study the Veil first." She lied.

She would, of course, study the Veil first, that part wasn't a lie, but she really wanted to meet this person who came through. Everything in her body, though was telling her that was a bad idea, like she couldn't go back afterwards. She wanted to figure out why first, before she committed.

Harry nodded at her reply, oblivious to her inner turmoil. "I'll see you at work in two hours, then." And with a spin, he apparated out.

Hermione sighed and leaned into the counter. The next few days were going to be very long ones.

AN: I hope you like my reasoning for Harry's cautious reaction. Both of them, and all the other characters have gone through a recent trauma, one that shall be explained later. It will be quite a few chapters until Al's back in Amestris, and after that, a few chapters until Harry Potter characters get to Amestris.

I'd appreciate any suggestions and your predictions for where you think this story's going!

As always,

Kai