Allo, cordyangel here and here to say, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! That's all. Please review as a birthday present to me. Have Fun!
Chapter 9: The Lion's Den
Hermione's first dinner at St. Mungo's was quite an experience. She and Kiera went into a line and got their single servings of jello, rice and cut up chicken. Foods that could be eaten with spoons.
Kiera explained that to her. "They're afraid we might try to hurt ourselves. We aren't allowed to use forks, knives or even pens and pencils."
Hermione was astonished. She couldn't remember what she'd been like before her amnesia, but she couldn't imagine anything so bad as to make her want to gut herself with a plastic knife.
Many people knew Kiera, all of whom called her by her nickname. And more people it seemed knew Hermione, or at least knew of her. They all stared at her with a mix of reverence and respect. Which made it all the harder to try and speak with them.
But at last dinner was over and Kiera showed Hermione back to their rooms. They both got ready for bed and somehow, in her gut, Hermione knew that tonight she'd have no trouble getting to sleep.
HSHSHSHSHSHSHSH
Kiera was already up when Hermione opened her eyes. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts and Hermione could tell that whatever she was thinking about was painful.
"Good morning sleepy head," Kiera said with a ghost of a grin on her face. "What were you dreaming about? You were yelling half the night.
"I don't know," Hermione answered truthfully. "I'm sorry if I kept you up."
Kiera snapped out of her reverie. "No, I'm usually up earlier than this." Hermione remembered what Kiera had said about still having nightmares.
"Is it because of your nightmares? I don't mean to pry, but you seem to have been through a lot." Hermione took a deep breath. "Do you want to talk about it?
"We've all been through a lot, but I for one am not ready to go all Dr. Phil. Are you hungry?" Hermione noticed that for all her friendliness, Kiera sure was an expert at the art of subject changing.
"Sure, just let me get decent."
HSHSHSHSHSHSHSH
Hermione almost didn't begrudge her visit to Professor Snape that mid morning. In spite of herself, Hermione was intrigued by Kiera. She wanted to know more about her and she knew Snape had the answers.
"How was your first night in the lion's den?" Snape asked.
Hermione stared at him. "Did you manage to fit in theology during your years at Hogwarts? I didn't notice a religious course on the selection sheets."
Snape chuckled. "My mother was Christian, actually, but that's beside the point. Was it as bad as you tried to convince me it would be?"
"No, it wasn't."
"Which means that I was…"
Hermione knew exactly where he was going. "It means that you were…right."
"And you were…"
"Wrong."
"Let me hear that one more time. I was…" Severus was really enjoying this side of Hermione. He knew he shouldn't, he should've been on her case some more about letting him give her back her memories. But he didn't want to alienate Hermione.
"You are a sadistic bastard who doubles as an egomaniac," she snapped, but her tone held little bite.
"Sticks and stones. But you were about to tell me how your first night was. Did you like her?"
"Yeah, Kiera's great. I can't really imagine her as being depressed."
"Sunny is a very multi-layered person. The snap shot she shows you isn't the big picture. Remember that. And be careful with her."
Hermione desperately wanted to ask Professor Snape about Kiera's past, but couldn't bring herself to. Plus, she pretty much knew what the answer would be. Something about how it was her job to find out.
They continued their meeting without talking anymore about Kiera, which made for a very long and boring session.
HSHSHSHSHSHSH
Now try to tell me that isn't worth reviewing. You can't, can you. Didn't think so.
BYE! (Sorry about the prolific use of exclamation points, but I'm on a bit of a sugar high.)
