A/N: Sorry this has taken so long, but a bout of pink eye didn't help whatsoever. The next chapter is almost complete. I actually had wanted to include it with this one, but decided to go ahead and post something for you all. Just beware that this hasn't been completely beta-ed and is subject to change. That's what happens when the beta goes on vacation. :(
Chapter 35—Meetings
September 1988- British Museum
Mena trailed along behind her best friend, who was totally engrossed in looking at all the artefacts that were part of the world of Alexander room. She looked from one side of the room to the other and rolled her eyes. These museum trips were boring.
Eyes lighting up with mischief, she decided to have a bit of fun. Mena began making faces at Harry to see if he would notice, feeling sure that he was too caught up in his own little world.
After a few minutes, she heard Harry's voice. "You wouldn't want your face to freeze like that, you know," Harry remarked with a smirk when he caught Mena with her eyes crossed and tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.
Mena let out an exasperated sigh before throwing her hands up in the air. "How do you do that? There's no way you could have seen me. Your back was to me the whole time."
"What can I say, Mena? I guess I have a sixth sense when it comes to you and catching you at your silliest," Harry teased.
"What—" Mena started to respond before cutting off sharply when she felt something like an electric current running up her legs and arms into her chest before leaving her body in a rush. An extreme wave of fatigue swept over her, causing her to find the closest bench on which to sit. What was going on? Taking several deep breaths to calm her shaking body, she lifted her eyes to try to find Harry as she couldn't help but think of what had happened in Brighton last year. This had the exact same feel to her as what had happened there. The same rush of something to exit her, breathlessness and exhaustion. She wondered what could have caused it.
Thinking about Brighton reminded Mena of the two unusual children they had met. Harry had mentioned that he thought that she might be related somehow to the boy as they had similar smiles. Mena had just rolled her eyes at Harry, even though his idea was still something she wondered about from time to time. Still, the sensation that swept over her today was similar to the one in Brighton, but there was nothing here that would seem to trigger it. She reasoned she hadn't seen anything on the beach to trigger it either.
Harry, she discovered, was sitting on yet another bench that was along an adjacent wall in the exhibit room. He looked as if he had had to run to get away from Chase and the other bullies at school again, which led her to believe that Harry also was feeling exhausted by something. Somewhat reassured by the knowledge that Harry had experienced something similar, Mena continued looking around the room filled with exotic treasures from the time of Alexander the Great, indulging in one of her favourite pastimes—people watching. While the room was one of the smaller of the exhibit rooms, it still could fit almost two full floors of Harper Place within its walls and lofty ceiling. A group of girls were huddled in one corner, obviously talking about things other than the museum's offerings. Her gaze swept around to the other bench in the room. A girl with bushy brown hair was sitting with her hands resting on either side of her. The girl appeared to be frozen. Mena wondered what had happened to the girl to make her freeze like that. Was it out of fear or had something else happened to her? Could she have also been affected by the strange sensation earlier? Mena felt compelled to find out. Watching her for a few minutes more, Mena was surprised to see the girl throw her hands over her mouth.
She stood up, pausing for a moment to check her body's responses after the tiredness that swept over her earlier. Judging that her body could handle movement now, she stood and crossed to the girl, who had once again laid her hands on the bench beside her. Laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, she leaned forward so that she could see the girl's eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Okay, that's weird. It happened the exact same way as before. The dark haired boy and you didn't move like everyone else did. What is going on?" the girl said mostly to herself, even though she was sort of answering Mena. She shook her head before looking up at Mena. "Did you ask me something?"
Mena smiled. "I asked, are you okay?"
"I'm… I'm not sure how I am. Something strange just happened," the girl responded, rubbing her forehead with her left hand before lifting her eyes up again to look at Mena. "I'll be fine." The girl smiled at Mena. "I'm sure you must have better things to do than ask me how I am."
"Not really," Mena answered. "I'm not that into this type of museum. It's so boring. I'm just here with my best friend since his class came here on a field trip today."
"Wait, I'm confused. So it's not your class that came, but your best friend's and yet, you were allowed to come?" the girl asked.
Mena grinned. "I'm pretty persuasive when I want to be. At least that's what I've been told. Miss Stephens says that I can charm fairies from the trees if I put my mind to it."
"Wow, I'm shocked. My teachers would never have allowed someone who wasn't in our class to join our group," she responded.
Mena grinned again. "My name is Mena. What's yours? Do you live around here?"
"My name is Hermione. I'm from Oxford. I'm here with my school as well." Mena noticed that Hermione seemed uneasy as if she wasn't completely comfortable talking with a stranger like Mena was. Taking Hermione's arm, Mena pointed out Harry.
"That's my best friend Harry. He and I live at Harper Place here in London. Look at him. He's so enthralled with the exhibits here. I so don't understand the fascination myself. I mean, how many eight year olds do you know that love to tour museums?" Mena whispered to Hermione, not wanting to take the chance that Harry could hear her since he had already proven to her once that he could see her even when he wasn't looking at her.
"Well, I'm eight and I love looking at museums like this. Not particularly this type of room, but the library they have here is supposed to rival the one at Oxford. I just love libraries." Hermione gushed. Mena just looked at the girl and smiled when she noticed the sparkle that was in Hermione's eye when she talked about books.
"Books are okay, I guess. I prefer talking to people and learning their stories more than reading about them, but books can be a good escape at times," Mena responded. She looked around the room and felt her eyes go wide. "Hermione, didn't you say that you were here with your class?" Mena was worried when she no longer saw any school age children in the room. She knew Harry would come back to find her so she wasn't worried for herself, but Hermione didn't seem to have any friends in her group. Mena wondered if Harry had seen which direction Hermione's class had gone.
Turning to her new friend, Mena asked, "Do you know which way your class would have gone? Is there a set tour the group was taking?"
"I think so. Honestly, I don't care," Hermione responded. "It's not like anyone would notice if I wasn't there."
"Still, you need to be able to get home. Here let's go looking for them." With that, she grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her through the people in the room and the next doorway. They sped past the Greek and Roman sculptures once Mena took a good look around, not seeing anyone who looked familiar from her people watching earlier. She took a moment to ask Hermione if she had already seen the Nereid Monument room before leading the older girl into the Nimrud room. Still, not seeing anyone recognizable, Mena mentally tossed a coin and decided to go left into the Nineveh room. She gave a huge sigh of relief when she saw the girls from earlier.
Turning to Hermione, she asked "Are those girls in your class?"
Hermione grimaced before answering, "Unfortunately. They aren't the nicest around."
"I could tell that by the way they held themselves," Mena responded. "Listen, I have to go find Harry and my group. But first, Hermione of Oxford, what's your last name? Is there any way we can keep in touch with each other?"
"Granger is my last name. What's yours? You said you and Harry live at Harper Place, right?" Hermione said in a rush.
"My last name is Frayne. F-R-A-Y-N-E. Oh, no, your group's leaving again. You better hurry. It's been nice meeting you. Please contact me somehow," Mena said, biting her lower lip and looking pleadingly at Hermione.
"I will. Thanks, Mena." Hermione waved before heaving a huge breath and rejoining her class. Mena watched her for a few seconds, noting that not a single person said anything to Hermione. Wishing the older girl were in Harry's class, Mena hurried back the way she had come, winding through the adults in her path. Crossing the threshold to the room with the Parthenon sculptures, she spotted a head full of messy dark hair. She placed her finger against her lips, contemplating what she could do to pay her best friend back for leaving her behind in the room. Grinning, she stealthily moved around the room to put her plan into motion.