Annie slowly regained consciousness, though she still felt dizzy from crashing into the back wall. Her eyes snapped open, the memories of her and Hari being attacked fresh on her mind.
Annie wildly looked around trying to figure out where she was; then confusion came over her, she was in a bedroom, sitting in a bed, with blankets pooling at her waist.
The room itself was nothing impressive, but it had a reasonably homely feel to it, with the walls painted soft colors and the floor covered in carpet; there was a soft-looking chair at the corner of the room, with a little table next to it.
There were three doors in the room, two of which were open; the open ones lead into a bathroom and a small closet from what Annie could see from the bed; she assumed that the closed, third door led to the rest of… wherever she was.
Annie pushed the sheet away and saw that she was in sleeping clothes; she looked around but could not find her actual clothes. Looking back at herself she saw that she was not tied up; she could get out of this bed, out of this room, and find Hari and escape.
Though this was a magic house of some sort, it only made sense for someone with magic to live in a house with magic; so there was probably something keeping her from leaving the bed.
Before she got the chance to try and get out of bed though, the door opened. A woman, with pale, almost white-blond hair that reached her bottom entered, she wore a blue, short-sleeve shirt, and white pants; with mismatched socks on her feet.
Annie's eyes widened, she was beautiful, with her soft face, blue eyes, full lips, thick full hair, curves in all the right places; she was the closest person to perfection that she had ever seen. It took her a minute to resize that the woman was looking at her, smirking.
"Ello, I am Fleur Delacour." She said in a beautiful, rich accent.
Annie was quiet for a moment before she was able to push some sense into her head.
"Where's Hari." Annie demanded, trying not to get distracted by the very stunning, gorgeous- No! She would not get distracted.
"Come, Ari is this way." Fleur said gesturing for Annie to follow her.
Annie got out of bed carefully, making sure that she stayed hyper-aware of everything around her, especially since Fleur seemed to be really good at getting her to relax. She did not trust the blond woman; the effect she had was too distracting to not be something to be wary of.
But the effect also made it hard not to trust Fleur.
This dilemma was on Annie's mind while Fleur led her through the house to where Hari supposedly was. They entered a kitchen, one much nicer than the one at the house Hari had brought them to, and sitting at the table were several people.
A red-haired man; though some of his red hair seemed to be getting paler, he was covered in scars but still had a happy look on his face. An elderly woman, with a strict looking face, sat at the table as well. And between the two on them was Hari.
"Hari!" Annie said in surprise; she was half expecting for Hari to be locked in a dungeon or something.
"Annie. I just found out that not everyone I know; that is still alive that is, wants to kill me!" Hari said smiling.
"Is it just these three people?" Annie asked pointing around the room.
"As far as I know yes." Hari said.
"What do you plan to do now that we have met up with these people? Is there anything else you want to do, or do you want to head back?" Annie asked hoping that she didn't sound too excited at the prospect of returning home.
"I want to punch several people." Hari said; she did not sound violent when she said it, which created a strange contrast between the words she said and how she said them.
"Also, why did they knock us out and kidnap us?" Annie asked pointing at the three people in the room with them.
"An alarm sounded when you entered the house, but since it was technically Hari's house it made it a lot harder for us to get in since she did not welcome us, but she also didn't ban us from entering; which was the only reason we got in at all. If we had realized that Hari was in the house we wouldn't have nocked both of you out." The elderly woman said.
"Apparently I have been considered dead for twelve and a half years now; which is also why I want to punch several people." Hari said.
"Since we thought she was dead we didn't think Hari was the one in the house. We only realized that it was Hari after we had knocked you both out." The red-haired man said.
"Where are my clothes?" Annie asked, the confusion of the last few minutes, combined with Fleur had made her completely forget that she was in fact only in sleeping clothes, and with Hari and Fleur looking at her; as well as the other two people there as well.
It did not need to be said because it was so obvious, but Annie was very, very embarrassed.
"We washed them; you can get them back when they're finished, until then we can give you extra clothes since you don't seem particularly interested in going around in nightclothes." The elderly woman said, smirking keenly.
"Fleur, help our guest with getting new clothes." The woman said strictly, but still with a keen smirk on her face.
Fleur walked over to her and gestured to follow her; Annie complied. They walked back down the way that they had initially come from when Fleur had led her to Hari; except they stopped at a room much closer to the room Hari was in than the bedroom was.
Fleur opened the door and walked in Annie followed right behind her into a bedroom similar to the one she had woken up in, except this one was full of personal items and decorations. It was clearly someone's room, but it did not seem like something that Fleur would live in, or the scared man and elderly woman for that matter. The room had a childish feeling to it that just didn't exist in most adults; so unless she had seriously misread her hosts this was not one of their rooms.
"This is Andromeda's grandchild's room; they are spending the summer with friends so you won't be meeting with them unless you plan to stay a long time." Fleur said.
"They are very tall for their age, so you should be able to fit into some of their clothes." Fleur said gesturing to the closet.
"Should I go in there? That is their stuff, and I am a complete stranger to them, my clothes won't be long I could just wait in the room I slept in till they are ready." Annie said.
"It will be fine." Fleur said.
"I'll be fine waiting as well." Annie said backing out of the room, and making her way back to the room she had woke up in.
"If you need anything we will be in the same place we were when you joined us." Fleur said as Annie reached the door to the room she had woke up in.
Annie closed the door and walked to the middle of the room, and stood there unsure of what to actually do to pass the time. She did not want to be out there in the clothes she was wearing, but it felt wrong to take the clothes of someone who didn't know her; they were just a bystander in all of this and had not even met her before.
Looking around the room she spotted the door to the bathroom. Annie walked over to it, curious about it. The rest of this world was much more advanced than anything she had ever seen in the Walls, or outside of them, so the bathroom should be better than any she had ever been in.
She stepped in and gasped, the bathroom was probably the most amazing bathroom she had ever seen, it was so much better than any bathroom she had been in. the floors were marble, a whole wall was almost entirely a mirror, the sink was made of marble, with crystal nobs for water. The bathtub was massive; Annie could probably swim in it if she wanted to.
She would probably never get a chance to bathe in something remotely like this ever again; and she had time to kill. She might as well enjoy the luxury of this house.
Annie twisted the crystal nobs of the tub and then began slipping out of the night clothes as the tub filled. The water was warm, and it warmed the air in the room, so she was not cold when she slipped out of her clothes.
She stood in the bathroom, reveling in the warmth emitting from the bathwater as it filled. She shut it off when it was full, surprised by how quickly it had filled as well. She slipped a foot in, and sighed, the warmth of the water was something she had not had the pleasure of bathing in often. Annie slid more of her body in, her skin turning slightly pink from the heat of it.
Soon only her head and neck were above the water, it was so pleasant, she could probably fall asleep like this is she did not have to worry about drowning. She had thought about swimming initially, but now that she was in the warm water, she just wanted to relax and spoil herself.
/Hari/
Hari had excused herself from a long conversation with Fleur, Bill, and Andromeda; to go and find Annie. She had felt guilty that she had not informed Annie of what was going on; if she wanted to throw the blame she would deem it on the stress of returning to the Wizarding World. But she did not want to throw blame; she wanted to actually explain to Annie what the Wizarding World was.
She reached the room Annie was in and knocked before opening the door, hoping not to catch Annie in a compromising position like she had done many times before. But she did not see Annie in the room at all when she entered it.
Hari walked into the room, hoping she would be able to find Annie easier if she was in a more central area where she could see every part of the room better. She noticed the bathroom door closed; knowing that opening the door was a horrible idea to even think about she decided that she would tell Annie later; when exiting the room though she ran into Fleur.
"Ello, Ari." Fleur said, smiling at Hari in a way that promised nothing good for her.
"Hello Fleur, is there a reason you have cornered me away from everyone else?" Hari asked hoping to inform Fleur of the uncomfortable situation she had put them in.
"Annie likes you romantically." Fleur said it was not a question either.
"You like 'er to Ari." Fleur said, again it wasn't a question.
"Why aren't you and 'er a couple?" Fleur asked, finally actually asking a question.
"Fleur, we're friends." Hari said knowing her defense would not work.
"Ari you can't trick me, Annie loves you, and you love 'er." Fleur sighed.
"I'm thirty; she's not even nineteen; that is wrong in all sorts of ways. Besides, look at me, I'm a horrific mess of scars and trauma, I come with so much baggage; Annie should have someone better, no someone with this many problems." Hari said lifting her arms up to show just how many scars she actually had.
Fleur waved her wand across Hari, I light blue mist flittered and then disappeared. "You're actually only nineteen." Fleur said looking at her wand.
"What?" Hari asked.
"Your body, it's only nineteen years old; not thirty." Fleur said innocently; though Hari knew she wasn't innocent.
"I am thirty, mentally at least, you know that; and if anything that makes everything more wrong since I am basically pretending to be nineteen." Hari said exasperated.
"You aren't a child. ze isn't either; I can see it." Fleur said looking at Hari seriously.
"Find 'appiness wherever you can Ari." Fleur said and then left.
Hari watched her walk back down the hall to the main area, her own mind in turmoil.
/
Several days passed with both Annie and Hari living with Fleur, Bill, and Andromeda; they had spent most of the time settling in with Hari also teaching Annie more about the Wizarding World, and now with actual things to show Annie it made the whole possess much easier.
Hari assumed that they were actually at Andromeda's home since this was not Shell Cottage. She did not know why Fleur and Bill were not at Shell Cottage, but she assumed that it most likely had to do with her and Annie's arrival.
She did not want to spend too much time in the Wizarding World, she just needed to confront Ron and Hermione and then leave. But staying here and living here was something that was so easy to do, it was like getting back into a rhythm that she had lost.
But it was not something meant to last, and Hari fully intended to leave this world and never return; she planned to die in the world with her friends, and Annie.
Why was Annie separate from her friends?
The conversation she had had with Fleur had struck Hari deeply, but it had not changed anything, they were still friends. She had already rejected Annie as well, would it not appear cheap to come back later? Did it matter if it did?
Hari pushed the thought from the front of her mind, but it lingered in her mind none the less. But she still turned her focus from it back to her current plan that she had been mapping out for the last few days.
She was going to go to Ron and Hermione's house, demand for an explanation, to know why they had abandoned her. Why the left her and did not save her; because surely they would have been recommended before Malfoy to save her from Azkaban.
They would know that she wasn't dead either; they had seen her after the Battle of Hogwarts, and neither of them trusted the media. So why hadn't they come for her?
She was considered dead, not arrested for anything; so it had to have been some ploy to get rid of her after the war. But surely no one would believe that she had died.
"How did I supposedly die?" Hari asked herself.
"Hari." Bill said from the other end of the room, surprising Hari.
"Come with me, I'll tell you." Bill said gesturing for Hari to follow him.
Hari got up and sped up to catch up with him till they were in pace with each other; with Bill still leading. He walked her through the house, down into areas that had not seen people in them for a long time; magic kept everything clean, but it felt unlived in.
They continued further into the nearly abandoned part of the house until they stopped outside a room. Bill opened the door and walked inside. Several papers filled the room, they were primarily the Daily Prophet, but many other papers were in the room as well.
Bill walked over to a thin wooden box, and took the top off of it, and picked it up before Hari could peer inside of it. He walked over to an old chair in the room, transfixed on the contents of the box the whole time. He sat down and pulled his eyes up to actually look at her.
"It was a few days after the battle of Hogwarts, almost everyone was still there, trying to find people still missing, and mourning those who had died. Owls came to Hogwarts, which had not happened since it fell. The front cover was." Bill stopped; his voice was shaky, as were his hands.
"It said you had died; that you had, killed yourself." Bill said, still shaking as he stared into the box.
"The Daily Prophet is full of crap, I could understand some people believing it, but you and Fleur, and my friends; you guys know better." Hari said her voice steadily getting more and more enraged.
"They also have no shame; that's why we believed them. Your hanging body was the front cover." Bill said with a wobbly voice.
Bill pulled out a paper from inside the box, Hari did not want to look at it; already feeling sick to the stomach from hearing what Bill had said, she did not want to see her own corpse.
"The Girl-Who-Lived dies at her own hand." Bill began reading the headline of the paper.
"On May sixth, four days after the Battle of Hogwarts miss Hari Potter was found dead outside the Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts, hanging from a bedsheet. Her reasoning is unknown as no messages have been found, but it is believed that since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's death that the Girl-Who-Lived lost meaning in her life and took it." Bill stopped speaking and turned to look at Hari.
"We didn't believe the reason they gave, we knew they were full of themselves, but we did believe that you had taken your own life. You had suffered so much in the Wizarding World and outside of it; and had lost almost everyone; you had also walked to your death." Bill clearly wanted to say more, but he stopped anyway.
"It took a lot of fighting, but we made your funeral a private event. Everyone mourned you, for a long time none of us actually did anything; I think even Hermione had taken a break from working on her career for almost a year to mourn you. Eventually, though we accepted what had happened and were forced to move on with our lives." Bill said solemnly.
Hari fell onto the ground, her legs not able to support her weight any longer; tears prickled at her eyes. She had wanted to know, she did not think it would hurt so much to know.
"I can get you to Ron and Hermione's house tomorrow if you want." Bill said softly.
Hari did not respond.
/
The house was nice, it was not nearly as ornate as the Malfoy's, and not as shabby as the Weasley's home; it actually reminded her of her parents' home. Though she only had memories of it in ruins she had an idea of what it had looked like before it was destroyed by Voldemort, and abandoned by everyone else.
Hari turned her thoughts to the present and looked at Annie on her right side. Annie nodded at her; taking a deep breath she began walking from the gate to the front door of the house. On either side of the walkway to the house were small gardens, they were simple and nice, but they were also very pretty.
Hari reached the front door before she realized it, and had to stop herself from running into the door on accident. The door was just like any other door, but if felt imposing and almost dangerous; it was not the door itself, but what was behind it that really gave her fear.
Ron and Hermione; The Golden Trio; they had been apart now longer than they had been together now. It was strange to think about, once Hari would have imagined staying by their side forever; now she saw this as the last time she would ever see them ever again.
A part of her wanted to run; to not confront them. But she could not go, not when she was so close to them.
Hari gently raised her shaking hand; and knocked three times on the hardwood door. Nothing happened, of course, nothing happened, it wasn't like the moment her hand touched the door everything would happen at once. But nothing happening immediately filled her with further anxiety and she wanted to run.
Her thought on what to say seemed to dissipate and as she tried to remember them, but it was like trying to catch a balloon after you let it go. The stress continued to build in her as she wracked her mind for anything.
"How can I help y- …Hari?" A feminine voice said, speaking Hari's name so softly that she had almost missed it.
Hari looked up to see the person and froze, Hermione. They both stared at each other, neither truly believing the other was there, and both shocked at what had changed about them.
Hermione was thirty now, her body matured, all hints of being a child were gone from her face; she was a woman. She wore pajamas with a robe over them, and her hair was as frazzled as Hari remembered it. She was Hermione, it was clear as day, the age could not hide it; and she felt like crying, because she finally was with her friend again, after so, so long.
"I'm, Hari." Hari said softly; she had planned to have a stronger approach, but this was all she could do.
"Your, you're alive." Hermione said tears prickling at her eyes as her voiced cracked.
Before Hari could respond in any way she was wrapped up in a tight hug, tears were dampening her shoulder; but she did not mind. She wrapped her own scarred arms around Hermione and held onto her just as tightly.
They stayed there; embracing each other for the first time is so long. Hari loved it, she had missed it so badly, but it was not something that could stay.
Hari pushed back gently against Hermione, getting her to let go of her. She took a step back keeping eye contact with Hermione; seeing the hurt in Hermione's eyes as she pushed away. She could not fall back into who she used to be, that was long gone, she was not who she used to be.
"I've come, to say goodbye." Hari said softly, her heart hurting, but she still refused to turn her eyes away from Hermione; she could not back down from this.
"Goodbye? Hari, you've been considered dead for over a decade, and you pop up just to say goodbye." Hermione asked shocked; with the emotions of seeing Hari for the first time in so long still bubbling under the surface.
"I am done with the Wizarding World, the Muggle world is just as awful. But I needed to come back, to say goodbye, because I was given a chance to leave this world on slightly better terms." Hari said looking right at Hermione.
"I don't understand where did you go? What happened to you!" Hermione asked grabbing Hari's left arm and running a finger over one of the many scars on it.
"Neville, Luna, George, and Draco gave their lives to get me to another reality so that I would be safe." Hari said; remember them taking their lives, wondering why they had not used the book she had used to travel.
"I was considered dead a few days after the battle; that was a lie, I was sent to Azkaban. I got all my wounds from there, and it ruined me; I don't trust people anymore, I didn't even… trust Ginny." Hari said her words catching in her mouth.
"Ginny!" A male voice said from inside the house.
A tall man with red hair walked to the front of the door, Ron. He had grown even taller since Hari had seen him last, he was also broader and had not shaved today. He was wearing a pajama robe as well and had glasses on.
"You said, Ginny? Wait… Hari!" Ron gasped looking down at her in shock.
"You, you've been dead for so long, how did; what did?" Ron sputtered as he tried to form a coherent question to ask.
"I didn't die, I was imprisoned and then escaped and spent many years in another dimension before I found Ginny's book that had instructions on how to travel across dimensions." Hari explained; internally dreading that she would have to tell Ron what had happened to his sister, but also relieved that she would not have to tell the story to each of them separately.
"Ginny's book? She's been missing for months, was she in the dimension with you? Did she come with you? Where is she now?" Ron asked worried about his sister's health.
"She's dead. There is a war going on in the world that I came from, she went to the dimension to find me and bring me back here; from what I understand at least. But where she can to the dimension she chose the opposite side of the war that I did; and I was not going to trust someone from this world, not after everything that people here have done to me." Hari said glaring down on the floor.
"I didn't kill Ginny, I had warned my friends and allies about the killing curse by saying it was green; the spell to cross dimensions is also green. So when Ginny tried to cast it on me and my… she took drastic measures to make sure that I was okay.
Ron didn't say anything, he just seemed hollow; Hari felt sorry for him, he had lost so many of his siblings, learning that yet another died could not be easy. Hermione led Ron over to one of the chairs at the edge of the gardens out front; and sat him down in it, before taking a seat next to him. Hari went to the chair next to the chair Ron and Hermione were in and sat in it.
"Why didn't you stop her from killing, Ginny?" Hermione asked, struggling with Ginny's name.
"I was knocked out." Hari said plainly.
"I wanted to give this to you; I didn't tamper with it, it is in the exact condition that it was in when I got it from Ginny." Hari said pulling out Ginny's wand still stained with blood from Ginny's death.
Ron gingerly took the wand, holding it like it would shatter if he breathed on it. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes and ran down the side of his face past his glasses and to his chin. Hermione wrapped her arms around him, and Hari watched them both silently.
"I'm sorry." Hari said getting up from her chair, as she walked away her wrist was grabbed.
Turning around Hari looked and saw Hermione holding on to her; she wanted to pull away from Hermione, her instincts told her to. Hermione and Ron had had so much happen to them today though; she didn't want to pull away. It was too harsh.
"Please stay, at least for a little while." Hermione pleaded squeezing Hari's hand.
"I… can't. I wanted you to know that I am alive; that I didn't die. I just wanted to see you one last time." Hari said pulling against Hermione's hold, but not pulling out of it.
"Don't you want to know who did this to you? Who took your life away?" Hermione asked, tightening her grip.
"I hope they are exposed, whoever they are. But I am done solving this world's problems, that's all I've ever done here; in the other world, I have a choice. I can be a farmer, a soldier, a merchant; I can go to a school of my choice, and study the topic I desire; I have no premade destiny. I can love whoever I want, I can be who I want; I won't give that up for this world. I will miss you." Hari said solemnly, finally pulling her wrist form Hermione's grasp.
"Hari!" Hermione yelled getting up from her chair and running over to Hari, who stopped in her tracks when she was called.
"Please, don't forget the good that this world has as well." Hermione said from behind Hari; who didn't turn around.
"That's why I came, to say goodbye to the good parts." Hari said before she began slowly walking to the edge of Ron and Hermione's property; at the gate she stopped and turned back to face both Hermione and Ron, to look at them one last time.
"Goodbye."
Hari turned away and walked out the gate, to never see Ron or Hermione again; to never see her childhood again.
Annie stood by the road, she looked like she was about to say something but upon seeing Hari decided against saying anything. She pulled out a spare wand they had been given as well as the book that would take them back. Annie quietly began casting the spell as she held onto her shoulder.
Hari turned back to the house again, a part of her breaking at the thought that she really would never see them again; she didn't realize that tears were on her face till Annie wiped them away with her free hand.
She used her other hand to grab Annie's other shoulder so that they faced each other. She watched Annie say the spell, her eyes focused on the book, as her arm moved around in the proper wand movements.
With a final flick, they were consumed in white light.
/
Hari woke with her back against a forest floor, and a heavyweight on her chest; opening her eyes she saw Annie slowly waking up on top of her before she had a chance to say anything Annie kissed her. She stopped almost immediately and pulled back embarrassed.
"Sorry, Fleur told me to do that." Annie said blushing.
"She is very good at persuading people to do stuff." Hari said smirking at Annie who was still on top of her.
Annie seemed to realize this and tried to get up, only to set a hand on Hari's chest, this startled Annie when she realized what she had done making her, slip and fall on top of Hari again.
"Fleur told me to kiss you too." Hari said and kissed Annie while she was still in reach.
Annie seemed to melt when Hari kissed her, causing her to crush Hari further.
"I'm sorry for rejecting you; this surely isn't as amazing a confession like the one you had before, with me dying and all that." Hari began awkwardly.
"I just, didn't feel worthy of you, I hid it behind excuses; I'm scarred, and have thirty years of trauma in my mind, and a lot of it on my body too. I've done stupid things, and have hurt more people than I have helped." Hari said solemnly.
"I don't think that I'm a good person; I think that what was good was beaten out a long time ago. I'm bitter, I hate, and I've killed people before!" Hari exclaimed.
"I know that you've done much of this as well, but you have worked to improve upon yourself, you turned away from the bad people in your life and made things better, I did everything without another person forcing me to." Hari said looking down.
"Your right." Annie said solemnly as she slowly got off of Hari.
"I liked my confession better." Annie smirked before jumping onto Hari again kissing her with renewed vigor.
They continued to kiss passionately as they drove into each other, the heat of the moment edging them on. It felt amazing, finally being able to let all these emotions free, Hari had suppressed so much of herself for so long, hiding under so many masks. Now she was free of them, she was truly herself in this moment, and it was the most amazing thing she had ever gotten to experience.
To be truly loved.
The End.
Thank you all for coming on this adventure with me.
Also thank you osterreicher97 for commenting on all my chapters, telling me your theories, and your ideas; you helped me pull through on this story, made it so I didn't quit. Your ideas inspired me and helped me further develop the story, you gave the story direction, when I didn't have one.
You're amazing, and I thank you for sticking around with me for this crazy adventure.