I know! So many posts, so little time between! I'm incredibly invested and although there might be a few shorter and sweeter chapters, I wanted to post a bit more regularly for you all. I got so many positive reviews on my last post that I genuinely was tearing up at how sweet you all are. I will absolutely keep writing, you've all motivated me so incredibly much and I will never forget how kind you all are. Extra special shout-out to moonfairy13 who has stuck with this story since day one and reviewed almost every single chapter - you're amazing. It's wonderful readers like you, and all the other beautiful people who reviewed my last chapter so positively, that shine light into my life and keep me happy.
Anywho, enough sappy stuff. I love you all, you're amazing, wonderful, beautiful, incredible human beings and I am going to continue to try my best for you all x
Disclaimer: I do not profit from this (except with happiness), all owned by JKR.
Chapter Twelve: Contact
On Wednesday, Hermione groaned at the sight of the newspaper sitting on her windowsill. She almost wanted to delude herself that there wasn't going to be a slanderous article in the paper, so she busied herself preparing her tea slowly before she uncovered the front page. What was there, however, shocked her. It was a photo of Ron and Hermione together, smiling at each other, but when they turned to the camera, the image tore itself between them. She skimmed over the article, noting that it was not written by the same journalist, but a man who had taken into consideration her side of the story, as if he were there listening to her argue with that horrible woman yesterday. The article told of a mutual breakup between her and Ron, how they were growing apart and knew it was inevitable. It mentioned a small paragraph on how Hermione was currently single and planning to remain that way for the foreseeable future, but Ron had moved on quickly with Lavender and would like for there to be no speculation surrounding their immediacy, rather taking it as happenstance that they managed to find each other so quickly. The article concluded with a short statement that the two exes would be remaining friends, but would of course take an adjustment period to settle back into the friendship that they have had for many years and would appreciate if newspapers would only comment on their relationships if it came from the source directly.
Hermione smiled a little at the paper, shoving it towards where she assumed Fred was, knowing he tended to sit to her right when she sat at the table. He read the paper as well, and Hermione could tell that he was gladdened by the article, obviously frustrated or irritated at the past couple of days' headlines and the slanderous way they painted Hermione. She tucked the newspaper under her arm and grabbed her belongings before stepping through the floo and into Grimmauld Place.
"Hey Hermione," Ron smiled at her as he brought her in for a one-armed hug.
"Good morning," Hermione replied to him, still conflicted about his betrayal, but knowing that this morning's papers must have been his doing.
"I see you've brought the Prophet. Was the article okay? I know I didn't consult you, but it bothered me, the way they were making you out to be some horrible devil and telling lies, so I knew I had to get it fixed up." Ron spoke sheepishly, his eyes holding hope that he did right by her, obviously trying to begin to make amends for his behaviour at the end of their relationship.
"The article was written exactly the way I'd liked for it to have been in the first place. Thank you for making the effort." Hermione responded, giving him a small smile as they walked towards the kitchen.
"Morning Mi!" Harry mumbled around some bacon.
"Ron's eating habits are rubbing off on you, Harry Potter." Hermione chastised as she bent down to give him a hug.
"Oi! I'm not that bad!" Ron exclaimed, before Hermione and Harry both reminded him of the way he used to gorge himself in the Great Hall and he conceded that he could perhaps be a little more tactful.
Hermione sat herself down with a plate of bacon and eggs, opening her paper back up to read the rest of the news. She frowned when she saw the article that she had assumed would have been on the cover, still plastered over the page four and five spread. She rolled her eyes and grumbled a little as she read about her and George's 'blossoming romance' and how Ron must be so upset that his girlfriend had been sneaking around with his own brother 'right under his nose'.
"Angelina must be getting a good laugh out of this." Hermione smirked as she turned the paper around for the boys to see.
"I told them not to publish that." Ron murmured.
"It contradicts what the original article says, but it's fine. George and I are of the same opinion that as long as the people who matter to us know and understand that the newspaper is half full of rubbish, then we don't care what the rest of the Wizarding World thinks." Hermione shrugged and munched on some bacon.
"If it gets out of hand, I'll pull my own strings." Harry said to her seriously.
"Thanks Harry, but there shouldn't be any need. The article that Ron had published today should more than suffice." Hermione smiled and placed a hand on his arm.
The two boys nodded back at her and they continued their breakfast quietly, finishing up rather quickly and heading to the Ministry together for the first time in a long time. It was amusing to see the number of ministry employees who stared at the trio much like they had a few years ago when they walked together, however this time was much different. There were whispers around them, speculation and rumours. Gossip apparently was not meant to be left in school. When they reached the elevators, Hermione turned to give both Harry and Ron hugs and kisses on the cheek before she descended once again into the belly of the building.
When Hermione arrived in the office, it was as though nothing had changed. She was early, as usual, though she knew she had extra paperwork to be done, so she charmed a pot of tea to follow her and brew itself while she moved towards her division, waving at her colleagues with a smile as she passed them. As she settled in, she noticed that Domenico had obviously taken care of some of her paperwork for her, though she wasn't surprised, and she set to work on the excess that she still had. Around half an hour later, Domenico walked through the doors, though Hermione didn't notice as her face was buried behind a stack of folders, scribbling intently so they could continue with their testing today.
"Hermione! You've already got all of that done?" Domenico marvelled, looking towards the towering folders.
"I've always found the paperwork quite formulaic, so it's never been too much of an issue for me to get it done efficiently." Hermione stated as she signed her name at the bottom of a page and looked up at her partner.
"You have an incredibly logical brain for someone who seems so creative with spellwork." Domenico commented.
"I used to think that I applied a lot of my knowledge into my work to generate the correct answers, but recently, I think Fred's creativity and impulsivity might be helping me along a little." Hermione admitted with a smile.
"It certainly doesn't seem like a bad thing." Domenico replied, taking his seat opposite her, "How much longer do you think it will take us to finish up all the paperwork for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"
"I would estimate that we'd be done before lunch. After lunch we can continue our investigations." Hermione suggested.
The two stuck into their paperwork, signing forms and completing data transferral, which Hermione grumbled about to no end, knowing that computers could help out in this situation a hundredfold, though she continued through it with lightning precision that Domenico still thought he was lucky to have a partner in his division at last, let alone Hermione. By eleven o'clock, they had finished everything that they could, with only the last few documents being left for the end of the week, after their final tests. The partners decided to take a short break and get some lunch, heading out of the division and into the warmth of the common area.
Once they'd settled on the couches with their food and some tea, Hermione asked Domenico about his wife.
"She's still doing alright, definitely slowing down a lot and she's getting confused over a lot of small details. Plus, I'm being kept up at night by her not being able to get comfortable in bed." Domenico replied.
"Dreamless Sleep doesn't help?" Hermione asked.
"I don't want to take it in case she needs me for something. But we're sorting it out. Honestly, if I lose a little sleep here or there, I don't mind. She's carrying our child inside her and has been for the past eight months." Domenico smiled, "I'm honestly getting excited. We've been talking about names lately and it's just making everything that much more real."
Hermione beamed at him, "I'm so glad for you. You're going to have to show me photos of the little guy as soon as you get back!"
"I'd be happy if you came and met him while I'm away, and Natasha as well for that matter. We should have you around for dinner some night soon, before the baby comes and everything gets crazy." Domenico mentioned, and the two of them spent the rest of their lunch break planning when their dinner would be, with tentative plans being made before Domenico asked his wife.
Once they returned to the death division, they were back in action. Hermione hadn't been to the spirit world in a little while and she was a little nervous to see Fred again alone, knowing that she had such strong feelings for him, and allowing a small ounce of hope that he felt the same way about her. They'd passed most of their hurdles together and now, the reality of him possibly not being dead made everything seem as though it might be able to turn out in their favour. Neither had mentioned it properly, but Hermione was overthinking everything, as she usually did.
Today, Hermione was going to contact someone else she knew who had died. She sat in front of the arch as Domenico cast the protective charms around her body, then, she spoke in Latin before she felt the strange feeling of floating once more.
"I'm never going to get used to this." She muttered to herself as she glided towards the in-between room.
"Do it for a few years and it's not that hard." Fred replied, giving her a small smile as she snapped her head towards him, almost as if she'd forgotten he'd be there. Hermione smiled awkwardly back, and he gestured for her to go on into the room before him.
"Okay, so how do you think I summon someone?" Hermione asked him once they were settled in the room.
"Perhaps you just concentrate really hard on the person and speak their name?" Fred replied, also unsure.
"That was my initial plan." Hermione concluded, about to begin when she paused and looked over at Fred, "Oh! I almost forgot!"
Hermione waved her wand in front of her and immediately a steaming meal from the bistro that she and George had visited appeared on the table.
"I asked the waitress after lunch yesterday to have a plate ready for me today and that I'd summon it when I wanted it." Hermione smiled, handing Fred a fork.
Fred was looking between Hermione and his favourite meal utterly speechless. He was overjoyed and astonished at the effort that the girl went to for him, despite it being just a simple lunch. Additionally, Fred hadn't eaten anything in three years, so he was overemotional at the sight and smell of the food, taking the fork from Hermione's hand with grace and looking at her once more with eyes full of adoration.
"You don't know how much this means to me, Hermione. Thank you so much." Fred said sincerely, then he reverently began to eat his food, savouring every single bite, agreeing with Hermione that it was some of the most delicious beef bourguignon that he'd ever eaten.
While Fred was enjoying his meal, Hermione began preparing her mind for a meditation. She wanted to focus solely on Albus Dumbledore, hoping that her thoughts and words would reach him as she chanted his name softly in her mind, aloud asking if he would join her. A few minutes passed and nothing happened, the sound of Hermione's questions and Fred's fork hitting the plate being the only noises in the room. On the outside, Domenico took note of this, but he had suspicions about how this could be different in the way that they were trying to implement it in the Auror division.
Hermione never became frustrated during this time, her focus never wavering, despite her wanting desperately to have an all-out conversation with Fred, she knew this was not the time nor place for it. She continued her chant slowly, continuing to ask for Dumbledore's spirit to come to her, until she stopped abruptly, feeling his presence before she even opened her eyes.
"Miss Granger, how lovely to see you again." Dumbledore said with his signature twinkle in his eye.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir. I'm glad that you could find me." Hermione replied, pointing her wand at the tea set, "Would you like some tea? I'm afraid I didn't think to get any lemon drops for you."
Dumbledore waved her off and accepted, "Tea would be lovely. I'm impressed with your research, Hermione. You and Domenico have this perfected."
"You think so?" Hermione beamed at the old wizard, "Wait, you know about Domenico and my research, and about what we've been doing? So, when I could hear your voice in the veil, is it because you were watching over me? How do you know who to watch, I'm sure you have hundreds of people you know?"
Dumbledore put his hand up to stop her questioning just as Fred placed a hand on her leg to do the same thing, "Magical bonds are fickle things, wouldn't you say, Mr Weasley?"
"From what I've gathered, they're fickle indeed, professor." Fred nodded and allowed their conversation to continue without intruding any further.
"I can see many people and many things in the spirit realm. I am able to watch over you and gain the knowledge about you, while I am also able to gain knowledge over Harry or Professor McGonagall simultaneously. I do not need to worry about memory anymore, as the knowledge is ready with just a thought." Dumbledore explained to her. Hermione knew Domenico was writing everything down as fast as he could outside, having this much of an insight into the spirit realm was incredibly rare, "I also know that I am your first, how would you put it, test subject?"
Hermione wrinkled her nose, "That sounds awfully clinical, professor."
Dumbledore smiled once again, "Ah, but it is what it is." He paused as he sipped his tea, "It took me a while to be able to follow your voice into this room. From my perspective, I was roaming about, talking to old friends, when suddenly I could feel the intent from you that I needed to come and visit. Of course, I knew where you were, but navigating in the spirit world is different, especially crossing into this plane that you have created."
"So it's difficult? If you hadn't known what I was doing already, would it have been impossible for you to get here?" Hermione questioned.
He tilted his face downwards, looking at her over his half-moon spectacles, "Not impossible. Nothing is impossible, Hermione." Straightening himself back up, he continued, "I believe it would just take a little longer to understand what the intent meant and how to navigate to you. Besides, I understand that you are hoping to use it for recently deceased people – victims of abhorrent crimes?" Hermione nodded and Dumbledore went on, "In that case, the spirits would not have moved on yet, as I have, and would have no trouble finding themselves in this place. Justice is an incredible powerful force; with the correct intent, I'm sure that your findings will be fruitful."
"It never ceases to amaze me, just how much you know about everything." Hermione stated, "It's as though you knew exactly what I wanted to ask."
"Hermione, I have been watching over you. What do you think?" Dumbledore laughed.
Hermione smiled up at her old professor, appreciating his knowledge on the spirit world, ghosts, and his insight into their research. They spent another hour going back and forth with Hermione's questions and Dumbledore's incredibly thorough responses, before finally, Hermione felt as though she had learnt everything she could from the man.
As Dumbledore stood to leave, he paused in the doorway, turning back to fix the pair on the couch with one of his mysterious looks that left them both confused, "Perhaps you should begin where it ended." And with that he was gone.
"Can't just tell us the answer to this one, can he?" Fred laughed.
"Well, that was the most straightforward conversation I've ever had with Professor Dumbledore in my life, of course he'd leave us with something like that." Hermione replied with her own laughter bubbling up.
"You'd better get back, love. It's been hours and I know you and Domenico have a lot to discuss now." Fred said after a moment.
Hermione nodded, looking up at the window with a confident smile before she walked out of the room, Fred following along after her. As she sat back down in her body, she turned to look at him once more, "See you tonight, Fred."
He waved as she turned once more and appeared back in her body, sighing and allowing his hand to drop to his side as he knew he was relegated to waiting and following once more. However, a small sliver of hope wound its way around his heart, that perhaps one day, maybe even soon, he'd be able to live with Hermione on the same plane of existence. He allowed a small smile to appear on his face, feeling in his heart that Hermione felt that same hope.
See you soon my lovelies xx