CHAPTER 4: THE REUNION

Harry arrived back home two hours later. Minerva had hired him as Remus' replacement almost right away and most of the interview had been about logistics. Harry had decided beforehand that he wouldn't live at Hogwarts. He wanted his daughter to have her own childhood home. He also didn't think Rose would like moving to a big castle rather than their cosy home in Shipton's Lynn. Since Harry wouldn't be present at night, he would be excluded from midnight patrols.

Shortly after arriving back home, Harry went to the Academy to bring Rose home. During dinner, Rose seemed a lot more cheerful that she had been that morning but Harry could see that she was still feeling sad and her mood was only getting worse as bedtime approached. That evening, when it was time for bed, Harry decided to continue his and Hermione's story, hoping that telling her about good moments between him and Hermione would cheer her up.

After Harry made sure she had brushed her teeth, Rose climbed in her bed and Harry placed her covers over her. Rose snuggled inside, holding her plush unicorn in her arms.

"Rose?" asked Harry. "Do you want me to continue the story?"

"Okay." she said quietly. "Were you angry at Mum?" asked Rose.

Harry let out a small sigh. "Yes." he said, refusing to look at his daughter's eyes. "I was. It's only a few months in our first year that I stopped being angry at Hermione and it took a few years to completely forgive her, which only happened once I knew the full story. Like I said yesterday, Hermione didn't refuse willingly. Had she been able to make her own choice, she would have accepted right away."

Harry was glad to see Rose looking considerably more cheerful and, figuring that he was doing the right thing, he continued to tell his story.

"Hermione and I wouldn't see each other again until 1991 when we were on the Hogwarts Express, travelling to Hogwarts..."

Nearly six years had gone past ever since Harry had witnessed Hermione Granger shout at her parents when they had dared suggest to have him live with them. Part of Harry hadn't wanted to believe Hermione's reaction at first.

When Harry arrived home, he immediately went for his cupboard. This had been the first of a few times where Harry had willingly gone there without the Dursleys ordering him to. Harry had barely slept that night, having nightmares about Hermione shouting at him.

The next morning, on Halloween, Harry had gone to school as usual. He hoped to see Hermione, that she would tell him that it was just a joke or that it had never happened but she never showed up that day. When classes ended, Harry ran toward the Grangers, hoping to catch sight of them, hoping to see them, that they would reassure him and tell him that he had nothing to worry about.

The moment he walked around the corner and saw the house, he knew something was wrong. First, there weren't any cars around. Second, the curtains around the windows had disappeared, offering a view of the inside of the house. That view shattered what remaining hope Harry had. The house was empty. The Grangers had left without him, and without even saying goodbye. They had left him behind with the Dursleys. Harry barely remembered falling on his knees, crying.

The boy eventually returned home where an Uncle Vernon with an evil grin was waiting for him. Harry knew what that grin meant. It meant that his relatives were going to torment him, to humiliate him, to make him feel bad.

"So, your only 'friends' the Grangers left and without you! It seemed like they finally realized how much of a freak you are and decided you weren't worth their time anymore! They told me how the only reason you didn't come with them was because their daughter, your 'friend' said no. What a friend she is, right?" laughed Uncle Vernon.

Harry didn't know whether to be angry and try to defend Hermione or lock himself in his cupboard and cry. Unfortunately, Harry believed what his uncle was telling him. Hermione had seemed so ecstatic when they became friends, saying that she never had one before. Harry had revealed things to her that he hadn't told anyone else, ever. And yet, Hermione was mad and angry when her parents suggested the idea of having Harry join their family. Was she ever a friend? Harry didn't exactly believe so anymore. So, Harry chose the second option, he walked toward his cupboard and quietly cried in his old bed. It didn't take long before Uncle Vernon locked the cupboard and he and Dudley went trick-or-treating. Aunt Petunia stayed but only to supervise the distribution of sweets to children that came ringing the doorbell.

Harry spent the next five years and a half feeling more alone that he had ever been in his life. After the Grangers had left, Dudley and his friends had started a new game which they called 'Harry-Hunting.' Harry hated it as it consisted of Dudley and his friends running around and trying to catch him. Whenever they managed to do it, they would beat him for a few minutes before they let go of him and left him lying on the ground, bloody and bruised. It was also around that time that Vernon and Petunia took their abuse a step further. In early 1986, when Harry had another bout of 'freakishness', Vernon had taken his belt and hit him in the back a few times before locking the crying boy in his cupboard. The first instances were pretty rare, only when unexplainable things around Harry happened which usually was around twice a year. Unfortunately, things gradually became worse and worse. Her aunt would also join in hitting him. It usually happened if Harry entered the house wet or dirty. His aunt would usually hit him with on the head with whatever she had in her hands at the time. The best was when she had something light like a magazine or a box of tissues. The worse was when she was holding a cooking pan in her hands. Those times would hurt, a lot.

That summer, Aunt Petunia started teaching Harry how to cook eggs, bacon, sausages and toasts. It wasn't for the goodness of her heart but because she considered that it was time Harry took over making breakfast for his relatives. Other chores were quickly adding up and by the point Harry was eight, he was doing nearly everything needed to maintain the house. The only happy year in his life seemed so far away already...

His feelings toward Hermione were another thing that changed as years progressed. Harry had spent the first year after the Grangers had left in denial. While the logical part of his mind kept trying to tell the rest that the Grangers had left without him and were never coming back, Harry stayed hopeful that they would come back for him.

They never did.

After nearly a year, Harry finally realized that they were gone for good, and so Harry began to look back and see what had changed in his friendship with Hermione. After all, only a short amount of time had passed between the moment the Grangers had shown-up and proposed the idea of adopting him and the day where the Grangers left the neighbourhood without a trace. The only reason he could think of was because Hermione had seemingly hated the idea of him living with them. Harry began to resent Hermione. He felt betrayed. Harry knew that, had the roles been reversed, he would have gladly accepted her in his family without a second thought. But Hermione hadn't. Not only that, she had been angry at the suggestion. Harry didn't know what he had been for Hermione but, it certainly was not a friend. He felt like it was partly her fault that Harry was stuck with his abusive relatives.

As things got worse at the Dursleys, so did his opinion of Hermione Granger. Thinking about her both made his heart ache and his mind angry. It took a lot of time, but after a while, Harry stopped thinking about Hermione.

Harry hadn't thought about Hermione for a long time when his uncle drove him to King's Cross Station where he would be able to start his journey toward Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school of magic. While looking around for Platform-Nine-And-Three-Quarters, Harry realized that he could probably get proper friends for once. Hermione crossed his mind for the first time in nearly two years and his heart ached again. The pain of being abandoned by his supposed best friend still pained Harry a lot, even six years later. At that point, he had just accepted that the Grangers never cared about him in the first place, and neither did Hermione. He didn't want to see her ever again but, then again, it wasn't like it would be a problem at Hogwarts.

Harry found a family of redheads who helped him find the Platform before Harry climbed onboard the train and found a compartment for himself. He was delighted when the youngest boy of the Weasley family, Ronald, joined him in his compartment. The two boys quickly became friends once they got past the awkward talk about 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' and the Weasley family. The two friends were first visited by the Trolley lady where Harry bought many sweets for both him and Ron. Then, they were visited by a round-faced boy who asked them if they had seen his toad.

Ron was teaching Harry about Quidditch when suddenly, the door opened and a girl entered. A very familiar looking girl, with brown bushy hair and chocolate brown eyes. Harry immediately tensed before groaning internally.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost..." she started before her eyes met Harry's. "H-Harry?"

Harry scowled at his former best-friend, the one that had unknowingly hurt him so much. During the years, he had imagined many reunions with Hermione. The first ones showed Hermione apologising for forgetting him and Harry accepting her apologies before it changed to Harry giving her a piece of his mind. But, as much as he fantasised about it, Harry knew that neither of those scenarios were likely to happen. The first one was very unlikely as Harry wasn't ready to accept any apologies anytime soon and the second was just plain immature. It would relieve him of part of his anger but wouldn't do anything else except hurt Hermione. While he was angry at Hermione, he still felt the remnants of their friendship in his heart and didn't want to hurt her. Instead, knowing that he would snap if he started talking, Harry decided that the best thing to do would be to ignore her.

Harry looked at a wide-eyed Hermione before he turned back toward Ron and ate a Pumpkin Pastry.

"Harry?" asked Hermione again, nervously and quietly.

Ron, who was witnessing the whole thing saw Harry's hurt and anger and said "I don't think he want to speak to you." to the girl.

"H-Harry..." she said, weakly.

"Leave!" said Harry suddenly and loudly, still not looking at Hermione. "Please." he added quietly. Harry barely saw Hermione nod before she ran away.

Ron raised to his feet and closed the door of the compartment. "Who is she?" he asked to his new friend.

"Hermione Granger. We knew each other a long time ago."

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

While Ron wasn't the best at dealing with emotions and feelings, he could see that whatever had once happened between Harry and Hermione still pained him a lot. He decided to drop it and continue explaining Quidditch, something Harry was extremely grateful for.

"Now that I know the full story, I do feel bad about my reaction..." sighed Harry.

"I wouldn't be angry at Mummy if it had happened to me." said Rose with conviction.

"Then you are a better person than me, Rose. It just shows that you have your mother's heart." smiled Harry. "I know I disappointed your mother. I felt horrible when she later told me her point of view on our reunion..."

Meanwhile, Hermione had ran toward her compartment crying. While her life had been a lot more enjoyable than Harry's, it had still been very lonely and quiet ever since they had left Privet Drive.

When her parents brought her back home after the discussion, they had sent Hermione to her room as a punishment. Less than an hour later, they visited her and told Hermione that they were moving out the next morning. To her later surprise, Hermione hadn't questioned her parents' sudden decision at the time and simply started packing her stuff.

The Grangers then spent the next day packing everything into boxes and loading them in two rented lorries. By the evening, they were driving toward Crawley.

The anger Hermione had felt toward the idea of having Harry live with her family had disappeared the moment they had arrived at their new home in Crawley. Hermione had no idea what had happened. She didn't know why she went from happily agreeing to the idea to being angry about it in an instant. She had tried to look back to the previous day and saw that there weren't any good explanations. One moment, she liked the idea and the other, she hated it.

Hermione hadn't missed the looks of disappointment her parents kept discretely shooting her in the following days. She felt ashamed of her own reaction. She couldn't help but feel like she had betrayed her first and best friend and she didn't know why she had done so. Now, they weren't even living in the same part of the country anymore so there would be no chance to apologise to Harry. Hermione had almost said to her parents that she wanted Harry with them but couldn't bring herself to tell them. Not only would it be horribly humiliating, it would lead to questions she wouldn't be able to answer.

Hermione went to her new school and met new kids. While those kids were a lot nicer than those at Privet Drive, they weren't Harry. Because of that, she couldn't help but push everyone back. She didn't trust herself to be in a friendship again, not after what she had done to Harry. The next few years for Hermione were lonely and quiet. Her parents had finally gotten the practice they had dreamed of and began doing like many new business owners did: they worked constantly, almost never taking a break. It meant that, most often than not, Hermione would be alone when she came back from school.

Because of her loneliness, Hermione threw herself in books. Books could be trusted and she liked reading them. Hermione never forgot Harry and every time he would cross her mind; her heart would be filled with guilt and sadness. In wasn't rare in the first few months at Crawley that Hermione would cry herself to sleep.

Eventually, in September 1990, Professor McGonagall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came to the Grangers and explained everything they needed to know about magic and Hogwarts. Hermione dragged her parents toward Diagon Alley where Hermione bought as many books as she was allowed. A few of them were recent and talked about what had happened in the last few years. The moment she had come home, Hermione had started reading the various books she had bought.

The next summer, the one before Hermione was scheduled to go to Hogwarts, Hermione would read her wizarding books from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep. One of those days, Emma Granger hadn't gone to work. Emma had noticed her daughter reading one of those magical books, smiling. She was glad that books could help Hermione feel happy because she was under no illusion that Hermione didn't feel lonely. It didn't help that her parents had been extremely busy the first few years after their practice opened. To this day, she still didn't know why Hermione had said no when she and her father had offered the idea. They didn't understand either why they felt like they should leave the next day, removing any chance of seeing Harry again. Ever since then, Hermione had been lonely. While she was friendly with other kids of her age, none were her friends. Emma looked at her daughter again but, instead of seeing a smile on Hermione's face, she saw that she was looking at her book, horrified.

"Hermione?" she asked, concerned. Hermione didn't answer. Emma saw that tears were slowly leaking out of her eyes. Emma quickly went toward her daughter and repeated "Hermione?"

"Mum... it's horrible." she said before she took her mother in her arms and started crying. Emma took the book in one arm while she put the other around her daughter's waist. She took a look at the page Hermione was reading and understood.

JAMES, LILY AND HARRY POTTER

In 1981, after Sirius Black revealed the location where the Potters were hiding to the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who went to Godric's Hollow and attacked the Potters. James Potter managed to duel against You-Know-Who, hoping to give his family time to escape but was eventually murdered. The Dark Lord then climbed upstairs and entered the nursery where Lily Potter had hidden with her son Harry. It is unknown what happened in this room but we know that Lily Potter was found dead by You-Know-Who's wand. Supposedly, You-Know-Who then turned his wand toward young Harry Potter and shot the Killing Curse. The Killing Curse is said to be impossible to survive but, somehow, the curse rebounded on one-year-old Harry Potter and struck the Dark Lord, killing him. All Harry was left with was a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. It is unknown what happened to Harry Potter, later known as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' but it is said that he was brought to his only living relatives.

Emma gapped at the book. She almost wouldn't have believed it had she not seen the picture of the Potter Family taken a few months before their deaths. One look at James and Lily confirmed that the Harry they knew was the same Harry Potter mentioned in the books. The Harry she remembered looked like a younger copy of James Potter, except that he had bright green eyes. Lily Potter's eyes.

She better understood how Hermione felt now. This was her old friend they were talking about. Emma knew that Harry had once said that he didn't know anything about his parents, just that they had died in a car crash when he was a year-old. She wasn't surprised to hear that the Dursleys had lied to him and she felt guilty that the Grangers hadn't brought him with them when they moved. She guessed that Hermione felt a lot worse than she did. Her predictions proved true as Hermione barely left her room in the following days. Hermione having puffy red eyes had become a common sight in the following week.

Hermione realized quickly on that Harry would attend Hogwarts as well. She knew she would see him again but didn't know how he would react. Would he be happy to see her or would he be angry? The wait until September 1st made Hermione a nervous wreck.

When the day finally arrived, Hermione arrived to the Platform early. She found a compartment all for herself and read books until a boy named Neville Longbottom came and asked if she had seen his toad. Hermione, realising that her school years would be lonely if she didn't make a single friend, decided to help the boy, hoping that they could be friends. Hermione visited many compartments and eventually arrived to one occupied by a red-haired boy and another one with black hair.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost..." she started before she saw looked at the black-haired boy again. A boy with bright green eyes and round wired glasses. Harry Potter, her first and only friend. "H-Harry?" she asked in shock. She knew that she would see him again today, but it didn't reduce the shock.

Hermione's heart broke when Harry scowled at her. He looked like he was trying to hide it but she could see the anger and betrayal in his eyes. Harry looked away without answering her.

"Harry?" she repeated, this time quietly. Harry didn't react, he was pretending she wasn't there.

The red-haired boy then said "I don't think he want to speak to you." while looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"H-Harry..." she said, weakly.

"Leave!" and angry shout came from Harry. "Please." he whispered. Hermione couldn't help it anymore and ran away. She locked herself inside her compartment and broke down. Her first friendship was gone, her first friend hated her and she knew that it was all her own fault. She didn't leave the compartment until the train arrived at Hogsmeade.

"...and that was our reunion." said Harry, his eyes still wet. Harry had remembered the shame he had felt when Hermione had talked about their reunion from her point of view. She had believed that Harry had hated her. It had never been true. Sure, Harry had once resented Hermione and had been angry at her but that was all there was. The only reason he resented her in the first place was because he was still feeling betrayed about the whole situation. Had he not been, then he would have been either indifferent or happy to see her again.

Rose was slowly crying. Harry understood why. He himself remembered how he had felt when he had seen Severus Snape's pensieve memory of the end of his fifth year where he witnessed his father be a complete git while his mother was screaming at him. Everyone had told him good things about his parents and, because of that, Harry had built a pedestal for them, one that had been toppled and shattered by that memory. Harry knew how his daughter was feeling because that's exactly how he had himself felt: confusion and heartbreak. The difference was that he hadn't really had anyone to comfort him and he had been forced to break into Dolores Umbridge's office simply to speak to his godfather. Rose however had him and Harry would make damn sure that he would be there for her. Harry took the five-year-old girl in his arms and hugged her. Rose buried her head in his chest as she slowly continued to cry.

Eventually, Rose had calmed down enough for Harry to continue to tell his story...

"Harry? Can I talk to you? Please...?" asked Hermione timidly at the end of their first ever Charms class when she, Ron and Harry were exiting the class. Harry had been ignoring Hermione pointedly ever since their accidental meeting on the Hogwarts Express. He had been disappointed when Hermione had been sorted into Gryffindor and had almost agreed to go to Slytherin instead just to avoid her. Unfortunately for him, the Sorting Hat told him that it would be for the best for both he and Hermione if they were in the same House and sorted him into Gryffindor!

Hermione had tried to talk to him a few times during the day but, every time, Harry would simply ignore her and act as she wasn't there. He hadn't missed the hurt visible on Hermione's face and, while he didn't like doing that to her, he thought it was for the best.

However, her repeated attempts were becoming more and more annoying. Harry wondered why Hermione hadn't caught on the fact that he didn't want to talk to her. One thing Harry had forgotten was that Hermione was as stubborn as him. Ron had tried a few times to tell her subtlety that Harry didn't want to talk to her but she had never stopped.

"Fine!" he finally snapped. A look of relief crossed Hermione's face while Ron looked surprised. "I'll see you back in the common room, Ron." he said to his new best-friend.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes." answered Harry. Turning toward Hermione, he said "Follow me." and walked away. Hermione followed him quietly to an empty classroom nearby.

"What do you want?" said Harry abruptly the moment she had closed the door.

Hermione realized that while she had wanted to talk to Harry all day, she didn't know exactly where to start from. "I missed you." she said after a few seconds.

"Right." snorted Harry, not believing it one second. A pained look temporarily showed on both of their faces. "You really think that I would believe that?"

"Harry..."

"No, Hermione!" he snapped. "I don't believe you missed me! You and your family disappeared one day without warning. You didn't even say goodbye nor ever contacted me again. Not even once!" he nearly shouted. He felt his anger starting to build up. He knew he should shut up now but he wasn't able to stop. He had spent too many years wondering why Hermione had refused. All of his hurt and later anger were finally getting out in front of his former best-friend. Hermione looked down in shame. A few tears had started leaking out. Taking a deep breath, he asked "Did you even consider me a friend?"

"Of course, I did!" answered Hermione, shocked that he hadn't believed in their friendship.

"Really?" continued Harry in disbelief. "Is that how you treat your friends then? Do you gain their trust and confidence and then spit on it when they need your help, like, for instance, when one come from an abusive family and need to be removed?"

"What?" said Hermione, open-mouthed.

"You heard me right. Abused!" shouted Harry. He knew he would regret it later but Harry removed his school robes before lifting his shirts and showed Hermione his back. Hermione burst out crying. There were scars everywhere and even the presences of a few old bruises. Putting back his robes, he said "And your parents offered me a way out of this living hell, except that they wanted your approval first..."

"Y-You k-know..?"

"That your parents wanted to adopt me? Of course, I do, I overheard when they told the Dursleys about it! I was happy, probably the happiest I had ever been in my life! Someone finally wanted me! I finally believed that I wasn't a waste of space, that I was worthy of love!" he said sarcastically. Hermione flinched. "I felt like I was riding on a cloud for the next few days until, one day, I arrived at school and you weren't there. After the day ended, I walked toward your home, hoping to see you. Did you know what I found?" he asked.

"N-no." stuttered Hermione.

"Nothing." said Harry. "The house was empty. You had moved out and left me behind. Worse, you didn't even tell me goodbye. You just disappeared..." he said. His voice had lowered and he was now almost whispering. "When I came home, my Uncle was waiting for me. With his horrible grin, he told me that the Grangers had decided to leave and had abandoned the idea of taking me with them because their daughter, my first and best friend had refused the idea. Do you deny it?" he asked. He didn't tell her that he already knew the answer, that he had witnessed the conversation as he wanted to see if she would say the truth or not.

Hermione shook her head. "I-I'm s-sorry." she sobbed in her hands.

Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he asked "Why?". There wasn't a once of anger in his voice anymore. It was almost soft. The hurt and betrayal present in his voice however was overwhelming and Hermione felt like she had been punched in the guts. Hearing an angry Harry had been very hard and painful, but it wasn't close to how much it ached to hear the hurt and betrayal in his one-word question.

"I-I don't k-know." cried Hermione. "I-I wanted to s-say yes b-but before I d-did so, I s-suddenly felt angry at my p-parents' idea and I s-said no. I-I asked m-myself why c-constantly ever since w-we moved to C-Crawley..."

Harry sighed and removed his glasses before rubbing his eyes. To his own surprise, he did believe her. He still didn't know why she had said no but now knew that Hermione didn't either. He let her calm down for a few minutes before he asked "Why did your family leave so soon? I know they had planned on moving to Crawley in the following weeks but why that soon?"

Hermione shrugged, still looking down. "I don't know." she answered quietly. "I never questioned it."

Harry slowly approached Hermione and put two fingers on her chin. He slowly and gently lifted her head so that she would look at him in the eyes. He had forgotten how beautiful Hermione's chocolate brown eyes were. "Why did you want to talk to me?" he asked softly. "There must have been another reason than just saying you missed me..."

"I just wanted to talk to you again, I wanted to apologise and because I missed you."

Harry sighed again. "I'm going to be honest. I missed you too..." started Harry. He saw a bit of hope cross Hermione's eyes. "But I don't know if we can be friends again." he said. Hermione looked back down. "I am not saying that it will never happen but I just don't trust you anymore."

"I'm sorry." she whispered before she looked back at his bright green eyes. "I will do everything I need to get your trust back." said Hermione solemnly.

"We'll see." said Harry before he exited the classroom, leaving a crying Hermione behind.

"You have no idea how much it pains me to remember that talk." said Harry before he turned toward his daughter. "Life lesson for you Rose. If you are ever angry at one of your friends, you should keep your calm and think reasonably instead of shouting at them."

"Okay." said Rose, softly.

"Do you want to know what happened on Halloween then?" he asked.

Rose's eyes lit in interest. She knew that something had happened with her parents and the troll but her father had never told her the story. She didn't know why but she knew that she wanted to hear it. "Yes!" she answered. Harry chuckled at her enthusiasm.