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Chapter Two: Hermione
August, 1994
"Please, all I'm asking for is five minutes! I'm one of his best friends!" Hermione Granger insisted, pleading with the hospital receptionist.
The young man behind the desk rolled his eyes and flipped through a magazine. "Hermione, I already told you. Visiting hours are almost over. You'll have to come back tomorrow."
"Almost over. That means there's still time. If anyone asks, I'll just tell them I'm a volunteer." That wasn't completely a lie. Hermione had spent a good portion of her time volunteering at the hospital earlier that year. She had only quit the previous month because Ron had insisted she needed some free time, and Hermione had realized he was right. "Please, Percy."
"Hermione, I'm not allowed to bend the rules. Not even for you."
"But everyone here knows me anyway! And you know I would never insist on breaking the rules if it wasn't important."
"Come back tomorrow," said Percy. "And bring Ron with you."
"I've been trying to convince Ron to come visit with me all week, and he's said no every single time!"
"I'm not going to take pity on you because my brother is being a prat, if that's what you're expecting."
Hermione flopped down onto one of the seats closest to the reception desk and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, can you give me a ride home?"
"Yes," said Percy exasperatedly, returning to his magazine, only to put it down again when a woman with red hair exited the hospital's main hallways.
The woman caught sight of Hermione, and her tired face broke into a grin. "Hermione!"
"Lily!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up and embracing her friend's mother.
"It's been a long time," said Lily. "Are you here to see Harry?"
"Yes, but unfortunately I got here too late. Visiting hours are over now," Hermione gave Percy a disappointed look.
"Oh, surely you could make an exception for one of my son's best friends?" Lily asked Percy.
Percy looked conflicted. He was a stickler for the rules, but he had learned the hard way not to deny the parents of patients anything. "Five minutes. That's it."
"Thank you!" Hermione said happily, running off down the hallway and up the stairs to her friend's hospital room.
Upon reaching the room, she slowed down, coming to hover in the doorway for a moment before going in. She was a little afraid to go in; it had been awhile since her last visit.
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July 31, 1994
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Harry, happy birthday to you," Hermione sang softly, blowing out the candle shaped like the number four that sat atop her cupcake. On the other side of her best friend's bed, Lily Potter blew out a candle shaped like the number one on top of an identical cupcake.
Harry no longer looked like the best friend Hermione remembered. He was thin and sickly looking, as his only nourishment was provided through the tubes connected to his arm. The bruises he had received from the crash had healed long ago, and the only evidence of the accident was a large scar across his forehead, which George Weasley had decided resembled a bolt of lightning. Harry's mouth, which would have been smiling had he been awake, was frozen in a serious expression close to a grimace. Hermione didn't like to look at it for very long. She fiddled with the straps of the small gift bag that sat on the small table next to her.
"What's that?" Lily asked, pointing to the present.
"Oh, it's a birthday present. I figured I'd leave it for him when he wakes up."
"Could I open it?"
Hermione handed Harry's mother the small bag. She watched as Lily removed the single piece of tissue paper. The woman gasped when she saw what was inside. "Hermione..."
"I know it's kind of a weird present," Hermione said quickly. "But I knew his old ones got destroyed in the crash, and my parents have an eye doctor friend, being dentists and all, and I asked her to make these for him. They don't have any lenses, because I didn't know his prescription, and he can't very well get his eyes tested right now, but I thought he could use them."
"Thank you," said Lily, taking out the pair of round frames. "I didn't even think about him needing new glasses."
Hermione felt her eyes fill with tears as she watched Lily put the frames onto Harry's face. Lily noticed this, and walked around the bed to wrap an arm around the young girl.
"I want him to be himself again," Hermione murmured, burying her face in the woman's shoulder.
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"Hermione?" Harry had finally noticed his friend standing in the doorway.
Hermione ran to him, feeling relieved. "You remember me!"
"Of course I remember you," said Harry as the two of them hugged.
"I'm so glad you're finally awake."
"Yeah, me too," said Harry in tone that suggested otherwise.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. I just had some weird dreams when I was unconscious, and I enjoyed them more than life in hospital."
Hermione smiled. "That makes sense. I can't imagine having to spend all day in bed."
"You can't. You rarely sleep as it is, with all the time you spend studying."
"You remember that about me?"
"How could I forget? You're Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age!"
Hermione took a step back. "I'm... what?"
Harry frowned. "Nothing. Sorry."
"Okay..." said Hermione hesitantly, deciding to change the subject. "So how are things here at the hospital?"
"Well, for starters, my doctor is a pathological liar."
"Really? I thought he was nice."
"He is," Harry said quickly. "What I mean is he tells a lot of stories that don't seem true."
"What sort of stories?"
"Supernatural stories, like how he went to Transylvania and argued with a vampire. Meanwhile, he lectures me for insisting magic is real."
"Oh, he's always been like that," laughed Hermione. "I don't know if you remember, but back in second year when he was one of our teachers, he had a book published detailing all of his crazy stories. None of them were true, of course. Later that year, he got on the news for plagiarizing another author's book. That's when the headmaster fired him."
"And you're absolutely sure the stories weren't true?"
"Positive. There isn't any such thing as a vampire or a werewolf."
"What about a wizard?" Harry wanted to know.
"No, those don't exist either," said Hermione slowly. "Why do you ask?"
Harry sighed. "Never mind."
"Harry, why do you keep mentioning-"
"Hermione!" Percy appeared in the doorway of Harry's room. "I've given you more than enough time already!"
Harry looked surprised to see the older boy. "Percy? You work here too?"
"Yes, unfortunately this is the only summer job I could manage to get. But I'm starting an internship this September, at Fudge Corporation. That's Cornelius Fudge, by the way."
"Um..."
"Tell Harry good night, Hermione," Percy ordered.
"Good night," Hermione told Harry, giving him another hug. "I'll come back soon, and I'll try to get Ron to come with me next time."
"What do you mean-"
But Harry's question was cut off by Percy dragging Hermione out of the room by her arm. She gave Harry a sorry expression as she was pulled away.
That night, while eating dinner with her parents, Hermione thought over her conversation with Harry. Some of the things he'd said kept sticking in her mind. "You're Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age!" "...he lectures me for insisting magic is real." "What about a wizard?" Witch, wizard, magic. Why did these things keep coming up in Harry's sentences? Why was he suddenly so obsessed with magic? And why did the phrase 'brightest witch of her age' sound so familiar to Hermione?
"How was the hospital visit?" Mr. Granger asked, bringing Hermione back into the conversation.
"Yes, how is Harry doing?" Mrs. Granger inquired.
"He's doing well," Hermione assured them. "He doesn't seem to be having memory problems."
"He wasn't acting odd, was he?"
"What do you mean, acting odd?"
"Well," said Mrs. Granger, "Lily mentioned something when she called the other day. Apparently, for the first few days he was awake, Harry thought his life was all a dream he was having. She said that he thought he was asleep, and in 'real life' he was a magician of some kind."
There it was again. Magic. What was Hermione missing? "No," she lied. "He didn't say anything like that."
"Good. He'll surely be able to go back to school when term starts, if he's stopped babbling about Hogwarts."
Hermione froze, a forkful of pasta halfway to her mouth. "Hogwarts?"
"Yes. It's the magical school he thought he went to. The doctor told Lily that Harry must have had some kind of dream when he was comatose."
Hermione dropped her fork. She suddenly remembered why all this talk of magic sounded familiar. "Can I be excused?" She asked, standing up.
"I suppose," said her father. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I've just remembered something I had forgotten earlier. I need to go write it down before I forget again." Hermione sprinted up the stairs to her room.
She could recall exactly where all those words had come from. Witch, wizard, and a school called Hogwarts. It was all making sense again now. She entered her room, heading straight to the phone sitting on her beside table. As fast as she could, she dialed the number that had taken her only a week to memorize.
The boy on the other line answered on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Ron. I went to see Harry today, and he kept talking about magic and how I was 'the brightest witch'. At first I couldn't remember where I'd heard all that before, but just now my Mum said something about Hogwarts, and I remembered! Anyway, I was wondering if you-"
Ron's end of the line clicked off. Thinking the power had cut out temporarily, Hermione dialed his number again."
"What?" He answered in an annoyed tone.
"Ron, we need to talk about Hogwarts."
His end of the line clicked off again. This time, Hermione was certain he had hung up on purpose.
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