Chapter One: Shadows
It was one year since the end of the Great Wizard Wars. In the light of the moon, a woman in a red dress, red shoes and trench coat stood in a place, once familiar to her, which lay in despair. Looking at the destruction gave her the chills and she involuntarily pulled her long trench coat tighter around her. A groan behind her made her scream, she fingers lingered on the knife in her pocket and she turned to see what behind her was making the noise.
"Harry is that you?" she asked upon seeing his face.
"Depends on who's asking" he said. She noticed he had no glasses on, he probably couldn't see her
"Harry, its me"
"Not-not Hermione?" he stumbled
"Yes, oh Harry! I knew it was you!" she exclaimed falling to the ground and throwing her arms around him. He held his childhood friend tightly, like he never wanted to let go, but gently, as if she might break.
"I-I thought I'd never see you again" she said, silent tears streaming down her face.
"Same here, but can we catch up later? There's more pressing issues right now, my leg, I think its broken" she looked down, a lamp post lay across his lap, his left femur defiantly broken and his right possibly broken.
"Oh Harry! What are we going to do?! St. Mungo's was destroyed and we can't go to a muggle hospital, they'll see the mark!!" she exclaimed, panicking, like she had when they were younger.
"You don't know any healing magic then?" he asked, sounding disappointed
"I used to, but that was so many years ago. I haven't done any magic in ages" she said regretfully, feeling a pang in her stomach, she missed magic and Hogwarts almost as much as she'd missed Harry and Ron.
"You know where we have to go then, don't you? Its where I was headed before I took a little detour and ended up here" she was confused, where was it safe for wizards to go nowadays? She thought hard, and got no results
"Where were you going Harry? Where is it safe?" she asked, giving up
and regretfully thinking he'd say nowhere.
"Hogwarts, Hermione, Hogwarts" Harry told her and she gave him a quizzical look.
"Surely it was destroyed too"
"Hermione, they never found Hogwarts, I would have figured you knew that" She blinked at him. It wasn't possible, was it? Her heart leapt at the thought of going back to her old school, wondering what was there for her. Whatever it was, it had to be better than living in secret.
"How can we get there?" she asked, they had always taken the train, which seemed to be the only way to get there, other than by flying car or broomstick, neither of which they had.
"Here, read this" he tossed her a letter. Hands shaking, she unfolded it
Dear Harry,
We are writing to inform you that it is safe enough now for you to come out of hiding and join us here at Hogwarts. The school was not destroyed in the war, as the muggles can not see it. It is highly suggested that you come, as you well know that the Abattre is still persecuting our kind. The Hogwarts Express will do one run at nine o'clock on the ninth of October. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
"When did you get this? How did you get this?" Hermione asked in a whisper, hands still shaking.
"Last night, by owl, please Hermione, we have a half hour to get to Platform 9 and ¾, it will take awhile as I can't walk to well, we can talk on the train. When we get to Hogwarts things will get better for us, I promise" he said giving her a small smile.
"They can't get worse, can they?" she returned the weak smile as a tear ran slowly down her cheek. Harry wiped away her tear.
"Those are famous last words, Hermione"
"I know, come on Harry, lets go, I think I can carry you if I have to"
"That's my girl" he said, trying to help her lift the post off his lap. Once the post was off she examined his legs again. His left leg was defiantly broken. She could see the bone. His right leg seemed to be all right, though she thought he may have fractured something.
" Ok, here's what we'll do. You put you're left arm around me, and try to limp on your right leg. Just like that Harry….good job…" she told him as they walked onto the London streets.
"Is there anyway I can help you miss?" asked a man with blonde hair, leaning on his car and smoking.
"No, no, that's quite all right, thank you though" she answered quickly. She turned away from the man quickly, making Harry yelp. The man ran to get in front of them.
"I insist, let me drive you to where you need to go" he said staring into her eyes.
"Sir, we really must be getting on our way, we have a very important engagement that we mustn't be late for, goodbye!"
"I know who you are," he said taping his upper left thigh, "please, I'm going to the same place you are, let me help" he said exasperated. Hermione looked at Harry, who nodded.
"All right, let's go" she said reluctantly. The man helped Hermione get Harry into the back seat of his car. She then sat down in the front with the mysterious man.
"How do you know me?" she asked suspiciously
"I'm kind of hurt you don't recognize me, we went to school together for seven years"
"I'm sorry, but, I still just don't know.." she trailed off, feeling truly awful at not knowing who he was.
"Hermione, its Seamus Finnigan" said a strained voice from the back seat.
"Is he right?" she asked
"Yep"
"Oh, Seamus! Its truly wonderful to see you again!" she exclaimed
"I'm glad to see you two again as well, I really wasn't sure who'd I be running into after, well, you know" he said bowing his head.
"I know what you mean. I thought I'd never see Harry or anyone else from our world again" her voice was far away, her mind was obviously drifting to another time and place.
"We're here. We've got five minutes, lets go" Seamus got out of the car and easily lifted Harry. They walked inconspicuously through the barrier and sat down on the train with two minutes to spare.
"Seamus, not that I don't appreciate all that you've done for us, its just, could you please-"
"Please leave you and Harry alone? No problem, I understand that you guys want to catch up on things, I'll talk to you later" Seamus finished for her, then bent down and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, which she returned. He then, left went to the next train car down, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
"Harry, I don't even know where to begin, asking you about what's happened to you since we last met, so why don't you just tell me" she said.
"Well, it sort of started before we last met, after we left Hogwarts when we finished our seventh year. You know, I went back to the Dursley's one last time. I don't know what made me do it, there was nothing there for me. When Dudley answered the door, I just started yelling. When I finished I just apparated to the ministry building, I had an appointment to meet with Cornelius Fudge. He offered me several positions in the ministry. I decided on a job with the Department of Wizard Protection. After I had learned more about the job and things I has to do for it, and then began the actual I realized I hadn't spoken with you or Ron in nearly two years. Even then we noticed some strange muggle activities against wizards. I was busy with my job, you were busy at the Department of Experimental Charms and I didn't know where Ron was, he hadn't contacted me to let me know. So I owled you and asked you to meet me that Saturday at Three Broomsticks. When Hedwig got back I wrote a letter to Ron, asking him to meet us there on Saturday too.
Well, Saturday came around and we met. I told you about what I was doing and you told me what you were doing. I think I even warned you then that I was nervous that something was going to happen between the muggles and the wizards. Eventually Ron showed up, he was all cut and bruised. He wouldn't tell us what had happened or anything about his job, only that he had one. He stayed for about ten minutes, saying that we would talk later. But I haven't heard from him since. We stayed for an hour at Three Broomsticks and then did some shopping. Then we left to our separate homes, and that was the last time we met, until now. During the war, I spent most of my time in Diagon Alley, until it was destroyed, as you saw earlier this night. After that I still tried to do my job as a protector of wizards, though it didn't do us very much good. After the war, I went back to the ministry building, which is still intact but deserted. I attained a list of all those in the ministry and owled every last one of them. You know how many replies I got? Three. You didn't even owl me back, Hermione."
"But I never even received one! You know I'd be at your side in a second if you ever needed me!" Hermione exclaimed
"That's what I figured out later, but then, I was dubious. I thought you either didn't care about me anymore or you were dead. After all that, I still tried to rebuild the ministry. I got an owl from a much older and wiser wizard than I that the ministry couldn't be rebuilt until the post-war chaos and fears were over and that would take a long time. I've spent most of my time since then trying to find others of our kind and make a list of who is still alive. Last night I got an owl saying that the Hogwarts Express would make one run to Hogwarts at nine o'clock tonight. So, this morning I visited the ruins of Diagon Alley, just to have one more look. I tripped and kicked the bottom of the lamp post, it fell on top of me. I sat around for a few hours like that before you came along and helped me. You have no idea how happy I was to see you. Which brings us to now" he said concluding his side of the story. Hermione didn't know what to say. They sat in silence, looking at each other for a few minutes.
"I wish I was as brave as you were during the war" Hermione said quietly
"I'm sure you were"
"I wasn't. I spent most of it hiding with my parents, pretending to be a muggle. I realized I couldn't put them in that sort of danger anymore and went to France to hide at Beauxbatons, it was destroyed near the end of the war. After it was destroyed, I came back to England to try and find my parents. The Abattre found out they had been hiding me. You know what they did Harry? They killed my parents. They killed them because they were trying to protect me. I hid at many different places until the end of the war and for a long time after the war ended. All I did during that time was hide and cry. I felt so lost and was in so much pain. I decided to go to a place where I was once so happy and die. I decided on Diagon Alley, that's why I was there tonight Harry, I was going to kill myself. I was so sick of it, living in the shadows of the day and the darkness of the night, as a ghost of the person I once was" she said, starting to cry again.
"You wouldn't have done it" Harry stated.
"Done what?" she asked, although she knew the answer
"Killed yourself. I know you, and you're stronger than that" he said patting her hand. She too, was not sure if she could have killed herself. The idea was tempting at the time.
The train slowed to a stop outside of Hogwarts. Hermione helped Harry stand up. They both wondered if this place would bring happy times as it once had.
It was one year since the end of the Great Wizard Wars. In the light of the moon, a woman in a red dress, red shoes and trench coat stood in a place, once familiar to her, which lay in despair. Looking at the destruction gave her the chills and she involuntarily pulled her long trench coat tighter around her. A groan behind her made her scream, she fingers lingered on the knife in her pocket and she turned to see what behind her was making the noise.
"Harry is that you?" she asked upon seeing his face.
"Depends on who's asking" he said. She noticed he had no glasses on, he probably couldn't see her
"Harry, its me"
"Not-not Hermione?" he stumbled
"Yes, oh Harry! I knew it was you!" she exclaimed falling to the ground and throwing her arms around him. He held his childhood friend tightly, like he never wanted to let go, but gently, as if she might break.
"I-I thought I'd never see you again" she said, silent tears streaming down her face.
"Same here, but can we catch up later? There's more pressing issues right now, my leg, I think its broken" she looked down, a lamp post lay across his lap, his left femur defiantly broken and his right possibly broken.
"Oh Harry! What are we going to do?! St. Mungo's was destroyed and we can't go to a muggle hospital, they'll see the mark!!" she exclaimed, panicking, like she had when they were younger.
"You don't know any healing magic then?" he asked, sounding disappointed
"I used to, but that was so many years ago. I haven't done any magic in ages" she said regretfully, feeling a pang in her stomach, she missed magic and Hogwarts almost as much as she'd missed Harry and Ron.
"You know where we have to go then, don't you? Its where I was headed before I took a little detour and ended up here" she was confused, where was it safe for wizards to go nowadays? She thought hard, and got no results
"Where were you going Harry? Where is it safe?" she asked, giving up
and regretfully thinking he'd say nowhere.
"Hogwarts, Hermione, Hogwarts" Harry told her and she gave him a quizzical look.
"Surely it was destroyed too"
"Hermione, they never found Hogwarts, I would have figured you knew that" She blinked at him. It wasn't possible, was it? Her heart leapt at the thought of going back to her old school, wondering what was there for her. Whatever it was, it had to be better than living in secret.
"How can we get there?" she asked, they had always taken the train, which seemed to be the only way to get there, other than by flying car or broomstick, neither of which they had.
"Here, read this" he tossed her a letter. Hands shaking, she unfolded it
Dear Harry,
We are writing to inform you that it is safe enough now for you to come out of hiding and join us here at Hogwarts. The school was not destroyed in the war, as the muggles can not see it. It is highly suggested that you come, as you well know that the Abattre is still persecuting our kind. The Hogwarts Express will do one run at nine o'clock on the ninth of October. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
"When did you get this? How did you get this?" Hermione asked in a whisper, hands still shaking.
"Last night, by owl, please Hermione, we have a half hour to get to Platform 9 and ¾, it will take awhile as I can't walk to well, we can talk on the train. When we get to Hogwarts things will get better for us, I promise" he said giving her a small smile.
"They can't get worse, can they?" she returned the weak smile as a tear ran slowly down her cheek. Harry wiped away her tear.
"Those are famous last words, Hermione"
"I know, come on Harry, lets go, I think I can carry you if I have to"
"That's my girl" he said, trying to help her lift the post off his lap. Once the post was off she examined his legs again. His left leg was defiantly broken. She could see the bone. His right leg seemed to be all right, though she thought he may have fractured something.
" Ok, here's what we'll do. You put you're left arm around me, and try to limp on your right leg. Just like that Harry….good job…" she told him as they walked onto the London streets.
"Is there anyway I can help you miss?" asked a man with blonde hair, leaning on his car and smoking.
"No, no, that's quite all right, thank you though" she answered quickly. She turned away from the man quickly, making Harry yelp. The man ran to get in front of them.
"I insist, let me drive you to where you need to go" he said staring into her eyes.
"Sir, we really must be getting on our way, we have a very important engagement that we mustn't be late for, goodbye!"
"I know who you are," he said taping his upper left thigh, "please, I'm going to the same place you are, let me help" he said exasperated. Hermione looked at Harry, who nodded.
"All right, let's go" she said reluctantly. The man helped Hermione get Harry into the back seat of his car. She then sat down in the front with the mysterious man.
"How do you know me?" she asked suspiciously
"I'm kind of hurt you don't recognize me, we went to school together for seven years"
"I'm sorry, but, I still just don't know.." she trailed off, feeling truly awful at not knowing who he was.
"Hermione, its Seamus Finnigan" said a strained voice from the back seat.
"Is he right?" she asked
"Yep"
"Oh, Seamus! Its truly wonderful to see you again!" she exclaimed
"I'm glad to see you two again as well, I really wasn't sure who'd I be running into after, well, you know" he said bowing his head.
"I know what you mean. I thought I'd never see Harry or anyone else from our world again" her voice was far away, her mind was obviously drifting to another time and place.
"We're here. We've got five minutes, lets go" Seamus got out of the car and easily lifted Harry. They walked inconspicuously through the barrier and sat down on the train with two minutes to spare.
"Seamus, not that I don't appreciate all that you've done for us, its just, could you please-"
"Please leave you and Harry alone? No problem, I understand that you guys want to catch up on things, I'll talk to you later" Seamus finished for her, then bent down and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, which she returned. He then, left went to the next train car down, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
"Harry, I don't even know where to begin, asking you about what's happened to you since we last met, so why don't you just tell me" she said.
"Well, it sort of started before we last met, after we left Hogwarts when we finished our seventh year. You know, I went back to the Dursley's one last time. I don't know what made me do it, there was nothing there for me. When Dudley answered the door, I just started yelling. When I finished I just apparated to the ministry building, I had an appointment to meet with Cornelius Fudge. He offered me several positions in the ministry. I decided on a job with the Department of Wizard Protection. After I had learned more about the job and things I has to do for it, and then began the actual I realized I hadn't spoken with you or Ron in nearly two years. Even then we noticed some strange muggle activities against wizards. I was busy with my job, you were busy at the Department of Experimental Charms and I didn't know where Ron was, he hadn't contacted me to let me know. So I owled you and asked you to meet me that Saturday at Three Broomsticks. When Hedwig got back I wrote a letter to Ron, asking him to meet us there on Saturday too.
Well, Saturday came around and we met. I told you about what I was doing and you told me what you were doing. I think I even warned you then that I was nervous that something was going to happen between the muggles and the wizards. Eventually Ron showed up, he was all cut and bruised. He wouldn't tell us what had happened or anything about his job, only that he had one. He stayed for about ten minutes, saying that we would talk later. But I haven't heard from him since. We stayed for an hour at Three Broomsticks and then did some shopping. Then we left to our separate homes, and that was the last time we met, until now. During the war, I spent most of my time in Diagon Alley, until it was destroyed, as you saw earlier this night. After that I still tried to do my job as a protector of wizards, though it didn't do us very much good. After the war, I went back to the ministry building, which is still intact but deserted. I attained a list of all those in the ministry and owled every last one of them. You know how many replies I got? Three. You didn't even owl me back, Hermione."
"But I never even received one! You know I'd be at your side in a second if you ever needed me!" Hermione exclaimed
"That's what I figured out later, but then, I was dubious. I thought you either didn't care about me anymore or you were dead. After all that, I still tried to rebuild the ministry. I got an owl from a much older and wiser wizard than I that the ministry couldn't be rebuilt until the post-war chaos and fears were over and that would take a long time. I've spent most of my time since then trying to find others of our kind and make a list of who is still alive. Last night I got an owl saying that the Hogwarts Express would make one run to Hogwarts at nine o'clock tonight. So, this morning I visited the ruins of Diagon Alley, just to have one more look. I tripped and kicked the bottom of the lamp post, it fell on top of me. I sat around for a few hours like that before you came along and helped me. You have no idea how happy I was to see you. Which brings us to now" he said concluding his side of the story. Hermione didn't know what to say. They sat in silence, looking at each other for a few minutes.
"I wish I was as brave as you were during the war" Hermione said quietly
"I'm sure you were"
"I wasn't. I spent most of it hiding with my parents, pretending to be a muggle. I realized I couldn't put them in that sort of danger anymore and went to France to hide at Beauxbatons, it was destroyed near the end of the war. After it was destroyed, I came back to England to try and find my parents. The Abattre found out they had been hiding me. You know what they did Harry? They killed my parents. They killed them because they were trying to protect me. I hid at many different places until the end of the war and for a long time after the war ended. All I did during that time was hide and cry. I felt so lost and was in so much pain. I decided to go to a place where I was once so happy and die. I decided on Diagon Alley, that's why I was there tonight Harry, I was going to kill myself. I was so sick of it, living in the shadows of the day and the darkness of the night, as a ghost of the person I once was" she said, starting to cry again.
"You wouldn't have done it" Harry stated.
"Done what?" she asked, although she knew the answer
"Killed yourself. I know you, and you're stronger than that" he said patting her hand. She too, was not sure if she could have killed herself. The idea was tempting at the time.
The train slowed to a stop outside of Hogwarts. Hermione helped Harry stand up. They both wondered if this place would bring happy times as it once had.