Title Needed (Desperately!)
Chapter 9: Old Wounds Healed, New Wounds Formed
A/N: Hopefully, I'll be making a comeback in this chapter after that AWFUL last chapter of mine... Thus I will continue to do the will of my muse... all hail the mighty muse! Bow down to her will! Okay, I'll shut up now....
Disclaimer: Maple, Birch, Oak, and Pine, Harry Potter is not mine! (waaaaaaay too much free time on my hands, can't you tell?????)
***
Hermione sat in the library, stacks of books piled all around her. There were so many different books around her that you could barely tell she was there. If you listened hard enough, you could hear her mumbling to herself as she flipped the pages, obviously searching for something. Many of the students would cast wary glances at their professor, hoping against all odds that she wasn't looking up some new topic for them to write a paper on. Her essays were famous, each having to be a minimum of three feet. Students were driven to hysterics when they procrastinated until the last minute to do their Charms work. Lucky for them, she wasn't in search of a new topic. In fact, she was in a way doing research for her own personal paper, although she didn't actually have to write anything out.
It was well known that whenever Hermione was on to something, she could spend days in the library without speaking to anyone else. It seemed to most of the staff that she was once again on one of her tangents to find something. Ron and Ginny had started to get worried after the fifth day straight of her library routine. Neither could really complain to anyone though, since she was still getting all of her work accomplished. Finally, Ron had enough.
"Hermione, what are you looking for? You've been in here every day for the last week, and you haven't said a thing to me or Ginny about what it is you're trying to find. Do you think maybe we can help?" Ron asked, sitting down across from his wife. She kept scanning the pages in the book she had propped open. "Hermione, listen to me. Hermione!" Ron practically shouted, startling Hermione.
"Oh, Ron, I'm sorry, did you say something to me?" Hermione asked, finally looking up from the book in front of her. Ron rolled his eyes.
"I know you don't like not knowing something, but could you at least tell me what you're looking for so maybe I can help you find it?" Ron asked. Hermione sighed in frustration.
"I'm not really sure what I'm looking for Ron. I just have this feeling that I'm missing something about James, and maybe I can find it somewhere in the library," Hermione said. "Maybe when I see it I'll know what it was, but until then, I'm going to have to keep looking."
Ron gave Hermione a baffled look. "Sometimes I wonder if you are truly insane Hermione. Are you going to search through every book in the entire library?" he asked incredulously.
"If I have to, yes. Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do, and I have a class in fifteen minutes, so I really can't be distracted," Hermione said as she started to scan the books in front of her again. Ron sighed.
"You are impossible sometimes, Hermione," he said, getting up and leaving his wife to go on her wild goose chase through the entire library. Hermione sat there for ten more minutes before she let out an excited yelp.
"I knew it! I just knew it! He WAS lying!" she said excitedly. She quickly wrote down exactly what the book said, and put all the other books away, then headed for her class.
Not soon enough for Hermione, it was finally lunch time. She dashed towards the Great Hall, hoping that Ron hadn't come in from his class yet. Lucky for her, he hadn't, but James was already sitting down. She smiled happily. Things were going just as she planned.
"Hey James, can we have a talk? We could go eat lunch in my office," Hermione said, coming up to her fellow teacher. He looked unsure for a moment, but then consented. Together, the two made their way to Hermione's office, where she offered him a chair and some sandwiches she had conjured up, along with a jug of juice.
"Sorry to interrupt your lunch like this, but I really needed to talk with you. Now I know you said you hated to lie to people you considered friends. So I guess that must mean you don't consider me a friend," Hermione said. James looked like he was about to protest, but Hermione held up her hand. "No, you're going to listen to everything I have to say. I did some research over the week. First of all, I found out that there is no record whatsoever of an acceptance letter to James Turner at Hogwarts. I thought that was kind of odd, but then I thought that James might be your middle name. Unfortunately for you, though, there wasn't a record of any Turners at all in the Hogwarts acceptance records. But maybe you could have taken your mother's maiden name after you moved to America, so that could account for the lack of Turners. But then, I was doing some research in the library and I came across a book. A new book, no less. I have an excerpt of it here. 'Not once, in the last one hundred years, has anyone ever turned down the chance to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' Now, I'm a thorough person, and I always check my sources. That book was completely accurate. So, James, if that is even your real name, what do you think of that?" Hermione said in somewhat of a rush. By the end of her mini-speech, her cheeks were flushed red. James, on the other hand, had gone very pale.
He gulped silently for a minute as Hermione sat waiting for a reply. He cleared his throat, then cleared it again, trying to think of something to say. "Hermione, I have never doubted your claim of being a thorough person. Ever since the first day I met you, I can remember you were a thorough person. If I do recall, you once searched the entire Hogwarts Express to locate a missing toad," James said, somewhat quietly. Now it was Hermione's turn to go pale. Her eyes grew large in disbelief and her mouth hung open.
"But, how... I mean.. oh god," she managed to stutter out. Her hand went up to her mouth and she looked like she was about to pass out.
"Hermione, are you okay?" James asked, getting up and going to her side. She rolled backward in her chair a bit, just out of James' reach. She seemed almost afraid of him, like he might burn her or something. She finally found her voice.
"Harry?" she squeaked out. "Is it really you? Oh god... it really IS you! I mean, how? After all these years?" Hermione was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Hermione, you have to promise me. Don't tell anyone it's me. Please, Hermione. Ginny's the only other person who knows. Please don't tell Ron. I'm not ready. Heck, I was barely ready to tell Ginny, and it's a miracle I've gone this long without you finding out, but Hermione, you can't tell him. He wouldn't understand. Please, Hermione," Harry begged. Her eyes were still wide.
"But, I don't understand. Your eyes, and your scar. I mean, how?" Hermione seemed almost unable to put an entire sentence together. Harry smiled a little.
"Muggles are smarter than we give them credit for. My eyes were easy to hide. Colored contacts. My scar, well, that took some money. Over in America though, people get cosmetic surgery every day. One quick operation, no more scar," Harry said. Hermione still seemed to be in shock. "Are you okay Hermione? Really? I think Ron would kill me if he found out I was talking to you. He seems ready to kill me about Ginny," Harry said. Hermione finally was able to smile a little.
"Oh Harry. It's been too long! You've missed so much! You missed our wedding, and Ginny's, and Sirius is Minister of Magic now, and I have a son. Oh, Harry, why did you go?" Hermione said, tears starting to come down her cheeks.
"Oh no, don't cry Hermione. Please don't cry. I don't know why I left. I don't know why. Just please don't cry Hermione," Harry pleaded with Hermione. She wiped away the tears on her face, but they just kept coming.
"How can I not cry Harry? I just found out my best friend wasn't dead after all. We spent ten years thinking you were dead, but no, you were living the high life in America, not caring the least bit about how we might feel," Hermione was saying angrily through her tears.
"You're wrong, Hermione. I wasn't living the 'high life' in America. And I did care about what you might feel. I spent months not being able to sleep at night, wondering what you guys were going through. I knew what I did was wrong, but I couldn't come back. I just couldn't. I saw the news. Everyone thought I was dead. Maybe I was just selfish for not coming back. I didn't want to ruin my reputation. But maybe there was more to it. I didn't want to hurt you guys. Ever since I first met you guys, I've always gotten you in the way of danger. I couldn't stand it any more. I didn't want anyone else to die because of me," Harry said, somewhat angrily. Hermione's expression softened slightly.
"Harry, it was never your fault. No one died because of you. And we chose to be your friends. You couldn't have kept us from going with you all those times. We put ourselves in danger. You didn't put us there. But I have to agree with you about your being selfish. You could have written us, told us somehow, some way, that you weren't really dead," Hermione chastised. Harry hung his head down for a moment, then lifted it to lock eyes with Hermione.
"Hermione, you can't tell him though. You have to promise me you won't tell Ron!" Harry asked. Hermione's eyes had gone wide once again, and Harry got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Tell me what, James?" came Ron's voice from behind him. He didn't dare turn around. "Or should I say, Harry?"
***
A/N: Ooooh!!!!! I am SO evil!!!! Isn't that just an awesome place to end????????? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hehehe... I'll post this in a couple of days... I want to get chapter 8 up, then wait a few days... hehehe..... and who KNOWS how long chapter 10 will take???? I wonder where this will be going........ Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!
A/N 2: Living testament! My sister just called me evil like six times in a row!!! Hahaha!! Thanks again to Sarah for getting up out of her bed and missing two whole minutes of the basketball game (Go UConn Women Huskies!!!) to read this!!!!
Chapter 9: Old Wounds Healed, New Wounds Formed
A/N: Hopefully, I'll be making a comeback in this chapter after that AWFUL last chapter of mine... Thus I will continue to do the will of my muse... all hail the mighty muse! Bow down to her will! Okay, I'll shut up now....
Disclaimer: Maple, Birch, Oak, and Pine, Harry Potter is not mine! (waaaaaaay too much free time on my hands, can't you tell?????)
***
Hermione sat in the library, stacks of books piled all around her. There were so many different books around her that you could barely tell she was there. If you listened hard enough, you could hear her mumbling to herself as she flipped the pages, obviously searching for something. Many of the students would cast wary glances at their professor, hoping against all odds that she wasn't looking up some new topic for them to write a paper on. Her essays were famous, each having to be a minimum of three feet. Students were driven to hysterics when they procrastinated until the last minute to do their Charms work. Lucky for them, she wasn't in search of a new topic. In fact, she was in a way doing research for her own personal paper, although she didn't actually have to write anything out.
It was well known that whenever Hermione was on to something, she could spend days in the library without speaking to anyone else. It seemed to most of the staff that she was once again on one of her tangents to find something. Ron and Ginny had started to get worried after the fifth day straight of her library routine. Neither could really complain to anyone though, since she was still getting all of her work accomplished. Finally, Ron had enough.
"Hermione, what are you looking for? You've been in here every day for the last week, and you haven't said a thing to me or Ginny about what it is you're trying to find. Do you think maybe we can help?" Ron asked, sitting down across from his wife. She kept scanning the pages in the book she had propped open. "Hermione, listen to me. Hermione!" Ron practically shouted, startling Hermione.
"Oh, Ron, I'm sorry, did you say something to me?" Hermione asked, finally looking up from the book in front of her. Ron rolled his eyes.
"I know you don't like not knowing something, but could you at least tell me what you're looking for so maybe I can help you find it?" Ron asked. Hermione sighed in frustration.
"I'm not really sure what I'm looking for Ron. I just have this feeling that I'm missing something about James, and maybe I can find it somewhere in the library," Hermione said. "Maybe when I see it I'll know what it was, but until then, I'm going to have to keep looking."
Ron gave Hermione a baffled look. "Sometimes I wonder if you are truly insane Hermione. Are you going to search through every book in the entire library?" he asked incredulously.
"If I have to, yes. Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do, and I have a class in fifteen minutes, so I really can't be distracted," Hermione said as she started to scan the books in front of her again. Ron sighed.
"You are impossible sometimes, Hermione," he said, getting up and leaving his wife to go on her wild goose chase through the entire library. Hermione sat there for ten more minutes before she let out an excited yelp.
"I knew it! I just knew it! He WAS lying!" she said excitedly. She quickly wrote down exactly what the book said, and put all the other books away, then headed for her class.
Not soon enough for Hermione, it was finally lunch time. She dashed towards the Great Hall, hoping that Ron hadn't come in from his class yet. Lucky for her, he hadn't, but James was already sitting down. She smiled happily. Things were going just as she planned.
"Hey James, can we have a talk? We could go eat lunch in my office," Hermione said, coming up to her fellow teacher. He looked unsure for a moment, but then consented. Together, the two made their way to Hermione's office, where she offered him a chair and some sandwiches she had conjured up, along with a jug of juice.
"Sorry to interrupt your lunch like this, but I really needed to talk with you. Now I know you said you hated to lie to people you considered friends. So I guess that must mean you don't consider me a friend," Hermione said. James looked like he was about to protest, but Hermione held up her hand. "No, you're going to listen to everything I have to say. I did some research over the week. First of all, I found out that there is no record whatsoever of an acceptance letter to James Turner at Hogwarts. I thought that was kind of odd, but then I thought that James might be your middle name. Unfortunately for you, though, there wasn't a record of any Turners at all in the Hogwarts acceptance records. But maybe you could have taken your mother's maiden name after you moved to America, so that could account for the lack of Turners. But then, I was doing some research in the library and I came across a book. A new book, no less. I have an excerpt of it here. 'Not once, in the last one hundred years, has anyone ever turned down the chance to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' Now, I'm a thorough person, and I always check my sources. That book was completely accurate. So, James, if that is even your real name, what do you think of that?" Hermione said in somewhat of a rush. By the end of her mini-speech, her cheeks were flushed red. James, on the other hand, had gone very pale.
He gulped silently for a minute as Hermione sat waiting for a reply. He cleared his throat, then cleared it again, trying to think of something to say. "Hermione, I have never doubted your claim of being a thorough person. Ever since the first day I met you, I can remember you were a thorough person. If I do recall, you once searched the entire Hogwarts Express to locate a missing toad," James said, somewhat quietly. Now it was Hermione's turn to go pale. Her eyes grew large in disbelief and her mouth hung open.
"But, how... I mean.. oh god," she managed to stutter out. Her hand went up to her mouth and she looked like she was about to pass out.
"Hermione, are you okay?" James asked, getting up and going to her side. She rolled backward in her chair a bit, just out of James' reach. She seemed almost afraid of him, like he might burn her or something. She finally found her voice.
"Harry?" she squeaked out. "Is it really you? Oh god... it really IS you! I mean, how? After all these years?" Hermione was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Hermione, you have to promise me. Don't tell anyone it's me. Please, Hermione. Ginny's the only other person who knows. Please don't tell Ron. I'm not ready. Heck, I was barely ready to tell Ginny, and it's a miracle I've gone this long without you finding out, but Hermione, you can't tell him. He wouldn't understand. Please, Hermione," Harry begged. Her eyes were still wide.
"But, I don't understand. Your eyes, and your scar. I mean, how?" Hermione seemed almost unable to put an entire sentence together. Harry smiled a little.
"Muggles are smarter than we give them credit for. My eyes were easy to hide. Colored contacts. My scar, well, that took some money. Over in America though, people get cosmetic surgery every day. One quick operation, no more scar," Harry said. Hermione still seemed to be in shock. "Are you okay Hermione? Really? I think Ron would kill me if he found out I was talking to you. He seems ready to kill me about Ginny," Harry said. Hermione finally was able to smile a little.
"Oh Harry. It's been too long! You've missed so much! You missed our wedding, and Ginny's, and Sirius is Minister of Magic now, and I have a son. Oh, Harry, why did you go?" Hermione said, tears starting to come down her cheeks.
"Oh no, don't cry Hermione. Please don't cry. I don't know why I left. I don't know why. Just please don't cry Hermione," Harry pleaded with Hermione. She wiped away the tears on her face, but they just kept coming.
"How can I not cry Harry? I just found out my best friend wasn't dead after all. We spent ten years thinking you were dead, but no, you were living the high life in America, not caring the least bit about how we might feel," Hermione was saying angrily through her tears.
"You're wrong, Hermione. I wasn't living the 'high life' in America. And I did care about what you might feel. I spent months not being able to sleep at night, wondering what you guys were going through. I knew what I did was wrong, but I couldn't come back. I just couldn't. I saw the news. Everyone thought I was dead. Maybe I was just selfish for not coming back. I didn't want to ruin my reputation. But maybe there was more to it. I didn't want to hurt you guys. Ever since I first met you guys, I've always gotten you in the way of danger. I couldn't stand it any more. I didn't want anyone else to die because of me," Harry said, somewhat angrily. Hermione's expression softened slightly.
"Harry, it was never your fault. No one died because of you. And we chose to be your friends. You couldn't have kept us from going with you all those times. We put ourselves in danger. You didn't put us there. But I have to agree with you about your being selfish. You could have written us, told us somehow, some way, that you weren't really dead," Hermione chastised. Harry hung his head down for a moment, then lifted it to lock eyes with Hermione.
"Hermione, you can't tell him though. You have to promise me you won't tell Ron!" Harry asked. Hermione's eyes had gone wide once again, and Harry got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Tell me what, James?" came Ron's voice from behind him. He didn't dare turn around. "Or should I say, Harry?"
***
A/N: Ooooh!!!!! I am SO evil!!!! Isn't that just an awesome place to end????????? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hehehe... I'll post this in a couple of days... I want to get chapter 8 up, then wait a few days... hehehe..... and who KNOWS how long chapter 10 will take???? I wonder where this will be going........ Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!
A/N 2: Living testament! My sister just called me evil like six times in a row!!! Hahaha!! Thanks again to Sarah for getting up out of her bed and missing two whole minutes of the basketball game (Go UConn Women Huskies!!!) to read this!!!!