Love is Worth Forgiving For

Chapter Three: Find Some Peace Tonight

I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memory seeps from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight

- Sarah Mclachlan – Angel

Everyone considered Emma Trieper as a bit of an oddity. She was a girl in her mid twenties that just didn't seem to want to get along with the people residing in the small town of Whippletree, on the outskirts of London. She, along with the majority of the small town, worked in one of the quaint office buildings in the center of town. Emma was a secretary to a small time lawyer, a dull job that fit her dull personality. The residents of the small town tried to talk to her; they really did, but their efforts where fruitless. Yes, there was something definitely strange about Emma Trieper.

Some of the more gossipy women thought Emma was not right in the head, which could almost be true; Emma had a habit of talking to herself under stress, and read almost manically. But other, more sympathetic people believed she was just a lonely girl, and that was a tragic thing, to be so young and so completely alone.

It wasn't that Emma wasn't pretty. Everyone was convinced that if she wanted to, she could turn the head of any of the eligible men in town. Emma was one of those old fashioned beauties. She had long, dark ringlets of hair that simply flowed around her when she walked, and her hair shown like it was made of pure silk. She had a petite body, no more than 5'4 with heels on. Her eyes where a startling color of gold and chocolate and sparkled when she laughed, however rare that was. Only a small handful of people seen her eyes in their finest. Her lips where full and red and her smile could really make a person look twice. Yes, Emma was a beauty alright.

Either way, she lived a quiet like. A life of solitude. She couldn't say she liked it, nor could she say she hated it. Emma Trieper simply existed. That is, until one day.

Emma got a letter in the most peculiar manner. Around two o'clock in the afternoon Emma was startled from her afternoon tea and book when a large white owl, speckled with grey and copper, appeared in her kitchen window.

The owl merely hooted and stuck its leg out. Emma let out a small gasp when she saw the green ink and waxy seal, it was an emblem she recognized from another lifetime ago.

"Stay here," She commanded the owl, and it just hooted contently and perched itself on top of a kitchen cabinet. Emma then sat back down and with shaking hands she unsealed the wax emblem and opened the envelope. She forgot to keep breathing as soon as she read the greeting.

Miss Granger,

I do hope this letter finds you well, or, more preferably, I do hope this letter find you. I realize you have made the decision to make Hogwarts a part of your past, but please consider my offer: Professor Minerva McGonagall has decided it is time for her to step down. Her sister has taken ill and she feels she must be with her. I am writing in hopes you would consider becoming the new transfiguration teacher, as well as the head of the Gryffindor house. I do know you are more then capable for this position, despite your time away. If you accept this offer, you shall be welcomed to join a staff that you will be very familiar with. I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours in faith,

Professor Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Hermione was shocked. In the few moments it took her to read the letter, Emma Triepen, muggle secretary to a muggle law firm had become Hermione Granger, top of her year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and one of the most extraordinary witches of her time.

Hermione took out a bit of notebook paper and a pen. She suddenly decided at that point she wanted desperately what she had lost so long ago- happiness, she wanted to surround herself with books and learning and magic, to breathe it all in again and live the way she was born to live- as a witch. She wrote back to the headmaster:

Professor,

Your letter found me, yes; you never cease to amaze me. I have decided to accept your kind offer and will gladly join the Hogwarts staff. I have always wanted to teach. I shall arrive at the school on August 30th, just in time for the new semester. It appears I have some shopping to do. Thank you, I believe this is just what I needed.

Love from,

Hermione Granger

Hermione took the letter down to the waiting school owl, her hand still shaking slightly. Was this really happening? Was she really returning to the place her life was made-and ruined? The memories she had been suppressing for eleven years came flooding back like dam broken in her mind. Her night with Draco, she had never felt so loved, so safe. After giving him everything he took it away with a few choice words. Hermione still dreamt about that first and last meeting with Lucius Malfoy and the fallout after. What hurt the most, however, was the betrayal of her friends. Friends forever. Hermione thought. Friends forever is a terrible lie.

She was sobbing now, her body convulsing with each ragged breath. She couldn't help the eleven years of suppressed emotion that was flowing freely through her eyes. Hermione had always prided herself on being a level headed person. She was not the sort of girl to fall to pieces and sod over ancient history.

She wondered if Harry and Ron even thought of her anymore. They still had each other, and their new wives, probably children, no need for their old friend. She had always been the third wheel, the one they copied homework from. Then she disgraced them, hurt them horribly.

Hermione then looked down at her hand at the ring that resided there. The ring coiled once around her right ring finger and was shaped like a rather royal looking snake. Her snake had ruby eyes and emeralds that lined its back, wrapping completely around her slender finger. She remembered the day Draco had given it to her and showed her the one he got for himself. His was just like hers; only his had emerald eyes and a ruby back. He told her he loved her then, but she supposed when you have the money like the Malfoys do you could afford to give these kinds of gifts to all the girls you slept with.

And yet somehow she couldn't bring herself to take it off. It had not left her finger since the day he gave it to her, even after everything that transpired in the last decade. It had become a part of her. Hermione choked out another sob. She deserved being abandoned, and she should have known better then to trust a Malfoy.

Later that night the clock struck midnight and Hermione was still wide awake. She was so nervous she couldn't think straight, let alone sleep. Giving up she got out of her bed and was about to go prepare a cup of tea when she stopped in front of her closet. From inside she pulled out a small cast iron safe, no bigger than a large shoe box. It was very heavy, but Hermione placed it carefully on the floor and knelt beside it and stared at the dark grey box. Finally she started fiddling with the lock and looked almost startled as it clicked open. Shaking just as she did when she wrote the letter, she opened the door and pulled out a very plain wooded box. She stared at the box for a long time before sliding the rough wood cover off and pulled out a wispy looking stick. She felt a tingle go up through her fingers and spread through her entire body, as it had been eleven years since she had last touched her wand.

"Ten and three fourths inches," whispered, "Dragon heartstring, vine wood, rather bendy. Good for charms and….transfiguration." Hermione shivered involuntarily. She had to get a grip on herself. It was mid August. In a few weeks she would be returning to the place she had tried so hard to forget about. But how can you forget Hogwarts? It could possibly be the hardest thing to forget. The portraits moved, and you could have conversations with them about nearly anything, the suite of armor would follow you just because they were bored, the staircases moved, and you could be going one way and end up in a completely different place.

Hogwarts was a part of her, a part of who she is. Who she was. She faced her greatest trials there and accomplished so much. She longed to practice once more. "Wingardium leviosa." Hermione whispered with a flick of her wrist and pointing her wand at the heavy safe. Before her eyes the safe lifted off the floor as if all the gravity has been removed from the room. Hermione smiled in spite of herself as he raised the safe higher, one foot…three feet…7 feet off the ground, the slowly brought it back down. She sighed happily, she still had it.

Then Hermione attempted something she knew was stupid to try after being out of practice for so long- she turned herself into a black panther. She was astonished she could still do it, and quickly turned herself back, but not before looking in the mirror at how she looked. A true panther stared back at her, but instead of the normal yellow/green eyes of a regular cat, Hermione kept her true color, the golden brown that shimmered when she moved. Back in the form of a woman she set her wand on her bedside table.

Tomorrow she was going back to Diagon Ally.