Chapter 4: Good Evening Professor Granger.

Archie stepped into Albus' office. He looked around and saw that the room hadn't changed one bit since he had left 8 years ago. He saw a baby Fawkes in a bed of his own ash and Archie greeted the new born.  The circular room still had all the portraits, gadgets and books by its walls.

"Would you like some tea?" Albus asked as he sat down, indicating that Archie should sit down also.

"Yes please. Haven't had the stuff in ages." Archie replied. A tray of tea and biscuits appeared on the desk before them. Albus poured out tea for both of them. He then waited for Archie to speak. And he did, for hours on end. And the news was not pleasant. It was very grim as the death toll seemed to be increasing in European countries. The worst thing being, that the people murdered were people with useful information, and Voldemort seemed to be making it very clear that no one else would find out what he had found out from them. Albus sat, contemplating about what to do next. He looked up.

"Would you be willing to share this information with the Order?" Albus asked. Archie frowned.

"I'm not too sure. The Order is already on overdrive here. That fool of a minister can't handle the situation right now. The Order pays for his mistakes, which are pretty major ones. I don't think it will be capable of handling both of our situations." Archie replied truthfully.

"You may be right. But I still think the Order should be informed of this. Many of the countries you have mentioned are closely linked with our own. And it wouldn't have to everyone in the Order. Only a select few that often have to go abroad for Order purposes." Albus said to him. Archie still frowned.

"I will not force you tell of course. You do what you think is best." Albus said finally. "And a word of what we have spoken of will not leave this room. I will burn my beard before I say a word of this to any other person save you." Archie smiled up at the elderly wizard.

"So, where is Cuthbert nowadays? I haven't seen him in a long time. He isn't avoiding me now is he?" Archie asked with some mischief in his eyes. Albus laughed.

"You may not believe me, but he has taken a liking to the Weasley's. But he'll never admit it." Archie's jaw dropped. He then grinned evilly.

"Oh, this is too good." He said rubbing his hands.

"But Cuthbert is currently on his way to Hogwarts as we speak. Having no where to stay for Christmas is depressing."

"Does Hermione work here? She seems to be lingering around Hogsmeade a lot."

"Miss Granger is our Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. If you have read the revised edition of Hogwarts: A History you will have seen her mentioned there." He confirmed with an amused twinkle in his eye. However a shadow of sadness swept him.

"Will you come out of your shell to more than just Sirius, Remus and myself?" Dumbledore suddenly asked. Archie looked up at the old headmaster. He wasn't precisely sure. If he came and left with no questions asked, there would be inconvenience. For both himself and his friends. But his friends really had a right to know what happened to him, even if that meant a lot of anger. And one thing was for sure, they would try to stop him going away. Or, if they couldn't stop him, go with him. And Harry never wanted that to happen.

"I really don't know Albus." Archie replied truthfully. The older man smiled.

"Well, it is really up to you. I'm sure you'll make the right decision when the time comes." There was a bit of a silence afterwards.

"So, I hear a new flavour has been added to Berty Botts Every Flavour Beans!"

The men continued talking idly, just like the old days. It was nice to be able to have a conversation with someone who you knew wasn't going to kill you the next minute, and who already knew exactly who you were. Finally, a knock was heard on the door, and it opened to reveal a tiny house elf.

"Excuse me sir, but Guest of Master's bedroom is ready sir." The tiny female house elf squeaked.

"Splendid. Archie, if you will follow Grippy she will lead you to your room."

"Thank you Albus." Archie replied. Albus walked them to the door. But he stopped Archie for a second.

"A meeting will be held the day after tomorrow with the Order on the 3rd floor at 9pm. You are more than welcome to attend." Dumbledore said before he left. Archie nodded and started to follow the little house elf.

As they walked to the room he couldn't help but notice some similarities in this elf and Dobby. The way she waked and wore her tea cosy. It was scarily familiar. But after a long silence and 4 floors above Dumbledore's Office, they reached a tapestry of a dragon, which went from the ceiling to the floor.

"Poppycock!" the little house elf squeaked. The tapestry flung to the side to reveal a wall which moulded into an archway.

The archway led to a fairly large dome shaped room. It was a very modest type of living room. Red in colour with candles flickering, giving it an orange glow. It had a simple fireplace, a few couches, a fairly large sofa, a desk and bookshelf. One corridor left the room, with a small flight of stairs, and Grippy led him over there, and opened one of three doors.

Archie's room consisted of a four-poster bed, a large circular window, a desk, a trunk and a door that led to a shared bathroom. It laws painted a deep red, and looked very homey.

"This is your room Master Hemming. I is sorry that I could not get you your own room, but all the other rooms is for other guests arriving, and some rooms disappear from castle every half hour." The House elf squeaked up at him.

"Thank you Grippy. But, who am I sharing this room with?" Archie asked politely.

"Professor Granger, sir. If you need Grippy's help, just whistle." Grippy replied squeakily and took off after that.

Archie stood by the door way. He didn't have the heart to ask to change rooms. But he wanted to spend time away from his friends. Because he would either let something slip and end up telling them everything about him or he'd cave in anyway and tell them everything about him. 'Great!' he thought as he collapsed onto his bed. At this rate, it seemed inevitable that he'd be spilling the beans, about everything.   

***

Hermione was more than a little annoyed. She had lost the privacy of her own room to a strange man who smelled a little and had been watching her in The Three Broomsticks. It was just a tad distressing. Who was he? Where did he come from? What was he doing here? Hermione shook her head, and tried to continue reading her book. But even the book couldn't drag her out of reality, so she slammed it shut it annoyance. She strived to do something.

Maybe visit Hagrid: no, he was away running an errand for Dumbledore.

Get something to eat: she wasn't to hungry.

Mark some papers: she had done them all a week ago.

Wrap some presents: they had been wrapped and ready by the end of November!

Visit Dobby: He was on his vacation right now.

Write some letters to the Weasley's: they were coming over tomorrow, so there really was no point.

Write a letter to Draco: he was always disappearing off somewhere and he seemed really busy at the moment.

Hermione sighed and headed up to her room; she could at least try and get to know the stranger known only as Archibald Hemming. She headed through many flights of stairs and finally found the familiar tapestry. Uttering the password, she entered the room and placed her book back in her bookshelf. He didn't seem to be there yet, and so she collapsed onto the sofa. She muttered an incantation under her breath and soon, relaxing music filled the room. She closed her eyes, and relaxed. It was because of this that she never head the light footsteps coming down the stairs.

Archie saw Hermione lying on the sofa, eyes closed and her foot bouncing to the beat of the music filled room. A smile broke on his face. He hadn't seen his friend relaxed like this in a long time. It was as if they were 15 again and Hermione was in the common room, listening to the music that only she could hear. She had turned to music as relaxation, because the exams were stressful. He and Ron would often see her bopping around the common room when she thought no one was there. It was quite funny actually, and they had done some impressions of her. She had only laughed and proclaimed that she was and always would be a bad dancer.

Archie was overcome with a desire to tell Hermione everything and go back to the old days. It would have been ideal. A Christmas reunion at Hogwarts. But right now, he couldn't let that happen. But he couldn't resist the urge to talk to her again.

He cleared his throat politely. She snapped straight back up and the music came to a sudden stop. Her cheeks tinged a little in embarrassment.

"Good Evening, Professor Granger."

***

A/N: Hi everybody! I'm having fun writing this and I hope you all like it too. So, Archie and Hermione sharing a room. God only knows what that'll lead to…well, that's al lie, I also know what will happen! So, if you want to find out…please review!