Chapter 9: Observations of the Truth.
Archie's walls nearly shattered when he heard Ron say that. 'You're one of us now.' How long had it been since he had had a full family greeting? He had already considered Cuthbert as family, as a brother-in-arms, but now, he was getting greeted by the Weasley's all over again.
Archie grinned at Ron, who had on his navy Weasley jumper. It seemed like Mrs Weasley had ran out of maroon wool. He took off his cloak and pulled the deep red Weasley jumper over his mass of black hair. It was so cosy, something that he hadn't felt like in years. From the High table, the smell of Christmas dinner wafted through the hall, and everyone turned to see all their Christmas favourites ready for the eating. They all headed up to the table, some stomachs rumbling at the mouth watering delights that lay before them.
Archie and Cuthbert walked slowly behind their friends.
"So, will Ron and Hermione get a little Christmas gift today?" Cuthbert asked while they walked up. Archie could've moaned at his friend's persistence.
"Maybe."
"Maybe? What about definitely? You've been given the jumper; you should at least have the courtesy to tell them the truth after that!" Archie looked down at the floor.
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, they have to find out soon; otherwise I'll tell them come New Year's Eve." Cuthbert said warningly.
"Great, I've got a time limit." Archie groaned.
"Yes, you do. It's already wearing thin." Cuthbert said as he took a seat next to Ron. Archie sat next to him, and Ginny. Once seated, they looked around the table. Some people were missing.
"Where's Hermione?" George asked, noticing the empty seat.
"She's either in the toilet, off to get Professor Dumbledore, or in the kitchen's thanking the elves." Fred muttered. They both started laughing a little.
***
Hermione washed her face again and looked up at the mirror scolding. 'You didn't see it.' She thought angrily to herself. She felt like gouging her eyes out. 'It was probably the light.' She said, and once again rinsed the perspiration off her face. Scrubbing at it until it was red all over. She took one glance at the mirror and muttered 'great.' She took the towel and tried off her face. She looked at herself, in the mirror; she had blotches of redness all over her face. She growled and threw the towel on the ground.
She hadn't had a hallucination like that in a long time.
When Harry had left, she started to see people like him everywhere, until she had actually believed he was here, but ignoring her. It didn't help that she hadn't eaten a lot. It was thought that her not eating helped provoke these.
Hermione glared at her reflection in the mirror. Angry at herself. When Archie had put on his Weasley jumper, she had not seen that familiar scar.
Assuring herself of that, she headed back to the Great Hall, the smell of Christmas Dinner wafting through the corridors. She smiled apologetically for keeping everyone from their meals. Dumbledore was already seated, and smiled as she sat down. He saw her face was a bit red, not from the embarrassment, and chuckled. Whenever she thought she saw something, she always scrubbed at her face.
Everyone tucked into their meals, enjoying the delicious food offered to them. But Hermione found that she couldn't enjoy her food as much as those around her. Her eyes would always surreptitiously scan Archie's forehead, but it was always covered in a mass of black hair. She scolded herself again for looking again and went back to her food. But every time she lifted her eyes, they could scan Archie's forehead over and over again. If Archie noticed it, he didn't mention it.
Hermione then started to make little observations about him. His eyes were hidden behind square glasses. You couldn't really make out their colours. It looked like dull grey from where she was sitting. He had a beard, not a big bushy one like Hagrid, but it was a beard nonetheless. His seemed to get along with everyone around him, talking to the Weasley's like old friends, and he seemed to take a liking to Draco too. That caught her as odd. The Malfoy name was known to be a dark Wizard's name; wouldn't he seem a little more suspicious around Draco? After all, only those very close to Draco knew he was in fact very innocent. Had he confronted Draco before? Hermione shook her head and popped a sprout into her mouth. When she looked up, she received a worried look from Ron.
'Can we talk in private later?'
'Sure.'
Their own silent language. It was always easy to communicate like that without anyone knowing what they were saying.
***
Hermione and Ron sat down up in her chambers. Hermione poured him some green tea and they both sat in silence for a while.
"Archibald Hemming?" Ron asked all of a sudden. Hermione nodded her head and turned to face him.
"Don't you find him a little suspicious?" She asked.
"Everyone seems suspicious in our world now 'mione. But Albus seems to trust him, so I guess we can trust him too." Ron said. Hermione nodded and took a sip of her green tea.
"Ron?" She asked, "do you see, certain…certain similarities between, him and…and Harry?" Ron remained silent for a while, as if contemplating it for the first time. Hermione looked expectantly at him. Ron looked up.
"I guess so. They kind of have the same hairdo, apart Archie's is a lot messier. And…I guess he kind of talks like Harry does…or use to…"Ron finished.
"He gets on with all of us, even Draco. I'm sure a lot of strangers wouldn't automatically accept Draco as much as we would." Hermione continued taking another sip of green tea.
"Yes, but I'm sure Albus probably told him all about Draco. When we first arrived at Hogwarts yesterday, Archie was talking to Draco outside. They probably sorted out differences then." Ron said figuratively clutching on his cup.
"I guess…guess you're right. There's no way Archibald Hemming could have been Harry," Hermione said, trying to say that more to herself than to Ron.
"Are you really that sure Hermione?" said a voice from the tunnel entrance of the door.
Both Hermione and Ron snapped their attention to the tunnel entrance. Emerging from the shadows was Archie and Draco. They both looked towards Ron and Hermione with asking expressions.
"What?" Ron asked, brow furrowed. Archie smiled at the two.
"There's more to me than what meets the eye."
***
A/N: YAY! Another chapter! I feel proud! As soon as I got up this morning, I wrote this, and I'm quite happy with the way they turned out. YEAH! I'm so happy that I managed to get this done! WOOO!
Gary Skinner: I was planning to let the cat out of the bag sooner or later. I'm sorry all the names confused you, but I guess you'll have to get used to Harry and Draco's alter egos! They'll be popping up again for sure! And I'm going to make sure to go read all your stuff! J
