Chapter 10: Alter Egos
"There's more to me than meets the eye."
Those words rang through Hermione's head, Archie could almost see the cogs turning in her head as she analysed the somewhat cryptic statement. Ron looked suspiciously at Archie, and a little bit to Draco, who had a neutral expression on his face, if anything; he looked like he wanted to stay out of the whole situation. He decided to take a sudden interest to the interior design of Hermione's chamber.
"So what are you saying then? That you're Harry?" Ron asked sarcastically, shaking his head.
There was a pregnant pause. Draco raising his head to see Archie's reaction. Ron disbelieving. Hermione looking at the only safe place to look at right now, the ground. The answer given wasn't anticipated by the two on the chairs.
"Yeah, pretty much."
Ron and Hermione's head snapped in his direction, eyes as wide as saucers. Draco gave a small smile, and continued to examine Hermione's chamber. Archie smiled at his two old friends and took off his glasses. Muttering a something under his breath, they morphed to the round black glasses that he wore as a student. When he put them back on again, Hermione gasped as his eyes once again shone the vibrant green she had been used to see. He then lifted up a huge mass of his black mop, revealing his forehead, and upon it was the infamous lightning shaped scar. No one could duplicate the extraordinary scar, Harry's scar had always been unique, it tilted at an angle, and the turns of the scar were sharp. A minute change in shade would make the scar look wrong. But the scar currently marring the forehead of Archibald Hemming was flawlessly Harry's.
There was no doubt, that beneath the shaggy black beard and mop of black hair, their old friend, Harry Potter stood.
Hermione stood up and walked cautiously to the man. Her eyes narrowed every now and then as she walked towards him. She slowly raised her slender left hand and relieved Archie from having to hold his messy fringe up. Harry's hair had always been messy, yet it looked so soft. Archie's hair felt a little bit rougher under her hands, thought that could have been due to amount of travelling he had done. She then looked more clearly at his scar, and gently traced it with her fingers, all the time gazing at it.
She dropped her gaze to his brilliant green eyes. They were the same shape, and all she saw when she looked into them was hope. Dropping her hand from his forehead, she stepped back, looking down at the ground.
All three men in the room looked at her expectantly.
"You better have a damn good reason for leaving Harry," she said glaring at him.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Ron exclaimed and shot off the couch beside Hermione. He stared incredulously and the man before him. His scrutinizing gaze was enough to make Harry feel a little nervous.
"Would it help if I shaved?" Harry asked feebly, as the tension was tight.
"It would help if we had a bloody explanation," Ron retorted. Harry sighed and nodded. He had expected his friends to be angry, they had every right to be.
***
All four of them were seated. Ron and Hermione on one side, and Harry and Draco on the other. Another round of tea had been made, and the two waited anxiously to hear of what had happened, and just how Draco had been involved in all of this. Two pairs of brown eyes looked on in anticipation at a pair of green and blue orbs. Harry spoke first.
"It all started at the end of the exams in 7th Year. I guess Professor Trelawney was becoming more of a seer, as anytime I saw her, she would have an actual prediction. –Hermione scoffed – And all her predictions were eerily similar to the nightmares I had before I saw her. I knew it was a bit of a long shot to believe her, but with my own dreams I couldn't ignore it." Harry started.
"Why didn't you tell us that? We're supposed to be your friends." Hermione started.
"I tried to but I couldn't. I couldn't trouble your last few days at Hogwarts with my burdens." Harry said simply looking directly at Hermione. She didn't seem too pleased with his answer, but let it pass.
"I really wasn't too sure what I'd be doing after the summer. And I knew that I would definitely not go back to the Dursley's. Sirius hadn't been pardoned of his charges yet, and I really had no clue what to do. I didn't want to impose on your families either." Harry said.
"You know mum would've loved to have you stay with us until you managed to find a place of your own." Ron commented.
"It's a little more complicated than that. My dreams held warnings to me, and I knew that if I had stayed near any of you two, you'd both be in great danger." Harry replied. He looked at the raised brow of his friends, and took it as a sign to continue.
"Albus noticed my concerns and sent me to his office. He managed to get me talking about my dreams; I was surprised to find out that he had been having images similar to mines." Harry paused, taking a sip of his tea.
"My dreams, Trelawney's predictions, his images, they were all extremely disturbing and we wanted to change the future which could possibly occur. You have to understand, that in these dreams, I was a danger to anyone around me. Albus could sense I was afraid of hurting everyone around me. He told me of warlocks to the East who could help me. Give me a higher education in not only magic, but defence. I had to earn their respect. I had to leave the life I led. Show that there was nothing holding me back from their teachings…I left the night afterwards." Harry said finally.
He looked up at them from his cup and saw a look of shock and sadness showing on their faces.
"Draco found himself in something of the same predicament." Harry stated and both Hermione and Ron turned to face the blonde man, waiting expectantly to carry on. Draco sighed, feeling a little frustrated, but started on his side of the events.
"Shortly after Harry left, much suspicion was put on my father and I. We had to undergo hours of interrogation, but we knew nothing of what happened to Harry. A few months later, the ministry found my father out as a Deatheater and he went into hiding. Nobody trusted me afterwards." Draco laughed a little bitterly, "Like father, like son. I hate that bloody term." He took a sip of his tea.
"Albus seemed to be the only one who believed I wasn't working for Voldemort and soon afterwards, I managed to become somewhat civil with you two. As weeks passed, Dumbledore also told me of the Eldar Warlocks, and that they had had a recommendation by an Archibald Hemming for me to join them." Both pairs of brown eyes swivelled to Harry.
"I was reluctant to join, as I worried about your well being. So I stayed a little longer, but Archie was ever persistent, and after you two managed to get yourselves remotely together, I left to join Harry in his training. However, I never really played by the Eldar Warlock rules, and frequently came back to check up on news and events here. Once you two had managed to start working, I started to work with Archie in Eastern Europe. I went under the alias, Cuthbert Farthing and we worked together, helping each other out. Until Voldemort attacked us." Draco spat the last part out. "And you heard what happened after than in the Order meeting."
Hermione and Ron nodded in understanding. Hermione put her now cold cup of tea on the table. Ron, just gulped the cold liquid down, and set his cup aside.
"Whoever writes both your biographies is going to be a bloody millionaire." Ron stated, his lips tugged upwards. Harry and Draco couldn't help but grin, Ron could always make the most tense of moments seem light-hearted.
"It's great that you told us." Ron said, "It's nice to know that you trust us, even if it did take your 8 years." Harry smiled, relieved that one of his best friends had taken it well. Hermione looked indifferent, and that worried Harry.
"I'm going to my room." She stated, and made her way across the chamber.
"Hermione…I-…" Harry started to follow, but Draco held him back shaking his head. Harry looked at him puzzled. They heard the click of Hermione's door.
"She'll come to you when she's ready." Draco said. Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged.
"Maybe her time of the month?" Ron tried to make Harry feel better.
But Harry couldn't help but feel a little upset, and worried. It seemed, that during these past 8 years, he had lost the connection to one of his best friends.
***
A/N: Whoa…you don't know how hard that chapter was to write! I tried to think up of different ways to approach the situation, but this is the only one I'm remotely happy with. Grrr…cliffhangers…I hate them, especially if it's my fic and I have no idea how to write the next part! If I know how to write the next part, then it's no problem. So anyways, explanations are all in this chapter. I hope you understood it! Anyways…what do you think will happen next? How's Hermione going to take this whole situation? What's Harry going to do about it? The only way you'll find out is if you read on…once I get the chapter up that is! Anyways…please do review!
