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Chapter Four
Are You Alive?

Three nights later, Hermione had managed to forget the incident of the two men on the street by burying herself in work. She paced the platform in Edinburgh, waiting for the train back to London. She shivered, partly from the cold air, partly from nervous anticipation.

In the purse slung over her shoulder she carried a terribly incriminating message between the two gang leaders she was trying to take down. During the journey she would switch the message with an identical one, taking the original as evidence. It was a fairly simple operation on the surface, with any number of things that could go wrong. Hermione sighed as she boarded the train.

Her nerves proved to be unjustified, as she made the swap without a single problem. When the train arrived at Paddington Station, the original letter was safely on its way to Scotland Yard, while she delivered the copy to the henchman waiting on the platform.

She stepped off the train and hesitated for a second. Instead of the lackey she had been expecting, the Boss stood at the meeting place, flanked by two henchmen, reading a newspaper.

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Harry slung his broomstick over his shoulder and stepped off the train at Platform 5 at Paddington Station. The Firebolt was hidden inside a guitar case to keep the muggles from getting suspicious. He had to pay a visit to Diagon Alley while he was in London and get the Braking Charm updated. Harry was so preoccupied about Quidditch, that he almost didn't see her standing there.

He stopped and stared. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, but the woman was still standing there. There was no mistaking her. Hermione had just gotten off a train at the neighboring platform.

He dashed through the crowd without taking his eyes off her. He felt that if he looked away she would vanish like a ghost. She brushed back her unruly hair the way Hermione always did when she made up her mind. She had her bag slung across her shoulder and was about to walk off.

"Hermione, wait!"

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Hermione jumped, badly startled. She whirled around to stare at this man who had called her name. He pushed his way past the last commuter.

"God, Hermione." He grabbed her by the elbow, as if to assure himself that she was really there.

"Who-who are you?" She managed to choke out. Now it was his turn to be startled.

"You- you don't remember?" He said faintly. "Harry. Harry Potter. We went to Hogwarts together. Remember, Hermione?"

"I…" The black hair, glasses, green eyes. She did remember something. A flash of this man sitting at a table next her. There was a pot of something boiling over a fire. They were working on it. Then the memory was gone. As she tried to see it more clearly, but it slipped away, back into the mists of her mind.

"No." Hermione tried to say it firmly, but her voice wouldn't obey. Her next words quavered. "My name is Anne Hathaway." Harry stood stunned, unable to do more than stare at her quickly retreating back.

In her haste, Hermione rushed past her intended contact, much to his dismay. The contact followed her out of the station, only to find her slumped in the lee of a mailbox.

"What was that all about, dear Annika?" The Boss liked to affect a Russian accent, despite the fact he was from Chelsea. Hermione looked up sharply then scrambled to her feet.

"Uh, it was just-just…" Hermione shifted her weight and looked embarrassed; and the two henchmen glared at her while she tried to think of a plausible excuse. "Just my loser ex-boyfriend," she said finally, feeling slightly guilty for calling this Harry person a loser. "He can't take a hint." She shrugged her shoulders in what she hoped was a casual manner.

The Boss seemed satisfied with her explanation. "I believe you have a letter for me."


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.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.