Second Chance
There was a garbage woman that worked in the Ministry. Her nametag had a majority of letters peeled off of it. Her name tag simply read:
Hello, my Name is ne G
Everyone called her Neg. Neg didn't have any relations that the Ministry knew of. They said she had showed up out of no where and asked for a job. They knew she was a witch, but that was about all they knew. She'd just walk in and out of the offices, picking up wastebaskets. Everyone knew her name, partly because her past was shrouded in mystery and partly because she was the janitor, also. Whenever coffee spilled on a newspaper, they'd simply "Call Neg". Neg would then come and flick her old wand and whisp away the mess.
No other wizard that worked in the Ministry could lift stains like Neg. It was obvious that she'd been a very bright Witch before she became a janitor, but she refused to talk more then necessary, only saying things like "Excuse me" when necessary.
Neg's uniform consisted of a dark blue jumpsuit and a hat. Her jumpsuit simply said "Janitor". Her hat was too big, either that or her head was to small. Neg would wear the hat over her hair, which was stuffed up into the hat. Her face was concealed by her hat and her constantly downward tilting face.
~-~-~-~
"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Aurors." Harry said, reading the plaque on the door of their office. He opened the door and closed it again, to look at the plaque.
"Honestly, Harry!" Ron laughed, pushing him inside the room. "It's been five years and you still enjoy doing that!"
"It's a nice plaque, Ron." Harry said.
"Right. So, did you find that Cate girl?"
"Yeah. Turns out she was accidently affected by a memory charm and wandered off into an orphanage. Incredible!" Harry said, laughing.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were different kind of Aurors. They found missing witches and wizards. For example, if someone just disappeared, they would be called and go out and find them. It was simple enough, and the money was good. They got to travel the world, looking for missing people.
But, there was a greater reason that both of them had gone into the occupation. Years ago, right after Seventh Year, a friend of there's had disappeared. Since she didn't have any living family recorded, they couldn't file a disappearance.
"She just disappeared." Ron said, one day, looking at a photograph that they was taken when they were in First Year. "Where do you think she is, Harry?"
"Probably dead." Harry said, opening a drawer.
"She is not!" Ron said angrily.
"Ron, you ask that every day. It's been years, and if she wanted to be found, then she would've been." Harry said shrugging.
"But, we never--I mean, we never apologized. We never told her we were sorry about, you know, Seventh Year."
"Yes, we did."
"But she didn't really forgive us. I mean, we did crush her dreams."
"Ron!" Harry said, slamming the drawer shut. "I miss her as much as you and I feel like a heartless git as well! I just don't want to talk about her and remind myself of it, okay?"
"It's all our fault." Ron mumbled.
Harry looked at his friend curiously. "Ron, answer me honestly. I want you to be completely honest."
"Fine." Ron said, putting down the photo. "I did eat your lunch last week."
"What?" Harry said. "No, that's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"When we were in school, did you, you know, have feelings for Hermione?"
Ron's ears turned a brilliant red and he turned away from Harry. "I had a wife." He mumbled.
"Yes, but you didn't stay with her for more then three months! She said you were distracted, that you didn't love her for real. She said it was another girl that you were in love with!"
"She was insane!" Ron said, standing up.
"She was not! You loved Hermione!" Harry yelled.
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
The door opened and the two stopped arguing immediatly. Neg came wandering in, pushing her garbage can. She left her garbage can by the door and picked up the wastebasket in the office. She emptied it's contents into the larger garbage can and put the wastebasket back down.
"Don't you every knock?" Ron asked her coldly.
"We were kind of in the middle of something." Harry said.
"My apologies." She said softly, walking out of the room.
Ron sank down in his chair, sighing.
"Awfully stupid, isn't she?" Ron asked.
"You never know with those quiet ones. They could be planning the next great war. That's the way Tom Riddle was."
"Ha! Like a garbage woman would someone important!" Ron laughed. "All hail the mighty trash woman!"
Harry laughed slightly. "How do you suppose she got a job like that?"
"Well, Harry, she was probably a bum on the street who happened to wander into the Ministry one day."
"Think she's a lost person?"
"Not likely." Ron scoffed.
"Anything's possible." Harry said, shrugging.
~-~-~-
Neg was a simple girl. She lived in the Leaky Cauldron, the new owner, Seamus Finnigan, seemed to have known her and let her stay in the back room. She payed him rent, of course, but Finnigan refused to reveal her identity. He said he had a 'bloody good reason' for doing so.
Neg pushed the garbage pail up and down the Ministry all day, every day. Today, was no different. Arthur Weasley was one year away from retiring, and thus still worked at the Ministry. He often found it entertaining to talk to Neg, even though she'd only nod her head and listen politely.
"My son, Ron, works here too." He said one day. "He's a bright boy."
Neg nodded politely.
"You know there was a girl that he really loved during Seventh Year and--hey! Where are you going, Neg?"
"My apologies, sir." She mumbled, shuffling out of the cubicle faster then usual.
"Odd girl..." Mr. Weasley mumbled. "Awfully sweet, though."
~-~-~-
It was four in the morning. Neg walked into the hallway with her mop. Magical cleaning was not permitted in the Ministry, except for the tiny spills that Neg managed to get away with. They feared that it would cause a distrubance in the system. So, Neg was forced to clean the Muggle way, with a mop and water.
She moved the mop back and forth, occasionly picking up pieces of trash that had fell on the floor. She hummed a strange little tune under her breath.
"Weasley is our King..." She sang softly. "That's why Gryffindor's all sing, Weasley is our King."
Neg smiled at her mop oddly. She laughed slightly and bowed to it, and then propped it on the wall.
"Go to the ball with you? Of course!" She said, bowing again.
She took the broom and moved it in circles, and went circles around it. She still hummed her tune, but louder this time.
"My, your an excellent dancer."
~-~-~-~-
Harry and Ron walked into the Ministry together. They lived together, in an apartment. Ron found it fascinating to use the muggle form of transportation. But, Harry, by far preferred Aparation. So, they decided what mode of transportation they would take by rolling a dice. Harry had rolled a four and Ron had rolled a six.
"This is ridiculous, Ron. We have to leave two hours early just to get there in time." Harry said, rubbing his eyes. "I need sleep!"
"Oh, come on, Harry! Don't you find this interesting?" Ron said.
"I guess so..." Harry yawned.
They finally got there and entered through the employee entrance. It was still early, seeing as they had Apparated half way because a Muggle had seen Harry levitating a dog (Funny thing, a floating dog) and yelled "Magic of the Devil! Witch! Sorcerer!"
"What time is it?" Ron asked Harry.
"Only five." Harry said. "What are we going to do for an hour?"
Ron didn't respond, but stopped in his tracks gaping straight ahead of him. There was Neg, dancing with a--a mop, was it? She was humming loudly, almost singing, if she knew the words. Harry listened curiously to the tune. It sounded so familiar, almost like 'Weasley is Our King'.
"What is it, that she's singing?" Harry asked.
"You there!" Ron yelled to her. "Neg!"
Neg stopped dancing and dropped her mop abruptly. She looked embarassed for a minute. She wasn't wearing her hat. And then, Ron saw her face. Her face, that was usualy covered with darkness, had so many familiar features. But, he only saw it for a second, becaues Neg yanked her hat on and ran down the hall, dragging her trash can and her mop. She didn't have time to put her hair back into her cap, and a mass of mud-colored bushy hair floated behind her.
"Harry, did I--was that just--?"
"Was it what?"
It looked like Hermione, Ron thought. It looked so much like Hermione. Although he only saw her face for a second, it was enough.
~-~-~-~-
Neg walked into Ron and Harry's office, as usual. They weren't there, rather on a lunch break. They had locked the door, but that wasn't a problem. That was a perk of being a janitor, you had every key in the Ministry. Neg pulled out the ring of keys form her pocket and immediatly found the right one. She'd marked this key by coloring it blue.
"Open up, sweetheart." She whispered to the doorknob.
Although the office was fairly new, the door to it was extremely old. The office had been a supply closet before (a rather large one, at that!) and they had turned it into an office when new Aurors started to pour in. Neg sighed and rolled her trash can into the room.
The room was quiet, full of clatter. Weasley and Potter weren't very organized people. She picked up the wastebasket and dumped its few contents into her larger garbage pail. Sighing, she wandered around the office listlessly. The office weasn't very big, and the desk ran around the perimeter of the room. Potter cliamed one side, and Weasley the other. But in the middle, there was a shared space. Neg brushed her hand against some old textbooks that lay in the shared space.
There was a particular book that caught her eye. It looked familiar. She picked it up and opened it. Inside, in angelic handwriting were dates and words. Neg thought it was a journal of some sort, and then started to read.
'February 8th: 6th Year-- I (Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter) vow to always stay in contact with a bushy haired girl with a lot of books, a red headed person overly obsessed with Quidditch and the infamous boy who lived. I promise that, regardless of what the future may hold, I will stay true.'
Neg let her tear fall on the page, splotting a word or tue. She smiled and closed the book. She lay it down and started to walk out. Something caught her eye on the door. On the door, there were pictures of all the people they had found, and their families. Some of the pictures had things written on them like "Thank you!" or "We'll never forget your kindness!". But there was one, above the rest, just above the name plaque.
A bushy haired girl clutched her books and smiled sarcastically at her. Next to her stood a red headed boy. He wore Quidditch Robes and was taller then the girl. He had a dopey grin that was somewhat lopsided, but sweet all the same. On her other side, there was a boy with dark, messed up hair. He was wearing Quidditch Robes too and the Golden Snitch fluttered above his head.
Neg took the picture off of the door slowly. She took of her hat and with her grimy hands, she touched the girl's face.
~-~-~-
"We don't have an assignment right now." Ron said, looking through a file.
"We're on our lunch break. Could you save that for later? When we're in our office?" Harry said, rolling his yes.
"That's just it! The second we get in the office, we'll be assigned to find someone else!"
"Ron, that's what we do." Harry said.
"Exactly! I want to find Hermione!" Ron said.
"You know," Harry said, sighing. "I want to find her too. But, Ron, we've looked for five years. She disappeared without a trace."
"Ah! That's where your wrong!" Ron said. "She said that she'd wait table at the Leaky Cauldron, remember? So someone there must've seen her!"
"Ron, we've already talked to Seamus. He's said over and over that he never had a waitress named Hermione."
"He's lying!"
"Ron!" Harry said.
A sharp bell rang out through the building. Ron closed the file and sighed. He followed Harry out of the cafe and into the hallways, where paper airplanes flew left and right towards him. But, as a true Ministry worker, he learned how to avoid them. Well, rather not, because to avoid the flying memos, one must not move, but act as if they were not there.
"That's funny." Harry said, twisting the doorknob to their office.
"What is?" Ron asked.
"It's unlocked."
"Maybe Neg picked up the garbage." Ron said shrugging.
They opened the door and indeed found Neg. She looked up in surprise and threw on her hat, embarassed. She hastily handed the picture to Harry and started to leave, muttering "Sorry."
Ron grabbed her arm. And the minute he did, something rushed through him. Like a familiar emotion.
"Wait, you!" He said.
Neg waited, but didn't turn to face him. Ron took the picture from Harry's hands and put it in her face. He pointed to the girl in the middle, with the books.
"Do you know this girl?" He asked slowly.
Neg took the picture and studied it. A small smile crept across her face and she handed the picture back.
"Used to." She said, walking away.
Harry and Ron stepped back in surprise. She knew Hermione!
~-~-~-
Ron ran out of the room to follow her. Neg still walked calmly and slowly, hardly acknowleding his prescence.
"What do you mean you used to know her?"
"She was a nice girl." Neg mumbled.
"Yeah, she was." Ron said, sighing. He abruptly shook his head and regained his train of thought. "But, do you know where she is? Do you know what happened to her?"
"Yes." Neg said.
Ron's insides were about to burst. Five years at the Ministry and he had finally gotten his big break! He would finally find Hermione!
"What happened? Where is she now?" Ron asked earnestly.
Harry caught up with them, and was now walking next to Neg, on her other side.
"Can't say." She murmured.
"You have to!"
"Can't."
"Do you have idea how important this is, Neg?" Harry asked her. "We have to find her!"
"You won't." Neg scoffed, walking faster.
"Wait a minute." Ron said, grabbing her arm and yanking her towards him. "What do you mean? What's happened to her? Is she hurt?"
"No." Neg said. "Just gone."
"Gone?" Harry choked. "Is she--dead?"
"No."
"So she's still alive?" Ron's voice rising hopefully.
"Depends on how you define 'alive'." Neg said.
"Alive! You know, living, not dead, walking around?" Harry said.
"She can walk." Neg said.
"Is she hurt? Is she handicapped?" Ron asked.
"She's hurt." Neg answered.
"She is? Where is she? Maybe we can help her! Is she at St. Mungo's?"
Neg didn't answer, but walked away, pushing her trash can. A strand of bushy hair escaped from underneath her hat, trailing behind her as she walked.
"Think she's lying?" Ron asked Harry.
"No. I don't."
~-~-~-~
Ron sat in his chair, looking vacantly at a photograph. A bushy haired girl smiled at him as she clutched her books. Ron smiled back and touched her face gently. He sighed and put the picture back into his pocket.
"Where are you, 'Mione?"
"Excuse me."
Ron turned around and saw Neg standing there, clutching her hat, her bushy hair falling to her elbows. Her dirty face was tear streaked and she smiled broadly as she looked at him.
"N-neg." He stuttered.
"Hermione, she was a beautiful person." Neg, said softly. "She really loved you and Harry."
"I know." Ron said awkwardly. He stood up and took Neg by her shoulders and stared straight into her eyes. "You have to tell me where she is! I have to know!"
Neg didn't answer, just stared back at him. Ron immediatly let go of her shoulders and stepped back. Her face, her eyes, her smile. It was all familiar. And then, the memories kept rushing back. So many years ago, when playing a jumbo game of Wizard's Chess during First year, attempting to stop Snape from stealing the Stone, her face was dirty. It was dirty from the crumbling marble around her. And he saw her face again.
"Y-your Hermione!" He whispered in disbelief.
"No." Neg said quietly. "Hermione is gone."
She started to run down the hall, and Ron came to himself and started to follow her, only to find that she had gone.
She was gone.
~-~-~-
"Harry!" Ron said, finding him in the lunch room. "Harry, quit eating!"
"I'm sorry, Ron. As a human being, I think I have to eat." Harry said. "Besides, I'm not that fat. I don't need a diet."
"That's not what I meant!" Ron said earnestly.
"Then what did you mean?"
"I found Hermione! I found her!"
"You did!" Harry put down his sandwhich and stood up. "Where? Where is she!"
"Neg! Neg is Hermione!"
"Neg?" Harry asked, stiffling back a laugh.
"It's true!"
"But, Ron, what are the odds of Hermione Granger, Valedictorian of Hogwarts, becoming a Garbage Woman at the Ministry?" Harry asked, laughing.
"She said, she threw away all of her N.E.W.T's." Ron said, distantly. "She said she didn't have any money."
"Ron..."
"Oh, you can just sit here and eat your bloody sandwhich. I'm going to go get her!"
"Ron, Neg is not Hermione."
"I don't care! If I don't find out if she is or not, I'll spend the rest of my life wondering!"
"But--"
Ron apparated out of the room.
~-~-~-~-
Ron walked out of the Ministry onto the London sidewalk. It was late, almost two in the morning. He looked around frantically. The rain kept coming down, not that he noticed it. Not that he cared about it. And then he saw a girl, dressed in a jumpsuit, her hair straight because of the rain.
"Hermione!" He yelled.
~-~-~-
Neg stood outside of the ministry, soaking up the rain. She started to cry, remembering so many years ago, that she was betrayed, and abandoned and seeked comfort in the rain. She remembered wanting to be cleansed. She rubbed her hands over her face and took of the dirt. Faintly, she heard someone yell something.
"Hermione!"
That name, at that name, a million memories came back, flooding her mind, invading her soul. She stood up, knowing where the voice came from.
A red headed man stood in the rain, looking at her. His red hair was plastered to his head by the water and he was smiling a dopey grin. A really dopey grin.
~-~-~-
Ron saw her. It was Hermione. She had been so close all his life, but he had never reached for her until it was too late.
No more, he thought. I'm done.
Hermione walked slowly towards him. Feeling like she was walking down that aisle at Hogwarts again, but this time, there was something waiting her at the end of her walk.
She stood in front of Ron, smiling. He looked down at her in disbelief. A million emotions came back, and rained down them with every drop of water that fell from the sky. Hermione jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, almost knocking him over.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ron yelled, embracing her.
And they stood there, in the rain, embracing, reuniting and living. And every tear that both had cried for each other became one with the rain. They merged with the weather and emotions.
Hermione looked to the sky and blinked back the tears.
It was worth it, after all.
There was a garbage woman that worked in the Ministry. Her nametag had a majority of letters peeled off of it. Her name tag simply read:
Hello, my Name is ne G
Everyone called her Neg. Neg didn't have any relations that the Ministry knew of. They said she had showed up out of no where and asked for a job. They knew she was a witch, but that was about all they knew. She'd just walk in and out of the offices, picking up wastebaskets. Everyone knew her name, partly because her past was shrouded in mystery and partly because she was the janitor, also. Whenever coffee spilled on a newspaper, they'd simply "Call Neg". Neg would then come and flick her old wand and whisp away the mess.
No other wizard that worked in the Ministry could lift stains like Neg. It was obvious that she'd been a very bright Witch before she became a janitor, but she refused to talk more then necessary, only saying things like "Excuse me" when necessary.
Neg's uniform consisted of a dark blue jumpsuit and a hat. Her jumpsuit simply said "Janitor". Her hat was too big, either that or her head was to small. Neg would wear the hat over her hair, which was stuffed up into the hat. Her face was concealed by her hat and her constantly downward tilting face.
~-~-~-~
"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Aurors." Harry said, reading the plaque on the door of their office. He opened the door and closed it again, to look at the plaque.
"Honestly, Harry!" Ron laughed, pushing him inside the room. "It's been five years and you still enjoy doing that!"
"It's a nice plaque, Ron." Harry said.
"Right. So, did you find that Cate girl?"
"Yeah. Turns out she was accidently affected by a memory charm and wandered off into an orphanage. Incredible!" Harry said, laughing.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were different kind of Aurors. They found missing witches and wizards. For example, if someone just disappeared, they would be called and go out and find them. It was simple enough, and the money was good. They got to travel the world, looking for missing people.
But, there was a greater reason that both of them had gone into the occupation. Years ago, right after Seventh Year, a friend of there's had disappeared. Since she didn't have any living family recorded, they couldn't file a disappearance.
"She just disappeared." Ron said, one day, looking at a photograph that they was taken when they were in First Year. "Where do you think she is, Harry?"
"Probably dead." Harry said, opening a drawer.
"She is not!" Ron said angrily.
"Ron, you ask that every day. It's been years, and if she wanted to be found, then she would've been." Harry said shrugging.
"But, we never--I mean, we never apologized. We never told her we were sorry about, you know, Seventh Year."
"Yes, we did."
"But she didn't really forgive us. I mean, we did crush her dreams."
"Ron!" Harry said, slamming the drawer shut. "I miss her as much as you and I feel like a heartless git as well! I just don't want to talk about her and remind myself of it, okay?"
"It's all our fault." Ron mumbled.
Harry looked at his friend curiously. "Ron, answer me honestly. I want you to be completely honest."
"Fine." Ron said, putting down the photo. "I did eat your lunch last week."
"What?" Harry said. "No, that's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"When we were in school, did you, you know, have feelings for Hermione?"
Ron's ears turned a brilliant red and he turned away from Harry. "I had a wife." He mumbled.
"Yes, but you didn't stay with her for more then three months! She said you were distracted, that you didn't love her for real. She said it was another girl that you were in love with!"
"She was insane!" Ron said, standing up.
"She was not! You loved Hermione!" Harry yelled.
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
The door opened and the two stopped arguing immediatly. Neg came wandering in, pushing her garbage can. She left her garbage can by the door and picked up the wastebasket in the office. She emptied it's contents into the larger garbage can and put the wastebasket back down.
"Don't you every knock?" Ron asked her coldly.
"We were kind of in the middle of something." Harry said.
"My apologies." She said softly, walking out of the room.
Ron sank down in his chair, sighing.
"Awfully stupid, isn't she?" Ron asked.
"You never know with those quiet ones. They could be planning the next great war. That's the way Tom Riddle was."
"Ha! Like a garbage woman would someone important!" Ron laughed. "All hail the mighty trash woman!"
Harry laughed slightly. "How do you suppose she got a job like that?"
"Well, Harry, she was probably a bum on the street who happened to wander into the Ministry one day."
"Think she's a lost person?"
"Not likely." Ron scoffed.
"Anything's possible." Harry said, shrugging.
~-~-~-
Neg was a simple girl. She lived in the Leaky Cauldron, the new owner, Seamus Finnigan, seemed to have known her and let her stay in the back room. She payed him rent, of course, but Finnigan refused to reveal her identity. He said he had a 'bloody good reason' for doing so.
Neg pushed the garbage pail up and down the Ministry all day, every day. Today, was no different. Arthur Weasley was one year away from retiring, and thus still worked at the Ministry. He often found it entertaining to talk to Neg, even though she'd only nod her head and listen politely.
"My son, Ron, works here too." He said one day. "He's a bright boy."
Neg nodded politely.
"You know there was a girl that he really loved during Seventh Year and--hey! Where are you going, Neg?"
"My apologies, sir." She mumbled, shuffling out of the cubicle faster then usual.
"Odd girl..." Mr. Weasley mumbled. "Awfully sweet, though."
~-~-~-
It was four in the morning. Neg walked into the hallway with her mop. Magical cleaning was not permitted in the Ministry, except for the tiny spills that Neg managed to get away with. They feared that it would cause a distrubance in the system. So, Neg was forced to clean the Muggle way, with a mop and water.
She moved the mop back and forth, occasionly picking up pieces of trash that had fell on the floor. She hummed a strange little tune under her breath.
"Weasley is our King..." She sang softly. "That's why Gryffindor's all sing, Weasley is our King."
Neg smiled at her mop oddly. She laughed slightly and bowed to it, and then propped it on the wall.
"Go to the ball with you? Of course!" She said, bowing again.
She took the broom and moved it in circles, and went circles around it. She still hummed her tune, but louder this time.
"My, your an excellent dancer."
~-~-~-~-
Harry and Ron walked into the Ministry together. They lived together, in an apartment. Ron found it fascinating to use the muggle form of transportation. But, Harry, by far preferred Aparation. So, they decided what mode of transportation they would take by rolling a dice. Harry had rolled a four and Ron had rolled a six.
"This is ridiculous, Ron. We have to leave two hours early just to get there in time." Harry said, rubbing his eyes. "I need sleep!"
"Oh, come on, Harry! Don't you find this interesting?" Ron said.
"I guess so..." Harry yawned.
They finally got there and entered through the employee entrance. It was still early, seeing as they had Apparated half way because a Muggle had seen Harry levitating a dog (Funny thing, a floating dog) and yelled "Magic of the Devil! Witch! Sorcerer!"
"What time is it?" Ron asked Harry.
"Only five." Harry said. "What are we going to do for an hour?"
Ron didn't respond, but stopped in his tracks gaping straight ahead of him. There was Neg, dancing with a--a mop, was it? She was humming loudly, almost singing, if she knew the words. Harry listened curiously to the tune. It sounded so familiar, almost like 'Weasley is Our King'.
"What is it, that she's singing?" Harry asked.
"You there!" Ron yelled to her. "Neg!"
Neg stopped dancing and dropped her mop abruptly. She looked embarassed for a minute. She wasn't wearing her hat. And then, Ron saw her face. Her face, that was usualy covered with darkness, had so many familiar features. But, he only saw it for a second, becaues Neg yanked her hat on and ran down the hall, dragging her trash can and her mop. She didn't have time to put her hair back into her cap, and a mass of mud-colored bushy hair floated behind her.
"Harry, did I--was that just--?"
"Was it what?"
It looked like Hermione, Ron thought. It looked so much like Hermione. Although he only saw her face for a second, it was enough.
~-~-~-~-
Neg walked into Ron and Harry's office, as usual. They weren't there, rather on a lunch break. They had locked the door, but that wasn't a problem. That was a perk of being a janitor, you had every key in the Ministry. Neg pulled out the ring of keys form her pocket and immediatly found the right one. She'd marked this key by coloring it blue.
"Open up, sweetheart." She whispered to the doorknob.
Although the office was fairly new, the door to it was extremely old. The office had been a supply closet before (a rather large one, at that!) and they had turned it into an office when new Aurors started to pour in. Neg sighed and rolled her trash can into the room.
The room was quiet, full of clatter. Weasley and Potter weren't very organized people. She picked up the wastebasket and dumped its few contents into her larger garbage pail. Sighing, she wandered around the office listlessly. The office weasn't very big, and the desk ran around the perimeter of the room. Potter cliamed one side, and Weasley the other. But in the middle, there was a shared space. Neg brushed her hand against some old textbooks that lay in the shared space.
There was a particular book that caught her eye. It looked familiar. She picked it up and opened it. Inside, in angelic handwriting were dates and words. Neg thought it was a journal of some sort, and then started to read.
'February 8th: 6th Year-- I (Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter) vow to always stay in contact with a bushy haired girl with a lot of books, a red headed person overly obsessed with Quidditch and the infamous boy who lived. I promise that, regardless of what the future may hold, I will stay true.'
Neg let her tear fall on the page, splotting a word or tue. She smiled and closed the book. She lay it down and started to walk out. Something caught her eye on the door. On the door, there were pictures of all the people they had found, and their families. Some of the pictures had things written on them like "Thank you!" or "We'll never forget your kindness!". But there was one, above the rest, just above the name plaque.
A bushy haired girl clutched her books and smiled sarcastically at her. Next to her stood a red headed boy. He wore Quidditch Robes and was taller then the girl. He had a dopey grin that was somewhat lopsided, but sweet all the same. On her other side, there was a boy with dark, messed up hair. He was wearing Quidditch Robes too and the Golden Snitch fluttered above his head.
Neg took the picture off of the door slowly. She took of her hat and with her grimy hands, she touched the girl's face.
~-~-~-
"We don't have an assignment right now." Ron said, looking through a file.
"We're on our lunch break. Could you save that for later? When we're in our office?" Harry said, rolling his yes.
"That's just it! The second we get in the office, we'll be assigned to find someone else!"
"Ron, that's what we do." Harry said.
"Exactly! I want to find Hermione!" Ron said.
"You know," Harry said, sighing. "I want to find her too. But, Ron, we've looked for five years. She disappeared without a trace."
"Ah! That's where your wrong!" Ron said. "She said that she'd wait table at the Leaky Cauldron, remember? So someone there must've seen her!"
"Ron, we've already talked to Seamus. He's said over and over that he never had a waitress named Hermione."
"He's lying!"
"Ron!" Harry said.
A sharp bell rang out through the building. Ron closed the file and sighed. He followed Harry out of the cafe and into the hallways, where paper airplanes flew left and right towards him. But, as a true Ministry worker, he learned how to avoid them. Well, rather not, because to avoid the flying memos, one must not move, but act as if they were not there.
"That's funny." Harry said, twisting the doorknob to their office.
"What is?" Ron asked.
"It's unlocked."
"Maybe Neg picked up the garbage." Ron said shrugging.
They opened the door and indeed found Neg. She looked up in surprise and threw on her hat, embarassed. She hastily handed the picture to Harry and started to leave, muttering "Sorry."
Ron grabbed her arm. And the minute he did, something rushed through him. Like a familiar emotion.
"Wait, you!" He said.
Neg waited, but didn't turn to face him. Ron took the picture from Harry's hands and put it in her face. He pointed to the girl in the middle, with the books.
"Do you know this girl?" He asked slowly.
Neg took the picture and studied it. A small smile crept across her face and she handed the picture back.
"Used to." She said, walking away.
Harry and Ron stepped back in surprise. She knew Hermione!
~-~-~-
Ron ran out of the room to follow her. Neg still walked calmly and slowly, hardly acknowleding his prescence.
"What do you mean you used to know her?"
"She was a nice girl." Neg mumbled.
"Yeah, she was." Ron said, sighing. He abruptly shook his head and regained his train of thought. "But, do you know where she is? Do you know what happened to her?"
"Yes." Neg said.
Ron's insides were about to burst. Five years at the Ministry and he had finally gotten his big break! He would finally find Hermione!
"What happened? Where is she now?" Ron asked earnestly.
Harry caught up with them, and was now walking next to Neg, on her other side.
"Can't say." She murmured.
"You have to!"
"Can't."
"Do you have idea how important this is, Neg?" Harry asked her. "We have to find her!"
"You won't." Neg scoffed, walking faster.
"Wait a minute." Ron said, grabbing her arm and yanking her towards him. "What do you mean? What's happened to her? Is she hurt?"
"No." Neg said. "Just gone."
"Gone?" Harry choked. "Is she--dead?"
"No."
"So she's still alive?" Ron's voice rising hopefully.
"Depends on how you define 'alive'." Neg said.
"Alive! You know, living, not dead, walking around?" Harry said.
"She can walk." Neg said.
"Is she hurt? Is she handicapped?" Ron asked.
"She's hurt." Neg answered.
"She is? Where is she? Maybe we can help her! Is she at St. Mungo's?"
Neg didn't answer, but walked away, pushing her trash can. A strand of bushy hair escaped from underneath her hat, trailing behind her as she walked.
"Think she's lying?" Ron asked Harry.
"No. I don't."
~-~-~-~
Ron sat in his chair, looking vacantly at a photograph. A bushy haired girl smiled at him as she clutched her books. Ron smiled back and touched her face gently. He sighed and put the picture back into his pocket.
"Where are you, 'Mione?"
"Excuse me."
Ron turned around and saw Neg standing there, clutching her hat, her bushy hair falling to her elbows. Her dirty face was tear streaked and she smiled broadly as she looked at him.
"N-neg." He stuttered.
"Hermione, she was a beautiful person." Neg, said softly. "She really loved you and Harry."
"I know." Ron said awkwardly. He stood up and took Neg by her shoulders and stared straight into her eyes. "You have to tell me where she is! I have to know!"
Neg didn't answer, just stared back at him. Ron immediatly let go of her shoulders and stepped back. Her face, her eyes, her smile. It was all familiar. And then, the memories kept rushing back. So many years ago, when playing a jumbo game of Wizard's Chess during First year, attempting to stop Snape from stealing the Stone, her face was dirty. It was dirty from the crumbling marble around her. And he saw her face again.
"Y-your Hermione!" He whispered in disbelief.
"No." Neg said quietly. "Hermione is gone."
She started to run down the hall, and Ron came to himself and started to follow her, only to find that she had gone.
She was gone.
~-~-~-
"Harry!" Ron said, finding him in the lunch room. "Harry, quit eating!"
"I'm sorry, Ron. As a human being, I think I have to eat." Harry said. "Besides, I'm not that fat. I don't need a diet."
"That's not what I meant!" Ron said earnestly.
"Then what did you mean?"
"I found Hermione! I found her!"
"You did!" Harry put down his sandwhich and stood up. "Where? Where is she!"
"Neg! Neg is Hermione!"
"Neg?" Harry asked, stiffling back a laugh.
"It's true!"
"But, Ron, what are the odds of Hermione Granger, Valedictorian of Hogwarts, becoming a Garbage Woman at the Ministry?" Harry asked, laughing.
"She said, she threw away all of her N.E.W.T's." Ron said, distantly. "She said she didn't have any money."
"Ron..."
"Oh, you can just sit here and eat your bloody sandwhich. I'm going to go get her!"
"Ron, Neg is not Hermione."
"I don't care! If I don't find out if she is or not, I'll spend the rest of my life wondering!"
"But--"
Ron apparated out of the room.
~-~-~-~-
Ron walked out of the Ministry onto the London sidewalk. It was late, almost two in the morning. He looked around frantically. The rain kept coming down, not that he noticed it. Not that he cared about it. And then he saw a girl, dressed in a jumpsuit, her hair straight because of the rain.
"Hermione!" He yelled.
~-~-~-
Neg stood outside of the ministry, soaking up the rain. She started to cry, remembering so many years ago, that she was betrayed, and abandoned and seeked comfort in the rain. She remembered wanting to be cleansed. She rubbed her hands over her face and took of the dirt. Faintly, she heard someone yell something.
"Hermione!"
That name, at that name, a million memories came back, flooding her mind, invading her soul. She stood up, knowing where the voice came from.
A red headed man stood in the rain, looking at her. His red hair was plastered to his head by the water and he was smiling a dopey grin. A really dopey grin.
~-~-~-
Ron saw her. It was Hermione. She had been so close all his life, but he had never reached for her until it was too late.
No more, he thought. I'm done.
Hermione walked slowly towards him. Feeling like she was walking down that aisle at Hogwarts again, but this time, there was something waiting her at the end of her walk.
She stood in front of Ron, smiling. He looked down at her in disbelief. A million emotions came back, and rained down them with every drop of water that fell from the sky. Hermione jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, almost knocking him over.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ron yelled, embracing her.
And they stood there, in the rain, embracing, reuniting and living. And every tear that both had cried for each other became one with the rain. They merged with the weather and emotions.
Hermione looked to the sky and blinked back the tears.
It was worth it, after all.