AN: Here I am to save the daaaaaaaaayyyyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !!!! Well, actually, I'm just here to update, but that's not the point! Oh, wait, yes it is! Now, the results of my lovely poll:
Keep writing dates: 1
Write one or two more dates, then skip 3 months: 10
Skip 3 months now: the number is so high I didn't even bother counting, but its well over 50 . . .
So, judging by the poll results, I think the answer is obvious . . . I am going to skip ahead three months. BUT, I'm going to write one or two more chapters before I do. Several reviewers were saying that it's all just fluff and nothing but, and that I need to create a problem for Hermione. So, that's what this lovely chapter is. And of course, Hermione will be having flashbacks once I DO skip ahead. So, enough chit-chat and on with the chappie!
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Slowly, blearily, Jim opened his eyes.
"What? Where am I? How . . ." he mumbled to himself. He then realized that he was sitting on the floor, and that he was extremely hungry and thirsty. He got up and made his way to the kitchen, wondering why he had fallen asleep in the middle of the hallway. He then realized it was oddly quiet. There was no one else in the house. Hermione wouldn't be asleep; it was the middle of the day. And if she had been there, she would have tended to him, not left him asleep in the middle of the hallway
"Hermione! Emily! Where are you?" he called, forgetting his hunger for a moment and searching the house. When he found no one there, he wondered where they were. Where did they go? What made them leave? Why? All of a sudden, and image burst into his brain, and he watched as if someone had pasted it like a film clip over his eyes.
"James David Jenkins! Why are you doing this? Why are you acting like this? Why-"
SLAP!
"Let me finish."
SLAP! Harder this time . . . Hermione falls over . . .
"What has gotten into you?" she screams at him.
Horrified, Jim listened to his own voice explaining everything he had done to Hermione, watched her face become more and more scared. . .
Hermione gets up and runs to the baby room, I follow, then she points a thin piece of wood at me . . . sparks . . .
"What's that?!"
"Oh, this?" More sparks . . . "Just a wand, nothing out of the ordinary. . ."
"That – that can't be a wand; it's just a piece of wood!"
"If it's just a piece of wood, how could I do this?"
"Do what?"
"This. STUPEFY!" Red light, then dark . . . lots of dark . . .
Jim snapped out of the memory. How could he have done such a thing to the only woman he loved? He hadn't had sex with her simply to ruin her; he did it because he loved her! He had been horrified when he found out that she was pregnant! He was distraught when her parents kicked her out! He would have never dreamed of hitting her! How could this have happened? She must have run away with Emily, his little angel, thinking he was an evil madman . . . . But what about the wand? Was this just a dream? Or did she really have a wand? Could she do magic? Was she, his precious Hermione, a witch? Now feeling rather sick instead of hungry, he decided to walk outside and get the mail. What day was it, anyway? How long had he been unconscious? He opened the door and walked down to the end of the driveway and opened the mailbox. At least a weeks worth of mail was jammed in there. He got it all out and started sorting through it once he was back in the kitchen. When he got about halfway through the endless pile, his heart sank lower than low. There, in a crisp, manila envelope, were several papers.
Papers that Hermione had sent to him, filing for divorce.
0o0
Hermione woke the day after the Hogwarts reunion feeling happier than she had in a while. Last night, just last night, Draco had told her that he loved her, and he had kissed her . . . and she had kissed back . . . She looked over at her alarm clock and it read 8:05. Wow. She still had nearly two hours before she had to leave for work. She got out of bed, brushed her hair, and got dressed, thinking all the while. She would have to get a place to live; she couldn't stay in the Leaky Cauldron forever. But where? She had only seen two wizard houses before, the Burrow and Sirius's house. The Burrow was a work of art, she thought, and she couldn't possibly reproduce it, and why would she want to live in a huge manor like the Black house? It was just her and Emily, after all. When she finished with her hair and had gotten dressed, she bent down next to Emily's carrier. She kissed Emily softly on the forehead, and she stirred and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw her mommy standing there.
"Good morning, sweetie," said Hermione, lifting Emily out of her carrier. "Are you ready for breakfast?" Hermione asked her, tickling her tummy. Emily giggled in reply, so Hermione got out a bottle from Emily's bag, and went downstairs to the bar.
"Good morning, Hermione!" said Tom when he caught sight of her.
"Good morning. Tom, can I have some milk for Emily please?" she asked him, sitting down at the bar and handing him Emily's bottle.
"Well, certainly," he said, disappearing into the back and reappearing a second later with Emily's bottle full of warm milk.
"Thank you," she said, placing the top of the bottle in Emily's mouth.
"Anything for yourself?" he asked her.
"Well, I suppose I could do with some scrambled eggs and toast," said Hermione.
"Coming right up!" he said, and disappeared again. He returned a few minutes later just as Emily was finishing her bottle.
"Thanks very much, Tom. I'll be right back, I'm just going to go bring Emily's carrier down here," she said, as she got up from the bar and carried Emily upstairs, placed her gently in her carrier, and brought her back downstairs in it. As she started to eat, the door of the Leaky Cauldron opened and Ron walked in.
"Hello, 'Mione," he said as he joined her at the bar.
"Morning, Ron. Long time no see!" she said.
"Yeah, 12 hours seems like an eternity, doesn't it?" he said, as Tom walked over to him,
"Anything for you, Mr. Weasley?"
"No thanks, I've already eaten," he replied. "So, Hermione, have you figured out a place to live other than here?" he asked her.
"No, not yet, I was just thinking about it this morning, though. I came up empty as usual," she said, taking a bite of toast. "If worse comes to worse, I'll just live in that apartment complex Harry's living in."
"Speaking of Harry, I haven't seen him since we surprised him with the fact that I did exist, why don't we go see him today?" suggested Ron.
"I suppose we could go during my lunch break," said Hermione.
"Good idea. I'll meet you here around 12:30, then?" he asked.
"All right. Do you want me to ask Ginny if she wants to come? She'll be here baby-sitting Emily, after all," said Hermione.
"Sure, why not? I'm sure she'd like a chance to visit Harry," said Ron with a wink.
"Ron, you know that Ginny gave up on Harry years ago!" said Hermione with a laugh.
"I know, but it's a good joke, right?" said Ron.
"Well, I suppose. Just don't say it around her."
0o0
Jim stared at the divorce papers in his hand, as if willing them to change. Finally, he saw the name and phone number for the lawyer that Hermione had used, and called it. A female voice answered.
"Hello, Courtland Law Services, how may I help you?"
"Yeah, can I speak with Katrina Galard?"
"Speaking," said the woman.
"Yes, could you tell me how to get into contact with Hermione Jenkins?" he asked.
"What is her maiden name?"
"Granger."
"Please hold." The 'hold music' came on just then for about 30 seconds until Katrina returned.
"I'm sorry, but the only way she can be contacted is confidential information."
"But I need to talk to her! This is important!"
"May I ask your name, sir?"
"James Jenkins, I'm her husband."
"Mr. Jenkins, Hermione has requested that I not give her means of contact to you especially. And from what she's told me about you, I don't blame her."
"But, Ms. Galard, you don't understand! And frankly, neither do I. I just woke up from being unconscious for a week and a half, and I had remembered what I had done to Hermione. I would never do such a thing. The memory came as a real shock. It was almost like someone was controlling me to do those things to her," he finished, although he knew Katrina wouldn't believe him. However, she didn't say anything for several seconds.
"Mr. Jenkins, I need to talk to you directly. I will be arriving shortly at your home," she said finally.
"But--" he couldn't finish, because he then heard the unmistakable click that told him Katrina had hung up. A few seconds later, she was knocking on the front door.
"What in the world--?" he said as he opened the door to find her standing there, holding a briefcase.
"No time to explain, Mr. Jenkins, now, please, we need to talk," she said.
"Uh, sure, right this way," he said, leading her into the kitchen.
"Mr. Jenkins, I am going to be point blank with you. Wizards and witches do exist, and most of them are not evil and Satanic, like you were raised to believe. Your wife, Hermione, is a witch, and she used magic to escape from you on Tuesday, December 2. From what you have told me, I have reason to believe that, for the past three months, since your first anniversary, you have been controlled with the Imperious Curse, which allows the witch or wizard performing it to make the person under that curse do what they want them to do, without their knowledge. Now, I am going to give you a truth potion. It is harmless and tasteless. All it will do is make you answer truthfully to all the questions I am about to ask you.
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AN: Ohhhhhh, now what will Hermione do? Will Jim be allowed to contact her? Will he believe this "lawyer"? Is this "lawyer" actually a witch? Find out next chapter! Now, I'm not setting a review goal this time, because I seem to get reviews just fine without them.
Keep writing dates: 1
Write one or two more dates, then skip 3 months: 10
Skip 3 months now: the number is so high I didn't even bother counting, but its well over 50 . . .
So, judging by the poll results, I think the answer is obvious . . . I am going to skip ahead three months. BUT, I'm going to write one or two more chapters before I do. Several reviewers were saying that it's all just fluff and nothing but, and that I need to create a problem for Hermione. So, that's what this lovely chapter is. And of course, Hermione will be having flashbacks once I DO skip ahead. So, enough chit-chat and on with the chappie!
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Slowly, blearily, Jim opened his eyes.
"What? Where am I? How . . ." he mumbled to himself. He then realized that he was sitting on the floor, and that he was extremely hungry and thirsty. He got up and made his way to the kitchen, wondering why he had fallen asleep in the middle of the hallway. He then realized it was oddly quiet. There was no one else in the house. Hermione wouldn't be asleep; it was the middle of the day. And if she had been there, she would have tended to him, not left him asleep in the middle of the hallway
"Hermione! Emily! Where are you?" he called, forgetting his hunger for a moment and searching the house. When he found no one there, he wondered where they were. Where did they go? What made them leave? Why? All of a sudden, and image burst into his brain, and he watched as if someone had pasted it like a film clip over his eyes.
"James David Jenkins! Why are you doing this? Why are you acting like this? Why-"
SLAP!
"Let me finish."
SLAP! Harder this time . . . Hermione falls over . . .
"What has gotten into you?" she screams at him.
Horrified, Jim listened to his own voice explaining everything he had done to Hermione, watched her face become more and more scared. . .
Hermione gets up and runs to the baby room, I follow, then she points a thin piece of wood at me . . . sparks . . .
"What's that?!"
"Oh, this?" More sparks . . . "Just a wand, nothing out of the ordinary. . ."
"That – that can't be a wand; it's just a piece of wood!"
"If it's just a piece of wood, how could I do this?"
"Do what?"
"This. STUPEFY!" Red light, then dark . . . lots of dark . . .
Jim snapped out of the memory. How could he have done such a thing to the only woman he loved? He hadn't had sex with her simply to ruin her; he did it because he loved her! He had been horrified when he found out that she was pregnant! He was distraught when her parents kicked her out! He would have never dreamed of hitting her! How could this have happened? She must have run away with Emily, his little angel, thinking he was an evil madman . . . . But what about the wand? Was this just a dream? Or did she really have a wand? Could she do magic? Was she, his precious Hermione, a witch? Now feeling rather sick instead of hungry, he decided to walk outside and get the mail. What day was it, anyway? How long had he been unconscious? He opened the door and walked down to the end of the driveway and opened the mailbox. At least a weeks worth of mail was jammed in there. He got it all out and started sorting through it once he was back in the kitchen. When he got about halfway through the endless pile, his heart sank lower than low. There, in a crisp, manila envelope, were several papers.
Papers that Hermione had sent to him, filing for divorce.
0o0
Hermione woke the day after the Hogwarts reunion feeling happier than she had in a while. Last night, just last night, Draco had told her that he loved her, and he had kissed her . . . and she had kissed back . . . She looked over at her alarm clock and it read 8:05. Wow. She still had nearly two hours before she had to leave for work. She got out of bed, brushed her hair, and got dressed, thinking all the while. She would have to get a place to live; she couldn't stay in the Leaky Cauldron forever. But where? She had only seen two wizard houses before, the Burrow and Sirius's house. The Burrow was a work of art, she thought, and she couldn't possibly reproduce it, and why would she want to live in a huge manor like the Black house? It was just her and Emily, after all. When she finished with her hair and had gotten dressed, she bent down next to Emily's carrier. She kissed Emily softly on the forehead, and she stirred and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw her mommy standing there.
"Good morning, sweetie," said Hermione, lifting Emily out of her carrier. "Are you ready for breakfast?" Hermione asked her, tickling her tummy. Emily giggled in reply, so Hermione got out a bottle from Emily's bag, and went downstairs to the bar.
"Good morning, Hermione!" said Tom when he caught sight of her.
"Good morning. Tom, can I have some milk for Emily please?" she asked him, sitting down at the bar and handing him Emily's bottle.
"Well, certainly," he said, disappearing into the back and reappearing a second later with Emily's bottle full of warm milk.
"Thank you," she said, placing the top of the bottle in Emily's mouth.
"Anything for yourself?" he asked her.
"Well, I suppose I could do with some scrambled eggs and toast," said Hermione.
"Coming right up!" he said, and disappeared again. He returned a few minutes later just as Emily was finishing her bottle.
"Thanks very much, Tom. I'll be right back, I'm just going to go bring Emily's carrier down here," she said, as she got up from the bar and carried Emily upstairs, placed her gently in her carrier, and brought her back downstairs in it. As she started to eat, the door of the Leaky Cauldron opened and Ron walked in.
"Hello, 'Mione," he said as he joined her at the bar.
"Morning, Ron. Long time no see!" she said.
"Yeah, 12 hours seems like an eternity, doesn't it?" he said, as Tom walked over to him,
"Anything for you, Mr. Weasley?"
"No thanks, I've already eaten," he replied. "So, Hermione, have you figured out a place to live other than here?" he asked her.
"No, not yet, I was just thinking about it this morning, though. I came up empty as usual," she said, taking a bite of toast. "If worse comes to worse, I'll just live in that apartment complex Harry's living in."
"Speaking of Harry, I haven't seen him since we surprised him with the fact that I did exist, why don't we go see him today?" suggested Ron.
"I suppose we could go during my lunch break," said Hermione.
"Good idea. I'll meet you here around 12:30, then?" he asked.
"All right. Do you want me to ask Ginny if she wants to come? She'll be here baby-sitting Emily, after all," said Hermione.
"Sure, why not? I'm sure she'd like a chance to visit Harry," said Ron with a wink.
"Ron, you know that Ginny gave up on Harry years ago!" said Hermione with a laugh.
"I know, but it's a good joke, right?" said Ron.
"Well, I suppose. Just don't say it around her."
0o0
Jim stared at the divorce papers in his hand, as if willing them to change. Finally, he saw the name and phone number for the lawyer that Hermione had used, and called it. A female voice answered.
"Hello, Courtland Law Services, how may I help you?"
"Yeah, can I speak with Katrina Galard?"
"Speaking," said the woman.
"Yes, could you tell me how to get into contact with Hermione Jenkins?" he asked.
"What is her maiden name?"
"Granger."
"Please hold." The 'hold music' came on just then for about 30 seconds until Katrina returned.
"I'm sorry, but the only way she can be contacted is confidential information."
"But I need to talk to her! This is important!"
"May I ask your name, sir?"
"James Jenkins, I'm her husband."
"Mr. Jenkins, Hermione has requested that I not give her means of contact to you especially. And from what she's told me about you, I don't blame her."
"But, Ms. Galard, you don't understand! And frankly, neither do I. I just woke up from being unconscious for a week and a half, and I had remembered what I had done to Hermione. I would never do such a thing. The memory came as a real shock. It was almost like someone was controlling me to do those things to her," he finished, although he knew Katrina wouldn't believe him. However, she didn't say anything for several seconds.
"Mr. Jenkins, I need to talk to you directly. I will be arriving shortly at your home," she said finally.
"But--" he couldn't finish, because he then heard the unmistakable click that told him Katrina had hung up. A few seconds later, she was knocking on the front door.
"What in the world--?" he said as he opened the door to find her standing there, holding a briefcase.
"No time to explain, Mr. Jenkins, now, please, we need to talk," she said.
"Uh, sure, right this way," he said, leading her into the kitchen.
"Mr. Jenkins, I am going to be point blank with you. Wizards and witches do exist, and most of them are not evil and Satanic, like you were raised to believe. Your wife, Hermione, is a witch, and she used magic to escape from you on Tuesday, December 2. From what you have told me, I have reason to believe that, for the past three months, since your first anniversary, you have been controlled with the Imperious Curse, which allows the witch or wizard performing it to make the person under that curse do what they want them to do, without their knowledge. Now, I am going to give you a truth potion. It is harmless and tasteless. All it will do is make you answer truthfully to all the questions I am about to ask you.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
AN: Ohhhhhh, now what will Hermione do? Will Jim be allowed to contact her? Will he believe this "lawyer"? Is this "lawyer" actually a witch? Find out next chapter! Now, I'm not setting a review goal this time, because I seem to get reviews just fine without them.