Sorry I forgot the whole disclaimer/summary thing on that first bit. So here it is, all in one fell swoop. Basic disclaimer applies, as always: Characters & other recognizable devices belong to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Bros., etc. No copyright infringement is intended, no remuneration is received, etc. And I'm not writing that again! Please review
It was early in the morning, and the two were picking their way through the produce and crafts of the floating market. Hermione nearly fell in the river. "What!" she exclaimed.
"You can just Apparate, can't you?" Ana repeated. Hermione just stared, open-mouthed, in total astonishment. Ana shrugged. "Well, it's not like you have to buy a plane ticket, Nee. Even if the British Apparation test was the hardest in the world, you'd pass it. So you have no reason not to go back to Hogwarts for the will and everything."
"You – you know...how did you—" Hermione spluttered, glaring at her friend. "Who are you?"
Ana took a deep breath, then asked, "Tao rai? How much?" of the woman selling handwoven baskets to the foreign women. As always, Ana bartered for a fair price as easily as a native Thai. After three years, it was still a pleasure to see surprise and grudging respect register in the sellers' eyes once they realized Ana and Hermione spoke and understood the language as well as any Thai person.
Hermione stood impatiently by until Ana had her baskets in hand and asked, "Well?"
"Do you really think they would let you disappear off the face of the earth, just because you couldn't handle what had happened?" Ana asked. "Albus Dumbledore cared for more than just Harry Potter's safety, Nee. When you exchanged your gold for baht at Gringott's, a network went into effect." Hermione almost fell once again as her flatmate used terms one after another that Hermione'd always believed were peculiar to the wizarding world. "Maybe we should move away from the river first. Let's get an iced tea." She steered Hermione away from the market and to a riverside café that was just opening. "Or would you prefer something stronger?"
Hermione just sat, speechless, and waited for Ana to explain.
"My aunt works for Gringott's. She heard about your transaction and contacted me. It really was perfect timing. I wanted to stay in Bangkok and needed new digs; you needed a flatmate. I was just relieved you seemed normal, not a big-headed celebrity, 'I-Saved-the-Wizarding-World' type." Hermione gasped and looked angry. Ana held up her hand. "I said you're not like that, Nee. Listen. Anyway, since we seemed to get along, I promised my aunt I'd keep her apprised, and she could do whatever she needed to do with that information.
"They just wanted to make sure you were safe and not self-destructive, you know. Lots of magical folk go through a sort of test period where we don't use magic. Especially if they're like us and come from Muggle stock." Hermione blinked. She was past simply speechless and had fallen into silent shock. "So Mom made sure a couple of people knew," Ana continued. "Minerva McGonagall and some guy – Snake? Snap? Well anyway, him. She made sure they knew you were okay, and if they needed to contact you, they were to go through her, which would then, of course, go through me. They agreed to say nothing to anyone about where you went, so that you really could disappear for awhile.
"Only now..." She took a sip of her tea and surveyed her friend of the past three years. "Only now they've broken the rules. It must be important, then. Who died, Nee? Who sent you that letter?"
Sweat glistened on Hermione's skin as she contemplated her answer. The sun was already beating down, threatening to burn her from golden tan to lobster red. She could feel her perennially bushy hair fight for freedom from the many pins that kept it tame and off her neck. A slight breeze floated off the river. She could smell the pungent scent of hot and sour soup nearby, combined with the smell of refuse wafting up from the Chao Phraya river. The din of high speed water taxi motors clanged in her ears. She sipped her drink and savoured the too-sweet taste of tea with condensed milk and taro balls. She stared back at her friend, and all her anger drained away.
It wasn't Ana's fault. Not really. Hermione's own logic had been her undoing. It made sense, after all, to start over with enough money to buy essential things like dinner, and a place to sleep. And if she was going to take some money, it had seemed logical to take it all. She should have done it in London, though. Changed her Galleons to pounds sterling and taken only non-magical money with her.
Of course, then they would have simply traced her wand. She knew the Ministry of Magic would have done it, even in its post-war state of constant muddle. She should have known. Ana was right – Dumbledore had security around more than just Harry. There had never been any real chance of her disappearing. Luna Lovegood, maybe. Seamus Finnegan, probably. But Hermione Granger? One third of the Holy Wizarding Trinity? Never.
In characteristically lifeless tones, Hermione told Ana the facts in the letter, answered whatever questions Ana had, and discussed travel options. Ana promised not to breathe a word, even to her mother, until after Hermione'd gone.
Hermione didn't know how much faith she should put in the word of a person who had been lying to her for the past three years, but she had little choice. She didn't want to arrive to a welcoming committee. Not for Professor McGonagall's last will and testament. Though it was a bit late to care. It didn't matter if Ana alerted the Daily Prophet, Witches Weekly, the Quibbler, and every other magical news outlet between here and Greenland. McGonagall was dead, and Hermione Granger was about to make her official re-entrance into the wizarding world.
She didn't want to be here. After years of sunshine and steaming days, Scotland in the dead of winter was a horror. Add to that the fact that she was about to face every memory she had worked so hard to suppress, and Hermione wished she'd never opened that damned letter. She didn't want to be here!