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Thank you for your reviews!

Taylor – I forgot to include that question and that it is Paree, not Paris! Silly me....

Ssh – How old are you? Six? You can't even spell "ridiculous" right.

Irma – I'm all right with the number of my reviews. I'm not as greedy as you are, ok?

Note: To avoid confusion, I will write down Jamie, Charles, Hermione and Harry's age here:

Jamie: 18
Charles: 12
Harry and Hermione: 25

Chapter 8: In the Theatre

Jamie came down to the dinning hall for breakfast the next morning and Charles wasn't there. Disappointed, he sat down beside Hermy slowly and sadly.

Hermy didn't know what to say. She decided to be silent and eat her own breakfast.

Jamie didn't eat much for breakfast. He went back to his room after his meal and sat on the bed, thinking of all sort of horrible that might happen to Charles.

Knock knock

"Who is it?" asked Jamie.

"The freckled boy." said a familiar voice from outside.

Jamie paused. That was the nickname he gave to Charles. Jamie leapt up from his bed and ran to get the door.

Charles was standing outside, his hair untidy, his face slightly dirtied, a tired look was on his face, but it was Charles all right.

Jamie stared at Charles for a while before he yelled, "Where the bloody hell have you been?!"

Charles could barely open his mouth before Jamie yelled again, "Do you know how long I have been waiting for you last night, eh? I was so worried about you that I didn't sleep at all, do you know that? Hermy, Mr Weasley and I even searched high and low for you when you are gone!"

"I, I was chasing a dog with a French girl. When we caught it, I didn't know the way back here, so I tried to ask a few directions, got lost quite a number of times and finally found my way here." said Charles quietly.

"Chasing." said Jamie.

Charles nodded.

"After a dog."

Charles nodded again.

"With a French girl."

Came another nod.

Jamie looked at him for a while. Charles seemed to telling the truth, with his untidy appearance as evidence.

"Don't you ever, ever do that in a foreign country again. Do you understand?" asked Jamie.

Charles nodded quickly. Jamie grinned and pulled Charles to him for a brotherly hug. "Come on, Charles. Let's get you ready for the play tonight. By the way, I need to discuss with you about Hermy....."
Hermy and Ron were delighted to hear that Charles was back, safe and sound. Now they could get ready for the play at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier with ease.

Hermy got herself a nice long violet dress, with a blue rose pinned at her chest. Her hair was pinned up beautifully. Before Ron came to pick them up for the performance, she was looking nervously in the mirror at the front hall.

"Hermy, you don't have anything to be nervous about, you are Miss Granger." said Jamie.

"I know, but....." said Hermy and she busily adjusting her rose, letting the sentence unfinished.

"No, you don't know." Jamie muttered to Charles. After a long discussion in the afternoon, they were convinced that Hermy WAS Hermione Granger herself. Jamie decided to give up the reward. He had realized how painful it was to lose someone and wanted to give it a shot to return Hermy to Harry. So that he could be happy once more like he did in the past.
At the theatre, Ron managed to get a box for Hermy, Jamie and Charles, so that they could have a good view of the play and at the same time, looked for himself and Harry.

Jamie searched the performance hall for a while with the binoculars before he found his men and nudged Hermy, who was sitting beside him. "Look, there he is."

Hermy took the binoculars and looked. Her mouth dropped open slightly at the sight of Harry in a tuxedo. He had the seriousness in his beautiful green eyes as he talked to Ron. As he talked, he maintained a cool look on his handsome face. Once he done talking, he folded his long legs, sat up straight and stared out at the stage.

"He looks handsome." said Hermy in awe. "Oh Merlin, please let him remember me."

She lifted her binoculars again to see the play started. The play talked about the Queen of France Marie Antoinette and her King Louis. The play was quite interesting, but Hermy couldn't concentrate as she was so nervous about what Harry would say when he saw her later. Even the exciting part about the French Revolution couldn't get her attention.

As the play went on, Hermy was twisting her programme, couldn't wait for the play to end. Finally when the play ended with the part where Marie Antoinette was beheaded, her programme looked like a thin French baguette.

The audience clapped and the lights went on. Jamie, Charles and Hermy got up.

"Come on, guess it's time." said Jamie and turned to Charles. "Charles, know the way back to the hotel from here?"

"Yeah, I guess." said Charles.

"Don't go running after some dog again, okay?" asked Jamie.

Charles grinned and nodded.
As Hermy and Jamie walked to the VIP box, Hermy looked tense.

"Relax, you are going to be great." said Jamie confidently.

Hermy suddenly turned around, saying, "I don't think I could do this......"

"Hey, hey!" said Jamie quickly and grabbed her hand. "Come on. We have come this far, you can't give up now....."

Unwillingly, Hermy followed him.

When they arrived to the VIP box, Jamie said to Hermy quietly. "You wait here, I'll go in and announce you properly."

Jamie just about to go in and Hermy grabbed his hand. "Wait."

"What?"

"I just want to say..... thank you." Hermy smiled. "Yes, thank you for everything."

Jamie gave a fake but convincing smile, he was quite guilty that he had used her in the first place just to get Harry's reward. Then he entered the VIP box, but he accidentally left the door slightly open. Hermy stayed beside the door and listened carefully.
"Hi.... I mean, young man, what are you doing here?" asked Ron in the room.

"I just want you to please inform Mr Potter, that I have found his girlfriend Miss Hermione Granger. She's waiting outside." said Jamie seriously.

Harry gave a cool glance at Jamie while the bodyguards (that the theater provided, regardless of Harry's protests) raised their eyebrows.

"Err, I'm very sorry, Sir, but Mr Potter will see no one......" started Ron, winked at Jamie.

"Ron, you may tell that young man that I have seen enough Hermione Grangers to last me a lifetime." said Harry quietly.

Ron's mouth formed into the shape of an 'o'. That was not what he had expected. He thought Harry would see Hermy even though he had said that he had enough.

"You better go." said Ron quickly to Jamie.

"Please, let me just......" Jamie started.

"Now if you excuse me, I wish to spend the reminder of my lonely life in peace." said Harry firmly.

Sensing that Harry would reveal his anger if Jamie stayed any longer, he said, "Err, I think you better go now."

He put his arm around Jamie's shoulders and took him towards the door. "Come now....."

Jamie pushed Ron aside and rushed to the box.

"Jamie, no!" cried Ron.

Jamie ignored him and said to Harry, "Mr Potter, I meant you no harm."

He arrived next to Harry and sat down. "My name is Jamie, I'm a friend of Miss Granger."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's one thing I haven't heard, I must say."

Then he got up, throwing the programme onto his seat and walked towards the door.

Determined to get Hermy and Harry back together, Jamie jumped up from his seat. "Wait, don't go please!"

Harry stopped when Jamie blocked his way out. "Hey, get out of the way!" he snapped.

"If you just listen me....." began Jamie.

"No, you listen to me!" Harry interrupted, his green eyes full of fire. "I have enough! I don't care how you fashioned this woman to look like Hermione, sound like her or act like her, in the end it never is her!"

"This time it is her!" insisted Jamie.

Harry glared at Jamie. Ron took a tiny step forward, trying to hold Harry back if he lost control and hit Jamie.

"Jamie, I have heard of you from my Auror friends." said Harry, continuing to stare at Jamie. "You are that conman back in my country who has been holding auditions to find a Hermione look-alike."
Hermy gasped in horror when she heard that.
Jamie flushed but he recovered quickly and said, "But Mr Potter, we come all the way from England just to see you!"

Harry looked at him coldly. "And others have come from Asia." he said flatly.

"It's not that....." said Jamie desperately.

"How much pain will you inflict on a heart-broken man for money?" asked Harry and turned to the bodyguards. "Throw him out!"

"Harry, no!" yelled Ron.

"Stay out of this, Ron!" said Harry angrily as the bodyguards lifted Jamie up.

"But she is Miss Granger, I'm telling you! She is your girlfriend if only you speak to her, you'll see!" cried Jamie before the bodyguards flung him out of the box and slammed the door shut.

Jamie rubbed his arm where it hit the floor as he got up. He turned around and gulped with he saw Hermy's face. It was white with fury.

"It was all a lie was it?" she whispered and turned to leave without waiting for the answer.

"No!" said Jamie immediately and tried to catch up with her.

Hermy turned around so suddenly that Jamie almost collided with her. "You used me?" she asked in disbelief. "I was just a part of your con to get his money?"

"No, no......" said Jamie again. "Look, it may have seen to start out that way, but everything is different now, because you really ARE Miss Granger, you are!"

"Stop it!" yelled Hermy. "From the very beginning you lie! And I believe you!" she said, hurt was painfully clear in her eyes. She turned to go again.

Jamie ran right in front of her to stop her from going. "Hermy, please! When you talked about the stone thing, the potion and some animal called Buckbeak, we didn't teach you that, listen to me, that must be......."

"No!" said Hermy furiously. "I don't want to hear what I said, you just leave me alone!"

She walked around Jamie and Jamie grabbed her hand. Quickly, she slapped him hard on the face. Jamie let go in pain and she stormed off.

"Hermy, please! You don't know the truth!" yelled Jamie but Hermy didn't look back.

Jamie bit his lip. Now what? Suddenly something shiny on the carpeted floor caught his eyes and Jamie looked carefully. It was Hermy's necklace. He picked it up and examined it closely. The clasp was slightly loose, Hermy must had not notice that, since she had it around her neck all the time. It probably came off with Hermy slapped him.

Jamie looked at the entrance, where Hermy had disappeared off to, then at the necklace.

"I'll bring you two back together, if it is the last thing I do." he muttered.

Stuffing the necklace in his pocket, he ran off to the entrance.
When Hermy got back to her room at the hotel, she reached up as usual to clasp with her necklace, like she always did when she was upset or angry. However, her hand felt nothing. She looked down and gasped at her bare neck.

"Where's my necklace?" she asked and looked around.

She kneeled down and looked at the floor carefully. No necklace. Hermy thought back when she last saw the necklace and she felt cold when she remembered seeing it at the theatre.

Hermy felt as if her heart had broken into a thousand pieces. Her last possession, gone. Hermy clutched her chest tightly and sadly, she fell onto her bed and sobbed.