The next morning at breakfast, Hermione opened up the Daily Prophet, just like any other morning. The cheerful atmosphere in the Great Hall gave no indication of the terror that would come.
"Anything interesting?" Ron asked as Hermione emerged from her mess of paper.
"Well, apparently Bones' son-in-law was caught cheating on his wife. I tell you this country..." Hermione muttered indignantly. Ron shrugged at Keanu and finished his kippers.
The first class Hermione and Keanu had that morning was Potions with Professor Snape. Hermione seemed to be dreading this class, and Ron was laughing as he headed up to Divination, which, according to Hermione, wasn't much better.
Potions took place in the dungeons, and when they entered the room, Keanu had to pull his robes around him more, even though it was the middle of fall.
"Look's like the mudblood decided to return to the class!" a blonde haired pale boy said. Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled Keanu away. Keanu stayed in place.
"Who're you?" he asked the blonde haired boy. He sneered.
"My name's Draco. Draco Malfoy," he said. "Who're you?"
"Keanu Montgomery. I seem to remember my Patronus running you down earlier in the summer. Heard you couldn't sleep after that."
Malfoy flushed a deep scarlet. "Keep it up, Montgomery..." he said as Snape walked in the room.
"In your seats," he commanded unnecessarily. Keanu plopped down next to Hermione.
"Chauvinistic pig," Keanu muttered quietly. Snape looked at him, but it was impossible to tell if he had heard or not. Hermione grunted in agreement.
"Today we'll be brewing a truth serum. It is not as strong as Veritaserum, but it can still make you confess your darkest secrets. The instructions are on the board. Begin."
Harry looked up at the board. "One liter of water..." he muttered, and began his potion.
Fifteen minutes later, Snape called out, "Your potion should be a lavender color and bubbling ever so slightly."
Keanu looked down at his potion. It was lavender and bubbling, but Hermione's was a lighter shade and bubbling less. Keanu shrugged and continued. "One crushed caterpillar head..."
The class was nearing its end. "Your potion should be a deep shade of purple now, and not bubbling at all. Put some into a vial and set it on my desk."
Keanu's was a deep shade of purple, and there was a stray bubble here and there, but he felt it was satisfactory. He vialed it up and set it on Snape's desk. Snape looked over his book into Keanu's eyes. His gray eyes showed pain, and Keanu quickly turned around and bumped right into Hermione, who was corking up her vial. Keanu swallowed some potion.
"Me and Ginny are going out!" he blurted before he knew what was happening. Hermione looked stricken, and set her vial down. Keanu was still looking at her, horrified, as she grabbed her bag and stalked out of the room.
"Smooth, Montgomery, smooth," Malfoy said as he slipped past him. Keanu grabbed his bag and hurried after Hermione.
Their next class was Charms. When Keanu entered the room, Hermione was sitting in the back surrounded by Ravenclaws. Keanu sat as close to her as possible, but not close enough to talk. Keanu could see the tears running down her face, though she tried to hide them with her Charms text.
Flitwick said they were going to start a new charm that made one appear invisible to certain specified people. He assured them that the teachers were immune to the charm.
They were to get partners, but when Keanu looked back at Hermione, she was already partnered with a girl that Keanu recognized as Mandy Brocklehurst. Keanu had to settle for Dean Thomas.
Hermione tried to run out of Charms too, but Keanu was right behind her.
"Hermione, wait." he said desperately, grabbing her arm. She turned to him, trying not to sob but failing miserably.
"Hermione, I..." Keanu searched for the right words. "Me and Ginny are just friends! That potion wasn't working."
"Oh shut it, Keanu Montgomery!" Hermione yelled, stepping back from Keanu. "You and I both know that potion was working perfectly! I heard you crystal clear!" Hermione glared at him and ran down to the Great Hall for a cool down session, warning him not to follow him.
Keanu sighed and looked at the bystanders staring at him. He sighed again and headed up to Gryffindor common room.
The common room was virtually empty. Keanu sat in a cushiony armchair by the fire, and decided that he should call his parents.
Ginny had described the process of Flooing to talk to someone, and not just go there. Keanu threw the Floo Powder in the fireplace and shouted, "Potter residence, Nova Scotia!"
Keanu thrust his head in. He had to use his "real" last name or else it wouldn't work.
"Keanu!" Daisy Montgomery shouted when the world had become more than a green blur once again. "Hey, everyone, it's Keanu!"
Harry ran up to the fireplace and screamed. "Mommy! His head's on fire!" she grabbed her cup of water and threw it on Keanu. KEanu sputtered and laughed.
"Hello to you too, Harry," he said, shaking the water off. Harry backed behind her mommy, scared.
"That's so cool, Keanu!" Albus yelled. "Can I put my head in the fireplace too, Dad?"
Henry Montgomery picked up his youngest son. "Maybe some day," he said vaguely. Albus looked excited nonetheless.
"Where's Jamie?" Keanu asked, looking for his younger-but-not-youngest brother.
"Over at Nick's. I'll tell him you popped in."
It seemed the Montgomery family was being slowly reintroduced to magic.
"Mommy says I can go to your school in almost five years!" Harry said, holding up four fingers and finally relaxing after realizing that Keanu's head was not going to burst into flames anytime soon.
"Me too!" Albus added. "Then I can put my head in a fireplace!" he added excitedly.
"Jamie might be going next year," said Daisy. "He'll go into fifth year. We're teaching him right now."
"How did your OWLs go?" Henry asked, setting Albus down. Keanu relayed the results.
"Looks like you're your mother's son," Henry said, and Daisy blushed.
Keanu glanced at the clock over the oven. Doing some quick math, he spoke. "I got to go, I have Ancient Runes in ten minutes, and there's someone I want to speak with...before..." Keanu said, remembering Hermione's fit. Henry looked at him, but Keanu shrugged it off.
"I'll try to talk again soon," he said, and after they had all said their goodbye's, he pulled his head out, and after he had regained his balance, he hurried up to Ancient Runes. Professor Heller didn't let her students in until the bell rang, and Keanu saw Hermione waiting, talking to a Hufflepuff. She saw him and the Hufflepuff starting to move over to his friends, and quickly engaged him in another conversation, much to his dislike.
Professor Heller let them in just as the bell rang, and Keanu hurried over to Hermione and sat down right next to her. She did not look at him the entire class, but Keanu still tried to talk to her. When they went down to the Great Hall for lunch, and then a free afternoon.
Keanu grabbed a seat next to Hermione, and when she looked around to try and find another place to sit, she couldn't. Begrudgingly, she sat next to him.
"Where's Dumbledore?" he asked, trying to start up a conversation. Hermione took a bite of a sandwich in response. Suddenly, Dumbledore entered the room, his robes billowing behind him. Hermione swallowed her bite of sandwich.
"Prefects, you will need to lead your houses back to the common rooms. Teachers, will need to come with me." Dumbledore said all of this, and turned to his pupils who were all looking desperately confused.
Dumbledore looked grave. "I am sorry to announce that Muggle London is being attacked by Voldemort."
