i am so sorry for not updating sooner, but i have my french speaking exam next wednesday and i havent learnt any of my presentation or anything and im realy paniking, as this is the first time ive wrtten to you i want to thank all my reviwers THANK YOU! and again sorry. ive updated chapter 18 - 21. im re writing the endng so that may be a while as my exams start in 2 weeks time and i really need to revise, im also writing some other stories at the moment as well. anyay, back wit the story:
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Chapter 18.
Harry walked into the entrance hall and stopped dead. 10 suitcases stood at the bottom of the
grand staircase, and a woman was trying to lift one of them up the stairs.
'Who the hell are you?'
The woman helped in surprise and dropped the suitcase on her foot. She bit her lip to stop
herself from swearing.
'Clare Wester, sir'
Harry just looked confused at her and took the time to look over the woman. She was about
5'2 with a slim build. She had fair brown hair falling to her shoulders, and what Harry could see
of her face under her hair that had fallen across it, she had piercing brown eyes.
'Sir?'
The Potters' butler Tom asked from the kitchen door hidden away in the corner of the hall.
Harry shook his head in confusion and followed the man into the kitchen. Harry had refused to
have house-elf's serving him except for Dobby who had tried to throw himself in the fire at the
thought of not serving Harry. He sat down at the table where he spent a lot of his time talking to
the staff, he didn't want to be one of those rich snobby men who didn't know who was in his
house, and treated the staff as slaves and not equals. Tom handed him a strong cup of tea and
tried to leave.
'Sit down Tom.'
Tom knew his master wasn't going to take the news he wanted to hear very well at all. He had
seen the younger man's temper on very few occasions but even so he never wanted to again.
'Who is that woman?'
'The maid to the Everlyn family sir. The mistress and her 3 children arrived this morning.'
The name struck a cord in Harry.
'Everlyn? What did the woman look like?' his heart was pounding in his chest, waiting to be
broken; he couldn't stop the hope and didn't want to know the fear.
'I do not know of her name sir, but she has bushy brown ha—'
Harry was sprinting up the stairs before Tom had finished the first word.
'GINNY?'
'GINNY?'
Both women jumped at the sound of Harry's' voice.
'Stay here a minute ok?'
Hermione could only nod as she had started to shack uncontrollably.
Harry ran down the main corridor in the guest wing and stopped abruptly when he saw his wife
stepping out of a room.
'Is she here? Where is she? Is she ok? Can I see her?'
'Whoa, calm down. Firstly, where are our children and where have you been the last 2 hours?'
'At the burrow, with Ron. Where – is – she?'
Ginny knew Harry was becoming impatient. She stepped aside and pointed at the door. Harry
marched in and for the second time in less than 10 minutes stopped dead. Instead of finding a
smiling Hermione launching herself at him so quick he could barley register who is was and take
a deep breath, instead of seeing her nose in a book, her back straight and proud he saw the
face of someone who had given up and didn't see the point in anything anymore, her nose
looked broken and her back was hunched over as if she was trying to make herself as small as
possible.
'Hermione?'
She snapped her head up and then he saw she was shaking.
'H-Harry?'
Before the tears slipped down her cheeks, Harry had his arms around her and Hermione clinging onto him as of her life depended upon it.
They stayed that way for a long time, as Hermione told him of her life since she had left their world behind, and vanished, of
her marriage, her children . . All except the sleeping girl in hospital.
Hermione had calmed herself down as much as possible and along with her 3 children, Harry and Ginny had the first meal in
13 years where she felt safe and welcome.
But the false sense of security was about to calm crashing down around her ears within hours.