--- AFTERMATH ---
By Jungle.Plant
Chapter One
A Visit
The young witch was wearing a pair of worn blue jeans and a dark blue cardigan, very unusual fashion for the place where she was obviously waiting for someone, as she kept tapping her fingers on the table in front of her. Her bushy brown hair was tied back in a lose ponytail and her long fringe hid almost all her face. She was smiling at the children going by Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour, who were without doubt just about to buy their first magical equipment for their first year at school.
She remembered the first time she had been here with her parents, marvelling at the unknown things to buy, the very curious people and from time to time one or the other magical creature. Now this still hadn't lost its charm, although she probably knew more about this world than anybody else, even the witches and wizards doing their daily shopping. It had been three years that she herself had finished school and it had been a long time for her to decide, what she would become for a living. It was especially difficult, because she had thought about actually going back to the muggle world to become a doctor and often pitied having missed all of the normal education. But then the decision was made and she never regretted it afterwards, although she sometimes longed to study integral calculus more thoroughly.
She started getting nervous, looking at her watch. They should have arrived by now. On the other hand this wouldn't be the first time they would be late. They had never really cared about punctuality much, obviously a family-trait.
In the distance she could make out the large white building, which seemed threatened to fall down any minute. Luckily she knew, that this was unlikely, as the Goblins, keepers of Gringott's had their ways of maintaining their main building. She shortly wondered if any book had been written about that building, with so many secrets it seemed very worth it.
Diagon Alley was bustling with life and many people had desperate looks on their faces as if they were very late for an appointment, running past the table she was sitting at. Others happily scanned the countless shop-windows, now and then giving her deja vues of past times.
"Have you seen that witch sitting there?" she heard another witch whispering to her companion at the table next to her.
"She was the one!" whispered the other.
She grinned inwardly and scolded herself for being so proud. But she had to admit, that sometimes she actually liked the attention. Most of the time she just ignored it, but sometimes it was just nice to be talked about.
Three Years. Not only since the end of her school time, but also since the ending of the second war. It had been very abrupt and the Ministry hadn't expected it to be so quick. But the Death Eaters had been scattered and the Dark Lord vanished yet again. The Daily Prophet had tried to research, what had really happened, but nobody seemed to really know about it. Not even Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent.
The witch looked down sadly, her hair hiding the ragged scar running from her jaw to her right ear.
She was one of the few who had seen what had happened three years ago and still couldn't think about it without feeling a cold trickle of fear running down her spine. It had been the worst thing she had ever gone through and the evidence was still showing in her sad eyes. But what had actually happened she couldn't tell. The only one, who could wasn't able to.
Suddenly, a tall young man approached her table and she jerked in her chair almost falling down. "Hey Hermione, how are you?" He asked softly, helping her to stand up. His glowing red hair flowed in the wind, looking unruly as usual.
"I'm fine Ron, you're late!" She scowled, not really meaning it and looked around, searching. "Where's Ginny? Didn't she want to come?" Ron shook his head.
"She didn't feel like it, wanted to stay with mom today!"
"Oh." She simply said and took her brown purse and the single lily, lying on her table. "Let's go then."
They walked along Diagon Alley, approaching the brick wall leading to the Muggle World. Hermione glanced at Ron's clothing to assure he wasn't looking too unusual to step out into the street. He wore a pair of quite good-looking jeans, she had to admit, and a maroon cotton sweater over a white shirt. When her eyes travelled over his collar she had to chuckle unwillingly.
"Ron, take the cufflinks out of there. Little pink pigs don't really suit you!"
He obliged and went a soft shade of red. He still had problems understanding the subtle ways of muggle-fashion.
"How are your parents?" enquired Hermione, stepping up to the brick wall and pulling out her battered wand.
"They're fine." Ron muttered and they stepped through the opening.
The Leaky Cauldron hadn't changed a bit in the last ten years she had known it. Probably it had been the same for several hundred years though. The landlord, old Tom, was as ever behind the bar, waving at them cheerily. His toothy grin was genuine. Hermione smiled back.
"Why couldn't we apparate there?" Ron asked irritably, stepping up nervously to the door to the Muggle world.
Hermione scowled again.
"You know very well, that this is much safer. The Muggles aren't supposed to see any magic. You know what problems that can make." Hermione just said and opened the door. Ron still a bit sulky, followed her out the door into the rainy streets of London.
Hermione opened her large dark blue umbrella and waited for Ron to step under it, who looked very suspicious. She guessed that he had actually seen umbrellas quite often, but had never known, what they were good for. "Come on!" she hissed, trying not to look too out of place.
She linked her arm into his and pulled him down the street with her.
"I'll never understand, how they can live like this." He muttered under his breath, but followed her obediently nonetheless.
The London afternoon sky was a very dark grey and the bone-deep chill seeped through their clothes as they made their way through the streets of London.
Ron had no idea where they were, nor if he would ever find his way back if he got lost, but Hermione didn't lose her grip and pulled him with her, even faster than before. The weather was getting worse.
"Are we there yet?" Ron moaned, as he stepped into a large puddle soaking his socks yet again. Hermione didn't answer but stomped on determinedly. After what seemed like an eternity she suddenly came to a halt in front of a weird looking shop-window. Inside some display dummies wore the strangest combination of clothes, which reminded distinctly of a medieval-futuristic-crossover-with-a-touch-of-Caribbean-fashion.
When looking at those, Ron knew exactly where they were now. Happy not to feel lost anymore, he smiled and extracted his arm from Hermione's grasp.
"Thanks for the lead!" He said and approached the window. Looking around for any nosy Muggles who might happen to watch, he turned around and put his nose to the glass. "We are here for Herald Petersen." He told the green-stockinged dummy in the window, who gave the slightest wink with her plastic hand.
In an instant he found himself in the great Entrance Hall of St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries, looking at the bored receptionist, who bade her time by making paper birds zoom around the ceiling with her wand. When she saw Ron, and instantly Hermione, appearing, she let the bird drop onto a chandelier and put down her wand, examining them curiously. Her velvet hat, which sat on her head quite lopsidedly, kept sliding over her right eye and she kept pushing it up, smiling rather nastily.
"How can I help you?" she asked obviously trying to sound hospitable, when they stepped up to her desk.
Hermione scowled again, hiding her scar with her hair.
"We are here to visit a patient." Ron said, pulling his wand out and handing it to the witch. Hermione did the same. They weren't allowed to take them into the wards anymore.
"Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley for Herald Petersen." They told the witch and astonished she raised her eyebrows, staring at them curiously before looking into her books. When she had found her entry she let out a squeak and almost dropped the collected wands into her dress.
Setting her brass-rimmed glasses right on her nose again she smiled at them even more falsely. "Please enter my dears…. And feel just like at home", she added as an afterthought, sounding rather stupid.
Hermione and Ron didn't smile. They looked at her coldly and entered the Invisible Wand Restriction Wall. The halls of the hospital reminded Hermione of Hogwart's and its very old and very winded hallways, but here the atmosphere seemed more subdued than any place that she knew. She had the uneasy feeling of being in a muggle hospital, which smelled of disinfectants and sick people. Fortunately, the smell was rather pleasant, a mix of pine needles and marshmallows. Hermione was glad that she couldn't see any patients yet. Since the war, some people had never left this house again, and most of them didn't even look like themselves anymore.
In their death struggle, the Death Eaters had once more given their best in destroying as many lives as they could and this with the most brutal and evil ways they could think of. They had lost many friends during this time and Hermione had to shudder, when she thought about how she had found the body of Katie Bell, strangled and grotesquely bent, lying dead on the front steps of Hogwart's, her wand still tightly clutched in her hand. Hermione had to swallow, trying to get rid of the terrible image.
A nurse was leading them up a flight of very wide marble steps, leading to the Spell Damage ward of the hospital. Here they had once seen Neville Longbottoms parents and had come across Gilderoy Lockhart, a former Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, having hit himself with a very powerful Memory Charm. But this time they were on their way to their closed section.
Now they were off visiting someone else. They had been here every day almost three years ago, but when time went by, they couldn't stand being here so often anymore. Somehow they felt it was time to come her once more, trying to find the reasons, trying to see a sense in all that had happened.
The nurse gravely nodded at them and opened a door at the end of the corridor on the third floor.
It was very different from all the other doors they had seen, very plain, not having any ornaments that decorated it. When the door swung open, they saw that even the room was plain, furnished with only one chair, one table and a vase with a withered lily, aside from the bed. The window seemed to be too small and the light coming in was so dim that it didn't even reach the corners of the room.
The inhabitant lay on the bed very still, not acknowledging their presence.
Hermione frowned slightly and picked up the withered plant, which she gave to the nurse. "Could you leave us please?" She asked politely, handing her the flower.
The nurse just nodded and retreated, softly closing the door.
Ron stood at the foot at the bed staring at the person lying in it. His gaze seemed to be miles away, or even years ago, imagining better or only other times.
Hermione took the fresh lily she was still holding and carefully put it in the vase. It looked very lonesome where it stood and seemed to be completely out of place. Hermione now wished she had her wand, so that she at least could improve the light a bit. It made the situation seem so unreal.
As she saw Ron was in no state to move just now, she pulled up the chair to the bed and sat down on it, picking up the frail-looking left hand of the unconscious form.
After what seemed like hours, Ron suddenly turned around and pounded his fists on the table once. Hermione was startled out of her thoughts and turned to Ron, not letting go off the hand.
"Ron." She just said sadly, looking at him. She could tell he had been crying but seemed not to care about it very much. He shook his head.
"This is wrong." He said. "We should have come here more often." but Hermione shook her head.
"I know you feel guilty, but we couldn't have done anything and…" she trailed off. The truth was she felt guilty herself, but she just couldn't stand seeing him just lying there, having shunted out the world and not noticing anything going around him.
He seemed to be reasonably good cared-for by the nurses. His shock of untidy black hair shined in the dim light and he seemed perfectly tidy, as far as this was possible. But his looks had diminished somewhat and he was thinner than she had ever seen him. With his sunken eyes, his face almost looked like a skull and she thought, she could even see his ribs underneath his Pyjamas.
Ron turned around and walked to Hermione, laying a hand on her shoulder and looking down at his best friend.
At first they had tried visiting him as often as they could, everyday for the first few months. Then after a while, they visited once a week and then it was months they didn't see him. It had become too hard to bear and it didn't become easier, no matter how long it took. The doctors had done everything they could, they had been told, but nobody seemed to know, what was wrong with him, and even more importantly nobody seemed to be able to do anything. This was worst. The helplessness, feeling useless everyday in your life now.
"Hallo Harry." Hermione softly said after a while.
"It's been five months since we visited you last." She continued, smoothing a lock of his thick hair out of his closed eyes.
"They still don't know, what is happening to you, but I believe that they will find out soon. Ron and I have gone to a new task, trying to contact the governments of internationally oriented communities in the world to build up a network of the International Creature Equality Constitution Program. I know many people are still afraid, not wanting any changes, but we have already convinced a confederation of shamans in Canada, who will help us improve our connections in the Americas. Of course all this will take much time to develop, but I think we made a start."
Ron sat down on the bed, taking Harry's other hand.
"Hey mate," he said softly. "guess you weren't up to much lately. The Quidditch World Cup last month wasn't the same without you. Not exactly boring but not really the same. They released the follower of the Firebolt Supreme this summer, the Star Catcher. I think, you would like it, even has an enchanted trunk for long travels or for a sandwich during a long match. Mom's been constantly fussing over Petal, she's Bill's and Fleur's youngest daughter. Has her mother's hair and his fathers nose… well, from before…" He paused.
"Ginny didn't feel like coming today. She's been a little bit depressed these past few months, constantly telling everyone off for nothing. Well actually she has been like this for a while already, but she really got furious when Mom tried to make her date this Andrew Whompboulder. He's a nice looking bloke I'd say, but a little bit dim. Mom actually invited him over to dinner with the family tonight. I hope, Ginny won't hex him in front of the kids. Would be hard to tell them off for magic if they did it too. Well, I mean she doesn't really want to see anyone, you know. Percy is only sulking around mum, trying to convince her to let him check the family properties, but she won't let him, says she's still mad about him not talking to him some years ago. Well, and you know Percy, he's… well, he's Percy. By the way, Neville wants us to say hi for him He had an important appointment with a Guinean Minister of Magical Uses for Water plants. He's right into all the stuff now in the Department of International Co-Operation and the Herbological Office of Plant Research. I think, he's found something he's actually good at." Ron trailed off, staring at the hand he was holding.
The still form hadn't stirred, probably hadn't even noticed they were there. He lay there like dead since the time the War had ended. Since the time the Dark Lord had vanished.
---
A/N: This is my first story, so tell me, what you think! I have no idea, where this will eventually end up, but if you have any inspirational ideas:) please don't hesitate to tell me!
16. December: Hello everybody, thank you very much for your reviews, I was really happy about them --jumping up and down--.
As you might see, I tried to part from my favourite punctuation marks, some of the sentences were really a bit awkward ;) Anyways, I have some ideas how I will continue and hope you like it!
Oh, and btw, if you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me, am really bad at rechecking my writing…
DISCLAIMER: I obviously don't own J.K.R.'s Harry Potter, nor any of the characters of her books. Only the one's I added myself.