Chapter 2- Contacting an old friend
A.n: Now...I don't know who the pairing will be in this story. I haven't decided. I think it will be H/Hr, but maybe I'll turn it around a bit...hmmm....I don't know. Enjoy the next chapter and please review!!!
Harry woke up the next morning to his alarm clock blaring this rock like song that echoed through Harry's head.
Looking back at me
I see that I never really got it right
I never stopped to think of you
I'm always wrapped up in things
that I cannot win...
Harry hit the snooze button and groaned into his pillow.
"Another day to carry on..."
Harry pulled himself up from his bed and yawned loudly. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the open window. Hedwig still hadn't returned.
"Odd..."
Then, memories flooded in...
"Hey, Harry! Harry!"
Harry slowed down his pace and, but still kept walking.
"What is your bloody problem?"
A hand touched his shoulder and he spun around. He came face to face with his bushy hair friend, Hermione and saw the pain in her eyes.
"Nothing..."
"Yeah, well there sure is one when you just storm out of Snape's room like you just did...for no reason! What's been wrong lately?"
Harry shrugged her hand off and he saw the tears in Hermione's eyes.
"It's about Dumbledore isn't it?"
Harry's brow knotted and he looked at Hermione like she had just said something foul.
"You wouldn't understand..."
"Well, I would if you just tell me..."
Harry was silent and Hermione gave him a pleading look. He shook his head and he saw a tear fall slowly down her cheek.
"What happened to you, Harry?"
"Life."
More tears fell on the flushed cheeks of Hermione.
Harry then realized that seeing Hermione cry didn't effect him as he would've thought. He felt nothing. All he felt was a cold deadness that slowly was festering inside of him. He turned and walked slowly away, not noticing the crying girl that stared at his backside. He didn't even notice a few hours later, that Hermione no longer spoke to him. In fact, she no longer spoke to him for the rest of the year.
It was in his seventh year that he lost Hermione Granger as his best friend.
Harry felt a bitterness pull at him and he scolded himself for being so stupid with Hermione. He had loved her with all his heart and he ruined any chance he had making his life happy and with her. He knew that Lupin and Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted him to harbor their deaths on himself the way he had, but he couldn't help it. Voldermort had come after Hogwarts because of him. Everything in the past happened because of him. So many people that gave their lives to protect his. He hated himself for it and he wished he had never been born.
Harry rose from the bed and looked at his dresser. On it held of picture of Hermione and him, embracing each other as friends do. His smile was beating brillantly and Hermione's eyes sparkled with happiness. The picture reminded him of what life had been like before Voldermort had attacked the castle. Before Dumbledore and so many others lost their lives so he could defeat the evil that threatened to take over all.
Next to the picture was another picture, but this one harbored the smiling faces of Lupin and Sirius. Their faces shined with the glow of life and Harry gave the picture a cold glare. He hated keeping that picture around, but it was the only one he had of Lupin and Sirius together and he needed to see it. The picture kept him sane and stable. It kept him from making himself take all the pain away.
Harry yawned again and walked to him bathroom. A small room that was almost like a closet than a bathroom. He had a skinny shower and the toilet was smooshed against the wall and next to it was the sink with a tiny mirror over it. It could only hold two people at the most and even then there wasn't enough space for someone to move around, without climbing over the other. Harry had alot of experience in that area.
He sloppily brushed his stubborn hair that no matter how much gel or hairspray was slapped onto it, it would never go down. He picked up his perfectly black circular glasses and placed them neatly on his nose. Harry looked at the slightly fading scar that was almost perfectly centered, but a little off to the left. He stared at his reflection bitterly until the sound of crackling and popping jolted him from his daily scolding session. The sound was something he hadn't heard in 5 years and he immediatly knew what it was.
Harry slowly peeked around the corner and looked at his small fireplace. In it was a green floating head and it had a really confused, but familiar look on its face. Well, HER face. Harry reconized the slight bushyness of the lightly wavy hair and the slim look of the face.
"Hermione?"
The head snapped at his voice and then smiled brightly.
"Harry? Oh, thank Merlin! I thought I had gotten the wrong house. May I?"
Harry nodded slighlty and the green fire popped and a very tall Hermione slipped from the ashes. Not a spec of dust was on her and she looked up at Harry with brillant dark brown eyes. Hermione doned robes that resembled a teacher uniform and behold, to the not so surprised Harry, on her chest was the Hogwarts crest.
"Hello, Harry. How have you been?"
Her voice was rich and silky. Harry nodded and he watched as she looked at him throughly.
"You really haven't changed. Still the same disshevled hair, the same glasses, but..."
She walked closer, her boots clunking on the wood floor.
"Your eyes. They're darker...sadder..."
"What do you want?"
Hermione's eyes flickered with emotion and she smiled at him. The smile was pearly and bright. Harry frowned a little and he knew she was happy all in all.
"I just wanted to see how you were."
"You couldn't have asked me at the reunion?"
Hermione now frowned at his coldness and she got a strange look in her eye.
"I know things really didn't go well between us, but that is the past, Harry. I was so concered about you when I didn't hear from you after graduation. I was worried...alot."
Harry motioned around him and laughed incredulously.
"Well, as you see...I really hadn't lived the way I had planned, but I see you got what you always wanted."
He pointed to the crest on her chest and she looked down. She nodded and looked back into his eyes.
"You might say that, but that still doesn't change the fact that you didn't go to graduation and you didn't say goodbye. How could you not say goodbye? How could you not say goodbye...to me?"
Harry was silent. He really didn't know how to answer that. He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to share his pain with her, just like how they had when they were close, but he couldn't.
"I just..."
"No. I don't want to get into it now. We have time to do that later."
There was an awkward silence that spawned and they stood not looking at each other. Harry then looked at Hermione and saw her picking a loose string on her robes.
"So...what subject do you teach?"
"Muggle Studies."
Harry nodded.
"How's Ron?"
"He's good. He misses you. He really hasn't been the same since graduation. He's been...different."
Harry nodded again and he felt his heart fall heavy with guilt. He frowned and looked into Hermione's dark brown eyes.
"Are...are you seeing anyone?"
Hermione was silent. She stared at him for a few seconds. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully.
"No. You?"
Harry shook his head and Hermione nodded.
"Well, I better be going. It's almost the end of the year and I need to get my exams prepared."
Harry nodded and Hermione walked to the fireplace. She took out a handful of Floo Powder from a leather holder and she held it out in front of her.
"Oh...by the way. Hedwig is in the Owlery. She needs to rest another night. She's not as young as she used to be, but I'm sure you know that."
Hermione looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly at Harry who nodded to her. Hermione muttered her destination and threw the powder down. The green flames extended from the fireplace and wrapped around her and she was gone.
Harry stared at the spot she had disappeared from and he sighed.
"This reunion is going to be fun."
A.n: What do ya think? Please review.
Next Chapter: Chapter 3- Train ride