Chapter 4: The map and the meeting
Uhhh……enjoy!
(Spiffy divider thingy)
Perdita sat in the common room, curled up on the couch reading her Transfigurations book. She was two chapters behind being five chapters ahead and just had to catch up. Although she was sure she knew the entire book by heart from her childhood, she still liked to refresh her memory.
"Look at that. It's our little 'cousin' acting just like our 'aunt'," Jamie said, entering the common room. With her she had Vince, Christen, and Cynthia, her fellow Weasley's. Vince and Jamie looked like complete opposites. Vince was a carbon copy of Ron while Jamie had a lighter red hair, no freckles, and dark blue eyes. Christen was Fred and Angelina's only child and the same age as Jamie. Cynthia was George and Alicia's oldest daughter, and it was no surprise that Christen and Cynthia looked exactly alike. Christen was only a week younger then Cynthia and they had the same color hair, same eyes, and even some of the exact same freckles. They were both Jamie's age of 13 while Vince was 14. Each of them was dressed in normal clothes.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Perdita asked, looking up at the teens she considered to be her cousins since she had none of her own. She had spent her entire childhood with all of the Weasley kids, except for Percy and Penelope's Stephen and Patricia, who didn't even see their own cousins.
"Nothing. We're just getting ready to leave for Hogsmeade," Cynthia said.
"I wish I could go," Perdita muttered, trying to force herself to look back at her book and not long to be in the shoes of the Weasley kids.
"Funny you should mention that," Christen said in a sing-song way that made Perdita look up in interest.
"What do you guys have up your sleeves?" Perdita asked, fingering the pages of her book absentmindedly.
"We thought you might like a little gift that we were given a few years back," Vince said. He had Perdita hooked. She had to know what they had.
"What is it?" Perdita asked.
"Oh, just a map," Vince said simply.
"Oh," Perdita replied in disappointment.
"Here," Jamie said, handing Perdita a rolled up piece of parchment.
"Come on Weasley's!" A group of older kids called as they headed to the portal.
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," They all whispered simultaneously as they walked off, smirking. Perdita waited until they left to examine the map she was given.
"Hmm, I wonder what it's a map of," Perdita muttered to herself. She unrolled the parchment and glared at the blank sheet before her. "I should have known." Perdita set it aside and picked up her book again.
But Perdita found that she couldn't focus on her book. Her eyes kept finding their way back to the blank parchment sitting beside her. After fifteen minutes of it pulling at her attention, Perdita put her book down and picked up the parchment.
"Hey Perdita, what's that?" Jeremy asked as he made his way into the Common Room.
"Something Jamie gave me," Perdita replied, studying the parchment.
"It's blank," Jeremy said, looking at it.
"I don't think it is," Perdita said, still scrutinizing the parchment.
"Try a spell then," Jeremy said.
"Fine," Perdita said. She lifted her wand and pointed it at the parchment. "Aparecium," Perdita said. It did nothing. "That was useless," she said in annoyance. She looked up at Jeremy. "You know, they said the funniest thing before they left. 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good', so something to that affect."
"Perdita, look!" Jeremy gasped, pointing at the briefly glowing map. When the glow went away, they were shocked to see a map sitting before them. "They're moving!" Jeremy cried out, pointing in surprise at the little names moving from place to place.
"Oh my! This is amazing!" Perdita said her eyes huge in surprise. While looking over the map, Perdita came across something interesting. "Look at this, Jerm. It's a secret passageway to Hogsmead," Perdita said. They looked at one another and broke out in huge grins at the same time.
"You are a brilliant witch," Jeremy said.
"Yes, I have such great eyesight," Perdita replied in sarcasm. Jeremy just rolled his eyes. "As much fun as this looks like it could be, how are we going to get to wherever this leads undetected?" Perdita asked.
"Oh, good point," Jeremy said, his brows furrowing. "After all, it's very apparent that we're first years. We'd get caught in a second."
"Unless we looked different," Perdita said.
"And how would we accomplish that?" Jeremy asked. Perdita smirked like crazy.
(Ten minutes later)
"Wow Perdita! I look so much older!" Jeremy gasped as he looked at himself in a mirror. Perdita had charmed his hair to black, somehow making his face look so mature. She then charmed a pair of shoes to add height to Jeremy, making him taller. Finally, she had dressed him in Vince's clothes and somehow managed to give him a broader chest. "You're brilliant; simply brilliant."
"I know," Perdita replied proudly. She straightened her hair and applied make-up in all the right places, give her face a mature, older look. She dressed herself in Cynthia's clothes, stuffing her bra with some tissue paper and charming her own shoes to make herself seem taller as well. They looked so different that it was amazing they were the same people.
"This will be so easy," Jeremy said.
"Just don't open your mouth around professors. Your voice still hasn't changed," Perdita reminded him. Jeremy nodded and they set out together, following the map as best they could. Jeremy found it amazing to watch his own little dot move alongside Perdita's, though Perdita was too busy navigating to take much amazement in it. They finally reached the tunnel after dodging a few professors and students, afraid of being discovered, and followed it, Jeremy having lit his wand with 'Lumos' (under the advice of Perdita, of course) to light their way. They walked for what seemed like forever until they saw a ladder.
"I'll go first and see if there is anyone around. I'm sure no one does this too often," Jeremy said. Perdita nodded and rolled up the map, tucking it safely between the waistband of her pants and her shirt. Jeremy made his way up at the ladder and carefully lifted the hatch, gazing around at the empty storeroom. "Come on up," Jeremy whispered, stepping into the storeroom. He helped Perdita up the ladder and they stood together, listening to the footsteps above them.
"Now what are we going to do?" Perdita asked.
"Well, we can't climb out that window because that's a bit obvious," Jeremy said, pointing to the window in front of them. Perdita nodded her head in reply. "I guess we'll just have to brave it and go up the stairs," Jeremy suggested.
"But won't we get caught?" Perdita asked. "I mean,
"Oh come on, 'Dita. You honestly didn't expect to make this journey and not risk getting caught. That makes this trip all the more fun. C'mon girl, where is your courage?" Jeremy asked.
"I have courage, but not enough to explain to Mum why I was expelled for sneaking into Hogsmeade!" Perdita said.
"Oh come on," Jeremy said, grabbing her by the wrist and going carefully up the stairs. He opened the door and peaked out. No one was there. Quickly, he pulled Perdita out into the empty room and closed the door. "And we're here," Jeremy said.
"Honeydukes! We ended up in Honeydukes," Perdita gasped as they made their way towards the main part of the store. They were incredibly surprised at not having been caught so they proceeded with caution.
"I can't wait to load myself up with this stuff. Mum never lets me get too much," Jeremy said. Perdita laughed and they made their way out of the store and into the main street.
"Wow, I can't believe we're here," Perdita whispered. Sure, she had been to Hogsmeade before. They always went with the Weasley's. But somehow, sneaking there made it seem like so much more. She pushed aside the fact that she had committed a crime in going there and tried to enjoy her time.
(Harry)
Harry sat impatiently at a table at the Hogs Head, drumming his fingers in annoyance on the table. Hermione never said when they'd meet, but Harry had already been sitting there for an hour and he was getting impatient. He was tempted to just get up and walk away, but the idea of seeing Hermione again kept him there. He hadn't seen her in person for almost twelve years.
"If it isn't Harry Potter," a familiar female voice said. Harry looked up and gasped. Standing before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. She was tall and slender, wearing plain gray slacks and a scarlet turtleneck that clung to her body. Her hair was left down, golden brown curls dripping down over her shoulder. She wore very little make-up, making her look pure and beautiful.
"Wow, Hermione, you look great," Harry gasped, standing up to greet her. He reached him hand out to shake hers, which she took and shook softly, their gazes never breaking.
"So do you," Hermione replied with a sincere smile. After a long time of merely shaking hands and staring, they dropped their hands and sat down across from one another.
"So, how's Cho?" Hermione asked after a minute, stirring the straw of her drink that Harry had ordered her around with her index finger.
Harry winced at the sound of his wife's name. She would Avada Kedavra him in an instant if she saw him with Hermione. "Cho's…Cho's fine," Harry replied safely.
"I saw that look, Harry. You forget that I've known you for years. How is she really?" Hermione asked. She had a smug expression on her face as his fell at being discovered.
"She's being the same Cho you always warned me about her being," Harry said. He was speaking of a conversation that had had in fifth year.
"Oh, so she really is a gold-digging attention whore who's only interested in how often you can do it and how much money you can give her?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded. "Why are you with her, then?"
"Sometimes, she can be really sincere. She can be the perfect wife, the kind every husband wants to have. Every time we have a party, she's the perfect hostess. She keeps a great house. It's just that all the other times, she's terrible. Besides, if we get a divorce, she'll write all about it in her magazine, exploit the hell out of me, and probably you," Harry said.
"Me? Why would she exploit me?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, come on Hermione. She doesn't know about Perdita, but she knows something happened between us. She'll link any reason of my proposing a divorce to you right away. She'd ruin your life, not matter where you are. And, even if she never knows Perdita is my daughter, she'd still ruin her life. Cho is too dangerous to mess with," Harry said. Harry stared at his Butterbeer for a while before speaking again. "So, how's your husband?"
"Oh, yes, Cameron. He's wonderful. We met one evening in a Muggle café when Perdita was eight. He asked if he could borrow a chair and ended up sitting with me. He asked me out on a date that next night and I found myself falling for him. On our fifth date, I watched from a window as he made flower appear with his wand, and when I answered the door, I was excited to reveal I was a witch and I knew he was a wizard. This drew us to each other and we were married by the next year," Hermione said.
"Does…that is to say, does Perdita like him?" Harry asked. He didn't know why, but he had to know if his daughter approved of Hermione's choice for a replacement father.
Hermione chuckled slightly. "Oh, they've tried for so long to convince me that they get along, but I know they don't. For such a long time, it was only Perdita and I, so introducing Cameron into our life was such a shock for her. At first she was very curious of him, often trying to tag along with us on our dates. Every time he came over for dinner, Perdita fired questions away at him. She didn't have any sort of opinion of him until we were married. That was when she decided she didn't like him, and it didn't really take him long to decide he didn't get along with her. I've tried as hard as I could to try to get them to bond, but it seems nearly impossible to get them to like each other," Hermione replied.
"Sounds like we're both not having very good luck with our families," Harry said.
"I guess so," Hermione replied.
They settled into an uncomfortable silence. Neither knew what to say. They had covered all of the small-talk, which meant that soon, they'd need to get to the reason they came: Perdita. Hermione was getting frustrated with this so she picked up her purse, put it on the table, and began to rummage through it. She finally located an envelope and handed it to Harry.
"What is this?" Harry asked.
"They're pictures of Perdita. I thought you'd like to have some pictures of your own daughter," Hermione said quietly, sitting back in her chair as Harry began to look at the pictures.
"Wow," Harry whispered, pulling out the first picture. It was a Muggle picture of Perdita, tiny and pink, in Hermione's arms. Hermione had a tired yet proud look on her face.
"That's the first picture of her. My mum took it," Hermione replied.
Harry went through the rest of the stack. There were a few more from the hospital, including a picture of Lavender and Ron holding her, Hermione and her parents holding her, and Hermione and Perdita leaving the hospital. The pictures followed their timeline, some of them moving, some of them not. Harry watched through photographs as his daughter grew up. The last picture was one of her getting on the Hogwarts Express. "Wow, Hermione. These are amazing," Harry said.
"They're for you. I made copies. Like I said, I think you deserve to have some pictures of your own daughter," Hermione replied.
"Hermione," Harry said after a moment of looking at the pictures again. "Why did you leave?" Harry said. 'There, I've said it,' he thought to himself.
Hermione looked up at him. "I—I was afraid," she admitted softly.
"What was there possibly to be afraid of? We would have been there for you no matter what," Harry said. He took a breath. "I would have taken care of you."
"Harry, it wasn't that I was afraid of none of you being there, or of you taking care of me, it was just that I was afraid of why," Hermione replied, tears welling up in her eyes at the memory.
"What do you mean, why?" Harry asked.
Hermione sighed and looked him dead in the eye. "Because, Harry, I didn't want you to be there for me just because we had a daughter."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
-End of chapter!
Yes, I'm serious. That's the end of that chapter. But I'm POSITIVE you all know where this cliffy is heading. So then, you can't possibly kill me…right? Someone please tell me I'm right! Please review, and I'll get the next chapter out ASAP!
-Serenity