A/N: The plot is based on the movie Random Harvest 1942, with Greer Garson and Ronald Coleman. The characters are from J.K Rowling's series Harry Potter.
Summary:
Alternate Universe. After the final duel with Voldemort, Harry Potter, an Auror, was found in a ditch, having lost all memory and all connections with his past. Amidst the noise of the post war celebrations, Harry meets Hermione, a music hall actress and falls in love. On a trip alone, he is involved in an accident that allows his original memory to return but now remembers nothing at all about his new life. Please read and review!
Caveat: This is a completely different take on Harry Potter. In this story, Harry and Hermione have never met each other. They did not attend Hogwarts together and Harry is not the famous boy-who-lived. No one knows his identity including himself, he is referred as Harry, but everyone else for the first part refers to him as Smith.
Random Harvest
Chapter One: Smith
The war against Voldemort finally switched tides. Voldemort himself was defeated and never to be seen again. After the ultimate duel, the man victorious, Harry Potter, had also disappeared. No one knew what happened during the finally moments of conflict.
Our story takes place in the English Midlands, the Melbridge County Asylum, its new Auror wing, to house the shatter minds of those in the war against Voldemort.
"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd, I must warn you, even if he is your son, he may not recognize you. His memory is affected, he struggle with his speech, the result of shock. We found him unconscious near the old Riddle house in a ditch, near death, the same year that Voldemort was defeated. He has no means of identification. When he returned to consciousness at St. Mungos, he could remember nothing at all of his past life, no name, no family with whom he could correspond. Six months ago, he was sent here. I sincerely hope that he is your son. I believe he could be cured, with patience and care, in normal surroundings." Dr. Krum explained.
"May we see him now?" asked Mrs. Lloyd.
"Certainly, but please Mrs. Lloyd, don't hope too much, I've seen many disappointments." Dr. Krum stood up from his chair and went into the next room.
After greeting the patients along the way, he made his way to the other side of the room where a raven-haired man with green eyes was staring blankly out window.
"Smith, you're looking better. Really improved. We have some news for you. Interested?" Dr. Krum asked.
The man turned to look at the doctor.
"There are some people to see you. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd. Ring a bell?"
"Ll-Ll-Lloyd, Lloyd", Harry stuttered.
"Lloyd", Dr. Krum repeated, "Lloyd. Name means anything to you? Their son was reported missing just around the same time you were."
Harry, with a look of concentration tried hard to remember.
"Don't bring your hopes up old boy, you may be their son, you may not. We'll soon know" Dr. Krum warned him.
"M-m-my parents?" he uttered hopefully.
"You see my boy? You speak well enough if you want to. It's just a matter of confidence. You just got to get back your confidence" Dr. Krum waved his hand to summon his assistant.
"My father?" Harry tried to continue.
"Dress him up a bit and take him to the reception room," he ordered.
"Very well," the assistant replied, "Come along Smith" he said as he took the patient by the arm and led him to the next room.
After dressing him up in his old Auror uniform, the assistant led Harry into the reception room and instructed him to sit down.
"I-If-If" Harry stuttered, "if.."
"If they are your parents?" the assistant finished for him.
"Th-Th-Th-they would .ta-ta-take-take me out of h-h-here?" Harry asked.
"That's rather a big if old man," the assistant said grimly as he left the room.
Harry sat in an empty room waiting, anticipating for those about to receive him. He pondered at the possibility of belonging to someone. It made him very happy. "Lloyd. Lloyd. Lloyd" he concentrated on the name over and over again hoping to trigger some meaning, but without avail.
After a few minutes, he could hear footsteps along the concrete corridor. Through the window, he could see silhouettes of three figures heading towards the door. Smith, alerted, straightened up.
He could hear voices as the door slowly opened. Dr. Krum and an elderly couple walked in. Mrs. Lloyd's facial expression changed from a look of hope to a look of despair as soon has she made eye contact with Harry.
Dr. Krum, observed her reaction, turned to Mr. Lloyd. "He is not your son then?"
The old man solemnly shook his head as his wife, unable to contain her emotions, cried into her husband's shoulder.
"I'm sorry" Dr Krum said sorrowfully. "I'm sincerely sorry."
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd walked out the door. Dr. Krum followed them, but before he closed the door behind him, he gave his patient a sympathetic look, "I told you my boy, not to count on it."
A few moments after this horrible ordeal, Harry in his most sullen mood, decided to take a walk around the asylum. This was his usual remedy for feeling down. Large concrete walls surround the asylum itself. Today, the weather was incredibly foggy, but Harry never minds.
"Out in this weather?" the guard asked as Harry walked passed him, "My, you do love those walks don't you?"
He turned to acknowledge him, but was unable to speak. Without answering, he continued his path. His favorite pastime was thinking and practicing on his speech ability during because no one was around to bother him. "I'm alright, thank you" he muttered to himself, "The coat's very warm...like to walk. Like to walk."
Harry stuffed his hands into his coat pocket and kept walking down the stone path. All of a sudden, he heard a loud siren at the gate soon to be in front of him. "The war is over!" he heard someone cry out, "The last of the Deatheaters have surrendered!"
At the gate, he could see men running in, with shouts of joy, "The war is OVER!" The men didn't even notice Harry making his way down the road. With all the excitement, they ran right past him, leaving the asylum gate open.
Harry saw the opportunity and strolled casually through without being stopped. If they catch him, he thought, he'd pretend to be confused. He had no idea where he was going anyways. He kept walking down the road until he reached the nearby town.
Melbridge was in a complete uproar. Shouts of joy were heard all over the place. As Harry past the buildings, he can see people recognizing his uniform; they would smile at him, thank him appreciatively and give him a big pat on the back. Being his first time away from the asylum alone, his nerves were cracking. Unable to withstand the complete and utter chaos, Smith slipped into the first shop he could find.
The bell attached to the door rang startled him as he walked in. He found himself inside a quaint little tobacco shoppe. An elderly woman came out the back room and greeted him.
"Well?" she asked impatiently.
Harry stood frozen. This is his first encounter without supervision of doctors. He didn't even know if he smoked.
"Well? What is it that you want?" she asked him again sternly, "Come on. I haven't got all night!"
"Cigarettes?" Smith managed to squeak out. He tried to control himself and to stop looking so obviously frightened.
"What sort?" the shopkeeper examined him, looking quite annoyed.
Harry pretended to look intensely at a display case.
The woman observed him fixedly and suddenly realized, "Why, you're from the asylum! You're..That's alright dear, take your time, take a nice look around see, I'll be back in a jiffy." The shopkeeper smiled meekly and went into the backroom.
Harry stared at the now empty doorway.
"You are from the asylum, aren't you?" he turned around and spotted a beautiful woman with cinnamon hair and deep brown eyes looking at him. He wasn't sure if she had just walked in or if she had been there the entire time.
Harry stared back at her intently. He could see she was not at all frightened but merely curious.
"Well aren't you?" she asked again.
"Yes" he replied, "But..but..I'm alright…really."
"Well if you have given them the slip, I wouldn't stay here. She's calling for them right now, to get you." The girl opened the door for him.
Harry hesitated for a second before walking out the door. He turned right and continued to walk down the street while trying to avoid the massive crowds who were still screaming and celebrating this joyous occasion. Finally, after being herded around like cattle on the street and ducking various times, he found a small narrow passage to the side where he could take a breather.
Grabbing a hold of the side railing, he tried to collect himself. He heard a familiar voice speaking behind him, "Can I help you? I saw you weren't feeling too fit, so I followed you. You don't mind do you?"
Harry recognized the same girl that was in the tobacco shoppe. Her voice was soothing and he could not help but smile at her. He shook his head no.
"You looked tired out. Been walking about for hours?" she asked, giving him a comforting smile.
He nodded.
"Well how about a drink, just to pull you together?" she offered, "I could have one. Should we go to the home pub? It's just across the street. It's where we all stay when our show is in town. It's not the Ritz or anything like that, but it's friendly." She took his arm and led him across the street.
As they enter the Melbridge Arms, they can hear music all around them. The piano emitting a cheerful jig while in the middle of the pub, people were laughing and singing heartily while dancing around in circles to the tunes of harmonicas and flutes. As they made their way across to the bar, people stopped to greet them. "Hey Mione!" someone on the dance floor called out.
"Hi there Hermione!" Another man on the sideline greeted her.
"Hey!" she waved, "That's our character woman Luna," she explained to Harry, "And that's our manager Lee Jordan. He's a dear really"
"Hello Hermione!' The man sitting on one of the stools at the bar welcomed them cheerfully.
"Hey Ernie" Hermione smiled
"Have a drink!" Ernie looked at Harry and patted him on the back. "And an Auror too!"
"There you see?" Hermione gently tapped Harry's arm. "You're amongst friends!"
As they sat, they can hear the barkeep, a bald, stout cheerful looking man talking to the audience at the bar.
"He was game! The gunner was. Halfway through the 10th, he ran right into me right hook." He waved his hand dramatically "Forgot his name and address. You don't win fights with your hands and feet." The barkeep pointed to the picture hanging behind him of a short boxer with his arm victoriously in the air while by his feet, another man was lying completely knocked out on the ground. "You win them with your brains!" he finished. "That's what got me to the top!" with that, the barkeep headed towards them.
"Well, what's it going to be Mione. It's on the house," the barkeep offered generously.
"Why thank you Tom!" Hermione replied, " I'll have a butterbeer, and can I have a firewhiskey for my friend here?"
"My pleasure my dear." Tom examined Harry intently. "Looks as though he could use one. Feeling bad?" he asked him.
"No no..I-I" Smith tried to respond.
"He's just tired, that's all" Hermione answered for him.
"Not the flu is it?" Tom asked, "Dying like flies at the hospital they've been."
"That's right, cheer him up" Hermione said sardonically, "Know anymore funny stories?"
"I was only passing a remark," said Tom as he retrieved the drinks, "It's a free country now that You-Know-Who is gone."
"Well pass him a free drink!" she told him, "That'll do him all good"
"Here it is" Tom handed Hermione a bottle. "And here is a touch of the good stuff that is," he said as he handed Harry a shot glass. "Bring anyone back from the grave.'
"My you are just a ray of sunshine today aren't you Tom?" Hermione said teasingly as she took a sip of her Butterbeer.
"Hey Hermione! Don't be late" Lee Jordan called out as he left the pub.
"No I won't Lee," Hermione replied. The two quickly downed their drinks before getting up to leave.
"I got to get over to the theatre." Hermione told him, "Thanks for the free drinks Tom! Shall we go?" She took Harry by the arm again and walked out the door.
Behind them, they could hear Tom announce proudly, "Well there goes one of the heroes. He's one of the men who done it!"
Harry and Hermione made their way into the street. She shook his hand and held it. "Well I must get over to the theatre. I'm cutting a bit close. It doesn't seem very friendly running away after this. What are you going to do?"
"I'll..be alright" Harry smiled politely, not wanting to trouble her any longer.
"You sure?" Hermione took a hold of his arm again. "Listen, how would you like to see the show? You can sit at my dressing room. You can see the stage from the balcony. They'll be no one there to bother you there. Then we can have a good chat afterwards, just you and I? To settle what is to be done? Good?" Smith smiled at her gratefully and nodded. "Good!" she said as he allowed her to lead him down the street.