Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the Potter-verse. Everything you recognise belongs to the magnificent Ms Rowling. I do, however own any characters you don't recognise.

A/N: Next chapter. The real story won't start until chapter five (or six, depending on how much I write) so it's still giving background information. Thanks to all reviewers!


Fulfilling Prophecies

Chapter Three

October 21st 2000

Sinking into the couch, Harry tried to hide from Allie's glare. He wasn't very successful.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew my friend?" She sounded a little angry and was standing, hands on hips, in an intimidating manner, although Harry couldn't quite fathom why. She had seemed to almost forget about it during their busy day; he had hoped she would have forgotten all about it by the time they got home that evening and not ask him any more awkward questions.

"I honestly didn't know who she was, today was the first time I ever met her!" Holding his hands up in surrender, Harry tried to appease his angry flatmate. "I knew her cousin well, before she was … killed. But I never knew much of the family – although they apparently knew about me." He managed to get out the difficult words about what had happened to Hermione before quickly moving on.

Allie quickly dropped her angry glare, "oh, Harry, I wasn't really mad at you. I was only teasing – you're far too easy to tease." She sat down next to him on the couch. "I remember Connie telling me about her cousin; it was just after she left England. Two years ago was it? I didn't know much about it, but Connie really cared for her cousin. On one occasion she spent over two hours on the phone to me, telling me about when they were kids growing up together. They seemed to be really close until they went to different schools." An awkward silence fell, Harry was thinking about why he had never heard much about Connie before. He remembered a few times when Hermione had spoken about a cousin she had been close with, but she never seemed to say much more than that. She had once confided to Harry that she didn't want to say very much about them for fear of getting them dragged into the Wizarding war. A few minutes passed as he was lost in thought. He sensed that Allie was waiting for him to say something, anything at all.

"Hermione was an amazing friend to me. I miss her so much. It hurts all the time, even now, two years later. I've lost so many friends but I somehow manage to make it through the day, remembering them when I can, always knowing they cared for me, and knowing I will always care for them." Feeling his eyes grow damp, Harry quickly stood. He hadn't cried in front of anyone since the day he had woken up in the hospital wing at Hogwarts two months after the battle. "Look, Allie, I know you probably want to talk about this, among other things" like my name change, he thought, "but I can't. Please don't make me go through it."

Allie stood up and gave him a hug, something he still hadn't gotten used to, no matter how often his friends had tried to show him how they felt. "I won't Harry. But if you ever do want to talk about it, I'll listen." He nodded his head above her as she let go to hold him at arm's length. "Now, you better go get some sleep. I know for a fact that you didn't sleep properly last night, and you're supposed to be meeting Connie early tomorrow morning. Off to bed with you, Potter." He noticed the use of his former name, and gave her a smile to show he understood what she meant by it. No matter what he was called, they were still friends.

The next morning, after a sleep filled with images of Hermione, found Harry sitting at a small coffee shop in central London, speaking with the cousin of one of his best friends. "So, you're telling me that she blew up a dessert, in the middle of a family reunion dinner?" Harry had to laugh; he was enjoying himself as he talked with Connie about Hermione. It was helping his ever-present grief to learn more about her life, particularly before Hogwarts.

"Yes! Of course, her parents tried to figure out how most of their family ended up covered in chocolate cake. I remember her telling me afterwards that she had done it. I'm pretty sure I believed her too, but then at six-years-old I believed everything she said." She, too, seemed to be enjoying reminiscing about the cousin she had obviously been very close with.

"I can't imagine Hermione ever believing in something without having real proof for it!" Harry took a sip of his coffee, smiling around the rim of the cup. "Did I tell you about the time in our first year, with the philosopher's stone and the Devil's Snare? It was such a Hermione thing to do, she remembered the facts, and she knew exactly what to do to get us out of danger. She knew we needed to make some sort of fire to free ourselves, but she forgot one important thing."

"What was that?"

"She was a witch. You should've heard her, 'there's no wood!'" Connie laughed at Harry's falsetto voice. "Honestly, she was getting hysterical until I reminded her that she was a witch, and had the only piece of wood she would need in her hand."

They continued to swap stories, filling in the parts that the other didn't know, laughing and smiling over their coffee cups.

Over the next few days, Harry found himself meeting Connie on several occasions. He had the feeling that they both needed to talk about things with someone else. He knew that she hadn't had many people close to her to talk to when she had heard what had happened. And there was the fact that she didn't know everything that had happened. She was never told the full details – not many people knew exactly what had occurred between Harry, Lucius Malfoy, Pettigrew, Dumbledore and Hermione during the Battle of Hogsmeade – but Harry still didn't want to say, even when she asked, in case she might hate him for what he did.

As for himself, he had only had a month to deal with it, and during that time Ron hadn't been talking to him, so he had one less friend to grieve with. It didn't help that he had had to help teach classes, fight against Death Eater attacks, as well as keep up with his own training. Then there was the battle at Hogwarts. And once he had woken up and had to face the world again, he had run away; keeping everything to himself and creating a new life. Talking like this was definitely something they both needed.

Harry also decided that getting to know Connie as herself was a good idea after he accidentally called her Hermione four times in the space of ten minutes. And as he was getting to know her, he found he enjoyed spending time with her as her, not just as Hermione's cousin. He hadn't found a replacement for his lost friend, just a friend who he could talk to about the more secret aspects of his life. And friends like that were few and far between for Harry.

October 27th

Sitting at the large desk in his room, Harry frowned as he concentrated on writing his essay. Looking over to an open book beside him, he placed his pen down and flicked through its pages, searching for a piece of information that eluded his mind. After skimming through half the book trying to find it Harry growled softly in frustration. This essay seemed to be incredibly hard, and far too long. He normally didn't have much trouble with his assignments, having had a lot of practice by filling rolls of parchment with homework for his classes at Hogwarts. Of course, the subject matter was very different now, instead of writing about the properties of the Wolfsbane potion, or the problems in cross-species transfiguration, he had to write about the different theories of social psychology in relation to relationships.

Deciding to give up on his work for the evening, Harry removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to get rid of the headache which was beginning to form. Sparing a glance at the clock, he saw it was only eight o'clock.

"I needed an early night after this eventful week anyway." Harry muttered to himself as he tidied his desk, beginning to pile the thick textbooks on top of a locked trunk. Stopping abruptly, Harry decided that sleep wasn't what he needed right now. Grinning to himself, he silently checked the charms and wards he always had on his room before magically unlocking the trunk. Pulling out a broomstick and a flowing silver cloak, Harry felt his tension already begin to dissipate.

A few minutes later Harry was looking back down at his bedroom window from high above. This was where he felt right. In the air on his Firebolt Harry could ignore anything, concentrating only on the pull of the air around him, tugging his cloak tightly and making sure it would stay on. Dropping down into a dive, Harry swerved between the branches of the trees, skilfully avoiding their reaching arms. Pulling out of the woods, he came to the road. Flying alongside the cars, Harry felt a sort of pride that his broomstick could keep up with the traffic on the open road.

While he didn't use his magic or magical belongings very often, Harry hadn't wanted to give them up entirely. It was a part of him, Harry Potter, and so he did things like this every so often, so he didn't get completely lost in being Harry Evans.

Harry flew for another half hour before he felt the warning in his mind that meant someone was knocking on the door to his room. Focusing on the image of his room, Harry didn't even bother to land before apparating back. Whoever was outside his door was being very persistent, knocking a steady rhythm.

"Hang on, give me a moment!" Harry called out as he waved his wand over himself, smoothing his windswept hair and changing his clothes to a t-shirt and sweat pants. Once his broomstick and invisibility cloak were safely in his trunk Harry swept his glance around the room, making sure there was nothing out of place, and opened the door.

"It's about time!" Allie said in greeting, "what took you so long?"

"I was asleep; I didn't think it would be a good idea for you to see me in my bed-clothes." Harry said with a smirk.

"Why not? I wouldn't care if you were wearing pink pyjamas with hearts on them – though I might've been a little disturbed by it." said Allie in amused confusion.

Still smiling, Harry raised an eyebrow, "who said I was wearing pyjamas?" He fought back laughter as the girl in front of him blushed, finally realising what Harry meant. "Sorry Allie, I really didn't mean to keep you waiting. Anyway, what brings you to my room this evening?"

"I need your help with the essay," she said, her eyes pleading in her not-so-innocent way.

Groaning, Harry said "not tonight, please. I was working on it for three straight hours this evening. I'll help you tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh, all right. But I'll be sure to keep you to your promise." Allie said rolling her eyes. "Are you sure you're tired? It's still early, and I'm bored and in need of some entertainment." She raised an eyebrow suggestively and Harry laughed at his friend's playful nature.

With a grin, Harry pushed her from his room, "give me ten minutes to get ready, and then we'll go find you some entertainment."

She grinned back and gave him a quick hug before rushing to her room to leave her work behind.