Chapter 10

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror, she'd had surplus time so she had decided to curl her hair. It was weird looking at herself with ringlets. She looked like her old self, just with darker circles under her eyes.

She had almost washed it out, the panic it gave her was nearly too much to bear, but she'd breathed deeply and closed her eyes and counted to ten. When she'd opened them, she felt calmer, if ever so slightly, and had carried on putting on her makeup. Theo had already found her, there was nothing curly or straight hair would change. If someone was going to stumble on her, here in the middle of nowhere, they'd recognise her either way.

So she pulled on her jeans, her heels, and a black blouse before grabbing a handbag and walking out the door. She felt good, but she didn't want to dwell too much on her appearance before she lost the small amount of courage she had gained just then.

Walking into the Lion's Den, the pub she had picked Theo up from the night before, she looked around. She didn't really know what Amelia looked like. She imagined a Lavender Brown type.

She was not disappointed as she watched a perky, blond woman wave her over. "Hermione?"

"Amelia?" Both girls nodded together and Hermione slipped into the booth opposite. Amelia was very beautiful, she had golden skin, long wavy hair, and soft freckles. She looked straight out of the pages of a magazine. "What would you like to drink?" Amelia tried to protest, saying that she would buy the first round, but Hermione insisted.

"A gin and tonic then, please." Amelia said after quickly flicking through the limited drinks card that sat on the table. Hermione nodded, slipping out of the booth and up to the bar. She leaned on to the bar, waiting for Bob to come over. This was the first time she'd been into the bar properly since she'd moved to town.

She ordered. She'd never done the fun drinks part of growing up. There was the war, there was the sorrow and hiding, and then there was here. She'd never had friends to drink or laugh with... it hadn't been what she wanted but it made her sad to know that it was another life moment that she had been deprived of. In another life, it would have been different.

She'd never wished she'd not been a witch, that she'd not met Harry or Ron, sent her parents away, or helped save the Wizarding world because they had helped so many people, but in another life... another world... she would have been happy, whole and unafraid. She would have been sat, in the Leaky Cauldron, holding onto a large chalice of butter beer, singing Wizarding folk songs with Ron - he did always like to sing when he'd had one too many - and laughing about their jobs, or disastrous dates they had been on, or the new edition of the prophet. Their lives had been stolen from them; the freedoms they thought they were owed, ripped from their hands because of Voldermort.

She blinked back the tears at the thought of her past life. It wouldn't do for anyone to see her crying at the bar as she waited for her drinks. She had been thinking of Harry and Ron more and more since Theo had showed up in her life, disrupting the careful little fantasy that she had created. Once or twice, she had almost asked him about them, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

Sighing, she took hold of the glasses Bob proffered and turned back to the bubbly girl sitting in the booth at the back of the quiet pub. In another world, she would have been an Amelia. "Here we are." She smiled, imitating the girl before her. For one night, she could be an Amelia... or she could pretend at least.

"Cheers!" Amelia was kind and confident, the kind of person that attracted attention. She was loud and you just wanted to laugh with her. When she asked Hermione about her childhood, Hermione lied. She made up one where there was no war, no Death Eaters, there was only normal teenage drama. She made up a reason as to why she was here, her friends back home, her parents. It was all make believe... all a fake fantasy that would never be true. It's not that she wanted it to be true; she loved being a witch, loved Hogwarts, loved her friends, but they had all taken so much from her. She was an empty shell of who she was. She had managed to pretend otherwise, had managed to convince herself she was getting better, but she was so broken.

At the end of the night, they stood up together. Hermione was glad she'd come, even though she had been reluctant at first. "It was lovely to meet you." She said, and she really was being honest.

Amelia told her she'd pop by the bookshop in the morning and they could grab coffee together and Hermione eagerly nodded, stiffening slightly as the blond gave her a hug but forcing herself to relax. They parted ways, Hermione wandering up the street, for once feeling like a normal woman.


"Theo?" Hermione looked up as the bell chimed to the bookshop; she could see him checking a mobile phone as he walked up the aisle. "What are you doing?" After their discussion the previous week, where Hermione had chided him, he seemed to have gained some understanding of her perspective. He had given her some space and even waited to allow her to seek him out when she was ready. After not hearing from him for a few days, she had sent a patronus asking if he wished to get a coffee together and he had agreed. She felt that was progress. She had promised him she would try and she really, really, wanted to. Plus there were moments over his absentee days that she missed his joking; he had managed to bring some semblance of a sense of humour back to her life, however misguided his initial efforts had been, and she missed it when he wasn't there.

She was obviously a glutton for punishment; knowing that the nightmares and panic attacks seemed to mirror his presence in her life, but loneliness was also a cruel mistress. Now that someone had forced her to realise just how secluded she had become, the loneliness was starting to feel like a lead weight on her shoulders.

Theo looked up, his face a picture of confusion as he stared at the swanky mobile device. "I saw you had one of these little boxes." He flipped it over and over in his palm as he walked towards her, flopping down in one of the plush armchairs near her counter after handing her a steaming to-go cup of her favourite coffee. "I thought it high time I immersed myself further into Muggle Society if I may be staying longer."

He continued to flip the phone in his fingers, looking thoroughly confused. "I'm eager to know how your conversation with the store clerk went, especially if you asked for a little black box." She was laughing at him now, giggling at the thought of him trying to explain what he was looking for.

"It was rather hilarious, thankfully after about fifteen minutes of trying to explain what I was looking for, she understood and fetched me one from the back. There are so many, I just asked for the most expensive and this is what she gave me."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione laughed again, "You hardly know what it does but you had to have the most expensive one?"

"Of course, I don't want people thinking I'm cheap, do I?" Theo said to her, as if the notion was obvious.

Her response was sarcastic, as she moved round the desk, holding out her hand for him to pass her the device. "Of course, I'm ever so sorry. What purpose do you think this black box has?"

"It's like an owl." He watched eagerly as she turned it on and the screen jumped to life, "Oooh." She smiled down at him, for once taller as she stood over his seated form, and enjoyed the look of wonder that sprung onto his face. It reminded her of what her face was like when she saw Hogwarts for the very first time.

"That was very sweet," She told him, nudging his shoulder as he flushed slightly red. "And yes, it is a bit like an owl. But also a bit like a floo call." She asked if he had the box the phone came in and the wire anywhere, and explained how he had to plug it in regularly to keep it working. When it turned on and they had managed to set it up (it was a little dicey when they tried to get his thumbprint in to unlock it), she inputted her number and told him to go outside so that they could practice. "Just press this button here when you are outside and you will be able to speak to me."

He stood up, taking the outstretched phone and headed out into the street. Not moments later, the phone on her counter rang, "Hello," She said, waiting for the response.

"HERMIONE!" He yelled down the phone, she could see him standing on the other side of the glass, holding the phone in front of his face and yelling into it.

"Theo, you don't have to shout." She winced, "Put the phone next to your ear!" She maybe should have explained that bit.

Theo couldn't hear her, instead he carried on yelling, "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT!" She was shouting down the phone now, also holding it in front of her face because the noise was so loud.

Theo opened the door poking his head inside, "Hermione, it's not working." It sounded so much like a petulant whine she burst into laughter. He watched for her a moment before joining in. "Help?"

After a few more practices, he managed to successfully receive and make a phone call. He came back in, exceptionally happy with himself and Hermione had to agree. She told him as much and he beamed.


The next few weeks passed without anything of note. Theo had come in and out and she was starting to get slightly more used to his presence - after the mobile phone setup, she had actually started to even find some enjoyment in the moments they spent together. She'd also been hanging out with Amelia in her spare time, the reprise from her loneliness a surprising relief. She now had two people who she would consider a 'friend'. Amelia, of course, knew a completely made up version of her life, but it was nice to have someone who sought her out that she didn't have a torrid history with. Theo, on the other hand, knew far too much about her past and the current troubles she was going through. She still woke up every night screaming, thoughts of Death Eaters and dark magic swirling in the darkness. That part wasn't getting any easier.

It had been a particularly troubling evening and she was running on less than two hours of sleep, something that made her feel exhausted, sad and irritable. She'd made it through the morning without snapping, but it was getting harder with every passing moment. At midday, she left the bookshop, wrapping her coat around her body and shouldering her bag. For once she fancied a toastie and a coffee for lunch, so she'd decided to head down the road and indulge.

The street was bustling with midday shoppers who didn't seem perturbed by the frigid weather. She smiled, the feeling of being in the fresh air brightening her mood. And then, she saw something that made her smile falter. Theo and Amelia... Theo and Amelia stood together, smiling and laughing at the counter in the coffee shop, waiting for drinks. Her insides crumbled and she didn't quite know why.