Chapter 3

She closed her eyes and began to breathe as I had instructed and I joined her. I took her hands in mine and pulled at her core. She was so strong it nearly burned my synapse closed. Pushing back I took only what I needed for the demonstration. The ball of light began to glow in our hands and flashes of her life settled in my mind.

"Such a terrible burden on one so young. It made you strong. There is much pain there, but you have found a way to put it behind you. Now you are very happy and content. You love Severus very much. There is a question you have been afraid to ask him. It haunts you. Ask him Hermione. That path leads to great joy." She tried to pull away from me, but there was more. A message. I held on tight. "There is one here who cares for you. A friend who has passed and wants me to tell you that he's ok. A vibrant soul, and yet somehow, only a half. Tall, thin, red hair, goofy smile, prankster." I paused to get the message straight. 'Tell my brother to… oh my… stop taking women to the back room of the shop without locking the front door.'

Hermione tore her hands from mine and looked at me with pain in her eyes, breaking the connection. I looked up at her "Do you know who he is? What he means?" She didn't answer me, but turned and walked away.

I'd failed again. I sat on the rock and watched her walk away angry. I looked up to notice a small crowd of students that were watching us from a distance. They moved on when they saw I noticed them. I felt like such an outsider. Nationality can be a strong bond for a people. It comes from shared history and experience and a mutual trust. I was a zebra in a barn full of horses. They may tolerate me, but I'll never be one of them. It mattered not. I was proud to be a zebra and I had much to teach them whether they liked it or not.

"Emily?" The girl from my first class was walking by alone. "Can I walk with you to Hogsmeade?"

"Sure Professor."

"Is it much farther?"

"No mam, just past the shrieking shack."

"The what?"

"The shrieking shack. The most haunted building in England."

We stopped at the fence to the sad little building. "You don't say. That sounds like fun! Can anyone go in?"

Poor Emily looked at me like I was insane. "Why would you want to go in? I've heard terrible stories of what the specters do to trespassers."

I smiled and looked down at Emily. "They're just people Emily. There's nothing to be afraid of. Once they had lives and families and a future. People who loved them and they loved in return. I wonder why they have stayed behind. I bet they have some wonderful stories." Emily looked worried I would make her go in with me. I laughed at her expression, "Maybe some other time." The relief that washed over her face was worth it. We walked on to the village.

"So what is it I'm supposed to do as a chaperone? Besides the obvious."

Emily had perked up. "Just try to keep us out of trouble and make sure no one loses an arm."

The way she said it made me worry it was a possibility. "Would you mind giving me the Hogsmeade ten cent tour?" Emily smiled and nodded.

We saw everything. Retail stores and apothecary, restaurants and pubs, The candy shop and best of all, a bookstore. Well, I thought it was until we went in and I saw Hermione. She had an armload of books and was just at the counter paying for them. I smiled at her but said nothing as I went to the back of the store. Emily had begged off to be with her friends, so I was free to spend lots of time looking over the shelves full of old tomes. It was so different from home where most of the books were relatively modern. Many of these must go back centuries.

I was so wrapped up in Lectors Spirit Guide that I didn't see Hermione approach me. "Are you looking for anything special?"

I was startled, but pleasantly surprised. "No. Everything here is wonderfully ancient. I've never heard of most of these. I could spend a week just browsing."

Hermione smiled at me knowing the feeling. "I'm sorry I ran off there. To answer your question, yes, I know who it was and what he meant. Can we get a drink and talk?"

I was so glad she was coming around. "Let me buy this and then we'll go." I gave the money to the clerk and then shrank it to fit in my purse. "You know best. Where shall we go?" Hermione pointed to a pub and we went in. The three broomsticks seemed to be a nice place. We settled in at a table and a lady came over for our order. Hermione knew her and smiled, "Butterbeer please."

"And for you?"

"I don't suppose you have a Dr. Pepper?"

She looked at me oddly, "Is that a potion?"

I shook my head and grinned. "Never mind, how about a cup of tea? Jasmine if you have it." The lady nodded and left us.

"Hermione I'm sorry if I… Why is it every sentence I start with these days begins with an apology? I'll never fit in at this rate." The mood hadn't lightened up as I'd hoped. She was just staring at me from across the table. I was ready for snide remarks and even an insult, but not silence. "Did you want to speak to me about your message?"

Her face flushed and she began to rub her fingers. "How did you know about the question I want to ask Severus? Were you using Legilimancy on me?" I couldn't figure out if it was a question or an accusation.

"No, it was not Legilimancy. Legilimancy only shows your memories. What I do can show much more. No, it was the pathway on your core that told me."

"My core?"

"Some people relate it to the soul, although the soul is so much more." She either didn't believe me or simply needed more information. The waitress came back with our drinks and I focused on my tea. "How can I put this? As magical beings our core is an electromagnetic record of all we are, from the time we are children until we die. Every action we do, every word we speak, every emotion we experience, makes a mark on that core. Like the old fashioned vinyl records the muggles use to record music. Do you know them?"

She nodded, "I am muggle born too."

I was happy to hear that. It was one more thing we had in common. "If you look at it in bright light you can see all the little grooves and scratches that make up a complex symphony. The record player converts the scratches back to music. I can convert the grooves and scratches of your core back into images and feelings which I can understand. The stronger the feeling or action, the more pronounced it is, the easier to read. It's not as complete as Legilimens. For instance, I know you have a question to ask him that is very important to you. But I don't know what the question is. Does that make sense?"

She took some time to consider what I'd said. "Yes, I understand. It seems I owe you an apology Lydia. I had taken you for a faker like Trelawney. Your about as far away from her as Severus is from Slughorn." I was the one confused now. "Slug who?"

She smiled, "Never mind. Can you tell me more about my friend with the message?"

I shook my head no. "I'm sorry. He's gone now. He only wanted you to know that he was okay. Spirits don't live in a linear world like ours. They have no time, nothing to connect them to us unless there is strong emotion. He must have been drifting by and saw us. He was very pleased that I could give you a message, but then he wandered off. Will you tell his brother?"

"I don't know. George is just now getting over the loss of his twin brother Fred. I don't want to cause him pain when I have no real proof of what happened."

"That's understandable, even if the message was meant to bring peace. The dead can be very unhappy about their loved ones distress. So much so that they remain behind with us. This is bad because it can lead to anger and jealousy. I believe Fred is staying nearby for his family. They must be grieving terribly, otherwise he would have moved on by now. Their grief is keeping him from a new destiny."

We'd finished our drinks and had to get back to making sure the kids were still in one piece. It was rather late after we had rounded them up and made it back to the castle. Hermione was silent all the way back, but I think we were past the awkwardness we were swimming in. As we reached the great hall we stopped to say goodnight. "Listen to me Hermione. Ask him."

She looked at me with pain in her eyes. "You don't even know the question. How can you be so sure?"

I wanted to grab her into a hug, but settled for just her arms. "Trust me. Ask him. Goodnight."