A Moment of Eternity
By Uenki
Disclaimers: I do not own Harry Potter. However, I own the plot.
CHAPTER 4: UTOPIA
"It was not long before they wanted to seek for a utopia. A place where there is no pain, no suffering and no existence of the man known as Steve. Simply huddling in their mother's warm embrace was enough no more. They could not bear to see her getting hurt for them any more. They decided to escape and to search for a new utopia, and not too long afterwards, they found it.
Wherever she goes, that is their utopia. She, that beautiful girl with the most striking cinnamon brown eyes they had ever seen." –FAKE, Chapter 3, Page 87
Cottage located somewhere on Earth
In a cottage, there was a study room. Inside the study room, there was a table situated in the middle of the room. On the table, however, was a snowy owl with a sealed envelope on her leg, ready to take flight and a tall man who was playing with her as an act of appreciation. One last affectionate nip of her master's finger, Hedwig took flight and soared out of the window into the skies.
Harry gazed at the owl as he walked off, slamming the door of the study room in the process, leaving an exquisitely wrapped musical box and a read parchment on the wooden table.
Upon closing the door, Harry leaned onto the door and sighed, registering two facts in his mind, which is, Mary wanted to see him and Hermione was accompanying her to the Zoo in Muggle London tomorrow.
He bowed his head down and looked at the calloused and blood-stained hands of his. 'Am I ready,' he thought, struggling to keep his façade in check, 'to face her after all these years?'
James Evans was a reminder of his dad and mom and the people he have killed during the Dark War, but other than that, it was simply a pen name. 'For how long have I been impersonating Jake?' Harry thought, knuckles turned ivory white as he clenched his fists tightly, 'and for exactly how long have I been trying to escape from the reality? Without Hermione, do I still have the courage to live on?'
Harry was sick and tired of putting on a nonchalant attitude towards the whole world. Being all-too-cheerful, smiling 365 days and twenty-four hours, Hero-of-the-whole-Magical-World was draining everything out of him and all that was left was a weary mind and body. The deaths he had seen and experienced were countless, and the things that he wanted to change were all too immense.
At a mere eleven years old, Magic was like salvation because his life was miserable with the Dursleys. However, till now, magic was none other than a burden to be discarded of. That was possibly the reason behind Jake's existence, someone who does not experience loneliness and someone who could gain control of that he wanted to do.
Harry created a world using words, a world and a reality which could occur, if he was just an ordinary child, still living with the Dursleys. Everything could occur if his name is Jake, but he isn't. His name is Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. He was not entitled to an ordinary life, just simply because his name is Harry Potter.
Yet, he would surely regret it if he was not a wizard, due to the fact that he would miss a possibility of meeting her, of meeting Hermione.
A sad, longing smile was etched on his dry and flaky lips.
Maybe, if he could comfort himself with the existence of Hermione, maybe he could, just maybe… be free.
That simple thought perished once it was being formed. He stole a glance at the yellow Acacia on a counter in the hallway as he picked himself up from the ground and approached it. Fingering the flora tenderly, a small, yearning and almost hopeful smile reached his lips.
'Harry Potter! How could you be so irresponsible and behave so capriciously when we are at the edge of danger, Voldemort could appear anytime and anywhere!' He could almost visualize Hermione snippets of nagging, anxious and anxiety etched on her face. He just realized, she almost never seemed to smile. The worried look in her eyes, the little frown that was constantly on her face and the concerns and care she held for him every time.
'That was just so… Hermione.'
Lakeside,
Hogwarts
-Five years before
"Harry Potter! How could you be so irresponsible and behave so capriciously when we are at the edge of danger, Voldemort could appear anytime and anywhere!"
He was lying down on the lush greenery when Hermione's forceful, a little strained voice reached his ears. He sat up, turned back and saw Hermione approaching him with a thick, leather-bound book in her hands. He shut his eyes tightly, waiting for a thunderous speech and Hermione's death glare to descend upon him.
Instead, it never came. What came was a tight embrace from a girl who smelt of parchment and ink. He opened his eyes in surprise to see Hermione's eyes glistening with unshed tears, appearing to say something but no words came out from her mouth.
"Harry… you…" he waited for her to calm down, stroking her back gently as an act of reassurance, but he regretted it the moment she regained her composure. "HARRY POTTER, YOU ARE SUCH A MORON!"
That deafening shriek caused him to be knocked out of his pace, his train of thoughts interrupted, his eyes widening in shock. Registering the fact that Hermione just called him a moron, it was no biggie. No biggie at all.
"We were all looking for you, Ron, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, even Snape is looking for you! We were fearful, so fearful of you landing in Voldemort's hands! Your safety is the most important thing here, Harry! Could you understand? Can you understand? You…!" she paused, her outburst stopped as she slumped down onto the ground, hugging the thick book tightly.
"You are the world's most idiotic moron I have ever seen!" She finished, with Harry who looked absolutely speechless. Stifling a chuckle, he landed on the ground, looking at the azure sky and avoiding eye contact with Hermione.
"Sorry Hermione," he started, "I just need a breather, that's all." Hermione's gaze at him softened as she lay side by side with Harry, looking at the same sky as him and sighing softly. She understood, without a doubt, with the war pressing closer, Hogwarts became a place which suffocates every living human in it.
The leaves on the trees rustled, swaying and dancing in pace with the wind. The air felt fresh at the lakeside, and the owls were flying in the sky.
"It's amazing isn't it, Harry?" Harry diverted his attention to the girl beside him, "even if a war is raging, the color of the skies never change, greeneries still existed and the air felt as fresh as ever." He could feel himself agreeing and smiling to Hermione's words. Her words were almost magical, it always seemed to comfort him whenever he needed it the most.
He sat up and stood up reaching out a hand to Hermione. She sat up and eyed the hand questioningly.
"Let's go, Hermione," he ushered, as the wind blew graciously. Hermione smiled, a rarest kind that was hard to catch, she was happy and he felt complete at that moment.
It was simply like a moment of eternity.
Cottage, Weasleys
"Aunt Hermione!" A little girl called, her red hair tangled wildly, looking slightly disheveled. The woman known as Hermione, with her bushy brown hair tied up in a low ponytail, turned back and carried the little girl in her arms, who was waving a parchment.
"Mary, what's this?" she questioned, while Mary grinned from ear to ear. 'Even her eyes were smiling, just what happened?' Hermione thought, curiosity aroused.
"Uncle Harry said yes!" Mary exclaimed, while Hermione raised an eyebrow thinking that it was probably an okay to fix her broken musical box. "Uh-huh?" Looking at her response, the three going onto four years old frowned, looking dissatisfied and grumpy.
"Uncle Harry said yes!" She repeated, as she flashed the parchment into Hermione's face. It dawned on Hermione a millisecond after she skimmed through the one-sentenced letter. She gasped softly, a moment later, in surprise.
That cursive, slightly scrawny hand-writing was definitely Harry's, she could not be mistaken. She actually thought she was dreaming, but she felt Mary's weight on her lap, so she definitely was not.
"Mary… Did my eyes deceive me? Are you playing a prank on me?" Hermione asked, eyes never leaving the parchment that Mary was waving around and finally diverted her gaze to the child who had her arms folded in an adult manner, shaking her head stubbornly. She covered her mouth with both hands and large, pearly tears started to fall from her eyes.
Sure Mary, I'll see you tomorrow.
A/N: I know I am a jerk and all, I haven't been updating for about a year plus now. I told you I am working on it, considering the fact that I have been STUCK for a year now. Writer's block, figures eh? I don't even dare to approach my ex-BETA for this story, hoho, fearing that he might scream at me. (No, he won't, on a second thought.)
If you fellows out there spot grammatical mistakes, please inform me and I'll change it! If you don't mind reading a story which updates inconsistently, then feel free to be my BETA. Well, I am sitting for my O Levels this year, and I certainly hope that I will have sufficient time to cope with this story.
I really wanted to write a lot of things about this story! But whenever I sit in front of the computer, I can't type anything!
Contact me via MSN woonchee(at)hotmail(dot)com or email me at uenki(dot)sama(at)gmail(dot)com.