Chapter 16: The Zoo Mishap
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the below characters. They all belong to the world of Harry Potter so cleverly created by JK Rowling. Actually, I do technically own Corvus Black and Hermione's
Prophecy.
A/N: Ok, for now, all I'm going to say is I'm sorry this took so long!! Oh, and I don't know if there is actually a park next to the London Zoo, but in my story there is.
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Hermione couldn't quite explain it, but the second she found out that Harry had disappeared on the Order, she knew exactly where he was. As soon as Hermione was sure she was out of sight of
any prying eyes Hermione closed her eyes and thought of her destination. As worried about Harry as she was, she was still thinking clearly enough to make sure that she would not suddenly
appear out of thin air in front of hundreds of muggles. As she opened her eyes, Hermione allowed herself to clear her mind and genuinely smile for the first time in days.
As a child, Hermione's parents had often taken her to the London Zoo. It was tradition that after they finished up walking around the zoo, she and her family would always have a picnic at the park
next door. Her father would almost always allow her to talk him into a game of hide and seek and that was how Hermione had come across this little sanctuary. It wasn't any particularly special,
just a small area surround by bushes that was completely concealed from everyone. In fact she had been so thoroughly hidden that day that she had to change hiding areas and allow herself to be
found so her parent's wouldn't panic. Every time since then however, she had returned to that place, sometimes leaving little trinkets, knowing that nobody would ever find them. Hermione
grinned as she spied a small plastic ring she had gotten out of a machine once when she was about nine.
As Hermione recalled those memories, a bittersweet feeling settled over her. That had been before Hogwarts, before Voldemort, and before she had learned the truth about Charles. As she
remembered all those happy times though, she felt her anger against Charles wane just a little. He truly had been a wonderful father to her, and had never treated her any differently. In fact, she
knew for a fact that he had treated her better and had shown her more love than some of her classmates biological fathers in grade school. Hermione sighed slightly before shaking her head and
refocusing her thoughts.
She allowed herself one last smile as she heard the distant laughter of children, before discreetly making her way out of the hiding area and toward the Zoo. As she approached the entrance
though, Hermione suddenly realized that she didn't have money for admission. "Of all the stupid, idiotic things," she muttered to herself. She fretted for a minute over what to
do before finally coming to a decision. She really didn't want to do it, but she knew that she had to get to Harry and convince him to return before anything bad could happen. As she approached
the entrance she carefully pulled out her wand, being careful to shield it from view. When the employee asked her for her ticket, she quietly whispered "confundes." After telling the confused man
that she had already given him her ticket he quickly apologized and allowed her to enter. Hermione felt horribly guilty, but she knew there wasn't any other way. As she entered the zoo, Hermione
closed her eyes and searched for Harry's presence. After only a moment, Hermione sensed it and took off.
"Hey," she said quietly as she approached Harry. He was sitting on a bench staring off into space. When he heard her voice he snapped back to attention and briefly glanced at her.
"Hey," he responded half-heartedly. Hermione sighed as she sat down next to him. Having spent nearly everday with him for the last six years, she knew that if Harry wanted to talk he would,
and if he didn't, nothing she said or did would make him. They sat their in silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke again. "She told you didn't she. Last night, that's why you kept avoiding my
questions."
"I thought she owed it to you to tell you herself and I told her as much. It would have given her the easy way out for me to tell you."
"Thank you." They sat there for a few more minutes. Hermione was lost in thought when the sound of Harry chuckling snapped her out of it.
"What?" she asked slightly confused.
"Moody must be about ready to skin me alive."
Hermione giggled lightly, "Yeah, the Order was running around like crazy and Moody looked like he was about to kill all of them."
"How did you know where to find me?"
"I'm not really sure," she explained. "It was like I just knew you were here. Listen Harry, I know that you don't want to, but we do need to go back. We are still susceptable to attacks and the
Order is there to protect us."
When they arrived back at the house they nearly attacked by the mob of Order members that suddenly descended on them. Much to their suprised Moody let Harry off with a stern warning before
turning and stiffly walking away. It was only when they saw Remus wink at them did they realize that he must have had a word with Moody. Harry and Hermione returned to his room without any
further incidents (Petunia appeared to have stepped out) and Hermione proceded to tell Harry about her day.
"This locket really is beautiful," Harry said examining it.
"Remus explained it to me. The raven represents my dad, and the dog represents Sirius. The bronze in the engravings and the sapphire gemstone represent Ravenclaw and the gold of the locket
and the ruby represent Gryffindor." As Hermione explained this to him, Harry couldn't help but notice how her face lit up just a little as she talked about Sirius and her father. They continued
talking for the remainder of the evening, trying to figure out where the next clue might lead them. As they were getting ready for bed Hermione spoke once more.
"Harry," she said. "I think its time to fill Ron in, you know how he gets when he feels left out."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "but are you sure you're ready to tell someone new?" Harry wasn't sure why, but for the first time in six years of friendship, he didn't really want to see Ron quite yet.
"Yes," she replied. "I have had enough time to process it and I'm beginning to accept everything. Honestly, now that I'm beyond the initial shock, I'm starting to feel the tiniest bit of pride
knowing that I come from such an old wizarding family. I mean, I know most of them turned out rotten, but the Black family has turned out a couple of decent witches and wizards."
"I'll send Hedwig tomorrow morning," Harry replied not understanding what had come over him. He should be thrilled to be seeing Ron and yet, there was this tiny part of him that wanted to keep
Hermione to himself for just a little bit longer.
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A/N: Hey ya'll, ok I know that some of you have probably completely give up on me and to be honest, I don't blame you. I hate it when authors start a story and then only update once in a blue moon because then I have to go back and re-read some of it to remember what is happening. Anyway, I do want to explain a little bit of what happened. So first of all, my computer started behaving wonky around Christmas time which made it really hard to update. It died a slow and painful death, during which time I lost all internet access making it impossible for me to update. I got a new computer a little less then a month ago, but now that I am back in school, my focus is spread kind of thin. I really struggled with this chapter which is why it is shorter than the rest. Anyway, I probably wont be able to udpate as often as I was, but I promise I will do my best. I know where I want to go with the next few chapters, it was just this chapter that gave me so much trouble because it was more or less a filler chapter. Anyway, I would be ever so grateful if you would review, and also if any of you are into Inu Yasha I started a new fan fiction called "His Little Angel" so if you have a chance, check that one out too please. Thanks!!!
