Quoth the Raven, Nevermore
Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Reviews are welcomed, flames aren't. Sorry for the delays in posting but thankfully now that summer is officially (for us that is) over, we should be posting more regularly. -GF and The Frau
Chapter 16: For the Rare and Radiant Maiden
After John Hadrian had seen Hermione off with the rest of her class, he returned to Wolf and his studies. He didn't want to. He was well ahead in them and, honestly, he was bored and lonely. It had been fun showing all his favorite hiding places to his new friend.
Thankfully, the princes had stayed away. They usually did when they didn't know the person John was with. Good thing too, he wasn't sure how he would have explained them to her.
Hermione was the first kid he had spoken to, and actually had a chance to play, with since the last time he visited Charley two months ago. However, Charley was busy with school and couldn't skip classes if he wanted to stay on the football team. So more frequent visits weren't possible.
John Hadrian sighed as he headed back to his quarters.
Ben and Wolf were waiting for him when he entered the make-shift classroom. Both men's faces were expressionless, and John couldn't read them as he did normally. He had learned to read adults when he had been with the Dursleys to keep himself safe.
"Did you have a nice time, John?" Ben asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I guess so, but she had to go home with her class," John said glumly. He looked over at the tourist exit.
"Did you get her particulars?" Wolf grinned.
John nodded and handed over a piece of notebook paper with Hermione's name and contact information. Wolf gave a nod as he held up the scrap. "Well done, John."
"I think today is a skip day, don't you, Wolf?" Ben asked as he turned John to the stairs leading up to their apartment.
Wolf looked at the slip of paper and nodded. "See you tomorrow, John."
John gave a wave, but didn't say anything. He knew he was being rude, but he didn't care.
He looked up at Ben with mournful eyes and asked, "Am I in trouble again, sir?"
0o0o0o0
Ben and Wolf had watched John and his new friend all afternoon by ducking in and out of the buildings to remain out of sight. The Yeoman Warders tried to keep a careful watch over the pair as well, although John, who was usually very adept at escaping notice, hadn't even tried to remain unseen. It amused them to no end at how happy and carefree John seemed which was very unusual with the quiet child.
They knew that John was, for the most part, a happy and well-adjusted child who took to learning well. However, the only time they had ever seen him this animated was when he was with the princes.
When a frantic teacher came to them about a missing student and described her, it didn't take them long to realize that John had been giving the missing student the 'unofficial tour'.
Wolf looked down at the slip of paper. They had been so very careful with who had access to John that they had all forgotten that the boy needed other children around him. Ben's grandson Charley and John were good friends, but they lived too far apart and Charley was now at boarding school most times when they visited.
Wolf went to his office and made a few phone calls. John had been quite taken with the girl, more so than he had with any other child he'd come across at the compound.
He, and even Ben, had been able to sense that the young girl was magical. They were both unsure why the wards had allowed her such free access. They could only speculate that because of her age and innocence, she was exempt.
A knock sounded on his door and John walked in.
"Wolf?"
"Yes, John?"
"Are you going to see if Hermione can be my friend?"
"Yes, but we have to be careful," Wolf said as he moved from his desk to sit on his couch. John came over and sat beside him.
"She doesn't know she's magical and we can't tell her," John said.
"Why is that?"
"She's a Muggle-born," John started to explain. "The Lady said that Hermione can't know about me until I'm 15. I said that was awful, but the Lady said it can't be helped. She explained that Hermione worships authority figures and once she goes to Hogwarts she might tell them about me. I want her as a friend and I promise, I won't tell her about me! The Lady said that Hermione would be a good friend. Please, Wolf? Can I have her as a friend?"
Wolf took in the longing in John's green eyes. He thought through what his charge was saying. In their time together
he'd learned that John held a very special connection with the Goddess. That She was visiting and talking to John was mind-boggling, and he still found it hard to comprehend. It was Her will that John be raised at the Tower under Her very powerful protection. And Wolf, knowing John's destiny, had to agree.
He sighed and pulled the boy closer. It made his heart ache to think any child would have to beg for a friend. "After the background check, I will go see her parents and explain some things. It'll be up to her parents whether they agree or not."
John nodded as he leaned into the man's side. "Thanks, Wolf. We just won't tell her I'm a wizard or anything, right?"
0o0o0o0
Dan and Emma Granger were normal, everyday dentists with a private practice in Crawley. They had one daughter, Hermione Jane.
The last patient was just leaving as two men dressed in dark pinstripe suits and briefcases entered the surgery quietly at the end of the day.
"We're closed, sirs. You will need to come back tomorrow," the receptionist said, covering her equipment and making sure her desk was ready for the next day.
"I'm Sir Connor Bronson adjutant major to the PM and this is Reginald Smythe, my assistant. We wish to speak to both the Doctors," Sir Connor said, pulling out his ID. "It won't take long."
With a wide-eyed gasp, she ushered the two men into the office's conference room and hurried to inform the Grangers of their visitors.
Two very confused but tired dentists took their seats around the table as their receptionist was dismissed for the day.
"We are here to discuss your daughter, Hermione Jane, aged 9. Now, don't worry, she isn't in any trouble. She was on a field trip last week, was she not?" Sir Connor stated, getting right to the point.
Emma Granger, a slender, professional-looking woman with blue eyes and brown hair, could not keep the surprise out of her face. "Why, yes. Hermione and her class went to the Tower of London last week. She said she met a very interesting boy there. He showed her things that weren't on the public tour. They didn't do anything wrong, did they?"
"Hardly, Doctor," Smythe replied as the pair of men exchanged looks. "The young man she met lives at the Tower with the Assistant Ravenmaster and his wife."
"But children don't live in the Tower," Daniel Granger said. He was a tall man with short-trimmed bushy hair. "I thought there was a law or something?"
"No, sir," Major Bronson added. "John McIntyre lives with his guardians by the Discretion of the Crown. He has lived there since he was five."
"What has this to do with us?" Emma asked.
"When his parents were killed, the boy was sent to live with his mother's relatives; however, they weren't the nicest of people. In short, he ran away and was found at the Tower. When Her Majesty visited the Tower, he popped out of hiding and asked for help; startled everyone present, but it's been known to happen. Her Majesty was appalled by the child's condition. The boy didn't want to leave the Tower as he had, it seemed, grown attached to one of the Yeomen Warders in residence. Her Majesty graciously consented and John now resides there with one of the Warders' family."
"I see," Emma mused. "Then this 'John' was the one that showed Hermione around?"
"Yes, Doctor. He has asked if your daughter could be visit him on a regular basis. At Her Majesty's charge, he is not permitted to leave the grounds for school. As there are no other young children there, he is very lonely. Doctor, your daughter was the first student his age that he's ever approached. John is very carefully watched."
"Gracious! He isn't dangerous, is he?"
"No, Doctor. By watched, I mean that he has the interest of Her Majesty, the Prime Minister and some of the Cabinet. John Hadrian is a child prodigy. He is being tutored and specially groomed at Her Majesty's command. However, for all that, we adults tend to forget that he is a mere child, with a child's needs."
"In other words, he wants a friend. But why Hermione?" Dan asked.
Reginald Smythe shrugged. "Who knows what goes on in the minds of children? A request was made to our office, and we did a thorough background check of your whole family. We feel that you and your daughter would be doing a great service for Her Majesty by granting this request."
Dan and Emma looked at each other. They both knew that Hermione had come home excited about meeting a boy at the Tower. She had since exchanged a letter with him. She had never shown this amount of interest in making friends before. The letter that John had sent back was full of interesting gossip, and both parents had gotten a distinct sense of loneliness from the child's words.
"We will, of course, discuss this with our daughter before we make a decision," Dan said.
"Of course, Dr Granger," Major Bronson agreed, standing. "Here is my card; please contact my office with your decision. And Doctor?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I have three official passes for you and your family, you can visit the Tower any time," he slid the passes and his card across the table. "If you do, you might like to know that John is usually found outside in the afternoons when the weather is decent."
0o0o0o0
The next day an invitation to tea at the Tower with Yeoman Warder McIntyre and family arrived in the morning post and the Grangers decided to take the day off.
The Grangers met a Yeoman Warder just outside the Tower compound. They were ushered through the private gate that the Yeomen and their families used, thus avoiding the tourist entrance . The guard on duty waved them in with a smile once they presented their special passes.
Hermione was nervously chewing on her bottom lip once again. "Do I look all right, Mum?" She fidgeted, plucking at imaginary wrinkles in her skirt.
"You look lovely, Hermione, sweetling. Relax, you'll do fine." Emma smiled at her nervous daughter, noting how Hermione's eyes scanned eagerly for any sight of her new friend.
"There! Mum, Dad, there he is!" her happy squeal caught the attention of a young boy at play on the Green. His head snapped up in surprise as he looked eagerly around til he spotted them.
John Hadrian gave a happy wave and ran towards the three of them. "'Mione!" he called, his voice ringing joyously across the greensward, "you came!"
0o0o0o0
Until next time. -GF and The Frau
