Chapter Three
Hermione's big breakthrough came several weeks after what was Harry's twenty third birthday. The years had gone by slowly and fast at the same time. A lot of things had happened and yet not much had. Hermione still worked as a Ministry employee, and she
still had Margaret as her assistant. Hermione also still kept up the search for the mystery behind Harry's loss of magic, right until the moment she was convinced she figured it out.
"You did it," Margaret said.
Hermione just stared, her mind frozen. She did it. She actually did it. It had to be it. There wasn't anything else.
"Hermione, you did it. You know why Harry lost his magic. You can help him get it back." Margaret went quiet. "Well, that's if you know where he is."
Hermione managed to recover. "Do you actually think I know where he is?"
Margaret blinked a few times. "Don't you?"
"What makes you think I do?"
"Because you're Hermione, and he's Harry. He must have written to you or let you know that he was okay somehow."
Hermione shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea where he is. He didn't care enough about me to let me know."
Margaret didn't comment on the forlorn look in her boss' eyes. "Are you going to try to get this information to him?" she asked, trying to move the topic of conversation along. "Because you'll probably need to speak to our supervisor first."
Hermione's immediate supervisor was a woman who wasn't particularly fond of anyone. So Hermione went directly to the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. As members of the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione and hehad a certain understanding. As
did many of the other survivors of the Battle of Hogwarts.
"So you've finally figured it out then?" he asked, not sounding the least bit surprised, or impressed. He knew it would have happened eventually. Hermione Granger was the determined type, if not talented.
"I have."
"Good," Kingsley said, setting his hands on his desk in front of him. "I've already began the process of finding him. He hasn't made it easy."
Hermione frowned. "You've already started? But I've just come to you."
He smiled knowingly. "I need Harry Potter here for a bit more than returning his magic to him, Miss Granger. You'll forgive me for not revealing it all to you at present."
Hermione said nothing, although a slight frown remained on her face.
"I've been trying to reach him since I was appointed," Kingsley continued, somewhat truthfully. "For a Muggle, he sure knows how to hide himself."
"Well, he did spend eleven years of his life locked up in a broom closet. Anywhere works for him."
Kingsley decided not to comment on that. "You should probably go down and speak with Mr Weasley. I think the two of you can help each other out with the search."
Hermione did just that. She didn't normally have reason to go down to the Auror Headquarters, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Ron and she avoided each other in the workplace, mainly because they didn't want other people to feel uncomfortable
around them even though they were perfectly fine with each other. Had been, for several years now.
Hermione found him in his cubicle, leaning back in his desk chair and reading the newspaper like his father did. It just warmed her heart.
"So, this is you hard at work then?" Hermione said, quickly getting his attention.
Ron sat up quite rapidly, laughing at himself. "I'm taking a break."
"Do I even have to ask how long of a break this has been?"
A look of guilt flashed across his face. Then he cleared his throat. This was a professional visit. "I assume you're here about Harry."
Hermione nodded. "I hear you're looking for him," she said.
Ron managed a smile. "Have been, since the moment I became an Auror," he admitted. "I told you it was my Department, not yours."
"You could have told me, you know?"
"I don't know what good it would have done," he admitted. Then, with a smile: "We both know how obsessive you can be."
"Hey." She punched him in the arm, but it didn't even seem to register with him; his arm was so strong.
He laughed. "You know that bringing up Harry doesn't bode well for any of us. And plus, I didn't have much to tell. I've no idea where he is. Just where he was."
Hermione just nodded.
"Do you really think you can help him regain his magic?"
"If I'm right about what caused the loss in the first place, then I think I can bring him back."
Ron sighed, stepping towards her. "Hermione, you need to listen to yourself. I know you want to believe that giving him back his abilities will make him better but that isn't how it works. It's been years since we've seen him. He's changed. We've changed.
He's never going to be the Harry we knew. You need to remember that."
"I do." She did. She really did. It just seemed too foreboding to think of him as anyone other than the green-eyed boy she had spent seven years getting to know.
"Good," Ron concluded. "Now, let's see if the two of us can put what we know together and find that elusive non-wizard once and for all."
It took them close to three weeks to get anywhere close to where they thought he was. They tracked him through years of movement until the trail grew painfully cold. At a certain point, they had to agree that Harry just stopped moving.
"He found somewhere he likes," Hermione said, rather sadly. "He found somewhere."
Ron looked at her. "Without us."
Hermione sighed. "Well, umm, it's somewhere between here and Manchester, which gives us quite a lot to work with."
Ron brought out a map. "We can search through these towns in no time," he said. "My team can have it done by the end of the week. We'll find him, and you can make the first approach."
Hermione felt her eyes mist up. "You're sure?"
Ron nodded. "I'm sure."
True to his word, by the end of the week, Ron had news for Hermione. He didn't visit her offices as often as he once did, but once they got over the end of their relationship; they'd managed to hit the heights of their friendship once more. Bickering
and all.
Ron burst in through her slightly ajar door. "We found him!"
Hermione didn't even react to his words. The confusion of excitement and fear paralysed her. "What now?"
"We can go right now, if you want."
Hermione hesitated, suddenly very unsure of herself.
Ron could sense it. "Although, we should probably go tomorrow. I need to get the team prepared, and you probably need to sort out all your research on the matter. I think it's better if we go tomorrow."
All Hermione did was nod.
"Tomorrow, ten o'clock." And then he was gone.
Hermione's heart was racing. Tomorrow. Ten o'clock. She would see Harry James Potter.
It was a small shop. And quiet. The colours were calm and the aroma was strong. It was everything she thought Harry would be. Always there, always hidden and always worth it.
When she entered, there was nobody behind the front counter. An old lady sitting at a table indicated to her that she should ring the bell. Once she did, a voice yelled from somewhere in what she assumed was the kitchen.
"Just a minute."
It was a woman. She would have to ask for Harry. If that was even what he called himself these days. Because she was expecting a woman to emerge from the double doors of the kitchen, she was wholly unprepared when Harry James Potter bundled through, clad
in a baker's apron with flour on his face.
"Sorry about the wait," he muttered, not looking at her as he dusted himself off. "What can I get y - " he stopped quite suddenly once he did look up. He cleared his throat. "Umm, what can I get for you?"
Hermione looked at him for a long time, seeing the boy and the man at the same time. He had grown quite spectacularly. He was taller, more toned, with a jaw to make a girl melt. And his arms. Maybe from kneading dough. Maybe from becoming a Muggle.
Hermione didn't say anything for a moment. Then, stepping back, she said, "I think I'll just have a coffee." She looked at the selection of pastries. "What would you recommend?"
For a moment, he risked a smile, knowing full well what she would want. "Perhaps a lemon and poppyseed muffin," he offered.
"You think?"
He nodded. "Definitely."
"If you say so."
Harry took a deep breath. "Shall I just ring that up?" He moved towards the cash register. "Is that a sit down or a take away?"
Hermione regarded him for a moment. "Well, I intended for a take away, but I think I'll sit."
"Right." He busied himself with the register. "You just have a seat then," he instructed. "Your order will be ready shortly."
Hermione made her way to an empty table near a window. As instructed. She could remember Ron telling her to stay in sight. They had no idea what kind of person Harry was.
She remembered asking if Ron thought Harry would hurt her. He shook his head, but he admitted that Harry might try desperately to protect whatever world he had built for himself.
Harry delivered her coffee and muffin himself, setting them down in front of her, his hands steady and stable. He was calm. Was he that unaffected by her presence?
"Can I get you anything else?" he asked. "Anything more you need?"
Hermione looked at him. "Perhaps some company."
She didn't miss the sudden hesitation. He looked worried, as if he wasn't sure how to explain himself to her, or to someone else.
"Umm," he sounded. "Sure. Just, umm, give me a minute. Let me get someone to cover for me."
When he disappeared, Hermione started to think that he actually wouldn't come back again. The worry she felt made her palms sweat and she couldn't even bring herself to begin sipping at her coffee. It was only when he reappeared that she let out a breath
she didn't even know she was holding. He was no longer in an apron and he had wiped his face of flour. He carried a bottle of water with him as he made his way towards her and sat down in the opposite seat.
They stared at each other for quite a while, neither one wanting to be the first to speak. As they stared, they both began to smile. Hermione only vaguely noticed the old lady from earlier sneak looks at them from time to time.
Eventually, Harry broke the silence. "Hello, Hermione."
She took a deep breath. "Harry."
"You look good," he said, being truthful.
"As do you."
He looked down at his hands. "You have to know it's good to see you and all, but I have to know what you're doing here. I mean, how did you even find me? Why?"
His questions were expected but she had no intentions of answering them just yet. "How have you been?" she asked.
He frowned. "Hermione."
"Harry."
He sighed. "I've been well," he said, even though she could tell there was a hint of an untruth in his words. "How have you been?"
"Good."
Harry knew one of her lies when she told one so blatantly but he did not comment. "How are your parents? How are the Weasleys? And Neville? Luna?"
Hermione shifted in her seat. Perhaps if she told him things, he would tell her things. "My parents are fine. They moved back to England after I finished at Hogwarts. We've rebuilt our relationship. As for the Weasleys, all are fine. Happy. And Neville,
I'm sure you must know, has started work at Hogwarts. Luna writes for the Quibbler. She writes the truth, just as her father did."
Harry digested all this information in silence.
"Professor McGonagall is still Headmistress and doing a wonderful job. I've been working at the Ministry."
"Just like you said you would."
She nodded.
"And Ron? How is Ron?"
Hermione noticed that his voice softened at the name of their red-headed friend. "He is fine. He's working as an Auror. He's the reason we've found you."
Harry looked at her. "He's here?"
She nodded. "Outside. Waiting. Kingsley needs to see you. I need to run something by you."
Harry shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere," he said strongly. "I left that all behind, Hermione. I'm a Muggle now. I want nothing to do with the Magical world. I want nothing to do with the world that's taken so much from me."
"Harry?"
"No, Hermione," he continued. "I left to come to terms with it, and I have. I saved the world and I was rewarded with normalcy. Do you have any idea how wonderfully unstressful my life is right now? I wake up at the crack of dawn and I come to
work. Can you imagine? I come to work as a baker. I knead the dough and I bake the bread and it's so blissful. I don't have to worry about upholding any laws or fighting off wars and politics and people wanting something from me. Here, in this world,
I'm just Harry. I'm just a kid with no parents, no education and no worries. I'm not giving that up."
Hermione stared at him for a long time. "Okay."
"Okay?"
She leaned forward. "Just answer me this, Harry," she said seriously. "If I told you that I think I've found a way to get your magic back; would you come with me?"
Harry didn't respond.
"You would, wouldn't you?"
Harry still said nothing.
Hermione pulled out a business card from her blazer pocket. "I did what you suggested and got myself a phone. Think you can give me a ring when you decide you're coming back. I'd like to prepare a space to run some tests."
Harry just watched as her slender fingers pushed the small white card along the small table in front of them.
"Think about it, Harry. You've spent all this time running from a magical problem. I'm telling you that I might have a magical solution. You cannot honestly tell me that you're not even a little bit interested."
She received no response. Without another word, she rose to her feet and began to pull out her purse.
Harry shook his head. "It's on the house," he said softly. "It's the least I can do for having you come all this way for nothing."
"Oh, I didn't come for nothing, Harry. I came to see you."
He blinked a few times, the tone of her voice a little too foreign for him.
"It's up to Ron and his team whether or not you see Kingsley. You should know by now that nothing about the Ministry is a request."
Harry didn't react. "They could have sent a letter."
She actually laughed. "Right, because that's worked so well for them in the past."
Harry stood up, smiling despite himself. "It was nice to see you, Hermione. Give my regards to everyone, will you?"
She shook her head. "You'll do it yourself when you come to your senses," she said, starting to leave. "I'll see you soon, Harry."
