Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers
Chapter 38
Hermione's POV
I let the full stop sink in deeply as I smiled satisfactorily to myself at finishing the exhilaratingly challenging Transfiguration essay Professor McGonagall had set us, The internalised effects of Human Transfiguration. I was quite happy with the end product, leaving it on my desk to proof read closer to the due date.
"Ugh, you're so lucky Alex is such a prude, Ron is NEVER on time!" I rolled my eyes but Lavender couldn't see the motion as she was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, the en suite door left open as she applied the finishing touches to her makeup.
"Prude! Alex is not a prude... he is just extremely punctual. And didn't Ron say that he was going to be a little late because he was going to be at practice?" Parvarti was standing in front of the full length mirror, changing her top for the third time.
She frowned at her reflection and I shook my head as I watched her, she smiled at my face in the mirror, "Too busy? I like the ruffles but that and the pattern...not too much?"
I looked at the top, it was definitely not something I would wear but then again Parvarti could wear almost anything and make it look good, but it was just Friday date night, she should probably save that for a Hogsmeade trip, if we were ever going to have another one considering the events involving Katie at the last one.
"Maybe the second top, the button up, it's simple but it fits you perfectly. Right Ky?"
Ky made a noncommittal sound at her place on the floor. I heaved a sigh and shook my head as my best friend crawled on all fours, parchment hanging from her lips.
"We need to get you a boyfriend!" Lavender finally exited the bathroom, Parvarti laughed as she wriggled out of her top and shrugged on the blue button up I was talking about.
Ky rolled her eyes at us, sitting on her butt and taking the letter from her lips. Crookshanks, who had been attentively watching her the whole time tried catching the letter with his paws but she held it out of his reach, "Laugh all you want, but when I finally teach Crookface over here to deliver letters, and revolutionise the actual behaviour of the feline familiar itself... you'll-"
"Bow down to the ultimate Cat Lady." Lavender sniggered and I smiled slightly knowing she meant it only as a joke.
"Seriously though Ky, Alex's classmates bug me about you all the time. Even George Loggs asked me if you were seeing anyone, I know he is a bit on the skinny side but he has the cheekbone structure that would make a runway model jealous! AND he dated Diana Riss and we all know what high standards our Head Girl has."
Lavender scoffed at Parvarti, "Skinny... the boy practically is an advert for anorexia awareness. Anyway I heard that he and Diana are back together, Godric knows what's going through the woman's head. If you change your mind and decide to hang out with humans instead of... that thing-"
"Lavender!" I scowled but she rolled her eyes at me.
"Yeah yeah, I know. Anyway, I could tell Ron to tell Seamus and Dean to join us, just to hang out?"
"Your concern touches me, it really does." Ky said sarcastically, "But I think I will pass. If I wanted to watch two horny teenagers making out, I would do the decent thing and buy a dirty magazine. At least then I would be contributing to the economy."
Lavender glowered at Ky, "Well my concern happens to be the only thing that has touched you for the past few months." She smirked at her comment, turning her brown eyed gaze on me, "That offer is for you too Hermione? Seamus and Dean are not bad company; they are actually quite sweet when they aren't trying to get into your pants."
"Thanks Lavender, but I will have to take a rain check. Speaking of which, it looks like it's about to pour, you better take a jacket Parvarti."
Parvarti blushed and grabbed her jacket, it was common knowledge that she and Alex used the Transfiguration courtyard to make out and it wasn't exactly the most sheltered venue. She and Lavender walked out just as I heard a hoot.
Hedwig landed on Ky's shoulder and I watched as Crookshanks hair stood on end, his golden eyes fixed on the snowy owl.
"Well if it isn't Hedwig, my useful little friend, who delivers letters when I ASK her to, instead of chewing them up and spitting them out like some common wild animal."
"Ky!" I scolded her as Crookshanks started to hiss, I slipped my black flats on and pulled out the little bottle of custom made perfume that Theodore had got me for Valentine's day two weeks ago. I spritz some on my wrists and neck, enjoying the scent but not as much as when it mingled with Theodore's summating in a positively addictive aroma that made my every sense tingle.
I looked back as Ky pulled out an envelope from her trunk, "This is for Agnes. Thanks."
She petted Hedwig's snowy head with her index finger and the owl hooted in gratitude. It was strange, I am pretty sure Harry didn't know that Hedwig still delivered Ky's letters. During their relationship Hedwig used to deliver letters for Ky all the time, it seems she didn't stop after the break up, pitching up every now and again.
Crookshanks pawed after Hedwig has she flew across the room. With another hiss he turned sharply and ran back at Ky and I sighed, how did she manage to agitate my poor little kitten. He bit the parchment that she had been demonstrating with earlier and clawed his way out of the room, parchment flapping in his mouth.
"That's meant for Ron!" She commanded after him and I sat down on her bed as she sprawled herself in front of mine, one earphone of her iPod plugged in and the soft tones floated out, I don't know how she didn't tire of the few songs Sirius managed to record for her.
"What?" She asked me innocently.
"Trying to turn Crookshanks into some kind of internal mail system is rather concerning don't you think?"
"Concerning? More like innovative!" She smirked at me, crossing her legs over each other, fiddling with the tiny birthmark on her knee.
"Ky, I know you don't want to spend time with Harry, and that by conjunction means that you can't spend much time with Ron. And I know I haven't been the best of friends, I mean between Prefect duty and school work and apparition classes and well...Theodore. And I know you and..." My eyes flickered over the empty room out of habit as I whispered the next word, "Malfoy... seemed to have fallen out after Christmas... maybe you should just take up Lavender on her offer?"
She rolled her stormy greys at me, "Mi will you stop feeling guilty, Teddy is probably standing behind the tapestry on the sixth waiting for you for the past ten minutes. You don't have to feel bad about leaving me behind or whatever. I've got loads of things to do. Pomfrey needs a whole lot of Potions and Sev isn't around and Silvain and Selina are stationed at Hogsmead and they might come around for cocoa and-"
We both stopped as there was a flash of flames and I swallowed a scream, my feet springing up onto the bed in fright. My heart beat slowed down when I realised it was just Fawkes, he was gone just as quickly as he came.
Ky had shot to her feet, an opened letter in her hand and a huge smile on her face, "Nonno is back!" She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, finally looking like the old Ky.
She was almost half way through the room when I called her back.
"KY!"
She turned on her heel, slightly agitated at having been slowed down, "What?"
"Bra!" She looked down at her chest in thought and I knew she was contemplating going out without one.
I shook my head as she laughed, slipping of her shirt and snapping her bra on. She tossed her shirt back on and gave me a huge smile, a smile I haven't seen on her face since... Godric I can't even remember.
"What would I do without you?"
"Get nipple freeze to the point they might just fall off all together." I laughed and she joined in, running down the stairs, her hair even more bouncy than it usually was. She really did miss Dumbledore. They barely saw each other these days.
Just then I saw Crookshanks waltz back into the room, I fell to my knees, ready to cheer up the little guy after Ky's intensive attempt at turning him into her own walking, purring, delivery owl.
"Come here Crooksh-" I stopped as he placed the letter at my knees, my eyes wide, that wasn't Ky's writing!"Crookshanks! Crookshanks you did it! Godric! KY!" I shouted in excitement, getting to my feet and crossing to the door, I knew it would be of no use though; she probably was already out of the common room by now.
"Godric! You really did it! You're a genius Crookshanks, you really are!" I smiled as he nuzzled my hand as I petted him. I picked up the letter, laughing at my silliness...well watching Ky try to teach him how to deliver letters for the past week did kind of get me emotionally invested in his success. I stopped smiling, realising I probably looked like a crazy person, talking to my cat with a manic smile on my face.
I went to leave the return letter on the table, knowing it was probably some silly rebuttal to whatever Ky had written to Ron. I then stopped... Ron was at quidditch practice though... wasn't he? Who was the letter from then?
My eye narrowed as I looked at the somewhat familiar penmanship... wait... this was...
I was soaked to the bone when I finally got to the changing rooms, the Rain Repelling charm I fixed on myself disappearing about halfway across the pitch and I was too distracted to recast it.
I didn't knock and pushed the door open with more force than was polite to do so... I wasn't feeling very polite right now though and I didn't care that the door banged shut behind me.
I stood, hair dripping and clothes clinging to my skin in the Pep Talk room part of the Gryffindor changing room, on the left was the door to the boys showers and on the right was the door to the girls. I swallowed thickly as my throat scratched and my nose leaked, it wasn't exactly wise to be running in the rain at this time of year.
Harry entered from the boys shower door, running his towel through his head. I watched as he walked to his locker, taking out his wand and placed a drying charm on the jet black strands that clung to his pale forehead. He glanced up, his emerald eyes hitting the mirror that was the backbone of his locker and they widened in shock.
"Fuc...Hermione. Godric! What the..."
He turned around, relief showing on his face after the spike of fear which initially grabbed him at my unexpected presence subsided. The relief quickly fled as his eyes narrowed, "Hermione? Hermione what's wrong."
He stepped away from the locker and towards me, and I watched as his eyes darted to the door as if wanting to run out of it and to wherever the reason of my distress was, already battle ready in a blink of an eye.
"Hermione? Is it Ky?" My hands fisted at the mention of her name and the apparent concern in his voice at my trouble. The action pulled his gaze to it and to the squashed up parchment that lay within it.
"Hermione-"
"Why?"
His brows knitted together in confusion, "Why what? Hermione what is going on!" He snapped. His eyes darted once again to the letter in my hand and when it seemed I wouldn't answer him, he crossed to me, picking up my hand by the wrist and pulling out the letter. I didn't fight him though, glaring at him through my wet brown strands as his eyes dilated in recognition and shock.
"How did you..." His cheeks flushed red and he straightened up, towering over me, "How did you get a hold of this!"
I wasn't afraid, I didn't feel guilty in the least bit, "Does it even matter-"
"That was in my trunk! How did you-"
"HOW DID I!" I screeched, "YOU are supposed to be MY friend! My BESTFRIEND. After EVERYTHING we have been through! After EVERYTHING! You would..." My eyes burned and Harry stood blurry before me as I stepped back, "We tell each other everything... why would you keep this from me! I know you better than I know myself Harry! Why don't you trust me!"
"TRUST! Hermione this isn't about trust! And you're one to talk! You've been seeing Theodore Nott and how do I find out! From your frequent sightings on the Marauders Map! When were you going to-"
I bristled back slightly; I had been meaning to tell him... I just... I didn't really know how.
I wouldn't let him distract me though. I grabbed the letter back, shocked that it didn't tear in my crude handling of it and concentrated on the words and not the dousing shock of Harry's confrontational stance and words, "Dear Harry. I know what I am about to tell you will come as a surprise but Ky is not who you think she is. She is not Dumbledore's granddaughter. She is-"
I stopped reading as that's where it stopped, unfinished, I had seen this writing too often to not know who held the quill, "This is Sirius' handwriting! It's dated the 24th June two years ago! You received this TWO-"
"I DIDN'T! I did not receive this letter! It is Sirius' handwriting but he never sent it to me." He glanced at the door again as if expecting all manners of dark forces to barge through.
His face paled and his breath was as if he had been running. He stepped back, "Look... that letter is just-"
"Harry." I wiped the tears from my chin. Harry was my best friend. My brother. He came to me with everything... when did he stop doing that. Guilt prickled at me at the thought that I neglected him, that I made him feel like he couldn't tell me stuff.
"Hermione," He shook his head, his glasses misty at the rate his breath was rattling out, he took them off, distracting himself with wiping it, "Please, stop crying. Come. Sit."
"I'm sorry." I sobbed out, my anger at being left out being replaced by guilt that I was a bad friend... I had failed him.
He pulled me towards him by the hand and I complied, the flight from Gryffindor Tower catching up with me and the words in the letter drumming painfully in my mind as I sought for clarity. I can't think like this, I felt heavy and like my mind was clogged.
I let him sit me down on the wooden bench which was the centre feature of the room. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm sorry. I should have come to you when I got the package, immediately when I got it... but I didn't want to put you in the middle of all of this. This has nothing to do with trust Hermione. I trust you with my life."
I wiped my face with the back of my hand, fighting away all the silly thoughts, the heavy thoughts, the words that befuddled me and refused to order themselves in my mind's eye. I needed to clear my mind. I needed to think. "Package?" I murmured.
With a sombre look on his face, Harry sat down on the floor before me, leaning against the peach wall; the bench I sat on wasn't very high therefore the level of his head wasn't that much below me. "Accio bag."
I saw his familiar backpack zoom past me and he grabbed it easily. I picked up the letter, reading it again, this was definitely Sirius' handwriting... the date was somehow significant. Something happened on this day...
"If you say that Sirius didn't send you this, then how did you get it? Did he leave you this in his will?" I distracted myself with all other aspects of the letter except the words, the words can't possibly be true?
"No. Bastian Blishwick gave it to me, at the end of last year. I figured he must have come across it when he was in Grimmauld Place... he gave me this package... I would have thought it all lies if it were not for the handwriting and the pictures."
He held the thin, brown enveloped package out to me and I looked at it with caution... I didn't believe it already... Bastian Blsihwick was evil incarnate... why should Harry believe anything he says... I glanced at the letter again and cold dread dripped down my back at the handwriting that was definitely Sirius'.
I took the package with slightly trembling hands, I glanced back at Harry and his emerald orbs were transfixed on the brown envelope, an accusatory gleam in them. I flipped it open, glancing at Harry again before putting my hand into it.
My fingers, already slightly numb from the cold, felt glossy cool texture and I easily pulled it out. I looked down at the picture, biting my lip and glancing coldly down at Harry.
I didn't want to see the picture that had ruined everything for him and Ky. My heart felt heavy as I took in the familiar jet black strands which made up almost the whole picture, I couldn't see his eyes as he was facing away from the camera, I couldn't make out much of the girl either because his face was practically blocking hers but I could make out the straight dark brown hair... "I don't want to see this." I choked out.
He snapped the brown envelope from me with a glint of annoyance in his eyes and turned it over, letting the contents fall to the floor. I watched as three more pictures fell out, all the same size and I realised immediately that if you arranged them in a line they would look like the strip of photos you get in a photo booth. I picked them up, my mouth hanging open at what I saw.
Staring up at me with warm hazel eyes was not Harry... but a boy around his age who looked identical to him, I glanced up at him, my mouth dry... "Is this... your father?"
He nodded solemnly as I stared at the picture. I had seen pictures of Harry's father before, Hagrid had given him a few but he was slightly older in them. Here he looked to be our age... same lips, same nose... they even had the same five o clock shadow... I looked away from the grinning teenager to the grinning teenager at his side.
She was pretty in that combination of deathly pale skin and dark hair, most of her attractiveness coming from the huge smile she sported, a pair of square rimmed glasses sitting halfway down her nose. The next picture showed her sans glasses, with Harry's dad sporting them and it looked like it was actually his as it sat comfortably atop his nose, the last picture saw the two of them with even wider smiles, hands slung around each other's shoulders. Harry's dad was looking in the camera but the girl had been looking up at him in what can only be described as lovingly...
"I don't understand-"Before I could finish the sentence Harry held up the fourth and fifth piece of paper for me. They weren't parchment or photo, they were normal A4 photocopying paper, commonly found in the muggle world and they were identical upon first glance.
"Hawthorne Hotel..." I read the heading and looked down at him, he was staring at the floor between his propped up knees as if he didn't need to look at the paper to know what was there, as if he had long since dealt with the black inked words that I held in my hands.
I looked back at the sheet of paper, taking in the information. Prices were most prominent on it, prices weighed in muggle dollars, it was a bill for this hotel.
My eyes narrowed when I saw the first slip, under customer information the letters J POTTER shone up at me. I gasped when I read the name on the other sheet,
"P THORNTON..."
The only P Thornton I ever heard of was Patrizia Thornton. My mother, tactless has she can be at times, had asked Ky what her parents names were. Patrizia and Octavian. But wait... I shook my head, there must be hundreds of P Thornton's, there's no need to jump to the conclusion that it was Ky's mother... I mean... I looked at the address of the Hotel... Massachussets... wasn't that where Ky was originally from... still... I mean... I blinked... I glanced down at Harry but his attention was still consumed by the hardwood floor.
I examined the bills in great detail, ignoring the amounts which probably were the least important information there; I looked at the check in dates. J POTTER checked in on the 7 November 1979 at 19:00 pm and checked out on the 8 November 1979 at 17:00 pm, P THORNTON had checked in on 8 November 11:00 am and checked out at 8 November 1979 at 16:00 pm. Weirder still was the room numbers; they were room numbers 230 and 231...
Could it be mere coincidence that someone with Harry's dad's initials and Ky's mother's initials happened to stay at the same hotel at the same time of year in adjoining rooms...?
"Harry," We had to think logically, not believe everything we see... "There must be hundreds of P THORNTON's in the States. Plus why would Ky's mother live in a hotel in Massuchusets when she lives there anyway?"
"I did an internet search over the Summer, do you know how many P Thornton's live in the surrounding area of Hawthorne Hotel, three. One was two at the time, one wasn't even born and the third was Ky's mother. Why would anyone check into a hotel at those times Hermione? There is only one reason. Why would you check into a hotel room at 11 in the morning and check out on the same day at 4 o' clock. I mean why would you even stay in a hotel room just for the day... except if you're-"
"NO!" I snapped! I can't believe Harry is even insinuating that Ky's mother was engaging in nefarious activities behind her husband's back...
"Look Harry, it's just a coincidence that your dad and her mum were in that hotel at the same time. Blishwick obviously wanted to cause a rift between the two of you and you're letting him! This is probably doctored documents!"
"And the pictures." He grabbed a random one from the stack, brandishing it at me, "This girl looks like Ky!"
I stood, gasping to my feet, "HARRY! Good Godric! What ARE you saying!"
"You know what I am saying Hermione!" He scrambled to his feet, "You cannot know how much I have stared at those photos and that letter and those bills! I don't WANT to believe it! Do you think in any world I would want... I would..." He couldn't even say the words. He leaned his head against the wall, his eyes closed in pain, "Look at the date Hermione! Look at that fucking date! 7 November! That's about nine months before... before...Hermione, look at that girl. She has Ky's eyes, her nose, even the shape of her lips."
I didn't glance at the photo, I had observed it for long enough and Harry was making no sense, I wouldn't appease him. "I give you the eyes but I am sure lots of people have similar eye colouring, as to the nose and lips... no! They don't, they don't even have the same skin complexion and this girl is positively skinny...I highly doubt Ky got her curves and her C Cups from her father! And anyway, it's impossible for this woman to be Ky's mother."
"And why is that?"
"Because Linus is nine years Ky's senior, even if Ky's mother had him when she was sixteen, it's mathematically and logically impossible for this girl to be the same age, and actually she looks younger, than your father!"
He opened his eyes... placing his glasses back on his face. "And Sirius' letter?"
I picked up the letter, frowning at the parchment, "He wrote this letter on the twenty forth of June Harry-"
"The first day he met Ky." He added pointedly.
It was the day of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament... that's why the date rang a bell... the day Voldemort was resurrected and Cedric Diggory died... the day everything changed...
"Harry, not only did he not send the letter, he didn't finish the letter. I mean, do you think if Sirius honestly thought that Ky was... if Ky's mother and your father had ANYTHING to do with each other, if there was a chance that... you two..." I began to pace, "This is IMPOSSIBLE!"
He didn't respond just glaring at me as I walked across the small space.
I stopped pacing, "Wait... Ky can't be... your father's...when they came to Hogwarts, Dumbledore made sure that they were really related to him."
"I thought so too. So I... I broke into Ky's records at the Hospital Wing-"
"Harry!"
"I was desperate! OK! And I was sneaking in all the time to watch over her after she hurt her back and Madam Pomfrey left her file there and I was under the cloak and I just needed to peak and see, and I looked and saw that she never had any DNA tests run on her. So that convinced me to check Linus and Len's and Linus was the only one that had the test done. I mean, the test was done to see if he was related to Dumbledore and if he was by extension his siblings were..." He gripped his head in frustration, "I've thought of this Hermione!"
I sat back down on the bench, all the answers were here, I just couldn't see it, "Harry, there's logic we're just not seeing. This letter, do you think if his best friend had a child Sirius wouldn't go out of his way to prove that Ky was his, that he would stand by and watch the two of you... be together."
He took the seat next to me, "I know. I know. But I keep seeing my dad..." His voice broke, "With this girl. And that receipt... and I don't know what to think Hermione." I bit my lip as a tear trickled down his face and I looked away, my heart breaking at my best friend's tears. "Even if this girl is not Ky's mother, nine months before she was born her mother was in a hotel room... probably with some other man. I mean... Ky's related to Dumbledore through her father..."
I wish there was some book we could read... something we could research... this can't be right... it just can't be.
"What were you planning to do Harry... just sit on this information and NEVER tell Ky?"
He sighed, "I've been waiting for Remus. I figured if anyone would know what the real story was it would be him. Sirius would have told him... he probably knows why Sirius didn't say anything or if there even is anything to be said."
"It's been months since we saw him Harry."
"I know! It's just, who else can I ask?"
"You could ask Dumbledore!"
"Dumbledore! Hermione! I might as well just tell Ky-"
"You should tell Ky-"
"Tell KY! Hermione, you know how much she values being a Dumbledore. I would rather NEVER TOUCH her again than turn her WHOLE world upside down! Take her grandfather away from her! Bring up stuff that her dead mother might or might not have done! She can't even speak about them! I mean, my dad just kissed this freaking girl on the cheek and I feel... I feel... ANGRY! I don't want to do that to her!"
"It's not your choice Harry! This could easily be Blishwick trying to cause problems-"
"Or it could be true. I could be the person that does that to her. ME!"
"I'll tell her then." I murmured.
"Hermione-"
"I'll do it. She needs to know the truth!"
"Why?" I stared up dumbfounded by Harry's words, his face red and his jaw clenched. Why?
"What do you mean why?"
He shrugged his shoulders, taking a step back and calming down enough to use a level voice, "She and I are not together. Any probability of something... sick... immoral...happening from here has disappeared."
"You would rather give her up, just for her never to find out the truth?"
"Not never, Hermione. Just not now. Not when Dumbledore is off hunting Voldemort's memories and Linus and Lenzo are off fighting Palbei. If I see Remus and he indeed thinks there is reason for concern... then I will bring it up. But why bring it up... for no reason?"
"No reason? This isn't small Harry. This is life changing."
"Exactly why we should wait Hermione. I'd rather her hate me and blame me for cheating on her, for ruining what WE had... than ruin what she has. There's so much going on around us Hermione, people dying, you and Ky almost died in that fire... the world is falling to pieces, I can't let her fall to pieces. I can't do that unless I know for sure."
I brought my nails to my mouth, trying to distract myself from feeling. Feeling the severity of these mere pieces of paper that now littered the Changing Room floor, the severity of the burden that Harry had to carry for all these months.
My lips trembled as my confidence in the impossibility of the facts that I bore witness to shook... what if Ky's mother cheated on her father... what if it was with Harry's father... what if Sirius' was right... What if Ky wasn't a Dumbledore...
What if Ky and Harry were related...
"You're not related Harry." I stated, shaking my head "You can't be... its insane... it's not true... this is just Blishwick trying to cause drama. Its lies. All of it."
"I tell myself that every single day Hermione... every single day... I watch her... her eyes sad and averted from my own... the way her shoulders droop and the way she now has frown lines... and all I want to do is forget this ever happened... and a few times over the year I managed to do just that, because it's impossible. It's insane... but it's here." He pointed at his head and his green eyes were a mirror of pain, "It's here Hermione and it won't go away. It's wriggled a hole in my brain and it's in the back of my mind..." He placed a hand at his chest, "Even though in here tells me it can't be right. That this is all a sick joke... a nightmare..."
He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and I tossed my arms around him, feeling his agony at not being with Ky so much more intensely now having experienced what love was.
I stroked his back and buried my head in his chest, this was all one big nightmare, fires that tore memories asunder and memories that threatened to tear our lives apart...one big nightmare... one big nightmare that I yearned to be woken up from... and more importantly keep from plaguing my bestfriend.
Feedback as always will be appreciated
Kalina