Chapter 2
The Circling Mists and Shadows Flee
During her years at Hogwarts, Hermione Granger had become accustomed to a sense of urgency, excitement, and imminent doom. Without the constant threat of something lurking just around the corner, she found herself in a state of perpetual boredom. Whereas Hermione bounced around from place to place and job to job, her two best friends had adjusted effortlessly to the ebb and flow of ordinary life.
Harry was currently on vacation before assuming his official status as an Auror, having completed his training three months previously. Hermione smiled as she remembered having lunch with him earlier that week, recalling the look of unadulterated joy on his face as he showed her the ring he had bought for Ginny. He was proposing to her that night and Hermione had no doubt that The Boy Who Lived would indeed live happily ever after.
Ron had advanced slightly less quickly than Harry in his training and would not be graduating for a few weeks. He spent most of his free time with his family, peeling potatoes with Mrs. Weasley, being the guinea pig for George's latest invention, and searching for seashells with Victoire. The Weasleys were never quite the same after the war. There were still dinners in the garden with mountains of food and laughter, but everyday life at The Burrow was more subdued and less energetic than it had been. Mr. Weasley spent more time alone in his shed, and Hermione often caught Mrs. Weasley standing over the kitchen sink staring out the window at nothing. She suspected that with no one in the house to take care of, Mrs. Weasley didn't quite know what to do with herself.
A few months after the war had ended, Hermione returned to Hogwarts to complete her N.E.W.T.s. Harry and Ron chose to begin their Auror training immediately, despite Hermione's objections. Just because they could be exempted from them didn't mean they should, in her opinion. Her disapproval, coupled with the amount of focus that each of their respective decisions required, created a rift between them. Over time they began to exchange letters and soon their heads began to appear in each other's fireplaces. After six months, everything was relatively back to normal. Hermione still sighed with exhaustion when they started talking about Quidditch. She and Ron still bickered about his emotional incompetence and her insufferable pretentiousness.
And yet, she could not seem to overcome the restlessness that had consumed her ever since leaving Hogwarts. Try as she might to find a place where she felt content and fulfilled, satisfaction eluded her. She had briefly considered Auror training, but ultimately felt that her future lie in more intellectual pursuits. To finance her personal research, Hermione had worked at Flourish and Blotts for several months. While she loved being surrounded by books, she had wanted a challenge beyond what her part-time tinkering offered.
This led her to the Ministry and the Department of International Magic Cooperation – Percy led her to the International Magical Trading Standards Body. While Harry and Ron had never shown any interest in cauldron bottoms, Hermione happened to think that trading standards were important and even interesting. If you were on academic par with Percy, he was easy to get along with and even cracked the occasional joke. After a year, Hermione had fallen into a comfortable rhythm and thought that she had found her place in the world. However, she soon unearthed a particularly scandalous broomstick incident involving the Twigger 180 and a faulty Breaking Charm. Hermione was outraged when she was required to turn her scoop over to Broom Regulatory Control.
It was then that Hermione realized that her thirst for investigating and uncovering might be put to good use. As a war hero, it wasn't exactly difficult for her to get a meeting with Barnabas Cuffe, the editor of the Daily Prophet. He simply told her to bring him a story and he'd make her an offer if it was any good. A quick chat with her old friend Rita Skeeter put her hot on the trail of underage drinking at a disreputable pub called The Bloody Banshee in Knockturn Alley. Expecting to find nothing but a morally bankrupt bartender, Hermione was surprised to discover that a group of miscreants had actually been confunding the waitresses.
Cuffe had been very impressed with Hermione's discovery and gave her a position as an investigative reporter. After a few months of writing exposés and meeting deadlines, she received an unexpected letter from an even more unexpected correspondent.
Ms. Granger,
It has recently come to my attention that you are currently employed at the Daily Prophet. I was unaware that you had any interest in writing, but this information allows me to offer you a unique and exciting opportunity.
My colleague, Professor Cuthbert Binns, has searched some time for the perfect candidate for this particular endeavor. When we discovered that writing was one of your many talents, I immediately designed to enlist your services.
It has been the longtime wish not only of myself and Professor Binns, but also the late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, to publish a revised and updated version of Hogwarts: A History. I can think of no one more qualified than one of Hogwarts' most distinguished graduates. Should you accept this daunting task, arrangements will be made to accommodate you at Hogwarts for as long as you feel necessary. The occupants of the castle will be at your disposal, happy to assist you with any information you require.
I hope this letter finds you well and greatly anticipate your reply.
Best Regards,
Irma Pince
/
"Perhaps I should not have mentioned to Professor Slughorn that I had recently hired you," Cuffe lamented. "No doubt he relayed the information to one of his co-workers."
"You should know better than most how much he enjoys bragging about the success of his former students," Hermione said with a smile.
"You are right, of course. But the fact remains that I am losing a promising young reporter."
"Only temporarily. I fully intend to return once I am finished."
"And who knows how long that will be? Such a project will take a great amount of time, especially for someone with your meticulous disposition."
"Well I hope that there will always be a place for me here, no matter how long I'm away."
"Of course," Cuffe promised, standing up to shake Hermione's hand. "I am sorry to say goodbye, but I wholeheartedly agree that you are just the person for this job. I cannot wait to read it myself."
"Thank you, Barnabas," she replied. "Until next time." Hermione left his office and returned to her desk, where she began levitating frames and files into a box. Several people stopped by to say their goodbyes and good lucks before she picked up her belongings and apparated to her flat.
"So how did he take it?" asked a dreamy voice behind her. Hermione jumped in surprise, whirling around to stare into Luna's large grey eyes.
"You told me you'd try to stop doing that," Hermione reminded her.
"Oh yes, I did, didn't I?" Luna replied, fiddling with one of her enormous sunflower earrings.
"Anyway, how did who take what?"
"How did Barney take your quitting?"
"Barney?"
"He's quite an old friend of the family."
"Even though he runs a rival publication?"
"The Quibblerdoesn't have any rivals," Luna stated matter-of-factly. "It covers a broader and more interesting range of subjects than any other news source."
"Of course," Hermione agreed. "He took it fine. Even said I could come back when I was finished."
"I think I will be terribly lonesome without you here."
"I'm sure you'll be fine. And you can come visit me," Hermione promised, still unaccustomed to her roommate's often uncomfortable emotional candor after almost two years living together.
"Are we going to throw you a party?" Luna asked.
"What for?"
"For going away. People throw parties for going away."
"I suppose they do. If you like, I suppose. But it's not as though I'm leaving the country, you know."
"Yes, but I do like a party," Luna declared enthusiastically. "I'm going to start inviting people." Hermione just smiled as the eccentric blonde jumped up and skipped to her bedroom. War hadn't changed Luna at all, which was one of the reasons Hermione loved being around her.
/
While Hermione's farewell party wasn't as bizarre as Luna herself, there was no shortage of strange food and décor. Amongst the refreshments were Gurdyroot Punch and a large bubblegum pink layer cake. Hanging from the ceiling were dozens of papier-mâché heads, replicas of famous witches and wizards associated with Hogwarts.
"How in Merlin's name did she find the time?" Neville asked incredulously, staring up at the floating head of Helga Hufflepuff. "She only had a week."
"Quite frankly, I don't ask anymore," Hermione replied.
"She can really be resourceful when she puts her mind to it," Ron commented through a mouthful of the appallingly pink cake. Hermione rose a disapproving eyebrow at him before turning to a group of witches next to her who were admiring Ginny's engagement ring.
"So gorgeous" Katie Bell gushed, pulling Ginny's hand up to eye level.
"And so huge" Padma Patil added, eyeing Harry appreciatively from across the room.
"It is, isn't it?" Ginny agreed in a rare moment of purely feminine sensibility, staring at her finger with satisfaction. Harry came up behind her with a glass of champagne, which she took before kissing him chastely on the lips. The surrounding flock giggled and shrieked with approval, at which Harry looked very startled
Once Ginny's adoring fans had dispersed, they were joined by Ron and the four of them reminisced on some of their happy misadventures at Hogwarts. But soon the conversation turned to darker memories and their last harrowing days there together.
"Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back," Ginny confessed, downing another glass of champagne.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Harry agreed, "I used to think of it as home. But I don't know if I'd be able to see anything but death and destruction."
"I used to think that," Ron told them, "But I've been back since then and you wouldn't know it to look at the place. Looks just like it used to. No sign of any of it."
"I'm excited," Hermione confessed. "It'll be a bit like going back in time."
"Not to mention you get to find out all the unpublished secrets of Hogwarts and expose them," Harry said with a grin.
"Oh really, Harry. You make it sound as if I'll go looking for trouble."
"I'm sure you'll find some whether you're looking or not," Ginny told her.
"You can finally write about the plight of the Hogwarts house-elves," Ron said with a smirk. "Get S.P.E.W. up and running again."
"Oh shut up, Ron" Hermione snapped, smiling despite herself.
/
A few days later, Hermione sat in The Three Broomsticks reading the morning issue of the Daily Prophet and waiting on a realtor who was meant to show her around some flats. The front page was devoted to the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, to be held in Germany. The rivalry between Peru and Japan was escalating to ridiculous proportions, something which Hermione had been unfortunate enough to witness firsthand at her part. She was sure Seamus and Ron would have gotten into a physical altercation over it had Luna not diffused the situation by beginning to dance in her uniquely strange way directly between them.
Turning to the second page, Hermione spotted the familiar blonde hair and irritated face of Draco Malfoy towards the bottom. He was hurrying down what looked to be Diagon Alley carrying a few parcels under his arm and resolutely ignoring the camera. The photo was accompanied by a small article headlined RECLUSIVE MALFOY SPOTTED. Hermione read on and was surprised to know that Malfoy had been seen not only in Diagon Alley, but also in Hogsmeade earlier that very week.
Being employed by the paper, Hermione was obviously an avid reader as well. She knew that Malfoy had only been seen in public every six months or so for the last few years. Two sightings in such a short amount of time was odd indeed, suggesting that perhaps his seclusion in Malfoy Manor was coming to an end for some reason. Hermione had never given Malfoy much thought except when she saw him mentioned in print, but she now wondered if he was at all changed since the last time she saw him. Harry's testimony at the trials following the war had helped lessen the sentences of the entire Malfoy family. They had avoided any time in Azkaban in favor of a long probationary period that would not end for another two years.
Draco Malfoy's trial was the last time that Hermione had seen him. She remembered thinking then that he already looked very different from the arrogant and confident bully who never seemed to have a care in the world. He had been in the intimate clutches of the most feared wizard of all time and Hermione could not imagine what horrors he had likely been forced to witness and perhaps even participate in. Hermione certainly knew what it felt like to fear for her life, something Malfoy probably had to endure every moment for years. What had that and the following period of solitude done to him? She wondered if she would ever know.