Chapter 6 – She Leff Me.

31 March 2010

Harry Potter's Office

Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Division

London, England

Harry

I've been looking over this case file for hours. It's a trafficking case; the Muggles suspect is magical. It's going to be a headache of a case, is what it is. It's days like this I ask myself why I didn't take Minerva's offer as the D.A.D.A. Professor. The hours would be better, it would be a pay cut, but we don't really need the money. Sirius left me a large sum. I still get royalties for Sleekeasy's Hair Potion. Daphne would love if I quit the Auror Department. She wants me at home more, and Merlin knows I would love to, but I also enjoy my job. I might consider it, after this morning when she had that bit of nausea; I was concerned. She said she was fine, but she could very well be pregnant again.

There's a knock on my door, and Malfoy enters before I can even answer. He looks haggard. I never did talk to him after he bolted from the will reading last week. I only stayed for about twenty minutes before I escaped. The whole celebrity shenanigans exhaust me. It's been over a decade, yet no one seems to want to talk to me about anything else. It was all Hermione's doing. I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without her.

Malfoy sits down, then stands up and paces for a minute, and then sits back down. He finally looks at me and he's not haggard, he's stressed. "Hey Malfoy! What's up?"

He sucks in a big breath and then exhales slowly. "Fuck! I don't know where to start. I met my mother today in Diagon Alley. She wanted to go to Gringotts to open her vault from Ophelia, and…..fuck...c-can't s-s-say…c-c-compulsion…or s-s-s-silence…ch-ch-charm…"

Wow! He's shaking and having trouble breathing. This must be some powerful spell. "Hey, Malfoy," I say. Conjuring a glass of water for him, I continue. "I think I got most of that. You and your mother went to the vault Madame Dagworth-Granger left to Narcissa Malfoy in her will. Whatever was inside had you running to the DMLE, but you can't talk about it because there was something hexed in the vault to keep you from talking about it. Is that it?"

He looks at me and nods. It must be something damn near apocalyptic, for Malfoy to come to me. Shite! I continue questioning, "Is anyone in immediate danger?" He shakes his head.

Then Malfoy visibly relaxes and says, "What about Granger? Ophelia left her a vault with her journals. Her journals might have the same….th-thing….in them."

I chuckle internally. Not happening, I say. "I spoke to her after the will reading. She said, 'Harry, I will happily come back to England when you can fly, my cold, dead, rotting corpse in a gold-gilded carriage, bedazzled in flawless diamonds, hauled by a herd of pink Pegasi.' I sense she may not come willingly."

He cringes and then looks confused and says, "So that's a no, then? You need to try, Potter. I know you have seen her, or at least talked to her. She's James' godmother, and don't try to bullshite me because I've known Daphne since we were toddlers."

I smirk, "Daph was suppose to keep that quiet."

He smirks back, "Oh she did, but Pansy bitched for months when she didn't get the honor. You should know by now, Pansy Parkinson-Pucey was quite put out with the decision to not make her godmother. Daphne never said a word, you just confirmed it though."

Bloody Slytherins! "What about the vault Madame Dagworth-Granger left you?"

He shook his head. "I went yesterday to have a look. It really is full of old scrolls, journals, and books on potions. Fascinating stuff, but everything in there is from over thirty years ago."

"Interesting, so this thing you came to tell me happened more recent than 30 years ago?"

He nods.

"More recent than 20 years ago?"

He nods again.

"More recent than ten years ago?"

He make a pained face and starts shaking….I panic a little. "Malfoy tell me, are you ready to start quidditch in a couple months?

He looked relieved and said, "Yes. I miss it. I haven't been flying since we won last year's championship. I've been so busy. We started a new cosmetic line of Potions. It was a marketing nightmare, but finally took off…Fuck! Thank you. We need those journals. What if I were to talk to Granger? I know I was a contributing factor in her leaving."

I interrupt, "Malfoy it wasn't just you. The war messed her up, and she has secrets. There are things she went through that she would never talk to me about. I don't know how she knew the things she knew. She said she read it, and yes she always had a book, but the things she knew. The amount of knowledge she possessed, just didn't add up. She was always in the common room helping Ron and I study. Almost every night after dinner, especially Fifth and Sixth year, she hardly left the Common Room after dinner except when we had DA in Fifth Year. She would hang out with us, help first and second years, and be the first in bed. The weird thing about Hermione, sometimes she would down play her abilities. We broke the taboo in the middle of London the day we went on the run before 7th year. Rowle and Yaxley found us in a diner, she took both men down without breaking a sweat. We thought if could we obliviate them, it would buy us time to escape. She said she wasn't sure she could do well enough altering their memories, but she executed the spell perfectly. I don't know where she learned it. When we stayed at Order Headquarters fifth year for Yule Holiday, I watched her duel Kingsley. At the time I didn't think about it, I was always amazed by how smart Hermione was. She could duel Kingsley like an equal. She was agile and fierce, but looking back, I don't know, Malfoy. It doesn't add up. After being a fully trained Auror for almost 8 years, and having the knowledge I have now, as a fifth year she shouldn't have been capable dueling a fully trained Auror. Let alone, besting him. She was magnificent! I don't know, the things she could do, just don't make sense."

Malfoy nods his head, "Right, Snakeface was furious with Rowle and Yaxley for letting you lot get away. He crucio'd them for a couple of days. Snakeface was already barmy as fuck, but beyond furious because Dolohov and Mulciber were missing for a year. They were his best trackers. They were never found."

That would have been…"Wait if they were gone a year, that means they went missing right after fifth year?"

Malfoy thinks for a moment, "Yeah that's about right. Why?

"During the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, Hermione was hit by a severing hex on her left shoulder by Mulciber, and hit by that nasty curse by Dolohov in her abdomen. Do you think Hermione…?" I couldn't even finish the question because Malfoy was shaking his head. "Wait, if not Hermione, then who?

Malfoy makes eye contact, "I can not say."

Interesting. I sigh, "So, not Hermione then."

He just smirks, "Can't you send her a legal summons and force her back into the country?"

I laugh. "You don't think I haven't thought of that? When she left, she applied for diplomatic immunity with the I.C.W. and with the country she fled to. She's a legal citizen of that country. Our ministry can't demand anything of her. She was a documented hero of the war, she easily received what she wanted. The I.C.W. rarely involved themselves with anything to do with England. They could have helped with the Second Wizarding War, but they didn't. A couple years ago when France faced the issue with terrorism, the I.C.W. swooped in and it was taken care of in less than a month. I thought at the time they just learned a lesson from us, but I have had plenty experience to know that isn't the case. England is very isolated from the rest of the world."

Malfoy thought about that and said, "I seem to remember someone talking about that. Purebloods isolated themselves from muggles, I'm would assume the isolation went further. So much has been changed in recent years. When Theo took over The Prophet, he created such an uproar they had no choice, but to make changes."

He's right, maybe he could persuade 'Mione, I carefully say, "Malfoy I can't tell you where Hermione is. She would see it as a betrayal, and she doesn't forgive. I can't lose her again. I can tell you a few years ago Ophelia swooped in to my office and gave me Hermione's address. She told me she found something I failed to do. She talked to Kingsley and I had a week paid-time off. I found Hermione, after she list her ground rules, she eventually talked to me. I didn't know why this strange old lady did this for me at the time, I just counted my blessings. My gut tells she kept track of her granddaughter. Have you gone through Madame Dagworth-Granger's study at home or her office at DG Potions? I have a hunch, Ophelia has always known exactly where she is."

He smiled, "That's a start Potter. I'll see what I can do. I would have left Hermione alone for the rest of her life if she wanted me to, but this…this is important. Thanks, Potter"

I watch him leave. Merlin, how has it come to pass the Malfoy and I could have such a casual conversation about the war? We would never admit it to each other or anyone else for that matter, but Malfoy and I have become friends. He comes over of dinner a couple times a month. We have quidditch, and occasional pub outings.

Merlin, I hope Hermione won't avada me if he succeeds. He never talks about her, he gets cagey if anyone brings her up. I know he loves her. He only mentioned her once. It was after a quidditch match and he and I were the only ones left at the pub after consuming quite a bit of firewhiskey.

15 June 2003

The Seven Swan's Pub

Godric's Hallow

1:53 a.m.

Harry Potter

We had been drinking for hours. Tonight was our second quidditch match as part of the Amateur Quidditch League. In February, Ron and I were having lunch with my partner Blaise Zabini, who had been my partner since we finished training last August. We were discussing how we missed playing. I didn't know Zabini played. He said, "Just because I didn't play at Hogwarts, doesn't mean I never played."

It made me start thinking about how many others might feel the same way. By the next week, the three of us had a plan. Dean Thomas, a magical contractor and architect, said he'd help out, and as long as he could play on a team, he'd do it for the cost of supplies. He was excited about the league.

We put ads in the papers. Of course, The Daily Prophet interviewed Ron and me for an article. We had three hundred people respond, all ranges of skill and ages. We had to have tryouts to weed out the ones who weren't really interested in playing. We made twelve teams, each with alternates. There were people ranging from retired professional Quidditch players to last year's Hogwarts graduates on the teams. We named the teams after magical creatures like Thestrals, Phoenixes, and Horntails. Each game has a time limit of two hours, so multiple games can be played during the weekends. We had such a huge turnout the first weekend of people wanting to spectate the games; Dean built a concession stand and a ticket booth to charge one sickle per person.

Today, our team, The Phoenixes, played The Basilisks. We played the last game of the night at 8 p.m., and I caught the snitch after 57 minutes. Our team decided to celebrate, so we ended up at The Seven Swans. It's just me and Malfoy left now. He's absolutely pissed and has been quiet for an hour.

Malfoy is just staring into his glass. I decide to talk to him. "Hey, Malfoy," I say. "You did really well out there tonight."

He looks up and wobbly smirks, "Fuck! Fucking yeah I did! It felt soooo good being out there today. Fuck it was fun. I-I almost didn't….fuck!" He took another shot. The man is totally pissed.

"You almost what?" I ask.

"Fuck. I c-ca-canna tell you." He looks a me for a few minutes and says, "Fu-fuck it. I m-miss her, P-Potter. After four fu-fucking years I still fucking miss her so much. It hurts." and he slam his hand over his heart. "H-Here. Th-There is th-this physical ho-hole that will never, ever, ever, ever, heal. How after all this time do I still miss Hermione Granger like I lost my wand?" He takes his wand out of his pocket, then smiles like a kid on Christmas, and says, "There she is! My pretty hawthorn. Do you remember taking it from me? Fucker!"

He sways, and I duck my head and grab his wrist and exclaim, "Put that thing away! You're pissed out of your head!"

He looks at me confused, and pockets his wand. "I'm sorry, Potter. No really! I-I know I did all this bullshite in eighth year, but fuck. I wouldna made it without Hermione, Mia. She let me call her Mia, only me. Sh-she was everything. Why dinna she let me figure sumfing out? I loved her, I still love her. When I told her about that bullshite contact with Tori, she justs fucking gone two weeks later. She leff me. 'N now I miss her every fucking day."

He's a wreck and I doubt he'll remember any of this so I take a chance and talk about her. I'm quite pissed myself. My first date with Daphne Greengrass was last night. What a disaster! She everything a woman should be beautiful, graceful, kind, and so smart. Fuck, carrying on, I say, "I miss 'Mione too, mate. I don't know where she went. She was at my nineteenth birthday party. You remember how furious she was because all the Death Eaters were only given two year sentences. She already felt defeated for fighting a war and no one was really punished for. She was incensed over the hearing with the Wizengamot stopping her from taking the Level 6 leadership position with the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Kingsley promised her that job, but Dolores Umbridge challenged it due to an archaic law that stated muggle-borns couldn't hold higher than a Level 2 position with the Ministry. They ruled in favor of fucking Dolores Umbridge. That was all after she was refused by six different Masters across Europe to complete a Mastery. That shite with you just added to it. Well, at the party, she was fucking hammered. She said to me she wished we would have just stayed hidden in the woods. Ginny heard her and went into a jealous rage. Said some terrible things to her. 'Mione just fucking let it all loose. She was so fucking high that night on alcohol and some shite Neville brought, she was flying, mate. All any of her friends could do is watch her suffer. She was so miserable and we couldn't reach her. She wandlessly and non-verbally cast a protective shield around herself. She yelled and cried and screamed at all of us. Then she just disappeared. I thought I would give her a day to calm down. That Monday morning, I went to her flat and it was empty. I've looked for her, but I can't find Hermione Granger anywhere."

He just said, "I miss her, too." Then he stood, up and floo'd home.