Chapter 8 – Banned Topics

31 March 2010

Down the street and around the corner from the Ministry of Magic

London, England

Harry

I had to get out of the office after Malfoy's visit to my office. I wonder if anyone else from the will reading has experienced an issue with what Ophelia Dagworth-Granger left them. Something that happened less than 20 years ago, but not less than ten. It could be anything from 1991-2000. That's the whole war, great! I hate to do this, but Malfoy really has me on edge. He would not have come to me otherwise. This is not going to be an easy conversation.

I take out my cell phone and stare at her name a minute. Deep breath in, slow breath out.

I hit ' Send'.

Hermione: Hey Harry! I can't really talk right now. I'm in the conference room about to have a developmental meeting with all the departmental heads.

Pfft….she's always busy.

Harry: I apologize 'Mione this is really important.

I hear her sigh. She has to know this is serious by the tone of my voice.

Hermione: Just a moment.

(I hear faintly) Guys, I need 10 minutes.

(I hear her high heels clacking)

Alright Harry, what is going on?

Harry: Uhh…A person came to my office today and they were really on edge because of something they found in you grandmother'…..

Hermione: Not my grandmother, Harry. I want nothing to do with any of it. If the shit is blood warded I'll send you a vial of my blood, or you can wait until I'm dead, and James can have it all. I don't need the fucking money!

Harry: I have a hunch this is bigger than your grudge or the person wouldn't have stepped in my office.

Hermione: My grudge! How dare you! I gave everything I had and they said, "Fuck You, Mudblood! Keep Calm and Carry On."

Harry: I know. It was a bad choice of words. This person was trying to tell me, but there was a silencing or compulsion spell on whatever was in that vault. The person was fighting it hard and they started shaking and perspiring, it was quite frightful knowing this person like I do.

Hermione: Why the hell are you being so ambiguous?

Harry: ' Cause I'm trying to "respect your boundries" and this is a banned topic!

Hermione: Then why call me, Harry? Look, I love you. I put everything on that fucking rock behind me, besides you. I don't care what is happening there. I don't care if things have changed. I don't care if some bloody piece of paper makes me the bloody fucking queen! Look, I'm sorry. How about I get you, Daphne, and the kids a company jet to fly here in a couple weeks? We can take James and Hy to the zoo. Mmmmm…I'll take you to that hot dog place you love on 5th Avenue.

She has me with the hot dogs, nothing is better Nathan's Hot Dogs! That's the only place that will entice me to eat like Ron.

Harry: Alright then. I'll talk to Daphne. I just want to say this, the will said she left you journals. I just think whatever this is that has 'that person' so upset about, may be in there. Just think about it. Please?

Hermione: Harry….If you can't make it here, I need to go to the Ministry in Paris soon. They are having a couple issues with map points that my tech was unable to solve. I haven't seen you since New Year's and it'd be nice to catch up. Ok? Look, I have to go. This meeting is important. We haven't launched anything new in a month. Then we had issues with one of the servers. Japan has a new company trying to compete with us. Of course, we are superior in every way, but it's stressing me out. I've been working really long hours. Plus I'm looking for a few techs and it's not easy to find someone with all the skills that doesn't break the fucking Statute. I don't mean to be snappy with you. It's not your fault. This just opened something inside me that I thought was resolved. I'll think about what you said. I'll FedEx you a vial after the meeting, maybe that will work. Love you! Give my love to the fam! Kisses!

HARRY: Love you too, Mione.

Then she was gone.

13 August 2004

Some residential area. Outside and across the street from whatever it is I bloody failed to do according to some batty old lady who wears tiara's and ball gowns on a Wednesday afternoon.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Harry

I'm so frustrated right now. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. After that lady left my office on Wednesday, I went straight to see Kings. He just told me that it checks out and I might enjoy what I find.

The address led me to a three story house with light blue siding, white windows, and a decent sized front porch with white fencing. It's quite plain and would look like a box but the right side of the house has a bay on all three stories.

I am sitting across the street in my invisibility cloak on concrete fencing. The area is quite muggle. There are some really nice houses down the street. The street is lined with cars on the side I am sitting on, so I have a clear view of the house.

I arrived at this location at 7 a.m., Boston time and I have been here for 4 hours. I haven't seen anyone go in or out of the house. Ugh, I should be home.

In June, Daphne and I were married. She's just amazing. I never felt that way about anyone. I love her so much and I miss her. I left London at 7 a.m., I definitely didn't think about the five hour time difference. I do not recommend landing in a strange place at 2 a.m. I was able to find a hotel nearby and slept for a couple more hours.

This is stupid. I don't know what I could have failed to do. The only thing I can think of, is there must be a Death Eater we missed. I thought they were all arrested and killed in the Azkaban Massacre of '99. Why did that lady have to be so vague? Maybe I should try tomorrow. I have until Wednesday next, before I have to go back home.

Out of nowhere a young woman, around my age appears in front of the house. She seems to be staring right at me. How is that possible? I have my cloak on. She is statuesque, about as tall as my 5'10" height. Her body is perfect, great boobs, tiny waist. She has black curly hair down to her waist. She is wearing very short jean trousers, and a black vest that says "Godsmack" in red writing. The vest is very tight on her, and she is barefooted. She has skin of the perfect tan and her face is just beautiful she's looks like the American indigenous people with a strong jawline and high cheek bones. She's stunning.

Is she staring right at me? Shite, she's walking this way and she sits right next to me with only about 3 inches between us. If I move she might hear me. Then she turns so she is sitting sideways on the concrete wall straddling it staring right at me.

Then she speaks, "It's such a beautiful summer day isn't it. I've been meditating on the front porch or at least trying to. Your aura keeps changing. You are very confused right now and it's distracting. The porch is warded. No one can really see us from the street. We get too many fucking stalkers, GROSS, guys and their stupid boy penises. I don't know why you've been out here for hours. I see the bond going to the southeast to M.I.T."

I'm attempting to be very quiet. How does she know I'm here? Only Luna has been able to tell when I'm hiding in my cloak. Hmmm…maybe she's like Luna.

She continues, "Uh Oh, Spaghetti-O's! You are confused again! Are you really going to try to pretend like I can't see you. The British, I swear!"

How…what…who is she?

Then she reaches for me and is holding the cloak between her fingers. "Such unusual material. I've never touched anything like it! This would just be really stellar material for a mini dress. It would be like dancing naked! OMG! Wow! This is so cool! It's smooth like silk, but lighter. This is amazing! I wonder if the material could be duplicated? The magic can't or at least I don't know how to yet, but the material, hmmmm, possibly. Holy fucking shitballs, we'd make a killing! Have you tried to duplic…, well of course not, you own THIS!"

She let's out a long sigh. Then gets up and starts walking back to the house and stops in the middle of the road and turns back to me and says, "Well come on, I'll make some lunch. I texted her before I came over here and she said she'd be back by noon. I didn't tell her you were here to see her. She gets so bitchy when she is surprised. We've learned, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Who the fuck could she be? I don't understand. A "she" I failed to do. Then it hits me….Hermione! How did the barmy lady know? I'm damn near tears and I get up and follow this strange girl into the house. She holds the door open for me and as I enter the threshold she is walking down a hallway toward the back of the house. In front of me is a staircase. On the wall to the left are two pennons hanging up. One says "Harvard" and the other one says "M.I.T." The right wall leading to where the girl went is covered in framed pictures, hundreds of pictures, both muggle and magical. Pictures of Hermione, the strange girl, and two other girls in so many variations. Pictures of them on a beach, in the mountains, in pubs, and the library. There are pictures of large groups and variations with each of them. Hermione looks amazing! She's wearing make-up and her hair is styled. She looks happier in a way she never was. She was always so unsure of her self. The Hermione in these pictures is a stranger to me. Maybe I shouldn't intrude, maybe she is just as happy as the girl I see in all these pictures. Then I see it, a small moving photograph of The Golden Trio from Third Year in front of the fountain in Hogsmeade. I was starting to think that she forgotten me, but it makes me happy that inside this gorgeous stranger, I'm still a part of her life.

I hear the girl yell from another room, "Yo, did I lose you?" Then she appears in the hallway. "Hey, there ya are. Oh! I see you were distracted by the Wall of Shenanigans." She points out a photograph of the four girls standing in front of an old church, "That was taken the week we started Harvard. That is the entrance to the Harvard Magical University. Ironically the entrance is an old church. The blond is, Kelly, and the red head is Mychaelia. Kel and Mac went to New York City to play before school starts back up. Come on, follow me…." She turns and I follow her.

She goes to the stove and I take a seat at table on the other side of the kitchen. The kitchen runs the width of the house. The kitchen is U-shaped with a couple of bar stools on one side. The dining table is on the other side of the counters. The girl has her back to me while she is facing the stove. She says, "Ya know you can remove that thing. I'm not going to hurt you. Anyway, I found her a week before classes started she was just so fucking broken. She was just this itty bitty sad little thing standing all alone, she needed me. I gave her a hug told her I was her new best friend. I don't think she believed me a first, but eventually she just accepted the facts! I knew who she was and I kinda fan-girled her a little bit. I'm mean, even news of The Golden Trio was reported here. That's not why I friended her though. Her soul needed me. She's so logical and serious and her chakras were a fucking mess. I fixed her though, mostly, some things can't be fixed. Anyhoo…."

I remove my cloak and she turns around, "Oh I can see you now! Yay!!! That robe was throwing me off. Your chakras are a fucking wreck too! It must be a British thing. Your aura is very bright red. Aaaawe….your in love, a passionate love. I bet whoever's it is, isn't exactly happy you're here. I hope you like mac n' cheese. I suck at cooking and refused to learn household charms. It's such bullshit to teach only witches household charms. I protested the whole class. I told our Dean that me and my vagina needed more Defense Classes as long as society still supports the patriarchal rape culture to dehumanize independent women. I bet you're hungry, mac n' cheese is about the only thing I can cook without totally fucking it up. Oh I'm Sasha, by the way."

I say, "It's lovely to meet you Sasha."

She smiles, "Ooooh so British. Chics around here would cream like crazy just listening to you read a phonebook. Damn! So, Harry Potter is in my kitchen….this is soo fucking awesome! I can't wait to tell Mac! She's gonna just die! I love it! Wanna beer?"

Merlin this girl is the likes I've never experienced. She's fidgety and her hands are flying all over the place. I don't think she breathes when she talks. Yet, she's so comfortable with a complete stranger in her home, I have a feeling she is like this with everyone. She kind of bounces when she moves. "Uhhh. A beer would be nice. Thank you."

She handed me a Samuel Adam's Summer Ale and goes back to the stove. "I think I'm crushing on your voice a little bit. How could she leave a whole country full of guys with THAT accent. I knew she was crazy, but this really solidifies my opinion. I just want to hand you a book to read out loud to file it for my spank bank later."

Then she turns around and is appearing to be finishing what looks like macaroni and cheese. She places it in bowls and walks to the table and serves us both, and joins me at the table. "She talks about you, ya know. Not exactly willingly, but when we go out, and ply her with copious amounts of tequila, she'll talk about it. It's therapeutic to talk about things. It clears your mind chakra. She's amazing though. Her brain is like a machine. She is working on her third Mastery at Harvard, and she's going to finish her Master's degree in Technical Engineering as well this year at MIT. I don't know how she does it. Don't tell her I told you. She hates when I brag on her. Like, her first year she just acted like she had so much to prove, it took an army to infiltrate her, let me tell you. About 8 of us from Ilvermory are all at Harvard. We just took her in and made her relax, ya know? We traveled all over the country so she could learn all about her new home. Eventually she learned that we just accepted her."

"I know stuff has changed in the UK, I do read, surprisingly, but I can't talk to her about it. It's a banned topic. You just don't fuck with her banned topics, she goes like totally apocalyptic! Banning things it's just so British. She's cute when she tries to ban stuff around here. We usually let her have her way though, but don't tell her because we can't let her think she's won all the time. Pissing her off is just too fun! There's this song my dad played when I was a kid called Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof. The singer isn't exactly a tall man, but when he drinks he thinks he is ten feet tall and bulletproof and he runs his mouth and causes fights. Dude, we have dubbed that her song. Because when all five feet two of her gets all pissy and authoritative she's fierce, but not at all as scary as she thinks she is."

I'm laughing because that is exactly what I always thought of Hermione. She was fierce, but she was also extremely loyal and just really nice. Once she cared about you, she would fight the world to protect you. That's what she did for me and it took me a few years to accept that maybe when the fight was over, she just didn't have any fight left in her. It hurt, but I've never seen anyone hurting the way she was before she disappeared. I only want my friend back. She was family to me, and aside from Daph, the only family I have left.

I have never experienced anything like Sasha. She's has such a surreal beauty, but as soon as she starts talking she's just so at ease. Her mannerisms would be considered sloppy back home, but she's not classless, just supremely at ease.

Then she smiles and says, "I apologize for talking so much. I'm a really nervous talker. I know she will be so happy to see you and I think she needs you in her life as much as you do her. Your aura fluctuates when you think about her. I just hope she gives you a chance to talk to her. She can be very surprising at times with how she reacts to things. She's just become such an important part to all of us, and I'd hate to see her go back there and leave us. If anyone can breakthrough her banned topics, it would be you. I just love her so much, we are a family. We adopted her. My family, the Truebloods, they love her more than they do me most days. My dad runs a magical farm in Montana. My mom is a healer, that's part of her magic though. She's Native American or a least her family was at one time. Families that have been in America for as long as mine have, you just need to give up your heritage at some point as say your American. My dad's family is English. My mother's side is Native American and French. My grandma on one side was Irish and one was German. I have a great-grandma that's Italian. It's time to just give it all up and just be American already. Sorry, I'm doing it again. Tell me what you do now?"

I smile and say, "I'm an Auror for the Department for Magical Law Enforcement. I also run an amateur quidditch league."

Sasha smiles and claps her hands, "Oh I love quidditch! I was a chaser in high school. We had so much fun! It's a banned topic though when she's around."

I laugh, "I'm quite sure she would have loved to ban the topic with Ron and I, as well. She always hated when we started to talk about it. She hated flying, she'd say 'It's unnatural', and we could never persuade her otherwise."

She laughs, "Oh, I know! She's like that now too. She bought this house second semester of our freshman year. We fixed it up and she painted everything by hand instead of magic. She said it was cheating to use magic, but Kel and Mac would use magic when she wasn't looking. Then she bought a car to get back and forth to M.I.T., because she didn't want to apparate there since it's a no-maj school. She just likes to do things the no-maj way. I think that's why my parents love her. She's so hard working. My dad puts a lot of value on hard work. So tell me about your love."

I smile like I always do when I think of Daphne. "We were reintroduced after our first quidditch match for the league, I mentioned earlier. There are a couple of Slytherins on my team from my year at school. The entire lot of Slytherins from our year came to see our match. After the game, the whole team went to the closest pub and all the Slytherins as well. I managed to sit next to Daphne, and we talked some. She is just so beautiful. I'm just rubbish at flirting, but gave it a try with her."

Sasha crunches her eyes together, "Wait! What was Daphne's last name?"

I say, "Oh, it was Greengrass."

Sasha's eye bug out and yells, "NO! Shit, shit, shit. That is approaching a very dangerous banned topic!!!" Then she whispers, "Are you HIS brother-in-law?"

I'm so confused, "Who? Zabini?"

She looks exasperated, and says, "No, Draco Malfoy!"

Then I remember he was betrothed to Astoria five years ago. "No, Malfoy was able to break his contract with Astoria after his father died in Azkaban."

She looks relieved, and says, "Shoo, I thought…No shit? She'll never let us tell her. Hmmmmm….I apologize. Please continue."

I continue, "Right, as the night continues and I'm a fumbling mess trying to talk to her. She's so beautiful and sophisticated, I am so out of my league with her. I drink enough to finally ask her on a date for the following Friday night. That first date was horrendous. I was tied up at work with closing a case, and I'm an hour and a half late. I owled her of course, but I felt really bad about it. I take her to the nicest restaurant in Diagon Alley, the wizarding part of London."

Sasha interrupts, "Oh, like diagonally. Clever!"

I continue, "We are bombarded with reporters, because they will not leave me alone. We are finally seated in the restaurant, and everyone is staring at us, and it makes me more nervous than I already was. She just so nice the entire date, and I'm just rubbish at it all. I assume she would never want to see me again, but I ask her if we could go out again a couple of days after the date, and she agreed. The second date I was a little more at ease, but I was just a bit apprehensive because she's just perfect. At the end of the second date, I walk her home and kiss her hand at the door and she says to me 'Harry Potter if you don't stop treating me like I'm made of glass, I will hex your arse off!', and she grabs the back of my neck and snogs me within an inch of my life. We were married a year later."

Sasha smiles, "Ahhhh, that's a sweet story. Congratulations! It must be amazing to find your someone so early. If you'd like to email her to let her know your safe, I'll get my laptop for you."

What is she talking about now? "Uhh, what's email?

She looks at me and squeezes her eyebrows together and then opens her mouth a few times like a fish out of water, "How do you not…."

Then the front door slams open and shut and there's a clatter, and then I heard the most amazing sound, "SASHA!!! Sash where are you?"

"Kitchen," she yells back.

Hermione is talking and as she approaches her voice becomes clearer, "Oh my fucking god, I did it Sash! I figured it out! This is amazing. I need to call Kel and Colton, this is….."

She's at the threshold of the door to the kitchen and she's standing there frozen. She is wearing a vest and tan trousers that are cropped just below the knee. She just standing there with her mouth hanging open.

So I stand up, and I say, "Hello, Hermione."

Before I know it she slams into my chest and she's hugging me and crying. I hug her back. We are clinging to each other. I'm crying, she's crying, I look over at Sasha, and she is crying. I didn't realize how much I missed her, how much I needed her. After what seems too long and not long enough she pulls back, and says, "Hiya Harry."

We're all wiping our eyes on napkins that were on the table and we all share a laugh.

She says, "You've gotten taller. Come on let's go to the living room so we can be comfortable. There's a lot we need to talk about."

She sounds like Hermione, but her accent has changed a little. It's a bit relaxed than it use to be, Americanized. She stops at the refrigerator and grabs a box of beer and I follow her into the parlor. Hermione and I take a seat on the sofa and there's just so much to say and we don't know where to start. I look around. There's a large tele hanging on the wall. The sofas are beige and have an enormous amount of colorful pillows on them. In the bay of the room there is another pile of pillows stacked there. Under the rustic coffee table is what looks like a yarn homemade puffy rug with every color of yarn offered. There are more pictures on the wall, and a couple of paintings. It's cozy.

A few minutes later Sasha walks in the room with about ten books floating behind her and she asks, "Harry Potter, may I please borrow your robe?" I hand her my invisibility cloak and she takes a seat on the other sofa.

"Wow! How are you here?" She asks.

So I told her about the whole interaction from the other day. (A/N: Chapter 2) She is listening and laughs at the interaction in all the right parts. She starts to look pensive, like she used to when she is thinking too hard. Once I'm done with the story, I ask, "Do you know her?"

She sighs and says, "Yes I do, but before I talk about it, I do I need to set some ground rules."

I nod and say, "Yes I've been briefed that there may be banned topics."

Hermione huffs and looks at the other sofa, "Sash, did you do the thing to Harry?"

Sasha looks up from what she is doing, now wearing glasses, and frowns, "I did the thing, but Mia, I was just so nervous and excited for you. He didn't mind, he likes me."

Mia? No wonder I didn't find her. "Mia?"

Hermione rolls her eyes and looks back at me, "Sorry Harry. When Sasha is nervous she talks like a crazy person. She is quite intelligent. She's very talented with transfiguration. Anyway, I want to make a deal with you. For today we will talk, and I will answer your questions but you need to respect my boundries, Harry. It's…Thinking about England just hurts. I lost so much and every time I think about it or talk about it, it hurts. I just have an empty feeling in my heart that wouldn't go away for a long time. It's here," and she places her hand over her heart, "it's like a hole in my heart that doesn't go away. I have really grown in the last five years and I am living life, but I'm also learning so much. It's been incredible here. However the pain in my heart can be unbearable. I can't live my life in pain, Harry. I went through too much and I did terrible things, Harry. I do owe you an explanation. I know I do, but the following topics are banned even today. First, I do not under any circumstances want to talk about Malfoy and Astoria fucking Greengrass. I don't want to know anything about them. Second, there are still some things I cannot tell you. I am sorry, but I just can't. So pushing me to give something away is banned. I know there are things you need to know. So today we can talk about those things, but after today anything on that rock is banned from conversation, understand?"

I was really hoping she might come home someday, but I just want her in my life. "I understand. I have missed you."

She takes my hand and says, "I've missed you, too. You and I were like family especially the year on the run. I'm just so glad you're here. To answer your question, yes I met Ophelia one time. She is Malfoy's godmother. Eighth year he took me to met her. I think she might have been part of the Order. Hard stop on further discussion on this. OK?"

"Yes, I understand. It helps to know that much information. I didn't know how to tell Daphne when I left, so I told her I was on a mission. Not even Kingsley gave me information."

She looks hard at me and asks, "What happened to Ginny?"

I sigh, "At my 19th birthday party when she said all those things to you. I was so furious with her. I tried to go to you when you…uhhh, had a strong emotional reaction to what Ginny said to you. You put up protections around yourself and I couldn't reach you. Then you just disapparated away, and I thought I'd give you a couple days, because I knew you were hurting. I know all the stuff the papers were saying about you and Malfoy. I know you were so angry about the injustice of the punishments given to Death Eaters. I know you were still mourning. I didn't know how to help you. That Monday, I went to your flat and I sort of broke in and it was empty. So that night I told Ginny I was done with her. She went too far, and if that is who she really is I didn't want her in my life, because I owed my entire life to you."

"Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry I was the cause of that wedge between the two of you. It's one of the reasons I left. I knew she was angry with me for not giving Ron a chance, I just never thought she would say all she did. It was awful. I didn't want to make you have to choose. I took myself out of the equation for you."

I wished she didn't have to make that choice. I would have ended up leaving Ginny anyway after that night. "So what happened? How did you end up here?"

She sighs, "You remember I had taken my A-Levels before Yule break eighth year? Right?"

I nod.

She continues, "When I left the party it was only 9pm so I contacted Kings. I told him I wanted to leave and go to University abroad. He was able to make contact in Geneva at I.C.W. headquarters. I went home and packed everything in my trunk and grabbed the trunk from when I packed up my parents house. On Sunday, morning I went to Gringotts and tried to pull all my money from my vault. I had thirty million galleons more than I should have had in that vault. I think it was fuck off money courtesy of the Malfoy's. I decided to take it, and had everything prepared for transfer once I decided where I would go. Monday morning I contacted the no-maj banks to set up the transfers of my trusts. That took much longer than I expected. So I stayed in London for the night. Tuesday morning I took a portkey to Switzerland. I talked to the American representative for the I.C.W. He said with my status of a war hero, they could get me diplomatic immunity and offered me American citizenship.

"Apparently the I.C.W. is extremely angry with Great Britain. Great Britain owes over a billion galleons in fines to the I.C.W. over the last 50 years or so. It was amazing to learn everything I did there, Harry. I had to take a standardized test to determine what wizarding school I could go to. Did you know about the educational system at Hogwarts, Harry? They taught less at Hogwarts so muggle-borns would have a disadvantage. It was expected of Purebloods to add additional education for their children during breaks. It's horrendous the things I learned!

I cleared my throat and say, "Yes. Theo Nott was made editor of The Daily Prophet after eighth year. Everyone was shocked to say the least, but about a week after he took over. Story after story started appearing in the paper. He caused total chaos! He is still doing it! So many changes have been made, you wouldn't believe it and…"

"Stop! I don't need to know. Harry, I gave everything to that country. My parent's were killed before they even made it to the airport to leave the country. My parents were killed, and they had no idea why! I didn't even know they had died until after the war! It destroyed me! I spent the summer after the war dealing their estate. I couldn't even grieve properly because all the Weasleys lost Fred and it was as if my loss wasn't as important. That is why I stayed away that summer. So when Ginny said I didn't care about anyone else's losses, and I should have been more supportive to everyone else. My loss was so minimalized by everyone else because my parents were muggles, I was done. I lost so much more than I can ever explain. You're the only person that knows how horrible I felt. You lost just as much as I did. Harry I committed so much wrong. I stole us food and supplies. I confounded muggles. I killed people. I killed more than my fair share at the Battle of Hogwarts. I killed Greyback when he attacked Lavender Brown. Lavender, lived because I shattered my soul for her, and she stood behind Ginny when she said all these terrible things to me, just smirking, Harry. Why? Because purebloods didn't understand muggle-borns? Because they had a fucking insecurity complex! I fought a fucking war. I helped rebuild Hogwarts. I gave blood and still have a scar that I have to glamour everyday. The Order made sure I was educated to keep you alive. Fucking Dumbledore used me as a fucking weapon, Harry! I can never forgive any of it! I Ioved you, Harry. I still love you! You're my brother! I would die to protect you. I almost did die to protect you! Please I can't hear about the place that hated me so much for something I never asked for. I bled for that country and it wasn't good enough. My heart still bleeds for them! It hurts Harry, it just kills my heart because it's so empty."

At this point she's crying and I take her in my arms. I feel terrible. I understand why she has banned the topics. I'll do anything so I don't lose her ever again. We sit there for a while.

She sits up and she grabs a new beer, drinks most of it, turns to me as says, "Tell me about Daphne. She's great, I really have missed her!"

I did and we talked for hours. I talked about what I have been doing. She talked about her schooling about her research about combining technology and magic together. She talked about her friends, and told stories. She talked about her traveling. Before I knew it, it was dark, and we were still talking.

After we noticed it was dark, I realize Sasha has been there the whole time. Suddenly she looks up and says, "I did it! I did it!" She runs to the couch and jumps on top of us with a sheet in her hand, and says, "Feel it. It feels the same, right?" She did do it. She copied the material of the invisibility cloak, a perfect replica of the fabric.

31 March 2010

Down the street and around the corner from the Ministry of Magic

London, England

Harry

The next day we owled Daphne and had her portkey to America. Hermione gave us the tour. We met most of her friends and had a great time. It turned out being a nice paid vacation.

When we returned, I had tea with Ophelia, when I told her it would take a miracle to get Hermione back. She looked sad for a moment, she recovered quickly and started talking about quidditch of all things, but the light in her eyes never returned.

It hits me, all the secrets third year and how cagey Hermione was. She always had secrets. There were always things she couldn't explain how she knew them. I realize, I need to talk to Minerva.