Gwen called the lawyer many times, but never got ahold of her or received a call back. So, early on Friday morning she went to the woman's office and waited for her to come in, having gotten there are eight in the morning she expected to only wait an hour but it was nearly lunch when the woman entered the office. To say that Gwen was in a bad mood, was an understatement, April looked at her in surprise but led her into her finely decorated office anyway. She talked the whole time about how happy she was to see that she'd not given up on the house, how impressed she was with her ability to adapt so well and so quickly to a new country. Gwen smiled and nodded, only offering the smallest of comments when it was necessary, when April stopped talking Gwen sat down and took a deep breath.
"When I came to the house" Gwen started "You told me about a nurse that took care of my uncle and then of a crazy woman that lived in the house after he passed away"
"Yes, I remember" April nodded, she adjusted some papers in front of her, as if the conversation they were going to have was boring her already.
"Where did you guys find the nurse?" Gwen asked "And what happened to the crazy lady?"
"I don't know where they found the nurse" She sniffed "As their lawyer I should have been privy to such information, but they couldn't remember the name of the place, just that it was a very posh nursing agency" Gwen nodded her head, after speaking with Harry and Ronald, she knew that it likely didn't exist at all, that all the records of such a place were likely forged by magic.
"And the crazy woman?" Gwen pressed.
"Why do you want to know?" April asked, heaving a big sigh "It has nothing to do with you or the house"
"I want to know because I want to know" Gwen answered, hotly "I want to know because she was living in my house and may have taken things that didn't belong to her, are those good enough reasons?"
"She lived there for probably two years" April said "She didn't do much for the house but kept the room she was staying in clean and very well decorated and painted, even though she didn't have any money on her"
"Why was she taken from the house?" Gwen asked, trying to hide her excitement "And where is she now?"
"The house was on fire" April said "One of the neighbors noticed it and called for help, it could have spread easily. They found the woman lying in the bedroom, awake but not trying to escape, obviously they assumed that she set the fire and was obviously trying to kill herself" She shrugged "They sent her to an insane asylum"
"They still have those here?" Gwen asked, in surprise.
"They have them everywhere" April answered with a look of amusement on her face "They just keep them silent and give them cutesy names like 'rest home' and no one thinks twice about it"
"Okay" Gwen said, getting annoyed with the conversation "Then what 'rest home' is she in?"
"It's called Quarry Place" April sighed, Gwen made a face "I don't know why they named it that, so don't ask. She's been there since the fire, never got out and has never had visitors"
"How do you know so much?" Gwen asked.
"As the lawyer overseeing your aunt and uncles estate" April told her "I was the one that had a psyche evaluation done on her, I found her quite insane and had her committed to a place that would keep her safe from herself"
"Thank you" Gwen said, standing up and walking towards the door.
"And what are you going to do, Gwen?" April asked "Are you going to visit her?" She tilted her head a little "I will be told if you do, so you may as well tell me now"
"Yes" Gwen said "I intend to visit her" Before April could ask why, she continued "I have no friends here, not really, I have nothing to do with my free time and I'm the inquisitive type and I want to know why someone would risk being seen and possibly arrested for breaking in, in a highly populated neighborhood, there must be a reason and I want to know it"
"Alright, Gwen, alright" April said softly "Visit her, I'm not going to try to stop you because there is no reason to, but I just don't want you to get your hopes up...she is not well, and she hardly makes sense"
"I understand" Gwen answered "And thank you for the warning"
Number 12 Grimmauld Place, had been difficult for Gwen to find, she walked back and forth looking at the residences that went from 11 to 13 with no number 12 in between. But on her fifth sweep of the building, she found the number 12 just sitting there like it had always been there. The door was open and there was Harry Potter, he smiled at her and gestured for her to enter, which she did. While they made their way down to the kitchen where she was told lunch was being served, Harry told her about how much work went in to making the home she saw now. He never exactly told her what the house looked like before, but she got the impression it had been a dungeon like, dark place filled with sadness and bad memories. It was now light, happy and filled with the smell of great cooking and laughing children.
"You've got kids?" She asked, he turned and looked at her like she'd just suggested that he had six eyes instead of two.
"Yes" He told her "I've got two little boys, they're in the kitchen for lunch with my wife"
"I shouldn't be barging in like this...I..." Gwen started to turn away when a red-haired woman walked up the stairs. Gwen looked at her, as she stopped on the top step and gaped at her, her hair was to the middle of her back, a round face with big brown eyes and freckles.
"My goodness" The woman breathed "You look like her, so much like her..." She broke down into tears and then ran forward and hugged Gwen, who haltingly hugged her back.
"This is my wife, Ginny" Harry said "We all went to school with Hermione"
"Oh" Gwen said, tapping the woman's back awkwardly "Nice to meet you"
"I'm sorry" Ginny laughed "I'm making a spectacle of myself, come, you must be hungry, the kids are in the kitchen"
Gwen followed them down the stairs feeling a bit awkward as she did so. The kitchen was large with a long, wooden table in the middle, there was a high chair with a baby eating something that was already all over his face and a toddler that was playing in his food. Both kids had black hair, the toddlers looked unbrushed and the baby's hair was too short to brush yet, both stopped what they were doing and looked at the three adults for a moment, and then went back to their activities. Ginny laughed at them and went over to wipe the baby's face with a napkin that she conjured out of thin air, which made Gwen laugh right along with the kids.
"Oh!" Ginny grinned "I forgot that you're muggle, my father is going to get a kick out of talking with you. If you spend...well, any time with our family, you'll meet them soon enough, we're very close"
"That's wonderful" Gwen said, she smiled widely "I love knowing that families are still very close..." Finally, it clicked who she looked like "You're related to Ron!"
"Is it the red hair or the diary that told you that?" Ginny asked with a small laugh.
"Honestly" Gwen said, blushing "It was the red hair, I've never seen such red hair...it's beautiful"
"Thank you" Ginny beamed. They spent some time making small talk, waiting for Ron to show up and once he did a house-elf, which both fascinated and terrified Gwen, came down to take the kids up for their naps.
"Okay" Harry said "Did you find anything out?"
"The nurse was from an agency that no one heard about or can find now" Gwen answered.
"Magic, then" Ron said with a sigh "Probably made fake registrations, not like Hermione, but she's smart enough to do it and..."
"Her way of thinking would have likely been that no one could take care of her father like she could" Ginny said "That's how I'd be thinking, honestly"
"The crazy woman lived there quietly" Gwen said "I'm guessing on this one, because no one made any complaint against her being there until there was a fire" Ginny gasped "They found her laying on the floor in the bedroom that was apparently Hermione's, she made no attempt to stop the fire or rescue herself"
"Oh no" Ginny whispered, Ron was muttering swears under his breath while Harry just shook his head.
"She had a psyche evaluation and was found to be insane" Gwen went on "She was sent to and remains at a place called Quarry Place"
"Why would she do that?" Ron asked "Why not come to us for help or a mind healer?"
"Mind healer?" Gwen repeated.
"Like a muggle Psychiatrist" Harry explained "And I don't know, Ron"
"She probably felt guilty and helpless" Gwen said, speaking from personal experience "She tried to do what was best, and probably was, for her parents and it backfired in a way she didn't expect. She knew the rules of that charm, you told them to me, so there was guilt from that, not being able to take care of them and having them die not knowing who she was...well, that's traumatic" She shook her head "She probably didn't want anyone else to know what was going on for fear of judgement and thought that death was a more preferable choice"
"If this woman is Hermione" Ginny said "We don't know for sure that it is her"
"I want it to be her" Harry said "I don't want her to be in that place any longer than she already has been, we can help her better in the magical world"
"We need to go there as soon as we can" Ron said "Today, if possible"
"What's going to happen to me?" Gwen asked, she knew it wasn't fair to be worrying about herself at this point but the fear had suddenly popped up and she needed to know "After you find her, you won't need me anymore...will I be forgotten, will she take the house and I'll be on the streets?"
"No" Ginny said firmly.
"If this is Hermione" Harry explained "She is going to need family close and you're all she's got. You will be in her life for as long as you want to be, once we know if it's her, I can get permission from the minister of magic to cast a charm on you to make it possible for you to see and enter the magical world, it'll all be open to you, if you want that"
"Okay" Gwen whispered, speaking around the lump in her throat.
"Tomorrow morning" Harry said, looking at everyone around the table "Tomorrow morning we go with Gwen to this Quarry Place and she goes into meet her"
"What about us?" Ron asked, clearly irritated with Harry's decision.
"Her first" Harry insisted "After meeting her and getting a feel for her mental state, she can come get us and we can meet her, see if it's really her"
"What time?" Gwen asked.
"We will be there at nine in the morning" Harry answered "Me and Ron, we'll introduce her past to her slowly"
"Okay" Gwen said,
A/N: New Chapter and I promise that we will see this "crazy woman" in the next chapter.