The Journey Never Ends

A/N. This chapter may seem like things are rushing on a little, but they’re not. This tale hasn’t even begun…

(I apologise- some of the moments when Hermione is thinking are meant to be in italics, but for some reason I can’t get it to stay like this when I upload. Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks!)

Please let me know what you think!

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Welcome News

For a minute the office was silent, as though time itself had stopped with Hermione’s heart.

Suddenly, she staggered sideways, her head spinning with Ron’s words. Only his hold on her hands prevented her from falling over right there.

“Hermione!” shouted three voices in unison.

She felt herself being guided over to one of Dumbledore’s arm chairs. Once she was safely embraced in the chair’s hold she started to register the true meaning of Ron’s words. Before he could sit himself down on the chair opposite, she impulsively grabbed his arm, causing a look of fear to flash through Ron’s eyes.

“Is he alive?” Hermione held her breath. Whatever Ron said could change her life as she knew it.

Ron looked at Hermione’s desperate face and saw the plea in her eyes. He looked at Dumbledore for help- was this what she needed to hear?

“Tell her Mr Weasley, Hermione deserves some promising news.” Dumbledore nodded at Ron, other silent communications passing between them. There was more to tell. Later.

“Since when,” Ron remarked indignantly, “does Hermione get called her first name, while I’m still Mr-”

“Ron!” Hermione gasped, “Please, just tell me!”

“He’s alive,” Ron admitted.

Hermione sat back on her chair. As Dumbledore watched her, everything about her seemed to change. Her aura was calmer, her posture more relaxed, and he could swear some of the features of her face became softer, as they had been many years before. He smiled. She has no idea!

Her eyes closed, and her mind was filled with his face, clearer than ever. One she’d lost was alive. He hadn’t abandoned her. She was no longer to live life alone with a burden of suffering. A single tear made a slow, almost lazy trail down her blossoming cheeks. Harry is alive!!

Her eyes snapped open, her eyelashes soaked, but her eyes clear as glass. She needed to know…

“Is he ok? What’s he been doing? Is someone with him? You haven’t left him?” Hermione asked, the questions pouring out of her mouth. Silently she added the one fear she still really held, and does he still love me?

“Well,” said Ron, “it’s quite a long story.”

“Tell me!” Hermione insisted urgently.

“You better let me sit down then!”

Hermione realised she still had Ron’s arm held in a vice-like grip, her nails making red welts in his skin. “Oh,” she said sheepishly, releasing him, “I’m sorry!”

Suddenly, she was laughing along with Ron. It was uncontrollable laughter, of which kind only Harry could normally instil in her. It was the first time in months Dumbledore had seen her laugh so freely, so easily.

“Thanks, that’s better,” Ron laughed, gently massaging his arm. Their giggles died down, and Hermione shifted impatiently in her chair.

“Ok, Ok,” Ron said, taking a seat at last. “Well, you all know I’ve been in , right? Well, I got sent there because I’d had my eyes peeled for Harry for ages, but I couldn’t search for him forever. The Ministry said I had to get back to work; they were paying other people to search for missing persons. I should be doing my job. I had almost given up hope of ever seeing my best mate again. The Ministry were getting tired of me, so, as encouragement, they offered me a Durmstrang visit, in line with the new ideas about improving international wizarding relations.”

“I went, not because I was really keen to get back to work, but because I wanted to take my mind off Harry’s disappearance, and I didn’t have anything better to be doing. And the first few weeks, that’s what happened. I didn’t think about Harry, I just got on with my job. I met the new Headmaster, he’s a hell of a lot better that Karkaroff ever was, I’ll say!”

“But then I realised that was hiding something from me. I met a young kid at the school-a Krum wanabee, matter-of-fact, who mentioned something about a group of dark wizards who lived in the woods nearby. I thought it was just a story, I mean, who believes something like that? But then I started asking questions, and all the kids were saying the same thing.”

“So,” Dumbledore interrupted, “at this point you had no idea that Harry was involved?”

“No,” Ron continued, “I didn’t have a clue. I just figured that the Ministry of Magic would want to know if any threats were appearing so soon after Voldemort’s defeat.”

“I asked Fraz, that’s the Head, and he said that it was true. The rumours of the dark wizards were certainly romanced a little, but a band of dark wizards had grouped together in a nearby town. I inquired as to their whereabouts, but Fraz said there was no point trying to find them-they had disbanded about a year ago after they tried to frighten people with claims they had captured The Boy Who Lived. Now I was interested- Harry could be alive after all!”

“So he was there then?” Hermione said, hardly able to contain her excitement.

“I thought it was far too convenient to be true. I couldn’t believe that Harry had been captured so soon after Voldemort’s downfall. And besides, Harry killed Voldemort virtually single-handedly, so I didn’t think it would be easy to capture him. Most of the survivors are scared of him now. Harry always looked after himself, you know?”

“Anyway, I thought it was worth investigating. I went down to the town, and sure enough, I heard the very same story. Everyone I spoke to mentioned that the group had claimed to have captured Harry Potter and were attempting to exchange him for vast amounts of money. However, no one took their claim seriously and in the end the Ministry in rounded them up, but they never found any trace of Harry. I stayed in the village for a month, with no further success.”

“Facing a dead end, and seriously in need of a wash,” Ron added, looking down at his torn robes, “I was about to head back up to the school and finish my work. Luckily, walking through the village I crashed headlong into a young man, the same age as me, who looked very familiar.” Ron paused in his story, looking across at Hermione.

“Harry? It was Harry?” Hermione asked. Blinded by the tale, she failed to notice the sidelong glace Ron cast in the Headmaster’s direction. Dumbledore, however, did. So observant, Dumbledore thought, but even she is blinded by love.

“That’s what I thought!” Ron continued. “The same messy hair, the same eyes. I was shocked, but he didn’t seem to recognise me. When I looked at his forehead, his scar was missing, but it was definitely Harry! I asked him his name, but he just looked confused.”

“After a while, I realised I wasn’t getting anywhere so I asked if we could go talk somewhere. He led me to the outskirts of the town, to a small cottage, where he was living with an old witch.”

“I spoke to her, and she said she didn’t know his name, but had been looking after him for a few months. She’d found him alone and starving in the woods. She thought he was a squib, and believed he was slightly mad.”

“So, I presume you started to put the information together?” Dumbledore said. “You believed this was Harry, abandoned after the wizards had left?”

“Yes. And I was right. I worked some spells on him. A charm revealed his scar. The old woman nearly fainted when she realised this was Harry Potter! Luckily, now Voldemort’s gone, the Ministry have discovered how to break memory charms, so I took Harry in and we found his memory.”

“You mean,” Hermione laughed, “you can’t do it yourself yet?”

“Hermione,” Ron countered, “I’m telling the story. Do you want to hear the rest?” Hermione’s laughter stopped, leaving only a smile, and she looked at Ron with anticipation.

“Finally,” Ron continued, a smile still threatening to form on his face, “Harry remembered what was going on. He recounted how he’d been captured, and a memory charm meant he forgot who he was and felt no desire to escape.”

“But how come he was captured in the first place?” Hermione asked, confused. “Harry’s strong enough to fend for himself! He’s a powerful wizard!” This time, Hermione couldn’t help but notice the subtle glance Ron cast in Dumbledore’s direction, as if seeking reassurance.

“What?” she asked, a little nervous now.

“Hermione, I don’t think it’s really my place to say… I don’t even fully understand myself…” Ron said doubtfully. “All I know is that after he left he realised what he really should have been doing was coming back. His heart was broken from missing you, and I think he could sense when you miscarried. You two are so perfect for each other, but he was desperate to escape the publicity. He’ll explain I’m sure…  But, he loves you Hermione. More than ever.”

Hermione was staring at her knees.

“Hey,” Ron said, lifting her chin, “when his memory charm was removed the first thing he said was “Hermione”. I hope you’ve still got that rock he gave you, you’re going to need it!”

A smile was lighting Hermione’s eyes now.

Dumbledore reached into the folds of his robes and produced the diamond ring which sparkled in the candlelight, just as it had the very first night that Harry gave it to her. Dumbledore had found more than just photographs in the album.

“I thought you might want to be wearing it when you see him,” he said.

He loves me!

Hermione took the ring without a word, and placed it on her ring finger, tears once again cascading down her cheeks.

“Is he really alive?” she whispered.

“Yes, Hermione, you should see him! He’s really sorry for leaving you for so long.” Ron said, laughing. “The three of us, together again! Obviously you two will be needing some space,” he added as an afterthought.

There was a sniffling from the corner which made Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore look up. Hagrid was stood there, a huge handkerchief in his hands.

“Oh, it’s jus’ so happy!” he said, pulling Ron and Hermione into a swift hug. “Yeh gonna make such a pair,” he said to Hermione.

“Perhaps,” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, “you would like a leave of absence Hermione?”

“Where is he? Can I go and see him now?”

“I believe he should be in your office by now. He had a few things to attend to before he arrived,” Dumbledore said.

He’s here. So close…

Hermione rose gracefully, and made her way toward the door. “Thank you so much, Headmaster, Ron.”

It was only when she was sure the door to the office was closed did she start running. Hermione had to find the love of her life.