Disclaimer: I've been really bad about putting this in! I don't own Harry Potter or any of the established characters from the books. I do own this story and the characters from the village.
Runaway
Chapter 3-Shattered Soul
By KZerina
The next few days passed by rather quickly. Hermione and Drew conversed, and Drew didn't seem so cold-hearted, although he did sort of disappear once in a while.
One time while he was gone, she decided that she wanted to know more about who he was. Harry had rubbed off on her too much back in school.
She began with the wardrobe. Inside she found shirts in mostly black or white, a few colored ones. There were also a few black wizards' robes. Apparently, even though he lived near an all Muggle village, he visited the wizarding world and dressed appropriately when he did so. She left the drawers inside alone, not wanting to sneak into anything too private.
Next was the closet. She slid the door open and in it were shelves, which contained nothing of interest. What she did notice was long something wrapped in what looked like some sort of plastic. Spiders had used it as a web making surface, showing that it hadn't been used in while. She reached for it and pulled it out. Opened the surrounding sheet and there in her hands sat a racing broom. She noted that on the handle was an etched model name. It was faded, and it took her a moment to be able to read it. It said "Firebolt." This broom was nine years old. Maybe he had another one that he actually used.
As she leaned the broom back where it was, something else caught her eye. A tall stack of newspapers sat on the floor, seeming to beckon her to search their pages. She lifted the first one. The headline read "Harry Potter's Cloak Found!" The picture for the article showed a short, stocky man-probably the one who found the cloak-holding up a cloak bearing the Gryffindor patch. Scribbled on the paper was a small, quickly written message. "Uh, no. Last I checked, that was here," it said. What could that mean?
She picked up the next paper in the pile. It, too, had a note scrawled beside a Harry Potter article. Each paper was the same, a note by an article about Harry. Some laughed at the page; some made fun of the people about whom the article was written. These scribbles peaked her curiosity. She began to think that Andrew Coleman was hiding more than just his characteristics.
Hermione piled the newspapers back where they were and closed the closet door. There was one more place in this room she could search. She hurried over to the bedside table and opened the top drawer. The first thing she saw was an old pair of glasses that had obviously not been used for a while, so she took them out and left them on the bed. She pulled out some unused candles and set them with the glasses. Next she found a wand made of a darker wood. It seemed to be holly, but there were lots of wands that could look like that, and it could have been the stain or polish used on it. She set it aside too, noticing two, small boxes.
She removed the first one and opened it. It contained a very old ring. The band was tarnished, and, judging by the style, it could very well have been centuries old. A large diamond was set in the top and, even though the band showed its age, sparkled like she'd never seen.
"Wow, he must be pretty well off not to have pawned this," she said in awe as she set the box aside, still open.
Then, she pulled out the second box. She opened it, expecting to see wedding bands to match the engagement ring she'd discovered, but when she saw what it held, all she could do was stare. Crimson and azure glistened up at her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The pendant she'd unfairly returned to Harry the night before he left.
Andrew Coleman was hiding more. He was hiding his identity. He was really the one she sought. The one for whom she had been seeking for five long years. She had been staying with Harry for the past week, and he never told her? How dare he?
She had been searching for him, and he knew it, too. She became very angry and began to fume more and more as she stared at the necklace, but then she shifted her gaze just enough to encompass both the necklace and the engagement ring.
She realized then that she had caused more turmoil than she had originally thought. The ring must have been for her until she gave her unwarranted "break up." She threw away the best man in the world, just because she was too afraid to talk to him and fix things before he left.
What would have happened had she told him what was happening? What would have happened had she apologized? Would he be here now, alone in the woods if she'd just talked to him?
No, probably not. They might have been happily married had she just explained how she felt-communicated. Well, maybe it was better late than never. She was going to find him and tell him what she felt. He deserved to know; maybe she could bring him back.
She took the pendant from its container and held it tightly in the palm her hand. She walked to the kitchen and living room where she found him painting one of his statuettes on the kitchen table.
He looked up and noticed the chain dangling from her clenched fist. His eyes widened slightly before he scowled and stood up.
"Harry James Potter, what is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "You runaway and then when you know I've come looking for you, you hide your identity anyway? What did you think you were doing, Harry? Do you realize what you did by leaving? Do you realize who you affected?"
Harry just stood there, giving Hermione a cold, unwelcoming gaze. He made no reaction to her rant. This made her angrier, but she couldn't be angry. She found Harry, and she was simply too happy to be angry-and she cared too much to let him go again.
Before she could stop herself, she ran over to Harry, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him full on the lips. She was subconsciously expecting him to kiss back-and consciously hoping he'd kiss back, but he didn't. He only stood there, giving her a cold stare.
She pulled away and all he was doing was looking at her with an expression that asked, "Are you done yet?"
Hermione bit her lip as tears welled up in her eyes. Ron was right. Harry didn't care about them anymore. How could he? It was all her fault. If she hadn't yelled at him, they could have been happily married with children even, but that wasn't how it worked. She did yell at him, and now he seemed to hate everyone except his House-Elves, his animals, and the villagers.
She couldn't help it anymore. Tears streaked down her face. Her fist clenched tighter around the pendant that had once symbolized them. She wanted it to again, but it seemed as though that would never happen. Harry wanted nothing to do with her, and that wasn't going to change.
Hermione turned and dashed to the bedroom where she flung herself onto the bed and cried. She couldn't hold it back. She showed him how she felt, and he still rejected returning to his proper realms-the wizarding world. That's where he belonged. Not here near a small village that showed no sign of witchcraft or wizardry.
Though it did make sense for him to stay there. No one would recognize him as the most famous wizard in the world. He never did like his fame, but that didn't give him the right to turn her away.
He knew she came to find him. He knew. She showed him. Why did he reject her anyway?
"Dobby, just stop! I know what you're saying!"
Of course, the House-Elf that he wouldn't let out had to be Dobby. Everyone knew they disappeared together, but now Harry was yelling at Dobby. It was like they hadn't been together for the past five years-although it was only once. Maybe Harry was just in a very touchy mood. After all, he was like that after she yelled at him.
She sighed and let more tears wind their way down her cheeks to the pillow. She opened her hand and looked at the gleaming jewels there. She should never have let him go in the first place. She had no reason to get angry with him. That was the main problem with the whole situation. There was no reason that it happened. Her arguments against him were random and completely untrue. He was very good at flying and had every right to love it, and his grades were pretty good, as well. She regretted every word she'd said, and if he would listen, she would take every one back.
But he wasn't listening. He wasn't even caring enough to do anything but keep her alive until he could get her out of his house, which, depending on the weather, could be a while.
However, the more she thought, the better more snow sounded. If it continued to snow, then she would have a longer time to convince him that he should come back, but what if he still didn't listen? What if he just ignored her completely? What if he didn't go anywhere near her? What then? She couldn't convince him to come back if he ignored her.
Her heart sank even lower than it had before. She would never see him again if she couldn't make him see that he should return to the wizarding world. A fresh flood of tears attacked her eyes.
She hadn't moved the stuff of the bed before lying there. She looked down and picked up the ring. All she could do was stare and think about what could have been. He had to have had it before he left since he'd have no reason to have it afterward if he'd been living like this.
Hermione flinched at a prod on her arm. She looked up to see two large, green eyes staring at her.
"Dobby is sorry to have scared you. Dobby just wants to talk."
Hermione sniffed and nodded at him. Dobby walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a box of tissues, setting them on the bed beside Hermione's head. Then he proceeded to put the objects she had pulled out of the drawer back, except the necklace that she clutched so tightly.
"Would you like a glass of water?"
Hermione turned her puffy, bloodshot eyes to Dobby and nodded. Dobby snapped his fingers and brought a pitcher and glass to the room as Hermione slowly sat up. She quietly sipped the clear liquid from the cup.
"Are you all right?" asked Dobby concernedly.
"Not really," she rejoined truthfully. "When did you learn to speak so well?"
"Sometimes I can't help it and revert to the old way, but Harry made me learn."
"Oh."
"I want to apologize in advance for Berry. She will not be happy when she finds out you were the one who broke Harry's heart, but Dobby knows better. Dobby knows that it wasn't just his heart that was broken. It was his spirit, too."
Hermione stared as yet another batch of tears threatened to tumble down in despair.
"Dobby hopes that Hermione can piece his puzzle back together so he will be the better Harry again. Good luck."
Hermione suddenly found it harder to breathe. As Dobby left, the tears dropped from her eyes and onto the shimmering amulet that was now in her lap. She concentrated all her energy into stopping the salty drops from trailing down her cheeks.
She'd totally shattered him, like taking a hammer to a mirror, bad luck and all. Unfortunately, fixing Harry wasn't as easy as a reparo spell. It would be so much more difficult than that. He would be hard to convince since he was at least as stubborn as she, if not more.
She sighed and took another sip of water as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Maybe if she slept on it she could come up with something. She nodded to convince herself that it would work.
She picked up the amulet and ever so gently kissed it. That would have to do if she couldn't kiss the one-she now realized-she loved. Then she slid under the covers and clasped the pendant close to her heart as she drifted off to sleep.
Oh, and to Fenriswolf, no…he really doesn't know who he is, and he needs help to find it. He knows, but he doesn't I guess I should say.