Special thanks to Anna Rose!
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
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Ch36: MEETINGS ON SEVERAL FRONTS
But the girl is only in your mind
She's leavin' everything behind
She's not the girl that's gonna make it right
So you can kiss that girl goodbye
You could look forever for someone like me
She's just a memory
(Kiss That Girl by Sheryl Crow)
When Harry had Apparated with Annie, he hadn't given their location a lot of thought. It was a miracle he had not managed to divide either himself or the girl in his arms. They merely appeared in the first place that came to his mind: Mid-London, right outside the Leaky Cauldron. Harry remembered running for his life on that very street he and Annie were now standing on, trying to get away from the Death Eaters and the Aurors that had been following him. Now, even though it was around four o'clock in the morning and everything was as quiet as it could get, being back there made the hairs on Harry's neck to rise. The chilly April air went right through their thin jackets. It was not a safe place to be there in plain sight.
"Where are we?" asked Annie, clutching her stomach and looking as though she was going to get at sick any moment. Harry couldn't blame her as she was not used to Apparating.
"London, I guess," answered Harry with a shrug. "You just experienced the most common way wizards use to travel."
"Oh," said Annie. "Then I'm glad I'm not a wizard. That was awful! I never, ever want to do that again!"
"Witch," corrected Harry quietly, surprised by her words. He couldn't imagine not wanting to be a wizard. If he lost his magic it would be the end of the world for him. "Do you want to go home?"
Annie shook her head.
Harry suppressed a smirk. He was hoping she would say that so he would have a chance to meet Hermione later in the day. "Come on then, let's find someplace warm."
-
They ended up in a small pub not far from where they had arrived. They had tried the Leaky Cauldron, but since Annie was a muggle she could not see it, much less enter it. Instead, they had by a stroke of luck found a small pub that was open because it needed to be cleaned from a particularly messy night. The bartender there seemed very annoyed and his movements were jerky like he was thirty years older than what he really was, but he allowed them to stay there for a few hours. All he demanded was that they did not disturb him.
It turned out that Annie didn't want to go home because she didn't want to see Luke. She refused to tell him that she was afraid, but Harry could see it in her eyes.
Besides, she argued, the night was still young. Harry didn't bother telling her that it wasn't even night anymore as the clock was almost six. When Annie had made up her mind about something, she would stick to that decision, no matter if she knew she was wrong or not.
Five more hours until he was supposed to meet Hermione.
They found a soft, black couch in a corner that was hidden from view. The bar was modern looking: Red, black and grey seemed to be the main colours and there were lamps with bright colours . On the table in the front, Harry could see a number of different bottles in all shapes and sizes. On the walls, he could see several pictures that reminded him of street signs - unmoving but fitting at the same time.
They didn't talk much. They settled on resting against each other, simply enjoying each other's presence. A few months back Harry would have argued with all he was worth if someone had insisted he was capable of having a friend. Yet, there he was, with a girl on his shoulder. A girl who seemed to want more than friendship, sure, but he didn't worry about that. She was a friend he would go great lengths for if necessary. It still felt unreal for him to have a friend like her. He wasn't sure what was expected of him, but somehow that didn't matter. He had plenty of time to find out and he knew Annie would tell him if something was bothering her. She wouldn't abandon him. She needed him as much as he needed her.
Harry knew he could spend years with that girl. Nothing could change that. He would just have to find a way to continue his education as a powerful and great wizard on the side.
-
Both of them had fallen asleep at some point, because the next time Harry opened his eyes the sun was peaking through the curtains in the bar and the sounds of a loud traffic jam came from the street outside. It was morning. Harry quickly looked over at the clock and saw there was still forty minutes until he was supposed to meet Hermione. He let out a relieved sigh. They hadn't slept too long.
"Hey, sleepy-head, wake up," he said, nudging Annie, who was still resting her head on his shoulder and breathing heavily. She blinked a few times and sat up slowly.
"What time is it?"
"Twenty minutes past ten," answered Harry.
"Oh," she said, yawning and straightening up in her seat. "Do you think Luke is still outside my house? Wait - oh my god! You're a wizard!" Annie suddenly looked very much awake and her eyes were very wide.
Harry rolled his eyes and quickly put a hand on her shoulder so she would stay in her seat.
"Quiet!" he whispered. He looked at her very seriously so that she would understand the seriousness in the situation. "You are not supposed to know that. Wizards are not allowed to tell Muggles like you - non-magic people - and we may not be alone." He gave her a pointed look towards the barman, who was snoring on a nearby table, his glasses still on his face.
Annie's eyes widened in realization. "Oh. I see your point. But ... it's true then? You really are a - you know--?"
"Yes-"
"You can do magic?"
"Yes."
"You can--?"
"Yes, yes and yes probably," said Harry and smiled, pulling her close. "You know what? I do not want to go back to your place for a while. Let's just stay here for some time."
"Okay..." said Annie slowly as if she questioned his motives, but Harry knew she didn't mean anything
mean about it. He didn't elaborate. For some reason, he didn't want to tell her that he was supposed to meet
Hermione in a little while. He had planned to, but something stopped him. Besides, there was always a chance that she
would refuse and demand to be taken home.
He looked at his watch. Ten minutes to go.
"Did you have fun last night?" asked Annie, giggling. "I know I did."
"Sure. It was fun."
"The thing you did to that guy who tried to contact Luke was so wicked!" Annie giggled again. "I don't know what you did, but I sorta liked it."
Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah. I like the thought of having someone to protect me. I've never had that before, I think it's in your nature. Oh, you may put up this tough, `bad guy' mask, but underneath that mask you are so much more."
Harry didn't know what to say. Her words had managed to make him annoyed, comforted and strangely naked all at once. Something deep inside him stirred. He wanted to say something similar to her, like how much she meant to him, but he didn't know how. He couldn't find the words.
In an effort to tell her in another way, he shot her a grateful smile and patted her knee hesitantly. She smiled back at him, as if she understood what he wanted her to know.
"I have to go outside for a while," Harry said to her, rising from the couch. Annie frowned at him.
"Why?"
"Just to take care of some - er - wizard stuff. I will be right back."
"Okay," said Annie, taking the hint of staying where she was, but she didn't seem to happy about it.
"Do not worry about me," said Harry softly, kissing her forehead before walking out of the pub.
-
There were a lot more people in the alley outside of the entrance now, but Harry preferred the crowd at the moment. The Hermione girl should be close by, unless it was a trap. Harry stepped out from the shadow he had been standing in. The sun felt hot and sharp against his face and his eyes squinted against the light.
Harry felt like he had some difficulties breathing. This was so stupid of him, putting himself and Annie in danger like that. Annie was a muggle, she had no way to defend herself. What could she do if she was attacked? Yet, Harry knew he needed to do this. He knew he had to take the chance. Hermione could be the key to his life. He had to know.
Harry flexed his fingers nervously and looked around. He stepped a little further out onto the street. Everything seemed so peaceful on the outside, but every now and then funny looking people would pass, looking nervously over their shoulders and ducking inside a shop. He knew they were wizards by the way they dressed. Harry almost smiled when he thought about what their reaction would be if they saw him. They would probably wet themselves just like the huge man that had almost assaulted Annie. If they for some reason weren't afraid of him, he'd show them that they should be.
"Harry?"
Harry was startled by the soft voice behind him, feeling a jolt of recognition. Was that her? Could it be--?
He whirled around, his eyes searching the street wildly, before he saw her. A girl about his age was standing in front of him. She had soft brown eyes that sparkled with unshed tears, and a lot of bushy, brown hair that just revealed her neck. She was wearing ordinary Muggle clothes, possibly to not attract attention to herself.
Harry only stared at her, all of the questions he had been meaning to ask her were instantly swept from his mind. She did look familiar, in a way. Harry noticed that her chin trembled and her chest rose painfully for each breath, as if she, too, had trouble breathing.
"Harry," she said again, but this time there was no question in her voice. She seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move. He felt his mouth go dry and it was suddenly difficult for him to form words.
"Hi."
Suddenly - and nothing could have prepared Harry for this - the girl bolted forwards, threw herself into his arms and gave him a bone-crushing hug. Harry didn't have the time to take out his wand and curse her - she was too quick. Instead he had to take a few steps backwards to prevent himself from falling from the force.
His first thought was that she had to be mental to act like this, but then he reminded himself that she was supposed to know him. However, if she did, shouldn't she know that he normally didn't like hugs? Shouldn't she know that she shouldn't cry and make a fuss of herself in front of a large audience as the one in the street they were standing on? Shouldn't she know that he didn't like any signs of weakness?
Hermione's hair was obscuring most of his vision and he felt rather vulnerable. She was clinging to him so tightly that he could scarcely breathe. Then she sniffled. Harry could feel his shirt getting soaked by her tears.
"I can't believe you're here!" she sobbed at last, clinging even more tightly to him. "Everybody thought you were dead and then we saw you in the newspaper and we knew it had to be you! Of course, it could've been someone under the Polyjuice potion, but they would need you alive to be able to turn into you! And now you're here, and I'm here, and I can't believe it, and I really hope you can forgive me because I really regret what I said, and I didn't really mean it, I just thought it would be for the best if only for a little while, but of course it wasn't when it meant that-"
Feeling uncomfortable by her babbling, he pulled away from her embrace and took a step back, studying her carefully.
"You know me?" he asked, trying to change the subject from whatever she was talking about.
"Yeah," she said, wiping her eyes. She didn't recognize what he had said as a question. "I do. I should've known you wouldn't just ... you know. But when the mirror showed my reflection instead of yours, it seemed like it was the only explanation left! I remembered what you had said and then I asked Professor Lupin just to be sure and he said the same thing! Then I asked Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick in case something went wrong with the spell, but they said it seemed to work fine and-"
Harry had to interrupt her because yet again he didn't have the faintest idea of what she was talking about.
"Sorry?"
"The mirror," the girl started again, but Harry held up his hand, trying to get control of the situation.
"Pardon me, but I have no idea what you're talking about. You are Hermione right?" He had to be sure.
"What - what do you mean?" The girl's chin began to tremble again and she suddenly looked very scared.
"You wrote this letter then?" he reached inside his jacket and showed her the envelope.
"Yes." Her voice was trembling too now. It looked like she wanted to ask him something, but something stopped her.
"Good," said Harry, the questions he had been meaning to ask returning to his mind. "And how do you know me? How did we meet?"
Hermione looked at him, completely bewildered. "I - we - er, we met on the train to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts!" cried Harry in triumph. Finally something he recognized. "Are you done with school?"
"No."
"Were we in the same house? Same year?"
"Well, yeah-"
"Were we friends?"
"Of course! Harry-!"
"And what about Ron, is he our friend too?"
"Stop it! Please, Harry, why are you doing this? Do you want revenge? Is that it?" Hermione was poorly trying to hide her tears with her hands.
"Hush," he said, having no time to deal with her fretting. "Now where were we? Oh yes, I cannot believe I forgot to ask you right away. Did anyone follow you here?"
Hermione pressed her lips together, her face redder than what had to be normal for a human being. Then her expression softened. She stopped trying to hide her tears and let her hands fall to her sides.
"Oh Harry, what happened to you?"
Harry, who was in the middle of asking her another question, halted, thrown off guard. "Happened to me?"
Hermione nodded solemnly, but then her eyes caught a movement behind him. He felt someone place a hand on his shoulder from behind and he knew instantly it was Annie. He relaxed slightly, but he was worried that Annie might do something to screw up his `interview' with Hermione.
"Hi," he said, giving Annie a wry smile. She moved a little closer to him and looked carefully at Hermione.
"Who's this?"
"Hermione. Hermione, this is Annie Highwater, Annie, this is Hermione." He turned towards Hermione again. "Sorry, I never got your last name."
"Granger," said Hermione faintly, weakly shaking Annie's hand. Harry noticed that Hermione was taller than Annie and that Annie seemed to be pulling herself up as high as she could, almost standing on her toes. Hermione narrowed her eyes. It was like it was a silent competition going on between the two of them. He cleared his throat awkwardly. Both turned to look at him, but Harry found himself unable to meet either girls' gaze.
"Can we go somewhere more private?" he pleaded. A crowd had formed around them and Harry could hear his name being mentioned. In the corner of his eye, he also saw some of them slipping away. Whether it would be to call the Aurors or the Death Eaters Harry didn't know, but either would be bad. Very bad.
"Annie," he said quickly to the blonde girl. "Go home. Take a bus or a cab if you must. Just get away from here. I will explain later."
Annie frowned for a moment before she understood. But she didn't move. "What about you? We should get back to bed. We had little sleep last night."
Harry didn't like how she made it sound as though they were sleeping together as a couple, but he let it pass. "No, Annie. Not now. This is urgent. I can get home in an instant. You can't. You need to go now."
Annie was upset. She leaned closer to him so Hermione wouldn't hear, gripping his hand tightly. "Why do I have a feeling you're saying goodbye?"
Harry was genuinely surprised. "I am not. Why would I?"
"You promise you'll be back?"
"Yes, of course. Now go. I'll come as soon as I can," he promised. Then he smiled at her and tucked some hair behind her shoulder. His finger lightly touched her cheek. Annie smiled back at him and moved away, her hand leaving his. Harry watched her go, then he turned back to Hermione.
"Come on."
He lead Hermione a little further away from the crowd. The Muggles quickly lost interest, but Harry saw a few wizards in the crowd who followed their every movement with their eyes. Harry hoped Hermione knew how much danger she was putting herself in.
He was about to tell her so when Hermione began to talk again.
"You don't have any memories of Hogwarts do you?" Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but Harry heard every word clearly.
"No."
"How - how did you get away?"
"From...?" asked Harry, not sure if she meant the Death Eaters or the Aurors.
"The Death Eaters of course!"
Harry began to feel uncomfortable by the intense way her eyes searched his. "I ran off. Then I Apparated away."
"Do you remember something then?" asked Hermione hopefully. "Do you remember when we learned how to Apparate in the forest?"
Harry raised his eyebrows at her. He had learned how to Apparate from Dolohov and that was not in a forest. He had been a natural though, and gotten the hand of it almost right away. He was a natural in a lot of things. "No," he said at last, truthfully.
Hermione seemed disappointed, but didn't give up. "Do you remember the Triwizard tournament?"
"The Tri-what?"
"What about the Ministry of Magic? Do you remember when we fought for the Prophecy?"
"Prophecy?"
"What about the time when we bathed in the lake? Last September?"
"You and I? No."
"Well, do you at least remember the time we kissed on the fence in front of the `Partner at Hand?'"
"No-" Harry started, but then his eyes widened in realization. He remembered that he had been in front of the 'Partner at Hand' the night before with Annie, and he had stopped at the fence there, trying to figure out why it looked so familiar. "Oh."
Hermione's face lit up. "You remember?"
"Some of it perhaps. I remember the place." That, at least, was true.
"Maybe professor Snape can brew you a potion," she muttered. "Maybe that'll help you remember?"
Harry's head snapped up at the word potion, and then narrowed his eyes at the name Snape. It
had to be Severus Snape, the one who had betrayed his Lord! And there was no way Harry would take another potion in his
life. What if someone tried to trick him and he somehow took the last dose? Then the whole escape would be for
nothing.
Harry felt anger flare up inside him. He may have ran away himself, but he didn't have a choice in doing so. Snape
on the other hand, had betrayed his master quite deliberately, spying on them, and told the Light side everything he
knew!
"No," Harry sneered. "I am not going to drink a potion or see Snape. Never!" Except for killing him, he added to himself.
"What? Harry, no! You must come back! We need you!"
Harry was getting impatient. "That is not my problem. I like it the way I live now, thank you very much."
"With her?" Hermione almost shrieked, waving her hands. "She's a slag! And she's - she's blonde!"
"Yes, she is blonde," said Harry coldly. He pulled out his wand to show Hermione that she better not insult Annie again. It was also because he had recognized Lucius Malfoy over Hermione's shoulder. He was further down the street, walking towards them. At the moment Harry was too annoyed to care as much as he should. He knew Lucius wouldn't kill him, but it would be reckless of him to stay around much longer. "And she is my friend," he continued. "I am not leaving her."
"I can't believe this," said Hermione, her voice breaking at the end. She shook her head sadly, more tears streaming down her cheeks. She hadn't seen the Death Eater behind her. "You're not the Harry I know at all!"
"Well, duh," said Harry, suddenly sounding like Annie. "Obviously not, how can you know me when I know nothing about you at all? I do not know if I did once, maybe I did, but quite frankly I am glad that part of my life is over! I am curious of who I was before, but I do not need you or anyone else. And I definitely do not want to risk my life for anyone other than myself, thanks."
He knew it was harsh. He knew that it was not the smartest thing to say. But he had never imagined how hurt the girl in front of him could look by his words. Her every emotion reflected on her face, plain as ripples in the water: Surprise, denial, sadness, anger and betrayal.
Harry found himself regretting his words, but it was too late. Without saying another word Hermione turned away from him and bolted down the street.
Right into the hands of a smirking Lucius Malfoy.
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