Disclaimer: I own nothing but my website and a couple of box sets of Due South, Soap, and Dead like me. I sure as hell don't own this, if I did I would also have to own a swimming pool filled with money. But alas I do not. I intend no harm, only to my own mental health, and make no money from this. I'm actually losing money for this...
A/N: This is the sequel to Harry Potter and the End of an Era, if you haven't read that I STRONGLY recommend you read that first. If you have read 'Era,' as I so affectionately call it, I have a couple of things to say. One, to all of you that said that Harry couldn't be killed in his phoenix state, nice theory... a bit obvious, but nice. Also, highly wrong. Two, the last chapter, I was going for the fast chaotic feel... I promise I wont try that again. And I believe someone actually reviewed that they didn't believe it was funny, what I 'did to' Harry. I assure everyone that the last emotion I was going for with the last chapter was humor. Now that I've talked (or typed rather) too much, we'll move onto the fic.
* * *
Johnny sat up and looked over to his alarm clock. It was three thirty in the morning and he still hadn't gotten to sleep. Getting up he looked out the window to see the full moon staring at him, judging him. He looked back to his roommates who were all asleep. He often fought with them since most of their bulling of him occurred because he chose to help a little girl by the name of Evelia. It was one of the reasons he was sure he wasn't like them. Orphans, from their point of view, only looked out for themselves or their siblings. He had never felt that way, in fact, he felt almost all the time like he was missing something, something important. He was sure it was his family. He knew his parents must be looking for him at that moment. He looked into the moon and knew that he was not an orphan that his parents were out there right at that moment. And when the found him he would remember everything about his past, and how he got a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.
* * *
"Johnny! Eve's teacher complained again. She said that skateboard of yours does not constitute public transportation and therefore should not be used to get Eve to school… Are you listening?"
"Don't worry Mrs. O'Connell, I wont do it again." Johnny yelled across the house.
Johnny tied the rope that was connected to the handlebars of the scooter to the back of his belt and stepped onto his skateboard.
"Got your helmet on?"
"Yes."
"And your pads?"
"Yes."
"Ready to go to school?"
"No," Eve held on tight as Johnny started to leave the driveway. After Johnny dropped off Eve He skated to the high school as fast as he could and again ended up late.
"Johnny, you're late."
"Sorry Mrs. Edith." Johnny sat down at a seat in the front of the class and opened up his English textbook.
"Now lets open our books to page three hundred and forty-eight. Does anyone know of any scenes from Macbeth?"
"Let the hell broth boil and bubble." Johnny said without realizing it.
"What was that?" Mrs. Edith asked.
"I…"
"He called something a `hell broth,' he does get detention, right, for saying `hell.'" One of the popular girls who sat in the back row said.
"No, I wont give him detention, he just quoted Shakespeare. Do you remember anything else from the scene?"
"Fingers from a birth strangled babe, ditch delivered by a drab…" Johnny said.
"Very good. What Johnny just recited was a part from the play Macbeth, one of the more famous scenes. You may know a different part from that scene, `Double double, toil and trouble…"
* * *
"Hey Johnny English, do all brits just memorize Shakespeare?"
"I don't know, it might be just me…"
"Don't you know? All Australians say `crikey' and all Americans say `dude' and all brits know their Shakespeare." A Goth girl said as she joined the two boys at the lunch table.
"Thanks for that stereotype, Kelly, that was quite enlightening," the blonde boy sitting next to Johnny said.
"You're welcome, Steve," she said as she took a bite of her hamburger.
"I heard you were late again," a girl sat next to Kelly.
This girl had big glasses and her messy black hair was in pigtails.
"Hey Indi, and yes I was late. Does everyone need to know my schedule around here?" Johnny said.
"Well on Shelia's new top twenty you did get number three, which for an unpopular like yourself is just plain impossible." Kelly held up the photocopy.
Indi snorted, "From one unpopular to another, congratulations!"
"So how does a mentally challenged person such as yourself remember excerpts from Shakespeare?" Kelly asked.
"Johnny is not mentally challenged," Indi said.
"What the fuck do you call people with amnesia then?"
"I don't quite know... I'll have to research that. And just because Johnny has amnesia doesn't mean he can't remember EVERYTHING. Motor responses, such as speech, are not lost on patients with said problem. Therefore, if Johnny had heard a certain scene from Macbeth over and over his motor skills would just kick in and make him answer a certain way."
They stared at her for a moment before they went back to discussing the day.
* * *
"Buyers," One of Johnny's roommates said as he entered.
Johnny looked out the door and saw a couple sitting in Mrs. O'Connell's office.
"Do you think they'll be disappointed when they learn there aren't any babies here?"
"I don't think they'll stay long enough so we could gauge their reaction."
* * *
Mrs. Winter looked down into the grounds of the orphanage.
"So you two don't want a baby?" the head of the orphanage asked.
"No," her husband said, "You see, I was orphaned by my parents when I was ten and I never got adopted. When we learnt my swimmers don't swim, we decided to adopt. We were going to, after we had a child of our own, so whomever we adopted, they wouldn't be alone."
"Well, what age range are you interested in?" Mrs. O'Connell went over to her file cabinet.
"Who's that?" Mrs. Winter asked pointing outside the window.
Mrs. O'Connell approached and sighed.
"That is Johnny, poor boy."
"What happened to him?" Mrs. Winter asked.
"The poor dear has amnesia. He was found on the street dying. No one knew what was wrong, and when he woke he didn't know who he was. After we searched everywhere for his parents he became an orphan here. He looks after another orphan here, Eve.... So, for the age, maybe around ten?"
Mrs. Winter looked to her husband who nodded.
She stopped Mrs. O'Connell, "Could we speak with him?"
* * *
Johnny sat down across the table from the couple he had seen hours earlier.
"Hey Johnny, this is my wife, Melissa, and I'm Greg."
"Hello."
"You know why we asked you here?" Melissa asked.
"Do you want me to tell you about the other kids here?"
"No. We were thinking about adopting; actually, we were thinking about adopting you."
"Me? Do you know how old I am?"
"Of course we do. You sound like a great kid, and well everybody deserves a chance at having a home, with a family."
"But what if I have a home? What would happen if my parents found me?"
"Then I would hope you would keep in touch with us," Melissa said.
"So you want to adopt me?"
"Right," Greg said.
"I don't know... I mean this is weird... and Eve- she's another orphan, I don't think-"
"We've already spoken with her, and she said she won't go anywhere without you, and vice versa."
* * *
SIX MONTHS LATER
Professor Snape walked along the muggle town with disgust in his heart. He had come here on Order business, and stayed for an entirely different reason. He looked into the muggle jewelry shop, but decided against buying her any jewelry.
A small dog came up to him and started to bark.
"Gotcha!" a familiar voice said.
Snape looked down to see a mop of messy black hair pick up the small dog.
"Sorry about that sir," a woman said as she came up to them out of breath, "Our dog just kinda got away from us, he is only a puppy after all."
"I told you we should have gotten the H-harness for Jareth," the same familiar voice said.
The boy stood and Snape saw the boy's lightning bolt scar and bright green eyes. The family seemed to take his glare as a 'get the hell away from me' look, and proceeded on their day.
Snape took the mirror out of his pocket and went into an alley.
"Dumbledore," he said.
"Yes, Severus?"
"I don't quite know how to say this, but I don't believe Potter is dead."
"I'll be right there."
* * *
Hermione stood at the entranceway to the infirmary. Madame Pomphrey looked over to her and sighed, Hermione could tell she wasn't expecting to see her this year.
"Miss Granger, are you attending this year?"
"Yes. Professor Dumbledore wants me to get a sleeping potion from you."
"Are you still not sleeping in the night?" She handed Hermione the potion.
"No, I'm sleeping. I just keep having... nightmares."
Madame Pomphery gave her a sympathetic look, and whenever that happened that was usually Hermione's cue to leave. She had no interest in anyone's sympathy, she just wanted to go to school and be done with it.
Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room and sat on the chair near the fire. Most people were at the feast, watching the new first years get sorted. She had stuck around for about five minutes before the stares had gotten to her, then she went to see Madame Pomphrey.
Luna was sitting on the couch of the Gryffindor common room and seemed to not notice Hermione's entrance. Luna had joined the Gryffindors this past year after she and Ron married, which for a first Ron's mother insisted he do. Luna's pregnancy became apparent about two months after Harry's death, she had been distracted as they all had been, and when she realized she hadn't had her period in months she told Ron who fainted. After Ron's fainting they told their parents and Mrs. Weasley decided that the only right thing would be for Ron to marry Luna, even though they still were in school. Hermione had been 'best man' while Ginny was the maid of honor, and after the simple ceremony Luna had become a Gryffindor and they had taken over the Head Boy room in the Gryffindor tower.
Ron had been the only one to try and comfort Hermione, after repeated failed attempts by many they decided that he would be the one who had the ability to help her. His attempts to comfort her were few and far between the farther and farther they got away from Harry's day of death. Hermione was glad for it, she didn't want to feel better, she was never going to get over Harry's death.
But she realized, the reason Ron wasn't comforting her as much anymore was, that he had been slowly getting over Harry's death. She knew Ron was not aware of it, but with Luna, and the prospect of a child, he was missing Harry less and less and loving the fact that a future lied a head of him more and more.
Of all the things Hermione felt, happiness was at the top of the list. She was happy that he found what he needed to go on. She was happy that he wasn't stuck in a state of limbo such as herself.
She felt as if she were some sort of rag doll. To be placed and manipulated until they got tired of her. They tried, through Ron, to tell her how to feel, how to act now that Harry was gone. But in the end she felt like giving up. That was when it happened.
Hermione Granger tried to commit suicide.
Even about committing suicide Hermione was the diligent student. She knew enough about the ways, and the one way that wouldn't leave a mess for whoever found her was to take pills... pain pills to be more precise. It was easier than she would have thought; her parents were dentists after all. But in the end they found her in time. And for that she was grateful.
The first thing she said when she came out of it was, "Harry would have never forgave me if it worked."
And that was all she allowed said on the matter. Her parents were cautious at first, not knowing if she would try it again, but after that Hermione started to treat her body like a temple. She did everything she could to stay as healthy as she could, so she knew Harry wouldn't be mad at her.
Now all she was doing was waiting. Waiting until she could see Harry again.
"Don't you want to see the first years? They heard about last year, and are terribly afraid of you." Luna finally spoke.
"I don't take joy in scaring children... That's Professor Snape."
"You know I heard the oddest thing. I heard from Ronald; He's head boy so he's privied to this information you know," Luna said proudly, "He said that Draco Malfoy was no longer on the roster for Slytherin."
"Even I don't blame him for dropping out. All those Slytherin's, and almost all of their parents are in Azkaban." Hermione said uninterested.
"That's the odd thing, he didn't drop out. He apparently made arrangements last year, during that last feast, he's a Hufflepuff now."
Hermione sighed, "I'm surprised they'd take the little ferret."
Luna hummphed, "That's the same thing Ronald said. But of course his language was more vulgar."
"I should go to... I'll see you." Neville said from the entranceway. Hermione turned to see both he and Ginny almost gitty. He waved goodbye and ran up to the dorms.
Hermione had to repress a smile. After the night of their initial... recognition of each other's fondness of the other, they had decided to take it slow. Actually Neville decided they should, or he was likely to die of either a heart attack, or her father's hand, which ever came first. And as for 'going slow' Hermione hadn't seen them do anything above holding hands, and that was few and far between. Especially this past summer, where either her father, or his grandmother, was near.
Neville had become a lot more sure of himself in the past few months. That didn't stop his insecurities around Ginny though.
Neville's shyness seemed to rub off on Ginny. For a girl who was only too happy to flirt and flaunt everything in front of everyone, she had calmed down. Neville would say she looked nice and her cheeks would actually redden. Hermione thought perhaps it could be the fact that Ginny knew for a fact that Neville wasn't going anywhere. Not only because it would be 'un-Neville-like' to do so, but she didn't want him to. He wasn't some random guy she'd get over in a week, and Ginny wanted him in her life.
Hermione was about to think of an excuse to get herself up the stairs as fast as Neville, when Professor McGonagall came into the common room out of breath.
She motioned to Hermione, obviously not able to talk while trying to catch her breath. Hermione got up and dutifully followed the deputy-Headmistress. They made it to the Gargoyle outside of Professor Dumbledore's office.
Hermione said, "Chocolate Frogs," and the statue moved.
Hermione slowly walked up the stairs, and when Professor McGonagall felt she was going too slow she shoved her up the stairs and practically into the door. Hermione knocked calmly and did not need to wait above half a second, the door swung open to reveal two stone like blue eyes.
"What's happened?" Hermione felt the numbness subside and a brick fall into her stomach.
"I don't know how to tell you this Miss Granger... I just know that what I'm about to tell you is truth, although I don't know how it could be."
"What is it?" Hermione's heart began to race, Voldemort wasn't dead. She just knew it. He was alive and Harry had died, it was all in that stupid prophecy.
"Harry is alive."
She meant to ask, 'What?' She meant to discuss everything clearly and rationally. She meant to ask everything she could ever think of asking. But all that came out were two long breaths cut off abruptly, then she sobbed. The kind of sobs that shook her entire body as tears flowed from her face.
She didn't know why she was crying, she just couldn't stop it no matter how much she tried.
"He's been adopted by a family, we've convinced them all to come to England. Miss Granger... Harry doesn't remember a thing about his life. He is now called Johnny, and doesn't have any knowledge of magic, or you."
Hermione couldn't allow herself to be sad, her Harry was alive.
"Since the redecoration of Grimmauld Place, it now is all muggle, save the fedilus charm. We will take that off, and Harry and his family will stay there. We were hoping someone of his past could come there to stay with them, and try to get his memory back."
"I will." Hermione said as she cried.
Hermione stopped crying altogether, the entire room seemed to freeze.
"She will give the one who conquers the Dark Lord a gift..."
The prophecy kept running along in her mind at what seemed to be a mile a minute.
"My prophecy…" Hermione said quietly as she took a seat near Dumbledore's desk.
"What about it?" McGonagall stood over Hermione.
"He has a family now… Is he happy?"
"Yes." Dumbledore said not registering any emotion.
"My prophecy said I would be the one to give him a gift, I thought it was… but now… He's happy."
"What are you trying to say?" McGonagall said in a rather squeaky voice.
"This is my gift, to leave him be happy for the first time in his life." Hermione tried with all her might to hold in her tears.
"Hermione," Dumbledore said softly, "You are his gift."
"I'll pack my bags."
* * *
A/N: Just let me say my knowledge of the life of orphans goes very little beyond `Annie,' know that everything in there was put in with no assumptions that any of the situations were `real.'
-->