A/N: Thank you so much for all of your incredible reviews and feedback. It really means a lot to me. I'm back from my break and I had a lot of fun writing for nanowirmo. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter. I know it isn't exactly H/hr filled but don't worry it will become much more H/hr in the next chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or am affiliated with ABC or the bachelor in any way. This fic is for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 19
Hermione wandered back to the mansion a couple of hours later carrying back some groceries. She wanted to maintain the cover that she went to run some errands. She made a quick stop at a grocery story just to pick up a few items as she pondered over everything that had happened over the last couple of hours. She still wasn't completely sure what happened to Joan. The strange thing was that she didn't seem to forget everything about her conversation with her. It was just certain parts of their conversation that she forgot as well as the fact that there was anything on the article she wrote while she was at NYU about the strange occurrences. It was as if somebody knew that she was looking for Joan and somehow got the information from her. The truth was because Joan also had a concussion whatever happened to her could also have occurred without magic and with all the technological advances there were in the muggle world, things thought to be impossible before are no longer thought of as impossible. However not that many individuals have access to that kind of technology for personal use so the likelihood of that occurring is still pretty low. Hermione sighed in frustration. All she knew is that she had to figure out whether or not Allie was a witch. She had a nagging feeling though that there was something not right about Allie, as if she had a lot of secrets that she was not sharing with anybody else.
"Hermione ?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, Chloe," Hermione said breaking out of her thoughts.
"What did you end up buying?" Chloe asked.
"I just picked up some things that we were running low on," Hermione replied taking out some juice, milk, fruit and some cookies.
"That looks really good," Chloe replied picking up a pear.
"Have you seen Allie?" Hermione asked.
"I haven't seen her all morning," Chloe replied shrugging.
"Are you asking about Allie?" Lisa asked walking into the kitchen and got a glass of water.
"Have you seen her?" Hermione asked.
"She came back about half and hour after you left and was in her room. I haven't seen her come out yet," Lisa replied.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.
"I was downstairs most of the afternoon and I never saw her past by," Lisa answered with a shrug.
"Thanks," Hermione asked quietly thinking to herself.
"Thanks for getting the groceries," Lisa replied grabbing some fruit out of the bag.
"It was no problem," Hermione responded with a smile and continued to put away the groceries.
"So you must be excited about your date tomorrow night," Chloe replied.
"I am and I don't have any idea where we are going," Lisa added.
"I'm sure that you just have to be yourself and things will work you," Hermione added giving her a hug.
"Thanks," Lisa replied with a smile.
"I'm going to head on upstairs now," Hermione commented with a wave.
"See you later," Lisa and Chloe added.
Hermione headed up to her room and decided to place some more protective charms around her room to determine if Allie was using magic to get into her room because that was the only way that Allie would know that she was doing some research on her. She thought back to when she had her conversation with Joan and remembered that she thought she had heard someone outside her room. Maybe someone really was listening to her conversation with Joan and she wasn't being paranoid in the least. But how did she get into her room? The only thing she could think of was that she saw a fly in her room which could mean that Allie would be an animagus and her form would be a fly and would prove that she is indeed a witch. But at Joan's apartment she did not see any flies, only a rat which means that it probably wasn't Allie because you can only really learn how to transform into one form. That would then mean that she was working with somebody else who was also a witch or wizard. Hermione sighed as she pondered all of this information and decided that she needed to do a bit of surveillance on Ms. Renshaw.
`It was a good thing that I finally managed to become an animagus a couple years after I graduated,' Hermione thought to herself with a smile. She looked around to make sure that nobody was around and placed a charm around her room to prevent others from entering her room. She opened her window and then sat down. She then closed her eyes and concentrated on the transformation itself. The animal that she transformed into was a squirrel. She then looked around her to see if there was anything around her which she could use to climb onto such as a tree. She quickly leapt onto the tree to see if she could locate the room that Allie was staying in.
She was climbing up and down the branches of the tree to see who was in each room and finally found the room that Allie was staying in. There was a little opening in her window that should allow her to hear and see what was going on inside the room. But as she was going to head over to the window she thought that smelled some food and her first thought was to get it but she shook her head as she pushed her animal instincts behind her and proceeded towards the window.
At first glance she didn't seem to notice anything extraordinary, she saw that Allie had her eyes closed as if she was meditating or she was just concentrating extremely hard on something. After a long while of waiting and seeing nothing, something of interest finally happened. Allie seemed to move higher into the air and at first from her view she though that maybe she had decided to stand up but taking a closer look she saw that she was actually floating into the air and her mouth was moving. Hermione concentrated hard but could not make out any of the words that came out of her mouth. None of what she said made any sense to her. But before she could think any more about what she just saw, she heard a strange noise coming from inside Allie's room and she scurried over to the other side of the window to see what had caused the noise but all she saw was Allie standing up and pacing about the room.
Hermione was really anxious to take a closer look and to her relief she saw that there was a tiny opening in another window on the other side of the wall. She ran quickly to the window and saw that it was just big enough for her to get through. She squeezed through the window and jumped onto the floor very quietly so she wouldn't disturb Allie and moved in for a closer look and saw that Allie was not alone in the room anymore. Hermione moved in for a closer look but all she could see was something that was covered in a cloak and no legs that could be seen. Allie was speaking to the cloaked individual again but once again Hermione could not make any of the words out. She was getting ready to get even closer but then there was a knock on the door and by the time she turned back the cloaked individual was gone.
Hermione turned her attention back to Allie and saw that Chloe had knocked on the door and said something to her about food and they both headed out the door. Hermione took the opportunity to hide under the table and noticed that Allie gave the room a quick scan over before leaving and closing the door.
When the coast was clear, Hermione transformed back into herself and took the opportunity to see if she could find anything on Allie that would help her sort out any of the information that she had found on her. She knew that there had to be something that would give her some clue to her identity in her room or else Allie wouldn't be checking the room over before she left. She found nothing unusual in her drawer or on her table. She checked the bathroom and once again found nothing unusual except that it was very similar to the products that she used. Next she checked her closet and didn't seem to discover anything of interest so she decided to take another approach and pulled out her wand and silently cast a de-cloaking spell to reveal any times that has been hidden through the use of magic. The amount of secrets revealed depended on how highly skilled the caster of the original spell and how skilled Hermione was. Now she knew that she was considered to be a very powerful witch so she was quite sure that some of the items that she was hiding would be revealed.
Slowly but surely a few items appeared before her but some items only appeared for a second before disappearing again indicating that some very strong magic was protecting certain items in the room from prying eyes. She quickly grabbed a folder that appeared in front of her and opened it and found a stack of papers with the headline missing persons report. The top line of the report just mentioned something about trying to find some person's parents and sister that they had lost in contact with over the years. Next she had found a map with dots and numbers on it all over the world but the most dots occurred in England and Europe.
She then grabbed another folder that had appeared before her and was shocked to find that she had many of the papers she had written over the years, her picture from when she was younger. She was going to continue to search when she heard some voices outside the door so she quickly mutter a reversal spell and everything became hidden once again and she was again assumed her animagus form and hid again under the table.
Allie had returned and sat down on her bed. Hermione took this opportunity and run towards the door that had been opened and just barely managed to get outside the door before Allie once again closed the door. She scampered off into her room and ran into the bathroom where she transformed back into herself. She quickly checked the mirror and saw that her hair had become quite messy and brushed her hair while deep in thought.
`What is going on with Allie? I'm absolutely sure that she is magical and she might actually be a witch but who was that person or thing that she was talking to? Also what kind of language was she speaking? There is not way that she spoke English if I could not understand a word of it. She could be speaking some ancient old language but even if she knew it how could have know how to speak it so fluently. Hardly any wizards/witches alive today use it anymore. But the truth was that she was the most worried about the fact that she had gotten information on her. Why was she researching me?' Hermione asked herself with frustration.
*~*~*
Harry was still thinking about the events that transpired just a couple of hours ago. He did not think that he would encounter anyone from the magical world. He was excited and worried about this at the same time. On the one hand, if one of the contestants was a witch then she would know who he really was which was a good thing in a way but then he would wonder whether or not that person really liked him for him or not. But on the other hand it would make things much easier on in the future because he would not have to reveal his secret to them later on after the show. Secrets always seem to result in problems and he knew that this was a very big secret and it could be something that she could not handle after all he knew how he felt when he first learned that he was a wizard.
There was also something else that bothered him and it was something that Hermione said about Allie. He knew that Hermione was not a bitter or jealous person and that she really was always looking out for his best interests. He could not count the number of times that she was right about things that he never even thought about. He could not see why she was so suspicious of Allie but he did know that Hermione must have her reasons and that she has never let him down and that he could always trust her judgement. With that in mind he decided that he would be careful around Allie and keep some distance between them.
Harry looked at his watch and smiled. It was time for his individual date with Christine. He hoped that she would enjoy the date he has planned for her. He got to the house and rang the door bell. He was happy to see that Hermione opened the door with a smile.
"Hi, you're looking great." Hermione asked with a smile.
"You're looking lovely yourself," Harry replied taking in her simple skirt and blouse with appreciation.
"It's just a skirt and blouse," Hermione replied blushing from his praise.
"I know but you honestly look great and I love you hair." Harry told her giving her a quick hug and played with the soft curls that seemed to frame her soft features splendidly.
"What's with you these days but thank you. So how are you feeling?" Hermione replied as she pushed aside the curls next to her face.
"I'm a bit nervous about this. I'm not sure if she will enjoy the date I have planned and I really hope it goes well," Harry explained.
"I wouldn't worry too much Harry. So far your dates have been a great hit and I really think that you have absolutely nothing to worry about," Hermione told him with a smile and a wink as she headed inside.
Harry just watched her walk away and couldn't help but wonder how she always knew what to say to get him to feel better. She was a very special girl and would make some guy very lucky in the future.
He broke out of his thoughts as he heard a coughing sound and saw that Christine had arrived looking gorgeous as ever in her light blue dress and matching scarf.
"You're looking amazing," Harry told her and kissed her hand.
"Thank you. You look great yourself," Christine replied with a smile.
"Are you ready to go?" Harry inquired.
Christine nodded and proceeded out the door and took one last glance back when she noticed that Harry did one last time and wondered what exactly he was looking at but decided to shrug it off.
"So where are we going?" Christine asked with excitement.
"Well at first I was really not sure of what kind of date would seem interesting to you because after all, you have been around the world but then I remembered you saying that although you had done a lot of traveling you never really had the time to take in everything and had the time to relax and enjoy the sites of the places that you were staying at," Harry started.
"That's right," Christine said with a grin.
"So I thought that it would be fun to have a little taste of culture from Rome," Harry replied mysteriously.
"A little taste of Rome?" Christine asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yep," Harry answered and got out of the limo once the reached their destination.
Christine followed with curiously and saw an old style building and grinned as they entered the building. Once they entered the building she saw that it was decorated beautifully with many different items from ancient Rome.
The women wore a peplos which was basically a sleeveless dress that was fastened by two large pins with a belt made from two pieces of cloth partially sewn together on the sides. Others wore a chiton which was also looked like a sleeveless dress that was sewn together at the top leaving just enough room for the arms. These women also wore their hair up piled high with hair pins and hairnets made of gold to show their status.
The man wore tunics or togas made of cloth. The tunics just come about the knees and can be worn with a belt to allow for more movement.
"Harry wow, how did you get them to dress like that?" Christine inquired.
"Actually oddly enough, he actually does this kind of thing all the time. They are period actors so they like to stay in character," Harry whispered back.
"Hello my name is Nathaniel," One gentleman in a toga came to greet them.
"Hello, thank you for allowing us to come, It looks amazing," Harry told him while shaking his hand.
"No, it's our pleasure. We will be serving you the typical food that you will find now in Rome. We hope that you will enjoy," He said with a nod leading them towards a table.
The first item that was laid in front of them was a bruschetta which contained a lot of garlic in it.
"That was really good but I think we will need a breath mint later on," Harry said at first.
"It really is delicious," Christine commented.
Next they brought in the mozzarella in carrozza which was basically cheese sandwiches dipped in flour and egg mixtures with some spices for flavour.
"These are really good as well. So Harry what type of food is your favorite?" Christine asked.
"Well I like all types of food but so far I would have to say that I like the food in Europe the best," Harry replied after some thought.
"So do I actually do love trying these type of food serviced in typical Rome restaurants," Christine said with a smile.
"So you didn't get much of a chance to sample food during your touring days?" Harry asked placing his fork down.
"Actually we were quite busy in between shows so I didn't have much of a chance to actually go out and eat since we are on the road all the time," Christine explained.
"That must be tough," Harry responded with a knowing feeling.
"That must be sort of the same thing for you when you're working right?" Christine asked.
"I am quite busy while I am working that I can't really enjoy my surroundings," Harry commented with a smile.
"Are you two ready for the main pasta course?" Nathaniel asked.
"Yes we are. Everything has been delicious so far," Christine complimented.
"Today's main pasta dish is the bucatini all'amatriciana," Nathaniel explained and placed the dish down.
"This is amazing," Christine told Nathaniel with a smile.
"I will give your compliments to the chef," Nathaniel answered with a bow.
"What exactly is in the dish?" Christine asked taking a small bite of the pasta.
"This pasta dish contains chopped onion, garlic, basil leaves and pancetta," Nathaniel explained.
"I would love to get the recipe for this dish," Christine whispered to Harry.
Harry smiled and then asked, "Are you thirsty?"
"I am, why?" Christine asked.
"I was wondering if you would like to try a grattachecca?" Harry asked.
"What is in it?" Christine inquired.
"Well, it consists of a glass packed to the brim with grated ice which then is flavoured with fruit syrups, pieces of fresh lemon and coconut.," Harry explained.
"That sounds good," Christine said with a smile.
Harry signalled to Nathaniel and whispered something in his ear.
"What were you whispering about?" Christine asked with curiosity.
"Just wait and see," Harry said with a smile.
Christine smiled in return and just then Nathaniel returned with their drinks as well as a dish covered by a silver dish.
"What did you order?" Christine asked.
Nathaniel placed the dish in front of her and revealed two delectable looking desserts.
"An English Trifle and a Tiramisu? How did you know that those are like my favourite desserts?" Christine asked surprised.
"Let's just say that I do have my sources," Harry answered in a teasing tone.
"That is very sweet of you," Christine told him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"So why don't you take a taste?" Harry asked.
Christine took a small spoonful and closed her eyes and answered, "The tiramisu is out of this world. You should take a taste of it."
Harry took a spoon and grabbed some of the dessert and placed it in his mouth, "You're right. This is really incredible."
"Take some more, please. There is no way I can finish all of this myself," Christine told him moving the plate towards him.
"What do you think of the trifle?" Harry asked.
"Why don't you give it a taste first?" Christine responded.
Harry took a small bite and said, "This is really good."
"Harry, the food is fantastic. Thank you so much for taking me here and for knowing what kind of desserts that I like," Christine said again.
"I do what I can. Now we should really take the opportunity to talk because I really want to as much as I can about you," Harry replied.
"I would like that too. So what would you like to know?" Christine asked.
"Well what are some of your favourite childhood memories?" Harry asked.
"Well, basically I grew up in a foster home until I was about 10 years old which is when I found my real parents. My foster parents were a great loving couple that treated me really well and loved me like their own but I always wondered about my real parents because somehow I always felt different but I never really knew why. I'm guessing it's because I knew that they weren't my real parents. My favourite memory from when I was young was when my dad, I mean foster dad, took me out and we went skiing and walking around in the snow. We just talked and played in the snow and my foster mom came out to join us for a while and we made snow angels. Then my foster mom would call us in for hot cocoa. That was the time when I felt really loved," Christine started.
"That sounds nice, how did you find your biological parents?" Harry asked.
"It really wasn't too hard. My foster dad just made some calls and he was just so great about helping me find them even if it broke their hearts. I still keep in touch with them. They're like my second family. My biological parents were great as well. They told me that they didn't really want to leave me here but they were always busy with travelling that they didn't have that much time to spend with me and they wanted me to have a normal childhood," Christine explained.
"How did you feel about them?"
"Well I was hurt and sad at first because I felt like they abandoned me but they tried really hard to make it up to me by being really supportive of my decision to go into the family business of singing. My mom helped train and practice and singing with her like that made me feel really special and for the first time I felt that I belonged somewhere. I don't know how to explain it, it just felt right," Christine replied.
"I know how you feel. I really do," Harry told her and lightly placed his hand on hers and smiled.
"You do?" Christine asked softly.
"I really do. I mean I lived with my aunt and uncle and I really felt different when I was with them but once I went off to school and I met some friends, I finally felt like I could call that place a home. A place where I felt like I really fit in," Harry told her smiling back at his memory.
"Ahhh it must be the place where you met that best friend of yours," Christine replied with a knowing look.
"Yes, but why are you looking at me like that?" Harry inquired taking a sip of his drink.
"I'm just really happy to meet a guy that seems to be really incredibly loyal to his friends and I just love that you are still in touch with you friends from when you were younger. Plus you do talk about your best friend a lot," Christine explained.
"It must be tough for you to have much time to spend with your friends with all of your travelling," Harry commented.
"It really is and I haven't met anyone since Bryan," Christine added sadly.
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to," Harry told her gently.
"No it's okay I want to talk about it. I just have this feeling that you would understand anything I told you," Christine responded.
"I'm glad to hear that," Harry told her with a smile.
"Bryan was not only my boyfriend but my best friend. He really is an amazing guy. He had his own faults of course but he really was a thoughtful guy. When we first met and our eyes met, I felt like as if I could see right through him and that he could see right through me which was both an incredible and scary at the same time. We started talking and we found out that we had a lot in common and that he really loved music just like me. He wasn't a singer but he really did love to sing which is very important to me. We would argue a lot because we were scared. Scared that somebody could see right through our facade and we needed some way to protect ourselves and we lashed out. Eventually our banter became much more playful and we fell in love. It was really gradual and not at all sudden but it felt like we've been together forever and we would talk about everything and things were going so well for us," Christine explained with a sad tone in her voice and tears in her eyes.
"It sounds like you guys had an amazing relationship," Harry told her.
"I'm really sorry about being like this. I still miss him," Christine told him apologetically.
"Don't be sorry. He'll always be a part of you and you will always miss him. I know that I still miss my godfather everyday and it happened a really long time ago," Harry told her softly kneeling beside her.
"Thank you for being so understanding. I'm thankful every day that we had together and for a long time I didn't think that I would be able to meet anyone else that I could possibly see myself with and then I met you and for the first time in a long time I think that I might be able to find someone else that I could see myself with in the future," Christine replied.
"Christine, it means so much to me that you were able to be so open with me about your feelings and that you feel like we could have a future because I feel the same way," Harry answered.
"I'm really glad that you feel that way as well. Maybe you could tell me a bit more about yourself?" Christine asked him softly.
"Well I didn't have such a great childhood because my aunt and uncle and cousin never treated me very well so whenever it was time for me to head back to school I was really very excited because it was then that I could see my friends again. So all of my good memories happened while we were at school," Harry explained.
"So what was your favourite memory?" Christine asked.
"Well for me it was the first Christmas that I spent at the school and I woke up and found that my room was decorated and there was a pile of gifts under the tree. It was the first Christmas where I got some good gifts and I felt that I had a family," Harry answered with a smile.
"That does sound really nice," Christine commented.
"It was wonderful and felt wonderful to know that there are people who actually cared about me," Harry continued.
"So how were your past relationships?" Christine asked taking a sip of her drink.
"Well, what can I say about them? I have dated a few girls but none of them were really lasting relationships. The truth is I was never really sure if they liked me for me," Harry answered honestly.
"I can see what you mean. I sometimes wonder about that with the guys that I date sometimes. I wonder if they really like me for me or because I can get them into the spotlight," Christine responded with understanding.
"That is exactly how I feel," Harry said with a grin and signalled to the string quartet to play a selected melody.
The room filled with a sweet melody and he got up and asked her to dance.
Christine took his hand and smiled and they swayed slowly to the music and said, "They're playing a song from the opera Don Juan."
"So I've heard," Harry replied with a grin.
"Did you know that I liked that opera?" Christine asked curiously.
"Actually I didn't know that at all. That happens to be one of my favourite operas as well," Harry told her with a grin.
"Now that is a lucky coincidence then isn't it?" Christine said with a laugh.
"Now let's dance," Harry said turning her around.
They spent the rest of the night dancing with light laughter.
Harry took Christine back to the mansion with a huge smile on his face.
"I had a really incredible time tonight Harry. Thank you for everything," Christine told him with a grin.
"The pleasure really was all mine," Harry said walking up closer to her and leaned in and their lips met in a sweet kiss that was short but held a lot of promise.
"Good night," Harry told Christine in a whisper that sent shivers down her spine.
"Good night Harry," Christine whispered back as she watched him get back into the limo and opened the door with a huge smile on her face and proceed to head upstairs and saw Hermione.
"You're still up?" Christine asked.
"I couldn't sleep. I see that your date must have gone well," Hermione told her with a tiny smile.
"It was amazing Hermione. He's just so sweet and incredible. I'll tell you more tomorrow," Christine said looking at the clock.
"I can't wait to hear it," Hermione replied faking excitement.
"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Get some rest, you seem tired," Christine added as she headed out the door.
Hermione was feeling a mixture of emotions. On one hand, she was happy for her friend and glad that the date turned out well but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of them actually being together. She wanted Harry to be happy but she wanted to be the girl that made him happy.
`Stop thinking like that right now. Don't think about things that could never happen. The only think you need to concentrate on is making sure that Harry falls for the right girl,' She told herself firmly and closed her eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
-->