The Stranded Hole: Part Two
Hermione was sat on the cold plastic bench inside the fish and chip store, a middle sized carton of chips in front of her and behind that was a rather shaken Harry. He picked up a chip slowly and eyed it cautiously, as if it could have been poison or even a snake, before taking a bite and grimacing slightly.
`Please Pleas Please tell me this wasn't your regular?' Harry said, squinting slightly as he swallowed the food.
`Nah' Hermione answered after taking one for herself, it wasn't even half as bad as Harry had been making out `but James use to order food from here a lot'
`That explains the dull taste' Harry said winking slightly as he attempted a joke, but Hermione could see that the ordeal with the Anglia was still sinking in, so she decided against reprimanding him this time.
`There not that bad' Hermione pointed out encouragingly.
`How can you say that!' Harry said shaking his head `we just had a literal coronation banquet in Kyoto 1312 and now were eating a meal that's definition of side dish is a choice between vinegar and ketchup!'
`Sometimes it's nice to have a bit of home cooking' Hermione said shrugging, Harry seemed to be trying to pick a fight and she couldn't blame him. All she could do was not rise to anything he said and try and be as nice as possible.
`A luxury that it looks like I'm doomed to repeat' Harry said, a little bitterness in his voice.
She sat across from him and was lost in her thoughts. The Ford Anglia, the only other constant traveller they had with them had, in Harry's words, died. She felt in between fainting like Jane Austin Novel, crying like a Hollywood movie and smashing things up like a poor British Guy Ritchie movie. But all she could mange to do was to eat chips.
`Harry…' Hermione said feeling nervous about how she could bring it up when neither of them wanted to mention it `um…have you got any ideas…about what to do?'
`There isn't anything' Harry said shaking his head.
`So the Anglia is gone…' Hermione said, her mind reeling `forever?'
`Yeah' Harry said shaking his head as he took another chip, this time without the accompanying screw up of his face, a marker of how much the conversation uneased him.
`Can you build another?' Hermione asked.
`I doubt it…' Harry said, he ran his hands through his hair in thought, an action that threatened to bring a smile out on Hermione's face `I wouldn't even know where to begin'
`But you did it before' Hermione pointed out.
`With a lot of help' Harry smiled bitterly at these words and his head sunk lower.
Hermione heard his words but they didn't make sense, who could have helped Harry build the Ford Anglia, the most powerful and amazing thing she had ever seen, had even heard mention of.
`Who…' Hermione started but stopped as she heard a small cough come from her side. As she turned her head she saw a large man, bald on top but with a full beard.
`You two enjoying your meal?' he asked gruffly as if he would prefer to be eating them as a meal rather than asking them how it was.
`Reasonably well…' Harry said brightly, a large smile on his face `although some croissants wouldn't go amiss?'
`Sorry, we're fresh out of that' the old man barked back sarcastically, but Harry kept on smiling despite this.
`Any crab?' he asked, still as bright as ever.
`No' cam the response.
`Lobster?' Harry asked, a little bit of the brightness gone from his voice but still sounding cheery.
`Fresh out' the old man laughed nastily.
`Any crustaceans at all?' Harry asked, sounding a tiny bit impatient.
`Fish' came the response.
`Not quite a crustacean…' Harry said shaking his head slightly as if he was thinking over the old mans answer `actually not even slightly close…crustaceans aren't even solely water based like fish…to tell the truth its about as close as if your answer had been a horse'
Harry had ended this with a little apologetic shake of the head that seemed to bemuse and embarrass the old man, and before Hermione knew it his eyes had darted away from Harry through awkwardness.
`That'll be two fifty' the man said, slightly red in the face that his beard wasn't hiding as he tried to look away from Harry.
`Oh' Hermione said quickly rummaging through her pockets and thanking her lucky stars as she found a heavily crumpled fiver at the bottom that she must have forgotten to pack away. Thank god she had changed into some new jeans when she had been home, otherwise there wouldn't have been a chance that she would have had pound Stirling on her.
`Thanks' the man said from under his beard, and after he gave back her change he waddled off towards the kitchen.
Hermione looked up and smiled at Harry, she thought that something finally going their way would be something to celebrate but Harry was looking at her in deep concentration.
`What's wrong?' Hermione asked, but Harry looked slightly awkwardly at her.
`I'll have to get some money…' Harry said, his voice full of confusion and he was shaking his head ever so slightly back and forth `…and I've always been a bit vague about money!'
`You earn it by doing a job' Hermione said encouragingly.
`A job!' Harry said sounded both choked and mortified `that's another one of those thingies that I've always been a bit vague about...how do you get a job?'
Hermione laughed and despite himself Harry let out a small, short chuckle at his words. He looked more confused than he had ever been before, torn from his life and seemingly thrown into another in a matter of hours. She could remember when she was like that, but that time plastic had been trying to kill her as well, so she tried to smile consolingly at him. Harry however was too preoccupied to notice.
`It's all pretty straight forward…' Hermione tried to say as reassuringly as possible `Get a job, get paid, pay your bills…electricity, gas and all that'
`Where will I live?' Harry said suddenly as the thought had obviously just struck him, he was now shaking his head back and forth like he was searching for a solution.
`You buy one…well you'll probably have to get a mortgage…' Hermione said but then a thought struck her and she found herself blushing and having to look away from him.
`A mortgage is one of those bill thingies, right?' Harry asked, he looked as if he was trying to sound knowledgeable so she smiled at him.
`Yeah…a big bill' Hermione said, her thoughts still drifting and making her feel slightly uncomfortable.
`I don't even have the job to get the money for a small bill' Harry said reasonably, sighing out in exasperation.
`Well…we could…' Hermione started, but as she was blushing so furious she found the words hard to say `…you know…like, share, a mortgage…and a…home'
`A home' Harry said, his face still and unreadable.
`Yeah…a home' Hermione she said nervously, but at these words Harry jumped up, slamming his fist into his hand in evident celebration before grabbing Hermione by the face and pushing his lips roughly against hers.
`Fantastic!' Harry shouted as he pulled away, leaving Hermione blushing even more furiously `Hermione Granger, you are without doubt the most Fantastic person in world…even more Fantastic than the Fantastics who live in Fantastic World, FantasticVille, 197 Fantastic Street… and I'll let you know that their pretty darn Fantastic!'
`What did I say?' she asked, thanking heaven that her curiosity had meant that her blushing was dying down.
`A home!' Harry said smiling `and I happen to already have one of them, equipped with a thousand…a million different things that could, maybe, possibly, a tiny glint of a chance, help us get back the Ford Anglia!'
`Oh!' Hermione said jumping up with him and smiling, she now realized exactly what he meant. He was talking of the first place he had ever taken her, straight after defeating the Plastocrese, the place he used to park the Ford Anglia.
`Number 12 Grimmauld Place!' Harry beamed down at her `My inherited family home!'
*
They had caught the bus to Islington and, having spent all their money by now, they had been walking back and forth down the same roads for the best part of an hour.
`I'm sure I left it somewhere around here!' Harry practically shouted, grabbing at his hair in frustration and turning to look at her.
`You make it sound like a car!' Hermione said, but as she said the word car Harry looked away, and she could see him gulp ever so slightly.
She had been shaken up by what happened to the Ford Anglia, but now she was really seeing what it had done to Harry. She had been travelling for perhaps 8 or 9 months, but the whole time she had been with Harry. Harry had been doing it for perhaps his whole life, and at the least quite a few years, alone. With only the Ford Anglia and the people he sometimes met as company. The Ford Anglia was the only bit of stability Harry had in his life, until he met her.
`Harry' she said, trying to bring up something more practical `its number twelve Grimmauld Place, isn't it?'
`Yeah' he said distractedly, his eyes shooting slowly along the houses one by one.
`And we're on Grimmauld Place right now?' she asked.
`Of course' Harry said indifferently.
`So what are we looking for?' she asked in confusion, if you had the number for a house it usually made things a lot easier. She looked at the house to her right, it was number 4, and the next one was number 6…
`The house is bewitched' Harry said quickly `it needs someone to know where it is and think of the name looking at it for it to appear, otherwise you'll just keep missing it'
Hermione heard him speaking but was still counting the houses as he spoke. Number 10 was there and next to it…
`Its here' Hermione said, and as soon as she said the words Harry spun round and looked at her, searching her face quickly.
Slowly he looked to his side, where Hermione had pointed to the house and froze. He looked up a the windows, looked closely into the front garden and spent thirty seconds reading the number over and over again. Slowly he walked up to the house, pushed open the gate and jogged up to the front door, pausing as he reached it.
`Now let me see…' Harry said under his breathe as he slowly put a hand out before him. He lowered it slowly, pausing just for a second as he was about to touch it, and then he put his whole palm down across the front door `now that's not good…'
Hermione looked at him, she had no idea what was wrong and consequently didn't have a single question she could ask, so she watched him and waited for him to start elaborating as he was inclined to usually do.
`Or is it…?' Harry said slowly, and before she knew it he had laid his head against the door, pushing his ear hard against it as if he was trying to listen to the other side.
`Can you hear anything?' Hermione asked after a few moments of watching him straining for sound.
`Shhh…' his voice sounded slightly more upbeat but confused, as far as a shushing could tell you about a person's state of mind anyway.
Slowly he backed away from the door, taking both his head and hand of the surface and turned to look at her.
`So much magic was pushed through that house' Harry explained rapidly, excitedly `and I'm talking enough to power New York city for a week was coursing through its veins…metaphorical veins I mean, not literal watch out the house is alive and will obviously try to kill us in a minute kind of veins…and you know what I can hear?'
`What?' she asked quickly, he was on one of his big rolls where he said a lot of things very quickly that only made the tiniest amount of sense, and this sound, his renewed vigour and actions, lifted her hopes more than anything he could possibly have said.
`Nothing!' Harry said dramatically, a grin from one ear to the other `Anyone who was any good at all could hear something from this house, and I'm more than good! Oh oh oh, I'm so much very more than good! Nothing could hide the houses magic trail from me, no magic that has or ever will be invented…'
Harry stopped and spun around walking up the garden tracks and out into the road, Hermione had to literally run to catch up with him.
`What does it mean' Hermione asked, ever so slightly out of breathe.
`That something's up' Harry said, shooting her a huge smile, his voice was louder and full with life `something hasn't only drained the magic from this house, but completely absorbed it, packaged it, and taking it away with them!'
`Do you think that's what might have happened to the Ford Anglia' she asked excitedly.
`You know I don't believe in coincidences' Harry said happily strolling down the street `not as the first, second or third explanation anyway'
The sun was now starting to set and the skyline of London was erupted in reds and yellows. Hermione knew she should have found this beautiful, but it seemed to her that London was on fire. She shook the thought from her head and carried on beside Harry.
`So what's the G.P then?' Hermione asked with a smile.
`G.P?' Harry said throwing his head back in laughter `how very 1980s Vietnam War movie of you!'
`Shut up' she said rolling her eyes which only made Harry laugh more `the plan, what is it?'
`We're going to see some old friends…' Harry said happily `and a certain redhead who I just know will be dying to see you again'
Hermione smiled, it wasn't very often in her life that she got to go back to see people again. Usually they were just one shot wonders, and the anticipation of seeing friends breathed new life into her step.
`And what do you think is doing this?' Hermione asked `and can we reverse it'
`Too early to tell' Harry said brightly shaking his head.
`Too early to tell if we can reverse it, or what is doing it?' Hermione asked, thinking some clarity on this would be helpful.
`If we can reverse it' Harry said `no idea what the hell could do this!'
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and groaned, they were once again walking into an unknown situation where the only thing they were pretty sure was that something not exactly happy would happen to them. Probably threats of death. Harry stopped and looked at her in surprise.
`If it can suck magic out of the Anglia and Grimmauld' Hermione asked dreading the answer `then won't it be able to do it to you?'
Harry laughed and carried on walking, Hermione followed him and tugged at his arm for an answer
`The amount of power taken to do this to something is astronomical, of the chart, completely and utterly out of this world!' Harry almost shouted in joy `locking onto a small moving target, especially one that is working as hard as I am to conceal myself, would be unthinkable'
`But wasn't the idea of something being able to drain the Anglia and Grimmauld completely unthinkable as well?' Hermione pointed out.
Harry stopped dead in his tracks as he heard these words, a thoughtful look on his face. He ran a hand through his hair and she could hear him humming to himself very softly. After about a minute he shook his head and carried on walking down the street.
`Thanks Hermione' Harry said, and his voice was softer and she could tell he meant it `that's a very, very, good point'
`And…' Hermione said, pushing him to give her more on the matter.
`And…' Harry said mimicking her voice teasingly `I'm really going to have to be careful this time'
`That's really not good enough' Hermione said, conscious that she had put her hands on her hips as she stopped, a habit that she hadn't done for quite a while.
`Sadly it'll have to be' Harry said as he stopped and turned to her, but his voice didn't seem to think it was sad, instead it sounded buoyed up at the idea of facing the unknown again.
`And what are our other options?' Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice patient instead of shouting as her brain was straining to do.
`There isn't any other options' Harry said scratching at this ear distractedly.
`There are always other options' Hermione stated aletting her anger get the better of her momentarily, Harry was always too reckless for his own good, and the days were long gone when she would just let him do whatever stupid thing he wanted to without any reassurances.
`What?' Harry said shaking his head in annoyance `get a job, get a mortgage, a big screen TV, marry you, have kids and buy myself a different pair of slippers for everyday of the week? Can you see me ever doing that? Can you see yourself ever wanting that?'
`No…' Hermione said, and it was partly the truth, just the words about marriage and kids gave her a small pause for thought. But no. that wasn't going to be her life, because then she wouldn't be with her Harry. Her Harry saved people, risked his life for strangers because it was the right thing to do, because it was the only thing he could ever do. She steeled herself and looked in his eyes `that's not you, and now that's not me'
`I thought so' Harry said softly, as if he was trying as hard as he could to not rub it in at all.
`But I need you to promise me something' Hermione said with a smile.
`Anything at all' Harry said taking her hand in his and leaning slightly closer.
`No unnecessary heroics this time, ok?' Hermione said, now grinning with Harry.
`Unnecessary I can promise… but Hero?' Harry said with a wink of his clear green eye `what else could I ever be?'
*
Hey, hoped you liked that…and the speed of my update this time has even amazed me, especially as I really liked this chapter! It went exactly as I originally saw it! Usually the story stays the same, but in every story changes happen. For example Back to the future 2 was first written to be in the 60s (not really a very relevant bit of information, but I think its fun!), but this went…perfect!
Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it…
Next chapter is the return of some friends…
Jms Granger…
-->