The Stranded Hole: Part Four
`Home sweet home' Harry said sighing as he looked around. Both of them had only taken the first step into Grimmauld Place and neither really wanted to go any further in.
Hermione looked at the wall to the right of the entrance where they were standing and saw a large dark patch where a painting had evidently previously been hung. Now though all that was left was a dark, damp smudge that wasn't at all inviting.
`Its…nice' Hermione said this blank faced, which she found was the most joy she could bring out in herself. Her heart ached as she thought of the Anglia, her home that she missed so much.
`It'll do' Harry said walking into the foyer of the large house making Hermione follow him, his voice sounded slightly hollow and like he was trying to convince himself of something `till we get travelling again anyway'
Hermione sighed and shook her head, the place was alright and would indeed do for the time being, clean and modern like most houses that existed in England in the 21st century. It was definitely a lot better than where they usually went, from the prisons at the Houses of Parliament to the toilets at cholera infected London.
But it wasn't home. It felt weird around her, like it was somehow bereft of hope and laughter. She thought back on the first time she had come here and knew she hadn't felt like this then, but then again she had the promise of travelling through time running through her brain, where as now she has the prospect of never travelling through time again.
`Follow me' Harry said taking her hand in his and pulling her forward `I'm sure I left a dining room around here somewhere'
Hermione followed him into a corridor and watched as he opened the first door. Behind it was hundreds, thousands even, of dusty leather bound books covering every spare inch of wall space. One of the many libraries that Harry owned.
`Nope' Harry said brightly as he slammed the door and led her on again.
The second door contained what appeared to be a store room, over filling with equipment, machinery and what looked like bottles full of different colour liquids. The third was yet another library and the forth was completely empty. Finally on the fifth attempt Harry spoke again and pulled Hermione inside.
`This is it' he said brightly and walked over to the table that was situated in the middle of the room, the room was sparsely decorated with just a nice comfortable rug and a couple paintings adorned the walls `Its not much, but plenty of room and comfort for anything we need'
Hermione took Harry's lead and sat down, choosing her seat next to him. For the half and hour that he had been with Albus she had found herself panicky. As she spoke with her old friends her heart had been going about a thousand beats a minute and threatened to come out of her chest. Now was a time of uncertainty and she needed her Harry to be there with her.
`How did you even get a house?' Hermione said laughing, loving the fact that she was alone with him again, the universe was back to the way it was meant to be.
`I bought it' Harry said smiling to himself as he looked around the room, evidently pleased with what he saw.
`I thought you said it was inherited?' Hermione asked suspiciously.
`Good catch!' Harry laughed out loud `I sort of inherited it a long time ago, different life really, so back here in good old 2006 I had to buy it of an old couple, gave them a damn good price too'
`How did you get the money?' Hermione teased `you don't even get the underlining principals of jobs and mortgages!'
`I'm not that dumb!' Harry said indignantly, but ended up laughing as Hermione looked sceptically at him with her eye brow raised `Ok, Ok! You got me! I travelled back in time, got The Taking of Christ by Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio, returned to the early 90s and sold it'
`You were the guy found the Taking of Christ? I love that painting!' Hermione was genuinely amazed. She remembered when she was just a child and hearing about the finding of the lost master piece and being completely taken by the idea. She remembered spending a whole day in her attic searching for something as amazing as the story.
`Guilty as charged' Harry said shrugging `want a drink?'
`Sure' Hermione said, realizing that however amazing the lost Caravaggio painting had been, the truth with Harry carrying it through time was an awful lot more exciting.
Harry quickly magiced a bottle of wine onto the table and took a glass, but Hermione didn't pick up her own.
`Red is your favourite, isn't it?' Harry asked worriedly.
`No…well, yeah, it is' Hermione admitted impressed that Harry knew this intimate detail about her `It's just…didn't your wand disappear with the Anglia?'
`Oh' Harry mouthed looking down at his hand that held the wand and pocketing it `Albus gave it to me'
`That's…nice' she said looking away slightly, she always felt awkward when Harry was taken up with Wizards and magic, and the simplest things like getting a spare wand was beyond her.
`What's wrong?' Harry asked taking her hand softly in his.
`Nothing' Hermione said brightly flashing him her best fake smile.
`That's not going to work with me' Harry said holding her hand `your real smile is a hundred thousand times more beautiful than your fake one!'
`If you keep saying things like that your just going to make me blush' Hermione said awkwardly feeling her cheeks hotten slightly.
`There's nothing embarrassing about the truth....' Harry said honestly staring into her eyes `now can you tell me what's bothering you, please?'
`Ok, but you're just going to say I'm being stupid!' Hermione said shrugging, but Harry just kept on watching her calmly `I just fell sometimes that I…hold you back'
`What do you mean?' Harry asked with genuine confusion in his face.
`I juts think sometimes that if you travelled with a wizard you would be better of' Hermione said honestly `I'm just some silly muggle as wizards like to say'
`Firstly, I never use the word muggle, do I?' Harry said and looked at her waiting for an answer.
`No' Hermione admitted `you like to talk about humanity'
`Its because that's what you are' Harry said sweetly `Humane, not like the cynical old wizards who are forever stuck in the past, untrusting and fearful of the future and change….kinda like the Conservatives'
`Ron doesn't seem to be like that' Hermione pointed out.
`And how many no-magical friends do you think he has, except James who saved his life' Harry said all this quickly `I'd be willing to bet that the answers none'
`But it's his group…' Hermione started.
`That's not an excuse' Harry said shaking his head `7,421,209 people, roughly, live in London, and probably under 500 of them are wizards, and they only keep to that small group? Do you understand how selective you have to be to keep within such an absolutely tiny group of people?'
`So that's why I don't hold you back?' Hermione said sceptically.
`Not at all' Harry answered `that's why you being magical or not isn't an issue for me…I am what I am, and you are who you are, which just happens to be a person I love an awful lot'
`Thank you' Hermione said blushing furiously `but wouldn't I be more helpful if I could do magic?'
`Hermione' Harry said rolling his eyes `I'm more than magical for the whole world… You help me by simply being you, by stopping me from charging in head first all the time, making me worry about your safety keeps my own in check…It may not always seem like it but I listen, constantly, and where as before I would just storm in, you make me think things through first…you cant even imagine the amount of trouble I used to get myself into!'
`Oh, yes I can!' Hermione teased softly as she leant closer to him. She didn't know how he always managed to do it, but he could make her feel better with just a look. She picked up her glass and drained it in one, pouring another as she finished.
`Thirsty?' Harry teased as he raised an eyebrow. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and took another sip of her wine.
`Subject change!' Hermione said brightly, Harry had managed to make her feel better and she just wanted to enjoy being alone with him `do you think that you'll ever settle down? You know, stop travelling and stay in just the one time zone?'
`Why would I ever do such a thing?' Harry said, slightly disgusted like Hermione had suggested that he marry his sister, or something as horrible as that.
`That's what I thought' Hermione said shrugging and taking another drink from her glass `but don't you ever want children?'
`Of course!' Harry said laughing `but why would that make me stop travelling?'
`Well, for starters you'd have to send them to school, and you could hardly get them involved in all the adventures that we go on' Hermione pointed out reasonably.
`Rubbish!' Harry said shaking his head dramatically `kids love adventures, I know I did, and as long as their with us, no real danger would come to them'
`I'd be travelling with you?' Hermione asked.
`Of course' Harry said dismissively as he drained his glass and refilled it with his wand, but Hermione was touched by his words, and couldn't help but imagine being the mother to the kids they spoke about.
`What about school?' Hermione asked.
`I'd probably send them to Hogwarts, some way into the future' Harry said thoughtfully `but for summer and winter breaks I could teach them a lot more than the teachers could… definitely get an O in history of magic, a subject I flunked horribly'
`You got any names planned' Hermione teased, she found it funny to hear Harry talk of the future in this way.
`Petunia for a girl' Harry said stone faced.
`Ew…I don't like that!' Hermione said shuddering.
`That was my mothers' name' Harry said looking at her in what appeared to be shock.
`Oh' was all that Hermione could manage to say as she wished the ground would open up and swallow her, but after a few moments Harry burst into laughter and made her realize it was a wind up `that's horrible!'
`Your reaction was priceless' Harry said as he slowly stopped laughing `I was in fact thinking about Lily for a girl'
`Now that I like' Hermione said honestly.
`Really?' Harry said with a little smile `that was my mothers name…honestly'
`What happened to her?' Hermione asked.
`She…died' Harry said looking away slightly.
`I'm sorry' Hermione said wishing she hadn't brought it up.
`It's ok' Harry said with a little shrug `I was young, very young'
`What did she…?' Hermione started but couldn't say the words.
`She was murdered' Harry said with a sad little smile.
`Oh, Harry' Hermione said, she had no idea what to say.
`Lets not talk about this' Harry said quickly `What about the name of your son?'
`Ooohh' Hermione said `how about…James?'
`I like it' Harry said laughing.
`You think naming my first born son after my ex boyfriend is a good idea?' Hermione asked interestedly `that the father would be fine with that?'
`Well it's also my fathers' name' Harry said brightly.
`Are you having me on again?' Hermione asked.
`I promise that's the truth' Harry said honestly.
`How weird is that!' Hermione said chuckling `what are the chances?'
`Of two people both having one of the most common names in the world?' Harry teased `pretty high I'd guess'
`Ha Ha' Hermione said sarcastically `you know what I meant'
`So…' Harry said looking away from her slightly awkwardly `James is definitely your ex-boyfriend?'
`Yeah…' Hermione said, equally as awkwardly as Harry.
`Cool…' Harry said, still not meeting her eyes.
Hermione looked at her feet, she was wearing a simple pair of converse and wondered when the hell she had started wearing trainers like these, evidently some point after meeting Harry. But she found her eyes shooting upwards as a loud ripping like sound came momentarily piercing into the room.
`What was that?' Hermione asked looking around before her eyes shot onto Harry who had already leapt up of the chair and was now standing straight with his wand in his hand ready for action.
`You heard that too?' Harry said with confusion in his voice.
`Yeah…' Hermione said looking around, the noise had stopped now but the air seemed somewhat heavier around them `but I have no idea what it was'
`It sounded like a rip…' Harry said as he took a few steps closer to Hermione, his eyes searching the walls in that way of his.
`That's what it sounded like to me' Hermione said taking a step closer to Harry and holding his hand.
`Lets just keep our fingers crossed that we were both mistaken' Harry said as he tugged on her arm and started to lead her towards the door `come with me'
Hermione followed Harry out of the door and watched as he made his way form door to door, holding his ear up hard against it for a few seconds until he moved onto the next. After about five or six doors he stopped and backed of slightly, his eyes watching the door closely.
`Do you remember where this door leads?' Harry said quietly deep in thought.
`It's where you use to keep the Anglia' Hermione said knowing that this couldn't be a good thing.
`It must be the fact that a hole was ripped here so often' Harry said to himself `and with the complete draining of the house it's created a weak point'
`A weak point for what?' Hermione asked nervously.
`Don't know' Harry said `could be the universe sterilizing the wound, something coming through, a void sucking in the world around it…too many things to name really…'
`None of them sounded very good' Hermione said sighing `we going in?'
`Yeah' Harry said after a couple moments and took the door handle, slowly turning it before stepping quickly into the room.
The room was blank and empty like it had always been, a store room for Harry's most prized possession, but now something was different.
The ripping sound rang in her ears again, louder this time than before telling her that this was exactly where the sound was coming from.
`What's that?' Harry said confused pointing at the far wall.
Hermione watched as a dark large shape appeared, incredibly blurry so that they couldn't see any of the details properly. Another figure seemed to step out of the dark shape and step forward, and Hermione instantly recognized that it was a person, although a very blurry person.
Hermione watched as the ghost like figure stopped mid step, the dark shape behind it where she had appeared from wasn't gaining any clarity, but the figure slowly was. Harry was standing perfectly still, his eyes narrowing as he watched the person fall to their knees. Hermione could tell that the person was in fact a woman, and from the rapid shaking of the shoulders the woman was in tears.
`Lets leave' Harry said, his voice was dark and forceful.
`We can't' Hermione said quickly, but she found that she couldn't step forward `we have to help her'
`She's not real' Harry said quickly as he grabbed her hand and tried to pull her away, Hermione however was ready for this and shook of his arms and stepped closer to the crying woman.
Then she stopped.
And before her stood herself. The image was now more defined, her hair was the same as she wore it now, her clothes were different but she knew they resided in her wardrobe, and down both cheeks were floods of tears as this Hermione, transparent like a ghost, rocked back and forth on the floor, not even bothering to try and stop them coming with her hands.
`How?' Hermione said quietly.
`It's a ripple of time' Harry said walking up closer to her `for some reason its caved on itself and appeared here…This must have been what Albus mentioned, about seeing the future…'
`I meant why…' Hermione said interrupting him `why am I crying?'
`Have you cried like this before?' Harry asked, his voice sounding serious, but Hermione barely heard him. The sound of the ghost Hermione was now echoing through the room, sobbing and shaking like nothing she had ever heard before.
`No…' Hermione said `not like this…'
`Then it's either the future, a mirror image reflected in the crease in time that the rip must have bent into our world…' Harry said, his voice sounded controlled but deeply worried `Or a distortion of space and time creating a unique moment which happens to draw of you as it skips through here...'
`The future…' Hermione said, the word sounding so strange and foreign to her, for the first time it sounded like an enemy. She knew the future, she visited there and enjoyed every moment of it. But her future seemed a different prospect now.
`Or just a ripple of what might be' Harry added, his voice shaking slightly.
`So my future, my destiny…' Hermione said, choking the last word out `is to end up… here?'
`There's no such thing as destiny' Harry said sharply `we choose our own'
`That's easy for you to say' Hermione snapped `your not the one crying and sobbing her heart out'
`I know what its like' Harry said softly.
`How could you?' Hermione snapped again, the ghost version of herself was still crying, still shaking uncontrollable, and now she thought she saw fear in her eyes.
`I…' Harry started but stopped instantly.
Hermione looked up at him, a fearful confused look was in his eyes as he watched the ghost Hermione rocking back and forth.
`I followed my supposed destiny once…' Harry said.
`And what happened?' Hermione asked.
`I found out that it didn't exist' Harry said sharply, turning to her with a fierce look in his eyes `let's get out of here'
The words he spoke seemed to be like a command for the apparition, making it dissolve into a puff of black smoke as he said it.
`Where would we go?' Hermione asked, her mind still on just what could make her cry like the scenes she had just seen.
`To get our Anglia back' Harry said determinedly.
`But how?' Hermione asked shaking her head, she wasn't feeling like the epitome of optimism at this moment and needed Harry to work his magic and make her feel better.
`I don't know' Harry said shaking his head slightly `but I will find out…'
`What if you can't?' Hermione asked fearfully.
`Then…' Harry said determinedly but stopped for a moment `I will work it out… I will save everyone…I will…'
And as Harry took her hand she smiled, she knew she was temporarily safe, that nothing could happen to her with Harry leading the way. But she couldn't help herself thinking about what would happen to her…and when it would all start… and if it already had…
*
Hey, hoped you liked it…Action coming soon, violence and threats of death galore! But I hope you liked this little Harry and Hermione chat, with talks of a future together, even if they do talk around it! Anyway, I might get the next chapter up tonight, otherwise ill do it after work tomorrow…
Till next time…
Jms Granger…
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