Disclaimer: Same as the one in the first chapter, but I want to say thanks to E.C.R. Potter, who gave me the main idea of this chapter with his story "Return of the Lion" - you'll see what idea I'm referring to if you continue reading -. You're a great writer and I think you will surprise us with the next stories you'll be writing. But for now, I just want to say thanks for your permission and say that I'm anxious to read the rest of "Different Paths" and "Over the Rainbow".
Important note: I'm really, really sorry for this delay. Usually, I don't take almost three months to post a chapter but...er...lets just say, I didn't had time to come here. Hope you all forgive me. Please?
I dedicate this chapter to E.C.R. Potter, moglie and all my reviewers.
Chapter 3: Return Home and Old Friends
"Say that again," says Ginny, just after Ron had finished the same story Harry told Hermione.
"We're asking you to come with us to the wizarding world. Voldemort is getting stronger, our group is getting
smaller and Dumbledore is too weak to go to the battle," answers Draco.
"And you want us to leave everything behind and help you, with what purpose?" asks Lavender and Ron looks at
her:
"Despite that you have a hair salon, that Ginny works on a newspaper and that Hermione works as a doctor,
you're very powerful and you'll be able to help us, in many ways."
Hermione lowers her head and Harry continues:
"We know we haven't seen each other for five years, and now that we appear, it's to ask for your help, but
we need you. The wizarding world needs you."
Ginny bites her lip before looking to the three boys and taking a deep breath.
"I'm coming with you," she says.
Lavender and Hermione look at her and Draco smiles:
"I knew I could count on you, Ny!"
Lavender looks at Ron.
"Do I even have to answer?" Ron smiles and shakes his head.
Hermione looks at her five friends, before lowering her head:
"Don't count me," and with that, she leaves the livingroom.
Lavender and Ginny get up and follow their friend who climbed the stairs and locked herself in her room.
"Hermione, what's going on?" asks Lavender, through the door.
"Simple, I'm not going!" exclaims the girl's voice. "You two can do the
job!"
"Hermione don't be an idiot!" exclaims Ginny, "We need you!"
"Ginny's right Hermione, we need you!"
Lavender and Ginny turn around and see the three boys. Ron puts a finger to his lips and makes a gesture with his head
towards Harry.
"Let's leave them alone," he whispers and the four friends return to the other floor, while Harry stands
outside of Hermione's room:
"Harry, I'm not going!"
"Hermione, open this door so we can talk!" he exclaims.
Harry waits a few seconds until a click is heard and Hermione opens the door.
"I said I'm not going, Harry!" she says.
"Mione, please!" begs Harry and Hermione lets him enter before closing the door behind her. Harry sits on the
edge of the bed while Hermione stays standing, looking at him with her arms crossed:
"I'm not going to repeat myself," she says and Harry looks at her.
"Mione you know you're essential, you have knowledge that..."
"Ah!" she interrupts. "So nothing of this has to do with my return, it was to be with my intelligence!
Well, for your information Harry James Potter, I'm not going back! I have my life and my job here, and I can't
turn my back on those who need me just because my intelligence is needed in other place!"
"The wizarding world is your home," answers Harry.
"You're dead wrong. This world had always been mine, or did you forget that I'm Muggle-born?"
"Hermione we're not asking for you to go back because of your intelligence; we're asking you to come back
because we need you."
"Say that to my patients, Harry," answers Hermione. "Do you know what I did in the hospital today? I had
to operate on a boy who, with three others, had an accident that gave him wounds that will last for the rest of his
life, and you know what? They're going to need my help, not because of my intelligence, but because of my job.
Because, besides being a doctor, I'm also a psychologist and a surgeon!" Hermione didn't care if she was
raising her voice. She approaches Harry, and puts a finger on his chest. "Well, I want it to be clear as water
that I'm not going to leave my patients just because it hit you on the head to come and call me back to a world
that belongs to my past just because you need my intelligence. There're lots of people that are as clever as I am
who can be useful. Now, if you don't mind, I think everything is clear!"
Harry lowers his head and gets up from the bed:
"Unfortunately, yes," he answers. "I'm just sad that your decision is what it is." He looks at
his friend. "Goodbye Hermione," he says and with that, he leaves the room.
Hermione stays looking at the door of her room, long after it had been closed. She has just found out her best friends
were alive, and she had say goodbye again. Hermione grabs a picture of her and her friends, taken when they were
twenty, and throws it against the wall, before sitting on the ground and start to cry.
~*~
The days passed between a lonely house and a hospital full of work. Lavender and Ginny already said goodbye to
Hermione, and return to Hogwarts by the floo powder that Ron had given to them. Hermione couldn't deny that
everything seemed different without her friends, but she couldn't be sorry about her decision. All of her patients
were so kind and all of them liked her, which was a relief to Hermione. She was always prepared to go to work, until
one night, when the impossible seemed happened...
The phone rings loudly and Hermione sits on her bed, with a jump and picks up the phone:
"Yes?"
"Hermione, listen to me carefully and don't speak. The hospital is being attacked. There's a group of
men with masks and sticks destroying everything and they're killing people, patients included. The police think
we're making this up, and the men said they aren't going to stop until they find someone. I'm just calling
you to warn you no to come and that..."
Suddenly everything goes silent and Hermione looks at the phone.
"Maya!" she calls, "Maya, what's going on?" Hermione bites her lip and jumps from the bed,
starting to dress herself quickly while her friend's voice appears in her head. 'They're a group of men
with masks and sticks, destroying everything and they're killing people, patients included.'; 'The
men said they aren't going to stop until they find someone.' Hermione puts her belt around her waist and
looks to the mirror. "Death Eater," she says and with that, she runs out to her motorcycle and goes towards
the hospital as quickly as she could.
~*~
Hermione gets to the hospital in less then a half hour, and she can't help but put her hand over her mouth when she
sees it - above the hospital, in the sky, was something she never thought she'd see after leaving the wizarding
world: the dark mark. Her eyes fall over the eerily quiet building. 'Or they put the Silentus charm over the
building or they killed everyone! '. Just the word "kill" was enough for Hermione tremble. 'Ok, this
isn't the time for being scared! '. Slowly, Hermione approaches the building and gets in by one of the windows,
in one of the waiting-rooms that is always open. When she's inside the building, Hermione sees a group of adults
and children who were tied and gagged in a corner. She puts a finger to her lips and approaches them, before taking a
gag of one of the adult's mouths.
"They appeared out of nowhere, and started shouting at everyone," starts the man, before Hermione even ask
any questions. "They said they would kill us if we made any noise."
Hermione bites her lip:
"You can get away by the window without making noise," she murmurs, "But you stay in charge to put
everyone together. The police must be arriving soon. Can I trust you?" The man nods his head and Hermione starts
taking off the ropes. "Now set the others free, and get out of here without making noise."
The man nods his head again.
"I heard one of the men saying they were going to the third floor."
"Thanks," answers Hermione, while getting out of the room.
~
Hermione walks in the halls until she comes to the cardiology floor and stops her tracks. In front of her were bodies
of people she knew and including Maya. Hermione runs towards her:
"Maya, c'mon, wake up! It's too soon for you to go, c'mon!" She starts shaking her friends.
Nothing mattered, not even the hospital being attacked by a group of Death Eaters - Hermione wouldn't let her
friend go that way.
Suddenly, she feels something being pressed against her neck.
"Hermione Granger, I presume?"
Hermione turns around and sees a masked man besides her.
"Yes?" she asks
"Finally, I found you," he answers. "Get up."
Hermione puts Maya's body on the floor:
"As you wish," she says, but instead of getting up, Hermione puts her both hands on the floor, trips the man
with her legs, and he falls to the ground at the same time that Hermione grabs his wand. 'Let's see if I can do
it! ' "Stupefy!" The man faints when the spell hits him and Hermione can't help smile.
"Well, good to know I'm not rusty." She sits on the floor beside her friend and points the wand towards
her. "Enervate! C'mon May, don't give up now!" Hermione takes a deep breath.
"Batuscoros!" A red light hits Maya's chest, but Hermione knows she was only going to answer to
the spell if she was alive. It is then that Maya opens her eyes.
"Mi!" she asks, looking at her friend "What the hell are you doing here?"
Hermione stops her friend from getting up:
"Listen Maya and don't make any questions. There's just one way to stop these men, but I'm not going
to tell you," she adds, seeing Maya opening her mouth. "I just ask you to trust me, and for you to look for
my patients."
"What are you saying?" asks Maya. "What are you going to do?"
Hermione gets up:
"Call the police; tell them it's a matter of life and death."
With that, she starts running down the hall. Maya sees her friend disappear, before going to call the police.
~
Hermione starts walking through the hospital, sometimes passing Death Eaters who never knew what hit them. But, as life
had taught her, nothing was perfect. Hermione arrives at the division where the babies were, putting a spell around it
so they could be protected. She doesn't notice a man approaching her until he presses a wand against her back.
"Don't turn around," he says and Hermione lowers her wand. "You have been very difficult to catch,
you know?" Hermione has the feeling that she knew that voice but, from where? "My Lord is going to be so
happy when he founds out that I finally found you." Hermione turns around to punch the man's face, but he
grabs her wrist. "Slow down Miss Granger, we don't want anything to happen to you before you could see the
Lord, do we?"
It's then that Hermione remembers those cold grey eyes in front of her:
"Malfoy!" she hisses.
"I'm happy to see that you haven't forgotten me," answers Lucius. "Well, shall we go
now?"
"I'd rather die then go with you anywhere."
"Trying to be brave, are you?" he asks, pointing his wand towards the babies. "Now, which one is going
to be the first victim?"
Hermione's face turns white:
"Don't do anything to them, they're just babies!"
"Oh, how touching...what a heart of honey," answers Lucius.
"I'll go with you," says Hermione, "Just don't hurt them."
Despite the mask that he had, Hermione was sure Malfoy was smiling.
"Goo..." but Lucius don't finish the phrase because he falls to the ground, knocked out. Hermione looks
behind her and opens her eyes wide when she sees Harry in front of her:
"Hermione?!" he asks. "What in the world are you doing here?"
"That's a stupid question Harry, since I work here." Hermione passes around Lucius. "Can you tell me
what you're doing here?"
"I'm an Auror, Hermione, just like Draco and Ron."
"Ah!" exclaims Hermione. "Well, if you don't mind, I have people that need me."
Harry grabs her wrist:
"Hermione, please, come back."
Hermione's eyes lock with Harry's:
"You don't need me," she murmurs.
"On the contrary," answers Harry, "You're very important."
"No Harry," answers Hermione, in the same lowered voice. "What you need is my intelligence."
Hermione gets free of Harry's grip but when she's about to pass beside him, Harry's voice makes her
stop.
"I need you, Hermione."
Hermione looks at him.
"And I needed you Harry, for five years."
With that, she gets away, leaving Harry alone with an unconscious Lucius Malfoy.
~*~
"She's being stubborn!" exclaims Ron, just after Harry finishes telling them about what happened with
Hermione.
"No, she's scared," answers Ginny.
"Scared of what?" asks Draco.
Lavender looks at him:
"Give her a break," she starts, "Hermione has gone through more then you think."
"She was the one who tried to be stronger because she saw us falling in a cliff," continues Ginny. "She
was always there taking care of us or taking care of her patients and I've never, ever, see her cry after your
supposed funeral."
"She has always been the stronger of us three," finishes Lavender. "I think she's scared that this
is all part of her imagination."
"That attack wasn't her imagination!" exclaims Ron.
"There's something more that you're hiding from us, isn't there?" asks Ginny and everyone looks
at her. "And there's no way to hide that; I know my brother better than he thinks and that look of 'we
better keep Hermione within our reach or else...' doesn't sit right with me."
Draco looks at Ron who just raises his eyebrow. Harry breathes deeply and looks at the two girls:
"Ok, in spite of everything, if you're going to help us, you need to know the whole story." Ron and Draco
look at him, but Harry continues. "There are many people that are working as spies for Voldemort, and it's
come to our attention that he needs someone to continue his lineage."
"And what does that have to do with Hermione?" interrupts Lavender.
"As you know, Voldemort's mother was pure-blood while his father was a Muggle," starts Draco, "The
same as with Harry - his father was pure-blood, while his mother was Muggle-born. For some unknown reason, a child
conceived between a pure-blood and a Muggle is more powerful then a child conceived between two pure-bloods. And, even
though many pure-bloods try to ignore that fact, the truth is that the most powerful wizards in the wizard world are
Voldemort and Harry, both of which are half-blood."
Ginny swallows hard:
"So, you're saying that You-Know-Who wants Hermione to be the mother of his child?"
Harry nods his head and Ron continues:
"All the spies said that You-Know-Who wants a warrior at his side. A warrior with unlimited power, loyal to him,
who will take over his throne if something happens to him."
"So that's why you want Hermione here, right?" asks Ginny.
"Exactly," answers Draco.
"We're still looking for a way to protect Hermione, but we can't find anything," Harry says running a
nervous hand through his hair. "Honestly, I don't know what to do anymore."
Lavender bites her lip:
"Why doesn't one of us stay with her?"
"You know how Hermione is, Lav," answers Ron, but Lavender shakes her head.
"I wasn't talking about coming back home..."
"You were talking about what then?" asks Draco and its then that G
Ginny understands what's going on and looks at her friend:
"The hospital!" both exclaim at the same time.
~*~
"From this attack resulted ten deadly victims, thirty serious wounded and more than sixty others. No one
understands how and why the hospital was attacked." This was the news that could be heard on televisions and
radios everywhere. No one could understand the reason why the hospital had been attacked, why the patients had been
attacked and, most importantly, was there going to be other attack. Everyone in a critical state had been sent to
others hospitals, but all the staff and police said everything was under control and that the hospital could to return
to normal function soon. The damages were paid for and the amount wasn't very high, but even so, the hospital knew
it had to help the families that were affected by the attack. For now, anyone who entered the hospital would see it
functioning normally.
Hermione is walking through the psychology floor when Maya appears.
"Hermione, operating room, immediately."
"Ok." Without wanting to waste a second, Hermione starts walking faster and reaches the operating room in
minutes "What do we have?" she asks, while she puts on the dressing gown.
"A man with a broken leg, took strong blows to his chest some deeper cuts on the rest of the body and
face."
Hermione puts the gloves and approaches the man:
"Remus," she whispers, looking at the man's face. She shakes her head and looks at the nurse at her side
"Is there anything that could reveal his identity?" Hermione puts her hand on the man's trousers and
feels his wand in his pocket. In a quick movement, she hides the wand under her gown at the same time Maya appears at
her side, with an ID.
"Remus Lupin," she answers.
Hermione looks at Remus' face:
"Mr. Lupin? Mr. Lupin, can you hear me?" Nothing. Hermione looks at the nurses. "Let's start with
his leg." She looks at Maya. "Take care of his cuts and see if he as any ribs broken."
Maya nods her head and everyone takes a deep breath, ready for a long afternoon.
~*~
Half an hour had already passed since Hermione got away from the operating room feeling completely exhausted. She was
now seated in one of the chairs beside the operating room's door, trying to recuperate from her unfortunate meeting
with her old professor. She puts a hand over her waist, and takes a deep breath after feeling the wand:
"What did I get myself into?" she murmurs.
"Mi?" calls a voice and Hermione sees Maya, beside her.
"Yes?"
"Some tests were done to the patient you just operated on."
"And what's his condition?"
"It's incredible - he doesn't have any internal damage."
"But you don't know what put him in such a condition?"
Maya shakes her head:
"The only thing I can tell you right now is that he's in the room 315. Someone told me he should be waking up
soon."
"Thanks, Maya," answers Hermione, leaning her head against the cold wall of the hall.
"Mi, I know that you probably don't want to talk about this, but what happened the other night? That night
when the hospital was attacked and you came, even though I told you not to?"
Hermione smiles:
"Since when do I listen to you, May?" she looks at her friend. "This hospital is my place of work, where
my patients lay and my friends are; I wouldn't leave you alone in that situation!"
Maya gives her a shy smile:
"Thanks for showing up Mi, I don't know what could have happened if you hadn't."
Hermione's smile widens:
"See? I shouldn't even have listened to you!"
Both friends start laughing. However, it's then that a nurse appears.
"Dr. Granger?" Hermione looks at her. "The patient you just operated on is awake."
"Thank you." Hermione says goodbye to Maya and calls the lift that would take her towards her patient, a
person who belonged to her past. When the lift stops on the floor Remus' room is, Hermione feels her legs stiffen.
She looks at the door with the number 315 and opens it, taking a deep breath. She puts her head inside the room and
sees Remus playing with the remote control. She sees that, for him, nothing was good enough to be seen on the
television, since he turns it off, puts the remote control over the bedside table and looks in her direction.
"Didn't see you there," he says.
Slowly, Hermione starts walking towards Remus and puts her hands on her waist:
"Tell me something; is this 'lets make Hermione mad' week? Or is this a disgusting joke that took five
years to be thought up?"
"Hermione, I was in London, fighting against some Death Eaters. Sirius had just been cleared, and I was going to
visit him. I didn't want to hurt myself, and was brought to a Muggle hospital. And you can be certain that I
didn't want to shock you. Even though it is a very pleasant surprise." He looks to Hermione's eyes.
"Yes, very pleasant." answers Hermione, sarcastically.
"Well, I can see you're still mad with us. But you should came back home. Many people miss you!"
"I am home, Remus. The wizarding world was just my temporary home, one that filled my head with lots of illusions.
I'm happy with my life. I have a great job, which was difficult to achieve, I have an incredible house, exactly as
I dreamed; friends. What else could I ask for?" Hermione looks at her watch and prepares to leave, when Remus
makes her stop.
"Family. Real friends. You have all that in the wizarding world."
"Correction - I had a home and true friends." Hermione grabs his card. "Tomorrow we'll begin with
the physical therapy and in a month or so, you can leave here." Hermione puts his card in place, and leaves the
room.
"I'm sorry you think that way Hermione." answers Remus to the empty room.
~*~
On the next day, Hermione enters Remus' room with another doctor but stops short when she sees Harry and Sirius
talking with Remus in hushed voices. Hermione clears her throat and the three men look at her.
"Visiting hours ended a while ago, so I ask that both of you leave since Mr. Lupin has his therapy now."
"Dr. Granger, can I talk to you?" asks Harry. Hermione, feeling reluctant, nods her head. She turns to the
doctor at her side:
"Give me two minutes." The man nods and Hermione, with Harry, leaves the room:
"Hermione he can't stay here," says Harry.
"I need a good reason, answers Hermione.
"Maybe because he's a werewolf?"
Hermione is paralyzed for a moment:
"Shit, I forgot about that."
"So it seems." answers Harry and Hermione gives him a deadly look.
"Harry, I don't think it's the right time for you to lecture me."
"But it's time for you to give me a lecture, right?"
"Don't be stupid!" she exclaims. "I forgot, ok? And you know what? I'm not surprised, since the
hospital has just been attacked by Death Eaters and I have a hospital full of work until I don't know when! And, to
make my life worse, I'm reminded that one of my patients is a werewolf and that he can't be here!"
"Let me take him to Hogwarts; Madam Pomfrey can take care of him."
"What Remus has can't be treated by Madam Pomfrey; it has to be treated here."
"And you think it's safe to let him stay here?" asks Harry. "You know very well that's
dangerous."
"Don't be an idiot, I'll take him to my home!" answers Hermione, "And now, if you don't
mind, I have a patient waiting for me."
When Hermione tries to enter the room, Harry grabs her by the arm. "For you to be in danger?" he asks.
"You know very well that werewolves are dangerous for Muggles, or any humans for that matter."
"And did anybody say that I was going to look out for him as a human?" asks Hermione, before releasing
herself from Harry's grip and entering the room.
Harry stays looking at her back before following after her. 'I do hope this works' he thinks.
Continue...
A/N: Once again I ask for your forgiveness, for the delay. I'll try to post sooner, but can't promise anything. Anyway, will you please review and tell me what you think? Thanls ^_^