DISCLAIMER - JKR OWNS HP.
Author's Note: Will from now on be at the end of the chapter.
Chapter Two: Normal Beginning
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Professor Benny Lourdes was in his office looking at the small waves from the tiny radio signal that Sheila gave to him last night. It was already morning and he was always the first one up in the laboratory, no matter what.
Carefully he picked up his coffee mug from his desk and sipped the black coffee that was filled inside. It warmed him up quite quickly and he sighed, being relaxed. He pushed his glasses up a bit to see the waves getting a little smaller.
"Oh no, no, no, no, don't do that," he muttered towards the radio.
Benny pressed a few buttons to see if it would go back up, but to no luck nothing. He leaned back in his leather chair and looked over at the clock upon the wall.
6:30 AM.
John should be arriving at about any time now with the other one.
A faint knock was heard at the door and he looked over. The door opened slowly and Sheila stepped in closing the door slightly behind her.
"Do you know if Harry is up by any chance?"
Benny shook his head. "No, I don't think so. But you don't get up this early."
"Well for once I did because this stupid git over here had to pound on my door telling me that he arrived and didn't know what to do with her."
Benny stood up immediately and walked around his desk. He walked over to Sheila and opened up the door. John was standing outside gripping a young lady's arm.
"Can you please not break my arm off?"
"If you stop moving I won't, Granger."
Benny showed a sweet smile upon his face. "I'm guessing this is her."
John nodded and sighed heavily. "She's all yours. She's been driving me mad with questions."
"Well it would be nice if you would've answered them," Hermione shot back as John released her arm.
She held onto the spot where he held her arm and looked over at Sheila and the Professor.
"I'm Professor Benny Lourdes," Benny said, extending his hand out with a grin upon his face.
Hermione reached over slowly and shook the man's hand.
"This is Sheila," he said motioning over towards her, "She brought in a little friend of yours just last night."
"By friend we mean, a special friend, a long-lost friend, a best friend, a -"
"I think she got the point," he stated and Sheila nodded slightly.
"Who did you bring in?" Hermione asked, curiosity upon her face.
"You will see when he wakes up. I'm sure both of you will be glad to see each other since you haven't in awhile I'm guessing."
Sheila smirked over at Benny and from there left to go and start doing her job.
"Come with me, Ms. Granger," Benny said with another smile. "I will answer any sort of questions you possess."
"Thank you," she said and started walking with him around the laboratory.
"First of all, where am I?"
"My dear, you are in the White Lourdes Laboratory. Specifically a group of people who find things that have a meaning behind it that no one has solved. No one in this place speaks of where they work or shows anyone. If we do bring an outsider in here, like yourself, you can't speak about this to anyone."
"Why not anyone? It just seems like a normal place for scientists like you."
"But you don't understand what we investigate. We do things people wouldn't even imagine doing. We go from nuclear bombs to the undergrounds of the earth, or even worse, space itself," he said laughing a little.
"Then why did you kidnap me and let your agents bring me here?"
Benny slowed down his walking and looked over at her. Her brown eyes were full of questions and they dreaded for answers. He could tell she was slightly scared being in a place like this.
"For one good reason," he said softly. "Right now I can't tell you. I have to tell you and Harry both."
"Harry's here?" Hermione said completely surprised.
Benny just smiled and continued on walking with her.
"He came just last night. Sheila brought him in and both of you are probably wondering why I picked you two for a situation like this. I know Harry has skills in Dark Magic and you have the skills of history and remembering things."
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"Broke into the archives," he said simply and a tiny smile spread across his face.
Merlin, they will do anything to get their hands on something, Hermione thought.
"Though I have to say last night's kidnapping wasn't a pleasant one," she said in a tone that sounded completely disgusted.
"What did John do?" Benny asked with concern and anger rising in him.
Hermione sighed heavily and closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"That agent of yours tied me up inside the car in the backseat because he thought I was dangerous. Next ridiculous thing he did was not answer my questions because I didn't guess the number right. Oh, and back where I was staying he apparently broke my window and snatched me up in a sack. If you call that smooth, Professor, I don't know what to tell you."
"He … kidnapped you … in a sack?" Benny said slowly and had the most serious/angry face ever.
"I think you need to re-agent, Professor."
Benny shook his head slightly and pushed his glasses up his nose, feeling them falling off already.
"Sometimes I wonder what he's up to. Nice man overall, but still."
Benny waved at some of the people now starting to get back to work at the computers and what not. Hermione watched in amazement how they did all of us this and how this lab came to be. It was truly a remarkable thing, but being kidnapped in a sack wasn't something pleasant to enjoy.
A small beeper buzzed on Benny's side and he immediately picked it up, looking at it.
"Look at that," he said and cleared the message, "Potter's up and down near the small cafeteria we have around here. Sheila just beeped me about that … just in case," he said and smiled.
Hermione's heart raced a little. She was actually going to see Harry for nearly … who knows how many years it's been. She wondered how he looked like now from the last time she saw him. It was truly a great surprise, yet she was slightly scared how uncomfortable things might be between them.
"You know, Ms. Granger," Benny said and this caught her attention, "I read in the archives how you and Harry were really good friends back in school."
Hermione nodded and just had to smile. "Yeah, we … we were really close."
"I'm guessing you want to go see him then?"
Hermione nodded and looked over at Benny. "More than anything," she said softly and felt her eyes burning already.
Both of them stopped their walking and looked at each other.
"He's straight down this hallway," Benny said motioning ahead of them. "He should be at least eating his breakfast. And if you do have any more questions, feel free to ask me."
"Thank you, Professor," she said softly and he smiled at her.
"It was nice talking to you, Hermione."
From there, Benny walked away from her and started walking at his normal pace.
Hermione watched him as he walked away and quickly she darted down the hallway he motioned for her to go through. Clattering of plates and utensils were heard down further and she was now slightly jogging to get to the cafeteria entrance. Her feelings at the moment and how she felt just seeing Harry now made her feel like a child seeing their parents again.
She slowed down as she finally made it to the door.
Harry chewed upon a bagel he was eating. He had his orange juice on the side and some of the scientists were in there as well getting something to eat. Some of them said `Hello' to him and he wondered if everyone around here knew who he was.
Well if there part of the Wizarding World, then obviously they should know.
"There's the other one," a nearby scientist said as she motioned over to the door. "John probably brought her in this morning."
Harry looked over his shoulder to find the two of the scientists talking about who was at the entrance. He turned to look and nearly dropped the bagel in his hand. His chewing slowed down and his eyes grazed over the figure of the woman.
No way is that her.
Hermione looked around the cafeteria hopefully spotting Harry somewhere. She walked in and had to move aside as some others left.
"Sorry," she said politely.
Harry wasn't even thinking right at this moment. Somehow he found himself standing and just looking at her still, hoping she would notice him.
That's when it happened.
Brown eyes met green eyes.
Hermione felt her heart pounding against her chest already. She was so amazed how he changed from the last time she saw him. His piercing green eyes were greener then before. His hair was still the same; glasses looked different from the frame, but that smile.
She drowned.
Harry moved away from the table and started walking over to her slowly. Hermione watched him coming towards her, but instead of waiting for him, she dashed and ran into his arms.
He was slightly taken off balance from the run she made to get to him, but … she was literally here. Here in his arms. He could already feel the tears soak into his shirt that he was wearing. He pulled her closer and rested his chin atop of her head.
"Oh Harry," she whispered and sniffled, making more tears fall.
"I'm right here," he whispered and rubbed her back to calm her down.
Both of them stayed like that till Hermione calmed down with her crying. As they stepped away from each other, Harry handed her his handkerchief he always had in his back pocket.
"Thanks," she said and wiped her eyes gently with the cloth.
Hermione let out a shaky sigh and she was engulfed again into him. He had one arm around her shoulders that was pulling her into his side. She rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him.
"I can't believe I'm seeing you," she said and wiped her eyes again, still holding onto him.
"I can't believe we're both actually here," Harry said along with a small chuckle.
Hermione looked up and a small smile spread across her face.
"I hope you haven't changed too much."
Harry looked down at her and rubbed her arm gently up and down.
"What makes you think that?"
"I haven't seen you in awhile," she said softly.
"I know," he said and rested his forehead against hers. "I know."
She sighed quietly and closed her eyes. Harry nudged her a little and this made her open up her eyes. He smiled into her face and she couldn't help but smile back at him.
Quickly Harry kissed the tip of her nose and Hermione scrunched it up.
"Harry, what was that for?" she said looking up at him.
"It was needed, you know," he said smirking and just broke out grinning.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
Harry laughed at how curious she was now and he just looked down at her.
"I was just fooling around, Hermione. Can't an amazing friend do that?"
"So you declare yourself amazing now?" she asked playfully, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Oh most definitely. You honestly have no idea."
Hermione smacked his arm lightly and smiled.
"You haven't changed," she said softly up at him.
"Why would I change? I'm fine the way I am."
"Personality wise, Harry."
"Oh, right, right," he said and looked over at this breakfast. "Join me?"
"No sorry, I have this other fine man to go to actually."
"Oh really?" he said laughing a little. "Lucky bloke he is then. Gets you all by himself."
"Jealous aren't we?"
Harry looked at Hermione and just sat down in his seat.
"Jealous? I say more like … oh I don't know … sickingly jealous."
Hermione laughed and he took a bite out of his bagel.
"You know I'm kidding, Harry."
He nodded and sipped some of his orange juice.
"Of course, because the only lucky, fine, young man that can have you is me. I should write Property of Potter somewhere on you," he said and looked around her body from his seat.
"Harry!" Hermione said and smacked him playfully on the arm.
He smirked over at her and took another bite out of his bagel. "Cheers!"
The scientists who spotted Hermione at the entrance saw the whole thing happen between Harry and Hermione. One of the ladies in the group smirked and opened up her bag of chips she was holding.
"I bet they like each other."
"The archives did say they were pretty close," another one said.
"They could be just friends," one of the guys said, joining in. "More like … brother and sister relationship?"
One of the girls rolled their eyes and popped a chip into their mouth, munching on it.
"Like that's a brother/sister relationship. Did you even see what happened?"
"Alright, alright, that's enough, you three," Sheila said barging in into the conversation. "It's none of your business what they had in their lives. They're here to have the mission be a success."
"A success to gain some sex," one of the girls whispered over and both of them giggled.
"That's actually what happens if you think about it."
"Like that one time with Victoria and Lawrence where they had a nice go in the Chemistry room," she said nudging the other.
"But they worked here so that doesn't really count."
"Worked is the key word in that sentence."
"You don't think they would let them go if they did such a thing. I mean, look at them. They look pretty harmless and they haven't done anything wrong when they're together … right?"
"Why are you girls still judging them? Get back to work," Sheila said towards them, still eavesdropping on their conversation.
"But we're still on break."
"Not from how the clock tells me," she said motioning over towards it. "Now get on with it, ladies."
The ladies headed out of the cafeteria and into the hallway. Sheila looked over at Harry and Hermione and was surprised how quickly they had gotten along. The two were just sitting there talking about something.
"Hopefully I won't be in charge of keeping an eye on them on the mission," she muttered. "Who knows what they're capable of doing behind the lab's back."
Harry finished off his bagel and sat back in his sit, finishing up the orange juice.
"Did you have anything to eat yet?" he asked Hermione.
"No, not yet, but I'm not that hungry. They just brought me in this morning and I might probably get some sleep. The agent who got me last night snatched me up in a sack."
Harry bit his lip and looked away slightly.
"That's interesting," he said, trying not to laugh.
"Harry, that's not funny! It was completely uncomfortable."
She smacked his arm lightly and he looked over at her with a smile across his face.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, but I just pictured you in there in that tiny little sack all mad and everything."
She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.
"Well I can imagine how your kidnapping was."
"Now that you mention that, it wasn't that bad. They actually woke me up at midnight and took me from there. Sheila brought me here."
"Have you talked to Professor Benny yet?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah just last night I did. He told me to ask all my questions in the morning and that's what I'll be doing soon."
"He seems like a good old man. He did creep me out a little when we were talking. He knew who we were before he got us. Broke into the archives just to see."
"He broke into the archives? Hermione, everyone should know who we are. I'm surprised the media doesn't come up on my door step anymore!"
Hermione stayed silent and just looked at him.
Harry searched through her eyes and noticed something bothered her from what he said.
"Hermione," he said softly and brought his chair closer to hers, "Is it still … getting to you?"
She just nodded and looked down at her hands. "Yeah," she whispered.
"Like the whole … me leaving you and -"
"Harry, don't even start," she said and looked over at him.
"I'm glad that you're here with me now, but just bringing up the whole thing when we just FINALLY found each other isn't going to help," she whispered.
"I'm sorry," Harry whispered and caressed her cheek gently.
"It's alright," she said and gently pulled away his hand from her cheek. "Once we get into ourselves again we can talk about it."
"What do you mean `ourselves'?"
"Well we haven't seen each other … so this means starting back up again."
"Right," he said and nodded.
Hermione smiled a little and reached across, hugging Harry.
"Thanks for understanding."
Harry closed his eyes and rested his head atop of her shoulder.
"You know I'll understand," he said softly.
Both of them broke away and looked at each other. Smiles were on their faces and Hermione this time around kissed the tip of his nose.
He laughed a little. "What was that for, Hermione?" he asked smiling still.
"It was just meant to happen."
She laughed herself and stood up from where she was sitting.
"I'll see you around."
She ruffled his hair playfully and started walking out of the cafeteria. She looked over her shoulder and smirked seeing him just sitting there watching her go. It was nice finally seeing him. A smile just spread across her face again at how they were acting as just normal friends. Best friends were all that both of them would be and pretty damn good ones too.
Now all that was left in front of her was to find Benny, get her room key around here, and get some sleep before she literally fell to ground cold.
Thanks for the few reviews some of you gave me. I enjoyed reading them and hopefully this time around I'll get more opinions on how this is going. This chapter didn't take quite long for me to write, but I hope it came out perfectly fine. Just two chapters are up and I hope you guys who are reading this and not reviewing are enjoying it as much as some others.
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