A/N. Here's a quick update - your reviews were inspiring! Most voted past - so here's when it started (the first part is not really from the past but it was so I could write the first bit in Hermione's POV). Most of it came in one sitting after trashing two attempts. It felt good - the last chapter I wrote that way was TPPs baseball chapter. My apologies in advance to Ron-Luna fans.
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Chapter 10 - Partners
Hermione awoke from nothingness, her last memory an attempt to transfigure under a rain of curses and gunfire. Did she make it?
She looked around and immediately concluded there was something out of the norm. She was underwater, breathing through a bubble-head charm, her feet touching soft, mushy ground. There were various plants and water creatures around her but they were seemingly oblivious to her presence.
In her solitude her thoughts filled with images of Rose and Hugo. There seemed to be only one logical thing to do.
She kicked off the earth with her feet and swam straight up to the surface. She swam and swam, long, hard, straight up, aiming for the light at the top.
But it was taking forever to get there. Minutes, possibly hours passed and she wasn't even close. Her heart was thumping like crazy and her lungs felt like they were going to explode. Her legs and arms were so tired. She had to stop. She had to rest even if just for a few minutes.
And the second she stopped kicking and paddling she drifted back down faster than it took her to work her way up. She tried to swim up again but the results were the same. The surface was too far away. In desperation she began to cry, her tears merging with the fresh water that surrounded her. It was too hard and probably too late. She couldn't do it, not by herself and there was no one else.
Then, out from nowhere, a hand reached out and took hers. It was a man's; big, warm, protective and strong. She looked up and saw an encouraging face beaming down upon her. It was her first partner, unchanged from almost twenty years ago, preserved by time and space. With a finger, he motioned towards the surface.
Even before she could shake her head and explain that she had tried she heard his voice.
"I'll help you but it won't be easy. You have to really want to be up there."
"I do," she said with all her heart.
"Good. We'll take it slowly. We don't have to rush."
She nodded and began to swim beside him.
He said to her, "So, tell me how you've been."
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January 2003
"I still can't believe you're back," her partner said to her, not for the first time since seeing her at the Ministry that morning.
It was half past noon and Hermione was in the driver's seat of a Ministry issue Japanese sedan. Beside her was her Auror partner and former Hogwarts classmate, Dean Thomas.
"Will you stop saying that? And quit staring at me. You're starting to freak me out," she said honestly.
"You leave without warning and you come back without one. Now, that freaks me out. Tell me about the training."
"Can't. Sworn to secrecy," Hermione gave him the company line as she turned the corner and into a parking lot. "All I can say is that the Hag really is a fucking bitch."
Dean let out a howl, "Did you just say fucking bitch?!"
"I believe I just did," she laughed with him and blushed, knowing why he found it so funny.
"If the Hag got you to swear then she must be really good," Dean commented as they got out of the car, "I can't wait to find out what else she has you doing."
Hermione thought about the answer to that. In truth, she felt the eight months with the Hag was a colossal waste of time. She hated it that when sufficiently frustrated and provoked she could now swear like a sailor without hesitation. She hated the fucking Hag since Day 1.
Note to self - must find way to regain filters.
Aside from that, she did not think she learned much magic at all, particularly when the Hag's favourite instruction to her was 'wands away', making Hermione wonder if the Auror trainer was an old Hogwarts DADA professor in disguise.
Dean pulled the door and held it open for her. They found their booth in the Wasabi Hut, a cozy Japanese restaurant in the theatre district where they went to lunch almost every week before she went away. She missed it.
The waitress who was serving them was new; at least she was someone Hermione had not remembered from before. Knowing what she wanted, she took one glance at the menu and put it down while patiently waiting for Dean to make a decision on what he wanted, which always ended up being…
"Chicken teriyaki with the miso soup," her partner said to the waitress predictably, "What about you?"
"The sashimi with the salad please, and some tea."
When the waitress left she took the opportunity to catch up with her partner.
"You look good."
"Thanks."
It had no hidden meaning. They were friends, platonic all the way. They had grown closer since she came on the Auror team three years ago and got assigned to be his partner. Dean joined the force the same time Harry did some two years before her, straight off after Voldemort's death. He was the one who patiently showed her the ropes when she was a rookie, who told her not to when she, at one point, wanted to quit.
"Like the new look?" he asked, showing off his hair.
"The dreadlocks are definitely cool," she complimented, "How's Luna?"
A sparkle in Dean's eyes came up at the mention of his girlfriend's name. After the battle of Hogwarts, while everyone was picking up the pieces, Dean and Luna Lovegood picked up each other. That year was difficult for a lot of people and many found comfort and solace in the company of those who experienced the horrors with them, her included. Luna's father had survived his Azkaban incarceration and was released after the Death Eaters fell but the strain of it all was too much and he passed away within months of being reunited with Luna. Dean was there to help her through.
"She's okay," he said quietly with a smile on his face, as if remembering some good memory about their Ravenclaw schoolmate. "She finally sold the Quibbler and is training with the naturalist, Newt Scamander. She loves it. She loves the travelling and I think most of all she enjoys discovering new things."
"Has she found the Crumple-Horned Snorkack yet?"
Dean smiled and shook his head. Hermione was teasing him for during one very long night while on a stake out he confessed to Hermione that he loved Luna so much he would willingly help her find the creature to the ends of the earth even if he was certain the bloody thing did not exist.
"She's still looking," Dean replied with a wistful look she had to ask.
"What's wrong?"
"We're thinking about taking a break."
F…Filter on. No way. First Harry and Ginny, now them? She wasn't superstitious but of the couples who hooked up during those tumultuous times there were not many left intact. Cursed maybe. Doomed to fail by some Dark Magic. Fff…fudge…the Hag's penchant for baseless and unsupported sweeping theories had rubbed off on her more than she liked.
Note to self - must try to maintain objectivity in all matters.
That off hand train of thought was more like something Luna would come up with. But it was hard to believe that Luna came up with the idea to have a 'break'. And the way Dean was talking about Luna earlier, there was a definite disconnect there.
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"Fine, I've been thinking."
"Spill it, Dean."
"I want to marry her."
"Okay…I've been away from social contact for eight months so I'm a bit slow here. Why do you want a break if you want to marry her?"
"I just can't see it working."
Hermione understood what he meant. Luna was off chasing unknowns and he was here chasing crooks. The dreaded LDR.
"Don't you think your conclusion is a bit premature?"
She felt duty-bound to say something positive and that was the best she could come up with.
"I've seen it happen too many times. Long distance relationships don't work," Dean reasoned, "Hell, I've seen it with you."
Of course, her vast experience on the matter had to be drawn upon at every opportune moment.
"I wouldn't compare me and Ron to you and Luna."
Really.
"Why not?"
"Must you ask? Let me see. Ron and I broke up many, many times before we put the final nail on that coffin as I left for training. We fought a lot, bickered a lot, and were on each other's nerves a lot. It's not the same."
That and Ron's eyes never glistened at the mention of my name. They were usually annoyed or afraid. Or both.
"Okay. Harry and Ginny then."
"Bad example. Harry and Ginny survived an LDR," she replied, referring to the fact that while they had difficulties when Harry went and trained with the Hag for six months they pulled through, "And if you count that year we were hiding from the Death Eaters trying to find a way to kill Voldemort they survived two LDRs."
"So why did they break up?"
The common speculation of those who were privy to the Harry-Ginny break-up was that it was because of Ginny's upcoming employment as Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. That was hogwash. Ginny shared with her last night the real reason she broke up with Harry and it wasn't for anyone else's consumption, not even her work partner who she trusted with her life.
Which brought up the other thing the Hag taught her how to do well and without remorse: lying.
You want to work at the Ministry and survive? You must learn to lie and lie with zest and creativity, not just when you have to. No remorse. Remorse ruins ingenuity.
But isn't that wrong? Isn't that unethical?
Foolish child. You are in the wrong business then. You must quit right away. You are wasting your life. Go into Healing or take up a lost cause. But no, you are an ambitious one. You want to change the world in a big way. Ah...silence...I must be right. Well for that you have to learn to lie even when you don't have to. I really don't understand what the big deal is. You've lied before. You lied when you were in school, when it suited you, to save your friends' lives. And you've lied to yourself many times.
What? I've never lied to myself!
About this boy, this man who draws you like no other. The man who makes your insides go…what is the word in common use by youth today…squee? The one who has no interest in you so you tell yourself you're interested in another.
That's not true and even if it were it's none of your fucking business.
See? There. That lie. That wasn't too hard was it? And that well delivered swear word deserves a reward. Ten extra wand minutes today.
Fff...fuzz…
Dean thankfully interrupted the unsavoury memory.
"Harry said it was because she was moving to Holyhead," he said.
Harry, you liar. The Hag would be so proud.
"Maybe. Who really knows," it was time for her two cents worth of intervention and some timely conversation redirection, "I think you should talk to Luna about it. She may think of some solution you haven't. Your worries may be baseless."
That seemed to buoy Dean's spirits. If only she was around to talk sense into Ginny before she broke up with Harry. Their break-up was really over some stupid thing and now it seemed it was too late to retract that decision, which was even more stupid.
"So, you probably heard Ron's moved on."
"Yeah."
Okay, so it stings a bit. Be happy for him. And wish the other woman the best of luck. Maybe send a card…my condolences…
"And Harry has started dating again."
She could tell where this was going.
"Uh-huh."
"And you?"
She leaned over and said to her partner, "Look into my eyes."
Dean humoured her.
"Do you see any notion of a glint or a sign of a twinkle?"
"Nope. But aren't you bothered by that eyelash poking your eye?"
"There's your answer. And no, I'm not going out with that friend you have in mind, whoever he is."
Dean looked guilty. A mile away and she was glad she had not lost her touch.
"Why not?"
"I need the focus in my career so I'm taking myself off the market for a bit."
"Yeah right," he heard this before, and of course before what usually happened was she and Ron made up, and there was no chance of that happening now.
No chance in hell.
"And besides, I'm not interested in going out with men you know."
"You don't even know who it is yet," her partner protested.
"But I already know all the available men you know and I'm telling you I'm not interested."
"Fine. Don't you come running to me when you need a date for some Ministry function."
Drat. Note to self…may need to repair that bridge later.
As their food arrived, something familiar caught her eye and she turned towards the group of customers at the cooking table in the far corner of the restaurant.
"Dean, that case about the undervalued heirlooms, is that still active?"
"Yup," Dean spoke through a mouthful, "Got another complaint about it just the other week. There's like fifty-five plaintiffs on it already."
"And we haven't moved in because?"
"Legal's sitting on it pending validation of the complaint by a qualified magical heirloom appraiser," Dean stopped munching on the side salad and asked, "Why?"
She motioned over to the party she had noticed.
"Do you think they're clients?" Dean asked.
"Maybe," she replied, "There's only one way to find out."
"I love crashing parties," Dean said, taking his plate of food with him.
She took hers too and motioned to their server that they were moving over to the cooking table which by happy coincidence had two empty seats. In their years of working together they developed this understanding. When on the field they would trust each other's judgment completely and would only hold the other back if there was a major concern for safety. Any minor differences they would talk over after. Between her wand work and Dean's skill at using his brawn, there were few situations they could not handle.
Hermione got to the table first, pulled the chair back and purposely scraped its metal legs against the floor. All eyes were on her.
"Sorry," she apologized, darn...the Hag trained her well, "Mr. Burkes. This is such a surprise. I didn't know you knew of this place. Wonderful food, don't you think?"
Caractakus Burkes Sr. part owner and prospector for the Magical artefact business Borgin and Burkes, replied nervously, "Miss Granger. Ah, yes. Good place. Mr. Thomas."
"Mr. Burkes," Dean answered, "You have guests, nice. Clients?"
There was an uneasiness in the party of five. Two couples flanked the grayed out wizard. One man had a black beard and a Fedora hat and beside him sat a pale blond who didn't take her sunglasses off.
The other couple seemed more 'normal'. The woman had straight black hair and wore a lime green dress that reflected off her eyes. Her partner had sandy brown hair and an intense look about him that was unnerving. It was in sharp contrast to his boyish movie heartthrob looks but was in keeping with the dismissive and cutting tone of his remarks.
"Perhaps you should find another table. This party is private."
"So sorry. Don't mind us," Hermione insisted, instantly judging 'cute guy' was a 'bad guy', "We won't interrupt. Promise."
The Asian cook, whose name on the tag said 'Takeshi', put raw bloody steak onto the blond woman's plate next to untouched vegetables and fried rice and tried to get them to leave too, "I don't have your orders here and I'm almost done. If you have a seat at the other table over there, Ichiro is just about to start."
"No worries mate," Dean told the cook to back off, "We have food. We're just here to watch you create a meal."
"We should reschedule this meeting for another time," Fedora man said to Burkes who replied in the affirmative.
It was obvious they had broken up some illegal congregation.
"Please. We'd really rather have this done and over with," cute snarky guy stood up and leaned toward Fedora man.
"Don't leave on account of us," Dean reiterated but as he glanced at Fedora man he did a double take and the latter immediately reached into his pocket.
"Wand!" Dean screamed and with sheer brute force lifted the entire table up and forced it off flying towards Burkes' party.
The events that followed happened quickly.
Boom!
Hermione closed her eyes reflexively as the table between them and their foes disintegrated into a million pieces, blown off by a curse from the man with the hat. Dean pulled her back with him and they took cover behind the adjacent cooking table, wands drawn out.
Crack! Crack! Pop! Pop! Pop!
"We've got company," Dean stated the obvious as she instantly deployed several scout mirrors throughout the room.
"Who is he?" she asked while she counted; six, seven, eight, shit…more coming around and surrounding them.
"Morpheus Gaunt. Heard of him?" Dean put his phone away, giving up trying to send word to the Ministry that they needed back up.
"Should I have?"
"He's scum. We'll chat later."
They cowered as a blast hit the ceramic wall beside them and pulverized it.
"Kill them," she overheard someone say before the unmistakable sound of Disapparition.
Over the intermittent attacks she could hear fighting on the other side but couldn't see who. An ally? They were both watching the mirrors when a series of powerful hexes forced them to move up and behind another table. A stove exploded behind them. That should attract attention but judging from the heat they were getting they either needed to face it or get out now. Dean gave her the look. He did not know the meaning of retreat.
"On three," Dean mouthed, she nodded.
Her heart pounded hard against her chest. Maybe she should have mentioned to him that in her eight months of training she had not seen much combat, real or otherwise.
It's kind of too late now. Note to self - must regain reasonable organizational skills.
She watched Dean count.
One, two, three…
They swiftly moved in opposite directions simultaneously and she threw the place into darkness.
Stupefy!
Reducto!
Stupefy!
Geminio!
Hermione hit all four targets, re-acquiring each at wand flashpoint. Dean had done the same. They rendered a majority of their foes incapable of fighting back but there were still others. She felt movement behind her and turned in time to disarm her attacker but a hand grabbed her hair from the side and dragged her back as the other took her wand away.
Your wand is merely a weapon. Without it, be your weapon.
She pushed her unwary and unprepared enemy backwards with all her might using hers and her opponent's momentum until she heard him grunt against a hard hot surface. But the bad guy did not let go. She fumbled around, found and turned the stove knob full blast and felt the heat rise up. As chicken and fish started to burn, she stomped hard on his toes and the startling pain caused the man's grip to loosen. Clasping his arm tight, she twisted it behind his back and used the impetus of the long sweeping motion to slam his face onto the hot plate.
Sssssst…
"Argh!!!"
Inflicting physical pain on the enemy is a must to survive. Magic can fix anything except death.
There were more bad guys on the way and Hermione for a split second wondered when back-up was coming. She was concerned that she couldn't find Dean. As smoke started to fill the room out of the corner of her eye she saw the wizard with her wand charging hard. Without another thought, she grabbed a handful of chopsticks under the stove counter and after a minor wandless sharpening spell, sent them airmail towards her opponent and hit her mark.
It was then when a red beam of light caught her off guard, nicked her on the shoulder and sent her sideways against the wall. Picking herself up as quickly as she could, she found herself in the middle of a group of wizards, all with wands pointed at her. Another hex made her crash on the floor. This wouldn't be the first time she was in a bind like this. Her partner always came through.
Anytime now…
Two whiffs cut through the air and two of her enemies fell on the floor, both clutching chef's knives embedded in their chests. The others swung toward the direction of the flying objects and began firing indiscriminately.
The timely distraction gave her the opportunity to summon her wand. She easily got rid of two of the three, the last opponent falling to another knife attack. There was silence save for the crackling of the flames now contained at one of the tables.
"Dean!" she called out.
"I'm okay," he replied from the other side of the fire and a relief washed over her.
But someone was approaching from within the smoky haze opposite from where Dean's voice came from. She held her arm up, ready to curse.
"Put your wand down, will you? Your first day back and you've caused trouble with it already."
That familiar voice; teasing and playful. She did as she was told and then ran towards the man with messy black hair and green eyes who had his arms outstretched, quite prepared to receive a bone crushing hug.
"Harry!"
He hugged her back. She didn't know when exactly but he finally seemed to have learned to do so after all these years. They were both grinning from ear to ear.
"Welcome home, Hermione. Miss me much?"
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A/N. I know I've injected more characters. The Hag, Gaunt and if you can guess the other one (whose name wasn't mentioned but we've already seen in Hermione's future) brownie points for you. Harry was actually in the restaurant before Hermione and Dean arrived (will expound at some point but you can probably guess). Any thoughts on Dean being Hermione's partner?
At the end of DH I kind of wondered about Dean and Luna and the experiences they shared during that time, whether it would draw them together. If someone wants to write that fic or has written that fic please let me know. It would be interesting to read.
Here are some timelines for this chapter as Serious B requested:
The first part is in the present (2021)- kind of a parallel universe where Hermione finds herself in. In real life she is unconscious in some 'archaic hospital' and Jessie is trying to get her back.
The second part happened in 2003, the day after Hermione comes back from 8 months of training and is the continuation of Jessie's flashback of when they first met. Nobody is married yet, and as Hermione found out the night before, Ginny and Harry broke up 2 months ago. Ginny is about to leave for Holyhead to be the Harpies Chaser. Hermione and Ron split up before she left for training.
Not to give the plot away - here's more.
Mid 1998 - Voldemort dead, Harry and Dean join the Auror Office; Hermione works in the DRCMC. Ron helps George at the Store.
1999 - Ron becomes an Auror.
2000 - Hermione joins Harry and Ron.
Around April/May 2002 - Hermione starts training with the Hag - Harry trained before her.
Jan 2003 - see above
????
2005 - James is born
2006 - Al and Rosie are born
2008 - Lily and Hugo are born
September 2017 - DH Epilogue; The Sacrifice - Hermione leaves London with Hugo.
September 2021 - The Present