Stranger Than Fiction
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J.K. Rowling. This story is a work of imagination and is directed solely at readers of this website. No infringement of any rights is intended and no criticism of J.K. Rowling or her work should be considered to be stated or implied.
Part 9. Harry's Tale
"Hermione … are you here?" Harry's voice called from the hallway.
"Yes, Harry. I'm in the front room. Prepare for a surprise. I've got a visitor," Hermione answered, a broad smile on her face.
Harry came into the room, wearing a puzzled frown. He looked very much as I remembered him, although the silver strands in his hair, particularly around the temples, were even more pronounced than in the last memory that I had viewed in his pensieve. The glasses he wore weren't round any more and were hardly noticeable; they were rectangular and very thin. He was dressed in a fairly smart light-weight jacket, over blue denims and a casual light blue shirt. Not quite the type of apparel worn by Cornelius Fudge when he was Minister for Magic! I couldn't help thinking that Harry and Hermione fitted in to this Muggle setting much better than most witches and wizards would.
"Who ..?" he began as he scanned the room and then his eyes fixed on me and I was pleased to see that he didn't appear to be disappointed. "Professor! What on earth are you doing here?" he exclaimed.
"Oh, I'm just visiting," I replied defensively, "I was telling Hermione …"
"Well actually, you never did really tell me," Hermione interrupted. "You said something vague about Harry's name coming up, but that's really as far as you got. So, what's the real reason for this visit?"
I realized that she wasn't going to let the matter rest and so, while Harry perched himself in the centre of the leather sofa, seeming quite comfortable with his surroundings, I confessed all about the book club and the Harry Potter story, only omitting the part about my disbelief over the Epilogue, which was really too embarrassing to relate.
"Oh!" said Harry and Hermione in unison when I had finished.
"I just couldn't understand where this woman has obtained all of her information from," I continued, oblivious to the signs of discomfort that the two of them were now exhibiting. "It sounds fairly accurate, if perhaps a little melodramatic. How on earth do you think that all of those details could get into Muggle hands?"
Harry and Hermione both looked sheepish and glanced repeatedly at each other, appearing to maintain a silent dialogue through facial expressions alone.
"Well, I had something to do with it;" Harry finally admitted with a grimace. "Quite a lot, actually. But in truth, I think that it's really Uncle Vernon who's to blame."
Harry got up and began pacing the room, clearly uncomfortable about what he was going to tell me. "I never had many possessions as a child, but one thing that I prized most was a little portable tape recorder." He noted my puzzled expression and explained, "It's a Muggle device that records your voice; sort of like a pensieve but without the visuals. Anyway, I found it on a bus one day - someone must have dropped it - and, rather dishonestly, I kept it. You have to understand that I never had much in the way of possessions. Well, each summer, when I got back to Privet Drive, I would record the events of my year at school on this tape recorder. I can't think why I started now, but I suspect that after my first year, when things had been so exciting and different for me, I just couldn't stop thinking about them during the boredom of the summer holidays and felt the need to capture it all while it was fresh in my mind. Once I did it the first year, it became a bit of a ritual for me after that."
He moved over to stand in front of the window, looking out over the lane outside, and continued talking with his back towards me, as if he didn't want to see my reaction to what was coming next. "When my Aunt Petunia died, about ten years ago, I had to go back to Privet Drive for a couple of days to sort out a few things. Aunt Petunia left me a letter of apology and a few mementoes of Lily. She also left me details of some money that had been held in trust for me that Vernon had tried to keep secret."
Harry rubbed his forehead in an agitated manner, as if he was annoyed at his own mental frailty. "I had been doing a bit of editing of the tapes and so, stupidly, I had them with me. Well, when I got back to my room one day, I could have sworn that my bag had been tampered with, but everything was still there and when I questioned Vernon and Dudley they both denied it."
He turned around and walked back to the sofa, his shoulders hunched; gingerly retaking his seat next to Hermione and looking towards her for reassurance. She reached over and squeezed his hand, in a rather touching display of support.
"I think that Vernon must have found the tapes and made copies; probably hoping that he might be able to use them against me in some way. He was pretty unhappy that Petunia had blabbed about the trust fund in her Will. So I suppose that it was his idea of revenge to pass the story on to someone. According to Dudley, it was the product of a chance meeting with some woman who he sat next to on a train from Edinburgh to London, after he'd had a bit too much to drink in the station bar. Whether he got any financial reward for it, I don't know, but I suspect that he probably did. Not enough it seems, judging by how successful I understand the series has become. Anyway, soon after that, the first of the books was published and they have been coming out regularly ever since."
"But what about the Epilogue," I interrupted.
"Epilogue?" Harry replied quizzically. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"It's at the end of the final book," I said irritably. "It shows you and Ginny sending Albus off to Hogwarts for the first time."
"I don't know anything about that," Harry answered, "but Uncle Vernon knows about my marriage and kids - Ron and Hermione's too for that matter - as they all came to Petunia's funeral to give me a bit of moral support. Look, I'm really sorry Professor. I should never have been so careless."
To be honest, I was relieved. I had been imagining a far more damaging situation.
"Oh, it's quite all right dear, there's no harm done," I replied magnanimously - secretly glad that I appeared to have been right in my assumptions about the Epilogue. "Although I must admit that I was a little bit annoyed about my characterization. Quite inaccurate, I thought. I hope that wasn't down to you, Harry. Anyway, I am sure that you can understand why I was so desperate to make contact with either of you to find out what was going on," I continued, trying to put forward a reasonable rationale for my sudden appearance, while disguising my true motives.
Unfortunately, as is often the case when you are not being entirely truthful, I felt compelled to elaborate further. "But I didn't really know where to start," I rambled on unnecessarily. "I have been racking my brains. I even dug out a letter that Harry had sent to me soon after Hermione got married, and I found …" I stopped myself just in time, remembering my meddling with Harry's pensieve, but it was too late and the damage was done.
"My address? So…" Harry started accusingly.
"…you're the one who has been delving into Harry's pensieve," Hermione continued, completing Harry's thought.
Hermione exhaled deeply in apparent disbelief, while Harry just glared at me. "Um….," was all the sound that I could muster, as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"I think that I'll go and make some more tea," Hermione said diplomatically.
She gathered the mugs and went out into the hallway, pausing as she moved by me to whisper, "You'll have to let me know what memories he keeps in there. He won't tell me."
Harry, who, I am sure, had heard exactly what Hermione had said, continued to stare at me in silence, an angry expression on his face.
"Harry… What can I say? What I did was despicable I know but…" I began anxiously.
Harry shook his head and surprisingly began to chuckle. "I suppose that I should be really mad at you," he began. "Professor Snape certainly was when I looked in his pensieve. Actually, I've done exactly what you did - look into another person's pensieve without their permission - twice, as far as I can remember. So, I suppose I can't be too high and mighty about it, now that the boot is on the other foot."
I felt a wave of immense relief wash over me and I smiled weakly back at Harry. "I know that it's really none of my business Harry, but those memories …" I began tentatively.
"Well, you've certainly got a nerve," Harry interrupted, but he was still smiling tolerantly, as if dealing with a precocious child. "They're my memories of Hermione. Ginny always was slightly paranoid about my relationship with Hermione, so I thought that it was best to put my memories in there; just in case I ever blurted anything out, perhaps while I was sleeping or something."
"And did it work? Are you and Ginny still happy together?" I just couldn't seem to stop myself from prying further.
Harry didn't answer immediately. He looked down, frowning and his previously cheerful mood seemed to slowly drain away. "She's left me," he eventually replied with a resigned shrug. "Gone home to mother. Well, not strictly home in this case, since Molly and Arthur are staying in Romania at the moment; but you get the idea. She's asked for a divorce and I've agreed. She doesn't have any grounds, so we'll just have to let things take their course."
"Oh, I am sorry dear," I consoled, somewhat hypocritically.
Harry sighed deeply, a rueful look on his face. "Things had been rough for some time and then, when Hermione and Ron split up, they just became even more difficult. Ginny wanted me to take sides and I refused. I wasn't going to abandon Hermione after all that we've been through together. I know that Ron didn't expect me to." He shook his head again. "It's so hard for other people, even someone who has been as close to us as Ginny, to really understand the bond that there is between Hermione, Ron and me. We were together through it all; right from the beginning and I don't think that any of us would ever willingly desert the others. You could see it in the way that Ron always came back, even when he thought that I had let him down. It's the same with Ron and Hermione. They might not be able to stand living together any more, but they'll never stop caring about each other."
Harry sat back in his chair, looking very weary. "Then, a few weeks ago, Ginny finally gave me an ultimatum to cut my ties with Hermione or else; and when I refused, she packed up her things and left. We'd already decided that we were going to put the house on the market and, as we moved out, we headed in different directions. But with Ginny in such a delicate state, I didn't dare move the pensieve while she was around. I thought that it was safe enough for the moment. Obviously, I was mistaken!"
"And isn't there any hope of a reconciliation?" I asked, quickly changing the subject - my fingers secretly crossed.
"No, I don't think so. Things have gone too far. Anyway, Ginny isn't the type to go for too long without male company and she still has plenty of admirers. She might not have the same slim figure that she had when she was younger, but she's always had a way of getting what she wants." He looked at me and gave a helpless shrug, "Not very good for the Minister for Magic, is it? That's why I'm officially on sabbatical; until this all calms down a little."
"So, are you living here as well, dear?" I probed, my curiosity finally getting the better of me.
"No, I'm just visiting." He caught my doubtful glance at the door key that he had dropped on the low table in front of him. "That's just a spare. Hermione lent it to me in case she wasn't here when I arrived this afternoon. I'm thinking of buying a house that's up for sale just outside the village and I've been to see it. I'd talked to Hermione before about buying a Muggle place - in fact, she originally put the idea into my head - but she thought that Ginny would never put up with it and so I never did. That's not really a consideration any more and so the time seems right. I've changed some of my galleons into Muggle money at Gringotts, so I can easily afford it and I think that this house will be perfect for me. It's private and well away from prying eyes and Hermione will be just down the road. It will be like being back in the Gryffindor Common Room," he finished with a chuckle; his air of melancholy seeming to evaporate as quickly as it had descended.
"And, what about Hermione?" I asked, gesturing with my head in what I hoped was the direction of the kitchen. "How does she feel about all of this?"
"She's been very supportive; but then she always was," he replied, smiling fondly. "I remember trying to describe my relationship with Hermione to you once before. I couldn't do it then and I probably still can't do it now." He paused and I think that he was trying to decide whether he could trust me or not. Thankfully, he must have decided that he could as he soon continued, "I've never told anyone this before, but when I was going off to face Voldemort that last time and I believed that I was going to die, I thought about the people who I would miss the most. And the first person that came into my mind wasn't Ginny and it wasn't Ron or Hagrid. It was Hermione. I think that explains everything. She's simply my best friend and the person who means more to me than anyone else. I should never have tried to give her up, but I thought at the time that I was doing the right thing for everyone. That's what I always seem to have been trying to do; until now that is. Hermione says that I should stick to what I believe in and not worry so much about what other people think. She's convinced that she had so many problems back at the end of our school years because she lost courage in her convictions, due to the fact that she was surrounded by people who made fun of them - particularly Ron."
Harry became somber again. "As much as I tried to make my marriage work, I just couldn't ignore my relationship with Hermione. She always knew what I was thinking, almost before I did. So we didn't really even need to talk to each other. We might be in a group - with Ron and Ginny both there - something would happen, and I'd look at Hermione and I could tell from her expression that she was thinking exactly the same as me. I think that Ginny could always sense that closeness between us." He shrugged. "I've made a real mess of things haven't I?"
Before I had a chance to answer, Hermione returned from the kitchen; managing to carry three mugs of tea in her hands at one time. After setting one mug down in front of Harry and giving another to me, she placed her own mug on the low table and squeezed into the space next to Harry on the sofa. The physical intimacy involved seemed to come perfectly naturally to both of them, but then I suppose that it should as they had spent a great deal of time during their teenage years clinging to one another in various perilous situations. I wondered what chance any other relationship really ever had where these two were concerned.
"What have I missed?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Oh, not much. I've just been telling the professor about the challenges of being Minister for Magic," Harry lied -quite convincingly I thought - glancing sideways to look at her. "There's an awful lot of work for me to do and I've only scratched the surface so far," he continued seamlessly, turning back to face me and taking up the theme that he had just confessed to have been following all along. "I want to change the way that we wizards and witches view other magical folk, like elves and centaurs. We really need to treat them as equals and to stop being so patronizing. Then we should extend the same consideration to Muggles and become much more integrated into their world. It's important morally, but it's practical as well. If Dark Magic ever starts to take a hold again it's likely that the first signs will be seen outside of mainstream wizarding society. And, what better way of getting wizards and witches to accept that more integration is essential, than to see their Minister for Magic living as a Muggle; at least for part of the time. That's why buying a house in this village is such a good idea."
Harry was clearly getting into his stride and I could see how important these ideas were to him. From the smile on Hermione's face, it seemed that she was in agreement.
"It's got to start with the way that we educate young wizards and witches," he went on. "We need to make sure that they're more aware of the responsibilities that go along with their powers. I'm going to do away with sorting at Hogwarts as well. What a person has in their head should stay there, not be used to label them. It's all nonsense anyway. Take Hermione and Luna Lovegood, for instance. Hermione is perfectly clever enough to have been sorted into Ravenclaw and if you don't think that Luna is brave, then you just don't know her well enough. No, it was just a bit of an ego trip for the four founders and for some reason nobody ever had the guts to challenge it."
Harry stopped and looked directly at me; his expression uncompromising.
"Well…" I began uneasily, hoping that I wasn't the target for his sudden outburst.
"Don't worry Professor; I know that you couldn't do anything about it," he thankfully reassured me. "But I do need support if I'm going to make this work. Taking on Voldemort was the biggest challenge of my life and, although a lot of people helped, I could never have gotten through it all without Hermione. Reforming the Ministry is my second biggest challenge and I couldn't do that without Hermione's help either."
Hermione blushed - most endearingly I thought.
"Well we tend to believe in the same things," she said quietly in response. "I think that we always have."
I saw Harry look at Hermione and I couldn't quite read his expression. Was it admiration? Respect? Or was it something more?
"Don't let your tea get cold, Professor," Harry said suddenly; startling me as I realized that I must have been staring at him."
"No, I won't; thank you Harry," I replied. "It doesn't do to leave things for too long, does it, dear?" I added, fairly cryptically, although I am sure, from his expression, that Harry understood me perfectly.
We talked for a long time - the three of us - about Harry's plans and Hermione's research and they both seemed very interested in my work amongst the Muggles and particularly about the book club. Eventually, it was time for me to go. Harry told me that he had hired a car and they were intending to drive down to see Hermione's parents that evening. Evidently, Harry and Hermoine are both qualified to drive on Muggle roads - a rare accomplishment amongst those in the magical community!
They seemed relaxed and happy; and that is how I left them - two best friends finally back together again and appearing to be enjoying every minute. Whether their friendship will ever develop into anything more, I can't be sure - although all of the signs seem to indicate that it will. It might already have done so, as who knows what young people get up to these days, and I promised myself that I would go back and check in a few months time.
I am certain that Hermione is in love with Harry and probably has been for a very long time. And Harry? Well, what do men know about real love anyway? They are such one dimensional creatures after all! However, I can't help remembering that he had such a penchant for the prettiest young girls when he was at school. Now, it appears that he may finally have developed a similar attraction for beautiful, highly intelligent, mature women, who can offer him deep friendship as well as the more physical side of a relationship.
And no, before you ask, I wasn't thinking of myself!