Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Lost Daughter
Chapter 6: Second Day, Second Thoughts
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[AN] I apologize for the long wait, and thank you very much for the reviews.
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"Did you know they made them that gorgeous in America?" Trevor Lewis asked, leaning into whisper his comment to the other huddled Gryffindors. It was the beginning of the second day of classes, and by now the entire school knew of the transfer student's arrival. The Great Hall was alive with noticeable conversation of the new girl- particularly the older Gryffindors.
While most of the fifth years were talking excitedly about her, Rose sat off to the side, her large charms text in front of her, and every once in a while shot annoyed looks at the group of gossipers.
Carson Wood nodded to his friend, "Well, if they're all like that, I'm going to look into transferring my self."
"Speak for yourself," Trevor said, rolling his eyes, "She's here now, isn't she?"
A bark of laughter sounded from the middle of the group, and everyone turned to look at James, who was grinning slyly, "Like she's going to give your ugly arse a chance."
Trevor glared at him while Carson and the rest of the group shared in his amusement. Their chuckles were just starting to calm down when Heidi Lipton, another fifth year Gryffindor, interjected her own supposed information, "McKinley was saying his dad knows hers. American goblins chased their whole family out of America because of something her dad did."
"I heard she was here to compare the education between English and American wizards," Karina shrugged, annoyed that most of the attention seemed to skip over her entirely.
At that, Carson shook his head, "She's here for quidditch. At least, that's what Connoway said he heard from McGonagall and Denham."
"I believe that," James agreed with him, "With a body like hers… she's the perfect build for a seeker. She'd make a great addition to the team. I mean, since Spinnet's graduated…"
Heidi shook her head as most of the other boys got lost in thought at James' mention of the new girl's body. "No, I still think her father did something to make them move-"
"Honestly you guys," Rose finally huffed from the edge of the group. She slammed her book shut and gave them all a perfected glared, "she's only here because her dean thought it'd be a good experience. Her parents aren't even magical."
The group was silently taken aback. After a second or two, a few of them started to look in between each other, now calculating their own reactions.
Finally, James turned back to her, "She's a muggleborn?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?" asked Karina.
Rose didn't fail to notice the slight hint of malice in her tone, but answered honestly nonetheless, "Because I walked her to the common room yesterday."
"Well, I hope she does play quidditch. I'm going to ask her today."
Rose rolled her eyes at Carson's comment, while the rest of the group raised their eyebrows in pursuit.
"You won't be able to hock up the courage to ask her a thing," James quickly denied with a knowing smirk.
This time it was Carson who glared, "Shut up! I could get out more than you could."
James nodded condescendingly, "Right." He then straightened up in his seat and a scrunched up his face into a nervous expression, "H-Hey d-d-do you p-p-p-play qu-qu-quidditch?"
"He's right Carson," Trevor said morosely while the rest of the fifth years howled with laughter at the boy's expense, "We don't need a repeat from last year."
Heidi's high pitch giggles were the loudest of all, "When he asked Helen Kaiser out? Merlin, I'd almost forgotten."
Carson scowled before nodded off moodily at James, "Why don't you ask her then?"
He shrugged, "Maybe I will."
Despite Rose's irritation, the gossiping continued. It was less than a minute before she decided that it was too difficult to ignore. Just as she was stacking her books up to put back in her book bag, a familiar face caught her attention at the front of the hall.
Amia looked skeptically between two sixth year Gryffindor girls, Amanda Zobair and Tabitha Temple, as they chatted and giggled on either side of her. Rose could tell that something was off with her, but it wasn't obvious until Amia glanced around the hall and locked eyes with her.
Rose watched on in confusion as Amia turned to Amanda and Tabitha, gave them a final look, undertoned with severe annoyance, before turning and walking down the row between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
The redhead was somewhat shocked that Amia seemed to be walking straight up to her, and if the looks on her peers faces were any indication, they were shocked too. She hadn't even realized that their conversation had stopped at their fabled new girl's arrival.
Rose told herself not to look awkward as Amia stopped next to her and nodded to the seat to her left- the one that faced off to the empty side of the table. "Can I sit here?"
"Um, yeah. Sure." Rose turned to clear her books away from the seat while Amia noiselessly dropped down to the table. As inconspicuously as possible, she tried to duck her head from the girls who were still standing bamboozled at the front of the hall.
"Thanks," she muttered to Rose.
Roses nodded and also glanced back, "Just escaped?" she guessed.
"Yeah. The rumours really run wild here, don't they?" Amia asked rhetorically, appearing to sigh.
Rose nodded unfortunately, "And this is only day two."
"This sucks."
"It'll be okay eventually," Rose tried to encourage her as she reached for a glass of juice and put her chin in her hand. "So what's your schedule today?"
"Uh…" Amia sounded, straightening up to try and remember, "Defence Against the Dark Arts, double Potions, and Ancient Runes. You?"
"Double Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defence. You take Runes?" Rose questioned her, a sudden twinge of
excitement in her tone.
Amia nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, why?"
"Nobody takes that here. I'm the only Gryffindor taking it as an elective."
"Oh," she conceded with a delicate shrug, "Well, it was mandatory at Avalon. I guess I just stuck with it."
Rose nodded, trying to act as suave about it as Mia, "That's cool. Have you met Slughorn yet?" she decided to ask. After talking to her yesterday, she figured that the California girl was a shoo in for wily professor's infamous club. Well, perhaps infamous was the wrong word… After all, Rose herself had been a member of the club since her first year at Hogwarts. She didn't think it was as bad as everyone made it out to be, but then again she wasn't as hell bent to remain a part of it like her other peers.
Amia, though, shook her head, "Slughorn?"
"The Potions professor," Rose explained, "I bet five sickles that he's going to induct you into the Slug Club simply because you're a transfer."
At that, Amia raised an eyebrow, "Slug Club?"
With a fond smile, Rose took a deep breath and started off explaining the concept behind the Slug Club, along with the benefits and some of the downsides. She could tell that Amia was listening on in basic horror as she got further into details, but was happy to see that she relaxed a bit when she mentioned that she herself was a part of the club, but that she was there mainly because of her own achievements while others where there mostly because of who they were related too.
…
Hermione stared down at her two daughters from the staff table. Again, she'd been looking for Amia to come all morning long. After only seeing her for a brief moment last night, she felt like her sanity was teetering on the edge. She couldn't describe the heart throbbing jolt she'd felt when Amia walked through the doors this morning. The ineffable feeling was multiplied when she watched her estranged daughter walk up to her second baby.
They'd become friends? Apparently so, by the way they were talking and laughing with each other now. She'd never seen Rose take to a new person so easily before… and Amia's smile…
"Morning Hermione."
Hermione gasped and nearly jumped out of her seat as Neville plopped down into the chair next to her. She clamped a hand to her mouth and shot her old friend, who was looking quite startled himself, a sideways glance. "Scared me…" she mumbled weakly in her defence.
Neville patted her hand awkwardly before reaching into his robs and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, "I've got a letter for you. I think it's from Ron, unless this is someone else's unintelligible chicken scratch."
Nervously, Hermione took the letter from him. She immediately recognized Ron's handwriting, and instantly her stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch, "Oh, yeah. Thanks."
"Sure, sure," Neville said easily, pulling a pile of eggs and hash towards him, "So your owl's not very strict on who he gives out mail to, huh?"
Hermione shook her head absently, now having gone back to staring at her two girls, "He's really thick."
Silence engulfed them for a moment. Hermione wouldn't have spoken on it, but unbeknownst to her, Neville had been observing her the whole time. He tried to follow her line of sight, but came up with nothing. Eventually, he turned back to her and nudged her gently, "Hey, you okay?"
Just as absently as before, she nodded, "Yeah…"
A few more quiet moments passed between them before Neville gave up and went back to his breakfast. The curiosity and trepidation that Ron's letter caused was now buried in a far corner of Hermione's mind. She couldn't concentrate on anything as she stared off, lost in thought, at her two daughters.
…
Harry combed his tired hands through his hair for the thousandth time that day. Thankfully, no one was around in the archives office to notice his troubled look. He'd been sitting there for the past forty minutes, trying to make some headway on some of his paperwork. However, he was failing miserably at his job. Literally, he couldn't stop thinking about Hermione, and the girl she was convinced was their's…
His head was a complete jumble. One minute he was convinced that his cold shoulder technique was the right thing to do, but he also couldn't hide his own interest to find out for sure.
Obviously, Hermione didn't need any further evidence, and that scared him a bit. Was she planning on saying something? Had she already? Was the girl catching on to Hermione's never-ending stares? He'd come to terms with the fact that Hermione probably wasn't making things up. She wasn't the type to see something just because she wanted to see it.
But that left him with even more questions. What was the girl even doing here? So the Cooper's know about magic? Did they hate her for it? If this was really their daughter, then did she have the happy safe life that they had intended for her to have? Would her being in Britain suddenly change that? Would that prophecy spark up again-
He shook his head again, trying to clear his rambling thoughts. He was just paranoid. Definitely, he was just overanalyzing things.
Harry jumped in his seat as a book slammed down on the table he was sitting at. He looked up in confusion, but quickly replaced it with annoyance as the face of Zacharias Smith came into his view.
"What's the matter with you, Potter?" Smith churned with his same old snobby, uptight voice.
Harry cleared his throat, trying to act oblivious, "What?"
Smith raised an eyebrow, "You look like you've been confunded."
"Just concentrating," Harry shrugged, pulling his files of paperwork closer to him to try and get the point across that he was busy. Smith, though, must've gotten the wrong impression.
He scowled, "I hope you don't think you're going to be able to pin the Giant uprising paperwork on me…"
"I've never pinned any paperwork on you," Harry replied in disdain.
"I'm just saying. It's your turn."
Harry glanced up in time to see Smith's curled lip. The nerve of the hopeless bastard always irritated him, but today his tolerance was even lower. Suddenly, Harry's eyes went very dark. "Piss off, Smith," he growled through the corner of his mouth.
The blonde's gaze wavered for a moment, before hardening to match Harry's, "Watch it Potter."
Harry's patience snapped. Before he could do any damage to the insufferable git, he collected his files and pushed back from his seat. The lights flickered around him as he stormed off towards the door, and headed out into the hallway.
His clenched jaw didn't slacken until he was facing the closed metal doors to the elevator. If it weren't for everything else going on in life, Harry would've been perfectly capable to just head back up to his office and loathe Smith in silence. But, however much against his will, images of Hermione and their baby kept flashing before his eyes. It was in that moment that he decided he needed to stop being so inert. He needed to find out some proof for himself…
A light ting sounded through the empty hall, signalling the elevator's arrival. Absently, Harry climbed inside the lift and pressed the button for the 5th floor.
He could sense the lift climbing but took a deep breath once it stopped. The cool voice of the announcer sounded, "5th Floor, Department of International Magical Cooperation; Department of Magical Registry and Licensing."
…
Rose lagged behind the rest of her class as they all packed up their transfiguration texts and notes. She kept trying to inconspicuously glance up at her mum, just trying to see if she was still looking as desolate as she'd seem throughout the entire hour and a half lesson.
After a couple minutes of looking like she was rearranging her spare parchment and newly inked notes, the last student finally walked out of the classroom. Rose snuck a peek at the front of the room again before quietly slinging her bag over her shoulder and making her way up to her clearly troubled mother.
"Hey," she started, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt.
Hermione jolted, and looked up from the spot she had been staring at on her desk. Her eyes flicked for a second, before she cleared her throat, "Hi Rosie. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm fine. Is everything okay with you?"
Quickly- too quickly- Hermione nodded, "Yes. Why?"
Rose shrugged, "Just checking… you seem a little out of it."
"Oh. Yeah… sorry," Hermione mumbled, hoping that her daughter for once would be deceived. She didn't feel up to putting on a show for Rose's masterful detections.
But naturally, it couldn't be that easy. Rose eye's narrowed at her lack of cooperation. "Mum what's the matter?" she probed again.
Hermione sighed, "Nothing. I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Rose. Are you okay?" Hermione asked, this time fixing her daughter with her own studying look. Hopefully this technique would work better.
Rose nodded easily, "I'm fine."
"Good. So… how do you like your duties so far?"
Rose was quiet for a second. She knew her mum was trying to get her distracted from her pursuits, but then again maybe keeping her involved in conversation would clue her in on what was truly the matter. Talking was better than no talking, so with that in mind Rose nodded, "They're cool. I'm sure it'll get more interesting as we get into the school year."
Hermione nodded, "Yeah…"
Silence engulfed the two, and that was bad for Hermione. Unless there was something keeping her directly involved with another matter, her thoughts just drifted back to Amia.
A light bulb flashed in Hermione's head at the mention of her daughter. Suddenly in interest, she looked up to her other daughter. Maybe this was a bad idea, but she was beyond the point of trying to fight her impulses, "So… I noticed that you and A-… the new girl… were sitting together this morning…"
Rose's observant expression flickered into something different. Not noticing Hermione's ploy for information, Rose nodded with a content little smile, "Yeah. Mia's really nice. Different then I thought she'd be if it was a girl."
"What do you mean different?" Hermione asked eagerly, almost on the edge of her seat that Rose was ready to share her own knowledge of her.
Rose shrugged, "She doesn't really care about popularity. I thought she'd succumb to some clique. She's a lot more down to earth. More realistic, you know?"
"Oh…" Hermione mumbled numbly, again forcing herself to keep breathing in and out. Once more, she started relating the similarities between herself, Harry, and their daughter. She wondered if the Cooper's played any part in Amia's attitude, or if it was purely their DNA coming into affect…
"I can tell there's something wrong with you," Rose's voice interrupted her thoughts.
Hermione looked up at her, and tried to give her the most convincing look she could muster, "Baby, I'm fine."
She didn't looked persuaded, "You swear?"
Hermione nodded, not really giving any thought to how terribly she was lying to her second daughter right now, "I swear. You should be heading to your next class. Charms, right?"
"Defence," Rose corrected her quietly.
Her tone was like a kick to Hermione's groin, but she told herself not to focus on it. "Oh. You still better hurry."
Rose stood there in a detached silence for a moment, before shrugging, suddenly indifferent, "Fine. See you later."
"Love you," Hermione said just as she'd turn her back to leave.
Rose's posture faltered, but she eventually turned back, "I love you too."
Hermione gave her a gentle smile as she turned, and continued down the row of desks.
…
Harry's heartbeat picked up considerably as he stood opposite the large, closed tome. He didn't know how long he'd been waiting before the thing, nor did he understand why his nerves were kicking in now, at that moment.
The ministry's replica of the Hogwarts' Registry wasn't quite as majestic as the real thing, but it held exactly the same use. It would either confirm or deny Hermione's claims. Harry had a sick feeling that it would work in Hermione's favour, but still. What would this prove?
Another few moments passed before Harry realized that that question couldn't be answered until he just got to the actual discovering. If there was an Amia Cooper registered, then maybe it was just a random incident of someone with the same name. Someone with the same name, who supposedly looked just like Hermione and had the same birth date as Lilly. Or, it wasn't a coincidence. He didn't have any further comment for the latter case.
With shaking fingers, Harry reached forward. The cover of the book was just as rough as he imagined it to be, but at this point, that couldn't stop him. He hooked his finger under it, and pulled it open.
The book swung open on it's own accord and magically turned to the page with the most recently admitted students. And there, Harry saw it.
In dark black ink, the name Amia Cooper was etched into the parchment. His heart twinged at the word Gryffindor, written right besides her name.
So this was it. There truly was an Amia Cooper. He couldn't deny that any longer. This person was real, whether it was who Hermione thought it was or not. There was some basis to her theory, and it was currently staring him in the face.
He thought that once he saw the alleged proof, he'd feel more solid about the situation; he would feel like he could better pick a stance. But to be honest, now he felt as confused as ever. This could possibly prove so much… but he wasn't going to see any of that thousands of miles away from the place this person resided.
Maybe… maybe he needed to see this girl for himself. Maybe he needed to put himself in the position… willing… to see the evidence that Hermione thought she had…
…
"Defence is going to be wicked this year," James announced as he and the other fifth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws made their way out into the first floor corridor.
Carson looked to Trevor and they shared a knowing smirk, "Mate, you say that every year."
"Because it is every year."
"I'm excited too," Rose interjected from next to James.
He grinned at his cousin before shooting a triumphant look at his friend, "See Carson. Rose understands."
Carson rolled his eyes, "That's because Rose understands everything. You can't use that to prove your point."
Rose gave him an exasperated look but couldn't help feeling flattered by Carson's comment. Together, the group turned the corner to head for the staircase. As they were rounding the corner though, Rose caught sight of a familiar face.
Amia was standing in a shadowed corner of the hall, talking with a tall blond boy. Rose's eyebrows shot up her forehead when she saw that she was talking to Tony Stonem, the Head Boy, and one of the most handsome blokes in school.
The boys seemed to stop next to Rose to also look in Mia's direction. Their reactions were quite similar.
Rose was just about to turn and usher the boys on when she noticed Amia's eyes travel over to hers. The new girl smiled and turned to Tony. Rose thought she was merely smiling hello, but a second later, Amia was walking straight for them.
"Hey," Amia greeted Rose.
"Hi," Rose replied easily, though she could tell something was different with her new friend. "Second day go okay?"
Amia shrugged uncaringly, "It was alright."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rose noticed James, Carson, and Trevor share baffled looks with each other. Rose knew that James wouldn't hint otherwise so she took the initiative.
"Oh, Mia, this is my cousin James, and his mates Carson and Trevor. They're Gryffindors too."
Amia politely nodded in their direction, "Hey."
James resulted to his trademark grin and stuck out his hand, "Nice to meet you."
Trevor waved meekly and Carson stood stock-still as the exchange transpired. Rose wanted to laugh at the boys but for Amia's sake, she bit her tongue.
"So what are you up to now?" she asked instead.
Mia shrugged, "Just got out for the day. You?"
"Same."
"How are you liking Hogwarts so far?" James asked. The other boys shot him flabbergasted looks, mystified by his no doubt brazen behaviour.
James, however, simply looked on in interest.
Again, Mia shrugged, "It's cool. Interesting."
He grinned, "I bet it's a lot different than your old school."
"Yeah," Amia admitted, "It's a lot different than Avalon."
"Avalon?" This time it was Trevor who was working up the courage to speak. Carson shot him an incredulous look as the boy next to him shifted on his feet, "Where's that?"
Amia tried to bite back her knowing smile as she answered, "Southern California, where I'm from."
A strange guttural noise sounded from the back of Carson's throat. Just as the rest of the group was turning to shoot him confused looks, he jerked his head at Amia.
"D-do they have quidditch there?"
Trevor looked in horror at the boy, while Rose and James both closed their eyes in embarrassment. Amia tried to glance between them for clarification, before turning back to the younger boy, "Uh, what?"
The sound earlier must've been Carson trying to clear his throat, because he did it again. "Quidditch?" he practically squeaked.
"We didn't have a school team, if that's what you're asking."
"Oh."
James wanted to slap his hand to his forehead to hide himself, but knew that wouldn't do his struggling friend any
good. Instead, he stepped forward to pat Carson on the shoulder and gave Amia an apologetic look, "Forgive my
friend, he's just a little shy around
new people."
Amia shrugged, "No worries."
"Er, right. So did you get a lot of homework in Defence too?" Rose asked her, also trying to clear the awkward tension.
She nodded forlornly, "Two foot essay on why it's important. You'd think that being a sixth year, the professor would know that it's all monotonous…"
"They're probably in denial," James suggested with a conspiratorial smirk.
Amia grinned, "They always are."
Rose could honestly say that she disagreed a bit, but didn't want to put herself out there like that in front of her new friend. Instead, she turned to her and offered, "We were going to head to the library to get started. You want to join?"
Amia looked to her. She seemed somewhat hesitant, but eventually, she nodded, "Yeah. Why not?"
"Alright." As they started off, heading down the rest of the hall for the stair case, James fell in stride with Amia and asked her if she'd ever played quidditch before. Rose knew he was only doing this as captain for the Gryffindor team, so she listened on in patience.
Amia was just starting to elaborate on her answer, and Trevor and Carson were just beginning to whisper hurriedly to themselves when a sound interrupted them.
Amia froze midstep, and James and Rose also came to a halt. Their eyebrows' furrowed in concentration at the sudden noise.
"Did you guys hear that?" James asked, looking to his cousin.
Just as Rose was starting to shake her head, the noise sounded again. Only this time, it seemed to be more clear. Like a voice…
"MIA!"
"What was that?" James asked, not quite catching the name.
"Mia!"
Rose raised her eyebrow, "Are you guys hearing that too? It sounds like-"
Amia coughed loudly, and pulled her book bag more securely over her shoulder, "Er, I have to go. Catch you guys later."
She didn't give the four fifth years a chance to respond as she turned on her heel and headed off in the opposite
direction. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up in anticipation as she threw herself into a girl's
loo, and barricaded herself into one of the
stalls.
Background noise through the connection was just starting to become clear as she threw down her bag, and reached inside her robes for something. With her heart racing a million miles a minute, she pulled out a thin, rectangular mirror. She couldn't help but smile as she saw her friend's anxious face on the other side.
"MIA!" the slim, bleach blonde girl with purple highlights screamed once she had steadied the mirror.
Amia grinned at Lindsey Kelly, her best friend of sixteen years. She knew it had only been a day and a half since she'd last seen her, but it seemed like much longer already.
"Linds, what's with the screaming?"
"We never got a chance to test them from this long of a distance," she explained, still a tone louder than necessary, "I wanted to make sure you heard me!"
"Yeah, I think half my school heard you."
Lindsey laughed, "Nice. These mirror things are legit."
Amia nodded as she sat down on the toilet, "At least the hard work we invested in them paid off. So what have you been up to?"
"Fucking nothing exciting," Lindsey told her, also looking like she was sitting down, "It's hard to get pumped for anything knowing you won't be there."
Amia sighed, "I've been bummin' the last couple days too. Turns out I miss you guys a bit."
Lindsey scoffed, "You miss me more than a bit, I know it."
Mia figured that she wouldn't have to confirm it since it was so true. Lindsey didn't have to look too deep to figure it out. "So how's everyone?" she asked instead.
"Eh…" Lindsey voiced sceptically, immediately tipping Amia off to something not so great, "Good for the most part."
She raised an eyebrow, "Most part?"
"The implications of another school year kind of sucks, but whatever." As she finished, she shot Amia a testing look. Amia could tell she looked a bit nervous and was just about to question her on it when she spoke.
"So…TJ misses you…"
Amia sighed. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about, and her best friend should've known that. She realized that Lindsey had the unfortunate job of looking out for both her and TJ, but still.
"Yeah, and I already said I missed you guys too."
Lindsey let out a sigh, and Amia hoped that was a sigh of defeat. A few moments later, she was glad to hear her friend changing the subject, "So obviously the people there aren't as cool as me, but have you been trying to make friends?"
Amia bit her lip as she nodded, "I met a few cool people."
Lindsey raised her eyebrow, sensing there was something her best mate was refusing to tell her, "Any boys?"
Amia smirked, "One or two…"
She continued to smile as her friend laughed. In truth, there were a few cute British boys so far, but only one she thought she liked enough to be friends with. The boy in her Potions class actually seemed to be on the same page as her.
"Nice," Lindsey complimented, "Anyone interested?"
Amia shot her a look. She knew just what Lindsey was fishing for, but Amia was determined to not give her any information she could use against her.
"I have school to worry about."
Lindsey scoffed in agreement, "Yeah, and you better be on your best fucking behaviour. Dude, if you don't get to come home, I swear I'll rip my fucking hair out."
"I know," she consented quietly, "and trust me, I'll be home by Christmas. Sooner, if there's any luck."
A comfortable silence passed between the two lifelong friends. Amia's mind began to wonder off on the topic of finding a way to go home as soon as possible. Lindsey, though, was thinking of something entirely different.
A few more minutes passed, before Lindsey looked unsurely at Mia, "So… I heard Travis left the hospital yesterday."
Mia's breath caught in her throat, "Really?"
"Yeah. I guess he's doing a lot better."
Quiet again. Honestly, Amia didn't know what to say to that. She knew what she wanted to say, but didn't want to broach such a complicated topic at the moment when she was trying to reunite with her best friend. So instead, she simply nodded, "Good."
"We could try and petition again-"
"Lindsey I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay," Lindsey conceded, not wanting to get into it now either, "So how is that place?"
Amia blew out an awed breath as she leaned against the wall, "The castle's huge. It puts Avalon to shame. And the grounds are even more gnarly."
"How's the weather?" Lindsey asked, obviously searching for something bad about the place.
Amia grinned knowingly, "Fucking horrible."
Lindsey smiled too, "So it's not better than home?"
"It rates similarly, but in different ways," Amia shrugged after a moment of thought.
Lindsey seemed to understand, so she changed the subject, "And your classes?"
"Decent," Mia replied, "Looks like we really do get a more advanced education at Avalon. I've already been through a lot of the lessons…"
Lindsey raised an optimistic eyebrow, "But that's perfect. You don't have to pay attention in class!"
"Pretty much," she shrugged indifferently, "I don't know how long I'll be able to get away with that though."
"Tough professors?" Lindsey guessed benevolently.
"Not really, but…" Amia debated with herself over whether or not she should tell Lindsey about what happened yesterday with her Transfiguration professor. In the end though, she figured she couldn't really keep quiet about it for any longer. She sighed as she went on, "I mean, there's one teacher that stares at me like I'm some unidentified organism. It kind of creeps me out."
Lindsey scrunched up her face, "Maybe he has the hots for you?"
"No," Amia said, immediately dismissing the idea, "it's a lady. Her daughter's pretty chill though, and she said that it was her first year teaching, so I guess I can blame it on that."
"Probably," Lindsey acquiesced, "So besides that, nothing interesting?"
"Not really," Amia answered, "How's Malea?"
Lindsey looked like she was trying to fight back laughter, "You really want to know?"
Mia shrugged passively, "I feel like I'm obligated to ask."
"She's fine. I think. You know she has a harder time following us around once we go back to school…"
"I can rest easy knowing Mum has her hands full with her," Amia muttered, allowing a small, albeit evil, grin spread over her lips.
Lindsey shook her head, "I doubt it. Kirsten's been keeping pretty busy herself."
At that, Mia's face twisted into a disgusted expression, "Gross."
"I guess you're kind of lucky though," Lindsey acknowledged, "I mean, at least you get to get away for a while."
"Yeah…" A tense pause filled the air, giving both girls the chance to think off on their respective topics.
Lindsey, on how she could get her best friend back as soon as possible; Mia, on how she was happy to be away from her
actual family, but pissed to be separated unwillingly from the friends she considered her real family. Her mind even
wandered over to the subject of Travis… and then unwillingly fell upon TJ. As soon as she realized what, or who she was
thinking about, she blinked and cleared her throat. She loved her best friend, but she knew Lindsey was analyzing her.
Right now, she just
wanted to be alone.
She gave Lindsey a sad smile as she started speaking, "Hey, I have to get going. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
Lindsey sighed, but nodded nevertheless, "Alright. Love you 'Mi."
"Love you too Linds. Say hi to everyone for me."
"Okay."
The two friends shared one last smile, before Amia pressed her palm flat over the small mirror. She waited a few seconds, and when she lifted her hand off, Lindsey was gone.
She sighed once more to herself as she stuffed the mirror back into her pocket. At least she had a lifeline back to her life back home. Hopefully though, it wouldn't stress her out too much.
It wasn't that Amia didn't want to stay in touch with people back in Newport… but she just felt like she needed to be away from their prying eyes for a bit. That's why she hadn't totally pegged coming to England as such a horrible thing. Even though it was cold, it was a good place to disappear for a while…
…
Hermione sat alone at her desk, her thumb bit gently between her teeth as her other traced lightly over the picture of her first baby. She knew there were other things she should've been doing all afternoon, but she literally couldn't help herself. There was no way she could push Amia to the back of her mind so easily… or, for that matter, the conversation she'd had with Harry the previous night.
All she had intended to do was gaze at Amia's baby picture for a few minutes. Alas, a few minutes turned into a few
hours, and eventually she found herself flipping through the old album that Harry had given her when they'd first
moved into their Boston flat. It was a bit
difficult to look at the pictures of her and Harry, so young, and so happy together… However, she couldn't deny the
twinge of delight she felt every time she saw her pregnant belly growing larger and larger over the foray of
photos.
She flipped back a page, and saw the picture of her and Harry on Christmas morning. He had the ridiculous beanie she had attempted to knit for him on, and was kissing her cheek with his hands draped lovingly over her very pregnant belly.
Hermione couldn't help but sigh as tears pricked at the back of her eyes. Harry had always been there for her back then. Why couldn't he just be there for her now?
Hermione jumped slightly, and looked up startled at the door as the handle turned but unsuccessfully opened. Her chest heaved in relief that she'd remembered to lock the door before reminiscing.
A knock sounded as she quickly closed the photo album, and stuffed it into the bottom drawer on her desk. She straightened up in her chair before grabbing her wand and waving it at the door.
"Come in," she called out as the door unlatched itself.
The door was pushed open from the other side. She was somewhat surprised to see Hugo walk in.
"Oh, hi sweetheart."
"Hey Mum," Hugo greeted. Hermione frowned at his hassled sounding tone. "Have you seen Tidbit?" Hugo asked once he reached her desk.
"Tidbit?" Hermione frowned, "No… shouldn't he be in the owlery?"
Hugo shook his head, "I looked but he wasn't there."
"Oh. Did you have a letter to send?"
"Yeah, I was going to owl Dad. Have you heard from him? I haven't yet…" Hugo finished in a mumble. Hermione's frowned hardened as she watched her boy look down to his feet, and scuff his shoe at the ground. She sighed, suddenly furious with her husband.
"Oh, um, yes. Actually, I just got done writing him. He said he was very proud of you for making it in Gryffindor
and that he knows you'll do great," Hermione quickly made up. She knew it was wrong to lie to her son, but she
was only looking out for his best interest.
That didn't make her feel as guilty, because to be honest, the only letter she'd received from Ron as of yet
was one begging her to reconsider and come home. Hermione had discarded the letter almost as soon as she'd open
it.
Instantly, Hugo brightened, "Oh, cool. Well do you think you can mail my letter anyway?"
"Sure babe." Hermione took the letter and glanced down to it briefly. When she looked back up, she tried to
muster a smile for her
oblivious son. She realized for the first time, that she hadn't exactly looked into his activities since they'd
been here either.
"So how have your classes been so far?" she asked, though she felt a little tense doing so.
Hugo shrugged, "They suck."
"Excuse me?"
Hugo bit his lip as he looked up nervously to meet his mother's stern glare. "I mean every class sucks except for Transfiguration," he tried to redeem himself.
Hermione narrowed her eyes, "That wasn't what I was going for. Why do they 'suck'?"
"Because I already have homework!"
"Which is one of the main components of school," she reminded him chidingly.
"I know, but I already got a lot…" Hugo whined, starting to scruff his feet against the ground again.
Hermione sighed, now more calm as she came forward to run a hand through his hair, "The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can have fun. Remember that."
"Whatever," he muttered unconcernedly, "So you'll mail that to Dad?" he then asked, giving her a much more pointed look.
Hermione sighed as she straightened, "Yes."
"Okay. I'll see you at dinner then."
"Start on that homework," Hermione called after him as he turned and headed for the door.
Hugo waved his hand behind him, but made no further comment to follow his mother's instructions. Hermione let out a breath as she realized that she'd have to keep a close eye on Hugo this semester.
Once her son had closed the door behind him, Hermione looked down to the letter in her hand. Again, she was faced with
the dreaded feeling which was the consequence of her decision. How was she supposed to explain to Hugo, a boy who was
so in love with his father, that she couldn't be with the man anymore? How could she explain in the
easiest terms that their family was being split in half?
Her heartbeat felt painful as she turned and glanced back to the desk that she knew held her old photo album. Maybe the most important question of all, was how the hell was she going to live with the fact that her children- all three of them- were living in the same tower, all completely oblivious to the depth of their relationship?
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