Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Lost Daughter
Chapter 13: Acquaintances? Friends? Something More?
---
Hermione stood facing the Ministry's lift on the 6th floor with a small, but significant smile on her face. She had taken her Tuesday lunch break to come to the Ministry to visit her friend Henry. It had only been a couple days prior when she had stated with shaky hesitation that she wasn't ready to file her and Ron's divorce papers. However, today she had gone to her old friend's office with total confidence.
She'd been lying if she said that this new found assuredness hadn't come in part from Amia. But nevertheless, she had found her way to one resolution. And even though she didn't know when she'd get around to telling her kids, she was sure that she was ready to break the ties that held her and Ron together. After nearly 15 years of an insincere marriage, she was ready to take a stand for herself.
Hermione was still caught up in her own thoughts when the bell for the lift dinged open in front of her. Blindly, she stepped forward into the lift and collided with a hard mass that was coming out.
"Sor- Harry!"
"Hermione?" Harry asked looking down at her, his face immediately contorting into a worried expression, "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, yeah everything's fine. Just… filing some paperwork." She already knew that lying to Harry would do no good. He'd find out eventually…
He raised an eyebrow, "Some paperwork?"
"Yeah. It's over between Ron and I. No use sitting around and doing nothing about it."
Hermione watched carefully as the expression dimmed on Harry's face. Slowly, he started to nod, "That's good. Great."
The conversation died as Harry stared down at Hermione. She knew she shouldn't have even been tempted, but she stared back just as silently for a few moments before forcing herself to look away. With her cheeks tinged a slight pink, she cleared her throat and changed the subject, "So what are you doing here?"
"Work," Harry replied, his tone suddenly much harsher, "Martin McQue was found in a trance in his home."
"Martin McQue?" Hermione asked, recognizing the name of the very reputable wizard barrister, "What kind of trance?"
He shook his head, "We're not sure. But it seems like his magic has been drained from his body. When we found him he was unresponsive and near death."
"Oh my god… his poor family…"
Harry nodded just as solemnly, "Yeah, his wife didn't know anything. I was planning on questioning a few of his colleagues here."
"I hope you get some answers. This sounds serious." Hermione didn't realize, but as she finished she reached out and squeezed Harry's hand.
Instead of pulling away, he squeezed back in response. It was a habitual response- something that just made him feel right in doing so. However, the gesture also made them both realize what they were doing. He glanced down to their joined hands and couldn't help but sound awkward when he spoke, "Yeah. So…"
Hermione too looked down before dropping his hand. Folding her arms tightly across her chest, she looked up at him, "What?"
"Is everything okay? At Hogwarts?"
Hermione shrugged lightly. That question held so many different answers. Rose was growing more and more suspicious about Hermione's behaviour. Hermione knew she'd have to come to terms with this and eventually sit Rose down to talk, but right now she was too preoccupied by how well things were going with Mia. She was making some great strides with her, and she knew that she was well on her way to gaining Amia's full trust. However, with the events of yesterday, there was one thing in particular that Hermione figured Harry might be interested in knowing.
She shot him a deliberate look before speaking, "Ron stopped by yesterday."
Harry's eyebrows raised again, "He did?"
"While Mia was finishing her lesson."
Panic instantly crossed his face, "Did he-"
"He didn't notice her," Hermione cut him off, "He was too busy with his fury to notice anything or anyone else."
"Did he hurt you?" Harry asked quietly, anxiously waiting for an answer. He could already feel the rage boiling within him if her answer were to come out as an affirmative.
Luckily for him though, Hermione shook her head, "No. Just screamed. A lot. Apparently he was under the impression that I had told you about his affair."
He sighed, "That's my fault. He was with Ginny when I came home last night. I'm sorry I couldn't control my attitude."
"It's okay," Hermione said gently, going back to staring into his eyes. She knew yesterday when Ron showed up that he hadn't done this intentionally. The thing about Harry was that even when she wasn't around, he was constantly trying to protect her. The part that confused her was that he hadn't really done this in quite sometime. It was a sign of the old Harry. The Harry that she had fallen madly-
She forced herself to discontinue that thought and immediately looked away from his eyes. She could've sworn that those eyes were the demise to all of her rational thinking…
"At least something positive's come out of it," Harry said after a couple seconds.
Hermione nodded trying to forget her previous thoughts, "Yeah. It was definitely a wake up call; it made me realize that I really didn't want to be married to a man who could treat me like that anymore."
Again Harry reached forward and squeezed her hand, "It'll all work out `Mione. I promise."
Hermione froze. She hadn't heard that nickname in over 16 years. Any thought she'd just told herself to forget about Harry wanting to protect her again was blown away by the emotion punched into her after hearing her old name. Deep down, ineffable to her present state of mind, that name struck something in her that she never thought she would've felt again.
While Hermione was frozen in a state of confusion and remembrance, Harry was mentally cursing himself for letting it slip. It, the one thing he knew he wasn't allowed to call her anymore. But he'd never been able to stop his mind from mentally referring to her as that. Especially now, she was his `Mione more than ever. Nevertheless, he knew he'd undoubtedly made her remember the emotions that went behind that name. The love he'd always put into it, yet the eventual despair that it came to represent…
He knew he needed to apologize to her, however every fibre of his being was aching against it.
Though, as fate would have it, the lift chose to open at that moment and the ugly mug of Zacharias Smith came out. Luckily for Harry, the old hufflepuff's appearance distracted Hermione from his slip. Unluckily for him, he was now forced to deal with Smith.
"I hope you've gotten some answers, Potter. This case is minutes away from going to the press."
Harry sent a glare at the blonde man before turning to Hermione. He gave her a small smile, "Gotta run. I'll talk to you soon, alright?"
"Okay," Hermione nodded quickly, already backing up towards the lift, "Good luck with everything."
"You too," Harry whispered as he watched his old love hurry onto the lift and press a button for the atrium.
…
Hermione couldn't help but smile as she looked out over the Great Hall from her position at the professor's table. She was enjoying dinner tonight, casually talking to Neville and watching her kids at the Gryffindor table. She was relaxed more than normal because she hadn't had the worry of waiting around for Mia to get to dinner. That night, she had walked in rather early along side Rose. The shock that Hermione felt at seeing this was quickly replaced with an overwhelming sensation of happiness that came with the sight of her two daughters together. It was like they were becoming sisters already; they both helped each other out. They were a good balance. Just like sisters.
Hermione began to eat more pensively as she watched her two girls, involved in what seemed to be a hearty conversation with their fellow Gryffindors, wondering poignantly if they would ever know how connected they truly were.
"I bloody hate Filch," James grumbled, throwing down his chicken wing, "It's like he's not happy unless he's snivelling down innocent Gryffindors' backs."
Rose snorted, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think throwing dung bombs at Professor Denham's door qualifies you as innocent."
Mia laughed and turned to James, "You really did that?"
A smug look came over his face as he straightened up and shook his head, "Look, you can't prove anything."
"Well at least he's horrible to everyone," Amia replied after everyone, minus Rose, let out a light laugh, "I thought it was just me who he had a problem with."
James quirked an eyebrow, "Filch got you in trouble? For what?"
"I tripped over a statue of armour. He showed up out of nowhere thinking I was up to no good," Mia shrugged, figuring that minor details would hold over her new friends.
"Rotten bastard," James scoffed.
The casual banter was suddenly diverted as owls started flooding into the Great Hall. Mia noticed her housemate's sudden eagerness before quietly turning back to her food. She sort of hated when the owl's came; she never got any letters, and watching the looks of delight come across everyone's faces when an owl dropped something in their laps only rubbed what she was missing in her face.
James and Carson felt the opposite of Mia and where perfect examples to the delight she referred to as the owls started dropping their objects.
Carson nudged James excitedly, "Oi, you think your uncle has written back yet?"
"I hope so!" James muttered, not taking his eyes away from the ceiling.
Rose frowned as she watched them, "What are you two planning?"
"Nothing that concerns you Miss Prefect," James goaded her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. It didn't take a particularly bright person to see that the two boys obviously were planning something.
As Rose rolled her eyes at her cousin, she too looked back up at the ceiling to see if she had anything coming. A small brown owl, one that she didn't recognize, looked as if it were heading straight for her. After a couple seconds though, she could tell it was heading slightly past her.
She nudged Amia, "Hey, this one's heading straight for you."
"What?" Mia looked up to see the brown owl flying directly for her. A frown came over her face as she started to shake her head, "But I never get mail…"
Up at the staff table, Hermione watched as a small owl swooped down and dropped a letter to Amia. The immediate frown casted over the girl's face worried her; was it a letter from home? From Kirsten, maybe?
Hermione was too obsessed with her burning curiosity to know what the letter signified that she didn't notice the expression on Mia's face as she turned it over and read where it was from. If she had, she would've noticed Mia's eyes widen and her jaw go slack. Even the tremble of her hands could've been noticeable from the staff table.
…
Hermione sat behind her desk, gripping a quill tightly in her hand. All of the relaxation she had felt at dinner an hour ago was gone. She was now back to the worry and anxiety that she'd grown accustomed to ever since Amia showed up in her classroom.
She was fifteen minutes late for their lesson. She hadn't sent a note and nobody had come by to explain her absence. As of now, Amia was missing.
Hermione had told herself to just start on some of her third years' essays to pass the time- maybe she was getting her homework together, or doing some pre-lesson readings…
Or maybe the contents of the letter she'd received at dinner troubled her enough to cause her to miss class. The desire to know what that letter was about burned evermore strongly in Hermione's heart as she watched the clock tick off another minute.
Just as she was telling herself that she was going to have to go look for her, the door opened and a troubled looking Mia slipped through.
"Hey!" Hermione called to her, relief flooding through her, "I was starting to think you weren't gonna make it."
Amia looked up to her and Hermione immediately noticed her eyes lacked the sparkle they usually carried. Something was definitely wrong with her…
"Sorry. Lost track of time," she muttered, setting her things down before sitting down her normal seat.
"It's ok. You alright?"
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she pulled out her homework and book from her book bag before looking back up, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine I guess."
Her response wasn't genuine at all. Because of that, Hermione felt like she was obligated to ask, "I noticed you got some mail at dinner. News from home?" she pried gently.
Amia's eyes darted down to her book, "Uh, yeah."
"It must be good to hear from your family…"
A small smirk came over Amia's face as she scoffed, "My family doesn't write me. It was from my friend. Well, my old friend…"
Hermione couldn't quite explain the relief she felt after hearing that it wasn't Kirsten who wrote her. Really, Kirsten should've been writing her because that's what a good mother would do to their child abroad. But Kirsten was a shit mother, and while Hermione knew it was dangerous to feel so, she couldn't help but think that she was more of a mother to Mia with only her few weeks of knowing her then Kirsten had ever been. So obviously she shouldn't expect much from this woman.
"Are you two having a fight?" Hermione asked gently after realizing that Amia was back to being quiet.
She shrugged dimly, "No, not really. Just a disagreement. He can be really stubborn."
Hermione quirked an eyebrow, "Oh. Is this friend a boyfriend?"
The dejected, gloomy look on Amia's face immediately turned into a wildly defensive frown, "No! He's my best friend. I've known him since I was born!"
"Well he's obviously trying to make an attempt if he's writing you," Hermione proposed regardless.
Mia bit her lip and turned back to staring at the book laying on her desk. A flash of worry struck Hermione when after a few silent moments she only shrugged. Maybe she'd overstepped her bounds…
"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here," Hermione told her softly after another couple seconds. She at least wanted to leave her with an uplifting note that she wasn't completely alone.
However Amia wasn't so sworn to silence as Hermione figured. After a couple more silent beats the girl sat up and shook her head, "He wants more than friendship and it's just making things more complicated than necessary."
"Ah… Best friend to boyfriend can be a difficult transition."
Again, she shook her head, this time more vigorously, "I don't want him to be my boyfriend. I mean, we've been friends for as long as I can remember. We've always been there for each other. Risking our friendship doesn't seem worth it."
"You're so convinced that it wouldn't work out?"
"Relationships come to an end," Amia said in a voice full of determination. Her tone made Hermione think she'd had to explain this before, "Especially when they start so young. It's not realistic to think that we'd stay together. Eventually something would tear us apart. I'd rather not risk losing him."
"That's a reasonable concern. But, if my advice means anything, I would tell you that the loss is better than the regret. If you're as good of friends as you say then you'll find a way to always remain friends." As she spoke, she couldn't help but wonder if everything she was saying was a lie. After all, look at her relationship with Harry. Complete silence for pretty much sixteen years. And now… well, Hermione had no idea where her and Harry's relationship was at now. Acquaintances? Friends? Something more? If only something more was that easy…
`But this is completely different,' Hermione cut herself off, 'Mia and her friend haven't gone through what Harry and I went through as kids. She's not pregnant with this bloke's baby…'
Amia seemed to really take in Hermione's words and was quiet for a few solid moments. Eventually though, she seemed to give up and shrugged, "It's complicated."
Hermione nodded understandingly, "I know a little about complicated. Consider what it would be like before ruling anything out. You might be surprised with your own feelings…"
"I guess."
"What's his name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"TJ. He's the boy next door."
"And he's good to you?"
Again, Amia seemed to think hard on Hermione's question before nodding, "Yeah."
"Then don't rule him out."
She nodded quietly before clearing her throat and straightening up in her seat. Hermione could tell as she looked up to her with a more content glimmer in her eyes that she was at least trying to feel better.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" she asked.
Hermione grinned and stood up from behind her desk, "Well, I thought we'd continue on with…"
---
Please review!!! Next chapter should be up shortly!
-->