Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Lost Daughter
Chapter 17: A Belligerent Surprise
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Rose walked into the Great Hall the next morning ready to load a plate full of the elves' delicious cooking. She was absolutely famished after last night and was hoping that her slight headache would disappear after some nutrition. She was somewhat surprised to see everyone at their tables already gossiping heavily but then was reminded why when she caught sight of two aurors flanking both ends of the staff table.
Transfixed on the stone cold face of one of the aurors, Rose sat down at an open seat at the Gryffindor table, coincidentally right across from her cousin and his two friends.
James raised an eyebrow, "Well if isn't the little rule-breaker herself. And to think all these years I thought you were just a royal prefect in the making… you're really just a late bloomer."
Rose turned to look at him, a dark blush already creeping up her face. "Thanks for covering for us last night," she mumbled.
"Oh no worries. It's not like you could've been potentially dead or kidnapped or anything. Lying to my dad- no big deal."
"We had no idea this was going on when we came back," she replied shamefacedly.
James shrugged like it really was no big deal as he piled some food onto his fork, "Where did you guys go anyway?"
Rose bit her lip, "Um, Hogsmeade."
The food on James's fork fell off an inch away from his lips, "What were you doing in Hogsmeade?"
Automatically Rose looked past her cousin over to the Slytherin table. The boy who had completely flipped her world upside down last night was sitting with his back facing her. She sighed, really wishing he had chosen to sit in the opposite direction. "Just girl stuff…" she finally said.
James scowled, "Girl stuff? You do girl stuff?"
Rose narrowed her eyes, "I am a girl."
"I guess…"
Rose ignored him and started to pull some food onto her plate. She had just begun eating when she noticed Carson nudge James,
"Oi, it's Professor McGonagall," the boy whispered as McGonagall made her way past them, "She doesn't look to chipper…"
"What, is she supposed to be thrilled that someone's trying to break into her castle?"
James smirked at his friend, "Good one, Trev."
Rose noted the two aurors become more fierce at the ends of the staff table as McGonagall made her way to the podium at the front. Once she was situated looking out over the gossiping hall, she tapped her wand and cleared her throat.
"Students, if I could have your attention please, I have an important announcement."
The hall immediately became quiet sans the initial clattering of dropped silverware. McGonagall almost looked apprehensive to continue once she had the students' attention.
"Following last night's attempted break-in, some new security measures will be put into place. Aurors from the Ministry will be stationed here to insure the castle's safety, should last night's perpetrator try to strike again. Please do not try and interfere with the job these aurors are assigned to do. They shall be treated with respect and if they give an order you will be expected to follow it."
Rose turned to her cousin, "Do you think Uncle Harry will be stationed here?"
"Hopefully," James muttered back.
"Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology students should now wait in the entrance hall for Professor Hagrid and Professor Longbottom to collect them. Quidditch players should also wait in the entrance hall for Madame Hooch to escort them to the pitch."
McGonagall went on to restrict students from leaving the castle, especially on their own, and stressed the importance of not entering the Forbidden forest. Her eyes shot over to the Gryffindor table as she gave this warning, causing James, Trevor, and Carson to look away immediately.
"Lastly, next weekend's Hogsmeade trip is cancelled until further notice."
McGonagall raised her hand as groans emitted around the hall, "This is all until the Aurors clear that Hogwarts is 100% safe from any opposing threats. There is no reason to fear students, but please be extra cautious. And finally, if you see anything suspicious, please report it to an auror or a member of staff. Good day."
As the rest of the students in the hall began picking up their forks and discussing the announcement, Rose sat quietly in thought for a few seconds. She sent a nervous glance at her cousin. "James?"
"What?"
"Who do you think was trying to break-in?"
James swallowed before shrugging, "It could've been anyone…"
"You…" Rose started, her voice considerably quieter, "You don't think it's anyone from the last War, do you?"
James froze and glanced up to meet his cousin's stare. He set his fork down, "Like death eaters?"
Rose shrugged, almost defensively, "They were the last ones to break into the castle."
"That was years ago, Rose."
"I know… It was just a thought…"
James sighed and glanced at his friends to make sure they weren't paying attention, "Look, all those wizards are either dead or in jail by now. I don't know who was trying to break in last night but I'm sure it wasn't anyone from that group."
Rose nodded but James could see that her mind was still running wild with the possibilities.
"Look, my dad probably is going to get stationed here and your mum's here. They won't let anything happen to us."
"I'm not worried," Rose said honestly, "Just curious."
As she finished speaking, she shot a look up to her mum at the staff table. She couldn't help but notice with a pang of worry that her mother looked quite anxious. She was staring blankly at her food, not eating any of it just pushing it around with her fork. Every few seconds her eyes would raise to look at the entrance of the hall and slide over to the Gryffindor table before she looked back at her depressing looking meal.
Rose was still busy observing her mum when James went on, "Speaking of curiosity, where's Mia anyway?"
"Sleeping still."
James raised a eyebrow, "Is girl stuff really that tiring of an activity?"
Rose smirked, "Yes."
"I can't believe you snuck out of the castle before I did this term," he muttered, shaking his head, "Now I'm compelled to catch up."
"It wasn't my idea. Amia gets all the credit for last night."
"Her rule-breaking makes me proud. It's almost like we're related."
"Rule-breaking is your mutual area of expertise," Rose agreed.
James grinned, "And it looks like you're starting to catch on."
She smiled coyly, "Maybe."
With the tense air of suspicion cleared from the table, Rose finished eating her breakfast rather quickly while keeping up a casual conversation with the boys. After a few minutes of sitting with a cleared plate in front of her, she felt the grip of her Scorpius filled thoughts start to push their way into her mind. She knew she wouldn't last long acting normal while thinking about him in front of her cousin, so she eventually excused herself from the table with a promise to see James later.
As she made her way out of the hall and towards the staircase, already thinking of the young Malfoy, a voice called out to her.
"Rose!"
Rose spun around quickly and saw her uncle hurrying up to her, looking like he just came in from the grounds.
"Uncle Harry, is everything okay?"
"I was wondering if I could have a word," Harry said, coming to stop in front of her.
Rose bit the inside of her cheek, trying to fight off the nerves. She had a feeling she knew what her uncle was here for… "Yeah, sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"Did you know that Professor Longbottom locks up the greenhouses every night at 7?" Harry asked, his stare unwavering from hers.
"Uh…"
Harry shook his head as she started to splutter some excuse, "I'm not here to get you in trouble Rose. You're quite lucky I'm choosing not to tell your mother, but I'll only do that if you promise to do something for me."
She swallowed nervously, "What?"
"I don't want to hear any more stories of you sneaking out of the castle," he said with a stern look, "Someone tried to break in last night and that's very serious. If you're out running around when they try it again, who knows what'll happen."
Rose momentarily forgot about her own embarrassment, concerned about something else, "You think this is going
to happen again?"
Harry shrugged, "I hope not Rosie. But for now promise me that you'll stay in bounds and be careful."
"I promise."
Harry lingered for a moments before staring back into his niece's eyes, "Will you pass along the message to your friend as well? It's important that she understands that she can't go wandering around or leave the castle at night."
She nodded, "Sure, I'll tell Mia."
"Make sure that she listens," Harry pressed.
"I will."
"I know that she may be thinking she's in less danger because she's a transfer student, but that's not the case. She could just as easily be hurt or targeted as anyone else."
Rose let out an awkward laugh as she agreed again, "Okay, I'll tell her."
Harry paused as he realized he might've come off a tad too tenacious. He sighed, biting back an additional rambling. "Alright sweetheart, I'll let you get on with your day."
"Bye Uncle Harry. Good luck with everything," she said before giving him a hug and continuing on her way towards the stairs. Harry watched her go, hoping that the first thing she'd do was tell Amia his warning.
…
Rose couldn't find Amia in her room when she first got back to the common room. She spent an hour or so reading in her room, trying to not think about Scorpius too hard before she gave up and went back to look for Mia. Again, her room was empty of her, so she headed downstairs to search out where her friend could possibly be.
She was just checking over by the study cubicles when Hugo ran in from the portrait hole, "Rose! Rose!"
"What?" she asked, giving her panting brother a weird look.
"You… won't… believe…"
She started to roll her eyes, "Hugo, I'm busy-"
"Dad's here! He wanted me to come get you!"
"Dad's here?" Rose repeated, now looking at her brother with much more interest.
"Yeah," Hugo said, now grinning, "In Mum's office. Come on! We're trying to surprise her!"
Rose frowned, her curiosity plaguing her as she followed Hugo running off ahead of her.
…
Hermione must've looked like a zombie walking back to her classroom in the trance she was in. She'd had so much worry and anxiety built up in her from not being able to see Amia this morning. She needed to know if she was okay after the near break-in last night, and it was absolutely tearing her insanity to pieces that she hadn't seen or heard from her yet. She figured that she would wait in her office for Harry to see if he had any new details to share with her before going on a search for her. She knew she wouldn't be able to do anything productive until she saw her.
Hermione finally made it back to her classroom a few minutes later. She heard voices as she started to open the door. Her heart fluttered with the hope that it was Mia inside.
She opened the door and hastily came inside. She could only imagine the distraught expression on her face when she saw that it wasn't who she'd been hoping for- not in the very least.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked flatly, absently closing the door behind her. She didn't travel any further into the room.
Ron turned around with a big smile on his face, "Hey love, there you are!"
"What are you doing here?" she asked again, her tone not becoming any more enlivened.
"Came to surprise you for your birthday!" Ron announced, walking down the aisle to her. He got there faster than she hoped he would and before she knew it, he leaned down with his lips puckered. She turned her head just in the knick of time so that he could only capture cheek.
"My birthday was yesterday, Ron," she said, wiggling out of his arms and stepping around him. She took a few steps up the aisle towards Rose and Hugo and noticed with a pang of guilt that they look quite happy to see their father present today.
"I knew that!" Ron said, coming to catch up with her. He stopped in front of her again, "Er, I-I had some work obligations yesterday. But today I told McGregor that there was no way I was working because I was coming to spend the day with my wife and kids."
Ron turned back and shot a winning grin at Rose and Hugo. When he turned back to Hermione though he was caught with her glare of total disbelief. Did he really expect her to believe this bullshit? What the hell was he doing putting up this kind of charade in front of the kids? She was positive that he should have been served the divorce papers by now… this was only going to make it so much more difficult to break the news to the kids.
"We got so much to catch up on Dad!" Hugo yelled in excitement, running down the aisle and wrapping his arms around Ron's waist.
"Yeah we do," Hermione muttered dryly as Ron swung Hugo around.
"Yeah, yeah and I want to hear all about it! First though, let's have Mum open her present."
Hermione frowned as she watched Ron grin and pull out a box from inside his robes.
"You didn't have to get me anything Ron," she muttered, taking the box only because Rose and Hugo were standing there waiting for her to do so.
"'Course I did. I spent ages looking for the right one, so go on and open it!"
With a defeated sigh, Hermione sank down into one of the empty desk chairs. She pulled back to the top of the box and saw a flashy pearl bracelet laying inside.
"Wow Mum, that's really pretty," Rose said, staring at her mum for her reaction.
Hugo frowned at his sister, "It's a bracelet…"
Ron laughed as he ruffled his son's hair, "Come on mate, you know how women are with jewellery."
Hermione bit her lip before closing the box and setting it on the table. She found it hard to feign sincerity as she looked up at Ron, "Thank you."
"Come on, I'll put it on you," he said as he bent down and grabbed the box.
"Oh, I-" Hermione immediately protested, one hand instantly going over her other bracelet to protect it.
Ron pulled her hand off, trying to get Harry's gift off her, "It has to be a sight better than this old thing-"
"No!" Hermione pulled her hand back into her chest right away from Ron's overpowering grip. He frowned as she quickly thought of something to say.
"Uh, it's more of a going out bracelet. Too formal to just be wearing around the office."
Ron stared at her for a second before shrugging in defeat, "Alright well don't say I didn't try."
Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes at his tone, "No Ron, your effort was duly noted."
Identical frowns came over Ron and Rose's faces while Hugo stood there looking back and forth between his parents, clearly confused. Hermione felt like she was quickly melting under everyone's stares so she cleared her throat and looked to Rose.
"Um, so did you have trouble sleeping last night Rose? I noticed you weren't in the Room of Requirement with Hugo…"
"Oh… uh," her eyes flashed off to the corner of the classroom as the first excuse she could think of came to her, "Mia and I were studying late last night so… we just decided to stay in."
Hugo frowned, "But Uncle Harry said he couldn't find you. Or Mia. He was going mental about it…"
Both her parents looked to her for her response while Rose glared at her little brother, "We were in the library."
"So is Mia still sleeping?" Hermione asked, taking the chance to break up the start of a fight so that she could inquire about her missing daughter.
Rose shrugged, "I don't know where she is actually. She was still asleep when I went to breakfast but she was gone when I came back."
Worry immediately came over Hermione, "Maybe… she's doing some more studying…"
"Well wherever this girl is, I'm sure she's not half as concerned about you as you are her. Who's up for a picnic on the pitch?" Ron asked, trying to revitalize the excitement within the group.
"ME!" Hugo screamed.
Hermione though instantly shook her head, "They just ate Ronald. And no students are supposed to be down by the pitch unless it's for quidditch practice."
Ron scoffed with a grin, looking back at his kids, "Well I'm sure those rules change if they're supervised by their mother, the transfiguration professor. And a Weasley is never not hungry. Right Hugh?"
"Right!"
"Ron they can't go."
"Says who?"
"Says me," she answered, anger pressing in on her short patience, "They are students at this
school- they can't go around doing whatever they want because I'm they're professor. They have
rules to follow Ron. It's understandable that you wouldn't have a proper grasp on that, but don't
teach our children that they don't have to care about restrictions!"
An offensive look came over Ron's reddening face, "Bloody hell Hermione, I'm not trying to teach them to fuck all and do what they want. I just thought we could spend a nice day together for you birthday. Isn't that what families are supposed to do?"
"My birthday was yesterday, and do you really have to ask that?" Hermione finished, now glaring at him.
Ron glared back, "I was being rhetorical."
"You wouldn't know rhetorical if it hit you in the face-"
"You guys it's fine!" Rose yelled, fed up with her parents fighting already. "We can stay here…" She couldn't believe she was breaking up fights this early in her father's visit. Why did her mum always insist on shooting her father down?
"Aw, but do we still get to have a picnic?"
"Sure, that sounds fun," Rose said, nodding at her brother.
"I gotta head down to the kitchens to get the food first," Ron muttered, noticeably less animated.
Hugo brightened, "Can I come?"
"Sure mate."
"You three go," Hermione said to them, standing up from her seat, "I'll stay here and set up."
Rose snorted quietly, "Fine by me. Let's go."
Hermione stared after her daughter, knowing that she was angry with her for the fight. Her emotions then turned and suddenly she was shaking her head with the anger Ron made her feel. She hated how he could so easily show up and win their children over while making her out to be the bad guy. She was frustrated to begin with- she definitely didn't need this from him today. Not when she still hadn't heard from Harry about any new developments, and still didn't know where Amia was.
…
Hermione made a noticeable effort to be more cordial and happy when her family returned about an hour later. Being polite was tough though because Ron picked up on her efforts after not too long and started trying to be closer.
As they nibbled on the food, they talked about Hugo and quidditch, Ron and his work, Rose's prefect duties, and about what the rest of the Weasley clan were up to. At every opportunity, Hermione steered the conversation away from her so that she didn't have to talk much. Finally once it had started to get later in the day, Ron told the kids to run along so that he and Hermione can have some time alone.
"Bye Daddy," Rose said, giving her father a tight hug.
Ron kissed her head, "Bye love. Write me, yeah?"
"Alright."
"You as well, Hugh. I want to hear all about your upcoming quidditch season. I know you'll make the team."
Hugo grinned and let Ron ruffle his hair, "Thanks Dad."
"Off you go."
"See you tomorrow Mum!" Hugo said before the two headed out of the room.
Hermione let out an edgy breath as Ron rounded on her, "What do you say you and I head into London? We can get dinner out, head back to the house…"
Hermione quickly took a step away from him, "Why are you doing this? It's only going to make it so much harder to tell them."
Ron went rigid. The façade suddenly fell from his features, "Tell them what? There's nothing to tell them."
"No?" she scoffed, "So when I don't show up at the house for winter hols, they're just going to connect the dots themselves, are they?"
Ron rolled his eyes, "Don't be ridiculous Hermione."
"I'm not being ridiculous. You need to stop acting like the perfect husband you've never been so we can tell them the truth!"
"We're not going to tell them anything," he charged in with a tone that made it seem like he'd come to this conclusion long ago, "My kids are not going to be children of divorce. I refuse to let that happen."
"You should have thought about that before you cheated on me- cheated on them."
"I never cheated on them!"
This time Hermione was the one to roll her eyes, "Right, and all those times in the past year when you promised to spend time with them, promised to take them here and there and then just never showed up because of your work- that's not cheating on them?"
"Don't accuse me of being a bad father!" Ron exploded, pointing a quaking finger at her.
She wasn't intimidated, "That is a bad father Ron! I'm not saying you don't love them unconditionally but come on! You think they'll hate me for divorcing you? What about when they find out why I divorced you? You think you'll be applauded for stepping out on our marriage?"
Ron was in a rage now, "YOU CAN'T TELL THEM!"
"They have every right to know why their parents are splitting up. You should be a proper man and tell them yourself!"
"Hermione, if you'd stop being so fucking judgemental then you'd see that we can fix this. We've put our fighting behind us before, we can do it again. For Rose and Hugo."
She shook her head, fighting back her tears of anger as she thought of the terrible mistake she'd thrown herself into all those years ago. It was wrong then and it was wrong now. There was no way she was going to make the same mistake twice.
"I don't want to do it again. I don't want to be with you anymore."
"You're being selfish-"
"Don't call me selfish, Ron. Not after what you did."
"Will you stop bringing that up! I've left her- I'm not going to do it again."
"I don't care what you do anymore, Ron. The only thing I want from you is to sign the divorce papers so that we can both move on from this."
Ron completely disregarded her wish, "I'm not signing anything!"
"Then I'll find another way to divorce you! You can't stop me!" Hermione finished, making her way back towards the door. This conversation clearly wasn't going anywhere and she didn't want to spend one extra second with Ron that she didn't have to.
"Don't walk away from me!" he yelled, stalking behind her.
"Our conversation is done. I want you to go-"
Right as Hermione opened the door, Ron came up from behind her and swung her around by the elbow. He pushed her back into the door, angry words on the tip of his tongue and his hand still gripped tightly on her elbow.
"Let go!" Hermione yelled, appalled that he would even think about touching her so violently. She yanked her elbow free but Ron bolstered and took a step forward.
"Listen to me- Harry!"
Ron's face went considerably redder as Hermione's heart sank. No… She had wanted Harry to hurry up and come see her but this was the last thing she wanted him to walk in on.
Slowly Hermione turned around to face Harry, who was standing there staring dangerously over her, obviously straight at Ron. She hadn't seen this look on him in a long time.
Nervously she cleared her throat, knowing that it'd be up to her to calm him down, "Harry, is something wrong?"
Harry didn't look at her as he answered, "We've been ordered to put protective spells on each of the classrooms."
At that, Ron nodded and grabbed Hermione's wrist, "Alright, we'll leave you to it." He tried to lead Hermione out of the door with him but neither Hermione or Harry moved out of their spots.
Harry ever so subtly shook his head, "I think it's time for you to leave, Ron."
Ron frowned at his friend, "What?"
"The aurors on patrol are under orders to detain anyone in the castle that's not a student or Hogwarts staff member. Seeing as your neither, they might take your presence as suspicious."
Ron snorted, obviously taken aback, "Mate I'm visiting my wife for her birthday."
"Ex-wife and her birthday was yesterday."
The colour rose back in Ron's face. He looked down to Hermione and then back up to Harry, where his stare lingered for a few seconds. Hermione was nervous to see where this staring match would lead, but was relieved to see Ron scoff before letting go of her and brushing past Harry without so much of another `this isn't over'.
It took her a few moments to get over Ron's departure before she hocked up the courage to look at Harry. She bit her lip shamefacedly, "I'm sorry-"
"Don't be," Harry said easily, squeezing her hand gently on his way into the classroom.
Hermione sucked in a shaky breath before closing the door and turning to follow Harry inside. She was easier approaching him then she had been with Ron, "So… any news?"
Harry leaned against one of the desks as he shook his head grimly, "No leads, no ideas on any leads."
Hermione felt her heart drop, "That's it?" she pressed, "There's no idea on who could've possibly tried to break in last night?"
Harry shrugged feeling useless that he wasn't able to supply her with more answers, "There's ideas it's just I don't know who could be behind those ideas."
"Meaning?"
Harry sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to avoid this for much longer, "We found a magical residue left on the front doors."
"Wand residue? That means you can retract the person's magical signature!" Hermione said, feeling her hopes lift.
Harry though shook his head, "It's more complex than just remains off of one wand."
"How do you mean?"
"Well what was left on the door was a mixture of several different magical signatures."
Hermione frowned, "So what, there was a group of people trying to break in?"
Again, Harry shrugged, "I don't know. I have a few theories but there is really no evidence at the time to back any of them up. We've searched through the grounds, asked around in Hogsmeade for any suspicious characters… we've come up with nothing so far."
"Maybe… maybe something will come up over the next couple days…" Hermione mumbled, now thinking to herself of possible ideas.
Harry ran a hand through his hair as he nodded, "Hopefully."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You don't look too optimistic."
He shrugged, "Just a lot on my mind."
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, taking another step closer. They were only a couple inches away from each other now, and the tone was much quieter.
He sent her a look and knew that she was the only person he could really talk to about what was on his mind right now… or more specifically who.
"I met her last night."
Hermione sucked in a breath, "Mia?"
Harry nodded, "She really is something, isn't she?"
"Yes… she's amazing."
He let out a long-winded breath while staring down into his lap, "I understand your reaction more now. I can't believe you have enough control to interact with her without being just completely taken by her."
Hermione let out a soft laugh, "Master of self-control after all these years…"
Harry looked at her. She was so close he could smell her. "Yeah…"
Hermione glanced away, withering under Harry's intense look, "Did you talk to her much?"
"She came in with Rose, and James was there… I-I didn't expect her to look so much like you."
Hermione could see the pain behind his eyes and hear it in his voice. She reached forward and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him out of the tirade of guilt and fantasies she knew he'd be collapsing into.
"You okay?"
Harry was quiet for a couple seconds before he squeezed her hand back and looked up into her eyes, "I want you to keep an eye on her."
Hermione frowned, "What?"
"I think it's just best if Amia were to be looked after for the time being. Just until we get a lead on whoever might've tried to break in."
Hermione felt like a truck had hit her. Her hand slowly slipped out of Harry's and she took a step back,
"You- you think this is related to Amia?"
Harry could see the potential devastation waiting to crash in upon her. Quickly he rectified himself, "I didn't say that. I just think that we should take some extra precautions now that she's here."
Hermione stayed silent, her mouth open and her mind in a whirlwind. A savage battle of could it be possible was raging in her head.
"Hermione?" Harry spoke a few seconds later, standing from the desk and coming up to grab her shoulders just in case she became unstable on her feet.
"D-Do you think th-those people would still be looking out for her? Even though they think she's dead?"
Harry shook his head, "I don't know. I don't know how they would know she is here."
"They- they can't know," Hermione muttered frantically, "There's too many grey areas. They'd have to know about the Cooper's, but if they knew about the Cooper's they would have done something by now." She felt herself falling into a tizzy. Her stomach was hurting, her head was pounding… she was waiting for someone to pinch her. "Right?" she asked after she heard nothing from Harry.
Harry looked helpless, "Hermione, I honestly don't know. I didn't tell you this to scare you- I just wanted to tell you just in case."
She let out a deep breath, trying to calm down, "Right."
Harry didn't know what else to do. Seeing her like this brought back too many memories. He pulled her into a hug, "Please don't work yourself up over this."
She sucked in another shaky breath, shaking her head into his shoulder, "Will you let me know what you find out?"
Harry nodded, "Whenever I get new information, I'll be here."
"Thank you."
They were both so taken by each other's embrace that when the door to her classroom opened again, they sprang apart from each other as if they had been doing something a little more serious.
Amia stood in the open doorway dressed in a navy Avalon hoodie and light denim shorts looking embarrassed.
"Oh, sorry."
"Amia! What are you doing here?"
Mia shuffled in her spot looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione before she held up a scroll of parchment, "Uh, I just wanted to give you the homework I missed from Friday."
"Oh," Hermione sounded, letting out the deep breath she'd been holding. She scanned Mia over a few times before stepping forward and accepting the homework, "Okay."
Mia lingered awkwardly after Hermione had taken the scroll. She couldn't help but notice James's dad staring at her in the same way he had been last night. Nervously she glanced down at herself. Maybe he was weirded out by what she was wearing? She pulled the hood off her head but that didn't change his stare. He was looking at her face, staring right into her eyes. She then frowned wondering why this man was being so audacious. Had James told him a story about her or something?
She glanced to Hermione and found her also looking at Harry, somewhat apprehensively. Mia bit her lip concluding that maybe she had walked in on more than just a hug. She stuffed her hands inside her hoodie pocket and started backing away.
"So I'm just going to go. Um, see you tomorrow." Amia had turned and was about to walk out of the class when the auror stopped her.
"Do you need someone to walk you back?"
Amia slowly turned back around, "Er, no. Just continue what you were doing. Have a nice afternoon."
"Bye," Hermione whispered before looking back to Harry, who was now staring at the closed door, clearly disappointed.
"Harry… is she going to be okay?"
Harry was silent for a few seconds. After what seemed like forever to her, he turned to her and grabbed her hand, "Hermione we killed ourselves 17 years ago trying to protect her. She-she's still my daughter. I'll still do anything to protect her."
Hermione squeezed his hand and nodded, "I trust you."
"There's a good chance that this has nothing to do with her. The people that wanted her way back then have probably forgotten about her potential power by now. I just don't think it's necessary to take any risks with her."
She nodded, "I agree. We can't leave any room for the possibility of it."
Harry then lifted her hand to his chest, holding it right over his heart. It's what he used to do when he was vying for her trust. "I promise I'll do everything I can to figure this out."
"I'm glad you're here," she whispered, "I feel a lot safer already."
"I'm here as long as you want me, Hermione."
Hermione gazed into his green eyes with a hint of sad longing. She knew she couldn't say anything about it… but the truth was she never wanted him to go.
---
Next chapter: BIG, BIG CHAPTER. Hermione finds out what Amia is really doing at Hogwarts and Amia gets a look into the 17 year old Harry and Hermione.
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