Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Lost Daughter
Chapter 19: If You Really Want to Know II
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[AN] Just to let you guys know, this story is going to wind up being around +50 chapters.
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The next day, Amia waited out in the hallway where her Defence class had just let out. She was standing behind the door, waiting for a certain Slytherin to stop moseying around in the class and come out already. Finally as the rest of the students started to disappear down the corridor, Scorpius walked out. Amia pounced.
"Ow!" Scorpius yelled, grabbing the shoulder Mia had just hit him on. He glared at her, "What was that for?"
"For being a douche bag," Mia told him snidely, readjusting the bag on your shoulder.
Scorpius frowned even harder, "What the hell is a douche bag?"
"A very insulting name for a dumbass guy."
Scorpius scoffed, "Well which one am I, a douche bag or a dumbass?"
"You're both," Amia spat at him relentlessly, glaring at him harder then she'd glared at anyone in a long time.
The Slytherin rolled his eyes and followed Amia as she began walking down the hall, "Right well are you going to tell me what I've done wrong to deserve this?"
"You really have to ask?" she shot over her shoulder.
He stopped with an exasperated look on his face. As Amia turned to look at him, she could tell he knew what this was about.
"It's none of your business Cooper."
"You're fucking with my friend and where I come from that's every bit of my business," she told him, putting as much disgust into her face as she could muster. Her aim was to be a little harsh with the boy. She wasn't really interested in hearing excuses from him, she just wanted him to fix what he'd done.
"I haven't done anything to her-"
"Exactly," Mia exclaimed, coming forward, "you're flat out ignoring her. I don't get it- you told me yourself you were interested in her."
"And I am," Scorpius replied just as rudely.
"Then why haven't you said anything to her since Hogsmeade?"
He paused before shaking his head, "It just hasn't been the right time. Every time I see her Wesley is with me or she's with her annoying cousin."
"You're into Rose, not James or your annoying friend. Why should they matter?" Amia asked. Hopefully Scorpius wouldn't waste any time seeing how stupid he sounded.
"Because it's none of their business," he charged on, "Could you imagine the things they'd say to people if they saw us together?"
Amia scoffed remembering Rose's own concerns over what her family would have to say about a Weasley, Malfoy relationship. She shook her head, "You English people care way too much about what other people think."
"You don't understand because you're not from here. I'm not ignoring her. I have every intention to see her again," Scorpius finished, squaring his shoulders.
A sarcastic look came over her face, "And when's that going to be? At the end of the semester?" Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her again but she shook her head, "She thinks you've blown her off."
"I haven't."
"Well how long are you going to wait to see her again? You know you're not the only one that has an eye on her."
That really seemed to do the trick because immediately Scorpius became affronted, "What are you talking about? Someone else likes her? Is it a Gryffindor? A fifth year?"
"Of course you care now," she muttered, too low for Scorpius to make it out, "Look I gotta go to my next lesson. All I'm trying to say is that I know you two are stoked on each other. Don't be afraid. I'll see you tomorrow."
Amia didn't have any more time to convince him so she turned and started walking. Scorpius stood there, a few emotions passing over his face as he watched the American go. Eventually, he came back to reality and walked away himself.
…
Professor Binns speech went on forever before finally he assigned reading for the class to do. Amia wasn't totally minding out on the lesson today. They happened to be talking about Harry Potter and the Great War. She actually found it all immensely interesting, not just because the subject of their topic himself had been giving Mia some pretty odd looks lately, but because they had never taught this material at Avalon.
As she opened the book and began reading about the Boy-Who-Conquered, she got really into his story. She read about his life with the Dursley's, about his immense powers developing early on, making it hard for other students to understand him and treat him normal… just like her.
A new found respect for her friend's father started to harbour in her. She felt like she could somewhat relate to not having a family to rely on and having to make tough decisions at such a young age. And feeling like a nuisance… she could very much understand where he was coming from there. Apparently he had lost his mentors, first Sirius Black and then his old Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, at very young ages. Kind of like how she lost her father when she was ten, and then just recently her friends, the only people who understood her.
She read up a bit on Harry's tense relationship with an old potion's master at the school, Severus Snape, before turning the page, excited to get to the part where he left to fight Lord Voldemort.
She gasped as her turned page fell over to reveal a picture of Harry Potter in his sixth year. He was standing out by the lake with his two best friends.
Amia sat there for a few solid moments, her eyes transfixed on the face of Hermione Granger… her transfiguration teacher… the girl with a face so very much like her own.
She let out an awed breath as she continued to take in the image of her sixteen year old professor. They were even the same height… Amia thought as she scanned Hermione from head to toe. In the picture, Hermione was smiling, leaning into Harry with a book clutched against her chest. Ron Weasley was standing on the other side of Harry and Hermione waving and grinning at the camera. She watched as the picture Hermione would glance at Harry, bite her lip, and then turn back and smile at the camera again.
By now, Amia's mouth was open as she continued to stare at the picture. She figured she was so transfixed on the image because she had never seen anyone that resembled her. Hell, she didn't even look like her parents and they were her blood! She had always figured that she was just a bunch of random features thrown together into one girl… but here Hermione was looking pretty much identical to the random girl she thought herself to be. A brief thought flitted through her head wondering if Hermione had ever noticed their resemblance.
Amia heard Tabitha Temple's reaction as she turned the page and also saw the picture.
"Whoa…"
Amia looked up and found the Gryffindor girl to be staring at her. She shrugged before looking back down to her book. She forced herself to look past the picture and continue reading.
Though, she couldn't hide the emotions she was feeling deep down. She felt… pleased… by the resemblance that her and Hermione shared.
Hermione was a really nice lady. Mia had come to enjoy their lessons together and now felt like Hermione was an adult she could talk to if she ever needed anything. Amia trusted Hermione, and she had never ever felt that way about any other adult.
She'd rather look like her than her own mother.
…
Amia was having a difficult time concentrating in her lesson that evening. The wand-work that the had postponed from yesterday was transfiguring oil into water. Yesterday she didn't think she'd have any problem with it but so far she'd yet to produce a clean glass of water.
Hermione watched as Mia tried again, clearly able to tell that there were other things on the girl's mind. She flicked her wand again, and once more the water was still a little murky.
"You've almost got it Mia. Really concentrate…" Hermione encouraged, setting the glass back to oil again. Her wand movement was perfect, it was just a matter of exuding her magic properly.
Mia let out a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Once she opened them, she stared fiercely at the glass in front of her, "Purificato!"
The magic hit the glass but left the revamped liquid even murkier than before. Amia fell back in her chair and let out a frustrated sigh.
"This is useless!"
Hermione patted her arm, trying to comfort her, "Let's take a break."
"I shouldn't have to take a break- I know I can do this!"
"I do too, but sometimes it helps to calm down and take a fresh approach," Hermione told her, coming to sit next to her, "Now, is there something on your mind?"
Amia bit her lip and looked at her. Now that she'd ask, Amia let herself think back to her History of Magic lesson earlier that day. After moving on from the photograph, she'd gone on to read about the trio's fight against Lord Voldemort and their ultimate victory. After the detailing of the battle at Hogwarts (Amia had been extra fascinated to read about the fight that had gone on within the school's walls), the chapter finished with brief descriptions of what the three friends did after the war. Hermione's story, however, had been less irrefutable than the other two.
"Well… there is something actually."
Hermione nodded, "What about?"
Mia set down her wand on the table as she thought of how to approach her question, "Well we were doing a report on Harry Potter in History of Magic today as a part of learning about the second war…"
Hermione snorted, a bemused smile on her face, "Harry hated it when he found out that Binns had included him in his curriculum."
"I found it really interesting learning about him," Amia replied, watching her carefully for her reaction.
She nodded casually, "He's definitely had an interesting life…"
"There was even some stuff about you in the text book."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "About me?"
"Yeah. There's this crazy picture in there…" Amia reached under the desk to pull out her book from her bag. She flipped open to the bookmarked page and pushed the book over to Hermione.
Her extremities went numb as she saw the picture Amia had been referring to.
"Have you ever realized that we looked so much alike?" Amia asked with a light laugh. She looked to Hermione, expecting her teacher to look back at her and also laugh in amazement.
She didn't though. Instead, she did something Mia didn't at all expect.
Hermione stood up and cleared her throat before closing the book gently and walking back to her desk. She didn't turn around, afraid that Amia would see the pained expression frozen there.
"Are you ready to try again?" she asked with her back still turned to her.
"Um, well actually there was something I wanted to ask you."
Hermione shook her head, "Some other time. It's getting late."
Amia frowned, not ready to give up, "But it's what I've been wanting to ask you all lesson…"
Hermione let out a torturous sigh before she turned around, "What?"
The excitement was evident in Amia's eyes as she spoke, "It goes off to talk a little bit about what you guys all did after the war. It said that Harry Potter went away for auror training in America for a year. But it said that you went away for a while too. Where did you go?"
Her stomach plunged, "I went to America too."
"Really?" Amia asked, grinning in interest, "Where at?"
Hermione's eyes were stuck on her first-born's, "Boston."
"Boston! I've been there. My dad is an alumni of the muggle university there, Harvard. I went on a tour with him when I was younger. He's always wanted me to end up there too."
She fought back the sob, "I went to Harvard."
"Really? What'd you study?"
Was it just her or was the room spinning? "Not much of anything really. I was only there for a semester."
"Oh. How come you didn't stay for longer?"
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale… "Complications…"
"Complications? What kind of complications?"
And then it happened. She lost control of her thoughts as her mind back-pedalled to the happiest and saddest time in her life. She saw it as if it were yesterday, the answer to Amia's question. Suddenly the hooded man was before her again, staring hungrily at the picture of her baby, a body was being wheeled out of Harvard's library, a hopeless look came over Harry's face as she told him it was all his fault, the happy young faces' of Ben and Kirsten Cooper, ready and willing for a little baby girl to call their own…
The eager look fell from Amia's face and she stood up abruptly, noticing Hermione beginning to shake.
"Hermione?"
She felt herself snap back to reality and suddenly she could see Amia again, standing worriedly at her desk. Hermione sucked in a shaky breath before pointing down at the glass full of oil. "Try again," she instructed quietly, facing away from her once more in order to walk back to her desk.
Amia wanted to know why Hermione looked like she had just seen a ghost but she felt like she had pushed her limits enough today. With an unwillingly look, she pointed her wand at the cup again, only to be plagued by new curiosities that stopped her from concentrating on her assignment fully.
…
Harry knocked on Hermione's classroom door later that night. He came bearing bad news; the other two signatures taken from the door had failed to show up in the department's registry. He had wanted to come here with more uplifting news to go along with it but his desire to see her outweighed his desire to please her.
When he heard her soft `come in' from the other side, he entered.
"Hey."
"Hey…" Hermione replied quietly before looking back down to the papers she'd been grading.
Harry immediately noticed there was something wrong with her. He quickened his step as he came over, "Hermione? Are you okay?"
She nodded without looking at him, "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
He didn't have to try hard to determine that she wasn't fine at all. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a chair and pulled it forward to sit close to her.
"What happened `Mione?"
She let out a little sniff, mostly at the nickname, before shaking her head and trying harder to focus on her papers.
Harry rubbed a hand across her back, "Please tell me."
Hermione shot a look at him out of the corner of her eye and broke, "Amia saw a picture of us from 6th year. She pointed out how much we looked alike."
"Oh sweetheart…" Harry muttered, now understanding the state she was in.
"She wanted to know why I disappeared after the war," Hermione continued, trying to fight back the tears again.
Harry looked at her nervously, "What did you say?"
She inhaled a shaky breath, "I told her that I went to Boston."
Harry's eyes went wide, "You-you told her?"
"No…" Hermione moaned, starting to fall apart, "I only told her that I went to Boston for school. Ben Cooper was an alumni of Harvard."
Harry saw a tear streak down her cheek. He guttedly pulled her into a hug as she went on, "Apparently he wanted her to go to Harvard too…"
Harry hugged her more tightly as Hermione started crying, "What's going to happen?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
Hermione tried to compose herself as much as possible so she could speak, "She-She's leaving in December- going back to California. I can't just let her go Harry! I can't forget about her. I can hardly manage when she doesn't show up for meals… what am I going to do?"
Harry closed his eyes desperately, every new question stabbing a fresh hole in his heart, "We'll figure something out `Mione."
"She's going to expect me to let her go… but I can't do that. I won't!"
"I know. Shhhh…"
Harry continued to hold her and stroke her, trying everything he could think of to stop her crying. He kissed her cheek a few times, delicately tasting the saltiness of her tears. His touch only made Hermione hold onto him tighter. However inappropriately she would otherwise think their intimacy was right now, he was her only form of comfort. She couldn't help but need him- only him.
…
Harry really didn't want to go home that night but he hadn't slept there in a few days and despite his concern for Hermione, a part of him also didn't want to make Ginny worried. He wouldn't have left Hermione though had she not practically made him leave after she had calmed down. He knew she was embarrassed for breaking down on him but he didn't mind. He wanted to be there to pick her back up when she was having a difficult time. He figured she knew that as well so that probably played a part in why she made him leave. He sighed as he walked up the stairs to his room. His interactions with Hermione were starting to confuse him more than ever. A part of him knew there was still Ginny and Ron to worry about, but his overwhelming self couldn't stop him from wanting to be with her, holding her and comforting her every second he got. He felt right doing it- being so close to her again. But the comforting was only a peak into what he could really have with her… and that thought was the biggest temptation he was struggling with as he walked into his room and sat down on his bed. Ginny was already under the covers. He didn't notice that she was awake until she spoke.
"Where've you been?" she asked quietly, not rolling over to face him.
Harry went rigid at her voice but then forced himself to relax, "Hogwarts."
"Are the boys okay?"
"Fine."
The room became quiet once more. Harry figured that Ginny was trying to fall back asleep so he stood up and started to undress.
Her voice came out of the darkness a moment later, "Did you see Hermione tonight?"
Harry froze again, "Yes, I saw her."
"Oh."
He sighed as a few moments passed and she said nothing else.
"I'm going to shower," he muttered, wanting to be alone so that he could think about Hermione without facing the guilt that his wife's presence made him feel.
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Next chapter: Another attack ;]
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