a/n: I wrote this story (this is the first of five chapters) on my laptop while I was vacationing in Scotland this Spring. We rented a cabin in the Scottish Highlands about a half hour away from the Glenfinnan Viaduct. When we asked a Local for directions, he laughed and asked, “Harry Potter, right?”
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All characters, settings, etc, are the copyright of JK Rowling and Bloomsbury Publishing.
Freeze
Chapter 1: A Parcel
A light breeze blew Hermione’s long brown hair over her eyes, but she was grateful for something to hide under. She continued looking down for a moment and had a vague thought that she should replace the worn welcome mat that lay under their feet.
The feet opposite hers wore black Doc Martins and her eyes went upward from his trousers to his brown sweater and finally up into his handsome face. His eyes were brown like hers but his hair was blond. Her eyes twinkled and she flashed a shy smile as the wind blew a lock of it over his eyes. I wonder if he’s as nervous as I am... though I don’t know why we should be. It’s been a perfectly lovely evening. She cleared her throat and nervously looked around before meeting his eyes again.
“Thomas, thank you. Once again I had a wonderful time,” she said quietly, leaning back against the cool wood that was the front door of her townhouse, keys in hand. Is he going to kiss me? If he does, I think I’ll let him. She continued to look up into his eyes.
He ran his fingers through his blond hair, but it was pointless as the thick locks fell right back into place, covering most of his brown eyes. They looked right back into hers and he nodded. “Hermione,” he smiled and leaned in closer, “I know this sounds crazy “ it’s only our second date,” he said as he looked down and then back into her eyes. She fought a nervous smile because his beautiful face was mere inches away from her own and he was looking straight at her. So instead she summoned enough courage to close her eyes and meet him half way. Then she heard him whisper, “…I feel like we belong together.”
He couldn’t know that was the absolute wrong thing to say.
Her eyes opened wide and she froze just as his lips were about to meet hers. Thinking quickly, she moved to the side and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and squeaked, “Goodnight, Thomas. Um... I am sorry, but I have to get an early start tomorrow. I’ll talk to you later then? Okay goodnight!” She turned quickly, opened the door and closed it in his face.
Hermione stood against the inside of her door, breathing heavily with her eyes closed tightly. To keep from cursing, she tightly covered her mouth with her hand and waited until she heard footsteps retreat down the stone path. She turned and watched him from the window in the door as he trudged to his car. She spun back around and, catching her breath, she clamped her eyes shut while stomping a foot. “Damn!” she cursed under her breath in frustration.
She shook her head in defeat as she put the keys on the hook next to the door, tossed her wrap over the back of a nearby chair, and flipped on the kitchen light. She heard a purr and felt a warm weight rub against her leg. Looking down, she saw her cat, Crookshanks, and scooped him up for a much-needed cuddle.
“I was going to kiss him, Crookshanks. Really. But then… he said…” she sighed heavily. “Oh it doesn’t matter. I’m hopeless. He’ll probably never call again.” She stroked the fur under the cat’s chin until it purred. “And I really like him, you know. He’s the nicest Muggle boy I’ve met since I’ve been in America.” Her face fell.
The cat stopped purring and looked up at her.
Hermione frowned at the cat and put him down. “I do like him!” she growled as she walked into her bedroom and put on her pajamas. Crookshanks stretched lazily and jumped up on the bed. Hermione breathed another long sigh and padded to the bathroom to get her hairbrush. Sitting next to the cat, she began to untangle her long brown hair but suddenly stopped. The brush slowly fell into her lap as she remembered those words, “I feel like we belong together.” She frowned and bit her lip hard to stop the tears from forming.
A knock at the door made her jump.
Coming back to reality, her eyes widened as she exclaimed, “Oh! Maybe it’s Thomas. I didn’t frighten him off!” Hopeful, she practically flew off the bed and ran to check her front door. She was disappointed to see her next-door-neighbor, Mrs. Crowley, trying her best to peek through the window in the door. Hermione winced before opening it.
“Hello Mrs. Crowley. I believe it’s a bit late…“
“Yes it is,” the old woman interrupted with a brittle, crackling voice as she raised one pointy eyebrow at Hermione. “I found this parcel on my doorstep this afternoon,” she said as she held up a small box wrapped in brown paper. It was roughly the size of her hand and had a name written on the top in a loopy scrawl, “Hermione Granger.” “Strange, don’t you think? It came after the mail had already been delivered. I went out to water my garden and there it was. Almost tripped over it! A person could get hurt.” She frowned and held up the box as if to prove her point.
Hermione looked once more at the tiny ‘parcel of doom’ before looking back up at Mrs. Crowley. “Oh! Um… yes. You’re absolutely right.” She bit her lip and managed a small, fake laugh. “I’m sorry. My... Uncle must have dropped that off for me. He must have forgotten my number,” she stammered as she took the box from the old woman. “Uncle Ned would be so grateful for your kindness. Thank you again, Mrs. Crowley. Goodnight.”
Before the old woman could rebut, Hermione once again shut the door in someone’s unsuspecting face.
Hermione sighed and shook her head. She held the package in one hand and switched off lights with the other as she padded back to her bedroom. Once again sitting on the comfortable pink quilt that lay over her bed, she noticed that Crookshanks hadn’t moved from his cozy spot.
She looked down at the box in her hand. Frowning, she asked, “What do you think Crookshanks? I’m not due a message from the Ministry any time soon. In fact, they’re still awaiting my monthly ADoA report. I wonder who sent it.”
She untied the twine and opened the box. Inside it was a picture of herself and her old friend, Ginny Weasley. The two girls were laughing in the photo, Hermione wearing her graduation robes from Hogwarts and Ginny wearing a pale yellow dress. The girls in the photo moved as she watched, clutching each other and smiling at the photographer over and over again.
Hermione glanced up nervously and looked around, noticing the drawn curtains at the windows and breathing a sigh of relief. She remembered she had placed the wards around them earlier this week and they should still be working to keep away prying eyes, particularly Mrs. Crowley’s.
Beneath that photo was another. This one featured Ginny wearing her Hogwarts graduation robes. Ginny’s smile was faint, however, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She waved in the photo, but it was a sad attempt and there was no one else in the photo with her.
Hermione winced at her friend’s obvious loneliness as she remembered the war and the toll it had taken on everyone, including Hogwarts, which closed for a year during the major battle. She knew Ginny would return to school but was sad that she had to miss her friend’s graduation.
Hermione removed a note from underneath the second photo and read it aloud:
Dear Hermione,
I hope this message finds you! Pigwidgeon isn’t the most reliable owl but I’m afraid he’s the only one I’ve got. I need your help, Hermione. I know your work is important and I don’t want to blow your cover “ but honestly “ there is nowhere else to go. Rest assured I will be as discreet as humanly possible when I come to visit. I can’t wait to see you again. It’s been too long!
Love,
Ginny
“Discreet?” Hermione asked in exasperation as she looked at Crookshanks, “How discreet is an owl tossing a parcel on my ninety-year-old neighbor’s doorstep? Ginny, really!”
She put everything back in the small box as the cat yawned and stretched next to her.
Standing, Hermione opened her bedroom closet door and bent down to move some shoes out of the way. Underneath was a purple ribbon, half hidden within a plank of floorboard. She pulled at the ribbon and the plank lifted, revealing a hole in the floor. Inside the hole lay a tin box. She gently lifted it out and removed the lid to reveal the assortment of odd magical items within. Her face fell when she saw one item in particular, a wand, which she removed to make room for Ginny’s box. Frowning, she quickly placed it on top of some other photos from school so she wouldn’t have to see them. She wasn’t in the mood tonight. She liked Thomas. She did.
She thought of the newest photo of her friend and the sad girl’s face. What was going on? The constant frown of curiosity was giving Hermione a headache, so she took a deep breath, exhaled, and put her wand back in the tin box. She replaced its lid and slid the whole thing back into its hiding place. She replaced the shoes, closed the closet door, and crawled into bed next to her sleeping cat, exhausted.
Even though this new change of events might possibly ruin all the hard work she had done in the past three years, Hermione smiled. She was going to see Ginny again! Her old friend would have news from home, from Harry, from-
Her lips formed a thin line as she gathered her quilt to her chin with clenched fists. She wouldn’t think about him. Instead, she drifted off to sleep wondering why Ginny desperately needed to travel halfway across the world to find her in Chicago.
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a/n: I would like to thank Grimmrook for going over and over and over and over this for me. Never once did he complain as he blearily read and re-read it. GRIMMROOK “ YOU ROCK.