One moment she’s happy, playing games and talking for the first time since I met her, but the next she’s upset, secretive, and leaves. I have to figure this out. Ron helped, but maybe Teddy will be the key to getting her to talk. I’ll have to ask Andromeda if I can baby-sit him sometime and then hope that Elizabeth shows up, Hermione thought. She turned over in her bed and fell into a restless sleep, full of little blond girls with piercing blue eyes that invited questions but never gave answers.
After work, Hermione travelled to Hogwarts. The library there was the most extensive and helpful library that Hermione had ever visited, and it continued to be a source of knowledge for her. And best of all, she had access to all the books - even those in the Restricted Section- without breaking the rules.
She pulled every book that had anything to do with ghosts, discarded those that looked unlikely, and checked out several that looked promising.
After a quick visit to Professor McGonagall, who loved to chat over a cup of tea, Hermione went home. She settled down on the couch with her books, and only came out of her stupor to eat a very late dinner and to fall asleep.
The next day, thankfully, was Saturday. Hermione slept late, waking up at ten o’clock only to be startled once again by Elizabeth.
“Hullo, E- Mackenzie,” Hermione said, remembering that she was supposed to have forgotten that Elizabeth had said her real name. “Ron’s going to come over again today, and he’s bringing a friend of ours. Would you like to play Candyland when they get here?”
Elizabeth nodded her head, her eyes lighting up.
“Good. Well, I’m going to make breakfast - Ron should be here in about an hour.”
Hermione quickly ate her breakfast, changed her clothes, and tidied up her apartment. Just as she was searching for Elizabeth, who had disappeared while she was cleaning, her doorbell rang.
“Coming!” Hermione called as she made her way towards the door. She greeted Ron with a kiss and snatched Teddy Lupin from his arms. “Andromeda let you take him for the day?” she asked as she tickled Teddy’s tiny tummy.
“Yup. I’ve got all the necessities here,” Ron said, motioning to the baby bag hanging on his shoulder, “and strict instructions to have him back by four.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. Now, let’s find where Elizabeth went.”
The three trooped into the living room, Teddy still giggling from Hermione’s tickling. They found Elizabeth sitting in front of the Candyland board, looking expectant. She smiled shyly at Ron and Hermione, but when her eyes met Teddy’s, she stood up and cried, “JONATHAN!”
Elizabeth ran over to Hermione and tugged on her free arm, leading her over to the sofa. Once Hermione and Teddy were sitting down, Elizabeth stood in front of Teddy and began talking.
“Oh, Jonathan, I’m so glad to see you, I thought I’d never see you again! Don’t you remember me, your Beffy? Jonathan, are Mummy and Daddy okay? I never got to say good-bye to them. Have you been a good boy and not bothered Emily and Amanda too much? Have you thrown your bottle at Isaac again while he was driving? Oh, Jonny, I’m so glad to see you!”
Teddy looked confused. “Beffy?” he asked, remembering what Elizabeth had called herself at the beginning of her outburst.
“Jonny!” And Elizabeth reached out her hand, and Teddy took it, and the two looked into each other’s eyes.
Finally Elizabeth looked up and made eye contact with Hermione. “Where did you find him?”
“He was staying with a friend of ours. We’re watching him for now,” Hermione said.
Elizabeth looked at Ron with confusion. “Do you know Mommy and Daddy?” she asked.
“Well, what are your parent’s names?” Ron questioned, playing along.
“Amelia and Thomas Berkley.” But suddenly, just like two days previously, Elizabeth’s eyes grew large. “Forbidden words. I said more forbidden words. Oh, Sir is going to be mad. Please don’t tell him. I’ll be good. Don’t tell him I said forbidden words,” she begged as she faded away.
Ron took Teddy from Hermione’s arms. “You did good, buddy,” he said. “You got more out of her than we have, and you’ve only known her for a few minutes.”
Hermione looked flummoxed. “I know I’ve heard that name. Where have I read it before?”
“Oh, Merlin,” Ron moaned. “It’s going to be Flamel all over again.”
“Not true,” Hermione said, looking indignant. “This time we don’t have to sneak into the Restricted Section.”
“We didn’t have to back in first year, either. It was on Dumbledore’s Chocolate Frog card all along,” Ron said. “Anyway, which name do you know? Amanda Berkley? Thomas Berkley? Sir?”
“None of those three, though Sir is obviously a made-up name. No, it’s Jonathan and Elizabeth Berkley that I know. I just wish I could remember where I know them from, because I’m positive that I read it; and recently, too.”
Hermione and Ron played with Teddy for much of the rest of the day, until Ron gathered the small boy and his things into his arms and Disapparated around three fifty.
Hermione began to clean up, but her thoughts soon began to take over her concentration. She stood in the middle of her kitchen, a blank look on her face, and thought.
I know I’ve read something about Jonathan Berkley, and he mentioned Elizabeth Berkley several times. I remember feeling sad “ it must have been what he was talking about. But he was talking about his sister… He was doing something for his sister, something good, and I was happy about that, but he said something else about his sister that made me incredibly sad… What could it be?
She turned on her computer. It was times like this, when she was desperate for information but didn’t know where to look, that Muggle technology came in handy.
Hermione opened an Internet search engine and typed in, “Jonathan and Elizabeth Berkley”. Seconds later, she had dozens of results.
Hermione scrolled through the first few before finding one that looked promising. She clicked on it, and began reading the page it opened.
“Jonathan Berkley, the only surviving child of Amelia and Thomas Berkley, gave thousands of pounds today to fund the opening of a new branch of the local police station which will be specifically dedicated to finding and arresting kidnappers. After giving a moving speech about his sister, Elizabeth, who was kidnapped and killed at age seven, when Jonathan himself was only three, Mr. Berkley cut the ribbon in front of the new station.“That’s it!” she whispered. Jonathan Berkley had recently contributed a lot of money to training a special group of Aurors that specialised in finding lost or missing Wizarding children. She had read about it in the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago. She had to find him. Maybe he could help her find out what was happening with Elizabeth.
Because his sister’s killer was never found, Mr. Berkley has made many donations over the years to various companies that are involved in missing or killed children. Each time, he speaks fondly of his sister, once older than him but now forever younger, and says that he hopes no family will have to go through what his family did back in 1984.”