Keep Me in Your Memories - Still working on my 25x25 list...

I took a look at my 25x25 list and unfortunately I am no where close to finishing it. With a mere month and a half left, I need to get my bootie in gear.

Which "challenge" am I currently working on right now?

 Tada!

Okay, still not finished... but I have a clear ending in mind. I originally had a hard time finishing it due to the fact that the series hadn't "ended" (there were still movies left to be released.) With the final movie now on DVD, however, I feel more at peace (... oh and I made a few critical changes in my 'beginning' chapters if you had previously read my work.)

So if you have some time, take a gander at my "writings" tab at the top of the page. I love and welcome all comments and friendly words! I will be adding chapters every week or so. Also , you can keep track of my story at harrypotterfanfiction.

Hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday!

Chapter 1: The Unwelcomed Visitor

As the chestnut hair girl descended, the muted lights caught her skin in an unearthly glow. Her billowy purple dress fell behind her as she appeared to float down the grand staircase. The young man felt himself join the hushed silence, unable to look away. Lowering her head slightly, the angel looked directly at him through her long, dark eye lashes. A light blush formed on her picturesque cheeks as she looked away, repositioning herself in Krum’s arms.

He could feel his heart rate quicken. Was this a dream? He couldn’t tell. The young man struggled to move, to follow her, but he was frozen in place. His vision began to dim and he recognized what would happen next. The young man tried to fight the awakening. In his dreams would be the only place he could tell her.

The room was dark and he found himself knotted up in his sheets. Sitting up, he wiped the sweat off his face and ran his hands through his hair. He quietly rummaged through his belongings on the bedside stand, careful not to wake the woman beside him. Finally finding what he was looking for, he pointed the wand to his head and mouthed a silent incantation.

“No more dreams tonight.” He murmured sadly and closed his eyes, letting the wand slip out of his hand and onto the floor.

***

“Hermione!!! Wait up!!” Harry quickened his sleepy pace to match that of his curly haired friend walking hurriedly in front of him.

Hermione stopped and peered over her shoulder. Seeing Harry, she gave her infamous smile.

“Harry! When did you get back? I have missed our lunches!” She threw her arms around his shoulders, catching him off guard, as always.

“Last night,” he murmured as they fell into a strong embrace. The smell of strawberries filled Harry’s lungs and he closed his eyes and smiled – memories filling his thoughts. After everything they had been through together, he was glad some things had stayed the same, for continuity, for his sanity.

Backing away from him still smiling, she glanced at the large clock that hung above the fireplaces in the department of ministry and sighed.

“Sorry for the rush Harry, I have to get to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We are working on another lengthy project and I am determined to complete it at a decent hour.”

Harry retrieved her bag that she had haphazardly dropped.  Hermione’s eyes caught Harry’s and she winked and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Spinning on her heels, she started walking down the hall.

“Hey ‘Mione, let’s do lunch, okay?”

Hermione turned, flashing him another smile, and nodded.

Harry watched Hermione dart around the corner and disappear out of view. His smile vanished. This is the way the cards had fallen. Hermione was his best mate, and nothing more. That was all he knew and possibly could handle. After the Second Great Wizarding War, Harry needed some regularity and wasn’t sure if he could handle any other major disturbances in his life. He fell back into a relationship with Ginny while keeping his two closest friends by his side.

“I didn’t fall back into a relationship with Ginny,” Harry angrily rebutted his own thoughts. “I wanted to be with her. I love her.” Tasting blood, he realized he had bitten the inside of his cheek. Focused on the new founded pain, he made his way to the Aurors’ meeting chambers.

***

“Granger.”

Hermione glanced quickly at the tall, fair skinned man as she passed him. He was hunched over his desk. She noticed the dark circles, appearing as bruises under his silvery, dark eyes.

“Not sleeping either, are we, Malfoy? Wouldn’t have thought eradicating pure-blood laws was your top priority,” she scoffed as she took her spot in front of the window. She scanned the otherwise empty room full of book filled shelves and a scattering of desks; it looked more like a library then an office. Hermione loved it.

“I don’t know about you Granger, but I would prefer to keep my job.” Malfoy gestured at the papers in front of him. “If that means putting in extra work to an assignment, sacrifices have to be made. Besides, lawyers defend murderers all the time, and they do it because it’s their job. Quite the same thing to me.”

A shiver ran down Hermione’s spine. She glared at the broad back of the blonde haired man. Draco Malfoy would never change, no matter how much the ministry had said he had. They found him innocent of all charges during a closed trial and even gave him a job at the ministry. Probably in exchange for information she had thought. That, or he used dark magic to will his way on the court. Whatever the case, here they were working on reversing the very laws that the Malfoy family had helped create.

“Blimey prat.” Hermione uttered out loud. Blushing immediately at her mistake, she saw Malfoy’s shoulders tense, but he made no effort to respond.

***

It was a beautiful spring day and Hermione had been stealing glances at the park across the street all morning. Deciding that she would not spend another lunch inside, she sent a letter to Harry through departmental mail to meet her outside. After some wandering, Hermione found a perfect picnic spot that was surrounded by some bushes and newly sprouted daffodils. Smiling to herself, she spread out her blanket and laid back, looking at the sky peaking through the trees overhead.

“Perfect, just perfect,” she exhaled.

“Hey, you can’t say that – wait until I sit down. Then things can be perfect.”

Hermione sat up startled, and then grinned at Harry.

Harry stood in front of her, head to toe in black, the Auror’s trademark uniform. He had definitely gained some muscle through all the training he had endured for the job and looked less like the twiggy teen she knew from Hogwarts. Although he was quite attractive these days, to Hermione, he was still the same old Harry.

“Sit, Sit! So tell me, how are you?? How was the trip? Was Ginny excited to have you home? I knew you were talking about a ring, did you propose yet??” The questions spilled out of her mouth as she watched her friend’s gaze shift. He was no longer looking at her.

Hermione grew silent and slowly turned. A very old, white haired woman covered in dirt and rags, using a long stick for assistance stood a few feet away.

“Mam, are you hungry? I am sorry we don’t have any money to give you – but we can offer you our lunches instead.” Harry spoke calmly, with a small smile.

“No, No, No” the woman muttered as she violently shook her head and forced her eyes shut.

Reopening them slowly, she pointed a crooked finger toward Hermione. “You. It is you that I have been dreaming about, looking for.” She gave a toothless smile.

The old woman closed her eyes once more and began to chant…

“Black, white, red. Love and hate are tricky things, so try not to end up dead. Thrice the gentlemen you will know, one could expire by your blow. If the secret is forever kept, the permanence of death will forever be set.”

“Crack!” The old woman’s disapparation reverberated through the flowers and bushes around them.

Hermione dropped her gaze to picnic blanket. How was she supposed to focus on work now with this loony woman’s riddle looming over her head? The crazies always had a knack for finding her. It was just nonsensical babble, right?

She groaned and grabbed her apple. Slowly repeating the woman’s words in her head, she looked over at Harry.

Still standing, he was staring blankly at the now empty space of the unwelcomed visitor.

“Harry, what do you think she meant?” Hermione furiously turned the fruit in her hand.

Harry closed his slightly gaping mouth and looked down at the brown eyed girl.

“I dunno ‘Mione. The barmy maid probably had too many trips to the pub, I’d bet. Nothing to worry about, but I know you.” Winking at her, Harry poked around in his black leather bag and pulled out his lunch.

The two finished their meal in silence and Harry wondered if life could ever be normal for the golden trio.

It had taken the wizarding world about a year to let Harry live a life as close to anonymity as he could get – which meant no longer gracing the pages of the Daily Prophet. These days though, almost two years after he had chosen not to return to Hogwarts, Harry was beginning to truly feel a sense of “normalcy.”

Hermione and Ron’s spot light had not shone nearly as long, but they, too, still had hundreds of adoring fans waiting around most corners. Something about this encounter was not sitting right with Harry, however. Primarily, due to the fact the old hags words sounded so much like a …

“A prophecy of me killing someone? You have GOT to be kidding me. Why would someone even be prophesizing about MY life?” Hermione grumbled as she had laid back down on the blanket looking up at the sky. “That just proves she was off her trolley!”

Saying nothing, Harry watched the wind lightly play with the wisps of hair that had fallen out of Hermione’s pony tail. If the old hag was speaking the truth, a secret was being kept by someone – which could drive Hermione to murder? Harry couldn’t help but feel anxious at the thought of this. He would just have to keep a closer eye on her. A concept that was not so unpleasant.

***

After attempting multiple times to concentrate on the stacks of parchment in front of her, Hermione grabbed her notebook from a desk drawer and began scribbling down what she remembered from lunch.

I am giving too much time to this bag lady, she growled in her thoughts. Black, white, red? What does that have to do with the rest of the riddle? Slamming down the notebook on the corner of her desk, Hermione sighed and went back to the parchment.

“Something got you all bothered Granger?” mocked Malfoy from beside her. Coffee in hand, the white blonde was peering down at the mess she had made of her desk. “You know we are allowed to converse on the cases if you are having so many issues. I promise the black plague I contracted back in school isn’t too contagious.”

Hermione fidgeted in her seat. Being in close proximity with Malfoy made her quite nervous. Snatching her wand out of her pocket, she flew up and pointed it at the young man’s chest.

“I am fine Malfoy. Let me be. Now!” Hermione had spoke a little louder then she had intended as all the desks in the room were now occupied.


“All right, all right.” Malfoy backed up a foot and stopped. Hermione’s breath quickened. It was the first time she had taken a good look at her coworker in a long while. Dressed all in white, his pale skin and hair blended in with his outfit. He had matured during the last few years and now towered over her. Malfoy’s silvery grey eyes continued to study her.

“Granger.” Adjusting his tie, he lowered his head and turned to retreat to his desk.

“Who does he think he is? God?” Hermione shook her head trying to slow her pulse. Glancing over at the notebook, she reviewed the lunch encounter again.

“Thrice the gentlemen you will know, one could expire by your blow. If the secret is forever kept, the permanence of death will forever be set.”

So what if the secret is kept? I am not a murderer!

Sitting back in her chair, Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms. Usually she had no problems solving riddles…. as long as they weren’t about her.

Glancing down at her watch, she convinced herself that she deserved an early day with all the over time she had been putting in. Leaving the room to head towards the Floo Network, Hermione failed to notice the blonde man making his way back to her desk.

Picking up the open notebook, Malfoy read what the brunette had scrawled on the paper. His face drew into a frown.


***

Arriving at her flat in a muggle part of London, Hermione went straight from the fireplace to her black leather couch. Grabbing a burgundy throw blanket, she covered herself awaiting some much needed sleep. Ron would be stopping by after six when he got off of his shift at Azkaban, and she couldn’t be happier.

Ron, an auror like Harry, had received a liaison position at the prison, in which he over saw the guards and the overall workings of Azkaban. With the Ministry no longer using Dementors, the Auror liaisons worked extremely long hours and even slept in newly fashioned quarters off one of the wings. So far there had been no break outs, and the wizarding world was quite pleased.

As far as Hermione, Ron, and Harry were concerned, training for their positions the year after the war had not allowed the friends to see very much of each other. During that time, Hermione was either attending trials of death eaters or shadowing coworkers for her new position. Besides returning to her flat to sleep, she had been living at the ministry. The boys, on the other hand, had been completing their training in many different countries, learning how to sleep, eat, and breathe being an auror. After the thirteen months of training had ceased, however, the three friends picked up where they had left off. Harry had, of course, gotten back together with Ginny and Hermione was hoping that a certain red head still fancied her.

“Wake up.”

“Ron??” Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper. She waited for a response.

Hermione opened her eyes quickly to the sound, but found the room dimly lit. Frantically looking around, she barely made out a figure from the kitchen to her right. Drawing her wand she called out,

“Lumos!”

A well-built freckle faced man with close cut red hair, dressed in all black, moved towards her with a small smile on his face.

“You git! You scared the hell out of me! Why didn’t you say anything??”

Sitting down next to her on the couch, Ron shrugged his shoulders. “Just trying to surprise you I guess. I apparated to the hall and got something to eat from your kitchen. I am famished!”

Turning on the light overhead, via a switch behind her, she took a good long look at the handsome ginger.

“I don’t know what it is with you and my dad fancying muggle appliances,” he continued and gave her his big goofy smile.

“And for the millionth time your dad works in The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and my parents were muggles.” Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. “So how was the shift? You look exhausted!”

“Knackered and starved! One of the inmates claimed ill and Lav - one of the healers, wanted me to go with her to make sure nothing dodgy was going on, we barely got a lick of sleep!”

“Lavender Brown works with you?!?” Hermione shrieked, catching Ron off guard.

“I thought I told you that already ‘Mione. After Fenrir got to her during the war, she spent a good while in the infirmary and decided to become a Healer. I don’t see her that much, but yes, she does work at Azkaban.” Ron finished frowning.

Hermione relaxed a bit and looked at her watch. “Goodness! It is almost eight! We were supposed to meet Harry at the three broomsticks half an hour ago!”

“I owled Harry when I got here. He said he wanted to avoid the wizarding crowd because of what happened ‘today’, so we are going to go to some muggle café near here. He wouldn’t tell me anything about today, though, told me to ask you.”

“Maybe after we get back, but I am starving as well,” she countered, hoping to change the topic.

“All right. I’ll lead the way.” Ron gave his trademark smile and marched out the door. Grabbing Hermione’s hand clumsily, they made their way a few blocks down the street to a little café which she loved to frequent. She adored its charm.

From a distance, Hermione saw Harry tapping his foot lightly. He looked peeved about something.

“It’s quite crowded in there mate, had a table but gave it up when I wasn’t sure if you two would show.”

 Scowling at each other, their stares finally broke. Harry looked away and Ron looked at his feet.

“It’ll be fine. I will go in and get us a table, no worries.” Rolling her eyes and slightly frustrated at the boys’ sudden irritation with each other, Hermione stomped across the street.

***

Just as she was about to reach the handle to the door of the café, a man from inside moved to hold it open for her. Looking up to give thanks to a stranger, she stared into the grey eyes of a man that she knew all too well. He appeared slightly distressed, which intrigued Hermione.

“Thanks Malfoy.” Raising a questioning eyebrow, she gave him her sweetest smile and then turned to walk in. Moving to take step, he grabbed her wrist.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, Granger.” He stared at her with a very serious, yet handsome face.

With her annoyance growing at his abrupt need for conversation, she frowned at him. “Where did you expect me to be, Malfoy?”

A deafening sound pierced the night.

In slow motion, Hermione sensed glass breaking in the background and felt the strong heat against her face. She couldn’t tell if the force of the blast had knocked her down or if it was her male companion next to her. With no idea of where this explosion had come from, she covered her head with her hands and slowly felt herself losing consciousness. She thought she heard a voice from far away whisper just before her world went black.

“Not here.”