Long Time Gone
By: Lala Land 22
Summary: Hermione has just left school and left ex-friends behind she would rather forget about. But one reckless night leaves her alone and in a rather bad situation. Four years later, her old friends are back to rock her world. What kind of dangers are lurking and who's behind them? Can the old friends put their pasts behind them in order to save their universe? The problem is, the key to their answers may be in the very past they are trying to ignore.
A/N: Oh no I didn't! I did edit and repost! I did rewrite the summary! God, it's confusing! So, this is like Chapter 1 Revised. It is Chapter 1 except much more in-chracter and better! Just read it, ok?!
"Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad. I love you both so much," I told my parents solemnly. I hugged them both as they told me goodbye in front of the Leaky Cauldron. They both told me how much they loved me and cried. And cried. And cried, and sobbed. Of course, I did too.
I was finally leaving. I wasn't going to live with my parents anymore. I was going off to spend the summer abroad in France, and then return to England to find a job. I was ready to face the world. Poor old me, all alone.
I finally turned from my parents as they waved their last goodbyes and walked into the bar, tears streaming down my eyes. Alone really isn't that great.
"Welcome, Miss Granger. I've had your bags delivered to your room. Breakfast will be served promptly at 7:30 tomorrow morning," the old innkeeper told me. I nodded in the way any lost, lonely teenage girl would and made my way up to my room.
On the bed sat four owls, and I smiled, happy to remember my friends were still thinking about me. "Hi," I told them gratefully, taking my first letter.
Dear Hermione,
I put Terry's card on the banister, grinning all the while. Terry and I had dated briefly last year, and he still sort of had a thing for me. It wasn't reciprocated, but I didn't mind his feelings for me. I picked up my second letter.
Dear Hermione,
They may be loud and ditzy sometimes, but Parvati and Lavender had been really great friends, especially after my miserable sixth year. Feeling slightly downtrodden at letting my mind drift back to that, I chose my third letter out too.
Hey, Hermione!
Dear Hermione,
The next morning, I woke up bright and early to go to breakfast and get jump on the day. I had plans to spend about a week in Diagon Alley before setting out on my 'journey.' I would meet up with some old friends, buy some new things, and look into places to get a job after my trip.
I put on my old Hogwarts robes for probably the last time I would ever wear them. They still fit me comfortable except for being a little tight around my top. I put my hair into as elegant a ponytail as I could manage and grabbed a biscuit for breakfast. I had big plans for today. I was going to visit with Terry at ten and probably meet up with Padma later. The first thing on my agenda though was to visit the Magical Menagerie and purchase an owl. I would have to have one to keep in touch to my family while gone to France, so I figured there was no better time.
The place was dark, filthy, and smelly. Lavender would have passed out. I remembered the last time I had been in there—it had been third year, with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. The memory gave me a weird sort of tingling feeling in my hand, which I tried to shake off quickly. Some things were better forgotten—and the best forgotten things were mainly centered around those two. This was where I had gotten Crookshanks as well. Who really knew where he had run off to? Dumbledore had taken him away for Order business. I didn't really keep up with that stuff anymore.
I picked out a beautiful gray owl quickly and hurried off to meet Terry at Fortescue's. I sat at a table, waiting on him for a while. Predictably, he was twenty minutes late.
"Hey," he said breathlessly, pulling out the chair opposite me.
"Hi," I answered back, giving him a huge smile.
"Nice owl."
"Thanks," I replied. "I'm not sure what I'm going to name her yet though."
"Ah, well." He shrugged. "So, what have you been up to?"
"Being liberated," I responded.
"Really? You're moved out for good then?"
"That's the plan."
"That's awesome." Terry studied my chocolate and banana swirl ice cream for a moment. "You seeing anyone then?"
"I'm seeing you right now," I said, dropping his gaze.
He gave me a reluctant grin. "You know what I mean. Got a boyfriend?""Who needs a boyfriend when they're about to be off to learn in France?"
"Someone as pretty as you always needs a boyfriend."
"Bull," I said, though blushing in my pleased sort of way.
"I guess you've got big plans then, have you?"
"Oh, huge," I answered excitedly. "I'm going to spend the summer visiting places of interest in France, and maybe even start sketching for a book. One of my dreams has always been to write my own book. When I get back, who knows? I mean, of course I've considered teaching, but I'm not sure it's for me."
"Yeah," Terry responded, having let me talk him into silence. "You'd make a great teacher. You know everything. And not just book smart either. You're just smart. You know what to do; you know who to make friends with. Any school would be lucky to have you."
I blushed again. "Well, I've considered other options too. Journalism has always interested me. I like medicine, but I get a little queasy. I love people too though so I'd really love to interact with them. It would be pretty awesome to get into the Ministry of Magic too. On the other hand, I want to live near my friends and preferably pretty close to my family, but I actually don't have my Apparation license yet so I'll have to wait until after my trip to get it. There are just so many options open for me right now, so many opportunities. I don't want to forgo any of them."
"Quidditch was always my dream," Terry said lightly. "But that's gone now. I heard the only person in our year who was offered a spot on an international Quidditch team was Harry Potter. But, get this, he turned it down! Wanted to pursue his career in being an auror. Wild, eh?"
I nodded, eating a scoop of my ice cream. I remembered two years ago, which seemed like eternities to me now, when Harry and I had chatted about that. What a difference two years can make in a person's life. Two years ago, I would've had to help him make that decision of what was most important to him.
We talked for about an hour before he had to be on his way. He gave me an almost longing look as he made his way through the crowd to the end of the street. I yelled, "Tell Anthony I say hi and that I love him!" He nodded, gave a farewell wave, and was gone before I had a chance to return it.
The next few days passed pretty uneventfully. Padma came to visit me two days after she'd originally said, and we went to pick out some new robes. I felt pretty out of place to be wearing robes that weren't black. But, I did finally find a color that suits me. It's azure. I got three pairs of well fitting robes in that color.
I met a couple of my other old friends in town also. I was lucky enough to run into Neville Longbottom, who was going into the field of teaching as the new Herbology professor. He told me all about the old crowd and how everybody was doing. I didn't keep in touch with any former Gryffindors these days except Parvati and Lavender so it was fun to hear their stories. He said Ron was looking into auror training as well, but wasn't sure if his grades were good enough to get in. I considered writing to him and wishing him the best of luck, but decided against it. Why stir things up again? Even if he did get in, I could never imagine Harry and him tolerating each other at auror training.
I also ran into Fred and George Weasley when I strolled into their shop one day. They must not have been visiting home very much because they asked me how Harry and Ron were. When I told them the three of us had sort of loss touch, their mouths dropped.
But...how?" Fred asked incredulously.
"Yeah," George returned. "Especially after that big defeat of You-Know-Who last year."
"Well, I wasn't involved in that too much. I was just one of the army, nothing special."
"You're alive, that's special."
"Yes, well." I wouldn't have been alive if I wasn't such a coward.
"How're things with the family then?" I asked.
"Oh, as soon as Ron graduated, Mum demanded he pick a career immediately. Dad wants to retire within the next three years so we'll need a little extra income."
"So, you mean to tell me, even if he gets into auror training, he won't be able to afford it?"
"Of course not," George said promptly. "We'll pay for it."
"Yeah, we do still have this soft spot for ickle Ronniekins," Fred went on.
I smiled at the name that used to make him blush so. And for a moment, I missed my old friends. And for one more wild moment, I wished I had a sibling. Of course, the moment passed when I remembered how much pain we'd gone through.
"Who does Ron hang out with these days then?" George asked, while bending down with a wand to tinker with something on the counter.
"Oh, well, lots of people. He always was pretty popular. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, of course. Zacharias Smith and him actually reached an understanding too and were pretty chummy about Quidditch."
George's experiment blew up in his face. I didn't know if it was an accident or for dramatic effect. Fred and he exchanged raised eyebrows.
"You miss a lot when you're working in a store," Fred said.
"No kidding," George responded.
I left a little while afterward because it was starting to feel uncomfortable. I hadn't had to think about Harry and Ron so much in a long time.
The most exciting thing of the week happened the next day, though. I was meandering through the street, past Quality Quidditch Supplies. And I saw a prominent someone, turning his back to leave the store. He wasn't just prominent because of his gangly, tall stature either. What caught my eye was his red hair.
"Ron?!"