The Return

So I finally gathered up the courage to publish my fanfiction. I want to thank all the fanfiction writers I've been reading over the years. I also ask for some kind words. Constructive critiquing is welcomed, but be kind.


Chapter One


Hermione had her weekend all planned out. She would get up at the crack of dawn, eat a hale and hearty breakfast, and be on the road with time to spare! This plan of hers overjoyed her so much that she was practically dancing her way over to place her work in the outbox. A vacation was just what she needed, she thought, given the stress lately with several of the magical artifacts running amuck she had yet to take a break in weeks let alone a weekend. She looked at the time just as Harry walked into her office.


“Still going on that holiday?” he asked her.


“Yes, you are just going to have to handle any of the things that go wrong while I’m away,” she said as she straightened out her desk. “But never fear, everything that we needed to have reports for is done.”


“You are a saint!” he exclaimed with a smile.


“No, I’m simply a better typist than you and you know it,” she answered with a cheeky grin. “Rode the bike to work to get a better feel of it.”


“And?”


“It’s wonderful as usual,” she answered, grabbing the keys as well as her traveling gear just as the alarm for the department of mysteries went off. “You best see to that alarm, Harry. They don’t tend to set off the alarm for no reason and you are the Unspeakable they will come running to now that I am officially on holiday.”


“Shouldn’t you do that?” he asked her. “You deal with the Unspeakables better than I do.”


Hermione gave him a flat look. “Really, Harry, if you don’t want to cover my post, you should have told me.”


“No, it’s not that,” he said, hesitating to say what he wanted to.


“Alright,” she said, tossing her things down along with her keys. “But you are coming with as you are going to have to see to these things when I’m on holiday.”


When they arrived at the department of mysteries, most of the Unspeakables were standing in the doorway looking in. She walked over and stood next to Zabini who was frowning.


“What is it?”


He looked over to her and smiled. “I thought…”


“So did I,” she interrupted, but then nodded to Harry and said, “The boy who lived to be a pain in my holiday wanted me to come down here. Says I communicate better with you guys than he does.” They both grinned at that and she went on to repeat, “What’s going on?”


“Can’t say,” he said, looking back into the department. “The alarm went off and Ron Weasley came over and rushed in. I tried to tell him it wasn’t a wise idea and he told me to mind my own.”


“That idiot,” she muttered, looking to Harry who was now blushing. “Was this his idea at getting us back together?” When Harry too a breath to speak, she interrupted with, “Of all the lame brained, idiotic notions. I just hope that he lives through this so I can chew him out.” She pulled out her wand, looking to Zabini. “What section is the alarm going off in?”


“The Veil,” he whispered, pulling out his own wand. “I have your back.”


“We aren’t going in until we have at least five of us going together. What with all the magical objects acting as they are, it’s for the best we have a 380.” She sent out an alarm to get three other Unspeakables there to go with them. “So how is it going with the choice of the hour?”


“I wouldn’t know as we broke up fifteen minutes ago,” Zabini answered, quietly. “She hated that I kept so many secrets from her.”


“Right.”


This had the cool Italian chuckling. It was difficult procuring a relationship when what was an Unspeakable. The title of the job said it all, Hermione complained to Ginny who was another Unspeakable. If we could speak about our work, we wouldn’t be called that!


“I wish I could tell you there was a magic out there that was legal that could help you out,” she told him.


“Date me, bella,” he cooed. “You and I would be perfect together.”


“I wish I could, Blaise, but you’re far too beautiful for me, amico.” This had Harry frowning even as Zabini was laughing heartily.


As soon as the others arrived, all entered the department swiftly. There wasn’t an area that wasn’t covered by one of them as they made their way swiftly over to where the Veil was. Fifteen feet away from the entrance to where the Veil was located, Ron was lying unconscious on the ground. Hermione rushed over and checked him first for charms or curses. Next she examined him head to toe without touching him.


“What’s wrong with him?” Harry asked her, sounding worried.


“He fainted,” she told him. “And hit his head on the ground, knocking himself out.” She thought over what to do next as the alarm was still going off. “Okay, Blaise, you and Harrington with me. Harry, you get Ron out and over to St. Mungo’s with Rush and Jordon. Any questions?”


“Do you want us to come back as soon as we take care of fainting boy?” Rush asked dryly.


“Yeah, but take care. Something is off here and until we know what, we need to go with Moody’s law.”


“Moody’s law?” Harry asked, puzzled not having heard that a law had been written in the old auror’s honor.


Hermione smiled at that and said along with the other Unspeakables, “Constant vigilance!”


Laughing Harry whispered, “I should have known.”


The three saw to getting Ron out of the department even as Hermione, Zabini, and Harrington jumped into the room. The plunge down into the room was just as terrifying as Hermione remembered it to be, but she was able to pull herself together and was able to use her apparition abilities from helping her keep from crashing to the ground in a lump. She helped the other two up to their feet.


“You’ve been here before?” Blaise asked her as they made their way over to the platform that held the Veil.


“Yes, in my fifth year,” she answered. “I was hit with a curse and knocked out by a very evil death eater thus I missed seeing the death of my best friend’s godfather.” Hermione shuttered at the thought. “Ah the memories.”


Wind seemed to be flicking the gray Veil about as if an invisible tempest was brewing on the other side. Hermione climbed up the steps onto the platform with her wand at the ready.


“What are you looking at?” Harrington asked her. “There’s nothing there!”


“You’ve never seen death,” she stated. “So of course you don’t see it. Death marks you, scars you in a way you can’t see. And those who see the Veil, they have been so marked.” She looked over to Harrington. “But I thought you were a veteran auror?”


The man began to sweat at her questioning gaze.


“And you’ve never seen death?” she asked him. “How can that be?”


He whipped his wand around pointing it straight over to her. “So I lied! So what? People lie on their VC all the time! Why should this time be any different?”


“Because we can get killed if we don’t have the ability to back our words up, Harrington!” she exclaimed. “Of all the stupid things to do! You should have gone into training right off if this was the department you wanted to be in!”


“Shut up!” he exclaimed, making her back up away from him. “Who do you think you are? Some war hero you turned out to be! I can out magic you any day of the week! I should have your job!”


“Harrington, are you mad!” Blaise exclaimed.


“Stay away from me!” Harrington screamed, now dividing his time pointing the wand at both of them. “I’ve had enough of this bullshit! Expelliomos!”


Hermione was sent flying back through the veil and vanished. Harrington blinked in amazement. He was about to step over to see where she went when Zabini tackled him. The Italian ripped the wand from the other man’s hands just as the others arrived.


“Where is she?” Harrington asked. “This place isn’t real! None of it is real! So where is she!”


“What’s going on?” Harry asked, just as Hunt put a restraining charm on Harrington. “Where is Hermione?”


“Harrington magically pushed her into the veil!” Blaise exclaimed. “There wasn’t anything…”


“No,” Harry whispered. “Not again. Not someone else I love!” He rushed over to the Veil and just as he was about to jump in, Zabini yanked him back.


“No!” Blaise snapped. “You can’t get her out that way and you know it!”


“I can’t lose another person I love here,” Harry whimpered, turning his glare onto Harrington. “You!” The man looked over to Harry for the first time.


“She didn’t go…”


“My Godfather died here! The Veil took him too. You are looking at the gateway to death!”


The room went painfully silent as Harry stood there crying in front of the doorway. “Come back, Hermione,” he whispered. “Please, I can’t…I need you. You’re my sister!”


Again there was silence. Harry turned to leave with the others. He would come back later with flowers to lie at the foot of the veil. It was what had done before. He just never imagined that he would be doing it again and this time for Hermione. Tears were dripping down his face as he turned to leave. He was about to leave the room when he heard it. It was the sound falling bodies and a heavy grunt on impact with the ground. He turned to look, blinking in shock at what he saw. A man was holding Hermione tightly. Both were gasping for breath even as they were shivering. Harry’s very heart seemed to stop at the sight of his once dead Godfather now there among the living.


Harry rushed over and practically fainted at the sight of Sirius brushing back Hermione’s hair as he kissed her forehead and held her tightly.


“I got you,” Sirius breathed. “I got you. You’re safe now, my love.”


“Sirius?” Harry whispered.


The man blinked, trying as he might to clear his vision. “Harry? Is that you?”


Laughing, he said, “Yes, it is!”


“Harry, we need to get to St. Mungo’s right now!” he told him, but went right back to whispering to Hermione. “Stay with us, my angel.”


“Cold…” she stammered, her nails digging into his shoulders.


He wrapped his jacket around her as best as he could. “Harry, now!”