Light and Shadow

Light and Shadow

Chapter 2 - The meeting

Hermione sat at the big table in the reunion room in the advocacy office she worked. At the age of thirty-two, she was still a pretty woman, not showing her age.

She was quite irritated that day. Yesterday her "boss" called her to hand in a new case, in which she would have to work with another lawyer. And it was exactly this fact that was making her angry. Since she became an associate in the office, she had never needed someone to work with. She was used to thinking she had capacity enough to work by herself, without anyone's help or support. If through all these years she showed to be so efficient, why would she require a partner now?

Hermione was drumming her fingers in impatience on the big and elegant mahogany table. Right after finishing Hogwarts, she had attended the Aurors Academy, and, of course, fought in the War against Voldemort, and against... against Ron too. This last part left her sadder than anything else. Ron was her best friend, one of her best friends, together with Harry. She was simply saddened because of his side change, and fighting against him was very painful.

After the war ended, she had become another person. Almost everyone who fought in the front line had changed. Principally Harry. He had become a cold person; serious, sentiment-less, suddenly so sly. He built up a wall around himself, and she couldn't break through. And, well, after a lot of thinking and reflection, after all she had lived during the war, after all she had been through, she decided it was time to leave the Magic World. After all, the only two people who kept her in it had turned away from her.

Hermione went back to her parents' house, and decided to live amongst the muggles. She went to Law school (she'd always wanted to be a lawyer), and decided to never make magic again. Hermione attempted to forget the magic world, as if she had never been part of it.

It worked for the first years, but as she had a lot of magic inside her, weird things started to happen because she wasn't using it. Once she was at the tribunal, and the judge, apparently irritated with something she said, asked: "Miss Granger, do you think this court is a circus? Do you think I look like a clown?". Well, Hermione didn't think she had said anything wrong, and got really angry with the tone of voice the judge used at her. Result? The judge really got a clown face, with all the nose and hair thing. So, she started to do some little magic at home, so that no other judges would get a clown face.

But she couldn't imagine the surprise she would have in a few minutes....

When the door opened, Phillip, a fifty year old man, the major associate in the office, came in and sat beside her.

"Good morning, Hermione, " Phill started, smiling. "How are you this morning? Actually, it's almost noon," he said looking at his watch.

"Fine,"she answered, with a dry voice.

"Oh, Hermione, come on. It's not gonna be so bad working with someone!" Phillip said in a good mood. He knew she wasn't happy about having a work partner.

"Why do I have to work with somebody? I never needed it, Phillip, you know that." Now she was nervous.

"Of course I know, Hermione. You are one of my best lawyers. I just believe that having some help with this case would be very useful."

"And with who am I going to work with?" she asked, curious.

"You don't know him," Phillip said neutrally.

Now Mione was really mad. She hadn't enjoyed the idea of having to work with someone in the first place, and now she was hating it more, for not knowing who her new 'partner' was. And Phill was so neutral.

"Ah, that's great! Having to work with someone, which I've never needed, isn't enough, and it has to be someone I don't know? I must presume this person is not from the office, right?" Hermione stood up, walking from side to side, clearly irritated.

"No, it's no one from the office. And please calm down, all this nervousness will only bring you some wrinkles," Phillip said in his irrepressible way. That was his way, always in a good mood and smiling. But when he was on court, he changed completely.

"And who is this person? Why isn't she here yet? Why can't I work with Mark, for example? I know him, he is my friend..."

"She must be on her way. And you, stop asking so many questions. You're not going to work with Mark, because he is on another case, and what's more, the novice is a specialist in criminal law."

Phillip's secretary entered the room.

"Phill, the novice is here."

"Send him in, please, Susan."

The secretary departed and let the novice in. When the man entered the room, Hermione simply dropped her body over the chair. She was totally shocked.

"Harry..." Mione said in a low voice.

"Do you know each other?" Phill asked, curious.

"Yes," she said, still shocked.

"No," Harry said at the same time.

"Yes, or no?" Phillip asked confused.

"Not really, just by sight, Mr. Falcon," Harry said seriously, looking at Hermione as if saying her to agree and confirm the story.

"Ah, please, call me Phillip. We need no ceremony, we're all colleagues, " Phillip said smiling.

"As you wish," Harry responded with a discrete smile.

"Well, have a sit... I believe my secretary already sent you a copy of the case. Oh, and this is Hermione Granger, your partner," Phillip said, pointing at Hermione, who was still surprised.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hermione," said Harry, as if he didn't really know her, as if they had never spoken before, as if they had never been best friends.

"My pleasure," she said, shaking his hand. 'He is a great actor', she thought, 'I'm here looking like a fool and he pretends he's never seen me before...'

"I've had some great recommendations about you, Harry. That's why I called you to work with us. My dear Hermione, here," said Phillip, taking her hands and smiling, "is the best lawyer I have. Very difficult to loose a case."

"I don't doubt it, Phillip," he said, with a meaningful look at her.

"Ah, yes, my Hermione is a brilliant woman. For you to see, she is the fastest person to become an associate... people usually take years, she didn't have to wait for two..." Phillip said, proud, still holding her hand.

Harry didn't say a thing. He was just looking at Hermione, as if analyzing her. Years were very nice to her. But of course, she was still the same. Except for the hair, it was no longer bulky, but straight, reaching her shoulders. She was dressed like a "business woman", and had the posture of a lawyer. Brilliant... Ah, Phillip Falcon knew nothing about how brilliant she could be....

Hermione didn't like to see Harry look at her. 'He changed nothing, since last time I saw him... same way, same cold looking...' She knew she had to d something to stop those green eyes from looking at her.

"Phillip, I think..." Hermione hesitated for a second. Should she call him Potter or Harry? Well, the Harry she'd known certainly wasn't the man sitting in front of her. This one, she didn't know. And didn't even want to. "I don't think Mr. Potter needs you to praise me, " Mione decided to maintain the same look she was receiving from Harry from now on.

"Ah, yes, of course. Well, I'll leave you alone, for you to know each other better," Phillip said, standing up and leaving the room.

Minutes had passed, and neither of them had said one word. They just looked at each other for several minutes. To break the silence, Hermione decided to say:

"What are you doing here?" She was as serious as Harry.

"Can't you see? I'm working," Harry answered as if she was a small child, asking a foolish question.

"Working? No, I'm working, I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

"This is not the correct way to receive an old friend, Hermione. I came to see how you were, to help you..."

"Ah! Apart from becoming 'cold' and 'cruel' now you're becoming silly?" She would never forget how cruel he was to her, when the war ended. "First: I receive visits the way I want, after all, the one pretending not to know me here was you. Second: I'm very fine, thank you. And third: I don't need any help," Hermione's irritation was evident.

"I'm not being silly..." Harry used the same cold expression as the last time.

"Ah, Potter! Don't make me..." but she didn't finish it. Harry interrupted her.

"Huh! Potter! You know, calling me that sounds so strange. I'm used to Harry." If he attempted to sound hurt, he didn't succeed. His expressions did not agree with what he was saying.

"Start getting used to it. After all, 'we don't-know-each-other'," she said these last words slowly. "So I don't see why I should call you by your first name. We call our friends for their first name."

"Ah! So this means I can't consider myself your friend anymore?" Harry was keeping his cold demeanor. His voice was low, and showed he didn't care about the answer.

"Do you care about it? Doesn't seem like," she used the same tone of voice. They didn't lose eye contact at any moment.

But Harry didn't have time to answer, because a man entered the room suddenly.

"Mione?" It was Mark, her friend. "I came to ask if our lunch is still on. Or maybe you want to have lunch with your new partner..." Mark was inside the room already, walking in their direction.

Abruptly he realized how heavy the air was in that room. He looked at Hermione, who was very serious. He found her expression amusing, she only had that face on when in court. Maybe she was still angry about having to work with someone.

Mione, still facing Harry, said:

"Mark, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Potter," she emphasized the Potter. "He will work with me in that Halkin case."

"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Potter. Mark Hudson," he said with a smile, reaching his hand out to Harry to shake.

Harry, saying nothing, shook hands with Mark.

Then the silence returned to the room. Mark began to feel uncomfortable, what was the problem? Why all the tension?

"Mione?"

"Hmm?"

"About the lunch..."

"Ah! Yes. No Mark, of course I'll have lunch with you." She turned to her friend and softened her expression.

"And you, Mr. Potter?"

Hermione looked at Mark, as if asking for God's sake not to invite Harry for lunch.

"Thank you very much, but I have some things to do during lunch."

"Well, so," he turned to Hermione, "let's go?"

"Sure, Mark!" she said with a smile on her face.

Hermione turned to Harry and, with a cold look in her eyes, just like his, leaves the room, leaving Harry behind, sitting at the big table.

* * *

During the ride to lunch they sat in total silence. Mark tried to talk, but Hermione was being so monosyllabic, he gave up.

She, on the way, sat looking through the window, very thoughtful. She started to think about the past, how things had happened. She dated Harry during their fifth year, but during the sixth, she became confused. She didn't know anymore if she liked Harry or Ron. Of course Ron didn't have a good reaction when he heard they were dating, and he stopped speaking to them for a while. In the very beginning of the sixth year, though, he went to talk to her, to say he liked her very much, and that seeing them together hurt a lot, and he actually stopped talking to them not because they were together, but because he was hurt for losing her. And from that moment, she didn't know if she really wanted to be with Harry anymore.

She spent days thinking about that conversation, trying not to change her ways with Harry. But of course, he saw there was something wrong. Nevertheless, every time he asked if there was something wrong, she changed the subject, using the old excuse that she was "tired".

And one day, Harry had to spend the day out of the castle, with his godfather, and Ron and Hermione stayed the entire day in the common room. It was a very cold Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend, but these visits had become boring, after all these years. So they decided to stay in the castle, doing homework, playing chess, and talking. It was during these conversations that the inevitable happened. They kissed. And on that day Mione thought the world would fall over her head. If things were already confused, after that kiss they had gotten even worse. She decided to break up with Harry, she thought that from the moment she had doubts about her feelings, it would be the time to put an end to their relationship.

Of course Harry was hurt; he just couldn't understand why she was breaking up with him. He liked Hermione a lot, he was almost sure he loved her. When she started to date his best friend, ah, that hurt. It was like there was a hand squeezing his heart. Every time he saw them together this squeeze hurt more. He felt cheated. It was from that moment that Harry started to change. He started to become distant, not caring much about things that happened around him. He began to built the wall, that in his view, would keep him away from the pain.

During the summer vacation of that year, Harry refused the invitation to go to The Burrow for the first time. It was a thousand times better to bear the Dursleys than to see his best friend together with her. He didn't want that hand to squeeze his heart anymore. The torture of seeing them in Hogwarts would be enough. Of course the Weasleys didn't understand Harry's attitude, and made Ron write letters and letters insisting on him coming. Harry was stubborn. Until the ultimatum: either he would go, or they would come to pick him up. But with all this going - not going thing, time had passed, and Harry arrived at The Burrow only four days before going back to Hogwarts. No one asked him why he didn't want to come, everybody understood. They couldn't help but notice that he was different. Not because of Ron and Hermione's relationship, he was just different.

Time passed, and Hermione realized she had made a mistake leaving Harry. She didn't like Ron that much, and they had a lot of fights. It was row after row. She realized she really liked Harry. And it was with him she would like to stay, and after a lot of thinking, she tried to fix her mistake. That was when she realized how he had changed.

"Harry, could we talk?" Hermione sat in front of him in the library's table.

"You can say."

"Not here... somewhere else."

"Where, then?"

"I don't know... In the gardens, perhaps."

"Hermione, if you didn't notice, I'm studying..." Harry said, impatient.

"I won't take too long. I promise."

"Ok."

When in the gardens, they stood silent for awhile, Hermione didn't know where to start.

"So...?" Harry began, impatient, but much more curious.

"Harry... I think you should know I like you..."

He looked at her as if she was saying a big lie.

"Yes, so what?" he asks, indifferent.

"And you should also know I broke up with Ron few months ago."

"No, I didn't know." He wasn't lying. He really didn't know that news.

"Of course you don't know, you're distant from us..."

"I didn't get distant. Every day I have breakfast, lunch and dinner with you."

"Okay, but it's like you're not there. You don't talk to us, you're always elsewhere..."

"Hermione, what is your point?" Now he was impatient.

"I made a mistake, Harry. We should had never broke up. I never liked Ron like I like you. I thought... thought I could have another chance... to fix the mess I made..."

Harry didn't say anything. Just started to chuckle. Hermione looked strangely at him.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" he said, still laughing.

"No, of course not, Harry. I just thought..."

"If you had thought before, you could have spared yourself from this ridiculous situation."

"Ridiculous?" she asked, confused.

"Yes, ridiculous. Of course, you would have thought the idiot Harry here wouldn't think twice before taking you back..." he said looking angry at her. It was the first time Hermione was getting such an intense look from Harry.

"I made a mistake. And now I'm trying to fix it. Have you never made a mistake in your life?"

"You hurt me a lot, you know, Mione. I liked you. And from nowhere you broke up with me, and I didn't even know what I did wrong. You don't know how hard it was to me to see you two walking around together, when it was me who should have been in Ron's place. After all, I doubt it he liked you as much as me." Harry now had a low voice, extremely hurt.

"I'm sorry, Harry... I've said, I made a mistake. Couldn't you give me another chance?"

"No. You thought you would use me, then dismiss me and I would run back to you? You're wrong... Why don't you go hit on Malfoy, hmm? Then when you get tired of him, you could hit on Crabbe... then Goyle. Or, who knows, all three at once?" Harry said maliciously, with an irate look, then left her behind.

It wouldn't hurt so much if he had beaten her. It hurt the way he said it, as if she wasn't anyone. It hurt, him telling her to hit on Malfoy. What hurt the most was his look. She could remember how much she cried that day.

But Harry could see she was hurt by what he said, and how he still liked her, even if he didn't want to admit it, he ended up apologizing to her, and everything, apparently, went back to normal.

Until Ron decided to change sides. When Harry got this news, he became extremely hurt and upset. But these feelings didn't last long, they soon turned into rage. A rage she'd never seen on him before. Because of that, her trust in him received a grain of doubt.

So came the War. And everything Harry lived, saw and felt was imprinted on him. All the sadness, the anger, the cruelty, ended up inside him. And he became the person he is today.

Once, during the war, he went to her room at night, apparently to talk about the attack to a Death Eater's camping, and they ended up sleeping together. She had lost her virginity with Ron - that she deeply regretted. But that night was very special. It seemed like it was their last night, as if they were going to the final battle. The next day she woke up alone, and, during the breakfast, Harry treated her as if nothing had happened. She tried to talk to him about it, but he always had an excuse. On that day, she felt as if she was truly nobody.

But they didn't have only that night. During the war, there were other nights, and she always woke up alone, and on the next day, for him, nothing had happened. In the beginning, Hermione tried to reject Harry, but he kissed her with so much love, his touch was so tender, that she always ended up giving away.

The war ended, and she thought they could finally stay together. She was wrong. After the end, he was even more cruel. Hermione tried everything, but Harry was always cold, indifferent, stupid. So, one day, she got tired of it, and decided to leave the magic world for good.

"Mione?" Mark was calling her, "Mione, we arrived."

She looked at him, her eyes holding some tears. Memories, she didn't like them, they usually made her suffer.

"Is everything all right?" Mark asked, worried.

"Yes." But he didn't believe her.

They went into the restaurant and ordered the food. The silence was bothering Mark.

"Hermione, why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Mark. "

"You're very weird today."

"It's nothing," she smiled at him. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"I don't like to see you sad. Why don't you try to tell me what the problem is? I can try to help you... Is it about the novice who is going to work with you?"

"Yes..." she surrendered.

Mark didn't say anything, just looked at her, encouraging her to say:

"Do you know who the novice is, Mark?"

"No... Who?" he asked, curious.

"Harry Potter."

"Oh!" Mark looked at her, surprised. "That Harry Potter?" Mark knew Mione was a witch. After all, the day the judge got the clown face, he was in court, working with her. He knew the whole story of when Hermione was in the magic world. What she'd been through. They were good friends. He was her best friend now.

"That Harry Potter," she said, in a low voice.

"I'll talk to Phillip, try to convince him to let me work with you on this case," Mark said, seriously. He was always like that, always protective and obliging.

"Ah, Mark, you know Phillip is determined to make me work with him. There's nothing you can say to make him change his mind."

"What is he doing here? You told me he worked in that world you came from..."

"Yes, I thought that too. I'd like to know what he is doing here. Why work with me? Of course, if I ask, the answer won't be given very nicely. I won't let him do to me everything he did in the past. This time, things will be different. And could we, please, change the subject? I really don't want to talk about it?" she said sadly.

"Okay." And seeing her sad face, he added, "Hey, I don't want to see you sad." He grabbed her hand, saying "come on, give me some smile..."

Hermione surrendered and smiled at him.

Harry was walking through London streets, remembering there was a very good restaurant somewhere around. When he passed in front of it, he could see, through the window, Hermione and Mark. He was holding her hand, and she was smiling. While watching the scene, he felt that hand squeezing his heart again. He closed his eyes, in an attempt to block it out. They... they brought back the memories from the time she was with Ron, the betrayer. 'No,' Harry thought. 'I will not suffer again... Enough...'. When he opened his green eyes, there was anger in them.