Promise You Won\'t Forget Me

~Chapter 10: Life is Full of Surprises~

Ron stayed with Hermione throughout the night. She couldn´t bear to be left alone after that. When people had started to come out of their cabins, Ron had taken charge. Instructing the first mate (who was in charge now that Jack was out of commission) to dock at the first available port, he enlisted the help of some of the stronger men to carry the bodies out. Blaise´s would be locked in her cabin, and Harry´s in his. Charles, who was still alive but wouldn´t wake up for quite some time, was locked away in the brig. Hermione had been surprised to find that the ship had a brig. Then once that was taken care of, Ron and Hermione refused to answer any more questions, and went back to her cabin.

She thought she wouldn´t be able to sleep at all, but to her surprise she feel asleep almost at once. Ron didn´t, however, as he was too busy trying to deal with the flood of memories that were suddenly upon him.

In the morning she woke up to find that the previous day hadn´t been a dream, and she cried some more. Ron took her in his arms and held her until she was calm.

"The boat docked early this morning," he told her. "Most of the passengers have already departed. We´ll get off and take a Portkey to London."

With hardly a word, Hermione got dressed. She saw that she was red-eyed and puffy in the bathroom mirror, but didn´t care at all. As soon as she was clothed, she returned to Ron, who helped her pack her things. Then they went to his room and packed his suitcases.

Then they just sat, side by side on his bed, staring into space. Huddled in the curve of his arm, Hermione closed her eyes, and tried to forget. But she had a few specific questions that needed to be asked.

"What happened to you, Ron?" she asked quietly.

There was a pause. "The day after we left Hogwarts, I was walking alone in Hogsmeade, just reflecting on plans for the future. It had gotten quite late without my really noticing it. There wasn´t anyone else on the street, and I was attacked."

He tried to shrug it off as if it no longer bothered him, but Hermione could tell by the stiffening of his shoulders that it still did.

"They were just a band of rogue Death Eaters, out for revenge. They figured that by bringing me in, they´d be rewarded. Me, Harry´s...one of the ones who destroyed him. They tortured me, and then, at some point, knocked me unconscious by hitting me in the back of the head. That must have been when I got amnesia, because that´s when things start to go fuzzy."

He lifted his head and looked at her. "There are very large gaps in my memory from then on. Blaine, I mean, Blaise was assigned to look after me, and she told me everything that I believed for the past five years: that I was an only child, and an orphan, that she was my best friend from school. I trusted her. I even cared about her." Ron shook angrily. "But look what she did to me, and to you."

"Oh, Ron, I´m so sorry," Hermione whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you have to know, we looked everywhere for you. We looked for so long."

Smiling faintly he said, "I know. I don´t blame you. Blaine...Blaise did a very good job of hiding me."

There was a smaller question that was nagging at the back of her mind. "And do you really have a position at Hogwarts?"

Ron actually smiled. "Yes, actually. I have the letter. Of course, Dumbledore doesn´t know it´s me he´s hiring, but I am scheduled to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor next term."

There was a knock at the door and Hermione went to open it. Alexa was standing out in the hallway. Or more accurately, Candace was standing in the hallway.

She smiled tentatively. "May I come in? I think I have some explaining to do."

Hermione nodded curtly, and stepped back to let the other woman through. Then she sat down next to Ron again.

"I assume you´re rather furious with me. I´m so sorry that all of this happened, especially Harry´s death. I didn´t mean for any of it, I swear. That woman, Blaise, she had my sister held hostage and threatened to kill Alex if I didn´t cooperate."

Quietly, but without rancor, Hermione said, "I think I understand. It doesn´t change what you´ve done, though."

Candace bowed her head. "I know. I´m sorry."

"Is Alexa all right?" Hermione remembered that Blaise had taken Alexa from the Portal. Since Hermione destroyed it, she wondered where Alexa had been kept after that.

Candace brightened. "Yes, thank you. She´s been taken to the nearby hospital and is recuperating. The doctors are sure she´s going to make a full recovery."

"Good," said Ron. "I´m happy for you."

She heard the snap behind those words, and dropped her smile. "I really am sorry. I didn´t know him long, but Harry seemed like a wonderful person. The sort of person that isn´t supposed to exist. I mean, everyone in the magical world has heard of Harry Potter and what an amazing person he is, but I never expected him to actually be so..."

"Real?" Hermione filled in, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"I had better go," Candace said uncomfortably. "I really am sorry, Hermione. Most of all for deceiving you. I wish you a lifetime of happiness ahead. It may take some time, but I´m sure you´ll get there."

She left and Hermione turned to Ron.

Softly she said, "She doesn´t understand. None of them can or will. I´m so glad you´re back, Ron. You´re the only one. I don´t have to go through it alone."

He tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "No, you don´t have to go through it alone."

They leaned towards one another and Ron kissed her gently. Hermione, rough and raw with emotion, deepened the kiss. Then there was another knock on the door. Ron pulled away slowly and went to answer it. As he opened the door, Hermione saw Claudia standing nervously in the hallway. She came to the threshold.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Hermione nodded to Ron to let him know that it was all right. He excused himself and left. Claudia came in, took a seat on a vacant chair, and inhaled deeply.

"I have to apologize, Hermione. I feel just awful."

"Apologize for what?" Hermione said listlessly. "You didn´t do anything wrong."

Claudia opened her mouth to say something, but then reconsidered. "I couldn´t get to you in time. Zabini enacted a spell that locked the passengers in their rooms once they closed the doors. I ran from the dining hall to grab my wand, but then I was sealed in. None of the spells I tried worked. It wasn´t until she died that I could leave. I just wanted to apologize for having failed you."

Shaking her head, Hermione said, "This wasn´t a movie, Claudia, how could you possibly have failed me? You were safer where you were."

"Oh, but I wasn´t. And I wasn´t much help. I´m sorry."

Hermione was hardly listening, but one word had caught her attention. "Did you say `Zabini´? How did you know!"

Claudia cringed. "Oh, damn, I wasn´t supposed to reveal myself. But I suppose there´s nothing else for it. I´m MIA, Hermione."

Hermione gasped. "You´re what?"

"MIA. Our mission was to intercept Blaise before she could deliver her package, i.e. Ron, to Voldemort. We did a sloppy job of it, and I´m very sorry."

"Is no one who they say they are?" Hermione ranted. She felt like throwing things.

Claudia smiled weakly. "Well, if it helps any, I really am an American film star. I just happen to be MIA as well. No one learns as much information as movie stars. They tell each other everything."

"So what else did your job entail?" Hermione asked icily.

"Well, we were going to get you off the ship and to safety once we stopped at Nassau, but when Martin was killed, that plan sort of went out the window. Then you disappeared for four days and we panicked. Oh, and just so you know, we arranged for Martin´s body to be taken care of."

But Hermione didn´t want to hear it. She was still reeling from the previous day, and she needed to be left alone.

"Please, Claudia, just leave. Leave me alone."

So she did. Claudia left, closed the door gently behind her, and in the empty room, Hermione began to cry once more.

"Hermione?"

Harry was leaning over her bed in the Hospital Wing. She sat up quickly, and clutched her head.

"Harry? Is it true? Did we do it? We killed Voldemort?"

"Yes," he said, smiling at her. "Good job."

"You make it sound like I just got a hundred percent on a Transfiguration test. This is bigger than that, Harry!"

He laughed. "I know." Sobering he added, "Thank you. Thank you so much, Hermione Granger."

She tried to pass it off with a laugh. "Oh, Harry, you know that none of it would have been possible without you."

As if he couldn´t wait to get it over with before he lost his nerve, he bent down quickly and kissed her cheek.

"No, none of it would have been possible without you. And Ron, of course. Merlin, what would we do without him."

Hermione turned her head to look at the red-headed boy, still asleep in his bed. "I have no idea."

"Good night, Hermione."

"`Night, Harry."

Ron came back quickly and found her staring into the mirror. He came up behind her and squeezed her shoulders gently. Then he took something out of his pocket and dangled it in front of her.

"I believe this is yours," he said, unclasping the book necklace. "Who else would wear a book around her neck?"

Hermione lifted back her hair so that he could put it on her. Then she turned around and looked at him seriously with dry eyes.

"This is going to be hard for me, and for you. It will take time. But please, promise me you´ll be there for me. I need you so much."

Ron knew she wasn´t just speaking of Harry´s death, and he nodded. "I will. I am always here for you."

He hugged her tightly, resting his chin on her shoulder. Then they stood up together, grabbed Ron´s things, and went to her cabin for her luggage.

Hermione caught sight of Rita Skeeter, who looked distinctly unhappy. When she saw Hermione, she brightened.

"The Aurors confiscated my quills and parchment," Rita commented. "But I hardly think I´m going to forget what happened. I warned you, Miss Granger. I did. But you didn´t want to listen to me. Never forget, I always know what´s going on, I have ways of finding out."

In absolutely no mood, Hermione took out her wand, and casually said, "Obliviate!"

One of the local Aurors saw her and nodded. "Thanks, Miss. We don´t want her causing trouble. Most of the other passengers have had the same done to them, mostly by request. What about you?"

Hermione shook her head. She couldn´t forget, and a large part of her didn´t want to. The Auror waved her past, and she and Ron walked down the gangplank, onto the island.

Once she stepped onto the shore, she turned around and looked back at the tall, majestic ship, the sight of so much death.

To herself, she said, "With the Titanic and the Lusitania, so shall rest in infamy the Thunder n´ Lightning. May it sink to the bottom of the sea."

Then she followed Ron down the road. She was going home.

~*~

"I´m going to get the luggage!" Ron called to Hermione, trying to be heard over the noise of the Portkey Station. She nodded at him, and sat down to wait.

It had been a long afternoon/evening. In medium-sized groups, the former passengers of the cruise took Portkeys from one part of the world to another, stopping only long enough to eat or use the restroom. Finally Ron and Hermione had arrived at the London station, located near Diagon Alley. And with all the time changes and layovers, they hadn´t arrived until early the next morning, London time.

Still, she was desperately glad to be home. All she wanted to do was to go to her flat, hide away, and not come out for a month. She had no idea how she´d break the news to everyone. Harry Potter, their hero (not to mention friend), was dead. How would she explain it? She and Ron had been told not to leak the story to the press, and she had no intention of doing so.

Hermione tapped her foot, looking at her watch. Then she heard a voice calling her name, and assumed it was Ron with the bags.

"Hermione!"

She turned and nearly fainted. It had to be a dream. So she pinched herself and said, "Ouch." It couldn´t be. It was impossible.

A man of about average height, with a bad sun burn, dressed in a polo shirt and slacks, came running toward her. He came to a rather abrupt stop and hugged her. Then he stepped back.

Running his fingers through his messy black hair, his familiar green eyes sparkled happily behind his round black frames.

"Hermione, it´s wonderful to see you again! I can´t believe it. It´s been too long."

She was frozen in shock. "Harry?" she managed to squeak out.

He laughed. "What? Have I changed that much that you don´t recognize me?"

Hermione continued to gape. "It´s just, the last time I saw you, you were dead!"

"What?" Harry asked, extremely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The cruise!" Hermione cried, not believing her eyes. "Blaise tried to shoot me and you leapt in front of the bullet and died!"

Bewildered, Harry said, "Cruise? What cruise? I wasn´t on a cruise, you were!"

"Harry! Have you lost your memory?"

"No," he replied, still looking confused. "But I´m beginning to think you´ve lost your mind. What´s gotten into you?"

She looked him over. He didn´t seem to be injured anywhere. He certainly wasn´t tan (burnt, though), he was still on the thin side, and he was wearing his glasses, as well as a concerned expression.

"I don´t understand!" she practically wailed. "You and I just spent a week and a half on a cruise! And you were killed! I watched you die!"

"Hermione, I have no idea what you´re talking about! I´ve been in Egypt for the past two weeks, like I have for the past three years! I was planning a visit to London, and Professor Dumbledore told me you´d be coming back from your trip, so I figured I´d surprise you!" Suddenly he smiled. "That reminds me, I have someone I´d like you to meet. Lisa!"

He called to a woman who was looking at a rack of postcards. She looked up and then came over.

"Lisa Turpin, this is Hermione Granger. I´m not sure if you remember her, Hermione, but Lisa went to school with us. She was in Ravenclaw."

"Pleased to meet you," Lisa said, shaking Hermione´s hand. "Harry´s told me so much about you. He and I met on a dig in Giza. I was working with the Great Pyramids, and he was sightseeing!" She looked at him fondly. "Silly boy, he fell right into one of the excavations."

"We´re engaged," Harry said happily. "But we´re moving back here, because as much as we both love Egypt, it´s too far away from our friends and family."

"Mm," Hermione said absently. Her mind was running like mad trying to make sense of this. She couldn´t come up with anything. She had watched him die!

"Hermione, I´ve got the bags, let´s go!" called Ron, as he approached.

Hermione gave up for the moment and laughed. The whole world had gone mad.

"Harry, while we´re at it, let me introduce you to someone."

Ron pushed his way toward her and stopped to catch his breath. Then he looked at Harry, and Harry looked back. Both had the same expression of bewilderment.

"Harry?"

"Ron?"

"What´s going on?" they both asked at the same time. "I thought you were dead!"

"Would someone like to fill me in?" Lisa asked.

They all turned to look at Hermione. She was thinking hard.

Then something Claudia had said came back to her. "Then you disappeared for four days, and we panicked." She couldn´t have been referring to herself and Martin, because by then Martin was already dead. There was another MIA agent aboard.

That conversation she had overheard, between `Leona´ and `Doc´. Leona must have been Claudia´s code name! That left Doc...

And then she figured it out. Harry had never stepped foot onto that cruise. An MIA agent, impersonating Harry had come aboard to protect her. They didn´t have to worry about being found out, because she was the only one on board who knew him personally, and she hadn´t seen him in three years. There was no worry about the real Harry, because he was safely in Egypt, and the people aboard the cruise had no outside contact.

The man who told her he loved her, who she kissed, who died in her arms, he was not Harry Potter.

Only one question remained: then who was he?

Hermione looked back at Harry and Ron, who were still staring at each other like they were seeing ghosts, which in a way, they were.

"I´ll do my best to explain the whole long story. But please, let´s just go home."

And she marched out of the station with her head held high, Ron, Harry, and Lisa trailing behind her. School would start soon, and she had a job to do.

But she would not forget what she had learned on that cruise. Voldemort was back, and he was gaining strength. She would play her part to ensure that this time, he disappeared for good.

And glancing over her shoulder at Ron and Harry who were still arguing over which of them was supposed to be dead, she smiled slightly, despite the horrors of what she had seen only days before.

Because as long as they three were together, there was nothing they couldn´t do.