Chasing a Dream

Chapter 20

Confrontation

"It can't be..."

Harry stammered, his mouth agape. Hermione had donned a solemn look and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It is."

"We can't be sure of that."

"Yes we can!"

Harry tore his eyes away from the hovering picture of Professor Lawrence's head to look at Hermione in surprise.

"How?"

"I just aged Angie's face 9 years and now she looks identical to Professor Lawrence. And what else, they share the same name."

"Huh?"

"Don't you remember when Professor Lawrence introduced herself? She said, "My name is Professor Angelica Lawrence". Harry, Angie's last name was Lawrence, too!"

"Lots of people share names, especially if it is as common as theirs!"

"But you're forgetting one thing. The thing that makes it all fit!"

"What's that?"

"The song!"

Hermione choked and sat down on the couch by the fireplace. Harry walked over and sat down next to her. She turned to face him, a little glazed.

"The song she sang was the one Andy would sing to her."

Hermione buried her face in his shoulder and Harry could hear her voice muffled and teary.

"It has to be her, it just has to be."

Harry shushed her and placed his hand instinctively on her head. He murmured into her ear

"Maybe it is her, 'Mione. I don't know what to do."

Hermione sat up straight, her face grim.

"I'm must speak with her. Now."

"'Mione, it's 2:04 in the morning."

Hermione stood up wearily and walked to her dormitory, her voice trailing behind her.

"Fine. But I'm having a talk with her this afternoon."

"Hermione, wait."

Hermione turned. Harry wanted to ask her about Malfoy and all the things that had been on his mind recently, but his tongue seemed to swell so much that speech was out of the question.

"U-um. Good luck."

"Oh. Thanks, Harry."

Harry watched stupidly as Hermione walked up to her dormitory, and continued to stare at where she'd previously stood long after she had gone.

_-_-_-_-_-_

Harry watched Professor Lawrence as she walked to the board. It was so hard to believe that his teacher might possibly be the same person from Hermione's past. In a strange, hard to believe way, it made sense.

"Hey, Professor?"

Lavender Brown asked, not bothering to raise her hand.

"Yes, Miss Brown?"

"What's that thing on your desk? Is it some sort of crystal ball?"

Lavender nodded at a small crystal sphere that was glowing a bright green.

"That's my Mood Ball. It changes color with my mood. Right now it's green, so I'm in my teaching mode."

Ron, who was sitting next to him, was entertaining himself by balancing his quills on top of his inkbottle with a small sticking charm they'd learned in Flitwick's class that morning.

"Today, you're going to learn how to perform mini-memory charms. Can anyone tell me the difference between a mini-memory charm and a regular memory charm?"

As usual, Hermione's arm shot into the air, her eagerness to answer the question apparent. Harry thought he saw Prof. Lawrence flinch.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"A mini-memory charm erases one part of a person's memory and leaves everything else intact, while a regular memory charm normally erases everything."

"Very good, 10 points to Gryffindor. Now, everyone get with a partner."

Harry partnered up with Ron and watched as poor Hermione kindly offered to be with Neville. Neville told her that she better choose someone else, or she'd end up forgetting who she was. She told him that was nonsense.

Prof. Lawrence proceeded in showing them the proper wand movements, and once they had that part down, she proceeded to the front of the room.

"Now, I want you all to remember this word. Newts. What word are you to remember?"

"Newts."

The class chorused.

"Good, now one partner turn to the other and perform the spell. Remember, when you perform the spell, focus on what you want them to forget: the word newt."

Harry turned to Ron. Concentrating hard on the word 'newt', Harry preformed the wand movements and pointed his wand at Ron's forehead.

"Obliva!"

Harry watched as a blank look crossed over Ron's face. His eyes unfocused and his eyebrows slid into a neutral state. Harry looked around and saw that others were staring at nothing just like Ron. Thankfully, Hermione had preformed the charm on Neville first. She glanced over at Harry and Ron and smiled at Ron's distant look.

In a minute, Ron was back to normal. Professor Lawrence looked around approvingly at the group before her.

"Very good. Now, for those who were enchanted, please tell me the one word you were supposed to remember."

Harry watched around in amazement as the students the spell was put on looked around at each other in confusion. Professor Lawrence smiled.

"Now, it's the other's turn."

Harry watched as Ron pointed his wand at him and said "Obliva!"

Nothing happened. Harry looked around at the others. Everyone else appeared average, too. What had gone wrong? Why hadn't the spell worked?

"Can anyone tell me the word I told you to remember?"

Huh?

"Uh, newt?" She said uncertainly. Prof. Lawrence shook her head 'no'. Harry looked around in confusion. She hadn't told them a word! Not that he could remember. As realization dawned on him, Harry slapped himself in the forehead.

Ron's spell had worked! He couldn't remember. He supposed he had expected to feel something or see a flash of light or smoke. He guessed he was wrong.

"You'll learn the counter curse tomorrow. Class dismissed."

_-_-_

Harry walked out the door, adjusting his bag over his shoulder, nearly dropping it in surprise when a pair of hands seized him and dragged him over to the side of the doorway.

"Come with me, Harry!"

"Hermione, what?"

"Come with me, Harry, please?"

"Come where, Hermione?"

"To talk to Angie! Please?"

"Why can't you do it by yourself? She might not want to talk about it with me there."

"I know! That's why I brought this!"

Hermione reached in her bag and withdrew his invisibility cloak.

"How'd you get that?"

"I-uh..."

Hermione blushed scarlet and looked down at the floor.

"I kind of, uh, nicked it last night, before I went up to my room."

Harry laughed. Hermione looked up at him, surprised.

"You're not mad?"

"Mad! 'Course not! I'm just glad I didn't leave it in the Common Room where who knows who could have found it!"

"So, will you come with me? Please!"

"Fine, but if I miss lunch, you're in big trouble!"

Hermione stood in front of Harry while he slipped on his Invisibility Cloak.

Making sure Harry was still there, Hermione slipped back inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Bits of parchment littered the floor under the desks they had been previously been sitting on. Harry slipped in behind Hermione, careful not to hit anything.

Professor Lawrence, who was shifting through parchment on her desk, looked up at Hermione. Her face remained neutral as she resumed her parchment shuffling.

"Yes? What can I do for you, Miss Granger?"

Hermione turned and closed the door securely behind her to insure that no one on the other side could hear the following conversation. Harry watched her take a deep breath and proceeds up to Professor Lawrence's desk. Prof. Lawrence didn't look up.

"Professor, I have a question that I need to ask you."

She still didn't look up.

"I didn't know there was a question that my best student didn't know the answer to. What is it?"

"Um-um..."

Hermione was fidgeting nervously. Harry watched as she took a step back and her eyes darted around the room, looking for escape. Harry realized that she was about to back down. He couldn't let that happen. He knew how bad she'd feel if she didn't do this.

Harry walked silently over to her and placed a supporting hand on her shoulder. Hermione jumped and looked around at him.

"It'll be ok, 'Mione."

Harry whispered through the cloak and into her ear.

"What did you say?"

Professor Lawrence asked distractingly as she signed a document with an eagle feather quill. Hermione donned a look of confidence and marched up to her desk.

"Professor, have you ever heard someone of the name Andrew Granger before?"

Her eagle feather quill slipped out of her hand. She picked it up hastily and touched it to the parchment, writing faster than before.

"No, I have not."

"Have you ever seen me before this year?"

"No."

Hermione placed her hand down on the parchment Professor Lawrence was writing on. She could get in big trouble if she isn't Angie.

"Can you look me in the face and say that."

Professor Lawrence looked up at Hermione's face, a look of forced confusion on her face. Harry recognized it because he'd spent many years putting that same face on for Uncle Vernon.

"Have you or have you not ever seen me or my brother before?"

A look of true surprise flitted across her face.

"No, I have not."

Hermione's face was one of anger and disappointment.

"How can you say that?"

"Because it's the truth."

Hermione shook her head and turned her back to Professor Lawrence, shaking her head.

"You don't care about me."

"It's is my responsibility to teach you, nothing more."

Hermione walked to the door, her back still facing Professor Lawrence. Her voice wafted back to where Harry stood.

"I bet you never cared about Andy, either."

Professor Lawrence slammed her quill down on her desk and rose halfway out of her chair.

"What was that?"

Hermione whirled around, anger etched in her face.

"You heard me!!! You never cared for Andy! Or me for that matter! Don't pretend you ever did!"

Harry couldn't believe the risk Hermione was taking by yelling at a teacher. It was very un-Hermione like.

Professor Lawrence was on her feet now, her hand clasping her parchment so tightly that it crumpled into a little ball. She took a deep breath.

"I don't even know who you're talking about."

"Oh, no?! How would he feel if he could see you here, denying his existence to his own little sister! How long was it before you found another boyfriend after you left when he died? He loved you! Probably more than anything else in the world! But you don't love him. You never did. How could you!?!?"

Harry was about to run over to Hermione and wrap his hand around her mouth to silence her, when the sound of shattering glass disrupted his thoughts as the Mood Ball on Professor Lawrence's desk exploded into a million tiny shards.