Chapter 87: CHAPTER 81: THE STREETS OF LONDON AND A PLACE TO CALL HOME

Yet in the exact Inconscient’s stark conceit,

In the casual error of the world’s ignorance

A plan, a hidden Intelligence is glimpsed.

There is a purpose in each stumble and fall;

Nature’s most careless lolling is a pose

Preparing some forward step, some deep result.

Ingenious notes plugged into a motived score,

These million discords dot the harmonious theme

Of the evolution’s huge orchestral dance

 

– Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, p.658

 

~~~~

 

19th of August 1994. Ed and Hermione had just visited the national gallery near Buckingham Palace. They were on a date, as the two rarely go out anymore. Ed held Hermione’s right hand using his left, while also holding a cone of vanilla ice cream on his right. He was wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans, while Hermione wore a yellow summer dress, along with a denim jacket.

"That was boring." Hermione commented suddenly.

Ed looked weirdly at the girl. "boring? You read books all day long, and now you are saying that seeing beautiful paintings is boring? "

"Well, with books, I can imagine stuff in my head." Hermione answered. "While the paintings are just... there."

"I guess people have different tastes then." Ed hummed while enjoying his ice cream. "What are we doing after this?"

"I bought two tickets to a play." Hermione said, as the two now were crossing a street. "It is at the Savoy Theatre."

"What is the play’s title?"

"’She loves me’." Hermione answered.

Ed nodded. "That is quite a good musical."

The two then changed courses to the Savoy Theatre—it was quite a walk from the gallery, but as they were walking, they continued to talk.

"Any luck finding the Gaunt shack?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Sadly, no." Ed answered. "It is a shack... It's hard to find. If this goes on, I need to ask Dumbledore about it. "

"Just be careful." She murmured. "What about the cup?"

"I have been investigating Lestrange’s vault, but so far, no luck too"

Hermione hummed. "And the World Cup?"

Ed raised his eyebrows as he finished his ice cream. "What about it?"

"Did you get any invitations from the ministry?"

"No." Ed answered, making Hermione disappointed a bit. "Do you really want me to go with you?"

"I do." she said, almost pleading.

"Why won't you go with the Weasleys?"

"I’d rather go with you." Hermione insisted. "We probably won’t get a chance to see these types of things after this."

"Do you remember what Tom’s planning right now?"

"I do... I just want us to go there alone, rent a tent for the two of us and relax. We’ll deal with the riot once it happens."

Ed sighed. "Fine... Fleur will probably be there too. I haven’t seen her in a while. "

Hermione’s face instantly changed. "On second thought, we better stay home, let the ministry handle the riot."

Ed chuckled at the sudden change of mind. "Are you jealous, Hermione?"

"What? Of course not. " She quickly said, although her sour expression told a different story.

"You should stop these kinds of feelings, darling. It’s unhealthy." Ed squeezed her hand lightly. "You know, I technically can’t fall in love again. It’s useless to think like that."

"I know…" she mumbled. "It’s just instinct."

Ed chuckled once again, and he changed the topic. "When did you buy the tickets, by the way? I never saw you leave your room…"

"My mom was the one who bought the tickets, actually." She blushed as she spoke."She said I should take you to a play on your birthday."

"Well, that’s quite nice of your mom." Ed commented. "What do you want for your birthday then?"

"Me?" She thought about it at first, but ultimately gave up. "I don’t have any particular needs that need to be fulfilled now really…" she said. But then she whispered to herself, her face turning red instantly. "Well… there’s one…"

"What is it?" Ed asked, hearing her whisper.

"What?" she asked, not knowing that he had heard her.

"Your one need that needs to be fulfilled."

"Oh." Her face turned redder even more. "Never mind, forget it."

"Just tell me."

"I said forget it…"

Ed sighed.  "Fine… but what do you want for your birthday?"

"A homemade dinner with you would be nice." She suggested.

"Alright… I’ll see what I can do then. "

The two then arrived at the theatre. "The tickets?" Ed asked the girl, and Hermione pulled two tickets from her purse. The two then entered the theatre, waiting for the musical to start.

The play then started. The two watched it until the end, and both of them quite enjoyed the musical. It’s quite warming and entertaining, making Ed forget all about his troubles lately.

Once the play was finished, both of them got out of the theatre with soft smiles on their faces.

"That was fun." Ed commented.

"Yeah, it was." Hermione agreed. "Where do you want to go next? I’m hungry…"

"Yeah… I’m quite hungry as well. McDonalds?"

Hermione sighed. "Sure, let’s go to McDonalds."

"What? Don’t like it? "

"No, I’m just thinking that you’ll probably buy another cone of ice cream there…"

"You bet I am." Ed smirked.

Hermione shook her head in amusement as the two continued to walk to the nearest McDonalds. Hermione had just ordered a burger and chips along with a soft drink. Ed, on the other hand, ordered the same thing plus ice cream.

They then sat on one of the empty seats and ate their orders.

"What did you do in the Greengrass mansion, by the way? I never asked... " she questioned rather curiously.

Ed was confused at the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Daphne was complaining about it. She said you made her house snow for about two weeks." She giggled as she informed Ed.

"Oh." Ed also chuckled. "I may or may not have unintentionally changed the temperature around her house..."

"Her family is now staying in London to find some warmth." Hermione continued, still giggling.

"Well… looks like I have to apologize to her for ruining her summer." Ed said, making the girl hum in agreement.

While they were eating, Ed noticed that Hermione was looking at Ed rather intently, particularly in the hair area.

"What?" he asked the girl.

Hermione then stretched her hair and started to inspect Ed’s hair. "Your hair’s getting longer and messier." She commented as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Look, look at the back of your head. It’s really messy…"

"Really?"

"Yeah." she said. "We should go to a barber after this or something, I’ll pick a hairstyle for you…"

"I don’t know Hermione…" Ed eyed the girl suspiciously. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing." She said innocently. "What? You’re not trusting me with your hair? "

"You had bushy hair, Hermione."

"I had one." She pointed out. "Not anymore."

Ed sighed. "Fine... but I’m probably going to regret this…"

"Great then!" she squealed a bit too happily. "I saw a hairstyle in a magazine the other day, I bet it’ll look good on you."

"You should know that I'm not a doll..."

"It’ll be fine…" she reassured.

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After eating, the couple quickly got out of the fast-food restaurant, and the two went to search for a barber.

"Do barbers even exist in this part of the city?" Ed commented.

"I don’t know…" Hermione answered weakly. "But let’s just search for it first."

Ed sighed. "Fine… let’s go look for it." The two then continued searching, and when they were searching, they continued to talk.

"By the way…" the girl said. "How’s the house’s progress?"

"What? Impatient to move in? " Ed teased.

"I’m curious..." she mumbled. "Where is it anyway? You never told me about it…"

"Oh, I bought a small island near the coast of Scotland from a near extinct pureblood family… it’s quite cheap…"

"You what?!" Hermione almost shrieked. "What did it cost you?"

"Around 50.000 Galleons or so… like I said, quite cheap."

"50.000 Galleons…" Hermione was now mumbling, scared at the numbers. "You wasted 50.000 Galleons?"

"What? It’s for our family, Hermione. " Ed smiled, making Hermione blush at the mention of ‘our family’. "It’ll be nice to actually have a house in the wizarding world, not just a charmed suitcase…"

"But why a small island?"

"Mostly for private space." Ed answered. "I’ve got Lupin helping with the construction of the house. Mind you, it’s not a mansion, just a cottage near the beach of the island... We’ll expand it if we actually need it. But for now, it's just a cottage."

"Is it really a cottage though?" Hermione questioned again, suspicious at Ed. "With how you spend the money… I doubt that it is ‘just a cottage’."

"Well, yeah… I promise." Ed said, smiling helplessly. "I’ll put the wards myself later, including Fidelius Charm."

"Okay then... When will it be finished? "

"Oh, it’s finished already." Ed casually said. "Just yesterday, Lupin owled me."

"Then when will we visit it?"

"After this date, if you want,"

"Okay." Hermione said, with a big smile on her face, looking excited. She then spotted a shop that had a ‘hairstylist’ sign.

"Look. There’s a hairstylist. " As Hermione pointed out.

"I don’t know…" Ed said as he looked at the decoration, it looked like the shop was specifically aimed towards women. "It looks like it’s for women Hermione…"

"It’ll be fine." She said, dragging him to the shop.

"Welcome." The hairstylist said to the two. "A couple? Want me to take care of your hair, girl? But I see that it’s already quite good."

"Um… no… I was hoping you could change my boyfriend’s hair… is that okay?" Hermione nervously asked.

The hairstylist looked at Ed’s hair. "Ugh… yeah… the boy needs some haircut… very well…"

Hermione squealed. "Okay…" she said as she pulled a piece of paper from her purse, probably ripped from a magazine. "Can you do this?" she asked, giving the paper to the hairstylist.

The hairstylist looked at the paper and smirked. "You know what you want, girl. Alright, sit down." The hairstylist commanded a nervous Ed, who was terrified of them tempering with his hair.

Ed then glared at an innocent looking Hermione. "You planned this, didn’t you?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." She answered while smiling, like she had done nothing wrong.

Ed then continued to give Hermione stink eyes, but the girl ignored it. Ed just hoped that this hairstyle was somewhat good and wouldn’t make him look like an arsehole.

After what it seemed like eternity, Ed had finally got out of the place. Besides him was a satisfied Hermione. He now had somewhat wavy hair, it was shortened a little and combed to the side. It looked decent, but Ed felt like he looked like a douchebag a bit.

"Are you satisfied, Hermione?" Ed grumbled.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don’t whine... you like it."

"I mean… it’s decent I guess. But I looked like an American version of Cedric Diggory…" He said, grumbling.

Hermione nodded. "You look more handsome now, to be honest."

Ed sighed. "Whatever, let’s just go." The two then took a taxi, and then went home, ending their date.

In the evening of the day around seven, Hermione was in her room in the Andrews Manor, she was now wearing more thick clothing to prepare to see the new house. The girl then exited her room and went to Ed’s room. Once she entered Ed’s room, she instantly walked towards the study room, and waited for Ed there.

A couple minutes later, Ed appeared in front of Hermione, his clothes soaked in water. "I’ve finished the wards. We can teleport there instantly and you won’t be detected. I’m knackered though from all the magic…"

Hermione, however, didn’t hear Ed’s words but instead stared at Ed’s-soaked torso. "U-Um what?" she stuttered, she was blushing from the sight.

Ed was amused by this, "It’s raining there, you want to come now or tomorrow?" he said as he’s drying himself using fire magic.

"O-Oh… Um… let’s just go now… I’m already dressed anyway… I can dry myself there. "

"Okay then…" Ed said. "Stay close to me."

The two were then surrounded by blue particles and disappeared from the place, leaving no trace whatsoever. Ed and Hermione then appeared in front of a small cottage. It was raining heavily, and Hermione was instantly soaked, shivering from the cold wind.

"This isn’t raining! It’s a storm! " she shrieked, hugging herself for warmth.

"No, it’s not! The wind is just quite strong. "

"Then who gave you the idea to build a house here!?" She said while the two walked towards the cottage for shelter.

"Don’t be so dramatic." Ed said, opening the door for Hermione. The two then entered the place. It was a nice place, to say the least. A fireplace, some couches, and the log walls made it feel like it was a cozy place. "I’ll put some anti-weather wards up later. I need to learn it first though." Ed continued.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and dried herself quickly. She then walked to the fireplace and warmed herself up. "You didn’t answer my question. Why did you buy it here specifically?"

"Because it’s quiet." Ed answered, looking at the window. "And it’s quite vast as well, you can practice apparition here."

"It is vast, isn’t it?" she mumbled. "You think it’ll be nice living here?"

"I know it will be nice." Ed answered. "Well, if you don’t count the distance towards the nearest grocery store, then yes." Ed joked, which made Hermione giggle a bit. "Let’s try to move our stuff starting tomorrow."

"Alright." She said, "Can we use the floo network here?"

"I haven’t set it up yet," he said. "But I’ll work on it. It’ll be limited though, because I don’t want this house to be connected everywhere."

Hermione nodded. "I’m going to check on this house." She then wandered off, checking all the rooms in the place. Ed, however, was still standing in front of the window, looking at the landscape of the island. The place doesn’t have any trees; it's a flatland as far as the eye can see. The island is a bit elevated, with only a beach on one side, while the other sides are cliffs. Right now, he can’t see too far because of the rain.

And before Ed could realize, thirty minutes had passed.

"It’s a great place." Hermione suddenly commented, returning from her ‘inspection’. "It lacks furniture and decorations, though."

"We’ll buy some tomorrow." Ed stated, turning to look at the girl.

Hermione just hummed, she sat on the couch in front of the fireplace and patted the empty spot beside her. "Want to sit with me?"

Ed just chuckled and walked to the couch, sitting beside her. Hermione, though, instantly changed her position and rested her head on his lap, making herself comfortable.

"This is going to be our home from now, huh..." she commented. "A bit too fast for moving in together... but we’ll manage. " She joked, making Ed shake his head in amusement.

"I mean, this place will be officially the home of the Aldrich family." Ed said, caressing Hermione’s hair while he was at it. "But the real thing will still be the suitcase though, I’ll bring it to every world that we’ll visit."

"You’ll take me with you, right?" she asked, a bit anxious at the answer.

"Of course." He said, rolling his eyes in the obvious. "I’m stuck with you after all."

Hermione giggled. "You are." She then sat up and started to creep up to Ed and straddled him. Their faces were mere inches towards each other, and Ed could feel her breath hitting his cheeks.

"Ed..." she whispered weakly.

"Yeah?..." he answered.

"You love me right?" she asked, her face getting hot.

"Of course," he answered again, smiling softly.

She bit her lip, looking Ed's eyes straight in the eyes. Ed could see that her eyes emanated some kind of weird emotion, ‘Lust?’ Ed thought.

She then spoke. "Then—"

Before she could say anything more, the two heard a small explosion nearby, startling them both and cutting off the conversation abruptly.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, worried, getting off of Ed.

"I don’t know. I’ll check it out. You stay here. "

"No, I’ll come with you."

Ed didn’t object and the two rushed to the outside, opening the door and entering the rain once again.

"There." Hermione pointed to the middle of the island as she pulled out her wand and used an umbrella charm, covering her and Ed. "You see that crater over there?"

"Yeah." Ed pulled out his wand and casted a Lumos charm. "Let’s go."

The two quickly walked together and were alert at all times. Because of the rain, the ground was wet and full of mud, so they walked carefully so as not to slip. Once they arrived at the crater, the two saw that it was a mess. There was mud everywhere, and the grass was all over the place. Then they saw it: an ashen-haired girl laying on the muddy ground in the middle of the small crater, and her clothes were full of blood.

"It’s Ciri." Ed said, surprising Hermione. "Come on, help me help her."

The two then slowly climbed down the crater and looked at Ciri’s condition.

"She’s bleeding from her back, and she’s barely breathing." Ed informed the girl. "We have to close the wound now."

The girl just nodded. "Let’s take her to the cottage first."

"Okay, I’ll blink us there so as not to waste time."

The couple and the bleeding girl then were surrounded by blue particles, and instantly disappeared from the place, not leaving anything behind.

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