The Rebirth

The Figure

Before I begin, I would just like to say:

DISCLAIMER : This is a fan-fiction, based on the original story of Harry Potter written by J.K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter - the characters and majority of the settings are included in this story are either based off or are actually used within the stories or films.

Copyright© Statement:  The storyline used in the story 'The Rebirth' is the stated Author's work (the owner of this account, Yasminij). She does not own all of the characters, and does not own all of the settings used within the story. Any content that is not of her own belongs to the author of Harry Potter - J.K Rowling.

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It was a perfect day for something not so very perfect to occur. Rain streamed down the windows, and Hermione was sure that the Chrysanthemum's were going to come smashing down in the garden at any moment.
It was a Sunday, and she was home alone. The kids were at Hogwarts and Ron had some extra work to do at the Ministry, so Hermione was sending packages to the kids with the help of Crookshanks.
Pen in one hand, another stroking Crookshanks, Hermione laughed to herself as the ginger kitten purred, nestling into her lap. Funny, she thought, that Ron would be so happy to have a cat in the house. Her mind flashed back to all those petty arguments they used to have over Crookshanks [the first] and - her thoughts stopped abruptly as two things occurred; Firstly, her sudden remembrance of the unfortunate existence of Peter Pettigrew made the hairs on her arm stand up on end. Secondly, one of the flower pots outside had finally given up and dropped to the floor, sending bits of clay pot in all directions.
Sighing, Hermione lifted the cat off her lap and went outside, taking her wand with her as she left.
But just as she was pointing her wand at the pieces, she heard a thud coming from beside the lake. She looked up immediatley. Nothing was there, but she could've sworn she saw a figure a second ago. Raising her wand, she said "Anyone there?" in a firm tone. Nothing.
"Hormenum Revelio". Again, no sound was heard except the rain falling around her.
She quickly muttered 'reparo' and shut the door as the clay bits stuck together again.
Crookshanks greeted her as she reentered, but immediately jumped away once her fur got wet. But Hermione wasn't paying attention. She grabbed her phone, and called Ron.
Hermione stood tapping the table with her knuckles as she waited for Ron to pick up.
"Hi it's um, Ron here, I'm currently - yes I'm recording it now - busy so -  Hugo stop laughing - just leave a message. See ya"
Frustrated, Hermione put down the phone and didn't bother leaving a message. She dried off and went back to her packaging.
Soon her mind was back onto the chocolate frogs and mini enchanted soaps that she was going to send to Rose. Yet the thought of what she had seen was nagging at the back of her mind.

After having sent the packages and dinner heating on the stove, Hermione was finishing off some work when the phone rang.
"Ron? I called you hours ago!"
"Mione, i'm sorry, you know i'm not good with these phones. Spent a bloody hour trying to switch it on. Anyway, you ok?"
"I'm sure it's nothing, it's just I - well I could've sworn there was someone in the garden today."
Hermione heard a thud in the background. "Ron? You ok?"
"I'll be there in a second". True to his word, a slightly damp Ron came rushing in, his cheeks red.
"What's going on? What's this about the garden?" He rushed towards her, hugging her tightly.
"Honey, Ron, honestly I'm fine, I just got a bit of a fright. I don't even know if there was someone, it was probably one of the garden gnomes waddling about -" Hermione was of course, lying. She know what she had seen, and it definitely had not been a garden gnome. But it could've been what she thought it was, it couldn't.And she wasn't going to let Ron worry for goodness knows how long unless she was certain.
For years, none of them slept very well. There would be nightmares, and the one night Hermione would not wake up at 5am screaming, Ron would wake up, sweaty, tears falling down his face. But they'd been there for eachother, and what with the kids, their jobs, and just everything - they'd stopped. Were they going to come back now the kids were at Hogwarts?

Hermione eventually convinced Ron it was just a moment of fright, but at dinner that night, a subdued silence hung over the dimly lit table.
They went to bed that night, the most conversation being murmurs about the Daily Prophet and the Auror office. They both knew what the other was thinking about, but didn't dare say it aloud. And so they fell into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning late into the night.
For the first time in years, Hermione and Ron Weasley didn't sleep, visions of death eaters and Voldemort jolting them awake every so often.