What Voldemort Left Behind

Chapter 17 - Hermione's Search

James watched as his friends crowded round his brand new broomstick, desperate to even touch it.
"I've heard that they hand make these broomsticks whenever someone orders them, custom for each person because they're so expensive and made for whatever school's pitch you're playing on."

"Yeah they do, Dad ordered them for us and Rose and Hugo and they took a month to make, and that was special release day delivery."

"So James, how was your holiday?" His best friend asked excitedly. Everyone always wanted to know what his family got up to, they would happily have listened to his house elf's shopping list.

"Um.... It was good at the start when we got our brooms and had the family Quidditch game we hold every school holiday. But Dad........ on Easter Sunday his flashbacks were really bad and he was unconscious until Tuesday. I've never seen McGonagall so worried she's usually really calm."

"McGonagall? Were you at Hogwarts??? I stayed over the holiday, I wish I'd seen you," One said enviously.

"No she was at our grandparents house."
The group looked surprised. "She's been to your house?"

"Well yeah obviously, she's known my parents since they were at school and after the war they got really close. McGonagall was in the Order Of The Phoenix," James informed them.
The Order was widely known to be the main resistance group against Voldemort but many people had lost track of who did what, there were so many now famous people who had contributed to the war effort. The group gasped at the mention that their Headmistress was part of this well known organization.

"Anyway she looked awful, I even saw her hair out of place once so it must have been bad. She couldn't seem to do anything, and then no one could wake him up and it was really scary. For most of the time he looked like he was dead, but occasionally he would shake and yell about people dying... who were killed a long time ago. Mum stayed with him, she rarely left. Lil and I noticed something was going on and we tried to eavesdrop but Grandad found us and told us what happened." All of James's friends had enough practice pranking in their six years at Hogwarts to know that it was never good when adults told you what you were sneaking to find out yourself.

-

Hermione knocked on the door of a very nondescript house in Surrey. She was dressed in extremely Muggle like clothes and her wand was stowed away in her bag, she didn't know what would happen here but she knew she wouldn't need it in her hand for self defense, it wasn't dangerous to be around these people. A heavily built man with dark blonde hair answered the door, he looked very middle aged compared to his cousin who looked quite young for 40 and Hermione could not see the resemblance in any way. The man smiled politely but did not recognize her, Hermione had seen him briefly at Kings Cross as a teenager but had never paid attention as he wasn't important, she had always been preoccupied with saying goodbye to her best friends.

"Hello, my name is Hermione Granger, are you Dudley Dursley?"

The man nodded in surprise but had no reaction to her name, Hermione thought that probably over the years he'd forgotten the names of his cousin's best friends. "Are you the cousin of Harry Potter?"

Dudley's face changed to shock, clearly that was the last thing he was expecting her to say. "Yes. I haven't heard that name in a long time......."

"I'd like to speak with you if that was possible, it may take a while so I can come back at a more appropriate time if you need."

"No, no, now is fine, come on in. Excuse me but are you..." He seemed hesitant, as though he was afraid in case Hermione wasn't, and he was going to embarrass himself. "A wizard?"
"Yes. I'm from the wizarding world just like Harry."