Chapter 2
“Harry Potter is dead!” Hagrid had Harry’s limp body in his arms. He was pale, unmoving. It was over. Everyone died for nothing. Hermione felt a scream leave her body but didn’t hear it. She looked for Ron beside her but he was keeping Ginny from running to Harry. It was all for nothing. Harry, her best friend, was dead. The months in the forest, the hours spent together in the library, the moments of joy in the Great Hall, all of it was gone. Her chest began to hurt. She felt herself begin to hyperventilate. Voldemort won. She was going to be killed. She survived the Manor for nothing. Her arm began to throb. Bellatrux was looking at her like she was candy. She smirked and it rippled through Hermione’s soul. It was over. Harry was dead. The Boy Who Lived was dead.
Mia woke up in a panic. Her face was on fire and tears were rolling down her cheeks. ‘You are in New York’ she thought to herself, ‘Hermione doesn’t exist anymore’. A wave of nausea hit her as she sat up. Mia tried to move but she was frozen in place. All she could do was throw up on her bed. 'Hermione Granger was gone. Mia Granger was alive.' She threw off the covers and walked into the bathroom. As she turned on the shower she looked at herself in the mirror. Her under eye bags were dark and her eyes were puffy. She was shaking. Her watch read 3:48 AM. Mia was not going to be able to go back to sleep.
Work was methodical. She sat in front of her computer rewriting and editing for hours. She kept her door closed, everyone knew to not bother her. Her cursor blinked as she stared at her email. ‘Hermione doesn’t exist anymore’ she thought to herself. A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. “Come in,” she said, trying to sound unbothered.
“Hey Brit, we need an editor to come look at the layout. Brown is out of town and Jones is in a meeting,” said one of the interns. She didn’t recognize him. He looked scared. Mia knew she was somewhat feared in the office.
“Yes, yes of course. Give me five minutes, I have to send this email,” replied Mia. The intern nodded and left, not bothering to close the door. Mia sighed knowing more people were going to stop in now. All she wanted was a day of peace. She quickly wrote and sent her email. While she stood up she slammed her forearm into her desk. Her scar began to hurt, but it hadn’t stopped hurting since that night.
Mia carefully walked through the office, not wanting to talk to anyone. Everyone stared, but the look on her face told her coworkers to stay away. Her feet felt heavy, but she knew she had to keep going with her day. When had a bad nightmare ever stopped her from working? She arrived at the layout room where five pairs of eyes met her own. The table was fully covered and so were the lines. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room.
“We just need your approval,” said Thomas as he stepped aside so she could look at the table. All the articles looked the same. Black and white, line after line of words that in the end had no meaning. She read the first headline Immigrants Take to U.S. Streets in Show of Strength. Strength, strength is what she needed. She continued to read the titles and check the format until the very last page. She felt every set of eyes on her nervously.
“Hyperactive is misspelled in the last headline, but other than that it looks good,” said Mia as she saw relief flow across everyone’s faces. She wished her biggest problem was misspelling a word, but it wasn’t.
“Great, yeah okay, we will fix that ASAP,” said Thomas as he picked up the clip of the article. “I’ll get this to editing,”.
Mia nodded and walked back to her office. As she sat down in her chair a photo fell off of her desk. She watched as the glass shattered all over her floor. She felt herself scream. Loud noises, she hated loud noises. Her office door burst open.
“Are you okay? I heard you yell,” said Thomas as he was holding the article. It was crushed in his hands.
“Yes, I’m fine, I just knocked over a picture and it scared me,” said Mia as she picked up the frame and set it on her desk. Thomas walked over and looked at the photo. Mia watched as he picked it up carefully.
“You looked happy here,” said Thomas as he sat it down and began to walk out of the room. Mia ran her fingers over the picture of Harry, Ron, and her in Hogsmeade during 5th year. The memory passed through her mind. Her smile was bright and her eyes gleamed with joy. She was laughing in The Hog’s Head with Ron’s arm thrown over shoulder as Harry turned to both of them laughing. Seamus had split his butterbeer all over himself while retelling one of his adventures from the summer. She didn’t remember who took the photo but it must have been Dean. Life was simpler then. She wanted to cry, but couldn’t. She hadn’t since the end of the war.
“Yes, yes I was,” whispered Mia as she placed the photo in a drawer. She noticed Thomas trying to read her face. No one knew about her past and she planned to keep it that way. SHe took a deep breath and reset her face.
“I’ll get Shelby to bring you a broom,” said Thomas as he walked out. Mia could tell he wanted to ask something, but he didn’t. No one ever asked.
She continued to type away at her computer trying to get her old life off of her mind. It had been years, 7 to be exact. Sometimes she forgot why she left without any notice, but at night her subconscious would always remind her through dreams and nightmares. She missed it in moments like these when the memories came flooding back, but she knew she could never go back. She had hurt them, her found family, and she knew they would never forgive her. Every so often she would go into the wizarding part of New York to grab a newspaper. She had learned Harry and Ginny got married, and Ron was engaged to Padma Patel. None of the small news ever made it across the ocean, but she was glad. The less she knew, the less she felt like she betrayed them. When Mia came back to reality she noticed what she had been typing on her computer.
Never go back.
Never go back.
Never go back.
Never go back.
She let out a gasp as her door opened again. Mia quickly deleted every line and shut her computer like it was on fire.
“I know you weren’t just watching porn in the office Mia,” laughed Shelby as she walked over with a broom.
Mia’s mouth opened and closed but words didn’t come out. “Joking, I’m joking. Our office’s Golden Girl would never,” said Shelby as she began to sweep the glass into a pile.
All the color began to drain from Mia’s face. That name. It haunted her. She felt herself begin to hyperventilate as Shelby continued to talk, but she couldn’t hear a thing.
“Mia. Mia,” repeated Shelby as she noticed and set down the broom.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” repeated Mia as she put her head in her hands. It felt heavy, everything felt heavy.
“It’s okay. You’ve been having a hard day, but I know what can fix that,” said Shelby as she sat on Mia’s desk.
“What,” said Mia as she raised her head back up.
“We are going out tonight,” replied Shelby as a smile grew across her face. Mia laughed and it felt good.