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The Afterlife and Times of Myrtle Potter	By : NormanCharles Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 19696 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Okay, okay. I'm NOT JK Rowlings, I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money from writing these stories, I do it because it's fun and other people seem to enjoy what I write - the best of whom write review and tell me when I get it right and

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Chapter 15: Noir

Harry walked into the alley
behind Number 12 Grimauld Place and stood away from the wall in clear view; illuminated
by the reflected late afternoon sunlight.� The shadows were in sharp contrast
to the harsh light; one shadow was beyond dark.� Disturbing blackness so
complete he couldn�t see where the brickwork wall formed an angle with the
cobblestone alley driveway.

His plan was simple, let the
dementor take his soul, and then somehow he and Hermione would escape.� How?�
Well, the details were a bit iffy, but he was sure his bushy haired best friend
would think of something.� She always had before.

�I know who you are and I know
what you are, I�m not here to fight, I�m here to talk� he said, without
emotion, �let�s see if we can�t make some kind of deal, c�mon out.�

�I can�t� a little girl�s voice
answered from the shadows, �the light hurts.�

Harry sighed and stepped into
the shadows.

�Hermione?� he asked.

The thing that held Hermione�s soul
let Harry see her eleven year old self crouched in the shadows.

�So cold,� she whined, �so
hungry.�

He knelt down in front of the
tiny girl just out of her reach �can I bring you something, a sarnie perhaps?�

Hermione, even as a small girl,
had a look that made you know you had just asked the dumbest question in the
world.

�I�m sorry Mione,� he
apologized, �I don�t know what to do here.�

�If my host doesn�t feed soon it
won�t matter Harry, we�ll both be just, gone� the little girl sounded
resigned; her pale face looked almost skeletal.

�I won�t let that happen
Hermione,� he promised, �I�ll feed it myself before I let that happen.�

�She just trembled� the little
girl said, �I think she likes that idea.�� Young Hermione looked down at her
feet, �she knows all about you Harry, she has all my memories of you.�

�She?�

Hermione nodded �dementors take
on the gender of their most recent �soul,� and since I was my host�s last soul
meal . . .�

�Hermione, how is it that you�re
not, well, eaten?�

�I�m not sure about that� the
little girl said, �and neither is Noir.�

�Noir?� Harry asked.

�It�s what I call her, it means
�dark� or �black� as in �film noir,� it just seems appropriate.�

�Is there some way to feed
Noir?�

�We need a dark place with lots
of people, the more the better, the more angry or emotional the better,� the
little girl shivered and Harry moved closer.

�No,� she warned, �She�ll try to
get you if you come too close.�

�I�m gonna let her have me
anyway, that�s why I�m here.�

�No Harry, I won�t let you, I can�t
let her take you.� I will be the one in control here; she�s weaker than
I am.�

He disregarded her warning and settled
beside her so that he could wrap his arm around her.� The little girl sighed
and snuggled into his embrace.

�I�ve got an idea� he said,
making himself as comfortable as possible against the brick and cobblestones
�it�ll be dark soon and I might know a place where Noir can feed.�

They sat and talked,
Hermione/Noir described �shadowing,� the ability to completely disappear into a
shadow and other things dementor related.

�I�ve learned so much about essensentials,
Harry.�

�Is that what they call
themselves?� he asked.

�It�s what we are,� she
explained, �essensentials are extradimensional, not from this Earth, not even
from this reality.� The first of our kind became trapped here when a witch
tried to charm her husband � apparently he was cold and distant toward her and
she was trying to put some passion back in their marriage.� What she got was a
frightened young essensential that defended itself the only way it knew how.�
When the aurors arrived on the scene the witch was, well, you know.� Her husband
was completely shattered by the consequences of his wife�s actions, he held her
unresponsive hands in his own and begged her over and over again to �come back,
please come back, please, please. . . .

�The aurors called in the
unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries who managed to trap the young one
and took it back to the Ministry for study.

�Oh Harry,� she sobbed, �no one
tried to really talk with it, they just ran spell after spell, trying to see
what made it tick.� The unspeakables finally pushed and provoked it so much
that it feasted on its tormentor.� That was the second dementor�s kiss in this dimension,
the witch who summoned it had been the first.

�The unspeakables realized that
they had a unique weapon, if they could only control it.� They learned that
their test subject was an emotivore; that it fed on raw emotion, not just
happiness.� Emotivores feed on emotions, feelings, passions; the stronger the better,
but the ministry needed it to be a weapon, so they trained it to feed on
happiness until it became unable to eat anything else.

�They brought in condemned
prisoners and forced it to feed on them until it became overstuffed with
emotions and dissolved into a grey mist.� The researchers shrugged their
shoulders and chalked it up to experience.� Imagine their surprise and delight
when, after two days, there were two emotivores, hungry emotivores where
there had only been one.

�Essensentials are not monsters
Harry,� she explained very carefully, �at least, we weren�t before those
bastards took us and warped our natural behaviors to meet their own twisted
agenda!�

Hermione/Noir finished her story
as the sun dipped below the horizon.� Harry stood and held out his had to his
best friend.

�Ever ridden on a motorcycle
before?�

She trembled, �no, and I think
I�d rather not.�

�C�mon, it�ll be fun, you rode
Buckbeak, and you rode a thestral to the Ministry last year.�

�Both times I was with you, and
both times I thought I was going to fill my boots!�

�You�ll be with me again, c�mon,
please?�

She sighed and accepted the self-sizing
leather jacket and boots.

Before long they were motoring
in the direction of Southeast London, Lewisham road.� Harry pulled up to a
seedy looking �sports bar� called Pitchers and got off the bike.� He
helped Hermione slide off and secured the Triumph to a broken signpost.

They walked into the crowded pub
where highlights from the past summer�s FIFA World Cup were playing on various
screens around the room.� Harry ordered a fizzy drink for Hermione and a stout
for himself.� Most of the action was on the largest screen over the bar, which
was replaying the 1998 England Argentina match.�

�Oh perfect!� Harry mused, and
smiled.

With the score even at 2-2 and
the second half just begun, England�s midfielder David Beckham had been tackled
hard by Argentina�s captain Diego Simeone, who�d landed on Beckham's back.
Beckham retaliated by kicking Simeone, earning a red card and changing the
momentum of the match.

The English played valiantly the
rest of the way with just 10 men, but there is no telling what might have
happened had Beckham been given just a yellow card. The English had been
the aggressors for most of the match up until that point, and they had to play
more for the long ball the rest of the way.

Harry lifted Hermione over the
bar and whispered �stay down,� then stood up and said a bit too loudly; �I
wonder how much Beckham got for throwing that match?�

What followed was a classic
barroom brawl, Harry ducked the first punch, which landed on the guy who was at
the bar next to him and the m�l�e ensued, punches, kicks, screams, furniture
flying, and glass breaking.

Hermione�s face had a beatific
expression as she and Noir absorbed all the raw emotion of the group.

Harry ducked one punch but that
put his face in the perfect position to catch another and he was laid out next
to the bar.� He looked up and saw Hermione looking a bit older and a lot better
fed, �How much more d�you need?� he asked.

�Could do with a bit more� she
replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Harry groaned and rejoined the
brouhaha.� His auror training made him hard to hit, but there were enough
missiles flying around that it was impossible to not catch the odd pool cue or
fist or foot for that matter as the fight grew to near riot proportions.

Someone blew a whistle and the
Pitcher�s patrons started running helter-skelter out of the bar.

Hermione took Harry�s hand and
ran out the door just as two Bobbies grabbed him, one at each shoulder.

Hermione�s voice grew unearthly
as she faced the policemen and growled �let him go!�

�Sorry darling, this one�s for
the wagon, we ear� tell e�s the one whot started it!�

Hermione slipped the dragon hide
jacket off her shoulders, levitated out of the matching boots and let Noir take
over morphing into full dementor form.�

Both policemen suddenly
remembered other suspects, in other parts of the city - all of whom had a much,
much higher priority than this barroom brawler.

�Hmmm,� Harry mused, �apparently
muggles can see a dementor, um, an essensential if it wants them to.�

As Noir drifted into the alley
Harry unlocked the Triumph and waited until Hermione drifted out, looking a
good deal more like her 18 year old self. �He helped her on with the jacket as
she slipped effortlessly into the boots.� She looked good in the school
uniform under the leather jacket.� The dragon hide boots conformed to her
shapely calves making the ensemble very punk/schoolgirl hot!� The fact that she
was, well, gliding rather than walking was a bit disconcerting.�

They rode back to Grimauld Place lost in thought, the thrumming of the Trident�s three cylinders filling the
silence.� As Harry directed the bike to the carriage house Meacham stood in the
driveway holding the double doors open.

�Thank you Meacham� Harry said.

�Not at all sir� the old elf
replied, �you�ll be wanting to see Mrs. Potter straight away sir, I believe she
will have matters to discuss with you.�

Harry shuddered; he hadn�t
expected to survive his encounter with the dementor that had been stalking
them, now he was bringing that same soul sucker home.

�Ohhhh
Haaarrry!� Joo gots some �splainin t� do!�

They�d just entered the small
dining room when Hermione asked �Mrs. Potter?�

�Um, yes, well, y� see . . .� he
started lamely, �I thought you were gone, y�know, Kissed and when . . .�

�I�m gone, what, four days and
in your grief you get married?�� Hermione was building up a head of
steam now, and then she asked, almost too calmly �to whom?�

�Um, to you� he said trapping
her with his sincere emerald eyes.

�You married my dementor kissed
shell?� she said, aghast.

�Not married in the sense of �I
Harry do take you Hermione to be my lawful wedded wife,� he explained �we�re,
um, mate-bonded.�

�Harry� she said, pinching the
bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, �the only way we could be
mate-bonded is if we had . . .� her eyes grew wide in horror, �you had sex
with my inert body?�

�NO!� he shouted, �I mean no,
Hermione, you weren�t inert, you were, um ert?�

�Harry, start making some sense
or I swear I�m going to turn Noir loose!�

Before Harry could speak Hermione�s
voice screamed his name, only her voice was coming from another room.

He ran to the library where Myrtle
was slowly rising on Hermione's unsteady legs, �Harry?� she repeated.� He burst
into the room to see his wife shaking off the effects of his stunner.

She nearly fell over as Harry
rushed to catch her and hold her, �it�s okay baby, shhh, shhh, it�s okay, I�m
here, I�m here.�

�Oh Harry, I had this awful
dream, you were fighting for your life and I wasn�t there to protect you, and
you stunned me and you . . .�

The realization came to her
slowly, �you stunned me.�

�You would have tried to stop
me� he said by way of a lame excuse.

�You stunned me?�

�I wanted you safe . . .�

�You� her hands gripped his
shirt front, �stunned� she pushed him out to arms length and let go with her
right hand, holding his shirt front with her left, �Me?�

He nodded lamely and she smacked
him, leaving a handprint on his left cheek.

Then she broke down in
inarticulate tears sobbing into his chest even as she beat his arms and
shoulders.

He just stood there and let her
wear herself out.

Hermione cleared her throat from
the door.

Harry turned around and said
softly, �sweetheart, we have guests.�

She looked up at him with
disbelieving eyes, then at the doorway where Hermione stood.

�Myrtle, this is Hermione and
Noir.� Hermione, Noir, this is Myrtle Frisbee Potter, currently residing in
your dementor kissed body.�

As Hermione entered the library
Myrtle cowered behind Harry.

�They won�t hurt you sweetheart�
he reassured her.� Then he looked at the purposeful manner with which Hermione floated
ominously into the room, �you won�t hurt her, will you?�

She glared at Myrtle.

�Um, Hermione,� he asked �could
you just, um, please walk in the house?� The gliding thing is a bit
spooky.�

�Sorry Harry, I didn�t realize.�

�Myrtle Frisbee Potter� Hermione
asked �as in Moaning Myrtle?�

She nodded.

Meacham appeared at Harry�s
elbow and whispered �parliamentary procedures, sir, take the ladies to the
table and have it out.�

He looked quizzically at his
diminutive butler, who looked back and forth between the girls and Harry and
then meaningfully at the library door.

Harry moved the two girls to the
library table where he held out two chairs so they could face each other and
have the table as a buffer between them as he sat at the head of the table keeping
an eye on them both.

�Parliamentary procedures� Harry
announced, figuring that Meacham knew what he was about, besides, as head of the
house it seemed the thing to do, �Miss Hermione Granger has the floor,
Hermione?�

�Myrtle� she asked, �start with
why are you in my body; what gave you the right to take possession of it?�

�Well you weren�t using it . .
.�

�You do realize that I am in
control of a fully fledged dementor and that I can suck your little ghost soul
right out of my body if I so choose?�

�Harry wouldn�t let you!�

�Point of order� Harry
interrupted, �Miss Granger still has the floor; do you concede the floor to
Mrs. Potter.�

�Don�t call her that!�
she said in her distorted dementor voice, clearly agitated.

�I�m sorry Hermione, but we are
mate-bonded and in our own home she is my wife.�

�Don�t I get to say what happens
to my body anymore?�

�We�ll discuss that too if you
like, Meacham?�

The little butler read from the
scroll he had been writing on and in Hermione's own voice he repeated �Don�t I
get to say what happens to my body anymore?�� Then in Harry�s voice he
read �We�ll discuss that too if you like, Meacham?�

Hermione looked confused, �This
is an actual meeting?�

�Hermione I am the head of two
great houses, when I say �Parliamentary Procedures� it becomes an actual
meeting, any decisions we make will be legal and binding.� Now, you still have
the floor, do you yield?�

�I�ll give up the floor if Ghost
Girl here will just answer my question.�

Three pairs of eyes turned to
Myrtle.

She sat up defiantly and said,
�If I hadn�t, Harry would have died.� Everyone would have died, and as I said
before, you weren�t using it!�

�What do you mean Harry would
have died?� Hermione asked incredulously.

�Oh what I wouldn�t give for a
penseive right now� Myrtle moaned.

�Meacham?� Harry asked.

�In the cellar sir.� He said.

�Could you?�

Meacham looked embarrassed. �I�m
sorry sir; we shall have to go to it.� It�s too heavy for me to carry and you
can�t summon something like a penseive because it contains so much magic.� I�m
afraid it will not react well to the direct application of charms.�

�Could we put it in a box and
just levitate the box?� Harry asked.

�Levitate� Meacham said;
�The� he slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand �Box!�

The old elf faded from view then
walked in a few moments later levitating a large wooden crate which he placed
on the library table, then made the crate vanish leaving the penseive behind to
wobble in place for a few moments.

Myrtle drew the appropriate
memory from her temple and placed it into the penseive.

Harry and the girls placed their
heads into the basin and found themselves on the battlements.� Harry and Myrtle
were both shocked to see Hermione standing there holding onto Noir�s shoulder,
restraining her.

�Noir, if I let you go will you
stay with me?�

The dementor nodded and Hermione
let go.� The wraith floated in place.

An utterly defeated Harry Potter
was cradling Hermione's apparently lifeless form against his chest and he was
begging Voldemort to kill him.

�I couldn�t let it happen, I had
to do something; so I took possession of your body to try to help Harry�
Myrtle explained, then shrugged her shoulders, �I guess it worked.�

�Have you tried to un-possess my
body?�

�Yes,� she said, with a sigh of
relief, thankful that she had really tried to do the right thing.� �I tried the
very next day and I found that I am trapped, I�m sure Noir here could un-trap
me but then I�d be gone and your body would still be just a shell.�

They left the penseive and returned
to the table.

�I yield the floor to Mrs.
Potter� Hermione said wearily.

�Hermione, I�ve never heard of a
soul being able to control a dementor, how are you doing this?�

�I honestly don�t know,� she
sighed exasperatedly, �Ron and I were on the battlements when everything went
black, when I came to there was a dementor, Noir here, with her face inches
from my own and all I could think of was �no.� No I will not go, you will not
take me!� Harry needs me! �Ron needs me, my Mum and Dad need me and you
can�t have me!� I fought and struggled even as I felt my soul leaving my
body behind I fought the shadows.� I could see my body on the ground looking up
at my pitiful efforts, I was fighting, but I was loosing.� I was getting weaker
and weaker; I knew I was going to be taken. �Then, all of a sudden it was like
I was seeing through new eyes.� I became what I am now, whatever that is.� I
was about to try to get back into my own body when I saw Harry cast a wandless
spell that made my fellow essensential scream in pain and horror, then he
looked like he was about to cast the same spell at me and I panicked and flew
over the battlements.�

She took a deep breath, �I
wandered around the shadows for a bit and then kind of blundered into the great
hall where a dozen or so first years stung me with bright lumos spells.�
I had to flee again.� After a while I noticed the vents under the great hall
and started listening and reaching out.� I discovered then that I could inhabit
dreams, I even sent a message to Harry by way of an auror�s daydream,
remember?�

�Friendship and bravery� he
said, �very clever, how could I forget that?�

Hermione nodded, �after that we
began to test each others boundaries.�

�You and Noir?� Harry asked.

�Spot on� Hermione concurred,
�she tried to assert control over me, or failing that to digest me but it seems
she can�t.� For some inexplicable reason I�m indigestible.�

After a while we formed a kind
of truce, but she started to get weak � apparently I�m a parasite, I weaken her
and she needs to feed more often than other dementors. �I wouldn�t let her feed
on anyone in Hogwarts so we followed a healer through the floo to St. Mungo�s where
I remembered Grimauld Place.� I knew you�d be back sooner or later.� We even
shadowed you to Diagon Alley yesterday.�

�I remember� Harry said,
shuddering at the memory, �why didn�t you just try to talk to us?�

�Noir was preventing it, she
feels especially threatened by you Harry; you�re the first wizard she�s ever
seen who can actually destroy her kind.� I did manage to find a bit of chalk on
the sidewalk and leave you some runic clues.�

�Friendship and bravery� he
said.

�We had just about given up when
you showed up in the alley, typical Gryffindor, more courage than brains.�� She
placed her warm palm on his cheek, �thank you Harry.�

She sat up straight in her chair
and said �and the rest you know.�

Myrtle interjected, �I
don�t know the rest, what happened?�

Hermione smirked, �pretty much
what you�d expect, Sir Galahad here was going to sacrifice himself in order to
free me and spare you.� He had no way of knowing that I�d become the
controlling symbiot in our relationship.�

�All I saw in the alley was a
cold, hungry, frightened little girl.� I�ve been cold and hungry and frightened
myself, I had to try to help� he said with a shrug.

�We were in bad shape, Noir and
I, and Harry came up with an idea to feed us.�

�What do you eat Hermione?�

�Apparently nothing, I�m totally
dependent on Noir for sustenance, if she doesn�t feed, we both go hungry.�
She�s been �snacking� on all the excess emotions running around this house
since you, um, woke up.�

�Yeah� Myrtle said, throwing an
�I�ll get you later� look in Harry�s direction.

�So where did you go?�

�Apparently Harry knows some
very dodgy bars in Southeast London� she said, casting him a dark look.

�Hey, I�d never been there,
Seamus told me about it, said it was always packed and always looked like a
fight was about to break out� he explained, �he said I should wash my hands and
watch my back on the way out.�

�So Harry takes us to this dive
of a bar and starts a fight!�

Myrtle looked at Harry�s face
and noticed the cuts and bruises for the first time, �ooh, we need some healing
magic here.�

�Later� Harry assured her,
�Hermione and Noir fed on all the raw emotion in the place and we rode home,
and that is the rest of the story.�

�Let�s get you cleaned up Mr.
Potter� Myrtle suggested, �then maybe some supper. �Smells like Meacham has a
shepherd�s pie in the oven.�

�Um, Harry, I don�t eat and I
don�t exactly sleep at night, could I just stay in the library while you�re,
um, healing?� Hermione asked.

�Do you sleep during the day?�
he asked.

�After a fashion, we just go
inert for a few hours, but then Noir usually wakes up hungry� she looked
thoughtful for a moment, �we don�t need to feed everyday, but at least twice a
week, we�re going to need another food source � you can�t be starting barroom
brawls twice a week for the next few decades.�

Harry chuckled, �no, we�ll have
to think of something else.� Hermione, you don�t even have to ask � my home is
your home, I hope you�ll always feel that way.�

�Mrs. Potter, may I?��

She smiled and nodded as
Hermione pulled Harry into one of her patented bone-crushing hugs.� He
stoically accepted the embrace even though it reminded him of every scrape and
bruise on his battered body.

Hermione looked away as her
doppelganger took Harry by the hand and led him up the stairs.

Once behind closed doors they
fell into a tight embrace which unfortunately caused Harry to hiss in pain.�
Myrtle jumped back, �I�m so sorry, I didn�t think. . .�

�S� okay� he winced �you
couldn�t have known.�

�Strip� she ordered.

He groaned, his movements stiff
as he peeled out of his T shirt and sat on the bed.

�Oh Harry� she said, looking at
his bruises and abrasions.� Rowena Ravenclaw�s healing jewel was on his
nightstand.� She picked it up and said �we�d best start from the top.�

Holding the jewel in the palm of
her left hand Myrtle gently probed Harry�s scalp, �you have a knot on the back
of your head.�

�Pool cue� he explained.

�And a nasty bruise on your left
temple.�

�Someone had a pretty good
right-cross.�

She didn�t say a word as she
placed the jewel on his left cheek, where her hand print practically glowed.

�I suppose I deserved that� he
said, chagrined.

She smiled weakly and applied
the stone directly to his scrapes and bumps, lightly kissing his skin and scalp
as she healed them.

She thought, �why not?� and�
applied the stone to his lighting bolt shaped scar, which faded noticeably but
a persistent hint of it stubbornly remained, no longer etched but rather traced
on his forehead.� Oh well, it had been a part of him for so long, he might
actually miss it.

She healed his split lip, and
then kissed him tenderly.� He reached to embrace her but winced as the rest of
his injuries manifested themselves.

�Hold still� she smirked, �let
your healer work here.�

She cataloged his bruises, nasty
welts on his back and forearms, huge purpling bruises on the sides of his torso
from three cracked ribs.

�Doesn�t it hurt to breathe?�

�A bit� he admitted, �I�ve had
worse scrapes on the quidditch pitch.�

She caressed his exposed skin
with her warm fingertips and followed each caress with the healing stone.

�You�ve had a right pasting
Harry, the best we can do is just let you kip with Rowena�s stone.�

�Riddle healed a lot faster� he
groused.

�Riddle had the stone under his
skin.�

She thought for a moment and
then smiled evilly �do you want this stone inside you?�

He looked confused for a moment,
�it�s too big to swallow. . .� then looked horrified at his wife, who was
barely containing her guffaws.

�That is just wrong!� he
grumbled.

She found a small pouch and
placed the stone inside, then attached a long cord so that Harry could wear it
around his neck.

�Lie down,� she ordered and then
joined him on the bed, being very careful not to bump him.� She placed her hand
on the pouch and said �thank you Harry.�

He was nearly exhausted as he
asked �what for?�

�For not dissolving our bond,
for letting me keep the ring, for not hating me.�

�I was pretty sure I knew who
you were when I gave you the ring, Love, and you are the girl I�m mate bonded
to.�

�And if she finds a way to take
her body back?�

�Then it�ll still be you I�m
bonded to. . .� he sighed, then drifted off to a healing sleep.

Downstairs the brightest witch
of her age was devouring all the books she could find on soul magic.
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The Afterlife and Times of Myrtle Potter