Owl Post

Disclaimer: The characters of the Harry Potter Universe belong to the goddess JKR. Only Alana, Robin and Amelia are mine.

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Damage Control - Chapter Four

Owl Post

Hermione ducked as Hedwig missed her by only inches before settling herself on a nearby windowsill, ruffling her feathers.

Hermione quickly searched for some owl treats while greeting her, "Hedwig, it's so nice to see you again. I hope you haven't had to wait too long." Hedwig hooted softly and stuck out her leg for Hermione to take the parchment that she had carried from number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"Please wait, Hedwig. I've a letter to write to Harry and Ron. I'm sure Alana will be happy to feed you some treats in the meantime."

Excited at the prospect of getting to know a real magical creature, Alana exclaimed, "Oh yes, I'd love to!" She took the treats from Hermione and started feeding the snowy owl carefully. Hedwig humoured the Muggle and ate the treats. They were, after all, rather tasty.

Hermione swiftly read through Harry's letter, which did not demand an immediate reply, and then sat down to write a quick note to him and Ron.

Dear Harry and Ron,

Hermione

She took the parchment and gently tied it to Hedwig's leg. "Thank you for waiting, Hedwig. Please take this back to Harry for me." Hedwig hooted softly and took off through the open window.

Hermione and Alana spent the rest of the day reading and discussing magic. Hermione was still very intrigued by Alana's perception of Magic. Muggle or not, she couldn't help thinking the idea had some merit.

The next morning, Hermione was awoken by an insistent tapping coming from the window. She got up quickly and rushed to the window to let Hedwig in. "Morning, Hedwig," she yawned and untied Harry's letter from the owl's leg.

Dear Hermione,

Harry

Hermione quickly wrote YES on the parchment before rolling it back up and replacing it on Hedwig's outstretched leg. Opening the window, she watched as the owl took off, heading back to number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

She got ready for the day and was pleasantly surprised when she went to the kitchen in search of coffee, only to discover Alana already awake and pouring two cups of the black liquid. The two girls enjoyed breakfast in a companionable silence, but as soon as Hermione finished eating, she began to bombard her cousin with questions about her views on magic.

Alana took her time explaining since she had nowhere near mastered the entire subject. Quite to the contrary, the more she understood, the more she realized how much more there was to understand.

"My view is that yes, up until recently, there have been... let's say, alternative realities in the world, and one wasn't necessarily known to the other. Although I'm not certain whether this is an entirely correct term, it's the best I can come up with for now." She looked at Hermione who was listening carefully. "For example, until recently, there had not been a single report of any Muggles finding evidence of what to us has come to be known as the 'Harry Potter World'."

Hermione looked at her cousin curiously. "And what has happened recently?" she asked.

"Several photographs have been published in different papers of Platform nine and three-quarters as well as the Leaky Cauldron. And they're Muggle pictures." Alana took a deep breath, and upon looking at her cousin, held a hand up. "I know what you're going to say; any Muggle-born witch or wizard could have taken these photographs. It's possible, of course, but there is a lot more to it. Firstly, I know someone –personally- who swears to have seen the Leaky Cauldron on one occasion. I have no reason to disbelieve him as he's been my Sensei for many years and I've always known him to be absolutely honest. But there seems to be more happening..." She paused, trying to find the right words. "On different levels, I'd say... you see, a lot of us, my friends, my mum's friends, and even online friends, we've all noticed that the energy is changing here. It's kind of shifting, slowly still, but at an increasing speed. More and more people are able to feel this."

Alana went quiet. She had never talked about this before except to those who she knew shared her views and she was not quite certain how Hermione, a real witch, would react to her revelations.

Both girls digested what Alana had said and then Hermione spoke. "I've read a few books on this only fairly recently, although I'm sure at least one of those I read wasn't that new. Is time passing faster now as well; is that true for the Muggle world? And what about those children, who are different, like those 'Indigo Children' and all the ones that make the Muggle headlines as 'Super psychics'?"

Alana held up her hand to stop the questions Hermione was shooting out like rapid gunfire. "Yes, yes, and yes, but... if you're looking for scientific proof, well... none of us have found it yet." She let out a long sigh.

Hermione eyed Alana with a blank expression on her face before speaking. "You know, I wouldn't expect scientific proof in that area. The difference between wizard and Muggle science is that Muggle scientists mostly know the outcome of any research before they even start it, because it's all very biased and depends on who finances it. And whoever finances it has an agenda. In the wizard world, researchers are open-minded, and more importantly, they never know the outcome of their research until it's completed.

"I read this book in which a scientist witch was trying to justify introducing vaccines to the wizard world at a time when there was a dire shortage of mediwizards and witches. That witch read all the Muggle studies available from all the medical publications and she was aghast to learn that there is not a single study out there that concludes things as they were clearly shown in the study; vaccines actually cause a lot more diseases than they prevent. She then stated in her book that all the conclusions of the studies belied the actual findings."

"Blimey, Hermione, you know, especially in the past couple of years, a lot of Muggles have reached that conclusion as well," Alana commented dryly.

Hermione made an effort to summarize what had transpired between them. "So... you say the energy on earth is shifting? Could it be that the realities of Muggles and witches are slowly becoming blurred?"

Alana nodded vigorously. "That's exactly what I think."

"It is a possibility," Hermione said, then continued, "So, let's say it is true. The energy is shifting to some different dimension, maybe, and it manifests by people becoming more aware of what's happening, people uncovering conspiracies, time passing faster..."

Alana interrupted her, "You know about the medical drug conspiracy that some American revealed? Which made sick children even sicker after they took the drug?"

"Yes, although I don't read Muggle papers at school there are enough Muggle-borns who keep up with the news," Hermione replied. She glanced at her watch and cried out in surprise, "Merlin, it's already past three o'clock, where did the morning go?"

"Oh, you know, time passing faster and all that," Alana grinned. "Let's grab a bite to eat, shall we? All this talking has made me hungry." Hermione readily agreed and the two girls raided the fridge and prepared some sandwiches.

Hermione and Alana spent the rest of the day with Alana wanting to know anything and everything about Diagon Alley and Hermione answering every question patiently. Eventually, both girls grew tired from all the talking as well as from trying to digest what the other had said, but Alana couldn't resist one last question. "Hermione, what is Professor Snape really like?"

Hermione thought for a while before answering. "Well, that's not an easy question to answer, you know. He's not exactly a nice person; he always blatantly favours the Slytherins, and so he's not really fair either. But you know, I've suspected for at least a couple of years now that he favours his own house simply because he doesn't want to blow his cover as a spy." She paused before continuing, "He's saved our lives, you know, Harry's, Ron's, and mine, on more than one occasion. I don't think he hates us as much as he implies with his behaviour. He's not nice, but I have no doubt that he is a good person."

The girls finally said their goodnights and Hermione spent quite some time pondering over her Potions professor.

'Come to think of it, he really is an enigma...' was her last thought before sleep took over.

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The next morning found both girls up bright and early. Alana was overexcited about visiting Diagon Alley and Hermione was relieved to finally be able to share the recent events with her closest friends. After a leisurely morning, mainly spent drinking innumerable cups of coffee and more talking, Hermione and Alana got ready to leave to meet up with Harry and Ron.

They caught a bus to Charing Cross and then Hermione led the way to the Leaky Cauldron, which was not far from the station.

"Hermione, I can see the Leaky Cauldron!" Alana exclaimed and pointed to the non-descript Pub.

Hermione goggled. "You mean you can actually see it? Oh my, Alana, that's incredible!" Hermione replied, the excitement evident in her voice, "Let's see what Harry and Ron have to say to that!"

The two girls ran towards the pub and after a very brief, "Hello," towards Tom the keeper, Hermione led Alana straight to the brick wall at the back. Hermione tapped the bricks with her wand causing the wall to shift and open wide enough to let them both through.

Alana took a deep breath and looked around in awe. "So this is what the real thing looks like, eh?"

"Yeah, this is the real thing, Alana," she replied, amused by her cousin's reaction. "Now, let's go to Fortescue's, it's nearly one o'clock."

As soon as they turned the corner, Hermione spotted Harry and Ron leisurely devouring a huge portion of ice cream and she increased her pace. The two girls were nearly running by the time they reached the ice cream parlour.

Harry grinned broadly as they hugged each other. "Long time, no see, eh, Hermione?"

Her reply was a happy laugh and a tight squeeze of her friend. "Oh Harry, I know it sounds ridiculous, but so much has happened in the last couple of days that it seems like weeks!"

Harry looked curiously from Hermione to Alana, prompting Hermione to introduce her cousin, "Harry, this is my cousin Alana. Alana, this is Harry and this is Ron."

"Hi there," she greeted them warmly. "I'm surprised, you both look exactly like the books describe!"

Alana's words were met with dumb expressions on the boys' faces and she looked sheepishly at Hermione. "Oops, sorry. I guess we should all sit down and Hermione and I will explain everything..."

Harry went inside to order ice cream for Hermione and Alana and then sat down to join Ron in looking at the girls expectantly. They took turns telling Harry and Ron everything, and in the end, the expression on Ron's face was priceless.

He stammered, "You... you mean..." he swallowed hard, "You mean, there are books in the Muggle world...about us?"

"Yes, Ron. That's exactly what we're telling you. Not only that, the books have been on the bestseller lists in several different countries!" Hermione explained patiently.

"Well, well, look what we've got here! Isn't it Scarface, Weasel and the Mudblood?" A smug voice drawled, interrupting them, "And, oh... am I seeing this right - a bloody Muggle in Diagon Alley?" The familiar blond sneered at them, "And I thought you could sink no lower; however, it doesn't surprise me." Draco Malfoy leered at Alana menacingly and immediately Harry, Ron and Hermione had their wands out, followed by Malfoy who leisurely drew out his own wand and pointed it at Alana.

"You coward," Harry growled, "Pointing your wand at a defenceless Muggle! Of course you would point it at her since you know you couldn't defend yourself against the three of us," he added with anger in his voice.

Nobody could recall exactly what happened next; in a quick flash of movement Alana was on top of Malfoy who was lying with his back on the ground. She held his wand at him with one hand whilst holding both his hands with her other hand.

"I may be a Muggle, but that doesn't make me defenceless, you creep," she hissed.

Malfoy was speechless and the fear showed on his face. This was truly a first; a Muggle had never before attacked him. He was accustomed to Muggles cowering in fear whenever he made so much as a subtle threat and it usually didn't even take his wand to be effective.

"Get up and get out of my sight," Alana spoke quietly and deliberately, "And if you ever so much as bend a hair on anyone at this table, I will personally chase you to the ends of the earth and turn you into mash." She looked at him and added haughtily, "And I do not need a wand to do that."

At that, she let go of his hands and got off him, still holding on to his wand. When she saw him looking longingly at his wand in her hand, she added, "I believe I'll be sending this to Professor Dumbledore with a report of how I came into possession of it. Am I correct in assuming that you are not supposed to do magic outside of Hogwarts?" She looked smug and Malfoy quickly got up and walked as fast as his legs could carry him in an attempt to put as much distance as he could between the quartet and himself.

Alana sat down in her seat again and continued to eat her ice cream as if nothing had happened. The three others stared at her in awe, speechless at her skill.

Harry was the first to find his voice again. "Wow, Alana, how did you do that?"

Alana shrugged and grinned. "Ah well, I guess all that Martial Arts training is finally paying off..."

"That was... that was bloody brilliant, you know!" Ron exclaimed.

"It's a shame really that he's such a creepy git," Alana said thoughtfully. "He could be a really nice person if only he wanted to. Or maybe he wants to and his father is stopping him..."

"Getting philosophical on us, Alana?" Hermione grinned at her before adding, "I agree, though, he could be a nice person..."

The group spent most of the afternoon discussing the recent turn of events, as well as the possible implications for the wizarding world, before they were interrupted again.

"Miss Granger," a menacing voice hissed, "Unless you wish to be responsible for Mr. Malfoy's death, I would suggest that you hand over his wand to me, right this instant."

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A/N

Big thanks to Tatiana and Cutie Pie who do so much more than merely checking for format, grammar, and punctuation.

As always, reviews are gratefully received.