victory_road | Closed to Hermione | backdated to mid-Sept.

Entry tags:

hermione granger (harry potter)

Closed to Hermione | backdated to mid-Sept.

Who: Felix and Hermione
Where: Ecruteak
When: 9/13
Summary: Felix finds out Hermione lives at the pokecenter and is concerned??
Rating: G

Felix tells the others to go on ahead on their way back to Kanto from Sevii, as he plans to drop by the Olivine house to pick up a few things. He stops briefly at Medusa, too, just to let Lust know why he hasn't been to the club in a while. When he gets back to the Pokecenter to warp, he spots a familiar face there. One he...hasn't seen since before Sylvain left, and he's been out of communication since then; they're way overdue for more lessons.

"Hermione. We should catch up on training."

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Hermione squeaks and almost drops the coffee she literally just picked up from the PokeCentre cafe. Turning and flicking drops of coffee off one hand, her surprised expression grows to a large smile.

"Felix! I didn't know you'd be passing through Ecruteak. What are you doing here?"

Felix blinks at her enthusiasm. Has she always been this happy to see him and he never noticed?

"Just passing through to speak to my employer. I'm on my way back to Kanto. What about you?"

It was moments like these that Hermione was glad she was one of those people who dressed before grabbing a coffee from the PokeCentre cafe. More than a few times she'd seen trainers stumble downstairs in pajamas.

"Oh, same! I needed to give my Altaria a rest. Too many trips lately, what with the temple explorations and so on, so I'm trekking it back on foot this time."

She gestures towards a free table nearby.

"Do you have time to catch up? Will your employer mind?"

"I do." Felix moves to sit at the table. "I was only here to tell her that I won't be back for some time. So no, she won't mind."

It's not like Felix needs a job. Not with his dozen or so money cats and his constant battling against local trainers.

"You went to the temple as well. Did you catch anything there?"

Smiling, Hermione takes a seat opposite Felix, still nursing her coffee.

"Well that's good! Where are you working? It sounds like your boss is pretty flexible."

All Hermione's pokemon are currently either up lounging in her bedroom, or in storage - something she hated doing but at the moment she didn't have a choice while travelling - so she couldn't show Felix her temple acquisition.

"I caught a tirtouga! It's a real sweetie. I've wanted one for a while but they're quite rare. I find all the fossil pokemon really fascinating!"

Felix stares at her for a moment, replaying the memory of Lust stretching easily into a vertical split on the pole. That...is definitely not what Hermione means, right? No. It is not.

"Um. It's a...dance theater. It's only an excuse to perform, anyway, I don't need the money."

Only after he says it does he realize he's opened the door for her to say she wants to see him perform. Whoops.

Talking about temple Pokemon is much more comfortable. The corners of his mouth turn up a little; of course she finds them fascinating. He's sure she's read a dozen books about them by now. "Yes, that place was a unique opportunity. I caught a Kabuto there."

Hermione visibly perks up at that.

"Oh, I really enjoy theatre! My parents have taken me to Shakespeare's Globe and Her Majesty's Theatre in London quite a few times to see shows."

Her eyebrows quirk up in inquiry. "I didn't realise you performed. What kind of performance do you do?"

She mentally notes his mention of a kabuto - maybe down the track etween them they could breed more fossil pokemon?

The names of the theaters mean nothing to Felix, but he nods. “I’m not one for plays, but I enjoy opera and ballet.”

Then of course she asks for more details, because who wouldn’t with the opening he just thoughtlessly gave her?

“Dance. I don’t normally perform at all except on the battlefield, but this world is too…quiet. I need something meaningful to work toward and train for.”

Surely, Hermione Granger won’t ask more questions…right?

She nods thoughtfully.

"Actually, I can see that. I did mention when you showed off you skills when we got our powers back briefly that watching your sword fighting was like watching a dance."

She sighs and then laughs ruefully.

"What I wouldn't have given for a 'quiet' world back home."

Though, she muses to herself, would she have learnt even half as much if Harry hadn't been in near constant danger for the past five years?

"How often and where do you perform?"

He smiles a little at the reminder of what she'd said, but then frowns thoughtfully. "I suppose I'm in the minority of people from other worlds here. Most seem to relax in an environment like this, not grow more restless."

Her question gives him a moment of pause, during which he stares at her again. Will she be familiar with the club? Probably not, right? Then again, Lust has posted to the network about it before...

"It's...the theater is called Medusa," he says carefully. "I'm not performing at all right now. I'm...taking a break from it." His eyes stray down to the table and off to the side. "I'm not sure when I'll start again."

"I suppose that's true although given how often something weird happens here, I don't think you're too spoiled for action, really."

She raises an eyebrow at the name. That was..amusing.

"Ironic name choice, given those who gazed into Medusa's eyes turned to stone. Your boss obviously has a sense of humour."

She notices his eyes shift. Not meaning to press, she just wants to make sure there's nothing more serious going on.

"Is everything okay?"

Felix rolls his eyes. “Hardly the sort of ‘action’ I’m used to. I can’t even wield a real sword.”

He tilts his head a bit. “Medusa was a person? I don’t think Lust named it. She inherited it from someone else.” …someone else who left this world.

The question is annoying, but he’s not annoyed with Hermione for asking it. “It’s fine. …Sylvain went home. That’s all.”

As though it were such an insignificant thing.

Hermione almost chokes on her coffee.

"Lust? Your boss' name is Lust?"

The hilarity of the entire dancing situation soon ceases at Felix' next comment however.

"Oh, Im so sorry to hear that."

She reaches across the table to pet his hand in sympathy.

"It's really hard when people get sent home. It's happened to a few close friends of mine."

Credence. There was someone she hadn't thought of in a long while...

Felix shrugs. "Apparently. I've never heard her use any other name."

He pulls his hand back when she's done petting it, expression going somewhat impatient. Yes, she's sorry, everyone is always sorry, he's sick of it.

"...I'm getting coffee."

He gets up and heads over to the counter, with Inda the shiny Tsareena trailing behind him. They return a few minutes later - Felix with coffee, Inda with a little cup of sweetened water. He just sips quietly at his coffee for a moment, before he says, "Are those the friends you were looking for when you first arrived?"

Hermione watches him as he walks away, concerned. He obviously isn't taking the disappearance well, but she can understand not wanting to talk about it, so she's not going to bring it up again until he does.

At his question on returning, she looks down, tracing the rim of the coffee mug with a finger.

"No. No, it was someone I first met here who was from my world, but many years in the past. We grew close, so it was...difficult...when he left, knowing that even if I returned to my world, I'd never see him again."

She sighs, looking out the window.

"He was also going back to very unpleasant circumstances."

She pauses for moment.

"I hope he's okay," she finally says softly.

Felix keeps his eyes on his coffee, thoughtful. "It's strange. Most people I've spoken to here say that this world is more pleasant than their own, or than their circumstances were at home." His gaze hardens. "But even if Arceus thinks it's 'rescuing' people or whatever nonsense goes through its head, its generosity is short-lived. Capricious."

After a moment, he shakes his head, putting it out of his mind. "Have you kept up with your training since last we met?"

Hermione is a little startled at Felix's dark expression when talking about Arceus, but she can't blame him. She railed against the world too when Credence was sent home.

"Well, it's not clear still how it's happening. It may not be Arceus' doing at all. I heard about Team Rocket's stupid stunt in opening a wormhole and letting something awful through. I wouldn't be surprised if it was some sort of machine or something that was causing it."

But she agrees with his comment about the short-lived generosity if that's what the purpose of being brought here was. It also didn't seem to be very choosy - really, Harry is the one who should have been 'rescued', even if only for a short time to give him a breather from all the horrible things that kept happening to him. At least it would give him time to train, like she had been with Felix. Speaking of which....

Hermione has the decency to look embarrassed.

"Um...it's been a little hard, being on the road and not having a set place to train, and finding somewhere safe to stay at night if I haven't made it to a Pokemon Centre..."

She knows she's throwing out poor excuses. She'd just have to buckle down and make time to train, especially since Felix is so kindly spending his time training her, and she has no idea when she'll be sent back.

Edited 2022-01-10 22:08 (UTC)

Huh. Not Arceus' doing? "Wormhole? Hm. If it was a machine, you would think Arceus could do something so that it wouldn't...mess around with people's lives."

Felix gives her a funny look. "Where do you live? I thought you could access most if not all of the warps in Johto by now."

She shrugs. "Maybe Arceus wishes to be called righteous rather than act right," she says, recalling a famous quote about Athena.

She fiddles with the now empty coffee cup, embarrassed to admit that she's kind of homeless at the moment.

"Not...really anywhere? I can't really afford it, and unlike last time I was here, it's been rather hard to get a job. I've been doing some casual work here and there, but that's about it." Also, there's the issue of space for her pokemon.

She doesn't admit that she's also been on edge since she arrived due to the circumstances of her arrival, which wasn't helping. Like she's expecting Dolohov to appear at any moment to finish the job. Her hand subconsciously moves to rub at her chest where she'd been hit, something that is becoming the norm whenever she thinks about what happened.

Felix snorts, derisive. "I wouldn't be surprised. That's practically the entire nobility where I'm from."

He blinks at her, stunned, and then glowers. "What? What do you mean, not anywhere? Don't tell me you've just been sleeping at Pokecenters and camping? Do you even have a tent? Or a Meowth?"

Hermione looks affronted that Felix thinks she's going out unprepared.

"I'm not an idiot Felix!" She replies hotly.

"Of course I have a tent! And a decent sleeping bag. I've read all about surviving in the elements in case I got caught out nowhere near a centre. It's a lot easier now that Nimbus can fly from place to place, but sometimes the centres are full. My pokemon protect me, and I am saving up for a place. It's just...taking a little longer than expected."

“Hmph.” Felix sips his coffee, mostly mollified. “Good. But winter is no time to be scrambling to find somewhere to sleep every night. We have plenty of rooms at our house. You can have one of them.”

She blinks at the unexpected offer.

"That's kind of you but I don't want to be a burden, or impose on you and your housemates."

He wasn't wrong though - she had been concerned about winter closing in.

Felix rolls his eyes. “I just said we had plenty of rooms, how would you be a burden? I wouldn’t have offered if it would be an imposition. Take it or not, whatever.”

Which is his way of saying he’s worried about her, probably.

Hermione picks up that he may be a tad exasperated at her response.

Logically, he probably wouldn't have asked her if he actually didn't want her to stay. But even so...

"Are you sure your housemates won't mind? How many people do you live with?"

“I’ll ask them, but I doubt anyone will object.”

The other question gives him pause. How many are there now? He has to stop and count.

“…seven. Sometimes eight, when one of my other students stays with us. One of them is a twelve year old child. In case you dislike children.”

Eight?!?

With that many in the house they'd probably barely notice an extra person to be fair.

She leveled Felix with a look. "I live 10 months of the year in a school with hundreds of other kids, including sharing a dorm with three others. I think I'll cope."

She frowns, thinking, and glances upstairs where she knows some of her pokemon are still napping.

"Are you on your way back home now? I can quickly grab my stuff, or...if you give me the address, I can come later if now is an inconvenience. It's in Kanto, right?"

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Closed to Hermione | backdated to mid-Sept.

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omg i'm so sorry -_- timeline fudging is easily doable if you want!

No problem, believe me I know what life is like!

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Sorry Felix, its your own fault...

truly, he has played himself XD

Oh you know she's def going to want to come see a show now LOL

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So sorry, I was wrecked for last 3 months of 2021

no worries at all! <3

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