RP: Museums and Memories

[rar_hermione]

Date: Monday, November 13, 1999
Characters: Hermione Granger, George Weasley
Location: London
Status: Private
Summary: Hermione and George take a walk
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[rar_george]

The museum had been what he'd expected, and yet not. He'd anticipated anxiety, or at the very least that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he'd been pleasantly surprised to find that he could...well, mostly enjoy the displays and exhibits.

And he always enjoyed time with Hermione. Somehow an outing with her turned into more than it was planned to be, almost every time. She suggested walking to the river and he looked up, dragged from a persistent thought about a painting he'd seen, and he nodded. "That sounds nice, actually. Especially in the not-rain we're having," he added with a twist of a smile.

They walked for a few minutes and George found his mind wandering back to the painting, and he looked over at her. "The museum was a good idea, by the way. So many of those things...I wonder if the people they're about thought that nobody would remember them. You know? Like...they hadn't made a difference."

[rar_hermione]

"I don't know," she said honestly. "The exhibits with journals and letters...I don't think any of those soldiers or fighters ever planned for their private thoughts to be behind glass display cases now. Some of the items were donated by family members of those killed in the wars, while others were donated by the soliders who survived, so it's an interesting mix of items."

She looked at him. "The first time that I came here since I was a child was too soon after our war. I went through the trench exhibit and it made me feel ill because it was too familiar, in a way. What I've since realized is that it probably has that affect on those who didn't go through a war, and that's a positive thing, you know? It's a reminder to people of what that can be like, about those who sacrificed their own lives to fight for their cause, whether it was 'right' or 'wrong'."

[rar_george]

George nodded. "And I look at those paintings and pictures...those soldiers? They were just kids, I think. Then I think...damn. We were just kids, too. Barely twenty years old and doing what we thought we had to do..."

He shoved both hands into his jeans pockets, looking down at his feet as they walked. "My favourite was the section with all the secret stuff. Invisible ink and secret radios. That's the kind of stuff we had a blast with, Fred and me."

[rar_hermione]

"We were," she agreed. "Harry's been fighting since he was eleven, even if it was a few more years before he had to deal with Voldemort coming back completely. Think about fifth year. That was fighting, even if it wasn't the same as the last year of it."

She glanced at him. "I'm not surprised that you liked the spy tactics and such. It's sort of like with Potterwatch. It was so important to passing along information to everyone, yet I wonder if anyone will remember it in another ten years."

It was probably not the best idea to mention something that involved Lee, but she wasn't going to avoid the subject because that wouldn't help George at all. They reached the Thames, and she led him down the stairs so they could walk along the bank. When they felt like sitting, there were several empty benches along the way.