Missing
Starts in summer before seventh year Hogwarts; Draco isn't a Death Eater, and didn't kill Dumbledore, Lucius is not in jail, Sirius is alive, and so is everyone else who died.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Chapter 1: Loneliness
Hermione Granger sat in her room at the Burrow with her pile of school books in front of her. She had already read through them once and there was still two weeks left before school. She really didn't plan on reading them all so soon, it's just that there was nothing else to do.
Harry and Ron were always at Hogwarts with Dumbledore and Ginny was always with Luna. She was basically at the Burrow alone with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
She occasionally got company when Fleur came over to discuss wedding plans with Mrs. Weasley, but she mostly just sat around the burrow with no one for company. Harry and Ron didn't even seem to care as they were too busy going off on the adventures that Dumbledore had deemed "inappropriate" for a girl.
She was a little miffed at first, but Dumbledore had made up for it by naming her Head Girl. She was excited but at the same time she didn't want to live alone without her friends with her.
She glanced out the window and sighed.
"What am I going to do with myself for two weeks?" she said.
She sat there for a few minutes before deciding to take a walk. She got up and went outside into the warm summer air. She walked with no real destination in mind, so she headed for the woods to explore. She walked slowly through the thick underbrush of the trees and looked around at all the lush greenness surrounding her. She found a clearing and lay down in the middle of it and looked up at the clouds.
She listened to the birds chirping and the insects buzzing as her thoughts drifted away from her. She felt her eyelids getting heavy and she didn't fight them.
'Maybe I should take a nap' she thought as she closed her eyes and drifted off.
He saw her enter the clearing from the other side of the woods. He smiled to himself as she lay there not moving. He walked over to her and stared down at her beautiful face as she slept peacefully.
He crouched down and brought the back of his hand up to her cheek and slowly caressed it. She leaned into his hand, obviously thinking it was part of her dream and she sighed in her sleep. He smiled and then leaned in to whisper into her ear.
"Someday you won't be so lonely" he said.
He saw her eyes starting to flutter and then he quickly walked away to hide in the shadows of the trees. He watched as she sat up slowly and looked around confused and then smiled and touched her cheek.
She felt someone brush her cheek and then heard an unfamiliar voice say
"Someday you won't be so lonely."
She tried to open her eyes quickly to see who it was, but when she opened them all she saw were the trees and the sky. She sat up slowly to orient herself and touched her cheek while glancing around and finding no one in the clearing.
"Hello" she called out.
"Is anyone there?" she asked.
She listened intently for any kind of movement for what seemed like hours. She knew there was someone there, but they were either invisible or very good at hiding. After about ten minutes, she finally stood up and began walking back to the Burrow. When she was a good five feet into the woods again she glanced back to the clearing and saw someone standing there in a black cloak. She gasped as the person turned and apparated away.
She half-ran back to the Burrow and collapsed onto her bed. She was shaking from fright and excitement at the same time. She lay there for a good few minutes until she decided to get a shower.
She sat on the shower floor and let the hot water roll over her body. She kept telling herself that it was just her imagination and that there was no one really there.
After she washed up she got out and starred at her reflection in the misted mirror. She was pretty…wasn't she?
'I don't understand. Why am I the only single one around here?" she thought frustrated.
She looked away from the mirror and went back to her room. She threw clothes on and laid down and fell asleep while the sun was setting.
He had been admiring her from afar for years. In the beginning he hated the fact that he was infatuated with her, but over time he began to realize that his feelings for her were deeper than that. It wasn't just a crush anymore. No, he was in love with Hermione Granger. He smiled to himself as he fell asleep thinking of her.
She was awakened by Ginny early the next morning.
"Hermione, wake up" Ginny said to her.
She opened her eyes slowly and sat up.
"What time is it?" she asked yawning.
"It's nine o clock and mum told me to come wake you up since there is only two hours until Bill and Fleur's wedding." The redhead said.
Hermione nodded groggily and followed Ginny out of the room to breakfast.
Bill and Fleur's wedding ceremony went off without a hitch. Now everyone was dancing and laughing at the reception. Hermione danced with Harry, Fred, George, Ron, Bill, Charlie and Percy and had fun with Ginny and Luna.
As the party started to dwindle, she found herself sitting at a table in the corner by herself. Harry and Ginny were dancing, as well as George and Katie, Fred and Angelina, and Ron and Luna. She looked away from all the happy couples dancing and starred off into the woods.
Suddenly she saw someone in a black cloak standing there in between two trees. She looked over to where everyone was dancing and then slowly walked over to the hooded figure and stopped next to him.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
He didn't say anything, he just shook his head.
"Can't you tell me who you are?" she asked confused and hurt by his refusal to tell her who he was.
He shook his head again.
She felt the tears coming and couldn't stop them. She didn't exactly know why she was crying, but she couldn't stop now that she was. He reached out and brushed her tears away with his thumbs.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked slowly.
He didn't remove his hands from her face, but he slowly leaned in and captured her lips in his.
Her head was reeling and spinning in circles. She couldn't make heads or tales of anything, and she felt like she was floating and she loved that feeling. And then it was over. She slowly opened her eyes and saw he was still there.
"Someone's coming" he said in the now familiar voice from the other day.
She nodded and then watched as he walked deeper into the woods and vanished.
"There you are 'Mione. What are you doing out here?" Harry said coming up to her.
He saw her tears and looked confused, but wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"You alright?" he asked.
She looked up into his face "I'll be fine" she said "Just needed some fresh air."
Harry nodded and then the two of them walked back to the now ended party. When they reached the back door to the Burrow, she glanced back to the woods and saw him standing at the edge of the trees watching her and she smiled.
She woke up to two notes sitting on her bedside table. One was from Harry saying that he and Ron would be back for dinner and the other was from Ginny saying that she was at Luna's house.
She ripped the notes and threw them into the trashcan. She then packed her trunk, wrote a quick note of thanks to the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and then walked out to the Apparation boundaries and apparated to her house.
Her parents were at work so she was alone…again. She threw her trunk into the corner of her room and then flopped down onto her bed. Crookshanks came over to her and nuzzled against her side.
"I know girl, but I had to come home" she said to the feline.
Crookshanks purred and curled up by her arm.
"At least I have you girl" she said to the cat.
"You have me too" the now familiar voice said.
Hermione jumped and turned to find the hooded figure by her window.
"You should really be more careful about locking your doors and windows" he said.
She couldn't think of a reply.
"How did you know I was here? Are you following me?" she said quickly.
The figure chuckled lightly "No I saw your note for the Weasley's" he said.
She felt a little stupid for not thinking of that but was strangely comforted by his presence.
"Why did you come back here?" he asked her.
"I figured that I would feel better if I was really alone instead of having people around but being alone" she said lowering her head.
"Your friends will worry about why you left" he said.
"They won't even notice I'm gone" she said barely above a whisper.
He stepped toward her and lifted her chin.
"You can't let them do this to you" he started. "You are stronger than this" he continued.
She looked up to where his face would have been "Why can't you tell me who you are?" she asked sighing.
He rubbed his thumb on her jaw "You will find out soon" he said.
He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"I'm going to be at school soon. Will I see you again?" she asked.
"I'll always be where you are" he whispered into her hair as he hugged her.
She closed her eyes and reveled in his embrace.
He then broke the embrace and walked towards the window, but apparated before he reached the window.
She sighed and sat back down.
"This is going to be a long two weeks" she said to no one.
He stormed into his room and slammed the door behind him.
"How could they do that to her? They are supposed to be her friends!" he said angrily to himself.
He stopped talking as he heard hurried footsteps coming to his room. He knew exactly who it was and this made him grimace and hang his head in shame.
It had been exactly two weeks since she had seen the hooded figure and this made her worry about whether or not she had offended him. She was sitting in the back seat of her parent's car on the way to King's Cross Station for the last time and she was not as happy as she would have liked to be about it.
She got there early and with a quick goodbye to her parents, she broke through the barrier and went to the Head's compartment on the train. She put her uniform on and sat down. She starred at the window at all the people outside and felt the same way she had felt all summer. Alone.